Sorry! Reposting to correct a few errors!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or any of the characters in the story except Le Roux and his henchmen. If I did, there would totally be a Hawkeye/Black Widow movie in the works.

Author's Note: 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"

As always, very special thanks to TuningMyViola for actings as South African consultant and Afrikaans translator...

Continued thanks to Rain in the Dark for agreeing to be my Russian translator in the future.

Thank you to Khell for volunteering to act as my translator for German in the future! :)

And if anyone can translate into Hungarian and would be willing to translate a little for me please let me know!

Thanks to all reviewers and readers!

Enjoy!

Last Time:

"I have a heart..." he tapped his arc reactor, "and I am capable of a compliment. I just don't do it unless conditions are extreme and as you can see," He motioned around the room again, "beyond extreme. So don't get used to it. Once you get us out of this mess, we'll never speak of this again."

Clint chuckled. He'd accept that reasoning. But he guaranteed he'd hold those words over Stark's head until the day he died, and he'd bring it up. Often.

There are indeed times when one should trust blindly, just as there are times when one should not. Wisdom consists in being able to tell one from the other. -Daniel Quinn

Clint blinked, trying to dispel the haze that was trying to settle over his mind. He was hot, so hot, and thirsty. He'd had a fever enough times to know what it felt like. No doubt he had some sort of infection brewing. If the heat emanating from the bullet graze on his arm was anything to go by, he was being taken down by a flesh wound.

They also hadn't had any food or water in almost two days now. He'd gone much longer without either, but he could hear Tony's stomach rumbling from across the room.

He blinked again, frowning when a chill racked his abused body. His thoughts were getting fuzzy, and Clint pulled against his handcuffs, the pain sharpening his mind.

Tony was done reassembling the HYDRA weapon. He was certain it would work now, but since he wasn't in a position to test it, he couldn't be sure if he'd recalibrated it enough to not take out the whole wall when he used it. Clint had told him that as long as he wasn't in front of, behind, or next to the wall...it didn't really matter. Tony'd just have to be careful when he used it.

Now Tony was working furiously to assemble fake prototypes to keep Le Roux happy. He was more focused than Clint had ever seen him.

Clint blinked again, trying to force himself to stay focused. But it was too damn hot and he felt himself slipping back in time, to the last time he was in this country that hated him.

It was official; he was never taking a mission in South Africa again.

3 years 2 months ago...

Mission Number: D-15728

Code Name: Zion

Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Agent In Charge: Phillip "Overwatch" Coulson (ID: 235987YT)

Field Agent(s) Assigned: Clint "Hawkeye" Barton (ID: 494762DZ)

Threat Level: High

Level of Force: Lethal

Target: Abrehem Fourie

Clint bounced his feet where he had them propped against the back of the empty co-pilot's chair, silently keeping beat with the song he was listening to on his iPod. He flipped to the next page in the brief, staring at the picture of Abrehem Fourie standing in a café with a young man. Clint knew it to be his son, Josia Fourie. As he stared at the picture, he memorized every detail of Fourie senior's face, from the distance apart his eyes were set to the hint of grey in his short cropped hair. He had to be able to identify this man in possibly extreme conditions with very little time to deliberate.

"Cape Town is beautiful this time of year." Coulson commented idly as he looked over his own brief.

"Are you saying I'll get to work on my tan?" Clint asked with a smirk.

"We have a two week window…if we happen to complete our mission before that time has expired, we may be able to arrange some R&R. Didn't you say there was a local place you loved last time you were here?" Coulson shrugged as if it didn't matter to him either way.

"I promised Tasha I'd take my next R&R with her." Clint sighed.

Coulson glanced at his twenty four year old agent.

"You and Agent Romanoff seem to be growing increasingly intimate." Coulson observed delicately. Clint gave him a withering look.

"Why don't you just ask me what you want to ask me?"

"You're sleeping together?"

"Is that mission relevant?" Clint taunted.

"Clint." Coulson sighed, "You know there are rules about that…"

"What's Fury going to do? Fire me? If he didn't fire me for bringing her in against orders, he won't fire me for sleeping with her." Clint waved away his handler's concern.

"She's dangerous." Coulson reminded.

