Archer’s Arrow [Codename: Hawkeye]

Hiding in between a group of shipping containers, Hawkeye leaned against her skycycle, waiting for any sign of a ship. Tapping her foot impatiently, she suddenly heard a muffled beeping coming from her belt pocket. “Little busy right now.” She muttered, reaching into the pocket and shutting off the Avengers ID card, figuring that the group of superheroes would survive without her. “This hunch better be worth it.” Hawkeye grumbled, moving away from her skycycle and stepping back into the shade. Luckily, her hunch turned out to be right. A few minutes later, an AIM ship landed near the closest dock, followed by a Hydra walker. Watching from her hiding place, she took note of the number of armed goons as the deal started. 

‘Ugh, that mission report wasn’t kidding.’ She thought, her nose crinkling a little at the sight of the human/machine thing that led the group of evil scientists. Moving to get a better vantage point, she climbed the wall of shipping containers and onto a nearby crane as the conversation continued,not bothering to fully listen to what they were talking about. 

Once the deal seemed to be ending, Hawkeye quickly pulled out some arrows from her quiver, shooting the Grim Reaper with a hidden tracer and disabling some of the Hydra goons’ guns. Making a mental note to wash her boots at least twice, she vaulted onto the dock using MODOC as a springboard. Hawkeye nocked another arrow and pointed it down at the wooden surface as goons on both sides pointed their weapons at her.

“Sorry to interrupt, boys,” she said as annoyingly saccharine as she could, looking between the two groups. “But I got a quick question before I take you all down.” Hawkeye scowled, dropping the act and gritting her teeth. “Where is the Black Widow?” None of them seemed particularly interested in answering questions, so she released the arrow, covering the dock in a thick cloud of smoke. Avoiding blindly fired lasers, Hawkeye fired several more arrows at the various goons, sending some of them into the water. 

“I will destroy the Avenger!” MODOC screeched, after loudly ordering the AIM goons to retreat. ‘I’m not an Avenger!’ Hawkeye thought, annoyed. Suddenly, the dock wood underneath her feet exploded, causing her to get launched into the air. “You can certainly try, freak show.” She mocked, using the propulsion to shoot an sonic arrow into the thing’s headpiece, laughing a little as the gross computer/person hybrid fell over. 

Landing feet first on the dock, she quickly took out a few more goons before shooting a arrow at the escaping Grim Reaper who promptly sliced it half. As the walker submerged beneath the water, Hawkeye shot another arrow at the fleeing vessel. Hearing the sound turned and shot one at the AIM ship for good measure.

‘Well Claire, you really outdid yourself this time.’ Hawkeye thought, scratching the back of her neck, taking in the scorched broken dock. Already starting to wonder how the heck she was going to explain where she was all afternoon when she got back to the mansion. Before she could leave the scene, she heard a loud whir and felt a harsh glow. ‘Great. Just what I needed.’ She thought, lifting a hand to shield her eyes from the spotlight.

“Attention, Hawkeye! You are to stand down by order of SHIELD!” The voice on the loudspeaker announced. The side door opening as the helicopter hovered overhead. “Director Fury wants a word with you, Barton.” Agent Quartermain said, looking particularly peeved. Hawkeye gave him an exaggerated look of surprise before dropping the act again. “Good. Because I want a word with him too.” 

                                                                           —————————————————————————

When T’Challa was called to the recently rebuilt Helicarrier with Captain Rogers and Iron Man, he was not entirely sure what to expect. Especially given that they had just finished apprehending a villain. Trying not to make it too obvious that he found the high-tech airship completely unimpressive, T’Challa stood near Captain America who looked like he was feeling out of place. 

SHIELD Director Nick Fury was standing near the edge of the bridge’s railing, his eye focused on the screens above him. “Wanna explain what’s going on, Fury?” Iron Man questioned, making his annoyance clear. “Returning something you all seemed to have lost track of.” The spymaster responded with a hard look.

Before anyone could ask what that meant, the door to the bridge opened behind them. A familiar face entered the room, looking like she would rather be anywhere else. Claire briefly looked over at her teammates in surprise before glaring at Director Fury.

“Seriously? An intervention?” She said in a unimpressed tone as she walked up to the front of the bridge. “I don’t know if I should be flattered or-.” “Cut the crap.” Director Fury sneered, cutting her off with a look of barely restrained anger. While T’Challa had never met the SHIELD director in person until now, the little information that he had told him that it was not a good idea to get on the spymaster’s bad side. On the other hand, the look on Claire’s face told him that this situation used to be a somewhat regular occurrence.

 “The last thing I need is you sticking your nose into a SHIELD operation! If I recall correctly, you quit,” Director Fury said with a scowl. The director jabbed Claire in the shoulder with his finger before continuing his reprimanding, despite his own admission that she was no longer his subordinate. “We have the Hydra situation under control. Or we did, until you showed up.”

“Under control? Is that supposed to funny?” Claire scoffed, before gesturing to the screens hanging above the bridge. “If you’ve got things under control, then where’s Black Widow? You’re tapped into every phone, camera, and satellite on the planet, and you still can’t find her. Face it, Fury, Shield is dropping the ball big-time.” 

