Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or any of the characters in the story except for Cole Williams. If I did, there would totally be a Hawkeye/Black Widow movie in the works.

Author's Note: This is my first story to post on this site and my husband had to talk me into it. That being said, while I embrace constructive criticism remember this old saying if you choose to leave a review "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"

Sorry this is later in the day than usual. Life happened...I hate it when it does that, lol.

Thanks to Mirror's Mirage for pointing out my mistake about Clint's bow. His old bow wasn't a long bow, it was recurved. Oops! That'll teach me to guess instead of take the time to look it up :) Laziness doesn't pay children! Remember that!

Enjoy!

Last Time:

"Jarvis," He called out.

"Yes, Agent Barton?"

"I need your help."

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." –Winston Churchill

"What's going on?" Steve demanded, coming into the briefing room dressed in his uniform. He set his shield on a nearby chair. Natasha was pacing across the room, her expression murderous. They'd all been woken by Jarvis sounding an emergency alarm, instructing them to meet in the briefing room suited up and ready to go.

"Clint's gone. His bike, his bow, and his rifle." Natasha bit out, not stopping her feverish pacing.

"Williams?" Thor demanded as he and Bruce stormed into the room.

"Jarvis?" Tony questioned sharply. He had been the first to the room and was already suited up in his armor, sans the helmet.

"Agent Barton received a phone call and left instructions for me to alert the entire team immediately."

"Where is he?" Natasha demanded.

"He was leaving as he gave his instructions. He seemed quite rushed, Agent Romanoff."

"What were his instructions?" Steve demanded, sensing they were wasting valuable time.

"He instructed me to show you the video and audio footage of the phone call he received and to instruct you all to follow him immediately."

"Pull up the video." Tony snapped.

They waited in a tense silence for the video to start, and Natasha didn't stop pacing.

"Barton."

"Hello, Clint."

They watched Clint's expression go stony.

"Williams."

"You know they say this is the city that never sleeps…makes sense now…there are so many people out and about at this time of night."

"The point, Williams."

"It's time to settle this."

"No shit, asshole, I'm right here."

Natasha nearly growled at Clint's taunt.

"Time's Square…think you can here fast enough to stop me?"

"You're not going to hurt anyone else."

"Oh no?"

"No."

"Why's that?"

Williams laughed as he said it.

"Because I'll kill you if you do."

"You've tried that, and I put six bullets in your chest."

"This time you won't get that opening."

"We'll see…come alone."

"Doesn't work that way anymore, Williams…I'm an Avenger, we work as a team."

Steve smiled at that part, proud of Clint's claim.

"Ha…you're no more an Avenger than I am…Come alone or the next bullet will be through your girlfriend's forehead not her shoulder."

"That was a mistake, Williams."

"How's that."

"You just signed your death warrant…now I'm going to put an arrow through your heart."

A chill settled over the group at Clint's tone. They watched him hang up on any response Williams was going to make. He stared straight into the camera for a moment. Then he closed his eyes, obviously deliberating. Then the video cut off.

"How long ago did he leave?" Steve demanded already heading out of the room.

"8 minutes." Jarvis supplied.

"Why didn't he wake us immediately? Why would he go alone, after everything?" Steve growled, frustrated that they were joining the game two steps behind.

"Williams was threatening to start killing...Clint wouldn't risk allowing that to happen...not if he could help it." Bruce explained quietly.

"Our friend did not seek to fight this battle alone." Thor announced knowingly, "He is trusting that we will follow with greatest speed."

"He left on his bike." Natasha added. "The way he drives, he got to Time's Square maybe 5 minutes ago."

"Then we better hurry." Tony pulled on his helmet and motioned Bruce towards him. "You take Stalin." He directed at Thor just before he took off with Bruce held tightly against him. Natasha stepped up to Thor and he easily wrapped an arm around her and followed. Steve had already taken off in a sprint, putting all his super soldier juices to good use.

