Hawkeye: Agony

Hawkeye : The World's Greatest Marksman

From the back of the tent, I ran through the main stage towards the flapped exit. I moved past the Gambonno twins with a skillful flip over their heads - and, though they definitely saw me, they did not follow after. I touched the corner of the flap and the needles in my neck shocked me to the floor. I lay limp, with wide eyes, staring up at the ceiling until he loomed over me again with his top hat near my face.

There was a show soon, and I couldn't let myself be a part of it.

A hand fell on my shoulder and pulled me up, "Escaping, I see? And here I thought you'd learn," The Ringmaster punched my face and then pulled me up so I was hanging limply by the back of my collar.
"You just have to kill one person. We'll do the rest."
I mumbled quietly through my numb lips, "That's not happening. Never again."
"I hear you're an assassin now? It's all the same," he moved me in to the backstage area and sat me down harshly.
"It's not the same."
"Whatever lets you sleep at night," he smirked and then lifted my chin with a finger - using another to press a button on the collar. A needle dug itself in to my skin and a liquid burned through my veins.
"No... No!" My eyes closed tightly and the sound of my own scream grew quieter and more muffled. The rest became a blur. What happened next, I don't remember.

**

"Hopefully, he's in a trailer..." Natasha said as she walked between the stage crews' campers.
"We should all stay on alert, just in case," Steve looked up at the Cyclone roller coaster and added, "I used to come here with Bucky..."
"The world has changed since the 40s, Capcicle," Tony flew up and landed on the top track and looked around for any signs of the circus, "I can't find anyone."
"How did they manage to move the whole show to New York?" Wanda looked at Nat cautiously.
"They've been running like this since before the first World War. Magic I guess. It helps them hide from radars. It took a while for S.H.I.E.L.D to eventually find them."
Steve looked concerned,"Peggy didn't find them?"
"She helped find them in the end... It just took a while," Nat paused, "Clint risked a lot trying to escape. S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn't have found them otherwise."
"I believe we have been found," Thor interrupted, looking up at a figure stood on top of a carnival game.

I was stood there, with a cowl that stretched over my ears and neck, covering the collar - a yellow visor covering each eye to improve my focus against the glare of the circus spotlights, and to cover my identity. I held a wooden arrow, loaded in to a simple bow, nothing like the technology that Tony has made for me since the old days. My clothing made me look like a medieval bowman, ready to hunt down my opponents - with purple netting across my chest. I'll admit that I looked a little dorky, but I couldn't tell the difference then.

I shot, but the arrow was blocked by Steve, throwing up his shield to hit the arrow to the side, and then to follow at my face. I caught it one handed and slid backwards - using a second hand to brace. Tony flew up and blasted at my face but I used the shield to block, then threw it back and hit him centred in the arc. His suit shut down and Thor flew up to catch him before he hit the ground. The shield came right back, just as it always does for Steve.

"Stand down. We can settle this civilly," Steve said calmly.
I threw the shield at Nat so it hit her in the face, before recoiling to hit Bruce in the stomach. Steve caught his shield but I shot an arrow at his ankle before he could block it. All of the Avengers looked at Bruce to see him fighting to hold back the Hulk.
"Bruce..." Natasha shuffled over - keeping low because of the blood running from her forehead.
Thor flew up in to my face, "You shall kill everyone here..!"
"That's the idea," A small smirk formed, the only thing visible beneath the cowl, then I shot his chest so he fell next to Tony - hitting one of the wounds I'd seen him take in the tent a while before.
Thor groaned but he managed to sit up and help pull the parts of the suit off of Tony.
The Hulk roared as he teared through Bruce's body, which caused me to turn and run swiftly over the rooftops of the carnival.
Steve chased me despite the broken ankle, whilst the others tried to calm Bruce. He used a wall, jumping off of it and landing next to me on the roof - tackling me in the process.
"Stand down, soldier."
I silently hit my head in to his to try and get free, but Steve was pinning me down, and I couldn't out match his strength. He groaned slightly at my move but his eyes focused again with a blink. A punch to the face forced my cowl to slip slightly.
"Clint...?" Steve loosened slightly with the falter. His expression was mainly shocked, but he seemed disappointed.
I escaped whilst I could, throwing him back with a push in to a metal pole which set him delirious for a few minutes. As I ran, I adjusted my mask over my face. The lights surrounding the boardwalk stopped glaring, and when they did, I could faintly make out the figure of Laura, standing and looking around for me.
She could only see a shadow, a man with a bow, her husband. But I wasn't the man that she married anymore.
"Clint?!" She ran over quickly but slowed as she saw the costume, "You're not_... Natasha?!" She tried to back up but I grabbed her wrist.
"You shouldn't be here." My tone was cold. I pulled her along towards the tent before Natasha came running.

**

And this is where my story repeats itself.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls. Welcome to The Circus of Crime!"
A light fell in to the middle of the tent.

"There are lights coming from the tent again..."

"An old act has returned to reprise his role. And you're all in for a good show tonight."

"Laura?! Clint?!"

"Welcoming Hawkeye!"

There was a cry for help, the thud of an arrow hitting the wooden board that held my wife down. And the ear piecing scream that would ring in my ears forever.

"Clint...? ...What did you do?"