DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING
…
Clint absentmindedly rubbed at his sore shoulders as he stared intently at the broken screen of his laptop to make sure he hadn't misread any of the information displayed there. It had taken a few days, but the archer had finally narrowed down the evil scientist's whereabouts to four possible locations. Unfortunately, only two of the locations were in New York, while the other two were in two different states. Dirk must know that he was coming after him so it was fair to think that the mad man would've went to farthest location to be safer. But, one could never be sure when dealing with the insane.
'Should I at least get SHIELD involved in this?' Clint thought to himself. He could send the coordinates to the secrets labs in Oklahoma and California to SHIELD while he searched the other two in New York. He thought about the plan for a while but threw it out when he realized something. The second he sent out a message to SHIELD it could and would be easily tracked by Stark and Banner and the team would have found him faster than he could make himself disappear.
In the end, it wouldn't be worth it.
'Guess I'll have to go it alone.' With that thought in mind, Clint began devising ways to get him to his four destinations. Money was going to be a little tight since he couldn't use his limitless Stark credit card that Tony gave to each of the Avengers, and using the money from his account would lead the Avengers and SHIELD right to him. Luckily for him, the archer always carried a certain amount of money with him just in case he couldn't access his regular means. If he planned it right he could at least make it to three out of the four locations and hopefully Dirk would be there.
Clint looked to the ceiling that had mystery stains on it and sighed softly. Would it really be safe to go after Dirk by himself? If the man had other labs to go to then it wouldn't be a surprise if he created more mutants and was just waiting for the archer to show up. He would be walking right into a trap with no backup, no one to rely on. It was a suicide mission, but Clint had no other choice. Dirk Jackson could not be left to roam the earth while kidnapping innocent people and turning them into monstrous creatures. Clint would give his life to stop the man if he had to, because no one deserved to go through what he and so many others had went through already.
A small flinch swept through Barton's frame when aches of pain throbbed in his shoulders and other sore points on his body. The pain was starting to get worse. Another dose of pain relievers was in order, but after shaking the small bottle of medicine he realized he was completely out of pills. He threw the empty bottle across the room in a small fit of anger before pushing himself out of bed and making his way to the hotel room window. He was sort of thankful that he didn't have to walk over shards of glass anymore.
Rain had started to fall from the dark, cloudy sky and Clint knew that even less people would be out and about than before. The sniper could risk going out to retrieve some much needed medicine. And maybe this time he wouldn't find anyone in his room when he returned.
XxXxXxX
Natasha continuously slammed her fists into the punching bag that was usually reserved for Steve to vent out her anger after hearing the news about her stupid, stupid partner. When she finds that archer she was going to be the first to welcome him back to the team with a punch to the face. And maybe even throw in a head-butt for good measure.
"I still don't see why you get to be the first one to hit him," muttered Tony as he tossed a bottle of water her way. He had been watching the female as she laid into the innocent punching bag and knew she was due for a break.
Natasha caught the bottle without even looking and took a sip from it. "Ladies first, Stark, and also because I've known him longer than any of you have. It's only fair."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Of course," he said sarcastically.
The two fell into a small silence before the spy broke it. "How bad do you think it's going to be when we find him?" she asked softly.
The inventor shrugged his shoulders and leaned back against the wall. There were too many possibilities on what Clint had been turned into judging by the creatures that had been recovered by SHIELD. Every night he thought about the roaring wildcat-lizard hybrid and wondered what Clint would look like in that form. "I honestly don't know what to think. Bruce hasn't figured it out either because Clint's blood was contaminated with the others. It's going to take him a while."
Natasha nodded and downed a little more of her water. "And what do you think SHIELD's reaction is going to be? Fury, Hill, and Sitwell might be more accepting to him, but the other agents…"
Tony snorted. "I couldn't give two flying fucks about what SHIELD thinks! Clint's ours, and no mutation is ever going to change that. If they have a problem with that, well that's too fucking bad." He pushed himself from the wall and made his way over to where the female sat and offered his hand. "I know you're worried that our view of Clint will change because of this, but I promise you that nothing will be different. Legolas will still be our friend, our family."
The red head felt the corner of her lips twitch in an almost smile at that and accepted the male's hand. It was good to know that nothing would change. If only Clint would believe those words…
XxXxXxX
Steve draped a small blanket over Bruce's shoulders and cleaned up the mess of empty coffee mugs off his work desk. Bruce didn't even stir once as the clutter around him disappeared. The poor man must've worn himself out looking for a cure for Barton.
"Friend Banner is really working hard, is he not?" asked Thor as he helped Steve clear out some of the clutter. "When was the last time he's slept?"
"Who knows? I don't get how he and Tony can operate properly when they only get like one hour of sleep per week."
"It is the magic of coffee that has such an ability," Thor replied with a smile. "Friend Clint says that the men of science would not be able to survive without it."
The captain found himself smiling as well. "He's probably right about that," he said as he watched the sleeping doctor shift in his sleep and mutter something about not touching chemicals with bare hands. Their missing team-mate seemed to make a habit of doing that despite the many warnings from the gamma genius. He was too curious sometimes. "We should have a cup of coffee waiting for Bruce when he wakes up."
"Already done, Cap," said Tony as he and Natasha exited the elevator. In the woman's hands was a large cup of steaming hot coffee just the way the doctor liked it. "I swear Brucie always pushes himself too hard."
The demi-god gave the inventor a puzzled look. "But Man of Iron, do you not do the same thing on a regular basis?"