5 minutes ago…

Clint pulled his bike to a stop two blocks away from Time's Square, next to a fire escape. He slipped the strap to his sniper case over his head and started climbing, level by level until he got to the roof. Then he made use of his parkour training and covered the two blocks to the square by rooftop. He landed from his leap onto the last building in a crouch. He moved stealthily to the edge of the roof, already swinging his rifle case off his shoulder. He had the weapon assembled and set in under a minute. Letting out a deep breath, he sighted down his custom built scope, courtesy of the SHIELD techs, and started searching. First he checked the vantage points he would have chosen. He spotted him on the third building he checked. He glanced at his watch. It had been less than 2 minutes since he parked his bike.

Williams was sighting down his own sniper rifle at the crowds in the Square. He watched the other sniper press a button on what looked like a blue tooth in his ear. A moment later, Clint's cell rang. He keyed on his own blue tooth.

"Barton."

"Your time's up, kid…I've gotten bored. Time to have some fun."

"What, no more threats? No more games?"

"Maybe after I've downed this pretty little blonde with legs a mile long trying to hail a cab." Williams snickered.

Clint turned his rifle, and found the girl in seconds. He raised his rifle back towards Williams as he whizzed through the calculations in his head.

"You don't want to do that, Williams…don't start this…you won't like how it ends."

"We'll see." Williams fired. Clint fired in nearly the same breath. He watched through his scope as the woman slid into a cab, unharmed.

"What the hell…" Williams breathed.

"I'll always be better, Williams." Clint taunted.

"Did you just shoot my bullet out of the air?" He actually sounded impressed. "Double or nothing you can't do it again."

He watched Williams site, and fired, this time a fraction before his opponent did. Williams flinched when bullets collided less than a foot in front of him.

"Very impressive...but you always were a lucky son of a bitch."

Clint watched him carefully.

"I could do this all day." He forced his voice to remain relaxed as if this were no more stressful than target practice. He glanced at his watch. It had been six minutes since he parked.

"So could I."

Clint shot another bullet out of the air in front of Williams.

"Son of a bitch!"

"I've got you in my crosshairs, Williams." Clint growled, even as he used his scope to scan the crowds. While he could shoot bullets out of the air all day, the longer they played this game, the more he risked Williams discovering his position. Clint stiffened when he saw a familiar shock of bright red, white, and blue in the crowds. Well hidden in the masses, but there none the less, if he hadn't been looking, hoping, to see him, Clint would have missed it.

"You just gonna shoot me? Not very sporting, Clint…and you were always all about being fair."

"You wanna make it fair?" Clint asked as he continued to scan the crowds, he found Bruce and Tony next, hidden in an alley. "What do you suggest?" He asked, he found Thor near a bar just as Natasha lay down next to him on the roof. He muted his end of the blue tooth.

"Go," She said, "I'll cover the civilians until you get to him...I've already relayed Williams' location to the team and they're ready to protect the people on the ground."

Clint nodded as he quietly relinquished his his rifle to her and started moving.

"Clint!" She hissed, waiting for him to turn back, "Kick the bastard's ass." She smirked. He smirked back, un-muted his blue tooth and took off in a run, parkouring over the rooftops with silent ease.

"Hand to hand…no more guns…winner takes all and loser accepts the defeat."

"Last time we did that…you cheated." Clint countered, circling the square on the rooftops, closing in on Williams.

"No guns…I swear…if I'm gonna go down, let me do it like a man. You owe me that much."

"I don't owe you anything." Clint snapped not trusting the man for a second. He slipped bow off his back, setting it silently on the ground and moved into position. He couldn't risk the temptation to just shoot this son of a bitch.

"I spent 10 years in prison because of you."

"You spent 10 years in prison because you're a murdering psychopath." Clint countered, shifting silently in the shadows just above Williams' location.

"Stop stalling, Barton..." Williams snapped, "I know you're close by!"

"Fine." Clint jumped, landing several feet behind Williams and tossing his blue tooth away. "I'm done talking anyway."

