• • 2004 • •

THE FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD was in his backyard shuffling and sliding his feet. Tony, being the star football player he was, always trained and practiced in his free time.

Thanks to his athletic prowess and photographic memory that he had known he had for the last several years, it made everything easier...especially sports. He was very grateful for his strong genetics.

After a while, the teenager went back inside the house. His mother, Julie, was cleaning the kitchen and greeted him.

"Bonjour, honey."

"Bonjour, mom."

He chuckled. His mother was always adamant about teaching her kids the French language. Of course, for him it was easy thanks to his memory.

"Your dad called. He landed safely."

Tony nodded. His father, Stanley, had been called to a work trip and was meeting with his old war buddy, General Thaddeus Ross, in West Virginia.

"Hope he doesn't take too long over there. My game's on Tuesday."

"He said he'd be back before then. Don't worry."

The teenager sat down and started eating from the plate of fruit his mother had placed there earlier. After he was done, he went to put the dish away.

As Julie was washing some plates, a bee that had somehow gone into the house flew around her face. She flinched back and tried to wave it away but it started flying fast and erratically.

Suddenly, Tony grabbed it mid-air. He held it carefully to not hurt the bee or get himself stung, pinching it around the thorax.

Julie looked at him and the teenager let out an elated sigh. He was always in awe at his reflexes.

"Whoa! I don't think I've done that before." He said. "I saw a movie last night where some guy did this to a fly."

All Julie could do was hum. She knew of his abilities as did Stanley and their other son...but she was the only one who knew exactly how he got them.

"Well, no use in keeping it trapped." Julie reached out and opened the window. "Let it go."

Tony nodded and allowed the bee to fly out. Both mother and son shared a smile and she closed the window.

The front door opened and in came the thirteen-year-old Stanley Jr, or as the people often called him, Lee. The boy walked into the kitchen toward the fridge but was hiding his face.

"Bonjour, baby." Julie greeted but got no response. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Mom," Lee replied and opened the freezer, looking for an ice pack.

"What are you looking for?" Tony asked.

"Can you just leave me alone?"

Tony arched a brow. Julie put down the rag she had and went over to her younger son, turning him around. There, he saw the bruising he had around his eye.

"My God." She gasped. "Who did this to you?"

He didn't want to answer. Tony walked up to him and got a good look at the injury.

"Did this happen at the park?"

"...yeah." Lee mumbled.

Tony immediately knew who the perpetrator was. Lee would often tell his older brother about an older kid who would mess with him and his friends when they'd play baseball. Just that morning, Lee said he was going to do something about it and confront the bully.

"Is he over there right now?" Tony asked with a glare.

Lee looked at him and nodded. With that, Tony stormed toward the front door. Julie called out.

"Tony? Where are you going?"

He grabbed his coat from the hanger and kept goofy forward to the door. His mother kept shouting.

"Tony? Tony!?"

Tony made his way to the door, turned the knob, and pulled it open.

• • • 2024 • • •

TONY SHUT THE door of the garage and put on his coat. He took out a rag from his pockets and cleaned off the blood from his knuckles. It wasn't his...but of Jeremy Dawson because of Tony's advanced interrogation techniques.

He walked to a liquor store that was a few miles away. The area was quiet and isolated and the shop was only one of three buildings on the block. Tony entered it.

The clerk, who was also the owner of the establishment, looked up from his magazine and saw the tall man. He kept his eye on him as he paced around the store and looked through the aisles.

Finally, Tony went up to the counter. He had some first aid supplies along with a packaged bagel. The clerk saw the bruising on his knuckles.

"Got in a fight?" He asked.

Tony nodded. "You could say that."

He started to ring up the products. As the clerk worked, Tony caught sight of a tattoo hidden underneath his sleeve. That's when he knew he was in the right place.

"Is this all?" He asked Tony.

"Yes."

"That'll be $9.49."

Tony reached for his pocket but acted like he couldn't find his money. He let out a sigh.

"Damn."

The clerk rolled his eyes. "Forgot it in your other pants or something?"

"Looks like it," Tony said. "Mind cutting me some slack?"

"Do I look like a guy that gives out handouts? To a stranger no less?"

"Come on. You know that they say..." Tony leaned over. "What's lost will soon be reaped."

Immediately the clerk's eyes widened after hearing the slogan. Before he could reach for the pistol underneath the counter, Tony grabbed the man's head and slammed it against the counter.

