Finally got this updated!

Feels like it's been forever! (it kind of has been...)

BTW, you guys are awesome. I was surprised- i got a couple reviews for this in the last couple days! They're also awesome!

It took me a while to write this... and I apologize. :/

Well, please read and review! 3

The smell of fear and dirt and heat filled his senses.

"Take cover!" Bernard yelled, and there screaming people and screaming kids and Clint couldn't focus enough to figure out what was going on. He was disoriented and he could barely register that it was a .50 caliber machine gun. Portable.

Well, someone's having fun.

"Clint! Come on!" Bernard yelled. Clint looked up and around him.

There was a kid about ten feet from him, clutching the side of his face. Clint could smell the blood.

"Come on, kid…" he called to the boy quietly. The kid looked up at him and Clint vaguely registered the boy's dirty blond dread lock and light black skin, still rather more concerned with the trail of blood streaming from his hairline. "Come on! You gotta-" the shooting seemed to be aimed closer to the two of them, out in the open on the flat, flat ground of the makeshift soccer field.

"Dominic!" he heard another one of the boys call, seemingly terrified, from the side of the barn.

A band of gunfire shot dirt up in miniature cartoon dirt geysers three feet to the left of Clint. He looked over his shoulder to the side of the barn, where Barney and boys who'd been playing soccer moments before were taking shelter from the shooting.

The kid tucked his head down and started blindly crawling to them. Clint didn't even attempt to look back at Barney and the others until the boy was between Clint and the barn. He kept himself as close to the ground as possible while still being able to maneuver.

Another string of gunfire came real close to Clint, and he felt the heat of friction hit him, the bullets landing inches from his right arms. He swallowed and continued, inching his way to safety.

An arm closed roughly around his shoulders, pulling him in and pressing him against the barn wall, and like that, it was gone again. Barney was inching his way to the end of the wall, peering cautiously around the edge. He stepped back quickly, and a streak of bullets shot by.

"What's going on?" Clint asked urgently.

"Dis is why ya shouldn't've come," Barney said pointedly, but hastily changing the subject when he looked at the boy named Dominic. "Did you get hit, boy?"

"No-no sir. I don't know what happened, it was all so fast…" The group of boys who had been huddled against the wall now tried to look at him, some taken aback by the gore that streamed down the side of his face. Others, like Damien, just frowned and tried to help.

"Damien, take duh boys intuh duh barn duh back way," Bernard ordered his son, "And make sure dis boy gets some… something tuh stop that bleedin'." Damien nodded dutifully, and motioned for the others to follow him to the back of the barn.

"Where're the Avengers?" Clint asked as Bernard tried to sneak a peek around the corner again.

"How should Ah know?" Bernard asked, not even looking at him. Another streak of bullets shot past him, narrowly missing.

"Because…"

"Shhh. Ah need tuh think." He turned back and looked at Clint blindly, trying to compute what exactly was happening and how to react.

"Barney, I can help, just-"

"No. Be quiet." Bernard went to a tarp that was lay crumpled at the ground by the barn wall. He pulled it back, revealing a plethora of guns. How had no one found these earlier? Why had Clint not even noticed the tarp? He filed these questions away to be answered later.

He moved to pick up one of the guns, to have his hand smacked away by Barney. "What's all this?"

"Ya t'ink Ah didn't have a stash? Needed tuh be easy to get to, just in case."

"In case something like this happened?" Clint asked doubtfully.

"Exactly. You're startin' tuh catch on."

He picked up one of the guns, a .5mm, and motioned for Clint to follow him. He went around the back of the barn, past a hole that went under the barn wall that Clint assumed was the 'back way', and stopped just before rounding the corner to the other side of the barn. Clint only just registered the click of the gun as Bernard loaded it before he jumped out from their hiding place and started shooting.

Three gunshots, three windows breaking, and then a ringing silence.

Clint let out a breath that he hadn't noticed he'd been holding. He came around the corner and found Bernard, still holding the gun aimed at the black sedan. Broken glass was scattered all over the ground. The scene was slashed with blood, and through one of the smashed tinted windows Clint could see the slumped form of a nondescript man.

"What-?" Clint started, furious that Bernard had just gone and shot these men without barely thinking it through.

