"Comm. check people," said Stark, "Goldilocks is away in the woods and I've got Baby Bear here with me. What's your position Mamma Bear?"
Shooting a defiant glare Barton said, "you call me Baby Bear one more time and I'm going to break your face."
"Feisty! Here put these on." Tony tossed a pair of shackles at Clint. They had to keep the appearance of Tony turning Barton over to the councilman. It was another gamble putting their teammate in chains, even if the lock was rigged and Stark had Clint's bow and quiver slung over his shoulder. Barton begrudgingly snapped them into place.
The comm. link crackled to life. "Widow and I are at the rocks. I am not calling you Papa Bear Tony! And why am I Mamma Bear?" Steve questioned.
"I thought you'd appreciate the military formality of it all."
"Just stay focused on the mission Stark," snarled Romanoff.
All was quiet as they waited in their positions. Iron Man was in the clearing with Barton, Black Widow and Captain America were holding position in the rocks by the tree line and Thor was across the field in the trees. Bruce was roaming the woods waiting to unleash his inner rage monster on any agents that wanted to join the party, and Pepper was safely tucked away back at the cabin.
"Does anyone have the mission impossible theme on their cell? I feel like that should be playing in the back ground."
"Tony!" hissed Rogers.
"Right, radio silence."
Clint cocked his head to the side. "Stark, shut-up."
"You shut up!"
"Stark! I hear them coming," informed Hawkeye.
"Copy that. We have a visual on their jet," confirmed Natasha.
The quinjet landed on the edge of the clearing and several heavily armed guards took position in the field. Mason escorted the councilman to where Stark and Barton were waiting.
"Mr. Stark, it's nice to meet you in person and Barton's all gift wrapped I see," started the councilman.
"I can honestly say the feeling isn't mutual," quipped Tony.
"You're a reasonable man. There's no reason for you and the rest of your team to suffer because of one man. You're making the right decision handing him over."
"So our deal still stands. We give you Barton..."
"And you all get your lives back. It's a very simple and easy transaction."
"And what do you get out of it?" posed Clint. "You set this up from the beginning for what?"
"Justice, my dear boy; you are the key to ensuring we have nothing to fear from those who would wish to invade earth. You are a threat and I'm making sure that all the loose ends are dealt with. The council has more faith in Fury than you might think, but the man is misguided. Sometimes you have to take a leg to ensure a cancerous tumor doesn't spread."
"And your just the man to decide these things?" asked Tony.
"Someone has to or you get the people in power hoping a rag tag team of heroes can pull out a last minute save."
"Right, that's why you're funding a number of covert operations under the radar and without council approval," countered Iron Man.
"Someone needs to do it." The guards began to ready their weapons "now, if you'll come with me Barton; we have an important date to keep."
"And what you're just going to march him back to that base and jab another needle in his arm?" asked Iron Man.
"Oh we're not going back to the council. I have better plans in mind."
"Actually, I think he's going to stay right here," said Tony as he slid his face plate down. "You however can put your hands up. I think the council would be interested to hear this conversation and an explanation for all of your nefarious activities."
The councilman chuckled as his men brought their arms to bear. Romanoff and Rogers were out of the rocks and in the field before the bullets started flying. The Captain pulled Black Widow close and used his shield to defect the onslaught of bullets. Tony spun Clint around so he was safely behind Stark's metal plating. Using his lightening, Thor render half the agents useless, giving the team enough of a distraction to make a move on the remaining men.
Seeing the situation moving out of their control, Mason grabbed the councilman and called in the second teams. They moved quickly towards the woods at the edge of the field.
"Here," said Tony, slipping Barton his bow and quiver while he removed the shackles. Stark then flew off to meet the next squad of agents head on. Hawkeye grabbed his gear and began firing arrows at the men trying to take on Romanoff and Captain America. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Mason moving off of the battlefield; he couldn't let their chance at reclaiming their lives disappear into the forest.
"You got this Cap? I see Mason trying to make a run for it..." asked Clint.
"We have it under control. Don't let him get away."
A mighty roar echoed through the trees. The hulk had found another group of agents lurking in the woods. The councilman had been prepared and brought enough men that the Avengers were going to be busy fending them off. The agents were skilled, but the team was determined. The numbers were greatly skewed against them, but slowly the scale was tipping in the Avenger's favor as they moved through the squads that were advancing on them.
Clint stalked his way through the trees leaving the sounds of battle behind him. Breathing through the protest of his aching muscles he quickly caught up to the councilman and Mason, firing a warning shot in front of the pair. They needed the councilman alive to clear their names; and, despite Clint's personal feelings towards Mason both before and after recent events, the man was merely following council orders and he didn't want to take yet another agent's life even if it would be a little satisfying.
"Surrender!" shouted Clint.
"I don't think so Barton," replied Mason as he spurred the councilman to continue on.
An arrow sailed through the trees and embedded itself in the councilman's leg. The man went down with a yelp. Clint could see that Mason wasn't going to go quietly, and he didn't need their leverage escaping while he dealt with the agent. Mason let off a shot blindly into the trees where he believed the arrow had appeared.
"Put it down Mason. This doesn't have to get ugly."
"What are you going to do? Add me to your rather impressive body count of agents?"
He fired a round into a tree just to Clint's left causing a shower of bark to spray in his face. The distraction was momentary, but Mason used it to close the distance between the two. Mason threw an elbow which Barton blocked, but he crumpled when Mason slammed his foot into the back of Clint's knee. Hawkeye ducked the next punch and pulled the agents leg out from under him; the gun went skidding across the forest floor out of reach.