Williams spun, ripping the blue tooth out of his ear.

"You always were a sneaky little bastard weren't you…loved hiding in the shadows." Williams taunted, trying to cover how unsettled he was that Clint had closed in on him so quietly.

Clint stayed silent, for once in his life, in no mood for sarcastic banter. He was ready to put Williams down, for good. No one else was going to die because of this guy. He needed to keep him busy until the team got here...if he happened to accidentally off the bastard...oh well.

Williams caught the deadly gleam in his opponents eyes, recognized the set of his jaw. His mouth snapped shut and he dropped into his stance. Clint did the same. They circled. Clint, ready to put every single lesson Coulson had taught him to the test. Williams, itching to get the revenge he thought he deserved so fiercely.

When Williams came, Clint was ready. Williams was a flurry of motion, striking, kicking, spinning. Clint met him blow for blow, blocking, ducking, retreating. Williams snarled in fury when Clint slammed him with a left cross and danced out of reach.

"Stop fighting like a pussy, Barton!" He growled.

Clint's expression didn't break, didn't even twitch. He just held his stance like a he could do it all day, and waited.

"Where's that mouth you always had, Barton? Scared?" Williams taunted as he inched closer.

Clint blinked, adjusting his stance to match Williams' change in position.

Williams attacked, feigning a left jab and striking out with a right cross instead. He hit nothing but air as Clint ducked and slammed his fist into William's right side ribs. Before he could spin out of reach, Williams' brought his elbow back, catching him across the temple. He rolled with the blow, blinking away the stars and bringing his arms up to block the spin kick aimed at his head. He felt blood trickle down his face and resisted the urge to wipe it away. Williams moved at him again. Clint caught the side kick against his ribs, absorbing the blow and using his body weight to twist and spin to the ground. He heard a satisfying crack as the knee dislocated. Williams screamed and reached for something hidden under his TAC vest. Clint saw the blade too late and tried to roll away. The combat knife caught him across the side of his stomach, and cut right through his uniform. He pressed his hand to the wound as he lay on his back his quiver digging into his spine, watching through the corner of his eye as Williams stumbled to his feet, dragging his now useless leg with him.

"Never said we couldn't use knives." Williams grinned maniacally.

Clint took a deep breath, braced his hands on either side of his head, and tucked his knees to chest, coiling his body like a spring. He exploded in the next moment, springing off the ground and landing lightly on his feet.

"You're right, Williams...let's use knives." Clint grinned himself now, predatorily, as he reached back and pulled his two favorite knives from their sheaths at his back. One was Hungarian made, serrated and wicked, a gift from Natasha after Budapest. The other was off a gun runner in South Africa, a gift from Coulson to celebrate 5 years of working together. He spun them expertly in his hands, a blade as comfortable in his hand as his bow. A knife was the first thing he'd ever done target practice with.

Williams' jaw twitched and he looked at his one knife.

"Oh wait…you wanted fair." Clint growled mockingly. He slid Coulson's blade back into its sheath and tossed Natasha's to his left hand.

This time Clint moved first. He dropped, to sweep Williams' feet, trying to knock him off balance and succeeding. He sprang back up and with an open right hand, slammed his palm into Williams' hand where he held the knife with enough force to knock the blade away and send it sliding out of view. Williams' spun impressively around him, considering one of his knees was destroyed. Clint realized his mistake when he felt Coulson's blade slide free of its sheath. He turned knocking the blade away at the same time Williams' was able to do the same to him. They were both weaponless once again.

He wrapped one of William's arms in an arm bar, and before the other man could do anything he hyper extended his elbow and dislocated it then he slammed his fist into his nose. Williams, adrenaline masking the pain, brought his closed fist into Clint's injured side. He couldn't help but double over. A knee slammed into his nose and sent him onto his back. He spun his body as soon as he hit the ground, sweeping Williams' legs and sending him crashing down as well. He rolled into a backwards somersault, coming to his feet, more unsteadily than he would have like. He blinked away his blurred vision and watched Williams struggle to rise. He stalked closer and brought his boot into the man's face, sending him onto his back again. He ripped an arrow out of his quiver and brandished it like a spear as he straddled Williams.

