CHAPTER #28
In Romania Barton checked out the industrial areas and local thug hangouts. No sign of HYDRA or any other faction. He was getting bored again and needed some action, so he bought a ticket to a rugby game. It was the same as going to one in the US, except he couldn't understand the announcer, due to the heavy accent. Later he joined the crowd at the local bar. He chose a table close to the hallway to the washrooms and where his back was to the wall. Often sports events cause sore losers to start bar fights. His location ensured no one could come at him from behind and if he had to fight, the hallway would funnel the attackers. Maximum he'd have to fight at once would be three and they'd be in each other's way at that. He check out the bartender and saw the man was build like someone who could crush a skull with one hand. Barton also noticed that he had a baseball bat and a shot gun, behind the bar with him. That explained why the bar had no bouncers, this bartender could handle it all. Watching the crowd, Barton easily saw the two groups that would start the fight. Their body language alone, even without the volume of alcohol, told him that the fight would be coming soon. He grinned and cracked his knuckles. He was drinking out of a beer stein, again done on purpose. Hit someone over the head with one of those and they'd be unconscious. A beer bottle was smaller, but not always as effective. Pitchers usually were built out of sturdy glass too.
As he had predicted, it wasn't long for the fat guy with the big mouth, to offend a fan of the loosing team. The bartender didn't have a chance to stop the fight. All he could do, was defend the bar from loosing bottles. Barton stayed out of it until the fighting came to him. His timing, accuracy and speed allowed him to excel over pure power. He caught the first guy in the right spot, a punch to the throat. His buddy got the stein on top of his head, making the knees buckle, but he didn't quite fall. Stein-head-guy tried to stay standing, swaying around like falling timber, before gravity won and he collapsed to the ground. Another man got punched in the liver, up on an angle, just below the ribs. It dropped him instantly. Barton was having fun. He took a right on the chin, which most men would've been dizzy with. He grinned and gave the guy a one-two combination in the abdomen. A low kick and his attacker was incapacitated. A big fat guy was swinging for Barton's head, so he moved towards the punch, tightening his neck muscles and clenching his jaw. The fat man didn't expect him to do that and missed his mark, wide to the right side. It landed on Barton's forehead, which was one of the most solid bones on a human body. It broke the man's hand and he whimpered like a little girl.
The bartender was having problems and Barton went to help him. They stood back to back. "Thanks for the help," the man said with poor english.
"Thank me once it's over," Clint chuckled as he took a punch to his stomach. His muscles were tightened, so it landed on his obliques and not directly in his stomach. He grunted and let his elbow open a gash on the attacker's eye. Blood squirted all over them.
The bar was a mess, but with the help of a few of his regulars, the bartender and Barton, managed to get the fight outside. Once the rowdy crowd was gone, the bartender who's name was Nic, locked the doors. "Once those bastards are gone, I'll open back up," he said in Romanian.
Barton picked up his stein, table and chair. Him and another man, dragged the bodies that were unconscious or too hurt to move, out the side door and left them in the alley. Their friends could help them home or the local police would. They picked up tables and chairs, cleaning up the mess. The bartender bought everyone a round, when they were done. Nic made an effort to use English for Barton's sake.
"You have some good fighting skills, what do you do?" Nic asked the American.
"A little bit of this and that. Grew up hustling on the streets," Clint said vaguely.
Nic nodded, "you in town long?"
Clint shrugged, "not sure."
The bartender didn't push for more information, sensing the man at his bar wanted privacy. "Well if you're in town tomorrow, come for a few free beers."
Barton thanked him and said good night. He went to Bird, "that was fun."
"I don't think Stark sent you to find HYDRA agents in bars," Bird said.
"He didn't say where I had to look," Clint joked, getting on to the motorcycle. "Bartenders get told all kinds of things, he's my ear to the underground."
"Yes sir."
The next day Barton went back to the bar, just before the evening crowd of regulars would arrive. Nic gave him a few beers for free and Barton paid for another. They talked about the fight from last night and then the locals. Barton found out that there had been a few robberies to the local technical industries. Because of the limit of Nic's english, he couldn't explain what exactly was taken. But the robberies were now being reported in Slovakia. Something about the type of equipment being taken, peaked Barton's interest. He said farewell to the bartender and left.
"Bird we're going to Slovakia. I want you to find out what you can about the robberies that were done here and correlate them with the ones being done in Slovakia. I want to know what was stollen and when."
He returned to his hotel room, packed up and paid his bill. Then began the ride to Slovakia. Barton had Bird report to Jarvis his suspicions. Then he had Bird give him details about the caves. HYDRA loved putting their compounds inside mountains. He had a feeling he was getting closer to finding what they were all looking for.
Meanwhile, Romanoff was directing containers to be unloaded and set up inside the new compound. She hated the new location, but understood why Von Strucker chose it. What bothered her, was that neither S.H.E.I.L.D. nor the Avengers were preventing the move or coming after her. The tracker should have brought agent interference, but it had not. Barton normally didn't give up so easily. She was dying to know what they were up to.
