AN: I know I'm updating early, but I just had to continue this! I will still be adding a new chapter on Wednesday though.
Clint was intently listening to Fury, he couldn't miss a single detail of this, if he was going to catch the best spy in the world, he had to be prepared.
"So you're good with the plan?" Fury asked standing.
"Yes sir." Clint replied definitively
"Okay, just remember that all we've done is booked your flight, the rest is up to you."
"Of course sir."
"Great, we expect her back here in a week." Fury said.
Clint let out a small chuckle.
"Agent, what about this to you is funny?"
Clint did a double take, "Wait I really only have a week to catch her?"
Fury cocked an eyebrow, "Is that a problem, Barton?"
"No sir."
"Good, your flight is in the morning, so I suggest you get some rest."
As Clint put his hand on the door knob, ready to walk out, Fury's words stopped him in his tracks,
"Oh and Barton," Fury looked at Clint a glint in his eye, "Take her down."
Clint smiled.
On the outside he looked like a model agent, ready to start his mission, and take out his mark. But on the inside, he had no clue how he was going to do this.
For the second time that day Clint walked out of Fury's office distressed, but he knew that he had to get some rest. So, he headed back to his SHIELD bunk.
Hi room wasn't particularly large, but he was a high ranking agent, so it was better than what most people had.
There was a bed in one corner, with standard SHEILD sheets, a desk for his work, a simple closet, and some weights. But, it was only about the size of a child's bedroom, but he didn't spend much time in here anyways.
Clint brushed his teeth, put on some pajamas, and lay in bed. But even as he stared at his standard SHIELD ceiling, he knew sleeping was pointless. He could never sleep before a big mission. It only gave him more time to think of what could go wrong, so he did the one thing that he knew would get his mind off of tomorrow.
—-
Clint let his final arrow fly, it split through the first target, and into the second one. Two birds with one stone, or more accurately, two cardboard cutouts with one arrow.
Clint sighed and looked at the clock hanging on the side of the training facility.
1:46
He should probably get some rest. He had been shooting for two hours already, and for the most part it had worked. Clint hadn't thought about the Black Widow at all, until now.
"Couldn't sleep?" A voice asked from the door.
"What do you think, Coulson?" Clint sighed staring up at his handler.
Phil Coulson had been Clint's handler ever since he came to SHIELD, so a very long time. And Clint could always rely on Coulson for advice about a mission, or a mark. But the thing about Coulson that made him different from most SHIELD agents, was hat he was a good person. And according to Coulson, so was Clint.
"What's got you awake at this hour?" Coulson asked.
Clint just looked at him.
"So it's the Black Widow. From what I've heard about her, she could give May a run for her money."
"Ha! From what I've heard about her she could take Melinda May down."
"I doubt it, but from what I've heard…well maybe" Coulson laughed, twirling one of his Captain America cards in his fingers.
"But Clint seriously," Coulson looked at Clint, all humor gone, " You know how I feel about killing—"
"But Coulso—"
"Clint let me finish. You know how I feel about killing, but this Black Widow is a menace. She has killed hundreds, including some of our own agents." Coulson sighed, " What I'm trying to say is that this will probably be the hardest assignment you ever get, and if it comes down to her life of yours, well, you're to good of an agent to lose. Do you understand?"
Clint was shocked. Coulson—who was the most anti-killing a SHIELD agent could get—was telling him to take her down.
"Well, I mean—"
"Clint, do you understand?"
"Yes, I do. And I will kill the Black Widow."
Coulson nodded sadly, and that's when Clint noticed the wrinkles in his forehead.
"Coulson, are you okay?" Clint asked.
"Me? Oh yeah I'm fine, I just don't want you to die."
"Oh wow, thanks for the support." Clint joked.
"That is what I"m here for." Coulson said starting to walk out of the room, but he turned back to Clint and said one thing before he left,
"They made you a couple things, down in tech. But get them tomorrow, you look like you need some sleep."
And oddly, Clint agreed.
Clint's alarm clock started blaring at 5:00 am. But he had been ready since 4:30. Sure, he ha only gotten about 4 hours of sleep, but he had gone much longer, on far less sleep. Plus, he could sleep on the plane.
He had to be out of the facility at 7:00, but he was told that tech had something for him. And tech made some cool crap.
The tech lab is a complete mess, or so he's heard. The only people allowed inside are high ranking SHIELD officials, engineers, scientists, or any of the other SHIELD nerds.
Finally after about 15 minutes of waiting a very disheveled young man came out with a quiver of arrows. Clint reached out to take them, but the scientist slapped his hand away.
"What do you think you're doing?" The scientist said aghast
"Grabbing the arrows you made for me." Clint said reaching for them again, but the scientist slapped his hand away…again.
"They aren't just any arrows! They have…unique capabilities." The scientist said a maniacal glint in his eye.
"Okay, so how do they work?" Clint asked impatiently, checking his watch.
The scientist took a deep breath,
"Let me say this in terms you'll understand, all of the arrows have different capabilities. You have normal, a few sonic arrows, some smoke bomb arrows, some tear gas, a few grappling arrows, net arrows, an EMP arrow or two, quite a few tranquilizer arrows, electric arrows, and of course, the explosive arrows."
Clint blinked back at him, "Um….okay…But what if I run out?"
The scientist just shook his head at him, "You really think these are the only arrows we made?" He said motioning towards the 15 or so arrows.
Clint smiled tightly.
The scientist muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Dumb Agents', before heading back into the lab.
A few minutes later he returned with as many arrows as Clint could possibly need.
"But wait," Clint mentioned, "How will I know which arrow is which."
The scientist smiled, "You know any braille?"
"No."
"Well you better be a quick learner."
Thankfully, Clint was.
The trip to the airport had gone pretty smoothly, it wasn't like it was a long drive. Clint thought security was going to be an issue, but apparently the tech team had devised some sort of cloaking device.
As Clint walked towards his gate, He studied the arrows and braille list. Apparently those scientists can't half ass anything. All of the arrow nock's were marked with the braille for the first three letters of that word. For example the sonic arrows were marked with the braille translation of S, O, and N. And if that wasn't enough, they were also color coded, because why not?
Clint sat down near his gate and started studying the braille list once more, he had to learn it, or the consequences could be…explosive. But he was interrupted by the blaring of the flight attendants voice.
"Flight 8897 we are starting to board, first class, you are welcome to get on."
Clint checked his boarding pass, even if SHIELD was sending him to his death, at least he got to ride first class.
The flight attendant checked his ticket, then smiled at him as he boarded the plane. He didn't smile back.
As he sat down in his—insanely comfortable—first class chair, he looked at his boarding pass once more,
"Huh," Clint muttered looking at the destination, "I've never been to Budapest before."