Chapter Text
Hawkeye was tired of fighting the Squadron Supreme.
Could the bad guys stop teaming up? This is getting to be annoying. Clint thought.
Too many heavy hitters with tough powers to combat. You can only use so many flashbang arrows on Hyperion before he starts to expect them.
It did take longer for him to figure that out than Clint expected. Super intelligence was not on that guy's strengths list.
The most 'normal' of them was Nighthawk, but even he was a crazy strategic genius who had plans within plans that made Clint's head spin.
Luckily, Falcon and Black Widow were tag-teaming Nighthawk. Zarda was fighting Captain America.
Hawkeye could hear her screaming something about 'mortals' and 'honor' from halfway across the city. Clint's hearing aids were good, but not that good.
Thor and Iron Man were trying to land a hit on Speed Demon, who kept running circles around them. Hyperion was going toe-to-toe with Ant-Man and Hulk, which unfortunately left Doctor Spectrum to Hawkeye.
Doctor Spectrum was his least favorite on account of how creepy he is.
Anything magic related gave Clint the heebie jeebies ever since one of the fortune tellers at the circus threatened to curse Clint and chased him out of her tent when he accidentally knocked over some of her crystals while he was hiding in there. Given how the rest of his life turned out, it's a 50/50 shot on if she had actually managed to curse him or not.
And the jerk Spectrum wore a full face mask so Clint had trouble figuring out what he was saying half the time. The mask muffled his voice, and Clint couldn't read his lips.
Can we sue villains for being non-ADA compliant? Clint thought. Or could I at least get some subtitles here?
Hawkeye shot a stun arrow at Doctor Spectrum while contemplating asking Tony if he could give his sunglasses live caption abilities. The answer was yes, but the question is it worth Tony Starkifying his glasses and giving them an AI or rocket launchers or something equally over the top.
Spectrum deflected the arrow with a magic shield, but Hawkeye had him backed against the wall.
He shot a pulse arrow.
Spectrum deflected that too, as expected, it stuck to the wall near the villain, then emitted a concussive blast that knocked him off balance.
Hawkeye readied another arrow, but Doctor Spectrum recovered too fast and shot a beam of magic that Clint couldn't dodge in time.
Hawkeye braced for pain, and was surprised when the magic washed over him without leaving a mark.
"Hah, having some performance issues?" Hawkeye quipped. "You know, two out of five men report…"
Clint trailed off when he saw his shadow start to coalesce into a solid form.
Doctor Spectrum said something, or at least Clint thought he did. It was hard to tell, but Clint wouldn't have been listening anyways.
Hawkeye was focusing on the human figure that was slowly forming.
The shadowy figure formed details, a bow, a quiver, and a circus uniform.
"Weren't expecting to see me again, were you?" An all too familiar voice said.
The figure had finished materializing and had an identical smirk hiding behind an old costume.
Clint's worst nightmare was Clint himself. Back when he worked with the Circus of Crime, back when he called himself Trick Shot.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" Trick Shot taunted.
Clint did his best not to think about his time in the Circus of Crime, even though every shot arrow and acrobatic feat screams "carny" to anyone who'll listen. He never passed a lock without instinctively thinking of the best way to pick it.
Clint growled, gripping his bow tighter. This was not how he wanted his Thursday to go.
When Cap had debriefed him on Doctor Spectrum's powers, he thought he might have to face one of the many terrifying villains he'd fought in the past, but noooo, he had to fight the amalgamation of his bad decisions.
Just his luck. Clint had fought Loki, Doom, Hydra, and all sorts of weirdos and Spectrum picks emo-teenage-rebellion-Clint to emotionally blackmail him with? Not fair.
"No, just surprised at how stupid I used to look," Clint snarked back.
Trick Shot laughed. "Still relying on your quips? You just have to be the funniest person on the team." Trick Shot's grin turned sour. "You can take the clown out of the circus, but not the circus out of the clown. You'll never be anything more than the comic relief."
Clint shot an arrow. A real one, with a sharp tip.
Trick Shot dodged and it hit a post behind the apparition, head level.
"Oooh, did I touch a nerve there? I am all your insecurities, Clint." Trick Shot said his name like a curse. "There's no hiding from me."
