Here we are, back for the next chapter as promised. Thanks to everyone that has read, reviewed, alerted and favorited this story!
Just as a heads up, the next update will be Tuesday instead of Monday, as I have midterms I have to do and won't be able to get on to post. But, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and feel free to leave me a review with any comments or questions you may have. Bolded dialogue in the story is meant to be German.
As Always, I Own Nothing.
For a moment, the man seated across from Clint at the booth was silent, appraising both him and the two unconscious men on the floor. Then, however, he shook his head in amazement and laughed. Clint allowed one corner of his mouth to twitch in the barest of smirks, though his eyes remained cold and dangerous. From SHIELD's intel this man, - Fleischer, was the leader of the HYDRA sect, or at the very least, of the operations in Prague. He was the man looking to pay him for information. Getting his location hadn't been easy, Clint having been scouting for a few days to have enough information to keep from walking into this meeting blind. But, he was here now, playing the part of the contract assassin he hadn't been for almost nine years with a hidden comm in his ear that transmitted everything he heard to SHIELD.
"Oh, Hawkeye, your reputation certainly precedes you." Fleischer said with a chuckle, nodding to his downed men. He transitioned from German to heavily accented English easily. "If I had known you were coming to see me I would have told my men how unwise it is to challenge such an adversary."
"No one ever knows when I'm coming to see them Mr. Fleischer." Clint said just as lightly, before his smirk widened into something that was distinctly more predatory. "It's... part of my charm."
"Of course, of course." the older man waved him off before settling slightly and gesturing to his own plate that lay half-eaten in front of him. "Could I get you anything? I wouldn't have you thinking that I'm not a good host."
"Thank you, but no." Clint said, before straightening and narrowing his eyes slightly. "Why am I here?"
He knew the answer to that already of course, but Fleischer couldn't know that he knew. He also couldn't know that Cap was sitting on the other end of his comm, listening to every word he was saying.
"Why are you usually, anywhere, Hawk?" Fleischer asked curiously, but Clint just snorted, raising an eyebrow.
"Your organization isn't usually one to use a man like me for such blatant dirty work." he pointed out, arching his eyebrow further at the man's impressed expression. "You think I don't do my homework on potential employers? That's bad for business, Mr. Fleischer."
"Forgive me." he raised one hand in appeasement before grinning. "But if you know my organization as well as you claim, you should already know what I could possibly want from you."
Clint shrugged a small nod to that, not playing completely stupid. Even if he hadn't had SHIELD's intel, that would be a correlation he would be able to make. This is where he would have to be careful though, dancing the line between knowing enough but not too much about Steve to satisfy what Fleischer would think him capable of knowing.
"I have a guess, not much else." he said, and Fleischer nodded, pushing his plate aside and leaning forward slightly.
"I know you have had contact with Captain America, primarily in New York about a year ago now." he started, tone light as he considered Clint carefully, which made the archer straighten slightly. "As you could imagine, the Captain is of particular interest to me and my organization. My other attempts to gather information have yielded pitifully little results, but you are a reasonable man, aren't you Hawk?"
"I have to warn you, Mr. Fleischer, my time and my knowledge don't come cheap." Clint said, still keeping his tone light while wondering just what the man had meant by 'other attempts'. SHIELD hadn't been aware of this HYDRA sect having been responsible for anything else concerning Steve.
"Of course they don't, I would expect nothing less from a man of your caliber. Though I hope," Fleischer paused as he reached into a pocket, which had Clint stiffening slightly, until he saw the man simply bringing out a checkbook and a pen. "That this would be enough to earn me an hour or two of polite conversation."
When Fleischer ripped the newly filled out check out of the book and slid it across the table to him, Clint couldn't help raising an eyebrow at the amount he was being offered. HYDRA really wanted Steve, if this was any indication. The man seemed willing to wait patiently for Clint to decline or accept his offer, and Clint gave a quiet snort as he reached forward after a few moments, picking up the check, folding it in half, and sliding it into a pocket of his jacket.
"Typically when paid with a check I wait for it to clear before rendering my services, but you're a reasonably intelligent man, aren't you Mr. Fleischer?" Clint raised an eyebrow in clear question, and the older man raised one hand once again, expression calm and knowing.
"Rest assured, Hawk, I am well aware of the... consequences of deceiving you. I have no such wish to suddenly end up on the pointy end of one of your arrows." Fleischer said and Clint gave a dark smirk and a small nod, inviting the man to continue. "I was wondering how a man such as you got involved with the events in New York?"
