Hello everyone,
Thank you for reading and leaving such kind reviews. I will be writing the fourth chapter throughout the week and I will update before Monday.
Thank you,
Blackwidowww.
Chapter 3: The Hawk and Spider are Bound to Fall
Gardasso Abril was a mercenary living in lower Manhattan. Gardasso's real name was Clint Barton; he had a troubled past and an even more troubled present. He worked odd jobs, and prided himself in his archery skills. Most people thought the art of using a bow and arrow as a weapon was lost, well that was until they found an arrow between their eyes. Clint never missed his target; it was only once that he let one slip away. It was all due to a woman named Natalia Romanova. At least, that was the name he was led to believe was hers, but she was mysterious and only made her presence known if she had something to gain from it.
It was on the night of December 13, 2014, that Natalia met with Clint to arrange a deal. Clint, in his tuxedo and with his briefcase, walked into the gala nonchalantly and searched for the Russian beauty. When he spotted her he approached her, and outstretched his hand.
"Natalia?" he questioned in a low, unquivering voice.
"Gardasso?" she inquired coolly and shook his hand.
Clint nodded and pulled her away into a back room. That was where they made the deal.
"Gardasso, is that French?" she asked trying to create small talk, while gaining intel.
"Yes, and I presume Natalia is Russian." he stated, shrugging off her advances into his cover. Natalia didn't know this but Clint had been paid off by a local mobster to terminate her. Little did Clint know that this night could make or break his career. While they sat at the small round table, the two begun to speak of the impending deal they wished to strike up.
"I need someone dead, and no questions to be asked." Natasha said coldly.
"Who would that be?" asked Clint. He was surprised by her bluntness.
"Ivan Petrovich." she said in an almost inaudible whisper.
"And in return?" Clint raised a brow.
"I can offer you many things. The question is what do you seek?" she asked disinterested.
"You…" Clint smirked and drew out the gun he had concealed under the table.
Natalia was unphased by the turn in events; she always had someone wanting her dead. But she wondered: Who could it be this time? When she begun to laugh at Clint, with the gun trained between her eyes, he didn't know what to do. He questioned to himself, does she even value her life? When Natalia finally finished her unexpected fit of laughter she crossed her arms over her chest and stared blankly at Gardasso, which she now knew was just an alias.
"Well, get on with it. Finish the job. Isn't that what you're here for?" inquired Natalia.
"Yes, it is, but I can't help but see something in you. Maybe, you could be of use to me." Clint stated. However, he was perturbed by how much of himself he saw in this woman. That's when the flashback of that fateful night came to plague his mind once more for the hundredth time.
Clint Barton was a rather small child at the young age of 5. He had an older brother, Barney, who protected and guided him. One day their parents never came home, and later they were told they had died in a car accident. This tore both of the boys apart, and soon they were on their way to the orphanage. For years they lived together there until Barney decided he had had enough. That was when the plan to escape came to life; both of the boys ran away and joined the circus that was stationed in town. Clint immediately found his niche, which was archery. He grew strong with age and became a skilled archer with practice. However, Barney never found his talent, and he begun to grow envious of his younger sibling. This sent Barney into a never ending spiral of anger and hate. That was when one night Clint walked in and witnessed his brother's horrendous deeds. He found his brother lying over a girl no older than 13 and was sickened by the prospects of what Barney had done. Barney turned to face his brother while still making his inner monster present by not ignoring the drugged girl before him. Barney said to his brother with no emotion, "If you tell anyone I will kill this girl in a matter of seconds."
Clint was speechless, he had no clue his brother was capable of something like this. That was when he made the decision; the one that changed his life forever. He pulled his bow out and strung it with an arrow. With tears streaming down his face he shot his brother in the heart, and Clint reached his lowest point in life. At age 16 he fled the circus and everything that dealt with his past. This was when Clint began his work as a mercenary and began to go by the alias Gardasso Abril.
Clint snapped back from the flashback and noticed he still held a gun at Natalia. She was perplexed by the state of the man before her; it seemed as though he was about to have an emotional breakdown. When he lowered his fire arm she proceeded by saying smugly, "You can't do it. Why?"
Clint sighed and rubbed the side of his face, "I see a helpless child that didn't have a chance at a real life when I look at you. I see myself in you. I've read much about you Natal-" he paused momentarily "Natasha, that's your real name isn't it?"
She nodded in response and narrowed her eyes at the stranger before her.
"You see, you could be of assistance to me. I could offer you a life away from the Red Room. I suppose that is what you seek as well. That's why you want Ivan dead, correct?"
"That is correct, but why should I trust you? How do I know that you aren't just another that wishes to kill me?"
Clint shook his head and looked at her "If I wished to kill you, you would be lying dead on the floor currently."
She tapped her fingers impatiently on the table and sighed. "Very well. You said you needed my assistance. May I ask with what?"
"I have to assassinate the president of the United States. I was given special orders from an Iranian leader and the payout is breathtaking. I'll be committing treason, and I believe your skill set could aid me in this."
Natasha smirked and stood from where she previously sat. She sauntered over to Clint and shook his hand, "Deal." She then proceeded to gather her things and left with the mercenary. They went to his penthouse where they began to plot the assassination of the President of the United States and their relationship grew closer with each day they spent together.
January 28, 2014 was the day the President would be delivering his State of Union Address, and both Clint and Natasha thought it would be the best time to strike. The morning of Natasha woke up in bed next to her newfound partner. She stretched and rolled over on her side to face him.
"Clint, wake up. Today's the big day." Natasha said softly.
"Just five more minutes…" Replied a groggy Clint.
"No, it's time to get up." Natasha smirked as she moved to straddle him.
