Author's note: Okay so Trigger Warning: Character death. Just getting that out of the way first. Here's chapter nine! I'm sorry in advance.
It was 3 am by the time the team landed in Jersey so it was decided that they should sleep first and start in the morning. Clint felt asleep in under 5 minutes, overtired from his trip from Montana. It was 8 o'clock when Coulson woke him up.
"Barton." His longtime friend called.
Clint sat straight up, the events of the previous night coming back fast. He sighed and looked up at Phil.
The agent nodded, "Gear up."
Coulson left and Clint dressed quickly, grabbing his bow and quiver and heading to the briefing room where the others were waiting. Steve and Bruce were chatting while Tony was eating a donut and Natasha was leaned up against the wall looking rather pissed, still no sign of Thor. Stark looked up and pulled another donut out of the box on the table in front of him and held it out.
"Morning, Sunshine." He laughed.
Clint frowned and took the donut. "Yeah." He looked at the donut for a moment and set it back down in the box, "Got any coffee?" He asked scanning the room for any signs of a coffee maker.
Tony grabbed the donut back out of the box and bit into it, "Nope, well not yet. Hill went to get some." He mumbled over his mouth full of pastry.
"Great." Clint sighed.
He watched the news until Hill got back with coffee and the briefing started.
"The attack started yesterday night around 7 pm. An unknown force attacked a small gas station blowing a crater in the ground almost half a mile wide. Telephone signal went out and more explosions ensued. That's why it took us so long to respond." Coulson informed them, pausing briefly only to take a drink of coffee. "The attacker is still yet to be identified. His attacks are scattered and messy."
"So, it's probably not Loki." Banner stated almost positively.
"Probably, but we can't rule him out until Thor returns." Coulson confirmed.
"Did somebody call my name?" A booming voice asked from behind.
Everybody in the room jumped, "Hello again my friends, it seems I have missed much." Thor observed loudly clapping Clint on the shoulder.
Coulson filled him in on the turn of events quickly, "No, It's definitely not my brother." Thor promised. The whole room sighed with relief.
"The only problem now is we have no clue who it is." Tony said leaning back in his chair and putting his bare feet on the table.
"Exactly." Phil said taking another sip of his coffee before throwing the empty cup in the garbage can by the table, "Here's the plan. Rogers, Stark, Thor, and Barton take the offense, until we can figure out who this maniac is you three stop as many explosions and save as many people as you possibly can. Banner you go to the lab and see if you can figure out what he is using to cause the explosions and see if you can find out where his main base is."
Clint stood up first, "Sounds like a plan to me."
"Yeah." Natasha scuffed from the back of the room before walking out. Nobody could blame her, watching innocent people getting blown to pieces and knowing that you could help but not being able to was not any of their favorite past times.
Clint drove the truck into town with Steve, Tony and Thor having flown. Cap assigned each of them a section of the town to oversee. Clint took the middle section with the tallest building. From the roof of the four story apartment building Clint could see his section of Flemington and a majority of Thor's. He walked around the roof with an arrow drawn back slightly, just in case. There was little movement anywhere, a large part of the civilians having been evacuated in the middle of the previous night.
Clint kept a close watch on the gas station at the corner of the street that his lookout was on, knowing it was a more likely target than anything. The comms were full of Starks banter, which was sure to be giving everybody a headache. It was a little past noon when Rogers reported a suspicious vehicle in his section.
"Can you see anything Hawkeye?" Steve asked over the com.
Clint strained to see anything but another rooftop was blocking his view, "Nope, completely blind from here."
"I'll fly over and take a look." Stark offered.
"No, stay in your section." Captain ordered and then a large noise filled the air and Clint saw smoke rising from Steve's direction.
The assassins heart rate increased as Tony called Steve's name through the comm.
For almost two whole minutes there was no reply until Clint heard coughing and staggered breaths, "I'm fine." Steve coughed, "There was an explosion in the building to my right, I hear screams but I'm not sure how many civilians are trapped or injured inside." He reported back.
"I'm on my way." Stark repeated.