CHAPTER #29
Jarvis was monitoring S.H.E.I.L.D. frequencies when the report came in. A team of agents had gone against Director Fury's orders and tried to stop HYDRA from leaving the Isle of Man. Two agents were killed and a third had been paralyzed by Black Widow's taser sting. That agent was taken hostage, forcing the others to retreat. Jarvis advised Stark of the latest news.
"Contact Barton," Tony said and waited for the connection to be made.
"What's up Tony?" Clint asked.
"We have confirmation that Natasha officially is with HYDRA. She took out a S.H.E.I.L.D. agent."
"Gun or widow bite?"
"Widow bite, the guy was paralyzed and they took him hostage. She's gone bad buddy," Tony stated.
Clint still had his doubts. If she wanted the guy dead, she would have used her guns. He didn't voice his opinion, knowing it would be no good. "Thanks for keeping me up to date. I'm almost in Slovakia. Last country on our list, before I return."
"Jarvis heard some chatter from agent Hill. She's been keeping an eye on you. They're not impressed with your bar fighting," Tony advised.
Clint could hear Banner's laughter in the back ground and grinned, "well then it's a good thing I don't work for them anymore. I'm at the border, keep in touch." He disconnected.
He showed the border patrol his passport and rode onward. Bird had booked a hotel room in Kosices. It was the industrial centre of Slovakia and where the robberies had been occurring. There were a lot of historically rich architectural buildings, mixed with modern cafes, restaurants, and clubs. On the outer city limits were palaces of the aristocrats. There were many grand churches scattered within the city, also. On the horizon you could see one of the many mountain ranges that were part of Slovakia. Barton's eyes saw it all and stored it away in his mind. Once this task for Stark was done, he was going after Romanoff, no matter what the cost was or who tried to stop him. He had a feeling that she wanted him to find her. Why else would she taser the agent instead of shoot him? She knew someone would be sent to rescue the agent, she had taken with them, eventually. But for now, he had to focus on the task at hand. She'd still be with HYDRA when he was done in Slovakia.
Barton did his usual routine when he got to the hotel, unpacked and then went to find the local bar near the area where the robberies were happening. It didn't take long to find a bar and he sat with his back against the wall at the end of the bar. He ordered a pint of Pivovar Saris, of SABMiller, the largest brewery in Slovakia. After his second beer he tipped the bartender enough to make the man take interest in him. Barton told him to start a tab. He heard one of the other patrons in the bar talk about a gang of vigilanties that tried to stop the robbery at one of the industrial buildings. He asked the bartender about the gang and was impressed with the man's english.
"It's a group of five guys using mixed martial arts and parkour to stop criminals. Police haven't had success in stopping the criminals or catching these guys either."
"Do they call themselves anything?" Clint asked.
"Vol'ny bet, in Slovak or rough translation is Free Run," Damek the bartender said.
Intrigued Clint asked, "are these guys successful in capturing criminals?"
"Sometimes. The industrial robberies are out of their league. Heavy machine gun fire and weapons used. Which is why I think the local police are slow to respond and investigate."
"Why break into an industrial building, when this country has plenty of palaces?" Clint inquired.
"They're looking for technical stuff, that only these places make. I don't know what stuff or what it's used for, but these are no ordinary robberies." Damek had to serve his other patrons and left for a while to do his barkeep duties.
When Damek returned Clint had one final question, "did the robbers get everything they needed or did Free Run interfere?"
"Those guys did get in the way and prevent the last robbery from completing. The BD Sensors company who owns the building has stepped up security and has hired Free Run to keep an eye on them."
"Sounds like the cops should be the ones hiring these guys, not trying to lock them up," Clint commented.
The bartender agreed. Then they talked about Damek having gone to USA for a few months and that's how he was fluent in english. The bartender recommended that Barton visit Spis Castle and East Slovak museum, if he wanted to be the usual tourist. Barton paid his tab and thanked Damek for the suggestions. Then he went outside and mounted the motorcycle.
Once the helmet was on Clint told Bird, "give me all the information you have on a company called BD Sensors. In particular I want information on the recent robbery attempt."
Bird advised, "the company specializes in electronic pressure measurement. The division that had the robbery attempt, was for submersible probes." She continued to give him the requested information.
"Get me directions to the company, change to air jet and cloak us," Clint directed.
"Yes sir," Bird replied.
Barton had a feeling that this was definitely HYDRA going after the company's technology. It might be his only chance to find their secret location. He was mystified by BD Sensors location, as it was on a street that had residential buildings on one side, a gas station and a car dealership near by, with a few other industrial buildings scattered in between. Then further down the street you could see farms. The area wasn't very secure, but as he flew overhead and used Bird's hover capability, he saw an armed man on the roof and two patrolling the outside of the building. That wouldn't be enough to stop HYDRA. The roof of a house across the street would work well for his observation. Tonight he'd come back and hopefully so would HYDRA.
