Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the good guys portrayed in this story. I'll just borrow them from the MCU and release them back to them more or less unscathed at the end of the story.
He was hanging, of that he was sure. The pain in his shoulder helped to wake him up. His hands were already numb, it was a good indication that he had been out for a while.
It was cold, he could feel the skin of his torso exposed to any air movement in the room same for his socks. Evidently, someone took the liberty of taking off his shirt and socks. It didn't look promising. At least three other people in the room, two asking questions and a third breathing heavily and too fast.
He tried to remember how he got there. Cooper.
Clint opened his eyes and blinked to bring the scene into focus.
«Cooper! »
Cooper called him back, the voice uncertain, like if he was on the verge of crying.
His son was tied to a chair right in front of him.
The marks from the slap were still there, he wasn't sure if there was a new one, but now he had a brand-new small cut on the lower lip.
Two thugs were around him and they were asking «where? ».
They were not the same as before and also their origin sounded quite different, the man had a European accent, with some German influence, but not the aspect, black hair and dark eyes and a slightly olive complexion give him an appearance as far as possible from the classical stereotype. And he was tall, really tall. The woman had cinder dreadlocks that matched a sand-colored t-shirt, and she was definitely from California.
Deutsch and Kelly, as he just dubbed them in his mind, asked one more time, the questions that they probably just repeated over and over.
«Where is she? Who's helping her? »
Where they still after Lila? Or were they just buying their time waiting for him to wake up?
Although Cooper was mindful of the two people around him, he seemed more interested in his father than in the question. At the beginning, he was enthusiast of seeing him awake, but the initial hope was mixing more and more with fear and doubt. Clint could not blame him for that after he just killed a person in front of his eyes and incapacitated two more.
«Hi Coop! » He decided to start all over again and downplay it.
«Are you alright? » the eyes of the boy look him over, like he didn't want to make eye contact, but also not look away. Or like he was checking for injuries, but Clint was sure he had plenty of time to do that even before he woke up.
« Peachy. » He offered the kid a weak smile.
Kelly interrupted their starting conversation:
« Daddy's 'wake. Now things gonna be hella interesting. » Deutsch continued for her: «Maybe your father will kick some sense into you and make you cooperate, or maybe we will first have to convince your father of which is the best option. »
Clint was confused. Were they really after the information on Lila? Were they so confident as to keep spending the day just to get more leverage or did they really have a good excuse to go after his daughter? An army, even if small, after such a little girl didn't make any sense.
The man got closer to Clint, so close that Clint could have easily raised his legs around the man's neck and snap it, but his son was there and the boy was already too scared and too hurt.
«We need to know where the girl is. »
Clint laughed in his face; it was a hysterical laugh halfway between mockery and relief. Whatever it was, it appeared to be the wrong move as Deutsch, punched him hard in the gut.
« Dad! Don't hurt my dad, please. »
Deutsch and Kelly started to laugh in unison, those two had definitely worked long together. Clint joined them, the new perspective on the scene gave him hope for the first time. It was way better for him to be leverage to have Cooper talk, than the viceversa.
«It looks like we did the right thing waiting for daddy to be awake. Ima bet li'l Coop here gonna help us now. » Prompted Kelly, while she caressed Cooper's shoulders.
«Coop remember what I told you. You have to be brave. » He looked at Cooper, but the kid was facing somewhere else trying to escape Kelly's touch.
«Shut the fuck up! » another punch hitting the ribs.
«Be brave. »
Cooper sucked back the tears and tried and stilled himself.
Deutsch got even closer to Clint, he was so tall that even with Clint hanging and barely touching the ground with his feet the man's head was a few inches taller. It made it an excellent position to headbutt him, crush his nose, and with some luck having the nose going straight into the man's brain.
«Again. Where is the girl? -this time it was Deutsch speaking- Cooper your father is hurting from the fight in the cell. His wrists will start to bleed very soon from the handcuffs. Tell us where did you leave the girl and who is helping her and your father will be eased down immediately. But if you are not speaking up, I'll hurt your father more and it will be only your fault. »
«Be brave Coop. It's all right. » he finally managed to lock eyes with his son and was immediately sure that the boy was going to do the right thing.
«What do you want with her? »
«That is none of your business. »
«Ohh, I'd say it is, first she is my daughter, second you were so foolish to kidnap my son and me just to get to her. If I am gonna d.. be hurt here at least I want to know why. » he caught himself in time, he knew that 'die' was the right word there, but he dared not say it loud for his son to hear it.
«Let's say, she has something we want » Deutsch explained vaguely.
«Ah, I see- he said looking straight into Deutsch's eyes- it's her mother that buys her the dresses, let me do a phone call and I let you know where. I'm sure you'll look lovely in them. » he heard his son laugh and smirk in response. It didn't matter the hit that followed, that laugh was completely worth it. It was enough to go through the whole day.
Deutsch got closer exposing his neck to whisper in Clint's ear, his jugular so inviting:
«I can reduce you to a whimpering thing, convulsing in your own blood and wastes, in front of your boy. Do you really want this? »
Clint response was just a whisper, barely audible to the man and completely unknown to anyone else:
«You should be thankful that the boy is here. I already had three chances to kill you, but I do not want to scare him more. »
The man immediately took a step back, Clint smirked and it was clear that the thug didn't like it.
No, Deutsch didn't like it at all and he had all the means to make good on his promises.
A chill went down Clint's naked spine.
Deutsch moved even further away and give a nod to someone behind Clint.
How could he have been so clueless of a fifth person in the room?
He had a burst of primal fear for the unknown person behind him, for the pain to come. But he immediately took control. As long as it was about him and not Cooper it was fine, he could take it, S.H.I.E.L.D had trained him for it. Even if it didn't make it any easier.
He watched his son again to find the courage he needed and see the boy's eyes go wide as the fifth person moved behind his back.
«Be brave. » he muttered to his son, and maybe also to himself, and he forced a half a smile for him. Then the whip hit.
He focused hard on not letting go of a sound.