Chapter 17

Daisy fired two shots off immediately, aiming for the body, but surprisingly he used his sword to block or deflect both shots. Daisy pushed her panic down at how good this guy was, and focused. She dodged to the right when he brought his blade down half-heartedly, yet still too fast for Daisy's taste. He waited for her to get back in a fighting stance before coming at her again. As he continued to half-heartedly take swings at her, Daisy realized that he really didn't want to be here. Which, in fact, might be the only reason why she was still alive.

She saw an opening, just barely there, and only because he was not trying as hard as he could be and she landed two solid body punches before he pulled back in pain from her strikes. He frowned at himself then looked to her. He tilted his head and then, charged faster than he had before. Daisy yelped as she barely turned to the side, catching the edge of the blade on her shoulder. She rolled and came up looking at her shoulder, now seeping blood. She glared at him as he quirked his lips and shrugged helplessly.

Daisy prided herself on turning emotions off during battle, so she denied she didn't feel a little smug when she sent him flying, with her powers, into the wall. He groaned trying to stand up, before his eyes locked on something on the ground. She froze as she saw what he did. The USB drive containing all of the information they came here to get was lying between them, lost during her amazing combat roll. He glanced up at her; his sword still clutched in his hand, and sprang for it. She used her powers to push it further away from the both of them, then limbo-ing under the swing of his sword.

She dove for the USB drive with him not far behind, and felt it in her hands before the flat of his blade cracked her across the face. She immediately knew her nose was broken and leaking blood. She pushed herself back so she could see her surroundings and saw the Swordsman stand above her with the USB in one hand and his sword in the other. He raised the sword at her and swung it down, she closed her eyes, knowing she didn't have enough energy to focus her powers that quickly. But instead of pain she heard the clang of metal on metal. She looked up to see his sword impaled into the metal floor and his hand with the USB reached out towards her.

She took it and looked at him confused. He backed away from his sword, offering her a small smile. He jutted his chin towards where she still heard Clint and Barney fighting, and spared them a glance. She paled as she saw Clint with several arrow wounds, what looked like a broken nose and possible a broken arm. She looked back to the Swordsman who finally opened his mouth, his French accent coming through now.

"I trained both of them. I owed Barney a favor, but I am proud of how Clint used his training. I wish I had been that kind of man when I was young. This is to fix that mistake as well as the many mistakes over my lifetime. I'm too old for this shit. Screw Barney." He walked away from her, as she tucked the USB back into her tac vest, right next to Lila's picture. She sprang up, seeing Clint take a nasty punch across his broken nose. Barney drew an arrow, but Daisy blew him across the room with her powers once again.

Clint sagged down to the floor, his arrow scattered across the ground, his bow arm uselessly broken. He couldn't even hold his bow anymore as he dropped it to the floor. Daisy put herself in front of Clint protectively. Barney slowly pushed himself up to his feet. He growled at her, "Those little powers are starting to get annoying."

"Not as annoying as your face." Daisy winced, "Okay, not one of my better zingers, but in my defense my nose is broken. I think I get a pass." She charged at him, trying to close the distance so his bow would be useless. It did not seem to matter to Barney though, as he put one into her shoulder. He laughed as she stopped in her place, swaying on her feet. She reached up and bit her tongue, breaking the shaft of the arrow so that she could move her shoulder the way she would need to. She gritted her teeth through the pain and launched herself at him in a punching combo May had taught her not too long ago. Barney blocked every single punch before striking her across the face with the handle of his bow. She stumbled back next to Clint, who was not looking too good. She couldn't hang with this guy, and Clint couldn't hang with this guy. Not to mention the loss of blood was starting to make her woozy and unable to focus her powers. This wasn't looking good.

She focused her wobbling vision on Barney who had drawn an arrow, aiming it at her heart. She stumbled and he smirked. Great here came the monologue. "Well, Clint's stray can't seem to protect him. That always seems how it is. Clint can't seem to do anything himself, that's why he goes around and cherry picks powerful people to treat with loving care. So he can use them to protect himself later. And now, he's used you to prolong his shitty life by a few minutes."

Daisy's eyes dropped to Clint's bow and she stooped down clumsily to grab it along with a single arrow from the ones that had spilled out. She heard Barney laughing as she attempted to nock the arrow to the string, finally getting it on the third try. She tested the bowstring, and found it manageable if not a little too much effort in her current state. Barney continued to laugh, even letting the string on the bow loosen, holding his arms out, inviting her to shoot him.

"I know from your form that Clint didn't teach you to use that. Not like his little mini-me. Take your shot. I am about to kill you after all, I feel like I owe it to you." Daisy drew the string back, trying to remember every TV show that had archery in it that she had ever pirated online. She aimed for Barney's smug mouth, letting the string go. The arrow sailed decently close to Barney's face, making his smile drop for a millisecond. But, nevertheless, it sailed past him. He chuckled.

"Did you really think that you could take me without any training in that weapon?" He asked, his muscles relaxing with his victory. Daisy, whom was staggering in place, just tried to smile through the pain and blood.

"Well you can do it, how hard can it be?" She saw Barney's look of rage as he pulled back the bowstring, lasered on her heart again. She made sure that she stayed standing, a last defiance to this son of a bitch who hurt her new friend and his family. She saw a flash of metal and then watched as Barney's face went slack after a brief flash of pain, and his arrow clattered to the ground, and he slumped over unconscious. Lying near the back of his head was the arrow that Daisy had shot; she squinted at it smiling a bit when she recognized the arrowhead. "I stand corrected. Boomerang arrow, fucking great idea." She heard a strangled cough from behind her.

"Told you it would prove you wrong." She turned around to see Clint struggling to sit up. She collapsed next to him and held his bow towards him and he took it back from her. He dug into his tac vest and brought out a small comms unit. He radioed a S.H.I.E.L.D. clean up squad and collapsed back with Daisy. The team was only ten minutes out so they just sat back in pain and tried not to pass out. Daisy turned to Clint who turned to look at her as well. He looked down at himself then back at her. "You just said I couldn't get shot with bullets again, so technically I kept that promise." Daisy rolled her eyes at him.

"When we get back to the farmhouse, I'm telling your wife on you." She was satisfied by his slight grunt of displeasure. Not the look of fear she was hoping for from a healthy Clint, but screw it everything hurt. She'll let it slide.