A/N: PHEW! It took me longer than I'd meant to. And for that I'm sorry, because I left you on a horrible cliffie! But here I am. Hooray…?
First of all… THANK YOU, so, so much, for all your reviews, listings and love for this story! Gosh. You can't even imagine how good it feels to have you guys taking this mad journey with me! (HUGS)
Awkay, because I've already kept you waiting long enough… Let's go! I REALLY hope that this turns out worth the wait.
Hour 8
/ William Brandt didn't know how long he wandered on the thin, treacherous line between being dead and alive. Sometimes he dreamt. Or hallucinated. At some point he was even out of it enough to imagine that his brother visited him. Mostly it was just incredibly dark. And cold.
He expected to wake up alone, like he usually did. Or maybe to have some medical professional nagging at him. Instead he faced the same man who ended up getting him and Lutsky's little boy shot.
The second he saw the look in the man's eyes William tensed up. He swallowed, hating how dry his throat felt. "'ing here?"
The older man gave him a loudly speaking, dark look. "I decided that you deserved personal congratulations for blind sighting me completely." The room's air didn't get any more comfortable when it turned out that the visitor was fiddling with his morphine pump. "Since I don't have a lot of time and I'm getting irritated, let's speed up the process." The medication dosage was lowered. The man waited for signs of discomfort before continuing. "A simple nod or a shake of head will do, since you look ready to pass out. Did Nick Fury assign you to infiltrate the IMF?"
The agony… It was absolutely unbearable, made William dizzy. Still he remained strong, refused to give in.
Which clearly irritated the man in front of him. The dosage was lowered still. "Is the S.H.I.E.L.D investigating IMF's excessive use of force?"
William replied nothing. The beeping of his heart monitor intensified, responding to the growing level of pain. He was starting to sweat and tremble from the strain.
Once again the dosage was lowered. The older man's eyes hardened, became something barely human. "I may not be able to prove it yet, but I know. This whole charade… It's been an assignment to you, hasn't it? You've been investigating us. Me. You're trying to shut down IMF." The man leaned closer and hissed at his face. "Just be careful, agent Brandt… Even people with friends like Nick Fury…"
"What the hell is going on here?" Stood by the room's doorway was Phil Coulson. And the man didn't seem happy.
The oldest of the three gave a smile that wouldn't have fooled anyone. "We were just having a little chat. Look, I don't mean to be rude but only family and…"
"I'm his uncle." Phil's arched eyebrow made his smile almost menacing. "Now, are you going to tell me what was going on here or…?"
William wanted to stay conscious – to warn Phil, to say something. But the pain and exhaustion got too much. He drifted into oblivion. /
Clint blinked his eyes open with a great deal of difficulty, wondering when, exactly, he closed them. Did he pass out? How much time did he lose? What…?
And then, in a mad flood, it all crashed in.
/ Lutsky's laugh was left forever echoing into Clint's ears. "You think I can't make this worse? Oh Will… Clint… Whatever your name is. You have no idea how long I've been keeping an eye on you." There was a chilling pause. "Did you really think that your kids could hide in that safe house with uncle Brucie? There are no safe places in this world."
The world spun in front of Clint's eyes. He inhaled sharply, choosing to ignore how much it hurt. "… they're your…!"
"Do you imagine that I want to harm them? That I want to lay a hand on my own flesh and blood?" All mirth was gone from Lutsky's voice. "But I will, if I have to. If you force me into going there. And I don't even have to do it myself. You know full well how easy it is to set off Big Green. Imagine a beast like that around two small, innocent children." The criminal clicked his tongue. "The choice is all yours – and the two hours I gave you are nearly up."
Clint was quite sure that he'd never been in such pain in his entire life. He wanted to scream, to tear something apart, but with the blood loss and poison he was barely awake anymore. His eyes narrowed, blurry and stinging to a point that threatened to drive him insane. "… proof do I have?" he rasped, barely audibly.
"Check your pocket."
Clint did, and didn't realize until then that he'd been trusted with a phone. His feeble hands barely managed to hold the item long enough to open a new text message. His heart plummeted to his stomach at the picture attached.
It was Cooper and Lila, who were escorted to a S.H.I.E.L.D safe house by a tense Bruce Banner.
"I've had years to plan on how to… repay you." Lutsky's voice was frosty. "The poison felt like a nice idea. And then I saw the opportunity to make Stark work against you. And then, finally… A family for a family." There was a taunting pause. "You already failed to save your wife. Are you going to let down Lila and Cooper as well?"
Tears were streaming down Clint's cheeks. He didn't want to beg. But at that horrible, hopeless moment… He most likely would've if he'd found enough breath and strength for it. Instead he whimpered like a wounded, suffering wild animal.
"Oh, stop that. It sounds pathetic." Lutsky, on the other hand, sounded amused. "You still have the opportunity to save them, you know. To help them. All you have to do…" /
'… is to fall.'
Clint's breaths were painful and wheezing. Was it the poison? Or his injuries? Both? He blinked stubbornly to rid his eyes from the blur threatening to take over them.
No crying, and absolutely no passing out.
Clint stared at the sky above him, straining his all to find the strength to do what he'd have to. Eventually he managed to continue crawling onwards. Towards the bitter inevitable.
He'd been a fighter for all his life. A survivor. But now, for the sake of his children, he'd give up.
Steve was fairly sure that he was breaking a lot of traffic rules while speeding through the streets of London. And he was having very, very difficult time with handling the left side traffic. But – shocking even himself – he realized that at the moment he didn't care.