As the argument continued, T’Challa couldn’t help but agree with the his teammate’s assessment. After all, it had now been at least three months since the mass breakout happened, and the Avengers were still struggling to hold things together. If SHIELD had used even a fraction of their resources to fully take care of the Hydra situation, they would take a major threat off of the world stage. But the organization seemed to be entirely unwilling to do so. 

“Back off, Barton,” Director Fury snapped, glowering at her. “You should know better than anyone how resourceful the Widow is. She was your partner.” The final word carrying a serious undertone that hung in the air for a few seconds. Catching on to the underlying subtext, T’Challa’s brows furrowed under his mask. Captain America seemed to also realize the implications as well, the super soldier giving a look of unease. Claire tensed up, momentarily stunned. “You think I forgot?” She whispered, her fiery glare instantly turning cold.

“Leave Widow and Hydra to SHIELD,” Fury warned, continuing as if the last sentence hadn’t happened. “If you Avengers wanna go after supervillains, that’s fine. But Hydra is too complicated. You can’t just take them on one at a time. Cut off one head, two more take its place. That’s Hydra.” 

T’Challa saw Captain America hold back a wince out the corner of his eye. As he was about to come to his teammate’s defense, Iron Man stepped forward. “Okay, I’m horrified to say so, but I have to agree with Fury on this one.” The armored avenger interjected. Claire turned around, a mix of shock and anger on her face. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” She said, her voice now raising to a yell.

“Look, the Black Widow betrayed you. She sold you out, I get it. I’ve been there,” Iron Man stated with a touch of attempted sympathy. “But Hydra is a quagmire. If the Avengers go in, we’ll just make things worse.” “Really? Did they teach you that in business school?” Claire responded sarcastically, tilting her head. “Ignoring that,” Stark sighed, his annoyance flaring again. “Look, we’ve got our hands full with the breakout. You have to look at the big picture, not get caught up in revenge. Let it go, Claire.” 

Claire looked down at the floor, squeezing her eyes shut. Her hands appeared to tremble slightly as she quickly clenched her fists to hide it. The archer looked like she was near about to collapse before opening her eyes, giving a venomous glare. “You need me to save the world? Fine, I’ll be there,” Claire hissed, pausing to glower one final time at Fury. “But I don’t need Shield for this, and I don’t need the Avengers. I’ll find Widow on my own.” She then exited the bridge, deliberately bumping Iron Man in the shoulder as she left. “Well, at least she didn’t punch anyone.” Iron Man said weakly in a feeble attempt to break the silence. 

Giving the older man a cold stare, T’Challa did his best to hold back his anger. He stepped forward to give the supposed leader a reprimanding of his own-. Only to be stopped by Captain America. The captain put a hand on his shoulder and gestured towards the door, giving the director a  look of disappointment. T’Challa took a deep breath and nodded, following the super soldier out the door.

                                                                               ————————————————————————————-

‘I really wanna punch something.’ Hawkeye thought, wincing at the slight pain in her shoulder, before grabbing and tugging a fistful of her hair as she speed-walked through the corridors of the Helicarrier. Fury’s words spinning around in her head. 

Widow originally was the one who insisted that their relationship be a secret, in order to “keep things professional”. Over the years, they only ever told three people. Two of them were on the special ops team. But if it was obvious to Fury then-. Then-.

“Hawkeye, wait.” A voice called out, interrupting her train of thought. She turned around to see Captain America and Panther standing in the middle of the hallway. “Oh, now you talk! Thanks for backing me up in there, team.” Hawkeye said, looking at the two Avengers with a peeved expression.

“You’re letting revenge blind you.” The Super Soldier said in a firm yet worried tone. “I can’t believe you, of all people, are telling me not to go after Hydra!” Hawkeye said, trying not to let the dismay that her childhood hero was disapproving of her actions show in her voice.

“You think that’s what I’m telling you?” The old man asked, sounding eerily like a disappointed dad. “What I’m saying is that if you take on Hydra like this, alone, you won’t come back.” 

“I know how isolating mistrust is. I know that some battles must be fought alone. But it does not hurt to have backup.” Panther said, sounding like he was speaking from experience. 

 Hawkeye looked between the two men in confusion. It was almost like they cared? “You wanna help?” She asked quietly, feeling her walls slip a bit before quickly putting them back up. “Ya know, would it have killed you two to say any of this while I was getting chewed out by Fury and Stark in there?” She said in an interrogating tone, raising an eyebrow. 

“Still the same old charmer, aren’t you, Hawkeye?” Someone further down the corridor said, butting into the conversation. “Nice to see you haven’t matured at all since you left SHIELD.” Hawkeye was about to tell whoever it was to mind their own business, when the words evaporated in her throat. A masked woman with long blonde hair in a navy and white costume walked over to the group.

“I, uh, I-,”Hawkeye mumbled, feeling her face start to grow hot. “Do I, do I know-?” She couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew this woman from somewhere. The mystery woman simply gave a knowing grin, the corners of her eyes crinkling slightly. Suddenly, memories of after-mission parties and a near month long prank war flooded Hawkeye’s brain. “Morse?! What’s with the getup, Bobbi?” She asked, the awkward feeling immediately vanishing. 

“I took your place on SHIELD’s special ops team. Codename: Mockingbird,” Bobbi said braggingly. “I’ve come a long way since the days of driving you around.” “That was like three months ago.” Hawkeye deadpanned, attempting to do the math in her head. Honestly the idea of Morse doing Special Ops was surprising, considering that the other woman had initially joined Shield as a way to get her doctorate.

