Warning: this is a whump story with little plot and quite some angst, centered on Clint Barton. In my opinion, it is slightly darker and more violent than the MCU/Disney canon, but nothing that a generic action movie/series wouldn't use.

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.

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Chapter 1

The wood was lovely and the children were enjoying it so much.

Cooper could not stop running from one rock to the other, rolling over them, bouncing on tree trunks, and perching from the lowest branches. Lila chased him while holding on to one ear of her new bunny plush firmly with all her might. Clint almost felt guilty for not having Laura with them, but he had been so little around lately that he wanted one afternoon alone with his kids.

He let them go forth and then trail quickly after them, a few years and Cooper would have probably matched him in a run, but for the moment Clint enjoyed being still the fastest, and he quickly overcame them and started leading the way toward the cliff. He started to show off his old circus ability curious to see how much his older son could keep up with him.

The silence of the wood was broken by the engine of a car, maybe some idiot training for a rally. He stopped at the side of the trail, prompting the children to do the same. He did not want the idiot to run them over.
The car appeared from behind a hill still quite far away, but for some reason, Clint's instinct screamed danger. He dropped the backpack and hold the phone in his pocket, preparing himself for the fight. He was just being over-paranoid he repeated himself, he had been running all around the world in a continuous fight lately, but that was not a war zone nor an alien invasion. He took a deep breath, smiled at his children, and got ready to continue their excursion.

When machine guns appeared from the side windows aiming at them from a distance, he knew that he should have never had dismissed his instincts. Cooper and Lila start shouting at the same time.

Clint took out his phone and grab the shoulder of his children:

«Run. Call aunt Nat. Hide. I'll try to give you as much time as I can, but you have to run now. I love you. » No time for a goodbye kiss, no time for a hug.

Lila hesitated scared, but her brother grabbed her hand and did as their father told them without a question.

They started along the track going further away, along the cliff.

There was not even time to see how far they were, Clint pulled at his knives, the only kind of weapons that he had brought with him, he was already missing his bow and arrows. He always knew that sooner or later someone would have come for him, that is why he had started practicing several exit strategies with Cooper since the Avengers became popular, and after the Ultron fiasco, he also started with Lila.
The car was getting closer and behind it, three more vehicles were approaching. At least they had the decency of not underestimating him. He launched the first knife getting exactly through the windshield but missing the passengers. The driver swirled and come to a halt right in front of him, the four passengers got out immediately and kept moving on the ground.

One half out, three to go. From the three cars still driving, people started firing at him. It was still too far away and too unstable for them to get a good shot on him, so bullets were flying in all directions, in front of him and more worryingly behind him, where his children had just gone.

Clint took cover, he was no help to them if he died too early, and from behind a tree, he launched the other knives.

As the driver of the second car loosed completely control of the vehicle, a cloud of dust raised from the ground, making it even more difficult to hit the third one. He launched another couple of knives basing on his instinct and the loud thud he heard back told him he hit the target once again. By then the men who got out of the first car were already surrounding him.

He kicked one, ducked under the swift of a second and tackled a third at the same time. Raising up again he blocked the hit of the fourth and when the second get again at him it was almost too easy to take the gun from him and shot all four of them.

More people were coming, but at the same time, the fourth car went past him and hot on the trail of his children. He could not allow it.

He shot alternatively at the windshield and at the tires, ignoring completely the people coming at him. He shot again and again until that last car started to swirl finally.

People jumped out and started running on the trail, in the direction Coop and Lila had just gone, at that distance, they were mere shadows amidst the dust raised by the car. Clint aimed and fired the two rounds left in the cartridge and saw two shadows drop, but two more were still disappearing in the distance. He went running after them, but something hit him from behind making him stumble to the ground.

He recovered his position, but by then six men were already on him. He did not care, he grabbed another knife, sliced one throat, kick down a man. Punch another just to take the gun and create an opening toward the trail. He needed to stop the last two shadows before they could get to Cooper and Lila. They could kill him, but the children had nothing to do with it. Cowards.

The men were already out of view, he ran as fast as he could and then he was on the ground again. His legs tied up at the calf. The gun still in his hand he turned and shot whatever he could see moving, the other hand trying to free his legs. He had to go to his kids.

The men were on him in no time. Kicking the gun out of his hand, before starting to kick every inch of him and the only thing he could do was to curl to protect his head and torso.

A crack on the radio and most people seemed to take a step back at the same time.

«Where is she? »

Clint's mind barely registered the question as he took the momentary advantage in the fight, he grabbed the nearest foot with all his strength and dropped the owner to the ground. He stood awkwardly, with his legs still bound together, just to get into the fight again. Two more people were down by now, one with his neck snapped, the other was nursing a broken arm. He needed to free his leg and run toward his kid before it was too late.

Suddenly a scream made him froze. It was pain. And it was Cooper's.

A stronger instinct then the fight kicked in and he gave his back to the assailant. He stared at the emptiness of the trail in front of him like he could see whatever horror his son was going through. Oblivious to everything Clint tried to run there, instead with his legs still bound he ended up in the dirt and mud. Or maybe someone had pushed him, it didn't matter. He had to go to Coop, anything else was not important, not even the blows that he was receiving. He had to go to him, but as hard as he tried, he wasn't able to raise, nor to crawl there.

He could not protect his children.

He failed them.

With this idea in mind, the world went black.