The Lone Wolf (Clint Barton)

Chapter 42: The Streets Run Red

Jackie POV:

"When we reach her, let me do the talking, alright?" I ordered the pair beside me as we headed into the courtyard that Karli had sent me the coordinates to.

"Yup." Sam nodded while Dad hummed in acknowledgment. "What's the plan if this is a trap?"

"Fight like hell and take no prisoners." I decided. "That's just about all we can do." Looking around the balcony, I didn't see the teenager in question. "Karli!" At my yell, she leaned over the edge, giving us her location. "Sam, you keep an eye out for Walker. Dad, with me." I said quietly, leading the way up the stairs. "Well, I'm here. What did you want to talk about?"

"If your child grew up in a place like this, wouldn't you fight tooth and nail to make the world a better place?" Karli responded, making me stiffen.

"I didn't tell you about him." I tightly observed out loud. "How'd you find out?"

"Rumors. I didn't know for sure until now." Karli shrugged. "How'd you know it was a he?"

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to decide if I wanted to reveal my power or not. As far as I knew, only Clint and Dad knew about it. Well, maybe Ed too. Glancing back at Dad, I could very clearly see him silently telling me 'no'. "Mother's intuition." I lied, struggling to keep from fiddling with something. For an assassin, you'd think that my tells would be less noticeable, but nope. If I was nervous and/or lying about something, I always fiddled with something. "Look, Karli, you need to end this now. I can help you, but we're on a timer, and times running out."

"A timer that I can control!" Karli exclaimed. "I just--I need your help. The serum's gone, all I have are the ones that turned before. Jackie, you can finally change the world! For once in your life, a soldier can beat a politician."

"Incoming." Sam called, apparently having spotted Walker and Hoskins.

"Karli please, turn yourself into my custody. I promise that I'll protect you and your friends, but I can't do that if Walker and Hoskins get here first." I tried one last time. "Dad, Sam, and I will make sure that you get minimal charges--we'll use the underage part. But you've got to turn yourself in, otherwise I can't legally go against Walker."

"You can't legally go against him anyway. He's 'Captain America'." Karli did air quotes around the title, clearly not believing it. "What will we being in custody have any effect?"

"Because I know people, and people owe me favors." I informed, but I could already tell by the way she looked that it wasn't going to work. Karli frowned, hints of regret showing.

"Jackie..." Sam trailed off.

"Let's go." I nodded at Dad, him jumping off of the deck. However, Karli--now wearing her mask--hit him into the wall. Following close behind, I surprised her with a kick to the stomach. Soon matching Dad's pace, we both headed to the location that Sam had sent us. I knew that Dad was purposely going slower than his normal run due to wanting to keep close to me, which made me mentally roll my eyes. Sometimes the most protective things he did were hardly noticeable, but this was not one of those times.

"What'd you do?" We heard Sam ask.

"They've got Lamar." Walker's faint reply was heard.

"Go." I ordered Dad, spotting a motorcycle. "I'll get there." Following my line of sight, he nodded before speeding up, soon disappearing from my sight. Quickly mounting the bike, I jumpstarted the engine and revved it up. Smiling at the feel of the familiar purr, I was quickly headed towards the house that everyone else was at. Entering the main stairwell, I was met with the sight of Dad telling a passed-out Super-soldier to 'stay there'.