"Yeah, well so am I."

"In a different way…she's a manipulator, Clint."

"I know." Clint gave up all pretenses of reading his brief. "She's with us, Phil…trust me."

"What the hell happened with you two in Vietnam three months ago?" Phil shook his head bemusedly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Clint grinned.

Clint blinked when Tony tossed a piece of metal away, sending it clattering across the concrete to his throw away pile. The archer wasn't sure why that particular memory had come to him. In the long list of conversations he'd had during that clusterfuck of a mission, it ranked at the bottom of the priority list. The situation that had followed had been remarkably like this one though.

What had Coulson told him over their comms after he'd been caught?

If a situation for escape doesn't present itself…create one…make it genuine, something that would probably happen eventually anyway if you weren't so goddamned stubborn.

Clint grinned wearily. Coulson just couldn't stop coaching him, even now.

Tony had been inspecting his row of completed guns when the door slammed open. His teammate had been sleeping, fighting a wicked fever that had taken over sometime during the last several hours. Even that couldn't dull his instincts though and Clint jerked awake a second before the door had opened, as if sensing their approach.

Le Roux came in with Johan, then René came trailing behind. Tony was sure he was more concerned than Clint when René rolled in large contraption whirring with electricity. Johan held his gun easily on Tony as Le Roux approached him and René headed for the slightly glassy eyed Clint.

"It has been nearly two days, Mr. Stark…and I while you've built some beautiful weapons there…I'm not seeing anything remotely like that blue energy powering it…that was your job, remember…is it that I haven't given you enough incentive?" Le Roux asked. He was talking to Tony, but he had moved to stand in front of Clint.

"I'm incentivized…trust me…and I'm making progress." Tony drew the attention back to himself.

"Are you?" Le Roux asked, turning to look at him fully.

"Yes."

"When do you suppose the first test will be ready?"

Tony flicked a glance at Clint, whose eyes were clearing with astounding speed.

"Tomorrow."

He was a pretty good liar when he needed to be. But he found his palms sweating as he waited for Le Roux to respond.

"How intriguing…perhaps something to remind you of how serious I am…René."

René moved forward and tapped the two metal rods connected to the contraption together, grinning evilly at the sparks that the action produced.

Clint's eyebrow twitched, then he forced himself to smile like this was going to be fun. Adrenaline had surged through his system the moment they came into the room, clearing his mind and bringing back his wandering focus. He looked straight at Tony, conveying as much as he could with his eyes that now was the time. He couldn't have asked for a more perfect torture method to make his plan seem genuine. He prepared himself mentally and resisted the urge to move away when René approached, instead focusing on the fact this would give him the opportunity he needed. He just needed to keep his mind clear and focused until the time was right.

He could take it.

"Barton?" Tony questioned when the archer smiled like this was going to be fun. Tony felt his respect for the younger man double. Anyone who could laugh in the face of that was made of steel.

Then Clint looked at him and Tony knew. Knew whatever crazy plan the archer had concocted was about to come into play.

"I can take it." Clint met his eyes again only briefly, reminding Tony firmly he had everything under control.

Then the archer shut down, mentally checked out. Tony could literally imagine a 'gone fishin', be back in an hour' sign hanging around his neck. He didn't know if he was comforted that Clint was taking at least some measure to protect himself, or terrified that this was going to be that bad.

René cut off Clint's shirt roughly, managing to nick the man a few times in the effort, on purpose, Tony was sure. Clint had remained unconcerned.

Everyone froze when Le Roux's radio squawked to life. Clint released a sharp breath, glancing at Tony in confusion. Tony shrugged slightly as they listened to Le Roux bark at someone over the radios. Clint's eyes widened a little as he listened, and he glanced at Tony again, trying to communicate with his eyes.

"Unfortunately," Le Roux turned back to them, "I have a very important call and will be unable to stay and enjoy the festivities. I'm sure René and Johan can take good care of you."

With that, Le Roux stalked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Tony looked at Clint, narrowing his eyes as he tried to decipher what instructions he was being given. Clint looked down at himself then at René. Then he looked pointedly at Tony, then at Johan.