“I heard you’re going after Widow. I want in,” Bobbi said, her eyes narrowing. ‘Huh. Forgot how fast news travels on the helicarrier.’ Hawkeye thought to herself as Bobbi continued talking. “She didn’t just betray you, you know. She betrayed the whole team.” 

Hawkeye’s brows furrowed for a split second. She wasn’t necessarily close with the other members of her old special ops team, but they were still kind of friendly most of the time (the Nevada incident didn’t count). So if the rest of the team felt just as betrayed, then why didn’t-. ‘Aha.’ She realized, struggling to keep a small smirk from creeping onto her face. 

“Hawkeye, I don’t think that’s a good-.” Cap started to say before Hawkeye cut him off. “You’re in.” She said, shaking Bobbi’s hand while crossing her fingers behind her back with her other hand. “Idea.” The super soldier finished in a slightly deflated tone. 

Hawkeye let Morse walk ahead of her, beginning to leave behind a seemingly stunned Panther and Cap. “At least we know her weakness now, if she were to turn on us.” She heard from behind her. Hawkeye turned back to her two co-conspirators, with a tiny smirk. ‘Trust me.’ She mouthed, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she quickly went back to following Bobbi in order to throw off suspicion. 

                                                                       ——————————————————————————

As he and Captain America walked back to the Quinjet, T’Challa retreated into his thoughts, feeling a slight flush of embarrassment under his skin. Briefly running into Iron Man, Captain America quickly gave an excuse about where they were going. The billionaire bought the excuse, giving a brief “See you at the mansion” before flying off. 

Inside the quinjet, the two Avengers found Claire looking over her skycycle. She didn’t directly look up from the motorbike but caught the captain’s questioning look out of the corner of her eye, letting out a curt “Uh-huh. Positive.” 

“I understand she’s an old friend of yours,” Captain America began, looking briefly unsure if he had used the right word. “But it’s a huge risk to-.” “She’s lying.” Claire said bluntly, cutting off the captain a second time. The captain again looked confused, briefly glancing at T’Challa for answers.

“It’s a classic shield tactic,” She continued, moving away from the skycycle and placing a second bow inside of her quiver. “You let the target know that you know what they’re up to, let them think you agree with whatever they’re planning, and then you send them on a goose chase in order to get them off your back.” This was not surprising to T’Challa, as a large organization like SHIELD was bound to be built on deception. However, Captain America looked rather disturbed. “I had no idea.” The super soldier said, his brows furrowed. 

“It’s usually reserved for undercover work,” Claire said, turning back to face them and sitting down in a nearby seat. “Morse’ll probably say something about there being a bunch of Hydra facilities in the city, but those’ll just be diversions.” She waved her hand dismissively, her expression hardening. “Fury was right about one thing. I can’t just take out the small parts anymore.” She said with a grimace. “I have to go to the source.” The last words were said so softly that were it not for his enhanced senses, T’Challa wouldn’t have been able to hear them. 

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to fully ponder the implications as Mockingbird suddenly appeared in the quinjet doorway, drawing the others’ attention. Claire immediately stood up, quickly putting on a mask of ignorance as the other woman walked in. As the shield agent sat down and asked if everything was ready to go, T’Challa felt something being pressed into his hand. He gave a quizzical look at Claire, who simply gave him a thumbs up before going to sit next to Mockingbird.

Everyone settled into their seats and fastened their harnesses. T’Challa taking the pilot’s seat, leaned forward and opened up a crumpled scrap of what used to be a napkin. The numbers for a radio frequency scrawled across it in messy handwriting. As he started the Quinjet, T’Challa smiled slightly underneath his mask. 

As the quinjet flew out over the city, he waited for the radar to lock onto the tracer signal, while keeping an eye on the others through the windshield glass. The signal began to become stronger when the planted addition to their group spoke up. “SHIELD has pinpointed several Hydra facilities in the city,” Mockingbird recited near verbatim. “We know the locations of multiple safe houses, storage facilities, and-.”

“You can stop now, ma’am.” Captain America interrupted, throwing the SHIELD agent off her script. “What?” Mockingbird asked, clearly caught off guard. “We know that Fury sent you to keep us busy, to get us out of the way,” Claire said in a lightly smug tone. “We’re not after scraps, birdie. We’re after the Black Widow. And to get to Widow, we need to get to Strucker.” 

“If you knew, why’d you let me come along?” The agent questioned, sounding offended. “Ah. The costume didn’t hurt.” Claire replied in a teasing manner. T’Challa ignored the minuscule feeling of envy in his stomach as the radar went off. “I have the signal.” T’Challa said, glancing back at the others, before returning his focus back to piloting. “What signal?” Mockingbird asked, looking back at him in confusion.

“The signal from the tracer I planted on the Grim Reaper when I was sticking my nose in Shield business.” Claire answered, standing up and pulling out her bow. “Your choice: You wanna fight the good fight or be a Shield stooge?” She asked, looking at her old colleague with a hard stare. The shield agent was silent before letting out a small sigh of annoyance. “Let’s go.” Mockingbird said, a edge of reluctance in her tone as she got up from her seat. 

