CHAPTER 6 - Savior
When Clint woke again, he was already strapped down on a table. He jerked around, feeling right away that the cuffs were weak compared to what he typically was held down with. It would be easy to escape. But before he could even begin trying to slip out, a loud scream from a room nearby echoed into Clint's room, making him still. It was a familiar cry.
"Bucky," Clint huffed before working at his cuffs. He was gonna break out and get the soldier. Yeah, he knew Steve was gonna come and save them but still... He didn't want to leave people like this for too long anymore. Already he regretted allowing so many men to be taken before. And besides, he knew Steve came at some point in November... But was it the beginning or the end? If it was the end... God help them all.
"Hold him down!" a voice cried seconds before hands grabbed at Clint and stilled him against the table. Clint growled, spitting curses at everyone until a needle was injected in his arm. Frowning, he glanced over to the spot and saw Zola happily standing there. Furrowing his brow now, Clint twitched his eyes to the area Zola had inserted the needle. There didn't seem to be any lasting damage. What had Zola done? "Enjoy."
"Wha-" Clint started before he felt it. His blood felt like it was on fire. Unable to help himself, the archer roared in pain. What the fuck was happening? Distantly, Clint could hear Zola laughing beside him. Jesus, was Zola experimenting on him? Wait, had he been experimenting on everyone that had been taken? Then, Clint's mind blanketed itself in a swirl of pain. It took a while before Clint began to feel anything close to normal after that injection. Distantly, Clint knew he should start trying to get out but he couldn't figure out why. Nearly a minute later, the archer remembered why. Just before he started fighting the cuffs again, Zola returned and with a smile held up a new needle. "Fuck you."
"Ah, but you are such a good rat," Zola cooed before injecting the thing in him again. Clint tensed, waiting for the pain. While waiting, Zola looked the archer over. He paused at the scarring behind Clint's ears. "I wonder what caused this."
"Like I'm gonna tell you," Clint snidely hissed. It took a bit longer than last time for the serum to actually work but when it did, the pain was much worse. His screams were drowned out by his body's attempt at rejecting whatever had been given to him. Coming down was harder than it had before. It still hurt. All his muscles felt stretched and tense. Almost like he had spent three days in an Avengers battle without rest. By the time everything cooled down and Clint could act, Zola had already returned and added a new serum. This one left Clint dizzy and distracted.
"Wha-" the archer began to moan, trying his best to focus on the scientist. Why was this one so different? What the hell was this guy doing to him? Was Bucky getting the same treatment? Hell, had everyone gotten the same treatment?
"Fascinating. Mark that serum five nine seven has delirium properties," Zola reported. Clint grimaced. Fuck him. He was screwed. "I shall go check on our other friend."
"Buck-" Clint grunted out. Zola paused before moving back to Clint, patting the archer's face with an evil smile on his face. Clint blinked rapidly as he slowly pulled his head away from the scientist's hand.
"Don't worry. He is getting the same treatment as yourself. Fascinating to watch as it tears you both apart," the scientist informed. Clint tightly closed his eyes, praying he had the coordination to spit into Zola's face. But by the time Clint figured he was ready, Zola was already gone. He had missed his chance.
After that Clint began to lose track of time. Once he would start to feel something anywhere close to normal, Zola was back with some sort of injection. Most left his blood feeling like lava. Some left him like ice. Even more made him delirious and dizzy. Zola kept laughing and marking notes from the reactions he was getting. Clint once tried to ask about Bucky but his tongue refused to work. It was around then that Clint gave in and simply floated through the sensations of the injections. After that, it didn't seem to take all that long after that before there seemed to be a bunch of explosions. Clint blearily tried his best to focus, looking around the room. Something was happening. Something important.
"What happened to you?" a voice echoed, but Clint hardly focused on it.
"I joined the army," came a familiar voice. Clint frowned before remembering the voice. It was his savior! Well, Bucky's savior really. God, if what he remembered was right, Schmidt blew the fucking place up. If he didn't get saved now, he'd die strapped to a fucking table!
"Steve!" he croaked out. There was a pause that Clint could hardly hear. Was he loud enough? Had anyone heard? "Steve!"