But Barney ignored him, walking over to the barn door and pulling it open slightly. "Is everyone alright?" he called into darkened depths of the barn—when did the lights go off?—and someone murmured something like, 'yeah… yeah.' Sounded like Rachel.

A bright overhead light was turned on and Clint could see everyone now. Valerie was in the corner sewing up the one boy's head. He vaguely remembers Valerie doing the same for him on a couple occasions when a circus act turned ugly.

And that was the last thing he registered before Barney grabbed him by the wrist and set him roughly inside the barn, nodded to Dusty and his brothers (who were conveniently at hand). Dusty grabbed a leather jacket—Clint recognized it as Barney's from the prison—and the four went back outside, sliding the door almost shut. Clint slides to the door to watch what they four of them are up to.

How old did Barney think he was? Five? Clint can help! Hell, this is the kind of stuff he does for a living! Unfortunately, Clint didn't have a gun or his bow and arrow to help, and Barney would refuse to lend him a gun. Clint had to sit and wait until he had an opportunity to run to the SUV and grab his gear before he could help.

Barney looks up the driveway, obviously looking for any signs of more friends. He nods Dusty toward the one side of the barn he and Clint had been hiding around moments before. Dusty went without asking, returning a moment later with several guns in tow under his arm—he handed one to Woody and Andy, and kept one for himself.

Clint heard some motion behind him, and looked to find the rest of the Avengers. Steve and Hank nodded at him, Tony was too busy trying to see what was going on, and Jan was talking quietly to one of the girls—the one they'd seen earlier with Damien with the ash on her face. Her face was cleaned now, but her hair was still blackened.

Barney then pointed out to the drive and nodded for Woody and Andy to go scout for backup, it seemed. The two went. Dusty and Barney were half way between the barn door and Clint, and the car with the motionless silhouettes still visible to any onlooker. The sight of them made Clint a little queasy—that his brother put them there—so he tried to avoid looking at them.

He was so enraptured in watching what was going on (which really wasn't much, but he was trying to read their lips) that he didn't even notice when Damien nudged his way toward the door and pushed through it before his mother or anyone else could stop him. The boy ran to the car, faster than Barney or Dusty's reaction time, apparently.

Now, several things happened at once. Barney and Dusty both tried to grab at the boy as he stood behind the stopped car, knocking on the trunk and listening to it curiously. A series of loud bangs went off in the direction of Andy and Woody. Barney looked in said direction and dove in front of Damien, throwing his arms around the boy. A small little something whistled through the air accompanied with another loud bang. A man in a tuxedo appeared in Clint's line of sight (which had expanded when Damien through one of the doors open).

Not necessarily in that order, of course.

A howl of pain escaped Barney and he clutched his left arm and pushed Damien toward Dusty, who quickly ushered both himself and the boy into the safety of the barn.

This all happened within seconds.

He was facing the car trunk, away from the man.

Clint blinked repeatedly, trying to grasp what was going on. Barney was shot. That's not good.

Where are Andy and Woody then?

And who's the menacing looking guy currently pointing a gun at Barney…?

Clint ran a scenario through his head on what would happen if he made a run for the car. The odds didn't seem to be in his favor, since the armed man was between Clint and the SUV.

"Stand up," the man demanded of Barney, stepping a bit closer.

He was maybe five feet away from Bernard and fifteen feet from Clint. Barney, still clutching his arm, stood slowly.

"Look at me." Barney turned to face the man. Barney did a good job of keeping his calm, even when he was faced with the barrel Glock 30. "Remember me?" the man asked, a malicious smile on his face.

"Yeah… Aren't you the valet?" Barney grinned. His accent was gone, too.

The man's hand twitched on his gun and he looked like he wanted to hit Barney upside the head with it.

"You, Barton, shot my wife," the man said slowly, making sure Barney understood. Which really wasn't necessary—Barney's not stupid.

"Oh! That was you? Well, that's awkward." Why is he not talking in an accent...?

The man's glare deepened.

"So, what are you going to do about it, again?" Barney continued, unphased.

"I'm going to shoot you."

"You already did."

"I'm going to shoot you dead. In front of your family and friends." He waved the gun in the direction of the barn.

"First time I've ever heard that one." Barney seemed to relax a bit, "Wait, no, I take that back."

"It'll definitely be the last."

