Ooh look at that, another update! I feel so accomplished. Well I'm not going to bore you with the details, so here's chapter twelve. Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination.
Chapter Twelve: Hawkeye
As soon as we exit through the door, I search the immediate area for any signs of danger. Finding none I motion for us to move on. The sound of footsteps still echoes through the hallway and they're slowly getting closer. Steve leads the way down the corridor with Tony, Thor, Bruce, and Natasha in the middle with myself heading up the rear. Captain America carefully checks our surroundings before gesturing towards a set of double doors that lie just forty feet from our current position. We begin to make our way towards them but have only taken a few steps before a loud crash sounds behind us. I spin around, raising my bow as I do so. I can feel the somewhat healed skin that covers my chest wound tearing open from the movement and it takes everything I have not to drop my fighting stance. Regardless of my discomfort I keep my bow string pulled taunt and wait for the source of the noise to show themselves. I don't have to wait long as Loki, Trickshot, the Red Skull, Justin Hammer, Madame B, and the Red Hulk come careening around the corner, rage sketched across their features. They stop when they see us, as if they're challenging us to fight them. For a moment there's nothing but tense silence. Loki opens his mouth to speak but before he can do so, a hammer goes flying through the air and strikes the God of Mischief in the chest. Thor glares at his brother who lets out a pained grunt from the ground.
"I have tried to see the best in you Loki, but I can not ignore the torture of my friends." His loud voice booms throughout the space causing our opponents to draw back slightly. It was as if Thor's voice was a call to battle and suddenly Steve's shield slams into the Red Skull, knocking him to the ground. None of us move any closer to the villains, all of us knowing that we can't beat them in a hand to hand fight in our condition. I notch an arrow and aim it directly at Trickshot before letting it fly. It's about to make contact when a blast from Loki's scepter disintegrates it. I growl in frustration and release another projectile but get the same result. Our enemies have caught on to our plan and suddenly begin running towards us, knowing that we can't beat them. When it becomes clear that they're not going to stop, we do the only thing we can do. Run. My fellow Avengers lead the way as we take off at a dead sprint towards the doors. We're nearly there when I feel something whiz past me, barely missing my arm. It only takes a moment for me to realize that it was one of Loki's blasts. But a moment is too long. By the time I realize what it was it's already past me and heading straight for Natasha. My heart skips a beat and all I can do is scream.
"Natasha!" My partner turns towards me just in time for the blast to hit her thigh, causing her to fall to the ground. I can already see the blood pouring from her wound and the grimace on her face is enough to tell me she's in extreme pain. Trying to buy us some time I spin around and shoot an explosive arrow into the oncoming group. It detonates and sends them reeling backwards. In mere seconds I'm by Natasha's side. I drop to the floor and begin examining the wound. It's bad. Charred skin hangs from her leg and I can see bone. She's breathing heavily and I can almost see tears in her eyes. My breath catches in my throats when I see this. Natasha never cries, ever and for her to be in that much pain rips my heart to shreds. A shout sounds behind me and I turn to see Trickshot and the others heading straight towards us. We're not gonna make it, this is it. Then an idea hits me. If I can just buy the others enough time then they can still make it out, Nat can still make it out. Gritting my teeth I turn to Steve. The super soldier knows my plan before I can even voice it. He opens his mouth to protest but I shake my head firmly. His face falls but he nods determinedly and I turn to the rest of the Avengers, who all have the same defeated look. Diverting my attention away from them, I look at Natasha. Lying on the floor in the middle of this compound, she seems so fragile, so vulnerable and I can't stand it. Without thinking I reach out and hold her face in my hands and kiss her. She puts her hand on my arm and I pull away. The tears that were threatening to fall now flow down her face and I know she knows. She's my partner, I can't hide anything from her. She looks at me, her eyes pleading.
"Clint please don't do this." My heart breaks at her words. Pushing my emotions down I glance at Steve.