He then pulled the clerk over the counter and laid him on it. He tried to grab Tony's face but the burly man simply grabbed his hand and broke his wrist.

"Argh!"

Tony held the same arm and then pulled back his sleeve, seeing the full tattoo most members of The Brotherhood had.

"November 12, 2022. New Haven. Spill."

"Wha—What?"

Tony bent the broken wrist some more, causing the man immense pain.

"I—I wasn't even there! It was the others!"

"Then name them."

"Why does it matter? They're all dead!"

"But not those who worked with them. Those who pulled the strings. And the ones who attacked the Brotherhood."

The man stood quiet. Tony was impatient and applied more pressure on his broken bone.

"Argh!" He cried out. "Okay! Okay! I—got a name."

"Then say it."

"It—it really isn't a name...or at least not a real one. I don't—"

"Say it!"

The man panted. Tony kept holding his arm and listened.

"Ronin."

• • •

HAWKEYE AND THE two girls were tied to coin-operated pony rides in the middle of the abandoned store. A few of the Tracksuits sat around and watched them ride them for the next couple of hours for their own amusement.

"You like your pony, Hawkeye?"

"Just keep doing, and going, and going."

"I love it."

"I love it, bro. Look at Hawkeye!"

"Where's your arrows now?"

"Pew, pew."

"Big, strong Hawkeye riding prony."

"They should smile more. This is fun for us too, you know."

The rides started to slow down.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh."

"Again." Ivan said. "Enrique, again, come on."

"Great." Kate breathed out.

"Go get more quarters."

"Yes!" Clint sarcastically agreed.

"This is boring." Ivan sighed. "Dmitri, let's play cards."

They walked away. Maggie, Kate, and Clint all sat there in silence for a moment until the young woman spoke to Clint.

"Seems like you're mad at me."

Clint didn't respond. She continued.

"I know it doesn't look like that, but you'd be lost without me, you realize that? I found you and Maggie. Ain't that something?"

"I was about to clear your name from the suit until you decided to crash through the skylight." Clint said.

"Oh."

"It was gonna go smoothly. Likely would've convinced them Maggie was just a happy-go-lucky wannabe vigilante who needs counseling and they would've let her go too. So...yeah."

Maggie spoke up. "Hey!"

Suddenly, Tomas kicked a shopping cart in frustration and the noise startled everyone. He was on the phone and was shouting in Polish.

"Bro!" Dmitri exclaimed at him.

Enrique spoke. "Cálmate, bro. Cálmate."

He kept shouting into his phone. Tomas finally hung up and took a deep breath.

"You good?" Kate asked him.

Tomas looked back and saw that his colleagues were busy playing cards. He decided to confide in Kate about his problem.

"I buy Imagine Dragons tickets for my girlfriend, as, like, early Christmas gift, right?"

"Mmm. That's so sweet." She replied.

"Good, sweet. Then we had fight. You know what she said? She said that the tickets were gift, so she wants to bring her sister."

"I mean, look on the bright side. You don't have to go see Imagine Dragons."

There was a pause.

"I love Imagine Dragons." Tomas said.

Maggie chimed in and spoke to Kate. "What's wrong with Imagine Dragons?"

"Right?" Tomas replied.

"I mean...they're not the first thing I'd want to hear but they're okay." Maggie added.

Tomas continued. "Uh, my girlfriend doesn't even like them, you know. She did this on purpose to hurt me."

"Look, I think you both owe apologies." Kate said. "Tell her she hurt your feelings, but apologize for pretending that that was a gift for her."

Tomas appreciated the advice.

"Okay, wait, I need a pen. Just...Okay, okay? See you."

He quickly walked off to get the materials. Kate smirked and pat herself on the back for offering such good advice. Well...she would've if her hands weren't tied.

"Hmm. See? A little trust, a little communicating, a little listening..." She began.

Clint wasn't even listening. He raised his head. "What?"

"Basic human stuff."

"He tuned you out a long time ago." Maggie remarked.

"Not just her." Clint cut in.

The redhead scoffed. "Oh, come on."

"You know what I think?" Kate asked.

Suddenly, Ivan got up from his seat and interrupted their conversation.

"You know what I think? Hmm? I think you talk too much. Blah, blah, blah, blah." He looked at Clint. "She always like this?"

Clint opened his mouth to reply but chose not to. Ivan looked back at Kate.