"Clint?" came Steve's confused voice. Clint hardly was able to smile. He had been heard. They'd be coming for him.
"Here," Bucky's voice added. A moment later, Steve was standing over Clint and undoing the cuffs that held him down. Once free, Clint moved to sit up, catching a quick look of Bucky leaning against the door frame. Steve gripped his shoulder when the archer suddenly found himself feeling as if the room was spinning.
"You okay?" Steve wondered, helping Clint get to his feet. Clint nodded, intent on walking himself. He took a few steps on his own before nearly falling down. Steve caught him before he went down all the way. Apparently he wasn't as okay as he thought. But he'd trudge on. "Come on."
"I can walk," Clint argued as Steve helped Clint move to where Bucky waited. Having been rescued first, Bucky was more settled than Clint and so he just pushed off the wall and started walking/jogging beside Steve. Growling, Clint only took help for maybe another half minute before he started on his own. As they headed down the hall, Bucky and Steve kept talking.
"Is it permanent?" Bucky wondered.
"So far," Steve replied. Clint huffed, silently thankful that Steve hadn't heard him, even with his newly enhanced hearing. It was permanent but he wasn't gonna say shit and he could only pray neither of them asked. Clint focused on what was happening around them. The other POWs must have gotten into the yard already and were causing a huge issue as all he could hear was gun fire and explosions. Clint tried to hide his smirk. He hoped they all killed a whole bunch of these Hydra assholes. Following after Steve and Bucky, Clint didn't think anything about it until they hit a metal bridge and they all stopped. Across the way was Zola and who Clint could only assume was Johann Schmidt.
"Captain America! How exciting! I'm a great fan of your films!" Schmidt's voice cried from the other side. Bucky and Clint stilled at the barrier, watching even as Steve and Schmidt moved. Slowly, the duo began walking to the cross way that separated all of them and met in the middle. "So, Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement but still... Impressive."
Clint nearly cheered when Steve pulled a right hook on Schmidt. Beside him Bucky let out a soft chuckle that hardly covered Schmidt's sound of pain. Steve shook his head slightly after that. "You've got no idea."
"Haven't I?" Schmidt responded, pulling back for his own punch. Steve saw it coming and ducked behind his shield. A shield that Clint knew was not all that likely to hold up against the hit. But he did notice something. Underneath Schmidt's right eye there was a bit of red. And not red like the red from a hit to his face... Then Clint remembered. Schmidt's other name was Red Skull. He never thought it would be that literal.
After the hit, Steve pulled out his gun but Schmidt was faster, he punched the Captain and Steve fell backwards. Bucky and Clint lunged forward as if they could help but neither got all that far before their exhausted bodies protested the movement. Steve's gun clattered off the walk way as Schmidt advanced and like in 2012, Steve recovered quickly and kicked out both his legs into Schmidt's chest. On the other side of the cross way, Zola pulled a switch that had Clint frowning. What was that going to do? A second later, Clint knew. It was separating the two men. Well, that worked. Both men got to their feet and looked down at the wide expanse between them. Steve growled lightly before focusing on Schmidt as the other man gave him a pleased look.
"No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see, I was his greatest success!" Schmidt announced loudly as Bucky began to move his hands to not get knocked over by the moving metal beside him. Clint stood at Bucky's other side, just watching in confusion. Just as Steve stopped beside them Schmidt reached up to his face. Clint blanched, knowing what was going to happen next. Schmidt removed his face mask and revealed his face as pretty much what his second name said. A goddamn red skull. Steve did a slight gasp of surprise as Clint tried hard not to throw up. If he ever saw Steve again, he'd ask why the hell he hadn't said how fucking nasty that looked. Once Schmidt stopped moving, Clint heard Bucky.
"You don't have one of those, do you?" the Sergeant asked. Clint tried hard not to laugh. But he knew, if he hadn't met Steve in the future, he'd have likely asked the same damn thing. Schmidt had taken Erskine's formula. And now Steve had as well. It could have happen.
"You are deluded Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier but in reality, you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind," Schmidt announced. Clint huffed, watching as Schmidt then began getting off of his ramp and walked toward Zola. "Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!"