"Go." With that one word I have set everything into motion. Cap reaches down and grabs Natasha, pulling her struggling body to his chest. He takes one last look at me before dashing to the doors, the rest of my team in tow. Dread fills me as they leave, but I ignore it. With all of my remaining strength I stand to my feet and draw my bow. With lightning speed I release arrow after arrow at my attackers, each one hitting its mark but only slowing them down. My chest screams in agony and I can feel the blood flowing from my wound. But I keep shooting. My enemies are getting closer, only thirty feet away now. I begin to back up and soon my back is against the door. My shoulder burns and blood drips from my fingertips from the rough string of my bow, but I keep shooting. I keep shooting through the pain, through the exhaustion, through my weakness. I keep shooting until I'm out of arrows. My hand clasps around my last arrow and I pull it from my quiver. Not even hesitating for a moment I fire. The resulting explosion sends chunks of debris flying everywhere and throws my pursuers to the ground. I pull a pistol from the armory out of my waistband and wait for any of them to move. Suddenly Steve's voice comes over the comms.
"We're clear, get out of there!" All the anxiety leaves me at his words and I turn on a dime before hurling myself through the doors. I can hear Trickshot's curses from the other room and, not wasting a minute, I take off in the direction that my comrades went. My chest is consumed by a searing pain from the infection and I'm having trouble breathing, but I shove it out of my mind. I just need to ignore it long enough to get out of here. The door that I came through comes flying off its hinges and I see all six of our worst enemies baring down on me. My legs ache from the exertion, but I force myself to run faster. My limbs are shaking and I almost can't breathe but I can't stop. If I stop I'll die. Suddenly a thought hits me. Even if I do get away, they'll just come after us again. They will never quit until every one of us is dead, unless I stop them. I'm speaking over the comms. before I even realize it.
"Steve, are the Quinjet's missiles armed?"
"Yes. What are you trying to do?" Comes his weary reply. I take a deep breath and glance back. Trickshot and the others are gaining on me.
"I need you to blow up the compound."
"Sure. Just let me know as soon as you're clear." I close my eyes and sigh.
"I'm not gonna get clear, Steve. There's not enough time."
"There's always enough time, Clint! I'm not blowing that place with you still in it." I can hear his frustration on the other side of the line. I know what I'm asking isn't easy, but when has anything we've done ever been easy.
"Yes you are. If you don't then all of them will escape and come back to kill us. They'll never stop chasing us Cap, you know that. We have to put an end to this before anyone else gets hurt."
"There's gotta be another way." Tony's voice suddenly bursts over the comms. My strength is fading and I can feel myself slowing down. I turn to look behind me and my heart skips a beat when I see how close my attackers have gotten. "The tracker in your comm. shows that you're a quarter mile from the exit. You can make that easy." Starks voice is so full of hope that I nearly believe him, but I quickly shake my head. I can't let the villains get away again.
"I can't make it Stark. You have to blow it before any of them have the chance to escape." I say between gasps.
"But Clint."
"No, Stark! No more excuses. I need you to do this. I can't let them get away again." I'm about to turn my comm. off when a familiar voice fills my ears.
"Clint, don't do this." Natasha's voice nearly causes me to stop in my tracks. "I can't lose you Clint, not again." Her voice cracks at the end. My heart breaks with every word. I take a deep breath.
"Nat, I love you." A sob echoes over the line and a tear slips down my face.
"I love you too." I can almost feel Trickshot's breath on my neck and I know it's time.
"Blow it." I hear a shout of anger from the other end of the comm. and for a moment I think Steve won't do it, but then I feel an explosion rock the compound. The force knocks me to the ground. I roll onto my back and prop myself up on my elbows. Trickshot, Loki, the Red Skull, Madame B, Justin Hammer, and Red Hulk all stand ten feet from me. Pure hatred burns in their eyes like fire and I can feel the anger radiating off of them in waves.
"Looks like you've finally run out of luck Barton, I wonder if you can come back from the dead a second time?" Trickshot sneers. I grin.
"Hey anythings possible, but I doubt you'll have the same success as I did. It's over." Another explosion rips through the building and the roof starts to cave in. The last thing I see before everything's goes black is the look of defeat on every one of my enemies faces.
Well that's chapter twelve, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to update again soon, but no promises.