Once they arrived near the location, T’Challa opened the quinjet bay door while Hawkeye turned on her skycycle. “Be careful.” T’Challa said, turning his seat around. Hawkeye glanced back at him, a mix of emotions flashing briefly in her eyes before finally nodding. “Always am.” She responded confidently, giving a small half smile.

                                                                                —————————————————————

As she and Morse approached the unmarked warehouse, Hawkeye could see a limousine parked inside. She quickly fired three explosive arrows at the vehicle once the Grim Reaper stepped out. ‘Hope that wasn’t expensive.’ Hawkeye thought as the explosion sent the hooded man flying into the concrete. 

“Miss me?” She called out mockingly as she flew up to the warehouse entrance. The Hydra lieutenant didn’t appear to be fazed by the fact that his car blew up, instead looking very amused. “I’ve never met a woman so tired of being alive.” He cackled, a sadistic grin on his green wrinkled face. 

Landing her skycycle, Hawkeye and Bobbi got to work taking down various Hydra goons. Unfortunately, the cybernetic scythe arm made it difficult to land an arrow on Reaper. She fired a volley of electric arrows, knocking out a number of Hydra agents. It honestly surprised her a bit to see Morse hold her own not only against a squad of goons, but also against the Grim Reaper (Bobbi had clearly been holding back in training). 

With the Grim Reaper temporarily stunned, Hawkeye pulled out another arrow and prepared to shoot, when a cascade of laser fire broke her concentration. She looked to her right to see more Hydra agents firing at them. “You take Mr. Happy. I’ll handle these guys.” Bobbi said, putting her escrima sticks together to make a bo staff before charging the Hydra goons.

Hawkeye quickly processed Bobbi’s words and turned back to confront her adversary. She fired an arrow at the Grim Reaper only for it to be sliced in half again. Before she could grab another one, the metal scythe destroyed her bow and she took a left hook to the face. 

After landing several punches on the former hitman and barely dodging the blade, Hawkeye opened a small flap at the bottom of her quiver full of loose arrowheads. Quickly grabbing a electric arrowhead from the flap and tossing it at the Grim Reaper. The arrowhead stuck to his scythe, causing him to scream as Hawkeye used the opportunity to kick him in the chest. Landing on his feet, the Grim Reaper shook off the attack and leaped into the air, swinging the scythe violently. 

Luckily, Hawkeye managed to move out of the way as the hydra lieutenant landed. Unfortunately, it left her in a vulnerable position. The Grim Reaper kicked her in the face hard, knocking her to the concrete floor. The hit hurt, but it wasn’t enough to fully knock her out. But still the capture had to be convincing. 

So Hawkeye went limp as she heard Morse yelling for her to get up. “An Avenger. Put them on the transport. Baron Strucker’s going to enjoy this.” The Grim Reaper ordered, chuckling sinisterly. Hawkeye was half tempted to quit playing possum just to correct him. ‘Phase one’s down.’ She thought as two Hydra goons grabbed her by the arms. 

                                                                              ———————————————————————————————

“They’re in.” Captain America confirmed as the Hydra ship flew out of the warehouse. T’Challa positioned the quinjet above the transport and turned on the ship’s cloaking device. As they flew undetected over miles of ocean, T’Challa noticed his teammate growing more troubled as the minutes passed. “Mockingbird wasn’t supposed to be part of this.” The captain said, concerned. The super soldier looking down at the floor of the aircraft as if he were attempting to see through it. 

Despite understanding the soldier’s fears, T’Challa also knew that there was very little they could do at the moment. “Hawkeye’s plan is sound. They are more valuable to Hydra alive, for now.” T’Challa said, hoping that the verbal reassurance would be enough to keep the soldier’s spirits up. He focused his attention on piloting the quinjet, as Captain America murmured to himself. 

                                                                ——————————————————————————————

‘This has got to be one of the most boring captures of my life.’ Hawkeye thought, annoyed as she began to focus on the next step in the plan. She fought back a wince as she tugged on the chains, in a small attempt to make the escaping part a little easier. Thankfully, the goons in charge of guarding them didn’t seem to notice as they were currently… distracted.

“So the guy says, ‘I don’t know but his face rings a bell’.” Morse said, delivering the punchline to a joke she’d never heard. All the Hydra goons burst out laughing, causing Hawkeye to roll her eyes. Bobbi joined in the laughter for a few seconds before wincing exaggeratedly. “Ah, man. This collar really hurts,” Morse said, fluttering her eyelashes. “You think you could just loosen it a bit? I mean, it’s not like I’m goin’ anywhere.” A few of the Hydra goons appeared to hesitate, but finally one of them walked forward and reached out a hand-. Only to step away once the cockpit door opened.

“Don’t.” The Grim Reaper growled, shooting his subordinates a dirty look, before turning to Bobbi. “And if you don’t keep your mouth shut, I’ll shut it permanently.” Reaper slunk back into the cockpit, the goons that were guarding them quickly following. The silence that fell between the two of them lasted a few tense minutes before it was broken. 

