Work Text:
The hard press of a knife against his neck forced Clint to stop in his tracks, leaving behind his desire to fight until his last breath in favour of one that might keep him alive for a bit longer. He didn't really expect it to work, and he was thankful he had given up on seeing himself turn 25 back when he was still 16, but damn it he could try.
"You're good at making a mess of things," a low and angry voice spoke against his ear, sending shivers down his spin. Holding his hands up, he gripped his bow tightly while at the same time he dropped the gun that he had lifted off of one of that agents, smirking when the man behind him practically crawled out of his skin at the clatter of metal on concrete. "Are you stupid kid? You don't just drop a gun!"
"It's on safety." He shrugged his shoulders, knowing that the other man was currently attempting to figure out whether he was lying or not. Most people didn't get why he would disarm a person only to put their weapon on safety, since most people would use it to shoot him. "I'm not here to kill anyone, your guys just got in my way."
"And you want to tell me how you took down 7 highly trained and armed SHIELD agents?" Clint raised an eyebrow at the mention of 'SHIELD'. He knew their logo's looked different than the FBI's, and that they were way more skilled in combat, but he had never actually gotten a name for their organization before. It was kind of nice to know who was attempting to kill him.
"I don't know, I guess you need to train them better." The knife was pressed a bit harder against his neck, creating a shallow cut for blood to escape from, but not creating an immediate threat of death quiet yet. "Look, if you're going to kill me, you may as well get it over with."
Glancing down at the hand that held onto the weapon that may turn out to be his end, Clint watched as it held firm in its position. There wasn't a hint of movement either way, and that was a new one for Clint.
"I'm not going to kill you." The voice cut through the silence, and suddenly Clint found himself without a knife against his neck as the man removed the weapon and took a step back. Spinning around in his spot, he looked at the other man in shock, trying to process what had just been said to him while at the same time he took in the details and started to catalog them.
Tall, 6'3 at least
An eye patch over his right eye with scars on the skin over and below the black fabric
A tight fitting tactile suit with the SHIELD logo placed over the shoulders, and a Star smack dab in the middle of the man's chest
And the most ridiculous smirk that Clint had ever seen (and if he wanted to kiss the smugness off of the guys face, well that was between him and himself).
"What do you mean, you're not going to kill me?" This time he felt the anger rising in his body. He had plans damn it, and they didn't involve seeing his 25th birthday next week, no matter how much a small part of him wanted to. He had plans to escape this life, and never turn back. To be able to actually rest in piece instead of having to worry about the next meal, or who his next target will be. "You and your..." He waved his hand towards the unconscious agents on the ground "goons, you came here to do that. To kill me. Don't act like you didn't"
"We did," well, at least the guy was honest. That was always a bonus, even if it made Clint even angrier at his last comment "but I'm changing the plan. I'm not going to kill you..."
"Screw you!" He stepped forward, shoving the guy in the shoulder while he kept a death grip on his bow "you don't get to make that call! You don't get to change the plan!"
"I do get to change your fate." Clint shoved him in the shoulder again, but this time the guy didn't even budge both because he had braces himself and because Clint had used less force in the movement.
"You don't..." He ducked his head, attempting to fight back the tears as he processed everything that was going on "I die, that is my fate. That was always my fate!"
"Not today." Clint was about to respond when the butt of a rifle came down hard on his back, sending him to the ground as he blacked out.
"I hate when you change the plan," Phil commented, glancing up at his best friend while he lowered the rifle that he had grabbed from one of the unconscious agents "you always do it last minute and you never give me warning."
"What fun would it be if I gave you warning." Kneeling down beside the unconscious Archer, Nick smiled softly when he examined him "I'm sure Director Carter will agree with me. Mercenary or not, I'm not going to kill a man who took down 7 SHIELD agents without killing a single one of them."
"Well, I can't argue with that logic." Phil groaned, slinging the rifle over his shoulder by the strap "but you're still sleeping on the couch for this one."
"I love you too Cheese."