"Then how come you're running?" Steve shouted back. Clint did snort at that. Typical Steve. Bucky glanced over to the archer but said nothing. Schmidt said nothing in response. Just got into, what Clint guessed after was an elevator with Zola at his side. Before any of the trio could comment after that, there was another explosion down below that had the whole walkway shaking. Clint looked down, staring at the destruction in aw. Is this what villains saw when they were still in a building he or Nat blew up? God, it was rather horrifying. Not that it was going to stop him from doing it in the future, but still. Interesting to know and be on the other side. "Come on, lets go, up!"
Clint turned quickly to see Steve was leading Bucky up another set of steps. With a growl, he followed, looking above to see what Steve saw. A rafter. Huh... He should have fucking noticed that himself. Clint trailed after Steve and Bucky like a little lost lamb until they got to the top and looked across. Once they all got to the top, Clint noted more explosions down below. This was gonna suck.
"Let's go. One at a time," Steve encouraged. Clint glanced down, remembering Steve mentioning that Bucky was sent over first and then the rafter collapsed. He frowned. Would it collapse if he crossed first? In the end it didn't seem to matter as Steve encouraged Bucky to get over the railing and head across the rafter. Clint and Steve backed away, watching. Bucky made slow progress but Clint could tell the rafter was starting to fail. Okay, so a change in history was not going to be something easy for Clint. Once that thing fell, how would he get across?
A particular explosion below had the rafter shift downwards. Clint gritted his teeth and judged the distance to the other walkway. Too far for him to jump. A walk in the park for Steve. At the halfway mark another explosion weakened the rafter even more and Bucky ran for it, leaping slightly off the rafter to catch the other side. Clint watched as the rafter fell, Steve and him being forced to back up even more as flames shot up a bit higher. Across the way, Bucky pulled himself up over the railing and then looked down and then over to them.
"There's gotta be a rope or something!" Bucky cried. Clint grimaced, looking around at the ceiling. And then there, Clint noted a part of the ceiling in the middle that was leaning down. It was some type of steel support that had been knocked a bit loose. Judging the distance, Clint knew he could make it if he jumped off the railing at a dead run. A run that Clint wasn't entirely sure he could make at the moment.
"Just go! Get outta here!" Steve called back. Clint looked to him slightly surprised before realizing, this was Bucky. Of course he'd want the guy to get out of there. Clint gritted his teeth, not willing to comment. If anything, Clint was going to be the only one who likely wasn't going to come out of this alive.
"No! Not without you!" Bucky determinedly shouted. Clint winced as Steve looked around. In the explosion and drop of the rafter, some of the railing had bent itself outward. With a grunt, Steve pushed one of the pieces aside to get more room. When he was done, Clint leaned forward to test it's strength. It was good. A little bouncy but that could work in his favor. Steve backed up. Clint followed his lead, mentally planning his own path, ignoring the Captain. From across the way, Bucky looked horrified.
After a second's hesitation, Steve ran forward and leaped at the edge. Clint was only a moment behind, catching the railing and jumping up higher than Steve. To both of their luck (ironically enough) another explosion went off and pushed them a bit further. Clint's hand caught the ceiling piece just as Steve landed on the other side. With help from Bucky, Steve made it up over the railing. Both of them spun and looked for Clint, to see if the archer was still within sight. It took the other sniper to look up before Bucky spotted him.
"CLINT!" the Sergeant roared. Clint ignored him, using his body momentum to swing back and forth, judging how best to do this next move. Without another explosion, Clint would be cutting it close. With a grit of his teeth again, Clint pulled back hard and then came forward, releasing a second too late and pulling himself into a flip that he hadn't planned for.
Thankfully his flips tended to get him further than a regular jump, so he curled himself into a bit of a ball to spin slightly faster. Once he was over the main part of it, he straightened his body and reached out. After a moment more of flight, Clint realized, he wasn't going to make it. His judgement had been wrong. Then Steve lurched forward, giving him that extra edge. Clint grasped the Captain's hand and when he crashed against the railing, both of them let out a loud cry as their arms and shoulders pulled at the sudden weight change. Distantly, Clint noted that his shoulder did not dislocate itself as it had done many times in the past from the same type of move. A moment after that, Clint was pulled up with help from Bucky as well as Steve.
