a. It's been a while. Sorry. Got tied up at work. Anyways! Thanks for the reviews and follows and favs! Hope you all enjoy this new bit. ^_^
"Get Clint out of there!" Natasha ordered as she came running up the rest of the beach. Her eyes quickly tracked the trajectory of the dart and rushed toward the woods. Bruce turned back and kneeled down to see Clint laying flat on the porch. Nodding an all clear, Bruce and Steve covered the archer as he crawled out from under the table and then they snuck into the house. Clint took a quick glance outside in time to see Natasha slip into the woods. He wanted so badly to just go and follow her. Help her chase down whoever shot at him. But by the sound of her voice, Clint knew it would be a very bad idea.
"So... Udaipur?" Tony questioned, not fully expecting an answer. And if he did, he was so going to ask about Budapest. Steve closed the door to the porch as Bruce walked off into the house. Pepper watched the scientist go and almost followed but hesitated when she saw he was turning a bit green. Sighing deeply at Tony's actions, Steve turned and gave the billionaire a look that pretty much read: 'drop it.' Clint was focused on the tree line and barely heard Tony. Nor was he aware of what the others were doing. "Hello, little archer man. You with us? I want to know about Udaipur."
"Leave it alone, Stark," Steve commanded, thinking that Clint didn't answer because he didn't want Tony knowing. Clint hummed and turned to face everyone that was left in the room. Seeing their slightly confused faces, the archer knew what had been happening. Sighing, he walked away from the door and headed to the couch. Slowly, everyone followed. They had no clue if Clint was going to open up or not. But they sure as hell weren't going to leave him alone until Natasha got back.
"Udaipur was the one mission were I became the target," Clint began. Tony's eyes raised in shock. He was finally getting an answer. Pepper gave a soft moan of displeasure. Steve shook his head. He knew what Clint and Natasha did for a living, not that he fully agreed with it. "Fury sent me with a different handler. Guy named James Holden, or something. It was rumored that Holden might be a snake, and Fury and Coulson knew I could handle myself."
"A snake?" Pepper questioned. Clint paused before nodding. He forgot that they might not know the term.
"A traitor. Someone using S.H.I.E.L.D as a cover up for something bigger. Double agents normally are spys working for someone else. Holden worked for another group but didn't steal info. He stole weapons, medicine and the like," Clint explained. Pepper nodded. "We went to Udaipur on a mission to catch Holden's boss, but at the time we didn't know this. First few days, doing recon was fine. No problems from the boss or Holden. Then I got the go ahead."
"Go ahead for the hit?" Tony inquired. Clint nodded.
"Well, so did they. And with Holden telling me where to run to, I kept of getting pinned. It took me a good hour of cat and mouse, plus a bullet to the ribs, before I realized Holden was a snake. Too bad I was too late. Got caught and nearly killed. Tasha and Coulson had to bail me out," Clint briefly explained. As he finished, the door opened and Natasha waltzed in. Clint gave her an expectant look and was depressed when she shook her head no.
"You're lucky that Natasha found you," Pepper remarked, remembering how she felt when Tony went missing. She felt so useless. Natasha glanced at the group before focusing on Clint. His innocent expression told her what she needed to know.
"Did you mention the torture?" Natasha muttered. Clint gave a harsh laugh. "Guess not. Holden's clearance was lower than Clint's so they tortured him for a good two days before we got there."
"Two days wasn't that bad considering my history," Clint laughed. No else laughed.
"That isn't something to joke about. That's horrible," Pepper gasped. Clint rolled his eyes and decided not to comment. Instead, he focused on Natasha. It was at this point that a now calmed Bruce reentered the room.
"What's going on?" he asked, knowing from before that she knew the answer. Natasha looked away as everyone focused on her. When she didn't answer right away, Tony crossed his arms. He figured learning about the here and now was more important than learning about the past.
"Yeah, spidey, what's going on? Who's trying to take out Katniss?" Tony growled. Clint sparred the billionaire a glance. "What? Rather Robin Hood? Merida? Susan? Kimberly? Green Arrow?"
"Invisible woman?" Pepper mentioned after hearing one of the names. Tony rolled his eyes.
"Susan from Narnia," he clarified. "Any other issues?"
"Yes. First, never compare me to Green Arrow. Second, I'd rather just go by Clint or Hawkeye," Clint commented before they all look to Natasha again. She groaned. Normally Tony could hold off a conversation longer than that.
"Hill told me the Council has it in for you. They want to terminate you," she mentioned calmer then she thought possible. Clint paled as he realized what she meant. Steve focused on the archer in shock. Bruce looked down to the floor. Pepper gasped and seemed like she might be about to cry. Tony just looked pissed.
"Does Fury not understand that he was possessed?" Tony demanded. Natasha faced him.
"Director Fury works under the Council. They are actually two separate entities," Natasha coolly responded. Tony tensed. "Fury actually wants to bring him in for questioning. He was going to wait until we all returned, but things changed."
"Well, don't the Council realize he was possessed? And why just him?"
"They don't care. As long as someone other then them gets claimed," Clint muttered before standing. Natasha walked over to him but before she made it to his side, he looked up with a face devoid of all emotion. "So, I'll go pack up."
"Clint," Natasha stared but the archer was already off. With a deep sigh, she went to follow only to have Steve grab her arm. It took only seconds for Clint to vanish from her sight. The dark threatening glare she gave Steve after did little to loosen the grip. Which, in all honesty, surprised her. Never, since being labeled Black Widow, has anyone ever stood up to her without some sort of protective barrier. "I need to go after him.
"Let him go," Steve whispered. Bruce nodded his consent along with Tony. Pepper simply slunk off to the side. "He's a big boy."
"Let me go, or you will regret it," Natasha hissed, her green eyes flickering toward where Clint was last seen. Steve shook his head.
"Natasha, let him think this over. How would you feel if you just found out you'd been fired," Bruce softly mentioned. Natasha stared at the scientist in shock. Then her eyes focused on everyone else and she clearly saw that they may have mistook her words. Without a thought to Steve's superior strength, Natasha yanked her arm from his grasp. Not wanting to hurt her, Steve had of course let go but now stepped in front of her path.
"Morons! The Council wants to kill Clint!" she cried at them, not caring how blunt she sounded. Surprised by her new admission, the others looked to the way that the archer had vanished. Without wasting another second, Natasha was rushing toward the room Clint had claimed as his own. Unconsciously, she knew that Tony, Steve and Bruce were right behind her.
The group burst into the room, praying that they'd see Clint just chilling on the bed. But the sight that greeted them was horrible. The far window was utterly shattered. Glass littered the floor. The mattress was flipped on it's side and the sheets strewn every which way. Anything that wasn't too heavy to move was now tossed far from it's original position. And the worst part... Clint was no where to be found.
And that's that. Hopefully the next update won't take as long. I plan on working all weekend to try and get as much of this story done but that can only work if people review! Reviews, follows, and favs make me happy and give me ideas which keep me writing! So, if you love this story, you know now what to do, please. ^_^