Part of Tony wanted to laugh at the formality of it all. Shouldn't condemning someone to death be more of an event? An outsider could easily mistake the proceedings as a panel deliberating who was going to receive a research grant not the serving of a death sentence. It was just another day at the office for the council; they delivered an impossibly long speech in some misguided effort to sanction what they had taken all of thirty minutes to decide.

Clint stared at the floor; he couldn't bring himself to look at Stark. The man had put in a valiant effort to try and save him but it would be all for naught. The deliberating time had been brief, but there wasn't a lot for the assassin to think about. The condemned usually get one final request; maybe if he could make another impassioned plea on behalf of Stark, the council would reconsider as far as the other Avengers were concerned.

He couldn't bring himself to look at the monitor that showed the director either; the feeling of letting the man down was too strong. Fury had put his faith in Barton, and Clint had tried to show that he deserved that kind of trust; but, as always, he'd messed things up. He was surprised that the Director was still taking an interest; all of the other people in his life had left him before the conclusion of his disasters.

Not visible, but undoubtedly there with Fury, would be Natasha. Clint could picture the many faces she would be putting up as the council rambled on. He could almost hear her telling him 'at least the bad guys don't rattle on about how good they are before they kill you.' It was always the least appropriate times that Romanoff tried to make him laugh. When they were alone together she was always so serious, but put them in a life or death situation and she was warm and charming. She would definitely be there to see how this turned out, clearance or not.

The only words that stood out to anyone that was in attendance were "we find Clint Barton guilty."

Fury's screen went black and Clint rose to his feet despite the shackles and the armed guards who surged forward to stop him from moving. Hoping humility might gain him some ground he begged, "I wish to address the council."

"Our decision is final," replied the first council member.

"I'm not asking you to reconsider your verdict. You have me, there is no reason to arrest Iron Man; he has nothing to do with this. He's only here under some misguided notion that saving me will help the world, when arresting him is only going to place the world in jeopardy."

"All parties are aware of the arrangement and it will be carried out as discussed. Mr. Stark will be remanded into custody, and Clint Barton's execution will go ahead as scheduled at 0800 tomorrow morning."

Clint was numb to it all; he'd let Tony down. The guards manhandled Stark into a set of cuffs; Barton couldn't help but notice how incredibly calm Tony was with everything.

Stark flinched as the guarded tightened the cuffs around his wrists with a little too much enthusiasm. He had been certain the verdict would come back as it did, but actually hearing those final words killed a little piece of hope that he didn't know was there. The team had planned for this and he was certain it would work, but they hadn't counted on the execution being scheduled for tomorrow morning.

The pair were marched out of the room and into separate cells. Tony racked his brain thinking of a way to stall the proceedings; the team wouldn't be there until tomorrow morning but he couldn't afford to wait that long. He was just going to have to push up his timetable.

Creaking open, the cell door gave way to Agent Mason. Clint didn't even bother to roll over on his cot to face the smug man who had a gleam in his eye ever since the verdict came down.

"You have a visitor Barton."

Curious, Hawkeye cracked an eyelid and turned to see who was entering the cell. The guards had been dismissed, and it was just Mason and the fourth council member. He didn't think he warranted a personal sit down with the council member, but the man's appearance got Clint's attention.

"Agent Barton," the older man greeted.

"Not agent anymore."

"Yes, that is true. I've come to offer you some friendly advice. You compassionate plea did not fall on deaf ears. It has been brought to my attention that your friends are going to try some ill-conceived escape attempt; but I'm willing to make you a deal."

"A deal for what?" Clint couldn't fathom what the man could possibly want from him. They were getting their wish and executing him in the morning; really, what else was there?

"When they come to break you out..."

"What makes you think they'll come?"

"Oh, they'll come my dear boy. I'll make sure Stark gets away and after things cool down, I will sway the council to drop the condition that Mr. Stark be remanded into custody. Agree, and Stark will be a free man and no action will be taken against the rest of the Avengers."

"What do I have to do?"

"You just have to stay here. Let them come and go and you remain here."

"And they remain free and I..."

"Well, you'll be put to death my boy but your friends will be free. It's more than you have now." He paused to guage the prisoner's reaction. "You have to face facts here; you're going to get them killed if you remain a part of the Avengers. This is the one thing you can do for them; don't let them take that away from you."

"And if I don't?"

"You may or may not escape; this facility is guarded by highly qualified SHIELD agents. If you don't stay, the council will have to take a much closer look into the Avengers initiative and whether or not we really need them. We will also have to take a particularly close look at Agent Romanoff, considering it was you that brought her into this organization."

