Fractured

“Really? You couldn’t have chosen better outfits?” Kate Bishop asked, clearly not at all amused at the stupid bridesmaid dress she was wearing. It was her older sister, Susan’s, wedding day and of course she had to be in the bridal party and of course she had to be put in some god-awful, frilly pink dress. As much as she loved her sister (which was actually very, very little) she wanted to be out of this dress and back home in her flat avoiding family as much as humanly possible. Her father, Derek, laughed a little as he walked over to his youngest and started fixing the little hat beret she was forced to wear. “Come on, Kate, it’s your sister’s big day. She only gets married once.”

“Oh really? Like how you only got married once?” Kate asked sarcastically, glancing over her dad’s shoulder at her step-mother, Heather, who was currently helping Susan with her hair. “Knowing Susan she’s going to be bored with this guy in two years and looking for bachelor number two.”

Derek gave her a warning look as Kate sighed. Her family was a mess. Her father, brilliant wealthy man Derek Bishop was the head of his own security business, which of course meant that he was never home or spent much time with  his kids when they were growing up. Her actual mother, Eleanor, had died when Kate was seven after a car accident and her new step-mom, Heather, was more focused on being Susan’s friend that she didn’t really scream mother material. And her sister Susan…ugh. She was the epitome of a rich kid. Pretty, spoiled and overall annoying.

Kate didn’t fit in to the Bishop family and honestly, she really didn’t want to. She wanted to actually make a difference. Her father threw money at the problem (“Oh honey, don’t cry, how about I get you a pony instead”) but Kate knew it was just to show off how wealthy he was and look good to the public. Tony Stark, on the other hand? He actually saved the city. He put his own life in harm’s way to keep the public safe. She had watched from her family’s Malibu vacation home the attack on New York and the Avengers rising up to save her home. She had watched how this normal guy was fighting back with a stick and string – clearly out of his element but still fighting nonetheless. He didn’t have super powers. Neither did she. She wanted to be like him. So she talked her dad into letting her take martial arts and archery lessons. Maybe if she could be as good as him he could train her to be an Avenger!

