Little Tsu: Last chap, things took a bad turn for Alister. However, things will be quite the rollarcoaster for both herself & Clint. Good, bad, better, worse. You name it, on the scale, it's there. However, what the real question is right now is,...what will happen to Alister now?

Ch: 7

~Clint glanced around himself from a rooftop as he looked for the enemy. He still didn't know what these things looked like that they were informed about, but he knew they didn't even look remotely human.

As he spotted movements in the shadows of an alley, he brought back the string on his recurve bow and took aim after activating the currently hooked arrow's special ability. However, just as he was about to release and let the arrow fly, he was suddenly struck from behind before he even realized there was someone there, which had never happened before in his line of work. Biting back a surprised grunt of pain, he fell forward; catching himself in a knelt position with his hand grasping the edge of the roof.

Keeping his head down as his vision swirled, he turned his head to glance behind himself slowly to get a look at his attacker only to be taken by surprise by what he saw. Standing there before him was none other than the very one he had come to trust and care about so deeply. "A-Alister..."

"I'm sorry..."

Before he could fully register what was happening beyond the broken tone she suddenly spoke to him in, he was knocked out by the young Malakete...~

Jolting up into a sitting position in his bed, Clint panted raggedly for breath as he awoke in a cold sweat.

As he steadied his fast beating heart once again, he casted a glance through the darkness of his room towards the clock on his nightstand. Seeing the bright, glowing blue numbers reading 3:12am, he groaned softly at this before tossing the thin bed sheet off of himself and slipping out of the bed. He needed something to get his mind off that dream...

Slipping on a pair of pants over his boxers, he slipped out of his room and made his way into the Avengers Tower's kitchen to make himself some coffee. Once done, he poured himself a cup and took a seat on a stool that was at the island as he leaned over with a sigh. As he took a sip though, his half closed ice blue eyes landed across the island to the empty stool there and an image flashed in his mind as he pictured Alister sitting there with her delicate hands grasping her mug of hot chocolate and a happy smile upon her features as she laughed at something he said.

Clenching his eyes tightly shut at the image, he set his mug down and tilted down his head in almost shame. He had been such a fool. He had trusted her and it turned out that she had been a spy for this new enemy the whole time...

"Got somethin' on your mind Legolas?"

Opening his eyes slowly, he lifted his head slightly to glance towards the opening; seeing Tony Stark standing there while his side leaned against the frame. "What are you doing in here Stark? Surely it's not just to simply annoy the hell outta me at..." Clint glanced over at the digital clock on the microwave before bringing his gaze back over to the other man. "3:57 in the morning..."

"No no...Nothing like that. I was just working further on the project that the Little Dragon and I started on two days ago. Came in here to get me some coffee; that fresh?" Tony didn't even bother to wait for an answer from Clint before he made his way to the coffee machine as he poured himself a cup. Setting the pot back into place, he took a sip and hummed softly in appreciantion towards the fresh, hot liquid going down his throat. "Oh that's good stuff. Always helps me out in a number of ways, but Little Dragon never liked the stuff. Speaking of which, heard what happened. Sad really. She seemed like a real good kid."

"She played all of us Stark. She only pretended to be innocent and a victim of what all happened to her." Clint narrowed his eyes as he tightened his grip onto his mug while glaring down at the still steaming liquid. It had been two days since Alister confessed to everything and it honestly made him feel so betrayed. He had trusted her, saw her as a friend and partner. He...Clint honestly didn't know what he truly began to feel for the alien girl, but Natasha had been convinced that he felt something romantically for her. He wasn't entirely certain on that since despite having had plenty of female partners in the past, he never made a relationship out of any of them or felt anything remotely romantic towards the girls he had slept with. He wasn't even really sure if he was capable of falling in love since he found his life as a special agent for S.H.I.E.L.D to be more important than forming a romantic relationship with anyone.

"That's the thing though...The reports say that she confessed to being a spy for this...whatever alien race that she mentioned to us and said that she was given orders to get close to all of us and destroy the team from the inside...Yet what I don't get is this...If she was really a spy and double agent,...then why did she help me with the project she came up with? She certainly had the time to sabotage it. Also,...why did she hesitate on the mission those things gave to her and take the risk of getting a bad beating cause of it?" Tony then finished his coffee and walked over to the sink as he set the mug down in it. "Just a thought here Legolas, but...I think it was you that made her hesitate. Later." With a motionless wave as he left the kitchen to return to his lab, Tony left Clint there to wallow in his own thoughts on everything he had brought up.