Tony nodded that he understood. Clint didn't acknowledge him any further, shuttering his expression once again as René moved towards him with the rods for a second time.

The first shock was enough to make Clint and Tony flinch together. Clint's hands whitened around the armrests as he gripped it as an outlet for the pain. The second shock elicited a muffled grunt that Clint managed to swallow back quickly.

I can take it.

He watched the third shock come. His left eyebrow twitched. The only indication of pain he gave. He showed no reaction to the fourth shock as he cloaked himself deeper in his mantra.

I can take it.

He waited as René brought the rods back once more.

I can take it.

He clenched his teeth, refusing to give the bastard the satisfaction of a scream. Almost there.

I can take it.

Tony didn't want to watch, but he didn't want to risk missing Clint's plan coming into effect. So he stood like a stone, glaring at Johan and René in turn. Wishing uselessly that he could blast them both with his HYDRA weapon and be done with it. René was too close to Clint though, and no way was Tony risking anything until Clint was free.

Come on, Clint. What are you waiting for?

As if hearing his silent plea, Clint's head suddenly snapped back, his eyes rolled up, and he started violently convulsing.

René jumped back. Johan whispered the word "demon" in his native language.

It was Tony that spoke first.

"Well what are you waiting for, you assholes? Him to keel over?"

René moved to release him.

"Wait!" Johan snapped. "It could be a trick!"

"Are you kidding me?" Tony snapped. "He's had a steadily rising fever for over 9 hours! Now you've shocked him into convulsions! If he dies, your boss's guns aren't getting finished. I promise you that, you sons of bitches."

René frowned, remembering Tony's promise of a demonstration the next day.

"Le Roux will kill us both if he dies." René hissed.

"Wait!" Johan protested. "You cannot release the demon!"

"Damn you, Johan, and your superstition! He's no demon!" René scolded sharply.

Johan threw his hands up in frustration as René cut the duct tape on Clint's ankles and then moved for the handcuffs.

Tony eyed his HYDRA gun, then eyed Clint. Somehow he didn't think Clint would appreciate him drawing that kind of attention right off the bat. He slid his hand over his work bench, closing his fingers around a wrench.

René released the second of the handcuffs and Clint stopped convulsing so abruptly is was like a switch had been flipped. He braced his hands on the arm rests and used the leverage to pull his knees to his chest and then send his boots into René's chest.

Tony watched as Johan's gun dropped in shock and then he threw the wrench, pleasantly surprised when it slammed into the back of Johan's main gun hand and the rifle clattered to the ground. Tony launched himself over the workbench and dove at Johan, only barely managing to avoid getting skewered by the knife the man suddenly produced. He got a nice cut opened up on his arm, but managed to avoid any serious injury.

Tony wrapped his hand around Johan's wrist and slammed the man back against the wall. He drew the knife hand away from the wall and slammed it back against the concrete again. Johan's fist rammed into his cheek and Tony drove his elbow into the guy's neck, slamming the hand again. The fist hit his ribs next, and Tony growled in annoyance before slamming the wrist one last time and putting his knee it Johan's groin. As Johan doubled and the knife clattered to the floor, Tony brought the point of his elbows down into Johan's back. The man dropped to his hands and knees and Tony drove his foot as hard as he could into the man's face. He crumbled to the ground, unconscious.

Tony grabbed the knife and turned in time to see Clint get bodily slammed into the top of the workbench and roll off it to a heap on the ground. René was about to pursue him when he suddenly screamed in pain, wheeling around and clutching at his back. Tony backed away, dodging the large man as he tried uselessly to get at the knife between his shoulder blades.

Clint was suddenly climbing over the table, and launching himself onto Rene's back, grabbing the knife and pulling it out. He brought it around and across René's throat in the next breath. He pushed himself away from the body as it fell, stumbling to the ground himself.

He rolled to his hands and knees, breathing deeply to dispel the nausea that threatened to overtake him. Fake seizure or not, electrocution did a number on you and so did getting your ass kicked across a room. His head was spinning and his stomach insisted on crawling up his throat.

"Clint? You okay?" Tony asked, kneeling in front of him.

Clint blinked and suddenly Tony was gone, the whole room was gone and in its place was a similar cell, 3 years in the past.