"Let's get out of here," Steve growled as soon as he knew the archer was safe. Clint nodded and the three took off for the door. They were all pleasantly surprised it was a door that led outside. As soon as they burst through the door, someone turned to aim a gun at them. It was one of the other POWs that had been in cage near Bucky and Clint. The guy thankfully didn't shoot. Clint glanced around. They were getting close to getting boxed in.
"Give me a gun!" Clint demanded as a few more guys came over to them. Someone tossed him a gun with a blue tinge to it. Clint grimaced at the sight but looked up, intent on not letting the color get to him. These guys needed Clint to be on top of his game. Beside him, Bucky was also tossed one. Anyone with a fucking Hydra pin was going down. A shot later and Clint was partly pleased to see the body vanish in a puff of smoke. He had thought that what happened at Azzano was just a trick of the light or something. Maybe some delusional gas. Or that the guns only worked with some type of special grip. Something. But, nope. It'd work fine.
"What the heck?" Steve muttered beside him, looking down at the two guns with a surprised face. While Clint and Bucky had both seen the reaction from this type of gun before, Steve had not. Bucky smirked at his friend even as Clint huffed before shooting at more men, Bucky quickly following after. Steve used his shield to protect Bucky and Clint as much as possible. Considering the damn thing was little more than a glorified peace of 'tin,' it held up well against normal gun shots and certainly against the blue streaks that flew through the air. The group moved quickly and just barely got out of range when the damn building went up sky high.
"Woah..." someone called, looking at the sight. Slowly, the attacking Hydra force dwindled to nothing. Once it seemed fully done, Steve glanced back quickly before focusing on the men he had saved.
"Everyone okay?" the Captain asked. Cautiously, the men trickled together. Clint was actually surprised at how many people there was. Guess they had found more cages on the way out, cause there was no way this many men had been in the cages that had been around him. Dugan popped his head out of a tank, grinning like a fool.
"Sarg!" the man cried out at the sight of Bucky. Bucky waved a hand to him. Clint huffed.
"Feeling left out here man," the archer grumbled. That sent a few people from the 107th and some of the nearby cages laughing. Everyone knew of the trio's kinship. With a grunt, he turned to Steve. "Know the way back?"
"Yeah, yeah I do," Steve replied. He headed to the front of the pack as a few guys began collecting whatever weapons that hadn't been destroyed in the explosion and fight. Clint was stunned to see another tank and pointed it out to some men. Gleefully, they rushed to it.
The march through the woods was rather longer than Clint expected it to be. Racking his brain, Clint tried to remember how long it would be till they reached camp. Then he remembered what Coulson had once said to him. While everyone thought Bucky and the others had been held in Azzano, they had actually been transported. Thirty miles. They had to walk thirty miles or so back to camp. With a soft groan that no one heard, Clint walked beside Bucky, who refused to leave Steve's side. The duo had begun arguing about Steve being in the war nearly as soon as they walked out of the gates.
"Bucky, it was my only chance," Steve argued. Bucky growled.
"Only chance at what? Coming to get yourself killed? You should have fucking stayed home!"
"Buck, I'm fine. I won't get hurt," Steve promised. Bucky gave out a harsh laugh.
"You can't fucking promise that shit, Stevie. This is war!" Bucky retorted. Clint winced. He had to agree with Bucky. There was no way Steve could avoid every type of injury. Maybe it wouldn't be anything drastic, but Bucky would likely take even a paper cut as an 'I told you so' moment.
"Buck, I needed to come. Needed to fight," Steve whined. Bucky rolled his eyes.
"I told you not to do anything stupid!" the Sergeant snapped. Clint gave a dark sigh. His head was beginning to hurt. "Stevie, you were safe."
"I didn't want to be safe. I wanted to come here and help fight," Steve finally snapped. Clint growled now. His head was seriously killing him, he was tired, and he just wanted to go home. See his family. Have a damn cook out with his friends. Fuck the war. Fuck everything!
"Bucky, shut up!" he nearly shouted. A group of men, Steve and Bucky included, looked to Clint in surprise. "If he hadn't of done what he did, we'd still all be stuck in that fucking hell hole! I, for one, am fucking thankful his damn stupid ass came here."
