FOR THE GREATER GOOD "Take Me Instead" | "Run!" | Ritual Sacrifice
I hope you enjoy my latest installment of my Whumptober 2020. Once again, this is a chapter in which Clint has to watch someone else getting whumped.
"I thought the Aztecs died hundreds of years ago?" Clint shouted as he aimed and shot arrow after arrow at the crowd heading toward him and Mikayla.
"They did, along with the Incas and Mayans!" She shouted back, matching his speed in archery. They were perched on opposite sides of an alley, assigned to keep watch over their teammates who were fighting on the ground, except for Tony and Thor. They were flying around, providing cover. The team had received intel a group of gun runners who worshipped the groups of people that had disappeared off the face of the earth centuries ago. They called themselves M.I.A., in solidarity with those groups. What their ultimate goal was, no one knew, but they'd gained enough firepower to bring them to SHIELD's, and therefore, the Avengers attention. The team had been sent to Cancun, where their base of operations had been located. The goal was to retrieve the acquired arsenals and neutralize the group, which is what led to the team to the mess they were dealing with at present. Tony and Thor had corralled the group into about a 3-block radius, then landed to help Nat and Steve who were on the ground fighting. Bruce was in the quinjet waiting for a code green to be called, and the previously mentioned Hawkeye pair, or Robin and Marian as Stark called them, were on the roofs. Suddenly, the group heard Mikayla's shriek pierce their comms. "Clint! Run!" Scuffling could be heard, and then nothing.
"Hawkeye, come in! Maid Marian, can you hear me? Tony and Cap could be heard yelling but neither one received a reply.
"I shall go at once to see what I can find," Thor said and flew up to look at the roofs the pair were using as their perches. He returned a short time later carrying their bows and quivers. He also brought back Mikayla's arm guard, which was covered in blood, and one of Clint's shoes. "I am sorry, but this is all I could find."
"Take those back to the quinjet. Banner!" He announced through his comm, "Got some items coming your way of Robin and Marian's. See if you can find a clue from them as to where they are!" He looked around at the group. "When was the last time anyone heard from them?"
Nat said, "Probably 15 minutes or so. They were discussing the original groups, the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs. You know, their usual banter."
"At least we didn't have to hear them making out…again," Steve muttered under his breath. How he always seemed to be the lucky one who walked in on them was beyond him.
"Oh, wherever they are, I'm sure they're doing just that," Nat replied. "They can't seem to keep their hands off of each other for more than 2 seconds."
Unfortunately, this was far from the truth. After Mikayla had warned Clint to run, he shot a grappling arrow toward the building Mikayla was planted on, but before he could get the shot off, someone had appeared on the roof and knocked his bow out of his hand, causing the arrow to fall harmlessly to the ground. "It's useless, Hawkeye. We have what we require, so your services are no longer needed."
Clint looked across and saw three henchmen were ripping Mikayla's bow out of her hand and had cut her armguard off, tossing it, her bow, and her quiver to the ground. She was still ordering Clint to run away, to not let himself be caught.
"No, take me instead! Let her go!"
He was punched by one of the henchmen. "As we said, we have what we require. Your services are no longer needed." Clint fought the three henchmen surrounding him, but one of them had taken out a syringe and plunged it into his neck, sending him into unconsciousness.
When he woke up, he found he was being held in a cage-like structure with just enough room for him to stand and turn around. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear the fog. When he was able to see, he almost wished he would have stayed in the fog. He saw his girlfriend lying spread-eagled on a table, her hands, and feet bound in chains linked to rings at each end of the slab. She was bleeding from various body parts, and he saw blood had begun to pool on each side of her. All he could think of was he hoped she was unconscious so she wouldn't be feeling the pain she must have been experiencing. "What the hell is going on?"
"Good evening, Hawkeye. We're so glad you could join us for this special event." A heavy-set man with an extremely receding hairline and goatee walked over to the cage. "Our plan is almost complete. All our maker requires now is the slow sacrifice of a woman with hair the color as the dark of night and eyes the color of espresso. We have found such a woman. Thank you for providing her for us. Our gods will be pleased and then we can rest." He turned back around to the people gathered around the, for lack of a better term, altar. "Bor, her right hand, please."