What they knew thus far, based on what Natasha saw before the video feed Lutsky had been watching was cut, was that Clint had somehow made it to some sort of a rooftop and was on his way towards the edge.
Steve had no idea how long they'd been driving around, with far too little idea of where to actually look. The city was massive and although the elapsed time combined with Natasha's report ruled out some destinations it was like going through a haystack to find a needle. Still, maybe they'd be in a luck for once. The Captain tried to keep that hope alive even though each minute that passed with no sign of Clint…
Coming to a conclusion that phones would only slow them down, what was left of the team had switched to ear comms. Steve brushed his briefly before taking a steep turn to the right. He tried to ignore how a grim faced Laura, who was checking all promising looking rooftops, shivered a little. (Clint would probably kill him for this later if she didn't beat her husband to it. But then again, she wasn't exactly telling him to slow down.) "Any progress, Tasha?" There was no use in using code names when their enemy knew exactly who they were.
"Lutsky's still unconscious."
"But alive?" Steve felt the need to make sure. He knew her temper, after all.
"He's still valuable." They needed the criminal to be able to help Clint. But Natasha's tone revealed that as soon as they didn't…
"And Clint?" Tony's voice was tight from guilt and stress. This nightmare would probably never stop haunting the billionaire.
"The screen's still black."
Steve's heart sunk. Clint was also still unconscious, then. He blatantly refused to think of a darker alternative.
"Well finally!" Tony's exclaim managed to catch Steve so off guard that he shivered. "I got into the CCTV-system. Just… Give me a moment, yeah? This thing's got like… a million cameras, everywhere…"
It took all of Steve's self-control to not snap that time was exactly the thing they didn't have. He squeezed the steering wheel so hard that his hands hurt. It was a miracle that he didn't break the whole thing.
Natasha muttered something very unpleasant sounding in Russian.
Time dragged by incredibly slowly until finally, finally Tony spoke again. "I got it! I found it! I've got the address!"
Natasha had been taught to show or experience no emotions. To never let anyone close enough to matter. To never let herself become compromised. And for a remarkably long time she succeeded in just that.
And then Clint Barton came into her life. Showing what it was like to have a friend, someone to count on, somewhere to belong. There were still some days when she hated him for it.
Today was one of those days.
Natasha's chest tightened and she unleashed a sharp breath when without a warning, the video feed came to life once more. Clint's eyes opened. She was a fool enough to feel a hint of relief until she realized that he was on the way towards the edge once again.
"Clint!" she snarled into the ear comm Lustky had been using to communicate with the Hawk. Trying, with the same stubbornness he'd shown time and time again. "Stop, you idiot! Laura's coming there! Just stop!"
Ice flowed through her veins when, without a warning and with a several horribly slow blinks, he did stop and seemed to slump down.
Clint tried. With absolutely all he had. But in the end his body gave up entirely a little over an arm's length from the edge. He collapsed to the unforgivingly hard and cold rooftop, blinking sluggishly. He didn't even have the strength to cry anymore.
He wasn't afraid to die, hadn't been since he was a kid in a circus. He hadn't been even when he ended up having far too many reasons to live. And he wasn't scared now, either. He just wished, from the bottom of his faltering heart, that this would be enough of a show for Lutsky. That at least his children would be alright.
And he hoped that they'd be able to forgive him for this, somehow…
Clint was already drifting away when a very familiar, impossible voice reached his ears. Was he hallucinating? Or…? "Clint!"
Laura's heart nearly stopped when she first saw her husband. He lay there, absolutely still and horribly pale. He wasn't even trembling from shock anymore. His eyes were still halfway open but with the glassy, faraway look in them it was small comfort.
He was more than halfway gone.
"Clint!" She landed to his side so hard that her knees were bruised and had to blink a few times when tears filled her line of vision. Her hand wasn't steady when it brushed his face, gently begging him to stay with her. "Clint, honey, look at me! I need you to look at me."
Clint frowned and for a moment she wondered if he'd even heard her. Then, slowly, he fought a visibly hard battle to lift his chin enough to look at her. A nearly dreamy smile appeared to his face when he recognized her.
Laura smiled back, wiping her eyes with one hand. "Hey", she breathed out. "There you are." Whatever frail and desperate relief dared to rise inside her, however, was crushed swiftly and mercilessly.
Clint sighed, even if it had to hurt. A single tear rolled down his cheek. It was easy to see how hard he struggled to lift his hand to touch her but in the end the strain was too much. "Thanks…", he whispered, so quietly that she had to strain to catch the words. "… for coming to get me." The last syllable was barely out before his eyes fluttered closed.
And he slipped away.
TBC
A/N: I know. I know. (winces, and dodges thrown objects) GOSH, let's hope that this can still have a at least somewhat happy ending!
Btw… BRUCE IS BACK! (beams) Poor mini-Hawks, though!
Soooo… Was that any good, at all? Something to be deleted? PLEASE, do leave your thoughts and rants to the box down below. (smirks sheepishly)
Until next time, ya all! I really hope that I'll see you there.
Take care!
Guest96: Thank gosh she's okay! But what about Clint? Is he going to die never knowing? (winces)
Btw, I LOVE Ilsa, too! Such a fantastic, kick ass female character! (BEAMS)
Colossal thank yous for the review! Until next time.
Guest: I'm absolutely overjoyed and flattered that you enjoyed it so much! (jumps with joy) We'll see what's up ahead… I really hope that you'll find the next one worth the wait!
Massive thank yous for the review!
