Why were you digging? What did you bury? Before those hands pulled me from the earth?

(-)

Crunch.

Clint Barton's eyes shot open at the subtle noise. Someone was outside. He held his breath and continued to listen. Dana might have gone for a walk outside, or it may have been a passing animal.

Silence.

The snow outside of the cabin fell so peacefully Clint began to doubt the noise he'd heard outside. Dana always joked he was a worrywart; perhaps he'd overreacted once again?

Crunch.

There it was, footfalls in the snow and more than one. Clint kept his hand on his gun under his blankets. If they thought they had the element of surprise, they had another thing coming. Clint reached for his drawer and grabbed the kit. It looked like it was finally going to get its use. He crept out of bed and started across the room.

He made sure he didn't cast a shadow as he moved. He could hear Dana breathing heavily in the kitchen, indicating she'd fallen asleep while studying. He allowed himself a small smile, the number of times he'd carried her to bed after she'd fallen asleep under a book…

Click.

A latch on the windowpane came loose. Clint looked from the living room to Dana sleeping peacefully in the dining room. He had less time than he thought. He darted down the staircase toward his daughter, gun drawn.

"Dana!" he gave a shout as two masked men slammed through the living room windows. Clint guessed they had given up on a slow and steady approach.

Dana jolted up at the noise and looked around in confusion, and jumped from her chair once she realized everyone in the room was armed. Clint stood in front of her protectively and slowly handed her the metal box from his bedside drawer.

Her grey eyes locked with his for a moment and she took the book-sized box. She knew what needed to happen next. He'd told her so many times before. She eyed her winter coat before the shooting began. Clint grabbed it and shoved her out of the room with one motion.

Shots rang out throughout the house, shattering lamps and dishes on the counter. Dana scrambled through debris toward the back door in the kitchen. She kept her hand clutched on the metal box and grabbed her coat off of the ground, thankful she had kept her boots on while she studied that night.

Clint held the men off the best he could. He needed enough time to get Dana out of the house and a safe distance away. He shot one man in the arm and kicked the gun out of the other's grasp. At least he would stand a fair chance if they fought hand to hand. They blocked him with ease.

Dana ran into the cold night, the snow biting her cheeks as she fumbled pulling her scarf out of her coat pocket. Her mind raced, her pulse quickened and the world felt like it was spinning. She wanted to vomit. She raced to the opposite end of the cabin to the storage shed where they kept extra bows and quivers for hunting.

Her dad's warnings about emergencies ran through her head. Get the box, get protection and get away. I'll find you. It was a prayer that she repeated to keep her sanity in the insane situation.

She needed something to protect herself against the Alaskan wilderness. Dana could shoot a bow, so that would have to do. Approaching the shed she noted that she was alone. Thankfully the men hadn't bothered to bring backup. She pulled the door open as quietly as she could and grabbed the first weapon she saw. A recurve bow she knew she was able to draw back.

Dana slung a quiver of arrows over her back and started toward the door when she heard shouts coming from her home. She peered though a crack in the door of the shed to see what was going on.

Her father was dragged out a nearby door, struggling against his captors. His hands were bond behind his back and he had blood trickling from his face. As he fought, one of the men gave him a kick in the stomach, to which Dana let out an unintentional scream. The men turned their attention to the shed, one of them starting toward her slowly, gun raised.

"Come out and play little girl," the man teased in a sing-song voice. She could hear her father begging in the background to leave her alone. She felt around in the darkness until she felt the tip of an arrow brush against her hand.

As the man swung the shed door open, Dana charged at him with a sharpened arrow. She dug it into his shoulder blade near a badge resembling a serpent and ducked under him. Dana ran as fast as her body would take her into the darkened forest. She couldn't look behind her, not at the broken body of her father. The man who'd raised her and cared for her, now laying bloody in the snow.

Dana ran until she couldn't breath. Her legs were numb and her cheeks burned from hot tears freezing as they fell. She collapsed on a nearby fallen tree and tried to collect herself. Her shaking hands would not still, and now that she wasn't moving her stomach rebelled against her.

A wave of nausea rolled over her and she leaned forward, vomiting the cereal she'd eaten earlier in the night. She clutched her stomach, and tried to make sense of what had happened. As her body shook, the metal box she'd set on the tree fell to the ground.

It's contents spilled out and Dana leapt up, making sure nothing was damaged in the snow. She grabbed three USBs, a small box of matches, a hunting knife, and a device with an "A" printed on the back surface. A letter was tucked at the bottom of the box that Dana pulled out and quickly read it.

Dana-

There's a lot I haven't told you- about your mom and about me. If you're reading this I've either told you or you've found out the hard way. The homing device will call friends of mine who can help you no matter where you are. Do not worry about me. Whatever happens to me I will rest easy knowing you are safe.

-Dad

"Well, that was helpful," Dana sighed to herself. Once the box was resealed, she looked around the forest around her. She had an advantage of knowing the woods significantly better than those who sought her and her family. So far it looked like she had no followers.

Once she had her bearings, she started in the direction toward a small cliff that she knew of nearby. When she was ten, she had found a small cave tucked under a large pile of boulders that overlooked a cliff edge.

Her father had been furious when she didn't respond because she'd disappeared into the cave. Dana remembered thinking it was so funny her dad thought she'd fallen.

"C'mon daddy! I'm not that dumb!"

She blinked the memory away and checked over her shoulder once more. Snow was falling faster than she could make footprints. She'd lucked out, they covered any trace of her presence.

As she walked she wrapped her scarf tighter around her head and dug in her pockets for any spare gloves. The only ones she was able to retrieve were thin ones that she used when she was shooting. They would have to do.

Dana decided that she wanted to be safe before signaling anyone for help. She wanted a central location she would be able to settle into, just in case her father's "friends" took a while to find her.

The cave appeared just after she climbed a hill. It was just as she remembered it but with significantly more snow covering it. Insulation, she tried to tell herself as she wiggled her toes to return feeling to them.

It took a little under twenty minutes for Dana to clear herself a shelter in the rocks. Once she cleared away the snow, she searched around for any dry branches or brush she could find. To her dismay, it wasn't a lot. Finally, however, she was able to relax for a moment. She started a small fire and set her belongings aside and pulled out the homing device.

(-)