"Maybe I rip out your throat. Hmm?"

The sound of a door opening was heard. Ivan turned around and knew that their boss was on her way.

"Or maybe she will." He added.

The leather-jacket-clad woman came down the stairs and was followed by another Tracksuit member, Kazi. Kate kept her eye on them.

"Who is she?" She asked Clint.

The girl was Maya Lopez. She walked up to the trio and noticed the hearing aid in Clint's left ear. Assuming that he knew sign language, she went up to him and cut the bindings from his hands.

"Thank you." He said.

She signed something for him. He saw that and apologized as he signed as well.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry. Hard of hearing, not deaf."

Maya kept signing. Clint didn't understand and only knew some ASL.

"Oh, boy. Uhh..." He tried again. "More cookie, please. Thank you."

Maya rolled her eyes and looked at Kazi, who went up to Clint and re-tied his hands, this time behind his back.

"Oh. Right, well, it's nice talking to you." He quipped.

Maggie abruptly spoke. "She asked what you're doing here, Clint Barton."

They all looked at her with surprised expressions, shocked that the young girl knew ASL. Clint even eyed her confusedly.

"How—?"

"I...uh...have a friend in school that's deaf. I learned ASL for him. Pretty easy to remember because...you know the memory thing."

Kazi looked at Maya and signed to her while speaking aloud.

"The girl knows sign language."

"Undo her bindings." Maya signed.

Kazi went over and cut the duct tape off her wrists, allowing her to freely communicate with the deaf Tracksuit Mafia leader. She was now going to serve as the bridge between her and Barton.

As Maya signed, Maggie would relay what she said to the rest. Whenever either of them replied she would sign back to Maya.

"You rely too much on technology." Maya signed to Clint as Maggie said aloud.

"Well, my go-to weapon is two sticks and a string, so..." He replied as Maggie signed back to Maya.

Maya signed back.

"She means your hearing aid." Maggie told Clint. "You might find you're better off without it."

"Yeah, sometimes I think that very same thing." He remarked. "Now, the suit. This young lady put it on by accident. She didn't know what it meant. She's not Ronin. Look at her. She's nine. And spoiled rotten."

Maggie signed to Maya. Clint continued.

"And the redhead didn't mean any harm to whatever you all got going on here. She was following me while I tried to clear up this whole mess. She doesn't know any better than the other girl."

"Rude." Maggie remarked but kept signing.

Maya replied.

"Bishop beat up a few of my guys and then came running when you were in trouble. Seems like she's got something to do with it. And just because she's not the Ronin doesn't mean that Ronin's not back."

"That's just a rumor." Clint said.

"How do you know?"

"Because he's dead."

Maggie relayed the message rather slowly this time as she took in Clint's lie. She was the only one in the room aside from him that knew of his past as Ronin.

"So, who got him, then?" Maya signed.

Clint stared at her for a moment. Finally, he replied.

"Pietro Maximoff."

Maggie took in the answer but seemed to hesitate. They waited for a bit and she still didn't sign back. Finally, Kazi did it himself, assuming the girl forgot how to sign the man's name.

"Quicksilver."

What Clint said was technically not a lie. The speedster's sacrifice was one of the factors in him giving up the Ronin alter-ego. He wanted to be the role model that he was and ended up being to the world and to Maggie and Nikolai. He strived to be a great hero...a great man...for his family. Like Pietro was to his.

So he vowed never to go out as Ronin again.

"So Ronin is dead, and the person who killed him is dead. That's convenient." Maya signed as Maggie said aloud. "How do you know this?"

'Cause I was there." Clint replied.

"You're lying."

Kazi let out a sigh and walked in front of the trio. He waved off Maggie, telling her to stop translating.

"Okay, clearly this isn't working. Um..." Kazi looked at Kate. "If you have nothing to do with this, then why did you put on this suit in the first place?"

Kate took a moment before answering. While she spoke, Maya just stared at the raven-haired woman. Everything was inaudible to her but as her lips moved, all she could think about was her late father.

How he was stabbed through the chest by the Ronin. How he bled out in her arms. The last breath he took as he touched her face with his bloodied hand. Her blood boiled.

Maya lunged at Kate and grabbed her by the neck. She grunted and everyone was stunned by the sudden act.

"Maya, no!" Kazi exclaimed.

Kate tried to speak as she was being choked. Meanwhile, Clint was attempting to cut the tape off his wrists discreetly.