A warning bell went off in Clint's head - he couldn't put his finger on it, but something told him that giving this man what he wanted would be disastrous. The alternative could be worse though; his week with Mason and the emotional turmoil over the trial had rocked him to his core. The one remaining goal he had was within reach, but his instincts screamed not to take the deal.

"Why do I get the feeling you're after something more?"

"My motives are not up for discussion. That is the deal, take it or leave it."

Mason and the council member left the condemned to ponder their proposal. When they reached the end of the hall the man turned to Mason. "Make sure things are ready to go for tomorrow, I wouldn't want there to be any mix ups. This is too important to botch now."

"Are you sure about this sir? Surely the council could just..."

"Deniability Agent Mason, the council wants deniability in this matter. You know what's at stake; now see that it's carried out as planned."

Stark waited until lights out before activating his communications device he built into his watch. So far things were not going well. Mason had triumphantly declared that the homing device Stark had wasn't going to work; clearly he was going to have to go back to the drawing board on that one. It also meant that he was going to have to do some improvising. The team wouldn't be able to find them on the base, so they were just going to have to leave and hope the team would see the movement and meet them half way.

"Good evening sir," greeted Jarvis.

"I'm going to need you to go ahead and initiate plan A."

"Right away sir."

Stark had brought his latest model of the Iron Man suit. This one fit into a much more compact case which also had the ability to seek out the homing device that Tony had installed in his watch. It would probably gain a lot of attention but there wasn't much of a choice.

The suit arrived, and in moments Iron Man was ready to make short work of the cell door. Barton's cell was down the hall. Two agents tried to stop him but one good shove had them both meeting the wall then the floor.

Stark fired his repulsar at the door then walked into Clint's cell, the archer looked up at Iron Man and cracked a half smile. Trust Tony to orchestrate a jail break while making as much noise as possible. Reaching down, Stark snapped Barton's chains.

"Time to go bird boy, we're flying the coop."

Clint jumped up off his cot and followed his teammate back down the hall. They knew that they were two floors underground and made it to a stairwell without incident. The main floor turned out to be a different story. The second they exited the stairwell several agents opened fire; diving for cover, Barton let the bullets harmlessly ping off of Iron Man's armour.

Tony turned and fired his weapons; he took out all three agents, but more were on their way. He grabbed Clint by the arm and pulled him down the narrow corridor. Stark took the lead, being faster in his suit and acting as a shield against the agents that popped up around corners trying to capture the pair again. The exit was in sight; a distant beacon, but in sight.

Clint could hear the men behind them and see Tony running ahead of him. No matter what Stark did they weren't going to get away but perhaps his friend could? The council member's proposal echoed in his head. Barton didn't want to die; given the choice he would pick life like everyone else. He would love to see the team again, to see Natasha and tell her... he didn't know what he would tell her but he wanted the opportunity anyway. However, life wasn't fair, and Tony shouldn't have to suffer to give him a chance that wouldn't come. His life in exchange for a team mate was a fair trade in his book. They might see it as giving up, but this could be the last thing he could do for his team; his friends. One day they might get past the pain and see the act for what it was.

He waited until Stark made it past one of the security doors, then he stopped running. It took Tony a moment to realize Clint wasn't behind him anymore. Turning, Tony watched the archer reach over to the wall and pull the manual lever sealing the door shut. He tried to get back to the door to stop it from closing and sealing Hawkeye on the wrong side, but he was too late. The door clicked into place just as his metal fingers brushed the side of the door.

"Clint, open the door right now!"

In an utterly calm voice Clint replied, "You need to leave Stark."

Tony could see the guards getting closer through the thick window in the door. There was still time, if Clint would just open the door. "Barton don't do this. We're practically home free just open the damn door." Tony started kicking the door in a feeble attempt to get what he wanted.

The broken cry carried over the clang of the inventor's kicks. "Tony... please just go!"

"NO!"

The guards were almost on top of him now. If Clint did open the door neither would make it out of there; and if Tony waited much longer he wasn't going to either anyway.

"You have to take care of the team; this is the only chance any of you have. I'm not worth it, not sure I ever was. Just take care of Nat and tell her... just look out for her ok?"

Tony watched for a second as Clint fought the guards. The man was giving it everything he had and as much as it killed Stark to leave Barton behind, he couldn't be recaptured; if he was, their plan would fail. He had to get the team to move faster and make it there before the execution. Tony left; he made it through the rest of the compound and to freedom alone and oddly uncontested.