For the past week Clint had been stalking Anton between Stark Tower and Stark Industries. The car rarely took the same route and it was seriously beginning to piss him off. He needed a set route so he could set himself up on a rooftop to assassinate the man. Preferably near traffic lights so he can take advantage of car halting for a few minutes. It wasn't that he couldn't take out a moving target but there was more that would likely go wrong in that scenario and if he fucked it up then it would be near impossible to take the man out if Stark upped the security on Anton.
But his waning patience was finally rewarded. There was one place that Anton always stopped at. It took him a while to discover it because often he was in the wrong place trying to figure out where the car was. Nat wouldn't allow a tracking device because there a high chance Tony would discover it. So now instead of flitting from alley way to rooftops all over the fucking city, Clint was perched on an eight storey office building watching the drive thru coffee shop across the road.
Natasha had given him a heads up that Anton was on his way to Stark Industries earlier. Clint had jumped into action and found the ideal place take watch. While he waited he ran a finger softly over his bow. After the catastrophe with not knowing how the trick arrows worked with the bow, Clint had spent his spare time inspecting it. He didn't want to ask Nat about it, the condescension from her would be unbearable. He was a master archer, he should know how to work a bow and arrow. Clint had worked out the functions now and honestly he just wanted to take a moment to admire the bow. It was truly a beautiful thing. Hopefully Natasha wouldn't take it off him at the end of the job. Clint tightened the grip on the bow.
The weather was relatively warm but anything compared to his stay in Russia felt warm. Or maybe that was more to do with Nat, she'd thawed out a lot recently. Clint didn't have much to do while he waited for Anton to arrive so he watched the clouds in the distance while glancing down at the coffee shop frequently.
"Hey Natasha I found a cloud that looks like your heart." Clint said with a grin. The comms were active but he wasn't really supposed to be using them unless necessary. "Or maybe it's the iceberg that sunk the titanic."
"Hilarious Barton." Natasha murmured. Clint wasn't expecting a reply so she must be alone but still being cautious.
"Taking a break from trying to ruin Stark?"
"Even the wicked need to rest." Natasha responded softly. "Get back to work Barton."
"I could say the same for you. Stark isn't going to woo himself."
"I'm pretty sure he spends most of his time wooing himself." Natalia grumbled. "Now, unlike you I can't lay around watching clouds all day. Don't contact me again unless it's relating to the job and actually important."
Clint didn't respond but smiled. There'd being no arguments between them for the last week. Natasha was still mostly cold and expressionless but she did put up with his comments and jokes far easier and occasionally responded with her own sense of humour. Being Russian, it wasn't always great. But Clint enjoyed it just the same.
It didn't take much longer before the black car pulled into the coffee drive thru. Clint grabbed one of his standard arrows and readied it. Clint adjusted his sun glasses to ensure the sun wouldn't affect his aim.
Clint waited until the car pulled out before pulling the string back. As soon as the black car turned and he could see Anton in the back seat. With a steady breath and heart beat Clint released the string. The arrow collided with the window and fell to the ground. Clint swore, the arrows whilst standard were made of material that should pierce bullet proof windows, courtesy of the Black Widow.
The failed arrow attack was noticed by the occupants of the car. The driver instantly switched into evasive manoeuvres and he wouldn't be surprised if Iron Man was already called in. Clint didn't have time to waste and grabbed an explosive arrow. He aimed for the tires and tried to predict the next movement of the car before firing. Whilst his long shot aim was even better than his short one was, he didn't want to cause unnecessary deaths.
Clint no longer felt as calm as he did before. The arrow pierced the tire of the car and a split second later it exploded. The force of the explosion caused the back end of the car to raise into the air and then flip into traffic. The skidded to a halt on its roof. He didn't have a clean shot from his position on the roof any more.
There was no hesitation as Clint grabbed a cable arrow and activated the grappling hook. He attached it to the lip of the roof and jumped off backwards, absailing down the building. People were gaping at him but Clint kept going. He had to get this done before Iron Man showed and everything went to shit. More than it already had. This whole job was a cluster fuck.
"Hawkeye clean up your mess. Iron Man is on the way. ETA three minutes." Natasha warned, her tone was somewhere between pissed off, warning and slightly concerned.