"Thank you," Steve graciously replied pointedly ignoring the vulgar language. Bucky huffed and lightly punched Clint's arm with a small smile. Clint sighed deeply. Least Bucky wasn't that mad. The archer looked up to Steve and noted that the Captain was smiling as well.
"You're both fuckin' punks," the Sergeant reported, all the anger from before having vanished. They laughed as Steve moved closer and wrapped an arm around Bucky's shoulders before using his other arm to wrap around Clint's shoulder. It felt good to be part of this. He missed something familiar like Steve. Even if it wasn't fully the Steve he remembered.
"HEY! LET'S HEAR IT FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA!" Bucky shouted when they arrived at camp and they realized Steve wasn't going to get in trouble for coming after all of them. Clint hooted in cheer even as he clapped, a huge smile on his face. This... This was nice to see. And this was why so many people admired Steve. It was worth every second of knowing this guy. The cheering went on for a good long while before it was cut off by some random man. Clint patted Steve's arm, pleased with how things turned out. Steve looked to him and smiled.
"Who else needs a damn drink!" Dugan called not long after that. With a laugh, Clint raised his hand along with a bunch of other guys. Steve shook his head at them but moved to go speak with Colonel Phillips. Clint looked to Bucky who just simply nodded. After everything they went through, a drink was seriously needed. Steve could handle himself.
Well, the drinks didn't come that night. It took nearly a week to figure out what to do with the two hundred and fifty POWs that Steve had saved, especially the non American ones. Most wanted to go back home, claiming to have fought the good fight and were now done. Amazingly enough, they got permission. Others, they just wanted a break. And again, it was given to them. Two days after getting permission themselves, Clint, Bucky and the future Howling Commandos arrived in London and started partying. Or well, trying to get drunk enough to completely forget what had happened in those cages.
The Whip & Fiddle pub tended to be packed nearly every night with the members of different companies and platoons. Clint made sure to stay with Bucky as the other men all mingled. The future Howling Commandos flocked to each other as if they had already been told they'd be part of a unit under Captain America. On this night, they sat together at a table, joking and drinking all together. The archer couldn't help but smile at them. Bucky turned to watch them as well. After a moment, the Sergeant chuckled.
"They gonna be just as stupid as us, ain't they?" Bucky wondered. Clint smirked, unwilling to mention anything. Bucky snorted. "You suck at keeping secrets."
"Fuck you," Clint grumbled, his smirk falling away. He hung his head. Bucky laughed and patted the archer on the shoulder. "Damn it... I'm so much better than this."
"I've gotten used to watching ya," Bucky informed. Clint still groaned, turning to take a long drink from his beer. He grimaced at the taste. Since arriving here, Clint had been trying different beers to find one that could seem somewhat similar to the taste he got in the future. And clearly, so far, none of them had. "Guess future beer tastes better?"
"Not really better... Just different," Clint mumbled. Bucky nodded. MREs and shit hadn't really changed and Clint hadn't had much of the other things that Steve always complained tasted different, until now. Behind them, Steve came into the club. Clint nodded his head to the man and with a small smile, Steve headed over to the duo. As soon as he was there, both men looked to him.
"I got permission to create a team," Steve muttered. Bucky chuckled.
"How many?" Bucky wondered. Clint sighed, his head falling to look at the ground. Six... That was how many Steve had gotten permission for. And Clint was certain he'd be left in the dust. For some odd reason, Clint was actually fine with that. Don't get him wrong, it'd hurt like hell to be left behind and al-
"Seven," Steve admitted. Clint's head jerked up. What? Steve chuckled at Clint's reaction. "He was gonna give me six, but I had a plan on who I wanted on the team and I demanded seven."
"He'd never have given you that!" Clint cried, stunned. Steve shrugged before looking to the table of five men, apparently intent on ignoring the archer. Clint followed the gaze. He already knew they'd all join.
"They'll come. Hell, they'll enjoy it," Bucky pointed out. Steve snorted and then headed over to the table. At first, the table kinda twittered about the news. But then they all agreed, if Clint and Bucky and Dugan was gonna be on the team, they'd love to join. And beer needed to be involved as well. With a loud laugh at them, Steve headed back over to Bucky and Clint. "Told ya they're all idiots."