"Hawkeye!" Coulson yelled at him over the comms. "Answer me, dammit!"

"Cool it, Overwatch…I'm...mostly…good." Clint coughed, tasting blood in his mouth. He used his tongue to feel the small communication device implanted in his fake molar.

"Sit rep!"

"Detained against my will." Clint informed cheerfully. He could almost hear his handler's eye roll.

"Status?"

"Gunshot to the left side…through and through."

"Blood loss?"

"Still happening." Clint groaned, shifting against the stone wall of his cell.

"Do something about it." Coulson snapped. "Are you compromised?"

"I ditched my bow before they caught up with me…three blocks north of their building in a dumpster…They haven't acted like they know why I was watching them…didn't mean they weren't pissed though." He said the last part under his breath, almost hoping Coulson didn't hear it.

"What did they do?"

"Nothing much…just showed me some of their old fashioned hospitality."

Hospitality was their code for "they beat me into unconsciousness" without Clint actually having to admit it had happened.

"I'm calling for an extraction."

"Wait!" Clint groaned, shifting again. "I can take it…and I can still finish this."

"The mission is blown, Hawkeye…it's time to get you out of there."

"It's not blown…Fourie's going to want to talk to me himself…be ready for me to come out hot after I eliminate him."

"You really think you can pull this off?"

"Trust me…I'm gonna do it like Sao Paulo four years ago."

"You were in medical for a month after that." Coulson reminded mildly, already knowing he was going to agree.

"I can take it, Overwatch…I'll get it done."

"Clint?"

Clint blinked. Tony was back in front of him.

"I'm fine." He told Tony as convincingly as he could manage.

"Sure you are." Tony's disbelief was as plain in his tone as it was in his expression.

"You remind me of him." Clint stated suddenly, wondering idly if he was delirious. He didn't usually just say things.

Tony blinked.

"Who?"

"Phil…he and I never agreed on anything either…"

"I do see the similarity there…" Tony admitted, "By the way…is there a reason you couldn't pull your Emily Rose routine before the whole electrocuting you thing?" Tony demanded.

"It had to be believable. Before would have been too convenient. I needed a catalyst...that was a surprisingly convenient one."

"For the record…still a terrible plan." Tony huffed, wrapping a hand around Clint's elbow when the man latched onto his arm.

"Yeah, well…it worked didn't it." Clint shot back, struggling to his feet with Tony's help. He wavered so heavily when he got there, that Tony's grip on his elbow tightened painfully.

"Nice job with Johan...you hurt?" Clint asked breathlessly.

"Nothing serious." Tony assured.

"Good call not using the weapon." Clint praised. "Surprise is the best thing we have going for us right now."

Tony smirked.

"I'm getting better at this super spy thing." He eyed Clint carefully as the man slowly pulled away from Tony's supporting hand.
"You sure you can do this?"

"I've done more with worse."

"Again with the horrifying statements. You need to stop saying things like that."

"Come on...stay behind me" Clint directed, wiping his new knife on his pants to remove René's blood. "We need to find the tech room." Clint braced his hand against the door, wishing his vision would stop wavering.

"Well let's get on with it." Tony waved his hand impatiently, moving quickly to grab his HYDRA gun. They needed to get going, because if the gasping quality to Clint's voice and the way he kept blinking deliberately were anything to go by, the other man was running on pure stubbornness and adrenaline.

Clint nodded and pulled the door open, leading the way into the quiet hallway.

Clint forced the pain in his body out of his mind; it was something that could be dealt with later. Right now, he needed his steps sure and silent. Coulson had always said he didn't know when to quit. He always got up, always kept coming, even when he shouldn't have been able to. It had kept him alive more times than he cared to count.

Now, as he crept around a corner, grabbing a guard from behind and wrapping one hand around his mouth at the same time he pulled the knife across his throat, he called upon that stubbornness again. He only had to last a little longer. Shoot straight and stay silent. Then they could go home. He had Tony help him dump the guard in an empty closet.

He could do it.

He had to do it.

They found the control room by accident. Clint pushed the door open and surprised the one man who was watching the equipment. Clint sprang into the room, snapping the man's throat before he even processed that he was in danger.