"I thought you were paying me for information on the Captain." Clint said, leaning back slightly in his bench, and Fleischer grinned.
"A simple curiosity, I assure you."
"Wrong place, wrong time, really. The Black Widow contacted me, and I owed her a debt. If I had known the extent of what I was agreeing to fight I would have been far less agreeable." Clint said simply, and Fleischer gave an understanding nod to that, before continuing.
"Have you had any further contact with the Captain since then?"
"Here and there. The Widow has the uncanny habit of knowing when I'm in the area of the Avengers' exploits. She can be a... very convincing woman."
"Oh I'm sure." the older man's eyes flashed in amusement, and Clint knew that he was buying what he was selling. Even so, he didn't relax in any way, and kept his focus outward, in case of any more of Fleischer's men that could come up on him. "My main interests in Captain America lie in his abilities. And how he survived the plane crash and resulting 70 years trapped in ice when HYDRA's own leader did not."
"The second one, I couldn't tell you." Clint said easily, giving a snort. "The Captain and I don't exactly see eye to eye on many things, and I'm not of the opinion that he trusts me much more than he would you. We haven't really had deep, personal conversations between the two of us."
"I could see how Captain America would be less than accepting of a contract assassin." Fleischer agreed thoughtfully, before his gaze turned intense. "But you can tell me about the extent of his abilities?"
"That I can do." Clint agreed, before continuing matter of factly. He gave Fleischer mostly truthful information, about Steve's strength and his fighting style, things that he would have picked up on first off, had he been an outsider, which he had been. He touched on Steve's healing abilities and his mind for strategy, but he didn't go into detail, and he completely left out the super soldier's ability to metabolize virtually any drug in a matter of minutes. There were things that Fleischer just did not need to know, as far as he was concerned, despite the fact that Fury and Steve had green-lighted him to tell the man anything and everything if he thought it would further the mission.
Thankfully, the man seemed more than content with what he was being given, looking almost giddy with excitement. He went so far as to send his men out of the room when they groggily regained consciousness.
"You prove most helpful, Hawk." Fleischer said after he had finished, and Clint gave a small nod. "Can you tell me what his relationship is like with the other Avengers?"
"He and Stark are constantly at each other's throats, it seems like." Clint deadpanned, before he gave a shrug. The only reason he could think of for why Fleischer would want that particular information, would be to see if there would be any way to draw Cap out with his team mates. And he couldn't stand by and give the man what he needed to hear to try something like that. "Honestly, the whole group is a train wreck. No one's listening to no one. If I had to say who the Captain seemed closest to, it'd have to be the big guy, Thor. Kindred spirits or something like that."
Now, he'd love to sell tickets and watch HYDRA try to take down Thor to get to Steve.
"I can't help but agree with your first statement. Mr. Stark proved most unhelpful in this case." Fleischer said dismissively, but Clint fought not to freeze or show his shock, instead keeping his expression and tone carefully neutral.
"You got to Tony Stark?" he asked, forcing an impressed tone that had the older man giving a sigh.
"It was time poorly spent. One of our off-shoot organizations in Nevada tried to question him months ago, and let's just say it ended... badly for those involved. As far as we could tell, this Thor destroyed the compound and everyone in it." Fleischer said, tone suggesting the whole situation still left a bad taste in his mouth. Clint, on the other hand, was fighting harder than ever to keep himself calm.
It had been HYDRA, this man in front of him, that had been responsible for Tony's torture in Nevada. The torture that still obviously haunted the billionaire from time to time. And then, it hadn't been Thor who had dealt the final blow to the compound and killed the remaining men. It had been him; one of his explosive arrows. It made sense that Fleischer had drawn the conclusion to Thor, however, seeing as there had been extensive damage from lightning.
"I heard them talking about that once, it was a while ago, wasn't it?" he asked curiously, and the man gave a nod.
"Yes, but thankfully, you have provided what he refused to." Fleischer said, before looking back to Clint with an almost considering expression. That, at least, was an expression Clint recognized, one he had been hoping for even.
"There something else you wanted from me?" he asked, and Fleischer gave a small nod, leaning forward again.
"To be honest, Hawk, I could use a man like you. I have done my research as well, as you could imagine. I need an unbiased eye, and from what I've gathered, killing is not your only talent." the man said lightly, and Clint couldn't see or hear any deception in his eyes or tone. Even so, he knew he'd have to tread carefully, but he was prepared for that. "I can make it worth your while."