"Yeah, well, watch me," Clint muttered. "I'm pretty good at avoiding awkward situations."
He shot another arrow and Trick Shot shot one to deflect it.
"Cliiiint, you can't avoid meee," Trick Shot sang. "Not with a quip, a fancy arrow, or a flip. Say, do the Avengers know you used to do trapeze? It sure came in handy a few times."
Clint remembered the heists he was referencing, where a well placed grapple arrow and Clint's limited trapeze skills were the only things that kept him from being an archer sized splat on the floor.
"Does Tony know how much you could fence some of his father's old inventions for?"
Clint growled. "No, he has JARVIS for that."
Did Clint really used to be this much of an asshole? No wonder people used to hate him. He was annoying.
Hawkeye narrowly dodged another arrow.
"It would be a shame if I hit something important." Trick Shot had his next arrow aimed at Natasha.
Clint had no doubt that Black Widow could block that arrow. He was more offended that Trick Shot would ever consider shooting Natasha.
Clint shot an arrow faster than he could think. Straight into Trick Shot's palm.
Doctor Spectrum's shadow figures didn't feel pain, but it did stop Trick Shot from firing that arrow. He calmly removed the arrow from his palm and shook it until shadows filled the hole. He smirked and waved his now completely intact hand at Clint.
Clint scowled.
Iron Man's voice crackled in through his earpiece. "How's it going with Doctor Spectrum? Need any backup?"
"Peachy keen over here, Stark," Clint hissed into the comm. "I got this."
"Eager to prove yourself? That hasn't changed," Trick Shot taunted. "Scared that the Avengers will finally realize you're the weak link? That they'll figure out what you knew aallll along. You don't deserve to be on the team."
Clint's grip tightened on his bow.
"No humorous remark? Or did you finally accept that I am everything you are, but better?" Trick Shot gave a cocky grin. "I don't hold myself back by pretending to be one of the good guys. I'm not the pathetic human on a team of superheroes. I don't feel pain and fatigue. Injuries don't hold me back. Certainly not trivial matters like your poor hearing."
Trick Shot paused. "Heeello! Are you hearing me?"
Clint absentmindedly touched his hearing aids. Low blow, Trick Shot. "Who even says trivial anymore? Are you trying to sound like the Ringmaster? Because it's working, you sound like an ass."
Trick Shot's nose twitched. "How long do you think it would take the Avengers to notice if I replaced you?" He cocked his head and drew an arrow. "Better question: would they even care, or would they prefer me more? I wouldn't hold them back."
Trick Shot released the arrow.
Clint sidestepped it.
Clint shot an arrow straight into Trick Shot's chest.
Trick Shot only looked mildly annoyed. He pulled the arrow out and looked down at the hole in his chest. "Well, that was rude."
Clint seethed. This guy was really getting on his nerves. Being immune to physical damage was not fair.
Clint had to focus on the real problem. He had to take down Doctor Spectrum.
Clint turned down his hearing aids to tune out Trick Shot's taunting.
He had been going about this the wrong way. Trick Shot, as annoying as he was, was not the real issue. Trick Shot was just a distraction and a way for Spectrum to feed off of Clint's turmoil of emotion like some psychic vampire.
Ick.
If Clint was going to make an actual dent, he needed to readjust his aim.
Clint had a plan, but he needed to get a few piece together before it would work.
First, he needed the correct arrows.
He doubled checked his stock. He just barely had enough. He would only have one shot at this. if he messed it up, it wouldn't work the second time. Doctor Spectrum would be prepared. And Clint didn't have enough arrows for a backup plan.
Out of the corner of his eye, Clint saw Thor trap Speed Demon in a wind vortex. Iron Man was now assisting Captain America with Zarda.
Clint had to finish this fast. The others would fall fast enough and the Avengers would turn their attention to Clint.
He did not want them to see what, or rather, who Clint was fighting.
They may know that he used to be in the Circus of Crime, but they didn't know many details, and Clint preferred to keep it that way.
To the Avengers, the Circus of Crime was a bunch of clowns who dabbled in stealing things. A C-list threat on their worst day. A nuisance at most. They didn't know about the underground crime network Clint spent years with Agent Coulson trying to destroy.