"How bout you? You ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?" Steve asked, focusing mostly on Bucky. Clint laughed, taking another large sip of his drink as Bucky answered.
"Hell, no! The little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight. I'm following him," Bucky replied, turning to look at Steve. Steve smirked with a small laugh, turning to Clint. The archer simply shrugged but didn't verbally answer. Bucky took a sip of his drink then patted Steve on the arm. "But you're keeping the outfit, right?"
"You know what? It's kinda grown on me," Steve replied with a large smirk. Clint nearly choked on his drink at that. It had actually been Steve's choice to keep the red, white and blue outfit? Steve turned to him and gently patted the archer's back. Around them, the room began to go silent but Steve didn't care at first. Instead he focused on Clint. "Wanna be our seventh?"
"Why the hell not?" Clint retorted with a sigh once he had calmed from his beer snafu. He worked with Steve well enough in the future that it wouldn't be a problem to do it now. And, while yeah, he might let out too much information, he sure as hell wasn't gonna leave Bucky's side. They had grown rather close lately. That's when the trio realized the place had gone deathly quiet. They turned to the separation door and stared as Peggy Carter, in a brilliant red dress, walked toward them.
"Agent Carter," Steve greeted. Clint huffed, wondering if he could sneak out of there before Peggy focused on him. Thankfully, Peggy ignored everyone as she moved to stand right before Steve.
"Ma'am," Bucky and Clint called very softly. Peggy just nodded at them but hardly focused on them. Clint sighed in relief. He was so glad she was going to begin to ignore him. But as he quickly glanced at Bucky, he could see the Sergeant wasn't all that glad.
"Howard has some equipment he needs you to try," she informed. Steve nodded slightly.
"Sounds good," he replied. After that there was an uneasy silence that fell over them all. Bucky glanced between Peggy and Steve with a small smirk. Clint tried to hold back his chuckle, shifting as if to move away but Peggy was blocking his exit. A loud cheer erupted from the other room, getting Peggy to shift enough for Clint to have room to slip past her.
"I see your top squad is prepping for duty," Peggy noted softly before turning back to look at Steve.
"You don't like music?" Steve wondered. Clint turned away from it all. He really didn't want to hear how badly Steve fails at this moment. Hell, he doubt he'd be able to look Steve straight in the face if he heard this. With a small sigh, Clint headed deeper into the pub. He wasn't all that far away, but at least now he couldn't hear them. Clint waited till Peggy left before going back over to see Bucky's highly confused face.
"I'm invisible. I'm... I'm turning into you. This is horrible dream," Bucky complained with a laugh. Clint snorted, leaning against the bar again just watching them. Steve chuckled and patted a hand on Bucky's shoulder.
"Don't take it so hard. Maybe she's got a friend," Steve joked. That's what sent Clint over the edge. He dropped into laughter that had both men turning to look at him with a smile. Clint shook his head, unable to say anything to what Steve said. "What?"
"Nothin', nothin'," Clint laughed before patting both their shoulders and walked off. Thankfully, neither of them followed after him. But as he walked by the other Commandos, Dugan reached out and caught his arm. Clint paused to look down at him.
"You comin'?" the man asked. Clint huffed out a laugh but nodded. Dugan let out a drunken cheer that Gabe quickly joined into. Both of them were grateful that the 'wizard' was going to be on their side, protecting them. "Yeah! Can't wait to get started!"
"You're nuts," Clint laughed. Dugan laughed as well but he finally released Clint.
"Howard Stark seriously wants to give all of us weapons?" Clint repeated for a second time. Steve's smile dipped a bit at this but he nodded.
"Yes," he replied. Bucky looked to Clint and saw that the archer was going to say something again so he just elbowed him. Taking the hit, Clint glanced over at the Sergeant and glared. Totally not cool.
"Dude, do you have a problem with getting new weapons?" Morita snipped before heading off to where Steve had pointed. With that, the others began to follow until it was just Bucky, Steve and Clint.
"More like I got an issue with Howard," the archer grumbled but not loud enough for Steve or Bucky to hear. Slowly, he followed after the others, with Steve and Bucky trailing after him. Heading to the meeting place with Howard ended up having it that Peggy suddenly joined them.
"Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes, Corporal Barton," she greeted warmly to them. Clint just nodded his head as Steve and Bucky gave her a more proper greeting. "I hear you are all getting new equipment today."
"You still hear too much," Clint lightly snipped. Steve spun his head to glare at the archer but turned back when Peggy laughed.
"Well, I am pleased as punch to find that most of what I hear is true," she retorted. Bucky snorted this time. Clint huffed, trying to keep himself from smiling at her. Having hung out with her numerous times now, the two men had quickly learned of Peggy's witticism that kept them on their toes. "Howard has been going about this for a while now. Has a few things he wants tested out."
Clint grimaced. If Howard was anything like Tony, he really didn't wanna test a damn weapon out on the field. God forbid the thing blew up in his face, or didn't even fire anything! Clint knew that Howard had been a weapons developer for a long time, but that didn't always mean the first batch was workable.
"I am glad to hear that he was willing to help outfit the others with better weaponry," Steve reported with an awkward kind of tone and certainly smile. Clint snorted which set Bucky off into a choked laughter. Steve sighed, not even willing to give them the victory of his ire. That just nearly set Clint off even more.
"Well, I'm glad you both seem to enjoy this," Peggy told Clint and Bucky. Bucky rolled his eyes.
"Ma'am, I've been friends with this moron for years. I know how shitty he is with speaking to women," Bucky informed. Peggy gave a noise of humored displeasure.
"Right."
"Captain Rogers! I see this is your team!" Howard called, his voice echoing down the hall. Clint winced, his aids suddenly squealing in protest to something. He doubted it was Howard's voice as it seemed to continue even after the noise died down. Something in Howard's lab must be messing with them. Oh joy. This weapon testing was gonna go great. "-and here I have a lovely M1941 Johnson rifle."
Both Clint and Bucky reached for it. They stilled, looking to each other as everyone turned their attention to the duo.
"I was trained as a sniper," Bucky pointed out. Clint's eyes narrowed.
"So was I," the archer replied. Steve raised an eyebrow before remembering what was going on. While Clint had never gone through basic in 1943, he had training from sometime in the future. There must be a lot they didn't know about him.
"I'm likely better trained on this rifle," Bucky added, giving Clint his own raised eyebrow. And sadly, Bucky was right. Clint hadn't ever really worked with one of these rifles. They had stopped being produced sometime in 61. Glancing about, the archer noted a M1928A1 Thompson. Smiling, he nodded his head to that.
"I guess I'll just take that one," he responded. Bucky looked over at it before narrowing his eyes. Before Clint could even move, Bucky went off and snatched the rifle off the table, turning to look back at Clint with a daring gaze. Clint snorted and reached for the Johnson. This would likely be the one and only time he'd be able to hold something like this. And certainly the only time he'd be able to fire one. He was going to enjoy it.
"If you'd like, we can go to the range and practice with them," Howard suggested, looking between the duo. Steve crossed his arms over his chest, looking at them. Clint smirked, his gaze not even leaving Bucky.
"I'm willing," the archer said. Bucky nodded his own consent and off they went. The range was just on the outskirts of camp, but still in sight. Normal shooting area was set up only a short distance away from the target, but both snipers decided to put themselves further back. Nearly two hundred yards or so back. Howard quickly approved but asked for them to wait until he had set something up.
"Are you both sure you want to have this be a shoot off?" Steve asked. Bucky glanced toward Howard before looking back.
"Why not? Might be the only chance we get," Bucky pointed out. Clint laughed. Smiling, Steve shifted to the side. "You still sure you can beat me?"
Clint laughed at Bucky again before Clint noticed Howard gave them a nod. Smiling, Clint headed off toward the position the duo had agreed upon before. Bucky was quick to follow even as Steve backed away. Once in the designated area, they settled down. Bucky started messing with his scope while Clint pulled his off.
"Really. Gonna give me advantage?" Bucky huffed. Clint shrugged.
