AN: One very angry and cold Hawkeye in this chapter. Also, I wasn't very nice to Director Fury. I actually liked him in the movie; a decent Director Fury just didn't work for this story.

He skidded his Wrangler around a corner and came to a harsh stop not more than six inches from Director Fury's Hummer. He would have thought nothing of scraping some paint off the other man's vehicle had it not meant that he'd take it off his own treasured Wrangler too. Fury stepped away from the side of his Hummer as Hawkeye slammed the door of his Jeep and stalked up to the other man. "Agent Barton," Fury nodded casually, even indulging himself in a small smile. "Thanks for coming."

"Lay off it, Fury, an' give me a sit rep. I'm here because there's innocent people in there, not because you called me in," Hawkeye replied coldly.

Fury nodded abruptly, suitably cowed, whirling away to pull out a blueprint of the bank. "Three gunmen, all on the main floor of the bank. They went in posing as customers, but then one of them locked the door an' the other two pulled out their guns. All three have machine guns, an' at least two are also carrying pistols. From what we can gather, the leader may also be carrying at least one grenade. All have at least one knife."

"Not good enough, Fury. I'll have to make my own call - too many 'maybe's' in that statement. How many hostages? An' I want a real answer this time, not some guesstimate."

"Thirty-seven."

Hawkeye whistled under his breath. These guys had to pick one of the biggest, busiest banks in Manhattan, and at the most crowded time of day, too. That was bad - could well mean that they were doing it for more attention than money, which would spell bad news for the hostages. "You said they released the men?"

"Yes, including the bank president and the three male tellers. They told our negotiators they'd done it so we couldn't send anybody in without getting a woman or child killed."

"An' just why exactly can't you jus' give them what they want and catch up to them later? We both know full well that SHIELD could trace them."

"You don't seem to understand, Agent Barton. Ten million dollars in cold cash allowed to walk out the door? That's not exactly chump change, an' just think what kind of message that would send to any other robbers - it's perfectly acceptable to rob a bank if you have the right kind of hostages."

"So ten million dollars is the price on an innocent human being's head, hum? Life is getting pretty cheap around here these days."

"Knock it off, Barton!" Fury barked. "That never seemed to bother you before. Hangin' around those so called 'Avengers' makin' you go soft? And you know as well as I do that if they are actually allowed to get away with it, they won't hesitate to kill the hostages and anyone else in their way. Now are you going in, or do I have to force you?"

Fury was pushing it, and he failed to notice that Hawkeye's fist had curled into a tight ball. "It never bothered me because the people I took down were about as far from innocent as they could get, an' even then I didn't like the thought. An' I'm going in, but you better remember it's sure not for you. Also, should you happen to badmouth my friends ever again, I will be more than happy to introduce my fist to your mouth."

"Just take care of it, Barton. I don't need to know the details."

"Speaking of details, jus' exactly how do you expect me to get in there? I can't exactly just waltz in the front door waving a bow and arrow an' expect them all to drop to the floor in shock and terror."

Gritting his teeth at the biting words from the man who was previously his top agent, Fury muttered, "In the back door."

"Right, like they aren't watching that. Thought you were on top of your game?" Hawkeye was getting madder by the minute and no longer cared enough to pull his punches. If he was going to rescue these people, he wanted to go in there and do it, not stand around and talk about it.

"Watch it, Agent," Fury growled, his hand unconsciously curling.

"I am not your agent anymore, Fury!"

"Fine," the director finally conceded, knowing if he picked a fight with the master assassin, there was no way he'd come out on top. "What about repelling in from the building next door? I don't know too many bank robbers who'd see that one coming."

"That's a little better," Hawkeye conceded. "Now, let me see those blueprints while you figure out a way to get me up top."