For the rest of the day, Barton did what Damek had suggested and visited the East Slovak Museum. After that he rode the motorcycle out to Spis Castle. The history of the ruins and it's location impressed Barton. As the sun began to set, he went to the local restaurant for diner. He returned to his hotel, changed and got ready for the night surveillance work. His gear was ready and he waited until night set in.
"Bird monitor all local frequencies for this area," Clint instructed after he parked and cloaked the motorcycle. He had the com unit in his ear and the receiver on his back molar clipped into place. He heard the AI reply, as he was climbing up the side of the house he would use to observe the BD Sensors building.
The first part of the evening was uneventful. After midnight he could see Free Run making their way towards the BD Sensors building. They checked in with the guard on duty. He watched two of them easily climb the wall to the roof and scan the area.
"There is an approaching air vehicle, not a normal helicopter, from the east. I believe it's a HYDRA jet, sir." Bird reported.
Barton looked in the direction suggested and he could see the air displacement due to the dirt kicked up, even though the jet was cloaked. A dozen armed HYDRA men jumped to the ground and began to advance on the building. It was too late, when the security guards became aware of the invasion. Gun fire rattled through the night's stillness. Originally Barton was not going to intervene, but when one of the Free Run guys got shot in the leg and was about to be executed, he let an arrow fly. Down went the HYDRA man. The guy who'd been save called to his comrades, but they were in hand to hand combat with HYDRA agents also. Whenever a gun was to be used by HYRDA against the Free Run guys, Barton took it out with an arrow. He tagged the transport jet with a tracker and then went in closer. There were too many HYDRA men, so the vigilantes had to retreat or be killed.
Clint came to drag the wounded guys to the alley and safety. "I'm a friend, stay quiet and I'll get you to safety," he said in basic Slovakian.
"Who are you?"
"Hawkeye," Clint replied.
"Avenger," the bleeding guy said, in english, with awe.
Free Run all reassembled near the bleeding man. Barton told them to stay out of the fight, that loosing their life wasn't worth it. Then he used simple parkour and went up the side of the building. The guys of the Free Run group, who were uninjured, were not going to sit by and do nothing. They picked up the guns from the dead HYDRA men and went in the building to give Hawkeye back up. One guy picked out the arrows from the dead bodies, so he could give them back. The robbery was still in progress. The alarm had been disabled, but the lights were out and only emergency lighting was on. The guys caught up to Hawkeye, who was watching to see what components or technology would be stollen by HYDRA.
"Here are all the arrows we could find. I'm Andrej from Free Run," he said as he handed back.
"Thanks. I'm Hawkeye. There are eight men inside this area all armed. Do not engage them until I've taken out their weapons," Clint said. He then told them how to get in position to attack.
Hawkeye waited until he saw the guys in position and then let loose a volley of arrows, that disabled every single gun that was drawn. The HYDRA agent carrying a black sack, was the one he went after. Around him he could hear shouts and fighting.
"The quality of HYDRA agent just isn't what it use to be," Clint reported to Bird as he snapped the agent's neck.
"The police are on their way, but so are HYDRA reinforcements," Bird replied.
Hawkeye looked at what was in the bag and then took one of the items. The rest he dropped by the body. He went to assist the Free Run guys and also to retrieve his arrows. Hawkeye was impressed by the mma skill and that all the HYDRA men were either unconscious or dead.
"Everyone out," Clint yelled to his new friends. "Police are about to arrive, let them handle this mess."
They retreated at his command and went back to the alley where the other guy was. Hawkeye and Andrej helped him up. And they moved him across the street. The HYDRA jet had left, but the sirens of the police could be heard coming and another HYDRA jet arrived, double the amount of men came out of this one. The black bag was picked up and they left, leaving behind the dead bodies of their fellow agents. Before leaving, one agent looked at the dead body and pointed at the wound, then looked around before signalling they should go. That agent had recognized the wound was made by an arrow. He knew that only one person would be so skilled with an arrow… Hawkeye from the Avengers. He called to the other men to leave quickly, even if they didn't have all the parts needed.
"Bird is the tracker still active?" Clint asked.
"Yes sir."
He looked at Andrej, "do you have a car you can get, for your friend here?"
"Two blocks down. Dalek can get it."
"Meet us on the next street over," Clint instructed quietly.
He helped them move the wounded men, so the police wouldn't pin the deaths of the HYDRA men on them. Once their car arrived, the Free Run guys thanked Hawkeye for all his help. He told them to keep doing what they could to keep crime down in their town. He asked if they had a home base or contact and they gave him a business card. That he found amusing, but didn't let it show on his face. After the guys were gone, he uncloaked Bird and they left the area. He went into jet mode and they followed the tracker towards the Slovak mountains. A strong feeling settled in, that he'd be finding HYDRA's secret location very soon.