Crosshairs

[andaneyeball]

It had been around a month since Clint had been assigned a hit and he was starting to get twitchy. If there was one thing that drove him crazy, it was being idle. After everything that had gone down with Loki and the Chitauri, SHIELD had be pretty stingy with the assignments. Right now the most Fury had him doing was babysitting Stark. Maybe some

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[iced_soldier]

He wasn't sure how they finally found him. All he knew was that they found him.

They'd picked up his trail somewhere, despite his using a fake name whenever possible. He'd picked up on their trail.

The easiest- and most cowardly- course of action would have been for him to leave. Try to throw off their trail again. But that would only be borrowing time. Now that they'd found him once, they would know how to do it again. He'd have to confront them sooner or later, and why put off the inevitable?

What surprised him was that they only sent one agent after him. They must not have heard of his reputation- or else this agent really was that good. But that was unlikely. The number of men who could take Bucky out singlehandedly were few and far between. Bucky had little reason to believe this one would be any different. Either way, he was intrigued. Who was this lone man SHIELD had sent to stop him?

[andaneyeball]

Clint was beginning to get antsy again. An hour had gone by and still no sign of Barnes which meant one of two things. One- he'd miscalculated, or two- Bucky was onto him. It was obvious to him which of those two scenarios was more likely.

Keeping an eye on the street below him, Clint raised a hand to the piece in his ear.

"Sir? This may take a little longer than we anticipated."

[iced_soldier]

The problem with looking on the streets was that Bucky wasn't on the street. A sniper's best vantage point is above- though Clint would know all about that.

What Clint might not have known was that Bucky was on a nearby rooftop, looking for him. The line between hunter and hunted was faulty at best. He knelt behind the short wall at the edge of the building, looking out at the rooftops nearby. "C'mon, lil' birdie," he whispered to himself. "Where are you?"

[andaneyeball]

After a few second Clint let his gaze drift. If Bucky was wise to him than he'd be smart enough to stay off the streets. He moved back from the ledge now, slowly scanning the rooftops around him. As it happened, his building wasn't that far from Bucky's.

By now Clint was sure that he was being watched. His eyes skipped over the wall Bucky was hiding behind and then returned. There had been just the briefest flash of motion, but it hadn't escaped his attention. The didn't call him Hawkeye for nothing

"Gotcha" he muttered under his breath before drawing back the bowstring letting loose an arrow.

[iced_soldier]

He registered the arrow whizzing toward him just in time. He didn't have time to duck, but he did have time to deflect the arrow with his metal arm. "Hello to you, too," he called, ducking behind the wall.

[andaneyeball]

Clint didn't respond, already drawing another arrow. This was going to be a problem. He had no efficient way of getting across to the other roof. Ranged combat was his strong point of course, but it was always easier without a moving target.

He fired again, and this time the arrow wasn't aimed at Bucky, just the area were he was crouching. The blinking red light was the only warning Bucky had that the projectile might detonate.

[iced_soldier]

This kid was all work and no play- which, while understandable, wasn't very fun. The second arrow landed far enough from him to raise his suspicion, especially since he didn't have a clear shot of him. Bucky, he wouldn't fire without a clear shot. Unless... "Aw, shit," he muttered when he noticed the flashing light. He leaped off that rooftop and onto the one between them as the arrow detonated.

[andaneyeball]

He was quick, Clint would give him that. Lowering the bow for a moment he watched Bucky dodge the explosion, landing on the roof between them as debris flew through the air. That was fine, he enjoyed a challenge.

While the smoke was still clearing, Clint leaped over the edge after him. the distance between the two buildings wasn't a big one, but the height was enough of a problem that he had to roll to reduce the impact.

[iced_soldier]

The problem with this rooftop was that he didn't have any cover. The kid would have a clear shot of him anywhere from his vantage point. But then, unexpectedly, the other man was leaping onto the same roof. Bucky could work with this. Take a moment as the man ducked and rolled to get as close as possible. Hand-to-hand would be best for him, being unarmed. Well, not technically unarmed, but he liked to save that little secret in his metal arm as a last resort. What was the point in not making it a challenge?

"Never did catch your name," he commented. "I hear they call you Hawkeye."

[andaneyeball]

"I didn't give it." Clint was a little surprised that Bucky's heard of him, but didn't think on it too long. "But Hawkeye's good enough." He saw that the other man had gotten a little closer and wasted no time fitting another arrow.

As soon as it was released Clint was on his feet again, putting some more space between them. "You've been keeping SHIELD pretty busy,"

[iced_soldier]

"Fuckballs," he cursed when he saw Clint fitting the arrow. He jumped forward and to the side, simultaneously dodging the arrow and getting closer to the man. "Not real chatty, are you? I mean, if you're gonna kill me, we might as well get to know each other first."

[andaneyeball]

Damn he was quick. If he kept up like this Clint would have to resort to some closer range weapons.

"What's the point in that? Seems like a waste of good brainspace to me. You on first name terms with all the people you killed?"

[iced_soldier]

"But that's me killin' them. I'm kinda getting a kick out of having the tables turned. I'd kinda like to enjoy it." It was kind of cute, this guy trying to kill him. He was damn good, though. Bucky had to give him that.

[andaneyeball]

"That's charitable of you." Yeah, the bow definitely wasn't doing it at the moment. Clint snapped it back into its more compact form and took a moment to give Bucky a brief once over. He didn't seem to be armed, but it was never a good idea to take anything at face value.

"Hope you're having a good time."

[iced_soldier]

By then, Bucky was close enough to disarm Clint with a roundhouse kick, following it up with a back kick aimed for the solar plexus.

[andaneyeball]

He grunted and stumbled back a few paces. The bow slid across the roof, out of reach, but he wasn't too concerned.

Dodging the second kick, Clint tried to catch Bucky's leg while drawing a knife from his belt.