"Under control Black Widow." Clint answered as he let go of the cable and free fell the last few feet. Clint already had another arrow ready as he ran towards the car. People were screaming and pointing. Clint tried not to pay much attention to the photos that were being taken. They'd have something more exciting in a minute. Or two minutes to be exact. He really didn't want to tangle with Iron Man again but it was going to be a large possibility.
The force of the explosion had cracked the car windows. Anton was slumped upside down but Clint couldn't tell whether he was dead or not. Now that he had clear shot and released the arrow and this time it pierced through the window and into Anton's neck. If he wasn't dead before, he was now. He tried not to think about the drivers fate. At least there had being no other civilian casualties. The cars that had been involved were damaged but upright and the passengers shaken but not severely injured.
"Target is dead." Clint advised Natasha as he took off running. He slung his bow over his broad shoulders and tried to find an escape route. The excited cheering of the crowd behind him warned him Iron Man was in sights.
"Iron Man?" Natasha asked, this time the concern was far more notable. Clint didn't have time to make a comment or even think about it though. He was ducking into an alley as the blast from Iron Man's repulsors rushed past him.
"Here. Go dark." Clint ordered. It was the first time he'd actually made any real order or call on the job but Natasha complied and fell silent. If he got caught by Tony he didn't want to risk Nat's life or status as 'Natalie.'
Clint scaled a chain fence as Iron Man flew around the corner. It really wasn't fair. He couldn't out run the suit but Clint fired an EMP arrow in hopes it would slow Stark down long enough that he could find somewhere to hide. He didn't bother wasting time to see whether it worked. Clint came out onto a main street and took a left turn. Iron Man would hold back more because of the mass amounts of people milling about. As much as Clint loathed to use that as his advantage he had little choice.
"Drop the bow Legolas." Iron Man called out. Clint swore, he thought he'd buy himself more time than that. "Last week I wasn't pissed. I would have let it slide. But now, you've killed a friend."
The crowd was beginning to part and Clint was losing his advantage quickly. Clint had one more advantage up his sleeve. A young girl, no more than ten was rushing past him to get to her parents. Clint grabbed her by the arm and pulled her against him. He pulled out his knife and held it to her throat. "You can let her die here and take me in. Or you can let her live and let me go. Your choice."
Clint tried to ignore the sobs coming from the child. It was going to haunt him for a long time. He'd never hurt children before or threatened them. It was another one of his rules. Natasha would make sure he broke them all by the time she was done with him. He resented himself for thinking it but he was under stress and his mind was turning traitorous. Clint held the girl as loosely as he dared so he didn't hurt her psychically. "I'm sorry." Clint murmured down to her softly.
Iron Man lowered his arm and the repulsor powered down. "I will find you and make you pay for this."
Clint dropped his gaze and slunk into the crowd, taking the child with him. He knew Tony wouldn't follow him until the child was returned safely. He had to get as far away as possible to ensure he could go into hiding. Clint covered a few blocks before stopping. He dropped down to his knees and looked at the young girl. She'd stopped crying but her eyes were red and puffy. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
"I know this won't make up for it but it's all I have." Clint pulled out all the money he had in his pocket. "I'm going to leave you here. Iron Man will come and get you okay?"
The girl clutched the money looking confused. She nodded her head but Clint doubted she understood what was happening.
Clint disappeared into a side street and found a sewer grate. He pulled it back and slipped down into the dark tunnel before putting the grate back in place. He wasn't happy about being in a sewer again so soon after Russia but he'd just traumatised a child and he wasn't willing to do any further damage. Clint walked for hours and had eventually made his way into old tunnels and abandoned subway tracks. He'd passed groups of homeless people taking residence in the tunnels which made him think night had fallen by now.
No doubt his face would be everywhere by now. The smallest amount of attention would mean he'd be running from Iron Man again.
It took him another two hours to get back to the motel room. He'd had a few close calls with patrolling police officers and a group of people recognising him. Clint had to go back into the underground tunnels and lay low again for awhile. He had no idea where Nat would be there or not. They'd stayed dark so Natasha wouldn't be compromised.
The motel room was dark but Clint figured Stark would have her busy in light of today's events. He ignored the feeling of disappointment. Her snarky attitude would be ideal right now. Clint couldn't get the child's scared face out of his head. He'd never hated himself as much as he did right now. Clint threw his bow and quiver on the table and collapsed onto the couch. It groaned in protest but it was the least of his worries.
Clint knew he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. He'd be plagued by nightmares of her innocent face forever scarred by his actions.