Tony followed him in and closed the door.

"You got this?" Clint asked, motioning at the two computers. Tony gave him an offended look that brought a smirk to the archer's lips. "I'm going up." He pointed at the large vent cover above them. "Get their radios offline, that'll put them in the dark...and then use that fancy gun of yours to beat it out of here and try not to bring the building down on my head."

"Where do I meet you?"

"In the woods east of here. If you happen to get a shot at Le Roux...take it." Clint answered seriously.

"And what are you going to do? While I do all the work?" Tony demanded.

The grin turned to a dark smirk.

"First…I'm going to find my weapons…then…I'm going to kill every last one of them."

With that, Clint climbed gingerly onto the desk and with a deep breath, levered himself up into the vent.

Tony tried to hear him move away, but all was silent. He cracked his knuckles and turned to the monitors. One showed live feeds of the two cameras they had monitoring the compound. One was pointed at the only road in or out, and another was watching the forest behind them. The second computer digitally monitored the radios.

"Oh please...this is like asking Da Vinci to draw a stick figure."

Clint found their supply room first. He eyed the box of C-4 on the shelf and the coiled rope on the wall. He noted the room in his mental map, fully intending to pay a return visit and do some shopping. He continued silently on his trek and finally found what he was looking for.

Clint paused over the small room Le Roux was in. He was talking with one of his men, motioning over a map spread out on a table. It seemed Le Roux's call was over.

He eyed the map before something on a far table drew his attention. His bow, quiver, rifle and Tony's case. Bingo. Two other men were in the room, listening as Le Roux issued orders. Clint waited, biding his time. It only took a few moments for Le Roux to call for René on the radio. Only to have his radio play nothing but dead air, not even static greeted him. Le Roux frowned and tried again, with the same result.

"Shit!" Le Roux snapped. "Die gevangenes is om te ontsnap!" (The prisoners are escaping!)

All four men sprinted from the room.

Perfect timing, Tony.

He waited an extra moment to make sure the room was clear. Then he eased the vent cover aside and jumped into the room. The landing was a lot less graceful that it should have been and more jarring than he'd prefer, but it was the best he could do. He counted it as a win that he didn't collapse outright. He moved quickly to his weapons.

He shouldered his bow and his gun, wincing as the straps rubbed raw wounds and bruises. When his fingers wrapped around his bow, he felt a new surge of strength flow into him. They could do this. He wasn't alone. He had Tony; together they would get out of here. He eyed Tony's Iron Man Case. He couldn't leave it behind, but he couldn't carry it and fire his bow at the same time, either. He grabbed it anyway and carried it over to the table the map was on. He stared at it, finding first the original base location.

"2 mikes then left...30mph...3.5 mikes then right...20mph...1 mike then bridge for .75 mikes..." He traced the route on the map, doing the calculations easily. It only took him a few moments to find their current location. He grabbed a pen from the table and wrote the coordinates on his forearm. Then he caught sight of a few other markings on the map. Smirking, he folded the map and stuffed it into his pocket. It was only when the map was gone that he saw Tony's holoscreen phone lying abandon on the table, still waiting for a password to be entered.

Clint smiled and slipped it into his pocket. Then quickly, because he knew he wouldn't have much time before they narrowed down where he was, Clint slipped back into the vents. He pushed Tony's case ahead of him, struggling to stay as silent as before with his quiver and rifle digging into his back and his bow in his hand. He knew he was making noise, but the chaos that was developing below was doing a great job of masking it. He just had to get back to a less populated hallway before he left the air ducts. The building shook suddenly and Clint groaned, bracing himself against the edges of the air duct.

That didn't sound like a re-calibrated HYDRA weapon.

Tony looked down at the HYDRA weapon, suddenly understanding why they'd created a new model. Re-calibrated or not, this thing was unstable. They obviously hadn't figured out the tesseract yet when they made this one. It had way too much energy flowing throughout it to be safe to use.

Tony would never underestimate the value of running tests again.

The guards in front of him were dead, but the entire wall behind them and the wall behind that were gone. Tony could actually see the forest through the large hole he'd created.