"Fine, but first…" Clint flipped them so he was on top of her. He kissed her gingerly and then got up to get ready for their fast approaching mission. Natasha returned the kiss and then sighed when he pulled away. It seemed she always missed him when they parted, even when they were still in the same room afterward.
Night approached quickly and within minutes the State of Union Address would be given by the President. Natasha was in the crowd, while Clint was perched somewhere invisible to bystanders. He had his bow and quiver and was ready to take aim and fire at any moment the chance was given. He was not going to miss the target; Natasha would kill him if he did. He took a few deep breaths and waited for the right moment.
Loki had recently been keeping close tabs on this mystery mercenary; he realized there was more to this man, and that nothing good could come from him. Especially with the red headed woman he was associated with. Throughout the day he stationed himself outside of the soldier of fortune's penthouse and tried to gain intel on any future attacks. However, this afternoon was different from the previous; he saw the two partners exit through the fire escape and climb onto the back of a motorcycle. He was perplexed by the duffel bag the man was carrying and the rather revealing dress the woman was costumed in. He decided it would be best to follow them, but they were going out of state and this case was no longer in his jurisdiction. But he couldn't just stop there. He continued to follow them until he reached Washington D.C.; this is when he made a connection. The annual State of Union Address was being given tonight, and by the looks of this Loki considered the possibilities of this couple's plan. That was when he saw the small feather ended shaft sticking out from the man's bag. In that moment he realized that there would be an assassination attempt tonight. He called into his precinct and got in touch with the FBI, and he filled them in on what he believed was going to go down this evening.
They responded, "We have very high security measures already established. I assure you Detective that if there is an attempt it will be futile."
Loki shook his head and his voice rose, "I don't think you understand the skill set these two assassins have. I've been tracking them for the past month, and I must add their track record is quite impressive. They can easily pervade your defenses and take down the President at the same time. Please just list-" Loki was cut off when he heard the other end click.
They hung up on him; he was just trying to save the Nation's President, and they hung up on him. This made Loki's blood boil, and this was when he made the call. He decided that since no one else would be doing anything about the impending assassination, he would take matters into his own hands. He sped off after the couple and headed towards the Nation's capitol.
Loki had arrived a little after Natasha and Clint were already stationed and ready to take the mark down. Loki spotted Natasha and worked his way through the crowd; he tried to gain as much courage as he could before he faced this deadly woman. Knowing these could be his last moments, he pushed through the crowd and grabbed Natasha by the wrist, with little to no surprise she lashed out and slapped Loki straight across the face. Loki stumbled back due to the power behind the slap and cupped his cheek in his hand, he thought to himself "Shit! I should have seen that coming." Natasha smirked and then glared when Loki unexpectedly zip tied her wrists behind her back. She cursed in inaudible whispers, which appeared to be in Russian. When he finally had her he led her out of the crowd and took her back to his patrol car. He then proceeded to put her in the back seat and climb in behind her, she raised a brow at him.
"Where's your partner?" Loki asked.
Natasha didn't respond and made no eye contact with him, instead she kept her eyes trained on the screen that now projected the footage of the President giving his address. She sighed in contentment when she saw the arrow soaring through the sky and knew that the job was done. She saw the President fall to his knees, and then to his back once the arrow had entered his skull. She looked back at Loki and smiled in amusement, "What was your question again?" she asked over the scared screams of the crowd.
Loki was fuming when he realized the inevitable truth that he was unable to prevent the President's death. The fact that she seemed so pleased with herself sickened him even more. He restrained himself from lashing out at her and decided the only course of action left was to avenge the death of the President. He made sure that Natasha was securely cuffed, with both her hands and feet tied together snugly. He then covered her mouth with some tape and exited the car, locking it behind him. He asked some of the security to secure the perimeter around the vehicle, and then he set off on the search to find the man who was responsible for that arrow claiming the President's life.
Clint realized that Natasha had been arrested, he thought to himself, "How could she be so careless? Great, just f**cking great. Now I have to go free her a**!"
He climbed down from the high rooftop he had been perched on and met the ground momentarily; however he also spotted a figure in the shadows. The figure stepped out and revealed none other than Detective Loki himself. Clint had no clue as to who he was, but he knew he had to work for the authorities given the gun on his hip and the badge he wore on his shirt. Loki pulled his gun and aimed it at the assassin in front of him; Clint did the same with his bow. They were in a deadlock, neither could gain power over the other, until Loki mentioned one thing. "We have Natasha and it appears she won't last long. The beating they're giving her would make anyone crumble to pieces. Too bad you can't help her now. However, there is one way you can save her…" Loki lied smoothly, maybe this is why people said he had a silver tongue; lies spewed out of him with ease.
Clint exhaled loudly and stared the detective down, "How can I help her?" he said narrowing his eyes at the gun Loki had trained on him.
"It's simple, turn yourself in and the abuse will stop, or we can do it the hard way where I say you came at me and I had to defend myself by shooting you dead. Either way you're coming with me, the question is now which way would you like to be presented? In a body bag or in cuffs?"
Clint growled at the officer and didn't lower his bow, instead he drew back an arrow and got ready to fire when an audible gunshot rang through the streets. Clint Barton now lied dead on the ground and Loki stood on the other end of the gun with his hand shaking; he called in for back up. This case had closed and even though it wasn't the prettiest ending, at least Loki said he did his job at the end of the day. He put one offender behind bars and the other in a body bag. Loki walked back to his car and began the drive home. He tried to forget the scene that just played out; he regretted taking the man's life, but what else was he supposed to do? He felt he did his job, and he hoped that was enough to mask the guilt he felt.