A Different Call

5. A Different Call

When Clint spotted the Black Widow climbing up the stairs with Aleksandr Miroslav, he politely excused himself from his conversation. He didn't bother masking his haste as he crossed the ballroom and climbed the stairs. He had hidden his bow case inside a vent on the second floor, ready for a snipe from above or if his target moved up. It just happened to be the latter.

After making sure there were no witnesses, Clint removed the black case from its hiding place and opened it on the marble floor. He slung his quiver over his gray tuxedo, tightening the strap until snug. Then he slipped his archer glove on his left hand. Finally, he jerked his bow to spring the limbs.

Down the hall, a door shut softly. Clint approached it and turned the knob slowly. Once the kob reached its limit, he pushed it forward a centimeter. Letting the door hold itself in place, Hawkeye notched an arrow to the bowstring. Then he took a breath.

He heard a thump inside, and he knew it was time to move. He shoved his shoulder into the door and scanned the room. He spotted the Black Widow pinning the terrified Aleksandr Miroslav against the floor with a gun to his forehead.

  She scoffed at the man's whimpers. "Begging? Pathetic."

Her finger tightened around the trigger. Realizing he still had the element of surprise, Hawkeye stepped forward and trained his arrow a few inches away from her head. At full draw, the power of his shot would crack through her skull and even hit Miroslav if he wasn't careful. He eased his draw a fraction.

  "Put the gun down, Black Widow, and let's talk about this like grown ups."

The back muscles of his target stiffened, but she didn't move. Then, slowly, she raised her hands and loosened her trigger finger in surrender. Clint allowed himself to relax a bit.

It was a mistake that cost him.

Her leg lashed out, knocking the arrow away from her head. In his surprise, Clint's fingers slipped, releasing the arrow harmlessly into the floor.

Romanoff's eyes followed it. Confusion flickered across her deadly calm. If Clint had blinked, he would have missed it. Clearly, he was the first bowman she had ever encountered.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent used her distraction to swing his bow at her head. She ducked and spun out of the way to give herself more room where Mirovslav's sniveling form wouldn't trip her. Widow raised her gun. Before she could pull the trigger, it was snatched out of her grip by an arrow. It slid against the floor far from her reach.

Disarmed, Black Widow raised her fists and adopted a fighting stance. Her eyes analyzed his every move, scoping for a weakness. His sharp eyes did the same in return.

His back was to the window and the door, cutting off the Russian assassin's escape. Not ideally, her target and her gun were on her side of the room. He just needed to finish it before she could grab either.

Hawkeye reached behind him and singled out the fletching of an arrow. His movement sparked Romanoff into action. She charged, narrowing the space between them and forcing the archer to forget the arrow in favor of defending himself.

Romanoff threw a punch. Clint shifted his head out of range while catching her arm between his bowstring and the upper limb to push her punch away. His opponent hooked her elbow around his bow and yanked it out of his grip. Clint only had a fraction of a second to realize he had been disarmed before Romanoff kicked him in the midsection. Thankfully, the soft mattress caught his fall.

Romanoff scrambled for her gun. Ignoring the throb in his abdomen, Clint launched out of the bed, grabbed her ankle, and dragged her away from her weapon. Romanoff whipped her head around to glare at him and her eyes flashed murderously. Clint had a moment to feel a sense of dread before she kicked him in the face. If she wasn't barefoot and if he hadn't prepared himself for the impact, she would have broken his nose. Still, he shut his watering eyes against the pain and released her ankle.