"Ooh, watch out. We got a badass over here."

Something churned in Clint's stomach when the safety clicked and the man slid his finger over the trigger. Close range, that's gonna hurt.

Gotta do something.

He turned and looked around—Hank and Jan can just shrink/grow by thinking about it… but Clint needed to do this. It wasn't really their problem.

Damien might know where Barney hid his guns inside the barn… but it seems he's disappeared. He could hear some chatter from Barney, but he could tell time was running out.

His eyes flitted over the barn, along the walls, and found a small cabinet. Have to start looking somewhere, he guessed, and fast.

He made his way over to it and pulled it open quickly. Just farm tools. He rummaged around in it, making sure there was nothing useful.

Someone behind him cleared their throat. He turned and found the little girl—Christina was it?—holding a long narrow case.

"Are you looking for something like this?" He took it from her and unsnapped it. It was a compound bow and several wooden arrows. Perfect. He would stop to ponder why Barney had one of these later. Right now, he's gotta… do something.

He pulled the bow out and set it up quickly, making sure it was correctly 'tuned', as he liked to call it.

He looked up when it was ready—the bad guy was doing the cheesy 'any last words' part of his speech.

Wait.

These are technically just two villains—very, very minor villains—going at it. Clint shouldn't get involved. Barney shot the guy's wife. This is revenge. He shouldn't get involved.

He started to set the bow down.

Ok, never mind, this is Clint's brother, too. Not just some very minor villain.

If this is revenge, then Clint, as an Avenger, would likely have to avenger the murder anyway… Might as well be proactive.

He cocked an arrow and aimed it quickly. He knew by the tension in the man's arm that he was just about to pull the trigger.

A loud bang of a gun made Clint flinch back, but he didn't have enough time to register that before he let the arrow fly.

The arrow made a strange sound, he had to admit. It sounded like it was swooping through the air on the path Clint put it on, along with overhead, like someone shot off another arrow from the second story of the barn. Clint closed his eyes tightly. The gun was fired before he took his shot. He was too late, and he knew it.

But he had to face it, had to see if there was anything he could do (though it was unlikely at that close of range).

And he opened his eyes, one eye at a time. But… Barney wasn't shot. The man was. He was on the ground, two arrows sticking over him, one in the stomach and one in the neck. Clint knew he had been aiming at the stomach.

Two arrows? He really did hear two arrows? He could hear someone shuffling down some steps and Damien reemerged, crossbow in his arms.

Two arrows. Huh.

Damien made his way to the door, "You okay, pa?"

Barney was still looking down at the body in shock, then jerked to look at his son, grin forming. "Yeah, I reckon so. What were you thinking, running out here?" He asked as he made his way toward the barn again, his arm in pain, but Clint didn't see any blood.

"Thought I heard something ticking. I was right, too."

"Bomb?"

"Yup."

"Pity."

He threw the door open completely with his good hand.

"He didn't fire his gun. Where the gunshot come from?"

"Andy? Woody? I don't know. I'm twelve."

Barney laughed, and Rachel helped him out of his jacket. Still no blood, but there was a huge angry bruise where Clint figured he'd been shot.

And Andy appeared in the door way now, helping along Woody, who looked ot have been shot in the leg.

"Valerie! Patch that up, would you?" Rachel hollered to her sister, who was up and in action faster than Clint could say 'major artery'. As Valerie did that, Rachel pulled out something for Barney's bruise.

"Yeah, Ah got it. Thanks." He took it from her, peeled it open and stuck it on his arm quickly, pulling his coat back on.

Then it clicked. Kevlar leather blend. Pretty smart, really. And then Barney was going back out, Andy and Dusty right on his heels.

Wait, wait, wait, what?

Did someone mention a bomb?

Clint snapped out of his trance when he heard the click of Andy's revolver reloading.

Bomb.

A bomb.

Here.

Now.

Exciting, huh?

Until next time (which can be anywhere from 1 day to 1 year, sadly) here are some questions to ponder...

1. K, obviously, what's going to happen with the bomb?

2. Is Barney Barton really the bad guy he makes himself out to be?

3. How many more times is Clint going to be punched?

4. Seriously, how'd Damien know about the bomb in the trunk?

OK, that's all for now!

Stay lovely!