"Oh, God. I put that suit on because I didn't want anybody to know that I was at the auction, okay?" Kate said. "I didn't know what it was when I put it on, I swear." She coughed. "I swear."

"Hey!" Maggie shouted.

Since she was free of her bindings, Maggie lunged at Maya. He grabbed Maya and they rolled across the floor. Kazi and the Tracksuits were stunned.

The deaf woman and the redhead struggled. Despite being on top, Maya used her knee to throw the petite girl off of her and she impacted a column.

"Mags!" Clint exclaimed then shouted at Maya. "Stop this!"

Maggie groaned on the floor. Maya got up and walked over to the girl with a glare. She signed to her.

"You're bold but weak. You need to understand a losing fight when you see one."

Maggie looked up at her with a glare. She signed back as she spoke aloud.

"I've learned to never back down from one, especially one I think is right. My father taught me that."

Maya kept looking at her then glanced at Clint. If she had to be honest, she recognized the redhead and the fact she was with Hawkeye made her realize who she was.

"Your father? Y/N Carter? Captain America?"

The girl didn't respond. Maya didn't need her to and already got her confirmation. Maya continued.

"Your old man had interfered with our dealings a few times before. My boss isn't happy."

Maggie finally decided to sign back. "I don't give a shit."

Maya smirked. "He might like a word with you."

She then gestured to her men to grab the redhead. They pulled her up to her feet and she tried to get out of their grasp. Two men took her away.

"Hey!" Kate exclaimed.

Clint did as well. "Where are you taking her? Hey! Answer me!"

Kazi pulled Maya away and began to scold her. He didn't like how she had been dealing with the matters at hand.

"What are you doing?"

Meanwhile, Clint was adamantly trying to cut away at his bindings. Kate looked on at Maggie being dragged toward the exit and was fearful of the situation. Barton took notice.

"Listen to me. Listen." He whispered to her. "No, now's not the time to be scared. We're gonna get out of this. You go back to living your life, Maggie and I'll go back to our family. You're gonna harness that over-confidence of yours, okay? This ridiculous over-confidence, you remember that one?"

She nodded. He continued.

"Okay? So wait for my signal."

Clint finished using the jagged part of the pony ride to cut his bindings. He hopped off the ride and ran off.

"How did you do that?" Kate called out. "Clint!"

Maya spotted Clint and ran after him. Kazi pulled out his gun and ordered the men.

"Go help Maya, all right? Bring him back alive!"

"Damn it!" Kate cursed as she tried to remove the tape. "Oh, man, it'd be really nice to know how you did that, Clint! Clint?"

Meanwhile, Clint was outrunning the Tracksuits in the empty toy aisle. He hopped across the shelves with athletic prowess despite his age. The men tried shooting him.

"Don't shoot!" Kazi exclaimed as he glanced in their direction. "We need him alive, you idiots!"

Clint ended up going one-on-one with Maya which ended up with Hawkeye losing his hearing aid. Maya stomped on it and now the man was near-deaf. All he could hear was muffled ringing and echoes.

He ran away from her and acquired his bow and arrow from the woman's office upstairs. They fought inside and Kazi looked up from the ground floor, seeing them through the window. Kate leaned over and tried to rip the duct tape off her wrist with her teeth.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Kazi caught her and aimed his gun. "You're not going anywhere."

Clint ended up trapping Maya against the wall with two arrows on each side of her neck. He quickly leaped over the railing and aimed his bow in the direction of Kate. As if time slowed for him, he focused with great precision and shot an arrow while in midair.

The arrow ended up grazing Kazi's cheek and he cried out in pain. The same arrow stuck in between Kate's wrist and freed her from the bindings. She gasped in amazement.

Kazi was still hurt, giving Kate a chance to lunge at him. She kicked the gun out of his hand and then grappled him to the floor. She landed a hard elbow to his face and he groaned.

Kazi got up and engaged Kate again and they fought. She dealt with a couple of other Tracksuits coming by and took them down too. The female archer ended up tripping Kazi.

He got up and ran at Kate. Fortunately, Clint came over and hit the man's face with his bow-staff. He fell to the ground and wallowed in pain.

"I was doing fine." Kate told him.

Clint just looked at them and jogged away. He didn't hear what the girl said.

She nodded. "Okay."

"My hearing aid's smashed." He explained and picked up the broken device. "Come on, we gotta go get Mags!"