"He sure does, Thor. And there's a word for that, I think it's irony?"
"Hey, I thought you were asleep!"
The now awake scientist adjusted his glasses properly on his face. "Who can sleep with all this noise?" he asked. He thanked Natasha for the coffee and took a sip from it. Slowly the sleepiness started ebbing away. "Are we having a group meeting or something?"
"We were just checking up on you, Bruce. We didn't mean to wake you up," said Rogers with a sheepish smile. "We can leave if you need more sleep."
Banner shook his head. "It's alright; I only needed a little sleep to rest my eyes. How's the search going?"
"Nothing to report so far," Natasha sighed. Sometimes she wished Clint wasn't so good at hiding. "How are things on your end?"
"I'm almost done with the cure that will help save Clint, but I need a direct sample of his blood to complete it." Bruce then rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Of course this is going to be impossible if we can't find him."
Thor patted the distressed doctor on the back. "Do not worry, Friend Banner. We will find him soon."
"I know we will, but when will we find him?" The room grew silent at the question. No one had an answer for that one.
Suddenly the sound of Stark's AI resounded in the room. "Please excuse me for the interruption, Sir, but a match has been found."
XxXxXxX
Clint really wished he had suffered through the pain instead of leaving the safety of his rundown hotel room. He couldn't see it, but he knew something was out there with him on the dark, empty streets. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end and so were his feathers on his concealed wings. The sniper was glad that he managed to recover the guns that were taken from him by the scientists because he was sure he would need them to get out of this situation.
In the darkness several pair of glowing green eyes appeared and soft growls echoed through the air. The sound of the growls were so unearthly it almost convinced Clint that they came from the pits of hell. Readying his gun he waited for them to make the first move. Each shot would have to count and if these things were anything like those kitty-lizard things he was in trouble.
There was a sharp growl on his right and Clint found himself face to face with a large wolf-like creature that looked almost…human. It lunged at him with its razor like teeth bared, aimed at his throat. Clint managed to avoid being bitten in the throat, but the wolf monster chomped down hard on one of his wings. Immediately, three others emerged from the shadows, slowly creeping forward as the archer struggled with the first one.
"Son of a bitch, let go!" Barton yelled as blood flowed free from the wound. He aimed a kick at the wolf's ribs which got the thing to let go. Without wasting time he fired his gun right between the wolf's eyes and watched as it fell to the ground, dead. "Alright, who's next?"
Another wolf hybrid, grey in color, dashed forward. Clint waited until the very last second before dodging the attack and grabbed the creature's tail. With a quick spin, he tossed the wolf into several metal trash bins and followed it up with three shots to its body. The last two decided to attack together and soon the man found himself on his back with two raving mutants on top of him. Growls and snarls echoed in his ears as pain blossomed through the broken skin of his arms and legs. Still healing wounds were being ripped back open and blood was streaming freely from them.
'This is bad,' Clint thought as panic started to set in. He was outnumbered two to one and the combined weights of the beasts were starting to crush the air out of him. But he knew he couldn't die here, he had a mission to complete. So with the last of his strength he kicked one of the mutant wolves hard in the stomach, which was enough to flip it over and off of him. The action freed the hand holding onto the gun and Clint used the weapon to fire at the wolf still on top of him. The two bullets to the throat dropped the creature to the floor. Just one left.
The remaining wolf glared at the sniper with hatred in its eyes, but instead of attacking it turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Clint thought about chasing after it, but he was too tired and if he didn't bandage up these wounds soon he would bleed to death.
'Just…gotta make it back to the hotel,' he thought before walking sluggishly back to his current residence. Of course the hotel receptionist would be wide awake and screaming at the sight of his bloodied figure. She offered, well, declared that she would call the ambulance to take him to the hospital, but he waved her off, saying that he just got back from a costume party. "I went as a zombie fallen angel. I actually won first place because of the realistic fake blood."
"Oh my God," the young woman whispered. She reached out slowly, but stopped herself from touching his wings. "Your costume…looks so real."
Clint felt himself teetering back and forth into unconsciousness, but he forced himself to look normal. "Yeah, I know. It actually feels pretty real too."
He excused himself and quickly walked back to his room. Once he locked the door, the winged hero allowed exhaustion to fully impact his body and soon he was on the floor, panting in pain. He was completely out of energy and black spots were dancing before his eyes. With every breath he took the blond felt the urge to pass out more and more. This had to be the worst mission ever, but he was glad he didn't have to face anymore surprises.
*BANG*
Barton nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw his door suddenly fly across the room. His tri-colored eyes widened when he saw a familiar looking hammer pinning the destroyed wooden door to the opposite wall and an even more familiar looking blond entered the room followed by several others.
"Brother Hawk, are you…" the words faltered at the sight of the younger man. A number of gasps soon filled the room.
"C-Clint…?"
"Oh my God…!"
"Oh no…!"
Too many emotions ran through Clint's mind and too much blood was leaving his body. Somehow unconsciousness didn't seem so bad right now. "Y-You guys are p-paying for that door," he muttered before he surrendered to the darkness.
END CHAPTER
…..
I suck at fighting scenes. Hopefully I'm not moving too fast with this story. Tell me what you think.
Thanks for the reviews from Drake0, Sandy-wmd, Padria95, Fyroni, Thaddeus MacChuzzlewit, ZhaLenn, and Bookdancer.
To Drake0, I hope you have a safe trip!
Until next time, BYE!