"Yes, my lord." The man next to her right hand took a knife and made a slow slash on Mikayla's right palm. Clint looked over and saw she was unfortunately awake. She was biting her lip, refusing to give in and give them the satisfaction of knowing she was in pain. The man turned her hand slightly, allowing the blood to drip into a bowl.
"Gundar, the same on the left side, please."
"Yes, my lord." The ritual was completed on Mikayla's left hand, and a bowl was placed next to her left hand, allowed to fill with blood. The same routine was also done to each of her feet.
'Exactly how much blood can someone lose before they can't survive?' Clint thought to himself. "Please, take me, sacrifice me in her place. Please let me switch with her."
"Oh, great Hawkeye. You are an exemplary warrior, but our gods no longer need a warrior. They need a woman. They require this woman." He turned his attention back to Mikayla. "It is time for the next portion. You all are dismissed." The men bowed and left the room. "This section of the ritual is extremely important, so please take note, mighty warrior." He put some sort of potion under Mikayla's nose, causing her to wake up. She immediately tried to get loose, but the chains wouldn't budge. "Aw, Lady Hawkeye, so glad you could join us for the festivities this evening. After all, you are the main event, and our gods would not be pleased if you were to not be awake for it."
"What the hell are you babbling on about, you lunatic?" Mikayla tried to goad him.
'That's my spunky woman,' Clint thought to himself. Unfortunately, the leader did not see it that way and slapped her across the face.
"That shall be enough of that. The gods do not like it when the sacrifice make it harder on themselves."
"Then your god is sure going to hate me because I can damn well guarantee you, I'm not going down without a fight."
"We shall see, Lady Hawkeye, we shall see." He took out a longer, sharper knife then the ones the men were using. He placed the knife behind her right ear, then made a long cut to her neck, stopping just short of the carotid artery. He took a bowl from beneath the altar and placed it at her neck, making sure the blood was able to drip into the bowl. He walked confidently around the table and did the same thing to the left side of her head, adding another bowl to the collection.
"Ho, hum, getting bored now. I'd appreciate it if you'd let me go now. It would be easier for you if you did because the team is not going to be as nice as Hawkeye I are." Mikayla fought the urge to moan every time she spouted off. She'd be damned if she'd give him that satisfaction. She moved her eyes around and finally saw Clint. "Hey."
"Hey, babe." He tried to bend the bars to get to her, but they seemed indestructible. "You okay?"
"Yep, who needs all this blood. I've been wanting to lose a few pounds, anyway."
"Ah, young love, isn't it grand? If it meant to be, I hope you will get to experience it in your next life? I hope that your gods find you worthy to be together as you were in this life." He went to walk to the opposite end of the table, then stopped and turned around to face Clint. "I failed to mention this part of the ritual. Our gods not only demand blood sacrifice but a sexual sacrifice as well." Both Clint's and Mikayla's eyes opened wide, and Mikayla began to struggle. "Before that, I have one last mark to make with this." He held up the knife and carved an X on Mikayla's chest. "This is to make sure the final sacrifice goes as planned. This is so the chief priest will be able to remove her heart."
"Noooo!" Clint couldn't take it any longer. "Let her go, damn it! Don't you think about touching her anymore, you piece of shit!" He grabbed the bars so tightly his fingers started to bleed.
"I do enjoy seeing such devotion in lovers. It makes the sacrifice even sweeter and more endearing." He calmly walked toward the table toward Mikayla's feet, dragging the knife along Mikayla's side, causing even more blood to seep out. When he reached Mikayla's waist, he began cutting off her pants, not caring if the knife went too deep to draw blood. Once he had them cut, he ripped off the remaining material and climbed on top of the table, leaning over Mikayla.
This was the action that finally broke her. She began frantically screaming and shaking her head back and forth. "No! Don't touch me again, you son of a bitch!" The more she fought, however, the more she bled, and the weaker she got.
"Mikayla, babe, save your strength. You've got this, sweetheart, just stay calm for me, please?" She could no longer hear him; she had passed out from blood loss.
