Alone ✧ KATE BISHOP

16 - Better Off

KATE GROANED AS SHE LAY ON THE GROUND, HER EYES SQUEEZED SHUT IN PAIN. Clint, Jasper, and the Tracksuits all stared at her, not saying a word. Kate slowly pushed herself up to her knees, meeting Clint's eyes, and he looked up at the Tracksuits to get her attention. So Kate followed his gaze, her eyes going wide when she saw the Tracksuits' guns all aimed at her. 

"Oh, wow," Kate said as she got to her feet. "Didn't realize we were supposed to bring guns."

Jasper rolled her eyes as the Tracksuits cocked their guns. "Way to go, Kate," Jasper said with a scoff. 

Kate simply glanced at Jasper before looking back at the Tracksuits. Then, she gave a nervous chuckle; it was obvious she wasn't sure what to do.

Amira lifted her gun away from Jasper's head with a smirk. "Well. This made our jobs ten times easier." 

Kate looked up at Amira, glaring at her angrily. "I should've known you'd be involved in this," Kate spat. 

Amira's smirk simply widened. "Well, it's too late for you to do anything about it now. Though you did just save your girlfriend here-" She nodded at Jasper. "-from having a bullet go through her skull. So props to you for impeccable timing." Amira then waved for the other Tracksuits to join her. "Tie them up. And make sure Hawkeye doesn't escape this time." 

The Tracksuits wasted no time in tying both Clint and Kate to two other kiddie rides next to Jasper, securing them in place with duct tape. They reinforced Jasper's bonds with duct tape as well (most likely as a precaution), then smiled at Clint as they secured him to the plastic unicorn he sat on. 

"There you go," Clint said with a tight-lipped smile.

"Don't worry, you will not fell off," one of the Tracksuits said, still grinning. "It's strong." 

Clint nodded at the Tracksuits as they laughed. "You got it. Thank you." The Tracksuits stepped a few paces away, and once they were out of earshot, Clint turned to Kate and hissed, "Look what you did."

"I was just trying to help, okay?" Kate replied, her voice defensive.

Clint gave a slight shake of his head. "Don't talk, Kate." He then looked at Jasper. "You okay, kid?"

Jasper nodded. Now that the threat of her dying was gone, she finally had time to process her emotions. "I'm alright," Jasper said after taking a shaky breath. "Honestly, that wasn't my first brush with death. But it was the first time I had a gun in my face." 

Clint frowned. "What do you mean, it wasn't your first brush with death?" 

Jasper shook her head. "You're better off not knowing." 

Clint stared at her and opened his mouth to reply. But before he could, the Tracksuits went up to the three of them, once again laughing and grinning. 

"Uh-oh," one of the Tracksuits said. "You're in trouble now, bro." He then put some quarters into the kiddie rides Jasper, Kate, and Clint sat on before watching as the rides bobbed up and down. The three of them just sat there, not amused in the slightest. 

"You like your pony, Hawkeye?" the Tracksuit asked with a laugh.

"Just keep going, and going, and going," a second Tracksuit added. "I love it." 

Kate and Jasper simultaneously rolled their eyes. This is ridiculous, Jasper thought. 

"I love it, bro," the first Tracksuit said. "Look at Hawkeye!"

"Where's your arrows now?"

"Pew, pew. Big, strong Hawkeye riding prony." 

"They should smile more. This is fun for us too, you know."