Chapter Two: Getting Desperate.
Sorry I haven't updated in ages, but I got carried away with some other things. One thing led to another and I… completely forgot I even wrote this. I'm back now, though, and should update regularly.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
"Agent Phillips still hasn't reported back, sir." The agent told Fury. Phillips had been missing for several days since his scheduled return, and Fury was forced to declare him missing, presumed dead. He had sent two more agents to report the situation, but they had disappeared, too.
"Hill!" He called, referencing Agent Maria Hill.
"Yes, sir?" She asked, appearing beside him.
"The agents we dispatched still haven't reported back. Declare them MIA and bring me Agent Barton." Fury ordered.
"Yes sir." Hill left, speaking into her headset as she went.
Shortly after, Fury turned around at the sound of an introductory cough.
"Ah, Agent Barton. I see you received my call?"
"I did. What do you need?" Clint Barton was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents; an expert marksman. He was also a member of the Avengers, the team of superheroes (plus he and Widow) who had saved the world from the Chitauri. If he was called in for a mission, it was obviously a serious matter.
"You may have heard that Doctor Doom has been planning something and we've tried to spy on him?" Fury began.
"Yes, I have." Barton interrupted.
"Well, none of the agents we've sent have reported back or returned. I need you to do what they can't."
"So, everyone else you sent was killed, and now I get to go? Tell me more."
Fury briefed Barton on the mission ahead and he grabbed his bow and loaded his quiver with arrows. He hopped aboard a transporter and began the trip to Latveria.
As the transport touched down, Barton prepared to move.
"Good luck, Clint." One of his team of agents said, holding out his bow. Barton accepted and unfolded it, swinging the quiver onto his back.
"I'm on mission now; call me Hawkeye." With that, Hawkeye jumped.
Hawkeye approached the castle, ignoring the beauty of the country. He registered every detail of the landscape, but was determined not to let it distract him from his goal. He came to the place where Phillips had escalated the wall and placed a hand on the shaft of an arrow. A mechanical whizz sounded as the arrow tip holder whirled and shifted upward, leaving his selected shaft with a steel tip. He raised his bow skywards and notched the arrow to the bowstring. Pulling back to a suitable tension, he took aim and fired the arrow. It flew through the air and hit his target perfectly, trailing a cable behind. With the other end attached to his bow, Hawkeye gave a sharp tug and the bow started to winch the cable back toward it. With the arrow embedded solidly in the building, he was hoisted by the bow toward the window.
His hands gripping the windowsill, Hawkeye pulled himself over before stringing an arrow just in case. Silently, he crept across the corridor, keeping a sharp ear trained. A metallic clunk behind him made him spin about and fire an arrow. The tip pierced a metal form, but it wasn't Doom. Doombots! Hawkeye realised. He hurriedly began to fire off arrows in an attempt to beat back the army that now advanced on him. As one got close enough for him to kick it down, he spotted a green cloaked figure behind the rest of his assailants.
"Ah, the archer. I was wondering when you might make an appearance," said the confident voice of Doctor Doom.
"What are you up to, Doom?" Hawkeye asked, continuing to fight the Doombots.
"I'd love to tell you, but I see you're a bit busy right now," and with that, Doom left. He trusted in his Doombots' ability to neutralise a single threat, but he didn't count on two.
As Hawkeye fired an explosive arrow, taking down a large group of the robots, a black shadow whipped in through the window. With a spinning kick to take out a group of Doombots, the figure pulled out dual pistols and began to fire at them.
"Natasha?" Hawkeye gasped, recognising the figure.
"Of course, now stop speaking and start shooting!" the newcomer replied with her usual coldness. As Black Widow's guns were blazing, Hawkeye continued to shoot arrow after explosive arrow into the attacking hordes. Together, they made short work of the Doombots.
"So, this is your idea of stealth?" mocked Widow as she kicked down the last Doombot.
"It might have helped if Fury hadn't sent so many rookies in to get caught. Doom expected me," Hawkeye retorted.
"Whatever. Well, we've been welcomed; might as well stick around a while."
Hawkeye and Black Widow crept through the building toward the room where they had lost contact with one of the agents who had found Doom's laboratory before being caught. The door approached as the two agents continued to creep through the twisted corridors. Hawkeye signed to Black Widow to be silent, but he need not have done. Together, they crept over to the door and tentatively opened it up. Hawkeye looked in and signed that the room was empty before moving in, Black Widow shortly behind. They moved silently, searching for any hint as to what Doom was planning.
Here, Hawkeye signed, indicating a set of files on a desk. Just as Black Widow approached, Hawkeye heard a strangled cry from behind and whirled about to see his partner struggling against the metal hands of Doctor Doom.
"Find what you were looking for?" asked the metallic voice. Hawkeye strung an arrow and aimed at their assailant, but he knew he couldn't fire. There was a huge chance he'd hit Widow instead.
"Let her go," he demanded.
"In exchange for what?" Doom asked, seeing an opportunity to gain information on S.H.I.E.L.D.
"An arrow," Hawkeye replied, firing a shot. The arrow flew through the air before hitting Doom and releasing a cloud of gas. In the midst of the confusion, he darted forward in an attempt to rescue Widow. An ominous cracking sound filled his ears and a metal fist swung out from the cloud of smoke and caught his chin. The smoke dissipated as he fell to the ground, and he saw the figure of Widow lying in a crumpled heap on the ground.
"No!" He shouted before a second punch knocked him back. He caught one last glimpse of Black Widow's incapacitated figure as he himself slipped into darkness.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
"Fury," croaked a voice over the communicator.
"Barton, was the mission a success?" Fury asked, fully expecting the answer to be yes.
"No… Widow's down… Call them," rasped the voice of Hawkeye.
"Is it really that bad?"
"Yes… saw some files. Doom has plans… call them." Hawkeye repeated, before he went completely silent.
"Barton? Barton!" Fury demanded, but there was no reply. Fury sighed and put down the communicator. Turning to Agent Hill, he said "call them."
That's all for this update. Feel free to review if you like or even dislike what you see. I'm very open to criticism and would jump at the chance to improve. Tune in next time to see who "they" are, but I bet you already know. Until next time, I bid you adieu.