"I'm so sorry she won't be awake for this. The gods will not be pleased, so I will just need to get more blood from her to atone for that." As he leaned back, a large, round, vibranium shield flew through the window, knocking him off the table.
"About damn time you got here, he almost…" Clint couldn't form the words.
"We've been looking for you," Nat said. "We had to find the trail first and that took a while." She picked the lock and let him out of the cage.
Clint made a beeline for Mikayla. "How is she, Cap? Is she-?"
Steve leaned down. "She's breathing, but it's shallow. Nat, can you get these chains off of her?" Nat nodded and within a few seconds had freed Mikayla.
"Thor, where are you?" Cap shouted.
"I am here," Thor said as flew through the window. He hurried over to Mikayla. "Our fair Mikayla is not looking well. I will get her to the doctor on the quinjet, post-haste." He picked Mikayla up bridal style and flew her to a waiting Bruce.
"Clint, are you okay? Your hands are bleeding?"
"I'm fine, Cap, thanks. Right now, I need to make sure she'll be fine."
Tony chimed in. "It's going to take a lot more than a run-in with idol worshipers to get knock her out of commission." He heard a commotion behind him. "Thor just made it here. As soon as the rest of you get back here, we'll take off." Nat and Steve led Clint outside and the trio made their way to the quinjet. Once on, Tony took off. Clint stayed by Mikayla's side the entire time.
When the quinjet made it back to the home base, Mikayla was taken immediately to the hospital wing where she was evaluated and stitched up. She did require a blood transfusion but was expected to make a full recovery. Clint stayed by her side until she woke up several days later. "Hey, beautiful," he greeted her when she finally came to. "Welcome back."
"Hey," she responded weakly. "How long?"
"A couple of days." He stroked her arm. "You're safe now. I tried to get him to take me."
"I know," she smiled at him. "He didn't?"
"Nope, Cap took him out with his shield."
Mikayla breathed a sigh of relief. "That's the last thing I remember, him on top of me. I knew I could make it through the cutting and the bleeding, but what he planned to do…" A shiver went up her spine.
Clint knew that was her weakness ever since she'd been attacked and sexually violated by some guys working for his brother Barney. He vowed then he would never let that happen to her again, and thanks to Cap, it hadn't.
"How are the cuts?"
"Healing. At the rate I'm going, I'll be catching up to you in the number of scars." She looked at him and smirked. "Want to help me count? You count mine and I'll count yours?"
"Babe, I love the way your mind works. Move over." She slid over and he crawled onto the bed and stretched out next to her. "I'll start." He ran his index finger lightly over the one along her left jawline. "One for you."
She traced one on his left eyelid. She kept meaning to ask how that one came about. "One for you."
He took his other hand and ran that index finger down her right jawline. "Two for you."
She looked at his arm and traced the remnant of the bite mark from Nat when he was under Loki's control. "Two for you."
Clint traced the top of the X peeking out from under her hospital gown. "Three for you." She shuddered a bit when he touched it, partially from the memory and partially out of anticipation.
"You're playing dirty," she whispered. "I love it." She lifted his shirt and traced the scar from the bullet wound he received when he was shot in the abdomen by someone working for his psychotic ex-girlfriend, Laura Ignazio. "Three for you," she whispered in his ear.
"That's enough for now." He crashed his lips into hers and began running his hands over her body, avoiding the wounds caused by the lunatic who'd put her in the hospital.
"Don't make me walk in there, Nat," Steve whined. "I know what I'm going to find. The two of them will be in some stage of kissing and I think I've seen enough to last several lifetimes."
"Steve," Nat said. "She lost a lot of blood from getting all sliced up. Even I wouldn't have the strength to do anything after going through that."
"Fine, but if I see what I think I'm going to see, I'm never going to visit them in the hospital again until I know someone else has dropped by first." Steve pushed open the door and immediately turned back to his teammate. "I believe you underestimate our lovebirds." He turned around and walked away.
Nat's curiosity got the best of her. She peeked in and saw her teammates and had to stifle a laugh. They were laying next to each other and Clint was in the process of pulling Mikayla's hospital gown up her body. "Tony's going to owe me 10 bucks for this one." She chuckled as she walked back down the hall.