The Hawks roots

chapter one Circus Of Crime

Phil Coulson was sitting in Fury's office discussing one of their biggest current problems. The Circus Of Crime, a crime ring that is also a circus. They are all a bunch of deranged killers who don't seem to have any morals.

"Sir, our attempts so far have been useless. We haven't been able to catch any one of them, they are far more deadly then we originally thought. We can't track them either. I think it's time we bring Romanoff in, if she can't track any of them down no one can" Coulson explained with a serious tone.

Fury looked him in the eyes, he knew Phil was right they had to bring the black widow into this. "Give her the call and get her down here ASAP. We need to stop them soon before things get further out of hand." Fury said reluctantly.

Natasha Romanoff aka the Black widow. The best spy and assasssin SHIELD has even at the age of 23. She was originally trained in the red room untill Phil had found her and taken her in. She only gets the hardest most important missions that get on SHEILDS radar. She works all over the world and is also on a team called the AVENGERS, a team that takes on global threats.

The circus of crime have been in SHIELDS radar for a while, 6 years to be exact. Of course they knew about them before they were officially on the radar but they were just a couple of thrives. That was untill they got their sharp shorter. As they call him the amazing Hawkeye, he has never missed a shot to SHIELDS knowledge. They don't know who he is they could never see his face and anyone who has is dead now, he never leaves any evidence at a crime scene. The one thing they know for sure about him is he is young, no older than Natasha.

Natasha made quick work of getting to the base. She was in Brooklyn and that isn't to far to begin with.

"Agent Romanoff, here is the file with all of the info we have gathered on the Circus Of Crime. We want you to track down their youngest member, Hawkeye. He is dangerous and who we think might be actually calling the shots." Coulson explains to the young red head.

Natasha looks through the file she gives an understanding nod. "There isn't to much here. Especially on Hawkeye." She said with her typical flat voice.

Phil nods in agreement. "Sadly no one has had a run in with him and lived. He is ruthless, void of any sympathy. I think he could possibly be a psychopath at the very least a sociopath."

"Well the little information we do have does suggest that. They only got violent after he showed up, other then this there is no evidence supporting the fact he is calling the shots. That isn't a hard leap to make but at the same time he is just a kid. Speculated around my age, it wouldn't be hard to draw the conclusion they just simply needed a sharp shooter to do what they really wanted. They didn't have one before him." The younger agent explained her theory.

"That is true. What role he plays isn't that important at the moment. Your mission is to simply track him down and have him lead you to the rest of them, from there we can come up with a plan to take them out." Coulson says.

"When do I leave?" Natasha asked.

"How quickly can you get ready?"

°•°•°•°•°•°•°

It took Natasha two days to find him. She only did because they were robbing bank. They didn't take hostages, just simply killed everyone inside, Hawkeyemakingmost of the kill shots. He was a fairly large distance away from the bank. Natasha itched to go help them but she had her mission she could risk it.

Natasha followed them from a safe distance untill they all split up. From there she followed Hawkeye and that was it. She followed him into an alley way. She was on the roof following from a distance she was sure he wouldn't see her from.

"I know you're there. Come out now and I'll make your death quick." He sounded like he was in pain, his voice ruff like he was holding something back.

Natasha thought he might have been holding himself back.

He had no reason not to kill her the moment he saw her, but he didn't, this didn't seem like the work of a psychopath. She jumped down from the roof and walked to him slowly.

"You are one of those agents. Aren't you?" He spoke slow and strangely calm. Natasha honestly didn't like his tone, it was to much like her's when she was in the red room.

"I'm here to bring you in" she said just as calm but with a little more confidence then she had.

"You came alone. Either you are doing this alone without SHIELDS knowing, they underestimate me, or they overestimate you. Which is it huh?" That same slow calm piercing tone.

"That isn't relevant. Now come with me quietly and we won't have a problem." She said to him.

Hawkeye hasn't turned around to look at her. This entire time he had his back turned to her. Until now.

Even in the dim light she could see his sad looking eyes. The tears that threatened to spill. The strong look and act he tried so hard to keep up. She took another step towards him. He reached for the bow on his back. His Movement's were slow, he was telegraphing them. He wanted Natasha to know what he was doing.

Natasha knew this all to well this used to be her. Wanting out so bad but think you can't. Being helplessly controlled and not knowing what to do. The tough act they force on because anything else was just weakness.

"I know how you feel. You want out. Let me help you, come with me." The red head offers her hand to the blond.

He drew his bow back an arow pointed right at her. "And what, be thrown in a cell for the rest of my life because I trusted you. Hell no. You could never understand what it feels like to be me. You could never understand so don't give me that sympathizing good cop bullshit. It won't do you any good." He was seething, voice dark and cold but true. True to him.

"I do though. I understand you were hurt by someone so bad all you thought you could do was hurt them back. But you were always to weak, you couldn't hurt them back. I understand that when they found you and offer you a better place to stay, a place without hurt you were desperate enough to say yes." She started. She didn't want to continue, it hurt to think of her herself during that time.

"shut up" he growled, she clearly struck a nerve. She knew she did, and she knew it hurt to hear because it hurt her to say. It hurt even after all these years.

"You said yes and it was good for a while but it got bad. You want out but you can't"

"SHUT UP!" he yelled and his hands started to tremble and the tears came back to his eyes.

"They are controlling you. Making you hurt people. You regret it but it feels good to be the one hurting people so you don't try and fight that control. You want out but you don't think you deserve out. You think you need to be controlled." Her voice was so even and calm dispite the hurt growing in her gut.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! shut up! Shut up!" He kept shouting like it was the only thing in his vocabulary. He looked about ready to shoot Natasha.

"A weapon to be aimed" this line was the final straw.

Suddenly the bow string was no longer bent back. An arrow in Natasha's shoulder, a wound she would surely live from. Before she knew what had happened there was a knee to her stomach and he was gone. He ran right past her and out on to the city streets.

Natasha smiled slightly. He wasn't a psychopath and she had reached him. He had listened to her talk even though it hurt, he knew now that someone understands his pain. He knows now he can get out he just has to try.