The Dark Archer

Chapter 22

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Clint POV

I saw her eyes widen in shock as I shot the dart into her neck. She slowly turned and stared at me dazedly as she pulled the dart out of her neck, but I could still see the betrayal and hurt shining in her eyes as she collapsed to the floor, but I quickly darted forwards and caught her before she could hit it. I gently swung my little girl up into my arms. I carried her out of her room like she was a baby again. Nick Fury was waiting for me in my living room.

"Good work, Barton. I know this was hard for you, but we can't let them run around unregulated like that. We can't make exceptions, not even for family. Besides, we just want to ask her a few questions. Figure out how she got her powers back after all this time," Fury told me.

I nodded numbly, his consolation meaning nothing to me. His words didn't make what I did any better. They didn't erase that I betrayed and captured my own daughter for SHIELD. I didn't know what they planned to do with or to her. I hung my head, refusing to answer, instead choosing to stare at Kylie's sleeping face. She would be so upset at me when she woke up, and I had no idea how to make it up to her.

We walked out to the awaiting SHIELD transport, where one of the agents tried to take Kylie from me. I tightened my hold on her and glared at the man. I climbed into the back of a van with my daughter held tightly in my arms. I was alone with her in the back as the transport moved out. Stroking her hair, I began whispering quietly to her.

"Hey, it's okay, honey, Daddy's here now. I'm so sorry I did that to you. If I could have avoided it, I would've. But this is my last mission, baby. I'm retiring after this. Your mother is waiting for me and we're gonna travel for a minute and then stay back at the farmhouse. I'm gonna try and help you out of this, Kylie. I'll try and make sure they don't keep you drugged, because I know you can escape any prison if you can move properly. And I'll explain everything to you, Strela. I'm so sorry, and I love you so much. Your mother, the team, we all care about you a lot, and we're gonna help you in the coming times, Kylie," I rambled quietly.

It was then that I noticed that we had arrived at a far-off SHIELD facility. The doors to the van opened, and I carefully climbed out, still carrying Kylie. I brought her in surrounded by agents, ready to attack any potential threats. Fury had me bring her to a cell similar to that of Loki's while we debated what to do with her.

I laid Kylie down on the little cot and exited through the sliding glass door that I'd left open behind me.
Fury closed and locked the cell back and led me to a conference room. It was empty, bare of any people except Fury and I. And just like that day at the hospital, he disabled all the cameras and microphones with the push of a button.

"You and I both know that Kylie has done nothing wrong. That's why we just want to talk to her, get her involved with SHIELD, we don't want to keep her locked up like some criminal. Same goes for her little spider pal. I'm going to need you to talk to her, Barton. Figure out what happened and what we need to do. Romanoff is out because she is headed for a mission in Africa with a majority of the team," Fury ordered.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't. I can't do anything else for you. I'm done. I'm retiring. And not just from SHIELD, from the Avengers, too. I can't handle this anymore, Fury," I growled lowly.

"Retiring? Think this through, Barton. It's not going to end just because you shut your eyes to it," Nick persuaded.

"I just shot my own daughter for you, Fury. I'm out. Laura and I are getting away for a while," I rejected.

"Back to the farm?" Fury inquired.

"No, the place is probably run down and unlivable. None of us have been there since we left. Probably all overgrown and mangled, and Kylie knows it too. She barely remembers the place," I denied. Lies. All of it. Lies.