It was almost an hour after Tony had left the kitchen that Clint finally got up and left as well; setting the empty mug into the sink. Upon arriving back into his room, he got himself quickly dressed and then headed right back out as he made his way to the elevator that would take him down to the parking garage where his jeep was. With his mind made up on what he had to do, he quickly drove out of the garage and headed down the highway towards the branch that they had there in New York since S.H.I.E.L.D thought it was easier to base a branch there due to the Avengers Tower being stationed in that city as well.

Pulling down into the underground parking garage under the building, Clint parked his jeep and got out before heading over to the elevator. Stepping inside, the moment the doors slid closed on him, he slipped in his key card before pressing the floor he wanted to go to, which required top security clearance, thus the reason for his key card. As the elevator finally came to a halt after a few moments, the doors slid open and he stepped out to make his way down the metal walkway. When the archer finally came to a halt, he just stood there and stared at what was in front of him; a glass containment prison designed to hold extraterrestrials...Inside that prison, just sitting there on the cold floor,...was Alister...

There was nothing but silence for those first few moments, but when the small alien finally opened her eyes slowly and brought their molten gold coloration to lock with his ice blue, that was when the silence suddenly broke. "Clint...?...What are you doing here?" The slight tensing that the male before her did caused her to drift her gaze towards his hand; a pistol being spotted in his grasp. "...Here to kill me?"

Clint reflexively tightened his grip on the handle of the gun while his index finger twitched ever so faintly against the trigger. "Why?...Was everything that happened here all just a lie?...Just part of the job and a game to you?" When Alister didn't answer right away and instead, turned her head away from him to suddenly avoid his gaze, he clenched his teeth before storming over to the prison and slamming the side of his free hand against the glass when he fisted it. "Look me in the eye and answer me extraterrestrial!"

At being called that in such a biting tone, Alister finally shifted her gaze hesitantly back onto Clint. When she did though, Clint nearly regretted calling her such a terrible thing and using the tone he had with her. The sight of her expressive eyes glistening with unshed tears nearly broke him; something that not even the toughest of enemy interrigators could cause him to do. "I did not wish to..."

"What?"

"I did not wish to betray...The Sssthgar and his army attacked and killed my people when we landed on their planet via the Bifrost...The Sssth had never gotten along with the Malakete so we were all hoping to quickly pass through after a short rest without getting spotted...But we were by a Sssth scout and...during the night, we were attacked...My people fought back and tried to escape, but even with our magic, they were all killed...I was the only one to escape with my life, but..." Sniffing softly as she struggled to hold back her tears, Alister shook her head and forced herself to keep going. "I was tracked down...The Sssthgar told me that if I wanted to remain alive, that I was to do exactly as he instructed."

"And that was to act as a double agent for him and his army...To destroy us from the inside so as to give this Sssthgar a big advantage for when he finally attacked?" When she nodded her head faintly and finally turned her head and gaze away from him in shame, he crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes narrowed at her. It was taking a bit more self control than he thought it would to stay serious and angry towards her. After all, he had every right to hate her now; to want her locked away for good or even elliminated...So why was he needing to struggle to keep these emotions up front? "If that was your mission then, then why didn't you follow through? You had a few chances, actually, to sabotage one of Stark's suits, to poison all of us, and a number of other things. Why let that thing beat you so badly?"

"...Because I hesitated..."

"Why did you hesitate Alister?" When she didn't answer and instead, fell quiet, Clint gritted his teeth slightly in frustration towards her silence in trying to avoid answering him. "Answer me Alister! Why did you hesitate?!"

"I hesitated because of you Clint!"

At being told this, Clint's eyes widened a fraction as he took a step back and his arms fell back to his sides. She had hesitated in following up with the mission she was given because of him? That didn't make any sense. "What...?"

"You...are the reason I hesitated...The reason I decided to go against the mission and not complete it...Even if it meant my life being taken by the Sssthgar and rendering my race completely lost to death and extinction..."

Hearing a bit more of the reason behind her hesitance and the consequences behind her failing to complete said mission, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. The small girl within the prison had just told him that she couldn't go through with completing her mission even though the results of her betrayel was death... "Why?...Why would you do that?"

Alister finally drifted her gaze back towards Clint as her delicate features softened and a small, sad smile graced her lips; the saddness also shining within her eyes. "...I fell in love..."

It was those words...that finally floored Clint Barton, who was now rendered speechless...

Unfortunately, it was only a moment later, that the moment between them came to a close as the room suddenly shook from a blast resounding from above ground...They were under attack...

To be continued.

Little Tsu: Yes yes...I ended the chap there. I'm so evil...Believe me, I'll be endin' a few more future chaps on an even more evil cliffhanger...On the bright side: at least Alister confessed?XD ...Though,...she was in a prison...x.x"