They continued to exchange blows and Clint knew he had to make a big move, fast. His energy was draining quickly, and he couldn't keep up this level of activity as long as he normally would. A quick backhand followed by and elbow to the face brought Mason down hard. Rivers of red running down his face and, panting hard, the agent glared up at Barton. The archer had managed to pop out Mason's elbow and he knew he had lost the upper hand; the agent raised his hands in surrender.
"You think you're going to win anything here Barton? You're so involved you have no idea. You're going to be what destroys your friends. You're going to be the end of everything and they're never going to let you go, it can't be allowed!"
Clint aimed his bow but hesitated at releasing the arrow. It would be easy to let go and put Mason far out of his mind, but that would prove the agent right about him. He couldn't kill another agent in cold blood; he had done so much of that already. Clint lowered his bow and turned his head slightly to replace the arrow in his quiver.
In his moment of hesitation, Mason pulled a concealed knife and moved to lunge at Clint. Barton was rather surprised when instead of being slammed into by Mason; Thor's hammer flew past him taking out the agent. He stared down at the lifeless corpse, and felt the familiar cold feeling of an agent dying because of him seep into every part of his soul.
Hawkeye turned sharply towards Thor. "Why did you do that? I could have taken him without killing him!"
Catching his hammer Thor moved towards Clint. "You are a good man, Clint Barton. You do not deserve to feel responsible for this man's death. I believe you could have taken him; but today he would have slain you because you would not raise arms against a fellow agent. This man did not have the same honour that you possess; I could not stand idly by and watch him kill a friend."
Thor had been willing to keep him from killing another SHIELD agent. He had been willing to show strength when the archer didn't feel he could, and more importantly it felt like Thor understood Barton's dilemma. Looking at the mangled body of his enemy and fellow agent, Clint nodded and turned to look at Thor who was holding his fist out towards him. He looked skeptically at the fist.
Thor looked from the archer to his fist and back, his brow creasing slightly. "I believe the correct custom is to pound it."
Clint cocked an eyebrow at the request. "You need to stop hanging around Tony so much." Barton turned and made his way over to the councilman. "Come on Thor, you can carry our prize back. We need to go back and help the other clean up the mess."
Barton broke the edge of the forest just in time to see a hired mercenary trying to get the drop on an otherwise engaged Captain America. Apparently the councilman decided to bring more than just SHIELD agents to the party. The moonlight glistened off of the machete that was moving closer towards Rogers' back. Pulling his bow Clint lined up his shot and released; a small cry escaped the man's lips as the arrow implanted itself in the mercenaries' neck. Steve turned sharply at the sound and watched the blade clatter to the ground. Immediately turning towards the edge of the clearing he offered the archer a nod of thanks for having his back, then went back to wreaking havoc on one of the jets that had brought their latest nemesis.
Most of the SHIELD agents had been subdued, and the only threats still lurking the woods were the mercenaries' that the Avengers were more than willing to take out permanently. Thor was on babysitting duty, the Hulk was still roaming the forest dividing his time between taking out the enemy and smashing trees; Steve, Tony and Natasha were scattered across the clearing taking on anyone that dared cross their path and Barton decided to take refuge in the rocky outcrop to gain the best angle to support his team.
He glanced briefly in Romanoff's direction and watched her drop two men effortlessly. Smiling to himself he shifted his gaze towards someone who might actually be in need of his assistance. Releasing another arrow he took out one of the two men that were hanging off of Iron Man. Tony was able to kick the other one off and blasted off to lay waste to another SHIELD vehicle.
Like the spat with Natasha earlier, being perched on the edge of the battlefield watching his teammates' backs felt normal, it felt right. And, as bad guy after bad guy fell to his deadly aim, all the guilt and fear that had plagued Clint for almost a year fell to the background. He knew it wouldn't wash away completely; when the battle was over and he was alone at night it would rear its ugly head once again, but for the moment all that mattered was that Hawkeye had their backs and there wasn't anyone else that could do it as well.
The team slowly made their way back to the cabin once the councilman's force was dealt with. They were exhausted and banged up a little, but it had been worth it. Not only did they save one of their own, but the frustration and stress that had been building up over the last few weeks had found a release. The quiet and peaceful meadow that lay between the picturesque mountains was now a messy battlefield littered with the bodies of those that threatened their team, and what Stark estimated to be hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of destroyed SHIELD technology. Sometimes satisfaction was costly.
"Well I for one am sick of nature. My king sized bed is calling and I don't think I've had a decent drink or time in my lab since I don't know when. So what do we say we put this summer camp experience behind us and go back to civilization?" asked Stark as he looked around the table.
"You think we have enough to get the council back on our side and expose the councilman's plots?" questioned Bruce.
"You guys should be ok," offered Clint.
"Well it doesn't really mean anything if this is all for naught and you're back where you started Barton," replied Rogers.
"Yeah, well the council's not known for its forgiveness."
"Surely recent events have proven your worth and so force the council to reconsider their poor decision?" proclaimed Thor.
Natasha weighed in. "It should be enough, it should be more than enough but you never can tell."
"Then we'll just have to break you out again if it's not good enough for them. I think we're getting pretty good at the whole jail break thing. Avengers: jailbreak extraordinaires! I can see it now," added Stark. "I'll get Pepper to draft up business cards."
"We'll just have to cross that bridge if we get to it. We're a team and we'll do whatever we have to, to look after our own. In the mean time let's go home," declared Steve.