Clint wasn't even sure they were truly gone.
Only Natasha and Scott had an idea of what the Circus was like, and Scott only scratched just beneath the surface of the circus before he called it quits.
Although Clint had been bitter with Scott for betraying him, Hey, a cable arrow blown up in your face hurt! Clint respected that Scott had the morals to walk away when he realized what was happening beneath the surface.
Second part of the plan: line up the shot.
Check.
Clint had managed to position himself, Trick Shot, and Doctor Spectrum right where he wanted them.
Doctor Spectrum wouldn't recognize what Clint was doing. Trick Shot might, depending on how much of him was the actual Trick Shot versus Doctor Spectrum's psychic fuckery, but by then it would be too late.
Third and final part was the execution.
Clint had to make the shot. Good thing the Amazing Hawkeye never misses.
Clint let loose the arrow.
It soared past Trick Shot. Close enough that the average person would think Clint had been aiming for him.
Clint readied his next arrow to keep the ruse going.
Trick Shot laughed and said something that might have been "You missed!" but Clint was too focused on seeing his plan through than bothering with lip reading.
The arrow embedded itself next to Doctor Spectrum's ear. He wouldn't have been expecting Clint to be targeting him instead of Trick Shot, and he certainly wasn't expecting the sonic screeching that emitted from the arrow a second later.
Trick Shot's form flickered as Doctor Spectrum lost his concentration. Bother of them covering their ears and keeling over.
By this point, Clint had taken his hearing aids out, but he could still hear faint screeching and feel the vibrations in his bones.
The stun arrow hit Doctor Spectrum with the force of a taser that could knock out the Hulk.
A little bit overkill, but Clint was pissed.
Trick Shot disappeared from existence, his form melting back down into Clint's shadow.
Doctor Spectrum was defeated.
"Guess hearing loss does come in handy," Clint said to himself. "Would hate to deal with that with full hearing."
Clint cuffed the unconscious Doctor Spectrum and reused the sonic arrow on Hyperion, providing Ant-Man and Hulk with the distraction necessary to subdue him.
Clint caught the last of Hulk's complaining as he put his hearing aids but in.
"Hulk had under control," Hulk said. "Wanted to smash more."
"Sure you did, buddy," Clint said cheekily, covering up his exhaustion with a wink.
That fight left him drained, and not just physically.
Seeing Trick Shot again was a shock to the system that he was woefully unprepared for.
Luckily, he wouldn't have to deal with that again. As soon as they were back in the tower, he would be putting in a request to never have to deal with Doctor Spectrum again. Not that it would matter, it would be disregarded the next time the Squadron Supreme picked a fight, but he'd submit it for the principle of the matter.
Scratch that. The paperwork wouldn't be worth it.
The rest of the Squadron Supreme was rounded up and taken away to a secure facility that could contain their powers.
Doctor Spectrum had woken up by then and was staring intensely at Clint. It was hard to tell with the full face mask, but Clint could tell when he was being watched.
Clint shivered involuntarily.
"Nice job with Doctor Spectrum, Hawkeye. He's a difficult one to handle." Steve clapped Clint's back. "I remember the last time I faced him. He summoned an apparition of Bucky, I could hardly bring myself to fight him."
Clint snorted. "Yeah, no, I didn't have that problem. Shot the bastard straight in the chest. Better than that SHIELD-mandated therapy crap I used to have to do."
Steve had a complex look on his face, like he wasn't quite sure what to make of Clint's statement. "Then by facing your fears, guilt, and regrets, Doctor Spectrum's hold on you faded, and you could fight him directly?"
"Sure, let's go with that." Clint was already packing up, not wanting to talk about what he saw. "I faced my fears with violence and extreme prejudice."
Steve didn't need to know he skipped that step and went straight for the jugular instead. Besides, it's not like it mattered. The shadow figures were just for distraction anyway, it didn't matter how you got rid of them.
Steve cleared his throat. "Well, if you ever need to talk about what you saw, my door is always open, Clint."
"Thanks for the offer, Cap, but I don't think I'll be needing it." Clint gave a two-fingered salute and walked off.