“Hmm. I’m impressed. That was a good joke.” Hawkeye complimented. Bobbi smirked a little before responding. “Thompson came up with it.” ‘Yeah, right.’ Hawkeye thought, letting out a small scoff. ‘That guy was terrible at jokes.’ Bobbi simply gave her a look and shrugged. “Seriously?” Hawkeye said, struggling to hide her surprise. “Lot’s changed.” Bobbi said, shrugging a little. ‘Clearly.’ Hawkeye thought bitterly.

“You know, this is a pretty big gamble, even with your Avenger pals tracking us.” Bobbi said, thankfully changing the subject. “So why’d you come?” Hawkeye asked, failing to keep the curiosity out of her voice. “Hmm. The costume had a lot to do with it.” The shield agent mused in a familiar tone. Hawkeye looked away before Bobbi could see her face heat up in embarrassment.

                                                                                     ————————————————————————

The time continued to tick by as T’Challa watched the dashboard. They had been following the Hydra transport for over three hours now. If they were close to the hydra base, there was no visible indication. But he trusted both the plan and the one who made it, so he remained hopeful for the moment. 

Suddenly, the soft rhythmic beeping of the tracer was gone and replaced by silence. T’Challa looked at the radar screen, noticing the tracer signal had disappeared. He quickly shut off the radar screen, his mind already running over the various implications as he rubbed his fingers together, letting out a concerned hum. “Is everything okay?” Captain America asked, noticing his change in demeanor. 

T’Challa paused a moment before answering. “The Reaper’s tracking signal has stopped transmitting. We have lost radar and visual on the Hydra ship, and Hawkeye’s ID card.” Underneath his mask, he gave a look of worry as the super soldier raised an eyebrow. 

                                                                       ————————————————————————————- 

As the Hydra ship came to a stop, Hawkeye and Bobbi were pulled out of their seats. Their mouths were duct taped and bags were thrown over their heads. Luckily, she managed to lift a card off one of the Hydra soldiers as the two of them were forced off the ship. After walking for what felt like hours, they were shoved up a flight of stairs before a sharp yank on the restraints made them fall to the floor. Hawkeye let out a grunt, hearing Bobbi do the same from somewhere next to her.

“Would you like the good news first, or the bad?” Grim Reaper asked from somewhere in front of them. After a few seconds of silence, the Hydra lieutenant continued talking. “The bad news is that MODOC wants more money. The good news is that Hydra has captured an Avenger.” As the last sentence was said, a hand roughly pulled the bag off her head. ‘They’re so lucky there’s duct tape over my mouth.’ She thought. 

Quickly adjusting to the harsh light, Hawkeye ignored all of the goons surrounding them in what seemed to be a throne room. Instead, zeroing in on the Black Widow. The traitor standing silent and expressionless. Tuning out Baron Strucker’s evil monologue, Hawkeye continued to stare down the red haired traitor, as the baron approached. 

The Hydra leader’s prosthetic hand lit up with pinkish flames, as he walked over and held it dangerously close to her head. The red appendage smelling like burnt skin and decaying bones. Despite having a fiery claw hand that could kill people in seconds nearly inches away from her face, Hawkeye stubbornly refused to look away. 

The tension in the room was suddenly broken when Madame Viper (another high ranking Hydra member) walked up to Strucker, muttering something about having captives being useful. The Baron appeared to consider his subordinate’s words, putting his arm down. The flames disappearing a second later. “Take them to the dungeons.” Baron Strucker ordered. Hawkeye and Morse were shoved down the stairs and out of the room. As the door to the throne room closed, she shot the dirtiest look she could at Black Widow. 

As they were dragged down the hallway, it suddenly hit her that the window of time for the others to find their location had probably already passed. They were going to be on their own.

                                                                                              ————————————————

To say that Iron Man was not pleased with them or the current situation would be a serious understatement. As Captain America explained the plan, T’Challa could see the man furiously gripping the edge of the assembly hall table through the holographic screen. “You lost Hawkeye?!” The armored man yelled, his voice going up several octaves. 

“We’re not picking anything up, Cap. I’ll expand the satellite view.” Dr. Pym said in an attempt to be helpful. “I can’t believe you two were helping her. I told Hawkeye to let it go. Maybe you remember that?” The billionaire ranted, likely glaring at them through his helmet lenses.

“It sounded more like a suggestion than an order.” The super soldier commented, shrugging his shoulders. “Wakandan elders teach that the line between ‘revenge’ and ‘avenge’ is easily blurred.” T’Challa said, offering an alternative explanation to the one that first appeared in his head. 

“You see what I have to put up with?” Stark muttered before promising to inform them if they managed to find anything. As the screen turned off, T’Challa gave the man out of time a sharp look. “I’d say that went better than expected.” Captain America responded, refusing to fully look him in the eye and turning the radar screen back on.

                                                                                        ————————————————————

After being thrown in the dungeon, Hawkeye was struggling to come up with a coherent plan. Then again, stress always was a good motivator. She tucked the card that she had lifted in her pocket and got to work scoping out the cell. “So, I’m thinking we’re in big trouble.” Bobbi’s voice rang out through a grate in the floor. “Hmm. You think?” Hawkeye asked sarcastically, running her hand along the cell walls.

“Cap and Panther should have swooped in and rescued us by now, right?” The Shield agent asked. “Yeah. Yeah, I figured they’d blow it somehow.” Hawkeye muttered, her eyebrows furrowing as she slumped against the wall near the grate. 

