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Chapter 2

Natasha felt a pit form in her stomach as she looked at the bloodied quiver. It wasn't like Clint to give up his quiver without a fight and judging from the amount of blood, fight he did. Judging from the location of the blood on the leather, it stood to reason that the archer had taken some sort of wound to the upper chest near the right shoulder. Impaled maybe? God, she hoped not.

"That's a lot of blood," Tony said verbalizing everyone's thoughts. "However it got there it had to hurt. Somebody had to lose a lung or-"

"We get the point," Fury returned with his one eye glaring at Tony.

"Are we sure it's Barton's?" Steve looked Fury as Agent Hill appeared.

"Agent Hill, take the quiver to the lab and wait for the results. As soon as they come in I want to be notified."

"Yes Sir," Hill quickly scooped up the quiver and placed it in a plastic container before scurrying off to the lab.

"Who found it and where are the projectiles?" Natasha asked dryly. It was no secret that Clint's arrows were specially designed with explosives and other surprises. In the wrong hands they could easily wipe out a small community of people.

"One question at a time," Fury palmed the table. "The quiver was sent to me by special messenger, who was directed to pick it up at Belvedere Castle in Central Park. Somebody wants to send us a message."

"Could it be a ransom? Maybe someone wants to trade?" Steve asked.

"We don't know yet," Fury stood upright. "We've activated the homing device in Agent Barton's vest in hopes of pinpointing his exact location but so far nothing has come up."

Once again, the room fell silent as the team exchanged fearful glances. No signal could only mean one of two things; either Clint was no longer part of this world or he was being held captive in a cloaked location.

Finally Natasha broke the silence and asked Thor to take her to the spot where the quiver had been found. It stood to reason, that if whoever had Clint left it there for them to find that other clues would be waiting as well.

Natasha moved closer to Thor so that the God of Thunder could surround her with his free arm before lifting up his hammer. In an instant they were standing in front of the Castle where Clint's quiver had been found. It was a good thing that it was Tuesday and that the Castle was closed to tourists. This would give the two Avengers a chance to look around without drawing attention to themselves.

Natasha walked over to the historical marker and glanced around before making her way over to the white gazebo. Thor immediately followed, watching her as she crossed her arms over her chest and began to stare pensively at the blood stained ground.

"He was here," Natasha said raising her chin to rocky cliff side just above the castle. "That alcove up there is one of many nests he has in the city. It stands to reason that Clint was involved in some sort of altercation."

"Perhaps, he was shot." Thor added lightly, "In which case, he could have lost the quiver causing it to land here."

His vest is armor proof. Ordinary weapons cannot penetrate it."

"But one of his arrows can."

Dream World

"It's kind of ironic that Fury sent us here, isn't?" Natasha asked as she and Clint walked through the midway towards the Big Top.

"Just little," Since becoming a member of S.H.E.I.L.D., Clint avoided travelling carnivals and anything that even remotely resembled a circus, too many memories. Like Natasha, his past was painted red. Everything about his persona had begun with the circus. It was where he had met and trained with the Swordsman, who eventually betrayed him and left him for dead.

"Can you handle it?" Natasha asked stepping in front of him.

"I can handle it. It's actually quite peaceful here."

Natasha reached up and touched his cheek. "You look like you could use some normalcy. We've been hitting it pretty hard lately."

Clint closed his eyes enjoying the warmth of her hand against his skin. There was something intoxicating about it. In fact, it was almost addictive.

"Keep walking," the Jinn's voice whispered on the wind.

Taking her hand into his, Clint smiled at her mischievously. "Tasha, we need to find the target and get out of here." Together they continued down the midway until they spotted a fortune teller; a bald man with a body full of tattoos and green tinted skin.

The Jinn in disguise.

Clint stopped abruptly causing Natasha to faulter.

"Are you ok? Is that someone you know?"

"I don't know," Clint replied wryly as his shoulder began to ache.

Berman's Lair

Berman watched in suspicion as Clint's body began to flinch at the onset of a memory.

Barton sat in his perch overlooking Belvedere Castle. It was the one place in the park where he could see everything. Though it wasn't in his job description, Clint often enjoyed seeking out the petty thieves and violent offenders that frequented the park. He was just about to foil a pickpocket when the Jinn appeared, knocking him from his perch causing him to fall several feet into the gazebo.

The Jinn disguised as a HYDRA agent ascended on him instantly, smiling as the archer struggled to his feet. Reaching for his bow, Clint set an arrow and drew back the string. He was just about to fire when the Jinn disappeared and reappeared behind him in the archer's form.

Whirling around, Clint was face to face with his clone. Dedicated to firing, Clint shot the arrow hitting the clone just beneath the right shoulder. The clone smiled as the arrow struck the archer sending him withering to the ground.

Clint Barton had just successfully shot himself.

Kneeling, over the archer, the Jinn took great pleasure in pulling the arrow out before casting aside the quiver.