"I gotta give it to you, kid, you're good."

Clint's eyes narrowed in suspicion, the back of his neck tingling in warning. He could hear Tony's boosters in the distance. Natasha must have told them it was almost over.

"But I'm better."

The small, hidden knife sliced through his uniform and buried itself deep in his back an inch to the right of his spine. Clint couldn't stop the scream of pain that tore from his throat. He stumbled back, the arrow clattering to the ground. But Williams grabbed his arm, yanking hard and twisting his shoulder out of socket. Clint gasped, scrambling away and struggling to his feet. That was his left arm. His shooting arm.

Williams laughed and struggled to sit up as he watched Clint rip the knife out of his back and stare at it angrily, his left arm hanging limply at his side. His laughter stopped when Clint flipped the knife, gripping the bloody blade between his thumb and forefinger. His eyes widened when he realized what was about to happen.

"Barton!" Tony yelled as he reached the rooftop, landing in a jog and sliding his face mask up. Thor landed next to him a moment later. Neither understanding how the situation had deteriorated so quickly from what Natasha had relayed to them just moments ago.

Clint didn't even acknowledge them. He weighed the blade between his fingers before tossing it away. Tony's brow furrowed in confusion for only a moment and then faster than his eye could follow Clint was whipping an arrow out of his quiver and throwing it at Williams.

The former soldier cried out as the arrow pierced his shoulder. Clint was on him in a second, cruelly forcing the arrow deeper.

"Aim a little off, Hawk?" Williams gasped. "You promised it'd be through my heart."

"Trust me, Williams…I hit exactly where I meant to…" Clint paused coughing, he ignored the taste of blood in his mouth, "as much as I want to kill you myself, the idea of you rotting away in military prison for the rest of your life is so much more appealing."

"You've gone soft." Williams spat. Clint smirked as if the accusation was funny, ignoring the blood that dripped from his mouth onto Williams' chest.

"No, Williams…I'm just not like you." He hissed before leaning closer, "And now you get to spend every day of the rest of your life thinking about this moment…and how I beat you…and me...I won't give you another thought."

Williams' eyes clouded in offense and Clint smirked.

He stood and stepped back turning towards a wide eyed Tony and Thor. A moment later Natasha leapt onto the rooftop, his rifle encased across her back. Steve and Bruce scrambled over the edge of the fire escape in the next breath. He stared at them, his team, feeling his adrenline surging out of his system faster than it had come in. Breathing was suddenly difficult.

"I couldn't wait." He defended himself, coughing slightly and sending more blood into his mouth.

"We know." Steve assured, taking a hesitant step forward. "You did good, Hawk. No one was hurt."

The archer's eyes suddenly darkened as pain spasmed through his body; something was wrong, he could feel it. His gaze sought out Natasha's frantically.

"Tasha." Clint whispered it faintly, coughing wetly, blood spraying out of his mouth. He took an unsteady step towards her, but then coughed again.

"Clint!" She called in panic, moving forward as he listed to the side, crashing heavily to the ground where he laid unmoving, eyes closed.

End of Chapter 9

Only one more chapter to go! I hope I explained why Clint went alone/not alone. It was hard to balance him needing to face Williams on his own but also acknowledge that he was accepting himself as part of the team. I hope I did it alright :)

Review if you like, but I posted chapter 10 at the same time as this one, so I wouldn't blame you if you just clicked next lol

Here's your final preview:

"He would never leave you, not unless he didn't have a choice."

"And what if Williams took that choice away?" She challenged.

"Well you know Clint better than me, Romanoff…does he ever let anyone make him do something he doesn't want to do?" Steve asked before standing and leaving her alone again.

Natasha blinked, a weak smile tugging at her lips.