This was not a good mission. Clint thought to himself as he grabbed his quiver that was between his feet. Why did I have to have this one? His head shouted as Tony rubbed past his shoulder whilst leaving the quinjet. Only Nat knew that he had learnt his natural skill at the 'circus'. But that was all she knew.
As the team discussed information on their walk towards their so-called mission Clint tuned out. He already knew everything they were discussing- if not more. The 'ring leader' of this circus was Dillon Kent. He would lend out his circus of assassins to the highest bidder. Kent's employees were not classically trained in normal ways of killing. Hence where Clint became the Hawkeye.
The group carried on walking, no one taking any notice of Clint's absent mindedness until he comes to a halt. Nat is the first to notice the absence of his rhythmic paces and turns around to see him staring at the cobblestones, "Clint, are you ok?" She quizzes, he looks up and nods his head with a tentative smile. They all carry on walking through a large industrial estate when Clint suddenly feels uneasy, "Hey guys," Nat, Steve, Tony and Sam all turn around to face him, "Something doesn't feel right," just as he finishes his sentence a bullet rips through his shoulder sending him flying back. As the group runs towards him, what at first looked like a seemingly normal industrial estate reveals itself to be more like a gas chamber and by one the whole team is gone.
When Clint wakes he is in unbearable pain, his shoulder throbbing from the recent trauma. He, along with everyone else, is attached to a chair. He is also the last one awake given the bullet in his shoulder. Just as Clint is about to say something someone else steals his chance, "aah Clint you finally decided to join us," I know that voice, Clint thought, "you haven't aged a day," the voice laughed, "how old were you the last time we saw each other?" the voice was on in sight and could be confirmed as Dillon Kent. He walked around Clint and came to rest his hand on Clint's wounded shoulder. He tried his best not to wince, "oh you were young, must've been 19? 20?" Kent paused waiting for Clint to entertain him. He did not. And when he didn't Kent tightened his grip causing Clint to let out a muffled whimper and Natasha to lean forward just enough for Kent and Clint to realise. Looking up at Kent he spoke quietly, "must've been," Kent took pride in his win and the fact he had managed to elicit a response from the great Black Widow. He still however wasn't satisfied, "you never used to be this quiet," Kent sighed, "c'mon Clint I've known you since you were 7 years old," he smiled evilly, "have some humour," Kent chuckled, "Clint what is he talking about?" Nat asked shocked, "oh he hasn't told you sweetness!" Kent spoke with a heavy Texan accent, "well I made him," Kent's face dead-panned showing the seriousness of his current story, "yeah, him and his big brother Barney, they ran away from angry Daddy," he said sympathetically looking over to Natasha, "all those scars tsk," he said kissing his teeth, "horrible man," Kent looked genuinely disgusted as he spoke, "so we took them in, trained them and found them their skill set," Kent said chewing on a tooth pick, "now Barney was hard," Kent sighed, "he was good at everything like Clint here, but there wasn't just one thing he excelled at," Kent frowned, "Until he found knife throwing and he was exquisite at that," Kent revelled, "but he was never as good as his kid brother," Kent started, "Kent enough please," Clint begged, "they don't need to hear any of this, I'm not that person anymore," Kent clearly was frustrated by Clint's sudden interjection," Barton do you want to finish the story?" he walked over and gripped Clint's shoulder suddenly causing Clint to scream out in pain as Kent continued to grip his shoulder Kent's fingers digging into the wound, "Stop please Kent!" Natasha shouted clearly distressed to Clint in so much pain. Kent smiled, "oh this one wants to Clint," he said as he let go of Clint's shoulder and he sagged in his chair, "you giving it to her?" he laughed, "because if you're not," before Kent could finish his sentence Clint's foot was making contact with Kent's nuts. Clint huffed out," Don't," one simple word but it was enough, "well I guess we should carry on," Kent smiled, "they'll find out eventually, think of it as though I'm doing you a favour," Clint could do nothing but hang his head and make minimal eye contact. Kent coughed, clearing his throat and carried on, " you were something special my son, you could do everything and more," but Kent frowned at his sentence, "but there was something about that damn bow, you were obsessed with it," Kent almost looked frustrated, "our Clients always asked for you," Kent chuckled, "he started working when he was 13 and by the time he was 19 he had over 200 confirmed kills," Clint winced at the high numbers and raised his head slightly to look at his fellow Avengers all but Natasha were looking at Kent and showing nothing but Natasha never broke eye contact with Clint. Her eyes showed forgiveness like she knew exactly what he was feeling but he couldn't keep up the eye contact and as quickly as they contacted he broke it. Kent carried on, "he was being sent out weekly, he was amazing," Kent stopped looking slightly concerned, "until your big brother died and I lost both the Barton boys in one week," Clint had had enough of his past being dragged up.