This time Steve didn't complain, "Keep watching your sections." He ordered.
Clint turned back around and focused on scanning his part of town, all he spotted was a few S.H.I.E.L.D agents heading towards the gas station, "Hey, Cap."
"Yeah?" Steve said his breath strained.
"Were any other agents given access to the town?" He double checked.
There was a pause, "Not that I know of." Rogers answered.
Clint tensed ducking down; the agents were headed for the gas station, "I have a group of four moving towards the gas station just in front of me." He reported.
"Are there any civilians close by?"
Clint checked again, "Not any that I can see."
"Okay, keep watching them but don't get to close if you don't half to, we need you in one piece." Steve ordered.
"Roger that." Clint said absently and Tony laughed at his unintended pun.
The four agents moved quickly toward the gas station, keeping their heads done and out of Clint's sight. Two disappeared around back as the other two worked in the front. It was obvious that they were setting a bomb as the two around back laid wire around to the front and then across the street until Clint couldn't see them anymore. He reported this information back to Cap.
Every instinct Clint had told him to leave his post and follow the other agents but he had orders to stay put. He concentrated on the bomb; he couldn't see a timer or a trip wire so he figured it was remotely detonated. Which meant if anyone tried to get close enough to disarm it they would be blown into bits.
"There's a truck traveling through my section." Thor boomed over the com.
"Which way is it directed?" Steve asked.
"South, into Clint's section." Thor reported.
"Shit," Clint cursed out loud. He could hear the truck getting closer and hoped it wouldn't pass the station. As he heard it draw closer he knew that there was no other route it could be taking.
"I've got to stop the truck." He said into the comm, drawing an arrow to take out the tires but stopped short. He recognized the truck, the rust red Chevy with dents in the fender. His could hear his heart beating in his ear, he didn't have a shot. As soon as the truck came into view he fired and arrow.
The truck rolled to a stop and Clint could hear the driver cursing. He dropped his bow and drew his gun as he jumped onto the fire escape and climbed down. He ran as fast as he could out of the alley.
"JOEY!" He screamed and the driver turned around, already out of his truck looking at his tire.
Clint raced forward ignoring his orders and the possibility of being blown to smithereens. He was almost there when the blast wave knocked him backwards. The force of the ground colliding with his back knocked the air out of his lungs. He blinked away the black spots in his vision and ignored the ringing in his ears. If he had any injuries the adrenaline stopped him from feeling the pain as he got up without even catching his breath.
Joey was lying on the ground in front of the building where the bombers had disappeared behind. Clint slid down to his knees next to his friend. He had multiple abrasions, a head wound, and a large gash in his thigh.
"Joey, Joey." Clint repeated his name holding his head on his knees.
Joey coughed, blood dripping from his mouth.
"We need medical here now!" Clint screamed into the comm, "Joey, you're gonna be okay."
Joey's eyes fluttered open, "Hey Clint" He coughed, "Fancy seeing you here."
Clint tried to laugh, "How do you feel?"
Joey shook his head, "Who would've thought you're dumbass who would be the one here when I die." He coughed again, more blood spraying out of his mouth.
"No, you're not gonna die." Clint shook his head, forcing back tears.
"Hey, it's okay. I made my peace; just make sure you do the same with Natasha. I'm sure I'll see you sooner rather than later." Joey laughed lightly, going limp.
Clint felt like screaming but it was choked back by a sob as he cried into Joey's still chest. He heard Stark land next to him in the Iron Man suit but he didn't stop crying. Tony put a metal hand on his shoulder and Clint remembered where he was. The assassin took a deep breath and wiped his face, his arm smeared with blood and tears. He stood up slowly, taking one last look at Joey lying lifeless on the concrete and rubble, and punched the brick building next to him.
"Fuck." He yelled afterwards, holding his now possibly broken hand to his chest.
Tony look sincere as Captain and Thor showed up followed by multiple S.H.I.E.L.D trucks. Clint was rushed by the medical team, who said he did in fact break a knuckle and had multiple cuts in his arms from shrapnel but other than that was fine. Clint laughed at that because; he wasn't really fine at all.