That was a lie actually. Over the last few months, both the Super Soldier and the King of Wakanda had somehow made the list of people on the team she felt that she could at least sort of trust. Granted there was only one other person on that list currently, but still it was a high achievement.

“Isn’t there anyone you trust?” Bobbi scoffed, probably rolling her eyes. “Like who, you? Fury’s little spy?” Hawkeye immediately shot back. “Serve you right if I left you here. Once I figure out how I’m getting out.” She mused, only half serious. 

“That’s probably what Iron Man is saying about you right now,” Bobbi fired back. “You disobeyed your team leader, dragged half your team out here, got a SHIELD agent captured, all to get back at a girl who lied to you. Real professional.” Hawkeye couldn’t help but scowl a little at Morse’s comment. Granted, Bobbi didn’t really approve of her dating Widow at first for that very reason. But still, it was a low blow. 

She was about to shoot back another retort, when she looked up to see the woman who ruined her life standing in front of her cell. “Hawkeye-.” Black Widow began to speak. Before the double agent could finish, Hawkeye stood up, more than ready to give the redhead another piece of her mind. 

“You can stop right there, Tasha,” She growled, the old nickname slipping out before she could stop it. “I don’t wanna hear it.” “I-.” Widow attempted to speak again but Hawkeye cut her off. “You’re dead to me.” She said flatly, a dark look on her face. The redhead took a step back from the cell. A brief flash of what almost looked like shock in the double agent’s emerald eyes. “I’m gonna get out of here and make you pay. Do you hear me?” Hawkeye seethed, her anger continuing to rise as she glared daggers at her ex-partner. She felt her eyes began to sting as Widow began to exit the dungeon. “I’ll never stop, Widow, ever! DO YOU HEAR ME?!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, banging her fist against the cell door. 

As Bobbi commented something sarcastic through the grate, Hawkeye worked to rein her emotions back long enough to get out of the cell. Using the card she lifted to unlock the door, she quickly opened Bobbi’s cell, leaning against the metal doorframe. “Okay, that was impressive.” Bobbi said, looking up at her with a surprised grin.

“Eh. I grew up in a circus, you learn a few tricks.” Hawkeye said, cockily. “Now, do you wanna take down Hydra, or do you wanna argue some more?” 

                                                                                 ————————————————————————-

It had been at least two hours since they had contacted the team and they had not received any updates. While T’Challa did his best to keep his emotions in check, the captain’s worry was becoming contagious. “We need to bring in the rest of the Avengers. Thor and Wasp can help search,” Captain America said with absolute urgency. “We have to find Hawkeye.”

 “I have faith that Hawkeye will find a way to-.” T’Challa began to say, before being cut off by a sudden beeping on the dashboard. “Contact us.” He finished, his eyes widening slightly. “Is it-?” The super soldier asked, looking uncertain. 

T’Challa went to the dashboard, quickly accessing a SOS, the numbers for a familiar radio frequency flashing across the screen. “It is an unknown signal, but on the Avengers frequency, coming from the middle of the ocean.” He confirmed. Upon hearing the confirmation, Captain America immediately took over piloting the quinjet. “Faith, Captain.” T’Challa said, relief washing over him.

                                                                                                ————————————————

As Hawkeye wrapped up sending out the SOS to the Quinjet, Morse held off any hydra agents that came in to the room. Turning her attention away from the keyboard, she went over to where the weapons were being held. Grabbing her quiver off of a hook, Hawkeye pulled out the bow she’d hidden inside as a back up. After stringing the quiver onto her back, she turned around to see a Hydra goon about to shoot Bobbi. Acting quickly, she shot the goon with an electric arrow. 

“You were just a little off-center.” Bobbi teased. Hawkeye couldn’t help but give a bit of a teasing smile in return. Quickly finding the throne room, they ended up running into a small snag in the form of nearly every stinking Hydra agent pointing their rifles at them. 

Scoping out the distance, Hawkeye fired an arrow at the area closest to Strucker, only for it to disintegrate in the Hydra leader’s prosthetic hand. ‘Right,’ She thought, annoyed. ‘He has that.’ “Okay, I’ll take Widow,” Hawkeye said, scanning the room. “You take the other 140.” 

“Move!” Morse shouted, shoving her out of the way as all the Hydra goons suddenly began to shoot at them. Hawkeye started to pull another arrow out of her quiver, when she felt a hand grab her from behind. She let out a small gasp as she was lifted off the ground via Morse’s bo staff. Her old teammate giving her a playful look before letting go and using the staff to deflect the laser fire. Hawkeye fired several arrows while in the air before landing on a ledge, firing more arrows at various goons as she made her way down to the floor.

Once on the ground, she fired three arrows at the throne to get Strucker’s lieutenants down into the fight. Only the Grim Reaper took the bait, slicing through the arrows, jumping down and brandishing his scythe. Luckily, she was able to kick him away. Unfortunately, at the expense of her hitting the floor, and knocking almost all of the arrows out of her quiver.

Pushing herself up, Hawkeye saw a grenade roll toward her. Quickly grabbing it and throwing it back towards the throne before running towards a pile of rubble. The explosion went off sending her flying. Feeling disoriented from sliding down the pile of rubble, she quickly pulled herself together and grabbed her last arrow, taking cover behind a raised slab of concrete. 

