The Dark Archer

Chapter 14

Clint POV

I sighed and ran my hands through my messed up hair. I could only hope that my gut was wrong, but it hadn't been thus far. As I expected, Fury burst into his office with, well, fury in his eyes.

"What on God's green earth was that, Barton?" Fury demanded.

"Hey," Natasha said from behind me, "it's not his fault, Nick. It was a first run, and we didn't know that the archer could do that."

Her attempt to soothe him only seemed to piss him off further. Fury pointed an angry finger at me.

"No, this guy missed—and that's what pisses me off! You hesitated to shoot them. We don't honestly know if these kids are hostiles, Barton. And you will not disobey direct orders!" Fury yelled. Nat gasped and her eyes widened at the accusation.

"You hesitated. Why?" Nat asked me suspiciously.

"I don't know," I groaned. I collapsed into a chair and put my face in my hands. I peeked through my fingers at Nat, who narrowed her eyes in thought. Then she blinked hard and looked at me in realization. Thankfully, Fury was behind her and couldn't see her facial expressions.

"You were concerned about them being kids. You thought about how they could be Kylie's age, and that they didn't know what they were doing," she glowered. My heart skipped a beat. Nat never messed up reading me. Which meant she knew. And she must agree with me if she was keeping it from Fury.

"Yes," I admitted softly. I was trying to keep in character for Fury's benefit. I closed my eyes so he couldn't read the emotion written in them.

"That's no excuse Barton, and it better not stop you next time," Fury ordered before storming out the room. Once the door was closed I turned to Nat.

"So you think so, too?" I asked her carefully. There was no doubt that this office was bugged.

"I think it's a possibility that can't be ruled out," she conceded.

"Are you sure you know what you saw?" She asked me quietly. I nodded. I'd know those eyes anywhere, even if the rest of the face was hidden by a mask. I had watched those eyes open for the first time.

"You know what this means, right?" Nat asked carefully. I sighed in relief.

"We didn't take them from her."

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Kylie POV

"How the fight are we supposed to do that?" Peter demanded. I had to giggle at his choice of words.

"It's simple really. I just need to ask Uncle Tony to give me a tour of the tower because Dad was thinking about moving in. Then I use my powers to teleport in there later and take what we need. The only danger is we won't know whether or not people will be there when we teleport," I explained.

"This is so exciting! Do you know anyone else that can honestly say that they robbed the Avengers?" He asked in amazement.

"Loki, Ultron, Strucker, need I go on?" I listed.

"What—no heroes?" He asked sadly.

"They'd have to be an ant for me to not know about them," I replied. Peter shrugged in agreement and I continued to outline the plan.

"I would just try to throw it home when I see it, but then Tony would notice and know who I am. So the night of the tour I'll throw us both there—it's too risky for me to go alone seeing as I have to shoot a grappling arrow, and if I just push you, you'll have no way of getting back," I reasoned.