21 Days [A Hawkeye/ Clint Barton fic] [HEAVY EDITING]

Broken Glass

Subject: Barton, Clinton Francis
Codename: Hawkeye
Occupation: Avenger
Date of Death: 21 days.

To Hawkeye, this was a failed mission.

He should've seen it coming when he woke up a few days ago: aching body, non-stop coughing, the occasional sneeze. The archer wouldn't admit it, but he felt sicker than a dog.

Clint couldn't remember much, but he did remember waking up on a bed in a cheap motel room with Natasha leaning against him, running her fingers through his sweat-soaked hair.

"Morning, Bird Brain." Black Widow flashed a smile at Clint, then turned around to get a plastic bag full of little things. She pulled out a bottle of thick blue liquid, a small container of fever reducers, a thermometer, and some items Clint didn't recognize.

"I'm not sick, Nat..." Clint coughed once and rolled over onto his side. He tightly hugged the pillow with his right arm.

"Keep telling yourself that." She tore open the package containing the thermometer with her teeth.

Clint shifted his position and looked up at her. "Nat..."

"Clint, I don't want to take you to the hospital and I know you don't want to go." She threw the now empty package away. "Open."

"I told you-" It was the perfect opportunity for Natasha to stick the thermometer in. She received a glare from her teammate.

"Now, you get to listen to me talk. I'll have someone come get you and take you back to the tower. I'll finish the mission on my own." Clint frowned and shook his head.

"You'll get caught." The archer's words were slurred as he tried to keep the little instrument in his mouth. "Two man job."

"I'm not going to get caught, Barton. You would be caught sooner than me because you're sick."

"Nat, I told you-"

"I'm not sick!" Natasha mocked, smirking. "Said the child-like man."

"Shut up," Clint groaned, sitting up and holding his head in his hands. His eyes were covered.

"Baby." Clint just groaned in denial.

Natasha got up from the bed, uncapped the pill bottle, took one of Clint's hands, and shook a few pills into it. "Take 'em. Don't make me force you by keeping your mouth shut and blowing air in your face like you would with a stubborn dog."

Hawkeye stared at the pills for a minute, then took them dryly.

"Oh, and Clint? They're the drowsy kind," Black Widow said after she heard Clint swallow. She rolled her eyes when she saw the look on his face. "I was just kidding."

"I hate you..." The archer laid back down. His phone buzzed on the nightstand next to him. Clint reached out and retrieved it. He slid the lock bar across the screen and checked the message.

Fury.

'Check out this video!!!!!'

Another damn secret message. Clint tapped on the link and a passcode screen popped up.

Hawkeye typed in the only passcode he knew would fit. The screen immediately disappeared and was replaced by another one.

'Get back on the field, kid! You can beat the other team. Don't let anything hold you back.'

Love, Mom.

Translation: 'get your ass back out there, Barton. You're a professional and shouldn't let a sickness hold you down.'

The secret messages were just a safety precaution in case someone hacked into any one's phone.

"I need to get out there..." Clint heaved himself up and put his combat boots back on.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to get back to work."

"You're sick. It's pouring down rain, Clint. You'll just get sicker!"

Clint sniffled. "I'm fine, Nat!" He grabbed his bow and flicked it out, then got his loaded quiver.

"If you get sicker, I'm taking you to the hospital, Clint."

"I won't, Natasha..." He pulled open the door and walked out into the pouring rain. Clint turned left and started running. A few minutes later, Black Widow could hear human footsteps running and skidding across the roof of the motel.

She suited up and ran after her teammate.

21 Days

Natasha ran down the middle of the busy sidewalk downtown. She had tracked the microchip in Clint's quiver in the same direction, but there was no sign of him.

"Clint!" Natasha yelled over the noise of the crowds of people. "Hawkeye!"

No sign.

The tracker started going crazy again. She looked down at the device and noticed her teammate was heading East. With that slight information, Natasha started running in the same direction.

21 Days

Clint let out a nasty sounding cough as he pulled himself up onto the paved roof of the only high-class hotel in the town.

The only lights illuminating the surface were from the full moon and the raised glass sunroof.

Soaked to the bone, Hawkeye hurried over to the large glass sunroof where he pressed his hands up against it, peering in.

It was a banquet. Clint thought he was given the wrong address until he saw the different symbols projected on the wall.

HYDRA, AIM, Genomex, and a few others he didn't recognize...all up on the wall in perfect order.

He attached his bow to his quiver, then carefully crawled out on to the sunroof. If he could find an opening, he could take down the whole operation with his arrows. The plan was genius.

Until the glass cracked beneath him.