"That girl still has my bow." Kate replied, mentioning Maya.

Clint didn't reply. The two ran out of the building and into the parking lot. It was now daytime. Ahead, they saw three Tracksuits throw Maggie into their SUV.

"There!" He shouted.

They immediately went into the SUV as well. Clint ran over to a nearby 1977 Chrysler New Yorker and Kate soon joined him. Clint looked over at the twenty-two-year-old.

"Hey, get over here, I need you to drive."

"What? I don't know how to drive."

He didn't hear her. "Come over here."

She spoke whole gesturing to the hearing-impaired man.

"No, you, you drive. I shoot."

"I'm not hearing you." He gestured back. "You drive, okay?"

Tracksuits came out of the building and shot at them, shattering the passenger's side window the girls were at. Kate quickly sat in the front with Clint.

The man huffed and chose to man the car himself. The SUV ahead started driving off.

"Come on." He slapped the console. "Come on!"

The car finally started. Christmas tunes came from the radio.

"Let's go, let's go!"

A couple of men jumped into the hood of the car and tried breaking the windshield but Clint sped up and caused them to fall off.

They made their way out of the lot as the men shot their guns. Some entered their own cars and chased after them. Clint started his own pursuit of the SUV ahead.

"How many we got back there?" Clint asked about the cars.

"Four!" Kate exclaimed and held up her fingers.

A truck got in front of them and tried to shoot them through the window. Clint drifted and maneuvered the car speeding passed the truck. The Tracksuits slowed down after some pedestrian cars got in their way.

Kate used some of Clint's trick arrows to lose their pursuers, taking out a couple of the cars.

Meanwhile in the SUV, Maggie had her wrists tied and was sitting between two men. The third kept driving trying to lose Barton and Bishop.

"Bro! He's relentless!" One remarked.

"You're going to get your asses kicked." Maggie said.

"I'd like to see him try." The other replied.

"Not by him...me!"

She quickly raised her leg and kicked the man beside her in the face, then kicked him again and he hit his head hard against the window. Maggie moved on to the other guy to her right and hit him with her tied-up hands, breaking his nose.

"Argh!"

The two Tracksuits were hurt and in a daze. The driver looked back.

"What the—?"

He grabbed his gun and aimed back toward Maggie. She immediately grabbed his hand and forced him to shoot upward, shattering the sunroof above her. Maggie then snapped the man's wrist.

"Aah! Shit!"

The driver now has to deal with the pain of his broken hand and still man the vehicle. Maggie made her way out of the car through the sunroof and held on.

Behind the SUV, Barton saw the girl on the roof of the car. His eyes widened.

"What the hell is she doing?!" He pressed on the gas. "I speeding up!"

The sudden increase in speed almost made Kate fall out of the window she was perched on.

"Watch it!" She exclaimed but turned around and saw Maggie on the SUV. "Oh crap!"

Clint got closer to the SUV and matched its speed. Kate went back inside the car and opened the backseat. She called out to the redhead.

"You're going to have to jump!"

"What?" Maggie shouted back.

"Jump! Jump!"

Maggie kept kneeling and held on to the roof of the SUV. She took a moment to catch her breath before finally diving off of it.

Thankfully, she made it into the backseat rather smoothly. Clint sped up a bit more, giving Kate a better angle to shoot a putty arrow in its tires and causing it to crash.

Maggie laid in the backseat and panted. Clint glanced back at her.

"You okay, Mags?"

"Yeah!" He answered. "Ugh...yeah, I'm good. Channeled my inner Vin Diesel back there."

They made a right and started driving down Manhattan Bridge. Maya and Tomas, who were in a red Dodge Challenger, drove up right beside them. Tomas brought out his gun through the window but Clint leaned out and tried disarming him.

Kate peeked into the backseat of their car and saw her bow. She got out and retrieved it.

"I'll take that, thank you."

Clint ended up punching Tomas and he dropped back onto his seat. Kate aimed her bow and shot a trick arrow at the Challenger, where it expelled purple gas that disoriented the two of them.

Maya swerved and crashed as Clint, Kate, and Maggie drove away. There was traffic ahead and Clint stepped on the brakes hard, barely avoiding the car in front of him.

They got out of the car. Clint saw a Trust-A-Bro truck in the distance speeding down the bridge.

"What is he doing?" Maggie asked.

"He's gonna crash into us." He answered.