Hawkeye glanced down at her last arrow, unsure what to do next. She looked up to see Bobbi hiding behind a doorframe, as the realization fully sank in that Cap was right. She wasn’t going to come back.

“Morse! Bobbi!” Hawkeye called out, crouching under the slab of concrete, as the laser fire grew more intense. “What?” The shield agent shouted over the noise. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” She yelled, giving her old friend an apologetic look and gripping her bow tightly. “You’ve gotta run! Don’t look back! I’ll hold them as long as I can!” Bobbi’s response was drowned out by the noise, as Hawkeye leapt up onto the slab drawing the attention of the hydra agents. ‘Well, there’s worse ways to go out.’ She thought, drawing back the bowstring and shooting as a volley of lasers headed towards her. 

Suddenly, there was a sound of breaking glass from somewhere above her. In the blink of an eye, Captain America had landed in front of her, using his shield to block the lasers. Hawkeye froze for a few seconds, too slack-jawed to move. ‘They-. They came!’ She thought, struggling to get her brain working again. 

“Hawkeye!” A voice called out. Turning just in time to catch the quiver of arrows thrown in her direction, Hawkeye gave Black Panther a thankful smile. “You guys are really late.” She chastised jokingly, immediately switching out the empty quiver for the new one.  With Cap and Panther now in the fray, things were now going much better. She mostly focused on covering the others in her vicinity as the fight continued, before firing three arrows at the hydra symbol at the top of the throne room, causing it to explode. 

Out of nowhere, a robotic voice echoed through the room, loudly proclaiming the island was going to blow up. ‘That’s not good.’ Hawkeye thought, firing several arrows and taking out a large chunk of Hydra goons. In the crowd of soldiers, she caught sight of Widow guarding Strucker as he attempted to escape the room. 

Pulling a non-trick arrow out of her quiver, she steeled herself as laser fire went off around her. “Goodbye, Natasha.” Hawkeye whispered as she lined up her shot, hatred burning in her eyes. For a split second, she seriously considered tossing out her no killing rule. As she was about to shoot, she saw Morse fighting against Madame Viper a further distance away. The shield agent getting knocked to the floor and pinned down, unable to move. As Viper pointed a gun at Bobbi’s head, Hawkeye’s eyes widened in alarm. She was likely the only one close enough to prevent Bobbi from dying, but she might not have the chance to stop Widow again.

 ‘Never miss.’ Hawkeye thought, the mantra in her head sounding louder than the laser fire. Eyes narrowing, she made her decision and fired the arrow. Taking a small bit of satisfaction from it’s original target’s eyes growing wide as it went past, snipping off a piece of red hair. The arrow pierced the gun and knocked it out of Viper’s hand, giving the shield agent an opportunity to gain the upper hand.

With Mockingbird out of danger, she zeroed back in on her target. Collapsing her bow, she sprinted towards the closing door and leapt through just as it slammed shut. Hawkeye grabbed ahold of Black Widow, roughly pushing her against the wall. The double agent glared at her before kicking her hard in the stomach, sending her sliding back to the other side of the hallway. Seeing the red head aim at her, Hawkeye pulled out her bow and fired one arrow after another, dodging a volley of Widow’s darts as she ran. 

Quickly shooting an arrow off the walls of the corridor, she managed to disable one of the spy’s wrist blasters. Unfortunately, a dart from the one still working punctured her quiver, setting it on fire. Luckily, Hawkeye managed to unclip the strap and throw it behind her before it exploded. Running forward, she swung her bow only to the traitor to block it with the wrist blaster.  

Hawkeye attempted to land a punch while the spy was distracted, but Widow easily dodged. The redhead kicked her in the face and knocked her to the floor, causing the bow to fly out of her hands. 

Pushing herself up, Hawkeye immediately attempted to land more punches, kicking out her leg in a attempt to sweep the legs. Only for the traitor to grab hold of her arm, a loud crack shortly following. She instantly grabbed her arm when the spy let go, biting her tongue to keep from shouting in pain. “You could never take me hand-to-hand, Claire.” Black Widow said almost teasingly, the expression on her face unreadable. 

The traitor’s words only aggravated her further as she tried to punch the redhead again, only for her other arm to be hit. Having something like dislocated arms wasn’t going to stop her from fighting, so Hawkeye rushed forward to attack Black Widow another time. 

But before she could strike, she saw a boot heading towards her. The last thing she felt before hitting the ground was pain and the tickle of hair against her neck.

                                                                                             —————————————————-

 T’Challa swiftly dodged pieces of falling debris as the floor continued to rumble. Across the room ahead of him, he could see the Grim Reaper running towards him, the cyborg swinging his scythe wildly as he approached. Gaining momentum as he ran towards his opponent, T’Challa leaped forward and slicing through the Reaper’s scythe with his vibranium claws. The wrinkled man stared dumbfounded before promptly getting knocked out by a red white and blue shield.

The floor began to rumble as more debris fell from the ceiling. “This whole place is going to go up,” Captain America called out, using his shield to protect himself from the falling debris. “Hawkeye, we have to-.” The super soldier cut himself off, looking around frantically. “Where’s Hawkeye?” 