Clint gave a smirk and patted his jacket pocket where he'd put the man's first check.
"I'm sure of that." he said coolly, before his eyes narrowed slightly. "I hope you realize that just because I'm willing to take your money, it doesn't mean that I necessarily agree with you or your organization's views."
"That's what I'm counting on." Fleischer said simply, and to that, Clint could only shrug a nod.
Within twenty-four hours, he had collected his duffle and had joined Fleischer in driving out to HYDRA's compound, a little less than twenty miles from the city. The man's guards had been more than a little disgruntled by his presence, but Clint hadn't paid them any mind, keeping his expression blank and cold. He already knew that this wasn't going to be easy, and he'd probably see things that would make him want to blow his cover. And that wasn't an option. As far as SHIELD was concerned, HYDRA was the biggest non-alien fish there was. There wasn't any room for error on this mission, no matter what ended up being required of him.
For two weeks, he more or less acted as Fleischer's advisor. Somehow, the man had grown to trust him, or at least the sum of money he'd paid for the archer's loyalty, and Clint was practically swimming in information that he was sure other SHIELD agents had died trying to get their hands on. He really, really hoped that Fury had set someone to record what came through his comm 24/7 to get the new intel where it needed to go. He was seeing weapons that were being designed, plans for attacks that were being made, who HYDRA had contact with on an international scale, and a whole slew of other things.
What he didn't know, though, was how long he was expected to stay with this cover. He'd only been in actual contact with SHIELD once since the mission had started, and that was to simply inform them that Fleischer had taken the bait and that he was being brought in. All he could do at this point was keep gathering as much information as he could and wait for orders.
And then, as was prone to happen on his missions, shit hit the fan in one of the most spectacular ways Clint would have believed possible.
He was sitting at a table in one of HYDRA's underground bunkers, cleaning a pistol and waiting. Fleischer had said he was coming to meet him, but why the man had told him to wait in the bunker that housed currently unoccupied cells for prisoners he wasn't quite sure. He was uneasy, he knew something wasn't right, and as soon as he heard a loud commotion coming towards the bunker from the hallway, his head snapped up and he watched the doorway warily. The shouting, and the unease, made a lot more sense when an all too familiar man was shoved through the doorway, barely stumbling before he spun back around to face the swarm of men that followed him through. Clint could see iron chain about as thick as the barrel on his pistol wound tightly around the man's wrists, but even still he faced the HYDRA lackies straight-backed and defiant.
And from where Clint was sitting, his table pushed into the corner of the bunker to the right of the door, he could tell that Fleischer's men were rightfully too cautious to get within range for their prisoner to attack. Seemingly ignorant of the danger he was putting his men in, Fleischer walked into the bunker after them, the grin on his face far too malicious to bring Clint any comfort.
"Hawkeye, would you mind assisting with our new arrival?" Fleischer asked, a note of triumph easily discernible in his voice. Clint just arched an eyebrow at him, glancing over his shoulder at the standoff taking place on the other side of the bunker.
"You think you're paying me enough to help you keep Captain America captive?" he demanded, falling into German easily as he had the entire time he'd been at the compound and more or less stalling for time, because he didn't know what to do. He did know that Fleischer's hate ran deep enough that the man would pay him absolutely anything to ensure that Steve stayed in his hands, but he had to do something to give himself time to think. "Do you think I have a death wish?"
Fleischer scowled at him, but Clint didn't really care, keeping a majority of his attention on what was going on between Steve and the other men. They had clearly been instructed to keep their guns put away, which meant Fleischer didn't want Steve dead yet, but because of that, they were having one hell of a time controlling the super soldier.
"I believe that is something we could easily rectify later." the older man said pointedly, and Clint hid a sigh as he stood and slid the final piece of his gun back into place.
He knew there was nothing he could do for Steve now. Not until he figured out exactly what had happened and what SHIELD expected him to do about it. So he would play along, keep his cover, and do his best to keep Steve from getting hurt for as long as he could. Keeping his expression blank, he shouldered through the group of men that surrounded Steve and felt his team mate's gaze land on him immediately. Clint returned the heated gaze, easily seeing in Cap's eyes that something downright ugly had happened, and that the men had already tried and failed to drug him into unconsciousness at least a few times. There was still a slight bit of dullness to his eyes, but he should be lucid enough to recognize the little act they had to put on.
So, as he stopped, he leveled his pistol between Steve's eyes and didn't so much as blink as he spoke coolly.