Derek was about to comment on her remark when a gaggle of people started forming at the front of the church and she heard people talking a bit louder. Kate turned to see who it was and her face paled and her heart raced as she couldn’t believe who was in attendance for her sister’s wedding….

~~~

“I still don’t understand why you had to drag me¸ of all people, to this wedding,” Clint muttered as he tried to fix his tie that Tony was adamant that he wore. “Seriously, why not bring an actual date, like Natasha or Pepper…or both?”

“Well, for one,” Tony started before batting Clint’s hand away from his tie, “You lost the bet.”

“No, I won that bet.”

“You cheated by forgetting to mention that your marksman skills are not just with weapons.”

“What part of ‘are you sure I never miss’ do you not get?”

“Anyway, you cheated.”

“You’re just mad that I sunk every ball on the break,” Clint muttered with a grin.

Tony grumbled under his breath. “Point two,” he continued, as they approached the church, “FRIDAY got word of a possible hit on the patriarch of the Bishop family and you are certainly more covert and less noticeable than Natasha…”

“And you would get distracted by how good she would look in a dress,” Clint interrupted with a sly grin.

“You really do see everything, don’t you?”

Clint shrugged smugly. “I never miss a thing.”

Tony laughed sarcastically as they entered the church and were immediately swarmed by people as they saw the great Tony Stark. Clint was staring around at the crowd, trying to recognize faces of anyone that used to be on the SHIELD watch list but between the swarm around them because of Tony and people coming up to him and thanking him as well for saving the city, he couldn’t get a good look. Finally they were able to push through and find some seats. “Did FRIDAY mention any names on who might be here?” Clint whispered to Tony.

Tony shook his head as he noticed Derek Bishop coming up towards them. “But here’s the target. Derek Bishop, always a pleasure,” Tony greeted, standing up and holding out his hand for him to shake.

Clint stood up as well, letting Tony do the talking. He wasn’t really paying attention as he was trying to get a read on anyone in attendance. His eyes traveled up towards the alter and he noticed a kid, twenty something, maybe, who looked as uncomfortable in her dress as Clint felt in his suit. Yeah, you and me both, kid he thought to himself as he politely excused himself from Tony’s side. He needed a better vantage point. As he got to the back of the church he turned on his coms. “You reading me, Tony?”

“Yeah, feathers, I hear you. Where did you disappear to?”

“I’m heading up to the upper balcony,” he announced as he found the staircase to travel up.

“You and your perches. How can you see from up there, anyway?”

“What part of I never miss a thing do you not get, Stark?” Clint teased as he found his way onto the balcony as the ceremony seemed to start. “So what’s the play?”

“As soon as we confirm, you take him out while I get the crowd to safety.”

“You know we could just get everyone out of the building now.”

“Yeah, but if we clear out the church we may Inadvertently clear out our hitman as well, considering we still don’t know who he is or what he looks like.”

“Or that he is even a he,” Clint added as he scanned the crowd. “Did you mention to your buddy that there was a hit on him?”

“Of course and in typical rich guy fashion, he wasn’t fazed by it. Seriously, us millionaires are used to people wanting us dead.”

“Well, you’re bounty is significantly higher than most millionaires.”

“Wait, I have a bounty? And also, how do you know how much it is?”

Clint smirked as he didn’t answer. “You’re a cruel man. Remind me to tell Lady Bird that you’re being mean to Thing Two’s favorite uncle.”

Clint laughed a bit as he knew full well that Tony was referring to Laura and Lila. After Sokovia and, sequentially, Nathaniel’s appearance into the world, Tony had joined Clint on the quick R&R to make sure the kids and mom were doing alright. Tony had been great with Cooper and Lila and Laura and he both appreciated the help as they were busy taking care of Nathaniel. He even got to introduce his family and his new son to the two people who helped bring him home – Wanda and Pietro. Stupid kid took a bullet for him. Thankfully it missed anything vital and somehow, Clint found himself adopting two more strays.

He continued to gaze around the room, looking for anything or anyone out of place. It was all still and quiet, even as Derek gave his daughter away to the groom. “Are we sure there’s…”

Suddenly the doors swung open and a semi-automatic rifle was fired into the air, making everyone drop to the ground. A swarm of men dressed in black entered, followed by a face Clint recognized all too well. “Great,” he muttered, dropping his jacket and grabbing his bow. “Tony, it’s William Cross.”

Tony was on the floor, much like everyone else as he turned and spotted the hitman in question. “Don’t you and he…?”

“Yeah. Tony you need to get these people out of here now.”

“Great idea, Clint. Any ideas on how?”

Clint smirked as he pulled the stash of arrow shafts from his ankle holster and clipped them onto the quiver where his bow had been hiding. “Yeah. On my signal, start grabbing and pushing people towards the fire exits.”

“Wait, what’s the signal?”

“Trust me, you won’t miss it,” Clint smirked as he aimed for Cross’s hand holding his rifle and fired. The arrow forced Cross to drop his rifle and look up to see Clint saluting. “Barton! Get him!!”

Clint ran along the balcony to the staircase. “Did you get my signal?”

“Yeah, Tweety, I got it.”

“Good. I’ll hold them off as long as possible so get everyone out as quick as you can.”

“Copy that.” Clint could still hear Tony ushering people out through the various exits as he ran down the stairs, immediately jumping over the railing as a few of the mercenaries came running in and locking his legs around their neck before using Natasha’s move to take them down. He rolled off and fired a taser arrow at the next person that came in before running into the chaos of the chapel. Most people were running away from the pews. One of the mercenaries was chasing the kid he saw from earlier and he immediately fired a regular arrow into his shoulder to throw him off. Clint ran to the kid and grabbed her arm. “You okay?”

“You’re….you’re Hawkeye!”

Clint smirked as he pulled her towards the exits. “Get out of here, ki…WATCH OUT!”

He immediately pulled her out of the way as saw Crossfire level his gun at Clint and fire. The shot missed them and hit the pew that they ducked under. “Come on out, Barton. I don’t want to kill ya.”

“Really?” Clint yelled as he notched another arrow in his bow, “Because the shooting makes me think that you do, Cross.”

“I think it’s the least you deserve after you locked me up in the Vault, don’t you think?”

Clint looked at the kid next to him who seemed a bit calmer than she should be. Weird. “Yeah, well, you did try to kill the ambassador to Chile during a peace summit.”

“Clint, I got Derek and the rest of the crowd out but he can’t find his youngest daughter. You see a girl in there named Kate Bishop?”

Clint looked at the kid next to him. “You Kate Bishop?”

She nodded rather quickly. “Yeah, I got her Tony. Working on getting us both out without Cross shooting us.”

“There’s an office to the left of the alter. You two get there and you can get out.”

Clint nodded as he looked at Kate. “You see the office to the left of the alter?”

Kate turned her head and spotted the door. “Yeah…yeah, I see it.”

“Great. When I stand up, you run like hell to it and get out.”

“What about you?”

Clint smirked. “I’m the distraction. Hey Cross, why don’t we settle this man to man? You put down your gun, I put down my bow. I don’t want to embarrass you more than you already are.”

Clint waited until he heard the rifle hit the floor. Clint put down his bow and looked to Kate. “Go,” he whispered before standing up and stepping out, arms out to his sides to show he was unarmed. He didn’t look to see if Kate had ran as his eyes were solely on Cross. “You’re an idiot, Barton.”

Clint shrugged as he lowered his hands. “I’ve been called worse.”

Cross smirked, reaching behind him and quickly drawing out a gun. Shit. Clint was about ready to dive for cover when an arrow whizzed past him and hit Cross in the hand, causing him to drop the gun as the arrow punctured his palm. Clint turned and saw Kate standing up with his bow. “Wait, you’re left handed?” Kate asked as she realized as she lowered it.

Clint was in a little bit of disbelief as he took the bow from her. “I’m just gonna….” He muttered, letting his sentence trail off at the end before notching another arrow and approaching Cross, leveling it at his face. “You were saying?”

Cross growled as he touched a button on his wrist and pointed it at Clint, making smoke appear and spraying it in Clint’s face. Clint dropped his bow and coughed while Kate ran to grab it to keep Cross from leaving but the momentary distraction had allowed him to escape. “Clint! Clint, are you okay? I hear coughing.”

“Yeah…” Clint sputtered, taking a moment to clear his lungs, “Yeah, I’m fine. Cross got away, though.”

“We’ll deal with that later. Cops are ready to clear the scene.”

Clint nodded, hearing the doors open and watching as the church filled with the boys in blue. Turning to Kate, he asked, “You okay, kid?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re a hell of a shot.” Kate’s face lit up like a Christmas tree as the greatest marksman in the world gave her a compliment. “T-thanks!”

Tony came casually strolling in, looking rather pleased with himself. “For all intents and purposes, I think this went really well…oh, you must be Kate Bishop. Tony Stark,” he introduced as his eyes landed on Kate.

“Hi,” she muttered, clearly in shock that she was in the presence of two Avengers now. “You ready to head back to the complex? I don’t know about you but I don’t feel like sticking around for clean up.”

“Actually, Tony,” Clint replied, looking over at Kate for a minute, “I’ll catch up. I have something I want to talk with Katie here about.”

“Um…it’s Kate.”

Tony looked at him with a quizzical face. “And what would that be?”

Clint smirked, looking between the two of them. “How do you feel about becoming an Avenger-in-training?”

TBC…