Moving to the captain’s side, T’Challa closed his eyes and focused his senses, drowning out the noises of the battle. Underneath the sounds of the gunfire and explosions, he heard a distant muffled scream. T’Challa’s eyes snapped open and he immediately ran toward the sound, Captain America following close behind. 

Slashing the metal door open, he sprinted down a long corridor. As he reached the middle, he quickly found Hawkeye lying on the ground, staring at something no longer visible, her eyes clouded and unfocused. “Hawkeye.” Captain America said, kneeling down and shaking the archer’s shoulder in an attempt to pull her out of her stupor. “We must go.” T’Challa added, as the rumbling grew louder. Hawkeye’s eyes began to clear, registering their presence. “Can’t-. Can’t feel my arms.” She mumbled hoarsely, struggling to stand. 

T’Challa quickly helped her up, briefly noticing a white streak in her hair that was not there before. He wrapped her arm over his shoulder, Captain America taking hold of her other arm. As they ran back down the corridor, several explosions could be heard behind them. “Wait, wait! Where’s-?” Hawkeye began to ask weakly, before a loud noise went off. 

“Avengers, do you copy? This is Nick Fury. I’ve got Mockingbird. Get out of there.” An unfortunately familiar voice rang through the intercom system. As the island continued to collapse around them, T’Challa heard a faint snicker. He looked over at his teammate who was now slightly more lucid. “Fury, you son of a-.” Hawkeye began to say when the rest of her sentence was cut off by an explosion and nearby falling debris. 

Making back to the quinjet just in time, Captain America hastily took off as the island exploded. The initial turbulence subsiding, T’Challa helped his still delirious teammate into a seat. Taking a first aid kit from the cabinet above him before sitting down next to her.  “Thought you gave up on me.” The archer mumbled, though ragged breaths. Her eyes filled with a raw vulnerability that made his heart ache. “Of course we wouldn’t,” He said consolingly, giving her hand a small squeeze. 

“Otherwise, if there were another hostage crisis at the mansion, we would have a much more difficult time defusing it.” T’Challa finished with a light attempt at humor. The attempt appeared to be successful as a smile broke out across her face. “That-. That’s probably true.” Claire chuckled, a look of exhaustion passing over her face. He began to open the first aid kit, when he felt a weight fall against his shoulder. T’Challa looked over to see Claire had fallen asleep, leaning against him. He then decided that he would have a lengthy discussion with the director of Shield.

                                                                    ——————————————————————————

Most of the escape from Hydra Island and the quinjet ride to the Helicarrier seemed to pass by in a big blur. Hawkeye spent nearly twenty minutes in the medical wing, where she had to listen to talk of how ‘she was lucky to be alive’ and that she should ‘refrain from any strenuous activity for at least two weeks’. She also got recommended a bunch of food to bring up her energy levels. However, it seemed that not even nearly dying was enough to keep her from getting an earful from her former boss. 

Walking onto the bridge for a second time, she gave a small nod to Cap and Panther, before bracing herself for Fury’s wrath again. The shield director looking even more pissed off then usual. “I told you to stay out it! You were a SHIELD agent, one of my best. You should’ve trusted me!” Fury yelled. Hawkeye’s jaw clenched a little, bits of her anger still simmering underneath all the fatigue. Captain America stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

“We did take down Hydra Island, Nick,” Cap said, likely trying to soften the extent of the damage to try to take some of the heat off of her. “And we captured the Grim Reaper.” “I didn’t want Hydra Island taken down. Not yet.” Fury sneered, glaring at the three of them. 

Hawkeye couldn’t help but squint in confusion at Fury’s remark. But then again, this was Nick Fury who they were talking to. The shield director had secrets on top of secrets. “I am on top of this. I will deal with the Black Widow,” Fury snapped, continuing to rant. “But if I catch you or the Avengers sticking your noses in SHIELD business again, there will be no more Avengers.”

“Am I Clear?” The shield director finished, giving Hawkeye a hard stare. “Crystal,” Hawkeye mumbled, feeling way too tired to argue. “I wanna talk to Mockingbird.” She requested, hoping to give a proper apology without the threat of death. “No. You’re dismissed.” Fury said coldly, leaving no room for argument. The man she had dedicated nearly a decade of her life to simply turning and walking away without even a second thought. 

Taking a breath, she left the bridge, Cap and Panther following. As she walked down the corridor, her mind began to wander. The few clear memories she had of the escape told her that something just wasn’t adding up. ‘I just can’t figure it out. Why’d she do it? Why’d Natasha save me?’ 

The more she thought, the more it didn’t make sense. Coupled with Fury’s behavior, it was obvious there was something bigger going on. And that she would likely never be privy to it, given the stunt she pulled. 

“Iron Man implied that he would like to have a word with us when we return.” T’Challa said, sounding unsure whether or not that was a good thing. “That sounds like fun.” Claire said finally, a tired smile on her face. The smile faded as she turned to face her teammates. “Look, I’m sorry, you guys,” She apologized, her eyes briefly flicking down at the floor. “I didn’t mean to bring Shield and Stark down on you like this.” “But thanks. Thanks for having my back.” Claire said genuinely, looking between the two with a new sense of appreciation.

“That’s what being on a team means.” Cap said, in a light hearted tone. The old man giving what could only be described as a ‘proud dad smile’.

Claire let out a small amused huff. Maybe this whole Avenger thing was worth sticking around for after all.