"Captain, you and I are both well aware of the fact that I'm not known for missing."
Steve stiffened and glared at him, allowing the slightest bit of understanding to flash in his eyes before he spoke as well, not letting his gaze waver to anyone else in the room.
"Forgive me for not being so surprised that these are the kinds of people you associate with." Steve growled, and Clint gave a mental nod to himself, knowing from that that Steve had been listening that first day when he had given the story about their lack of relationship to Fleischer. Small miracles.
"Whoever pays the best, Cap." Clint said simply with a shrug before his eyes narrowed. "We both know how this is going to end. No sense in fighting it."
Steve started to open his mouth to give some heated response, but the sound of a scuffle near the door had him looking up and behind Clint to the source. Clint took the opportunity of his distraction, stowed his gun, and jumped up to grab one of the pipes that transected the bunker's ceiling, swinging his body gracefully at Steve.
In the next moment, he had forced the super soldier to the ground on his stomach, one leg wrapped around his throat and the other braced against his shoulder blades. One jerk in any direction and Steve's neck was broken, but Clint well knew how to avoid that as he looked up to Fleischer's men with a scowl.
"If you want to restrain him, I suggest doing it now." he said lowly, and the men jumped into action, approaching quickly with more lengths of chain.
As the men made sure that Steve would no longer be a threat, Clint glanced up to the doorway to see for himself what had caused the scuffle, and felt his eyes narrow when he saw another man holding a bound and struggling SHIELD agent. It was at that point he was more or less sure that fate hated him.
When Fleischer's men were done with Steve, having added chains to his ankles and around his arms to keep them pinned to his body, Clint gracefully extracted himself and stood, watching as the men dragged Steve's silent and glaring form into one of the cells before he turned back to where Fleischer stood with the SHIELD agent and tipped his chin up.
"Who's this?" he demanded, and he felt the agent's gaze shoot to him, and he prayed that the man had the sense to keep his mouth shut as Fleischer responded.
"It seems that the good Captain has been lending his skills to SHIELD. I trust you know who they are." the older man said and Clint gave a snort, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Enough to know that they're a pain in my ass. What do you want him for?"
"I don't. He was collateral against Captain Rogers, but seeing as we have him secured, I have no use for him." Fleischer said coldly, and the agent's eyes widened slightly but he didn't speak. Clint's eyes narrowed as he internally froze. He couldn't just let them kill the agent.
"Well then, if you don't mind, there are some words I'd like to have with him. His friends have been trying to track my movements lately, and I'd like to see if I could find out why." Clint said, tone low and predatory as he kept his dark gaze locked on the agent. Fleischer gave a dark chuckle but waved him forward, speaking as Clint stepped forward and spun the agent by the shoulder, wrapping a dagger around to rest against his throat to keep him from struggling.
"I'm certainly not going to stop you, Hawk. There is a field a mile northeast of the gates where you can dispose of the body." Fleischer said, and Clint gave a nod.
That had been what he had been counting on. He knew about the field, and if he could just get the agent outside the gates without arousing suspicion, he could pretend he'd killed him and get him out of here. While leaving Steve alone in HYDRA's hands didn't appeal to him at all, Fleischer didn't want him dead immediately. That wasn't true for the agent.
"We'll have a nice talk on the way out there." Clint all but purred darkly before urging the agent forward, out of the bunker. As they passed the guard that had been holding him before, Clint slipped his hand unnoticed into the man's pocket and grabbed the phone that he could see just barely sticking out, sliding it into his own jacket before anyone could notice.
"I won't tell you anything." the agent said stubbornly as they left the bunker, and Clint couldn't tell if he was just saying it to make it more believable, or if he honestly didn't recognize him and believed he was going to torture him for information. Either way, Clint just gave a low, dark chuckle, eyes flashing.
"That's what you say now." he said coldly, before looking over his shoulder to Fleischer. "And when I get back, we will be negotiating my involvement with him." he jerked his head in the general direction of the cell that the men had dragged Steve into. Fleischer just nodded, and Clint returned it sharply before he continued pushing the agent forward.
They were both silent as Clint kept his dagger pressed unwaveringly into the agent's throat, taking him through the maze of underground bunkers before outside and towards the gate. The guards flanking the gate didn't give him a second thought, mostly because all of Fleischer's men knew by this point that if they tried to stop him from doing something they ended up unconscious on the ground with something broken. Outside the gate, Clint started in the direction towards the field, slipping into the thick forest that surrounded HYDRA's compound. He didn't relax, even as the fence and gate faded from sight. He knew HYDRA's surveillance went a quarter mile into the trees, farther near the road coming in, so he was sure to avoid that area and still seem like he was going towards the field he had been directed to.
