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A/N: Sorry for the delay. We moved and I just got internet back. Enjoy. :)

"Oh, Raven. I am so disappointed in you. All this time and you still fail to kill me. What would father say?"

Raven kept her hands up as her brother drug her toward another building. Last she'd seen Clint and Nat they were still laying on the ground tied up. She glanced at Simon. "I'm pretty sure he'd tell you to put the gun away. I was always his favorite."

He drew back the hand that held the gun and hit her in the cheek with it. Pain flared from the wound but she clenched her teeth together to keep from crying out. "Perhaps when we were children. Once we found out what you were, he was as disgusted by your existence as I am."

A little jolt of pain went through her with his words but she hid it well. She'd had years of practice. "You should have let me go, Simon. I would have taken my friends and left. They'll come after you now."

He laughed and shoved her into the building, pulling the door shut behind them and leaving them in the dark. "No one cares about you, Raven. No one will come for you."

"God, you really are a bloody wanker, aren't you?"

He flipped on a light then pushed her against the nearest wall. He pointed the gun at her. "Sit."

She slid down the wall and sat with her knees pulled up to her chest. He'd probably just shoot her in the head, but she could at least make it more difficult for him to hit the rest of her vital organs. He pulled out his phone and typed a message. A few moments later he smiled, obviously having gotten the answer he wanted.

"Well, our ride is on the way. We just need to be patient."

She scowled. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

He tilted his head back as he laughed. "As if you have a choice, sister."

"You've been trying to kill me for over a decade, Simon. Just do it already." She didn't even want to guess at what reason he might have for taking her with him. And she sure as hell didn't want to find out.

"As if I would make it that easy."

A headache started to throb behind her eyes and she squeezed them shut. After a moment, she looked at him once more. "What do you want with me?"

"You being a freak didn't bother father nearly as much as the fact you never used your gift to aid us. Think of the vengeance you could have wrought on our enemies. But no, you turned your back on us, on your family." He started pacing and she followed his movement carefully, looking for an opening to take him down so she could escape.

"So, you aren't pissed I'm a mutant, you're pissed I didn't become your weapon." Now that he said it, it was so obvious. It may have been hate when they were children but then it became about her not allowing them to use her.

He raked a hand through his hair as he continued to pace, paying less and less attention to her. She shifted her legs around so she could get to her feet quickly. "You were never like the rest of us. You were soft."

Raven pushed herself forward, wrapping her arms around his legs to bring him down. She succeeded but not before he managed to get off a shot. Fire flared through her from her side where the bullet hit. She rolled away from him, gripping the wound.

Simon got to his feet faster than she'd thought possible and kicked her angrily in her side. She screamed out in pain and glared up at him. "See? Soft. And then you could do something amazing. Something that we could use to take over cities and you use it to skip rocks." He was yelling by the end.

She started to laugh though it was more groans than anything when the motion jostled her wound again. "You were jealous. You arsehole."

His face burned red as he came to stand over her, gun in hand and pointed at her head. Perhaps, laughing at him wasn't the best idea she admitted to herself. "How dare you? How dare you think--"

His words were cut off as a gunshot echoed through the building and a bullet went right through the center of his head. She watched as he fell to the ground, thankfully missing her. Her eyes darted from the corpse to the open door behind him. Clint stood in the doorway, gun in his hand.

***

Clint had every intention of arresting Simon and saving Raven. That was until he followed the sound of a gunshot to a building and opened the door to find the bastard standing over Raven while she laid on the ground.

"Did you learn nothing in hero school, Hawkeye? You're supposed to let the villain finish his monologue before you shoot him."

Relief flooded through him with the sound of her voice and he ran over to kneel beside her. "I wasn't sure...I mean..." he trailed off as she pressed her fingers to his lips.

"I'm fine, archer. Thanks for the rescue."

He grinned. "I was just returning the favor." He put the gun on the floor to help her into a sitting position. She let out a little cry and he froze. "What is it, little bird?"

She lifted the edge of her top to reveal the wound in her side. Clint grimaced. The location it was in meant it probably hadn't hit anything major, but it was bleeding profusely. "Son of a bitch," he bit out.

"Where's Tasha?" Raven asked. "We need to get back to the jet. Coulson probably thinks I blew everyone up."

He wasn't surprised that Coulson was there as well. "Speaking of that, how did you blow the building?"

She grinned as he helped her to her feet and kept a steadying hand on her elbow. "Micro explosives."

He smiled as he shook his head. He'd ask more questions about that later. Raven took a few steps across the floor, grimacing with every movement. "Here," he said and handed her the gun before sweeping her up in his arms.

Raven arched a brow but didn't say anything about the action. As they stepped out of the building, they saw Natasha trotting in their direction.

"There you are. Let's go. I managed to get ahold of Coulson. He says they've got incoming on radar."

"Yeah, Simon called for a ride. They probably won't be happy to find he no longer requires it."

Natasha looked between the two of them for a moment then shook her head. The distinct sounds of a helicopter filled the air. "Tell me later."

She turned, heading across the grounds. Clint followed closely behind. The jet had just come into view when two men dropped onto the ground in front of them. They released the ropes they'd used to rappel to the ground and trained their weapons on the trio in front of them.

"Raven, long time no see, little one. Where is your brother?" the larger of the two men asked in a thick Russian accent. Sunglasses hid his eyes, keeping Clint from getting a read on him.

"Hello, Ivan. Simon no longer requires your services."

The man pursed his lips and looked at the ground. After a moment, he glanced back up at them. "And you? Do you require them?"

Raven went utterly still. "Are you saying..." her voice trailed off.

Ivan shrugged. "Your father was quite clear. Simon is dead...it is yours now."

"Holy shit," she breathed as she went pale and began to tremble.

"What is it, bird? What's wrong?" Clint asked, his worry evident in his tone.

After letting out a calming breath, she turned her head to look at him. "I believe I just inherited a criminal empire."


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