"Thought I'd even the playing field." Bucky rolled his eyes with a small smile on his face. While he had never checked on where Clint's shots landed, Bucky knew Clint was a good shot. Settling in, both men decided they'd take six shots at the target. Each one getting checked by Howard, who had some type of device that was watching where the bullets went. Clint waved down to them, signaling that both snipers were ready. It took a moment before Howard gave them the okay to fire back. They fired their first shots at the same time. The other six staggered afterwards. Once down, they packed up, smiling at each other. "Nice shooting. Very tight grouping."
"I would say same to you, but I only saw one hole," Bucky chuckled, pleased about Clint's reaction. Clint snorted. As they drew closer, Bucky noticed all the gawkers were staring at them. They slowed down and mentally Clint wished he hadn't intentionally tried to win. He should have flubbed up at some point.
"How?" Howard let out when they got close enough. Clint looked to Bucky before looking back to Howard. Bucky frowned.
"How what?" he asked. Howard pointed to the targets.
"How?" he repeated.
"How did I get a tight grouping?" Bucky wondered, confused.
"Not that, Sarg," Falsworth retorted before pointing to Clint. "You got each bullet exactly in the same hole. How?"
"Good aim," Clint responded, shifting his feet a bit. Howard held up a hand before spinning to look at everyone around. Then he grabbed a colt from a nearby man. Clint frowned as the genius came to him, snatched the rifle from his hands and shoved the colt into his chest.
"Do it again," Howard demanded. Clint frowned, looking around at everyone, Bucky included.
"Go on," Steve encouraged when Clint looked to him. Sighing, Clint raised the colt and fired eight shots without even looking. The area was silent as Howard spun to check his equipment.
"What the fuck man," Gabe grumbled, looking at the area. Clint shrugged even as Howard looked back to him. Then the archer smiled.
"I'm even better with a bow," he informed. Bucky, Dugan and Gabe all made a noise of humored surprise. Howard stared for a moment or two more before shaking a finger at the archer and then spinning off to the equipment/lab area he had. Slowly the group diminished and Clint realized what he had just done. "Fuck."
"What?" Steve wondered.
"I think I just became the reason Stark Industries creates bows," the archer mumbled.
First off, I would like to thank/apologize to fujoshi empress. Google translate is how I got those sayings. I will likely not change the other chapter to fix the phrases, but when I go to post this same story of Archive of our Own, I will do those changes.
OMG... The Coronavirus is really not good for me as a writer. I have gotten so used to silence, privacy and certainly no TV that now that everyone is home, they are constantly around. I'm having a hard time writing. And while most people (myself included in this thinking) would just say 'grab your laptop and move to another room,' I can't. The reason I can't is because it has been proven to me various times that when I am not around watching Darius, he gets into things he shouldn't and just overall upsets the hubby. So, I stay... I deal... Hopefully by the time this whole event has ended I'll be used to it and can ignore what is happening. Doubtful.
Darius is doing well as usual. He's enjoying his father being home even if he is still having a hard time convincing people to play with him. Myself again included. I've become the official announcer to many Monster Jam races, free styles and some rather interesting WWE events (mostly cage matches). It's fun, if not distracting. The few times I've tried to physically play with Darius on the floor, I ended up with a sore back that lasted two days and knees that gave me issues the next day. Darius slightly understands, hence being the announcer. That is my version of play. Though lately, Darius will ask me to announce but before I can say anything about what he is doing, he starts announcing. So, I ask him what I should do. 'Be the announcer.' But how can I be the announcer when you are? Well... Apparently I have to be the background announcer that talks about the history of the driver or the 'grudge' match between the wrestlers. Yeah... I do a little bit of that before slowly fading out and seeing how long it would take Darius to notice I stopped. Sometimes it only took a few minutes. One time it took the entire day. Ha, liked that day for writing.
Baby Jason is doing well. I hardly see him due to his parents staying upstairs and by the time they come downstairs to hang out, I am exhausted so I head upstairs to sleep. Yeah... I'm exhausted from sitting on my ass, on a chair, typing and doing nothing much else. What is wrong with me? Ugh. But, Jason has been a happy little camper. His mother is getting a bit antsy. She doesn't like being cooped up for that long. Doesn't help that we live in Mass and now the 'stay at home' thing has been extended to May or something. (I try to ignore the news on all that)
For all who are sick or know someone who is sick. I pray for all of you and hope that the various writers posts are helping you pass the time.