When he was comfortable with how far they'd gone, and that there wasn't anyone at all nearby, Clint stopped, pulled his knife away from the agent's throat and stepped around him to meet his gaze.
"You know who I am, don't you?" he asked, and the agent gave a quick nod, the smallest flicker of hope forming on his face.
"You're Hawkeye."
"So you know that I'm not going to hurt you and you're not going to do anything stupid when I uncuff you." Clint prompted and the agent nodded again, which Clint returned, before he quickly picked the lock on both cuffs, releasing his wrists. "What's your name?"
"Johnson."
"What the hell happened?" Clint demanded next, and the agent sucked in a breath, shaking his head.
"We were ambushed. Captain Rogers was leading my team; we were searching the base of a suspected HYDRA offshoot in France. The rest of the team was killed." Johnson informed him shortly, and Clint let out a long breath, running a hand down his face.
"Are you hurt?" he asked next, feeling a minor pang of relief when the agent gave a small shrug before shaking his head.
"A bullet graze to my side, but it's not life threatening." he said, and Clint nodded, passing him the phone he'd lifted off the guard.
"Alright, get out of here, get back to the city, about twenty miles south of here, and call in for an extraction. They already know what happened." he tapped his ear for emphasis, and Johnson nodded, but paused with a frown before taking off.
"What about Captain Rogers?"
"Leave him to me." Clint said firmly, and the agent didn't argue with him, slipping off in a direction that would allow him to skirt the compound and not get recaptured. Once he was out of sight, Clint let out a long breath and spoke into his comm, knowing he had some time before Fleischer would expect him back. "SHIELD base, this is Hawkeye, requesting to be patched through to Director Fury."
'Hawkeye, this is SHIELD base. Confirm that you are in a secure location.' a voice came back within moments, and Clint rolled his eyes but answered.
"Confirmed."
'We've requested Director Fury to join this frequency, he should be on in a few moments.' the voice responded, and Clint gave a huffed breath, leaning back against the trunk of a wide tree.
'I'm here, Barton.' Fury's voice joined in within the minute, and Clint straightened as he responded.
"I trust you've been made aware of recent developments?" the archer asked, and Fury gave a grunt of agreement. "I got Johnson out, he's making his way back to Prague on foot, and he's got a cell phone with him. What do you want me to do about Cap?"
'Has your cover been compromised?' Fury asked, a heavy note to his voice that Clint wasn't sure he liked.
"No sir, but," Clint started, only to have the director cut him off.
'Then you know the answer to that question.'
Clint froze, mouth falling open slightly in shock.
"You want me to stay in? To watch them torture him?" he demanded lowly, and Fury sighed, but didn't move to correct him. "You can't be serious, Director."
'You know protocol, Agent Barton. Especially with something as big as HYDRA, you are not to compromise yourself to assist Captain Rogers.' Fury said shortly, and Clint felt his fists clench at his sides, warring with himself. Fury knew him well enough to take his silence for what it was and he sighed. 'I'll talk to the Council, but I'm not promising anything.'
"They're going to kill him, sir." Clint said shortly, eyes blazing. "Maybe not yet, but they will. You expect me to think that Steve's life is worth the information I'm getting? He's already sacrificed that once against these bastards."
'I expect you to follow orders.' Fury growled. 'And right now, those orders are to remain with your mission. Am I understood, Agent Barton?'
For a long time, Clint was silent. Was it anyone else, and he could have answered without a problem. But it was Steve, and that made the decision a thousand times harder. In the end, though, he knew Steve could last at least the time it would take for Fury to get into contact with the Council. He would make sure to keep himself close, and do everything he could without compromising himself.
"Let me know the minute you talk to the Council." Clint said shortly, pushing down on the guilt he was already feeling. It was only going to get worse, and he could not allow himself to show it.
'Barton, the Council isn't going to-' Fury started, some unreadable emotion in his voice. Clint just cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say. The Council wouldn't pull him off HYDRA for one man. But Steve wasn't just any man.
"Then you need to remind them who Steve is, and what he's already sacrificed." Clint said pointedly before closing his eyes and resting his head back against the trunk of the tree he was leaning against.
And there we have it. Poor Steve.
Anyway, feel free to tell me what you think in a review, and I'll be seeing you again Tuesday.
~Dogstar