When it looked like Kent was pausing for breath Clint interjected, "Alright Kent they know what I was, who I was now give it a rest the sound of your voice is beginning to grate on me now," Clint was clearly trying to aggravate him so that Kent would approach him, "Clint haven't you learnt to keep your mouth shut?" Kent spat as he approached Clint. The moment Kent was in range Clint kicked his feet into Kent's stomach sending the pair of them flying back in opposite directions. As Clint's back hit the floor the chair shatters underneath him and he's free, but the moment he's back on his feet so is Kent and Kent holds the advantage. Kent is at least 4 inches taller than Clint, uninjured and a master at hand-to-hand combat. Clint's chances at beating him solo were slim but at this point he had no choice. He's best chance was offence and taking him head on. He started by going for his legs aiming to smash his knees in but Kent was quick and anticipated his move Clint only managed to get one leg barely making a difference. Clint made a note of any weapons he was carrying and noticed only a knife, if he could get the knife and get it to Natasha then they could potentially take him down together. The knife was attached to his belt, co Clint would have to retrieve the knife get it to Natasha and then she would do the rest. Shouldn't be too hard in theory he thought. Clint got as close as possible to Kent before bear hugging him to the ground and in the process retrieving the knife and sliding it across the floor to Natasha. Clint knew that even with the knife he wouldn't have been able to beat Kent in his state. He was beginning to feel weak but he knew that he would only have to keep Kent busy for a few more minutes. Clint got a few punches in but Kent landed the majority until Natasha broke free of her restraints and ran to Clint's aid. Kent smiled, "what a treat the Black widow and Hawkeye!" Kent laughed mechanically then Clint and Nat transitioned into their oh-so easy partnership. Natasha taking him first landing a punch to the gut and keeping him occupied whilst Clint walked around behind him and grabbed him by the throat restraining him pulling him further and further down to the ground. Kent clawed at Clint's arm until he eventually found his wounded shoulder scratching and scraping at it causing Clint to grit his teeth and leaving him at a point where he could no longer take it and started screaming. It wasn't until Clint felt Kent go limp underneath him that he then gave in himself and let the dark spots cloud his vision completely.
Clint could hear his name being said, either he was far away from the person saying it or the person saying his name was saying it very quietly. Eventually his eyes started to open and he could see the person saying his name, it was Tony, "hey Steve tell Natasha and Sam that he's waking up," when Clint looked around he could tell he was still in the building so he guessed he hadn't been out long, "how long was I out?" Clint quizzed holding his shoulder, "only a few minutes nothing major," Tony responded and Clint nodded, "that was some serious shit Clint," Clint had almost forgotten what had been said in front of his colleagues. Almost. Clint just nodded in response and said, "everyone's got a story, mines just a bit darker than most," before Tony could say anything else Sam and Nat bounded back in the room. Clint looked around the room for Kent but couldn't see him, "where's Kent?" Clint asked almost worried, "S.H.E.I.L.D just took him, evac just got here," Sam laughed, "not like we need it anymore but its the thought that counts," Steve replied with a look of mocking sincerity, "are you alright Clint?" Natasha asked with a lot of worry in her voice. All he did was nod to scarred to speak. As she was about to press on medical and evac came bursting through the door and Clint was whisked away on a completely unnecessary stretcher and taken back to base.
Clint was stuck in medical waiting for a discharge he knew wouldn't happen today. He didn't want to be cooped up in medical, he didn't want to be de-briefed as he knew Fury would be the one doing the de-briefing and that just wasn't something he wanted to do. Clint had his own cloths in a duffel bag hidden in the north stairwell of medical which, by luck would have it, was just down the hall. He made his way down to the hall finding the bag still there and quickly changed into his clothes and put his uniform into the duffel bag making his way down the stairs to the exit. Clint walked to the car park hoping to find something that showed that his fellow team mates were still here. He got lucky. Nat, Tony and Sam's cars were all there. Including Steve's bike. He managed get the bike started with a universal key that Tony had given everyone. Since Tony had actually made the bike. The only interest Clint had was going home. When he got back to Avengers tower he was the only one there and when he got to Natasha and his floor he realised he was still alone there was a part of him that didn't want to be alone. He got into the shower, got into sweatpants and got into bed.
When he woke up his body was dripping in sweat and Natasha was sat next to him with a strong grip on his arm, "Clint are you ok?" she looked so concerned, he nodded then shook his head rubbing his eyes, "what happened?" Natasha quizzed him pulling him closer to her and Clint knew he just had to start from the beginning, "Fury knew about my past," Clint said, "that's why he hired me in the first place," he laughed, "my big brother, Barney," he pause, "he never died, he left to set up his own firm since I had become such a popular buy, the other guys who had been there longer felt cheated," Clint paused again, "including my own brother, he sent me a message told me to meet him, when I got there 8 guys jumped me and beat me within an inch of my life," Clint stopped but Nat pushed on, "I don't understand, how'd you get on Fury's radar?" Clint nodded, "someone found me half dead and called an ambulance and that was when they put my details on the system and that how they found me, lets just say my DNA ended up in a lot of unsolved investigations," Clint finished clearly exhausted from the stories of his past. Natasha settled in next to him stroking his arm, "why didn't you tell me?" Clint looked at everything but her, "Nat I have more confirmed kills than you will ever have," Clint was fighting back tears, "I have killed families without even asking why," Clint paused to gather his thoughts, "I was a monster at the age of 13," Clint stopped to contain his silent sobs. Natasha held her hand up to his face, "we have all been monsters before but I will always love you," he nodded in response just holding Natasha to his chest instead. Natasha looked up to him, "Steve wants his bike back," Clint smiled, "tell him I don't know what he's talking about," she laughed and he pulled her closer. Knowing he'll always have her and she'll always have him.