He scrambled through the first opening. No way was he using the gun again inside the building, not while Clint was crawling around in the vents. He had distinctly asked Tony not to bring the building down on his head. Tony figured he owed him at least that consideration.

He almost made it. He was thirty feet from the outer wall when bullets peppered the ground around him. He grunted in pain and stumbled to a stop when one of them ripped through his calf.

"Mr. Stark!"

He turned reluctantly.

Le Roux was behind him, half a dozen men flanking him with guns raised.

"It was a little stuffy...thought I'd pop a window." Tony shrugged. "Let me guess. I've worn out my welcome."

"Put down the weapon, Stark."

"Why would I do that?" Tony scoffed.

"Because if you don't, I'll have my men shoot you where you stand."

"Not if I shoot you first." Tony taunted.

"And risk bringing down a structure support?" Le Roux tisked. "With your companion Agent Barton still in the building, I doubt you'd risk it."

"So you haven't found him yet?" Tony grinned. "Something tells me he'll find you first...this whole killing people deal is kind of his thing...and he's scary good at it...oh wait...half your men already know that first hand."

"I may have underestimated Agent Barton's persistence, but trust me, Mr. Stark, I have not underestimated the man...He will be found and killed on sight."

"Let me know how that goes for you."

Tony would believe later that Clint had lent him some of the sixth sense the man seemed to have. Because he swore he could feel the men behind him before he heard them.

Tony spun, firing the weapon. Three of the approaching guards were obliterated, and so was a large tree in the forest beyond. Two other men, charged at Tony. He hadn't spend the time since he'd become Iron Man in training for nothing. He'd always known one day he'd have to fight without the suit.

One of them kicked the HYDRA gun out of his hand, making it fire and take out the wall and half the ceiling to their left. Tony slammed his fist into the man's face, breaking his nose and sending blood spurting. The guy stumbled back, hand going to his face. Tony turned, blocking the punch aimed at him from the second man and delivering a hard hit to the man's ribs. Then he punched the man in the thigh and put him out of the fight with a hard punch to the temple. Mr. Broke Nose charged back at him and snapped his foot up into the man's chest. Then took two steps forward to slam his hand back into the broken nose. The man fell back, unconscious. Tony winced, regretting using his wounded leg. It had hurt more than he'd expected.

Two strong arms wrapped around him from behind.

"Wow," Tony gasped as he was lifted back off his feet, he caught sight of a large hulking man he'd seen standing with Le Roux. "You must work out...what can you press? 500...600?" He wheezed as the man squeezed him until his ribs creaked. Tony slammed his head back against the man's nose, felt it break, but the grip around him didn't even loosen.

Alright, Clint...you were going to kill them all...so any time now would be a good time to start.

Clint froze during his careful maneuvering through the ducts. He heard voices approaching. Ever since the third time he'd heard the HYDRA gun discharge, the air ducts had been increasingly shaky, making his progress through them slow and careful. He peaked through the vent in front of him in time to see Roux stalked under his position. A very large man was forcing Tony along behind him.

"We'll take him to the garage...and somebody find Barton!" Le Roux snarled the second part at the small crowd of guards following him. White Hulk, Le Roux, and Tony headed towards the exit.

Clint offered a two fingered salute for the information and waited until Le Roux was out of sight before slithering towards the supply room he'd found earlier. The garage was a separate building. Clint had seen it when they'd been brought in. It looked like it used to be a barn of some sort, or a warehouse. Either way, he doubted anybody had taken the time to cover the high rafters with ceiling tiles. And as the sun set, all that could exist up there was shadows.

He couldn't have asked for a better hunting ground. He just had one little job to do first.

End of Chapter 8

Thanks for reading! Reviews make me happy!

Also, anybody that can translate into Hungarian and wants to help me out shoot me a PM! Thanks!

The next chapter is the last one for this story, but it is pretty long :) I hope everybody liked Tony kicking a little butt of his own.

Here's your preview!

"You've been Hawkeyed." Tony announced, pulling their attention back to him. They all turned slowly. "But wait," Tony held up a hand, "it gets better…they say you don't hear the shot that kills you…what do you think that's still true when it's an arrow instead of a bullet?"