Kate got on the hood of the car to get a better look. Clint took out an arrow from his quiver and handed it to her.

"Here, take out that truck. Aim high, bring the arrow down on him."

"What's the plan?" Kate drew her bow. "This is just a normal arrow."

"I have no idea what you're saying, just gonna assume you're on board." Clint said as he drew his own bow. "On my mark. Ready?"

After a few seconds, Kate shot her arrow into the sky. Clint shot his moments later, which was a Pym-Tech arrow.

It hit the normal arrow and it grew into a gigantic one, where it dropped onto the back of Kazi's truck, stopping it.

"Holy shit!" Maggie exclaimed.

"That was amazing!" Kate shouted.

Maggie was still astounded. "Was that Ant-Man tech?"

Clint didn't hear them. He handed Kate a USB arrow.

"Take this. Cover me." He said then ran off.

"A USB arrow?" Kate asked as Clint ran. "God, I hope he's got a dongle arrow to make this useful."

Clint retrieved his plunger arrow and took cover behind a car. Kate walked forward and called out to the shooting Tracksuits as she held her bow up.

"Don't move! You do not wanna see what this arrow does!"

Maya motioned her men to stop shooting. Once Clint got out of cover and ran back to Kate, she fired the arrow and it hit Ivan. It didn't do anything but bounce off his stomach.

"Follow me!" Clint shouted at the two girls.

They ran with him and grabbed his bow, the three holding onto it as they leaped off the bridge.

Clint shot a grappling hook and they swung onto the top of the passing train below the bridge. He stuck a plunger arrow that kept them from falling off.

"Now I get the whole plunger arrow thing." Kate remarked.

The trio ended up staying at the top of the moving train until the next stop. They then entered it and sat like any normal New Yorker needing transportation. They caught their breaths and were winded from the whole ordeal.

"Oh, we gotta walk the dog." Kate remarked.

Maggie leaned her head back. "Right...Pizza Dog. I miss him already."

"You're not wrong..." Clint said.

"He's been cooped up all day," Kate added. "Not quite sure how long a dog can..."

"...call yourself one of the world's greatest archers." Clint finished, speaking to Kate.

"Oh, my God, do you really think so? I wasn't sure how I'd do under all that pressure—"

"Probably should walk the dog." He interjected. Clint still couldn't hear them. "Don't you think? Been cooped up all day."

The two girls chuckled. Clint then looked at Maggie.

"We're not telling your mom about any of this, all right?"

• • •

THEY WERE BACK at Kate's aunt's apartment. Clint freshened up while the young archer and the redhead were out getting some supplies from the store across the street.

He went into the kitchen and grabbed an ice pack from the freezer. At the same time, Kate and Maggie came back but the man didn't hear them.

Clint didn't even hear this cell phone on the counter which was ringing and vibrating until his niece let him know with a tap of his arm. He nodded, seeing that it was from his wife. He answered it and put it on speaker.

"Hey, hey, babe."

Instead of Laura, it was actually his son, Nathaniel. "Hey, daddy."

Clint couldn't hear his soft voice and thought Laura was on the line.

"Hey, listen, I can't really talk right now, uh, because look...maybe—Do you have time to text? Can you text?"

Kate heard the conversation and went into the kitchen, calling out to him.

"What?" He asked.

She picked up a notepad and wrote in it. She showed him the paper.

Little boy

"Nathaniel?" He quickly realized and chuckled. "Nathaniel, what are you...what are you doing, buddy? Is everything okay? Where's Mama?"

"She's still asleep. I'm so bored."

"Look, there's a...there might be a little delay, buddy. It's kind of a bad connection."

Everyone asleep. He's bored, Kate wrote.

"You're bored." He laughed. "You're the early bird. Hey, bud, I miss you. Why don't you go get some breakfast and read a book or something until Mama wakes up?"

"What's the point of even reading a book? Are you coming home tonight? It's Christmas movie marathon."

Home tonight for movies? Kate wrote.

"Uh...yeah, it's—Tonight is movie marathon night, that's right. Um...I really wish I could be there with you, buddy. Maggie and I do. Uh, you know how much I love that. I'm not gonna make it, but I think I'll be back in the next day or so. Yeah, we'll be in time for our ugly Christmas sweater party. You ready for that?"

He feigned a smile as he awaited a muffle of Kate's writing. There was no initial response from his son. Maggie had been overhearing the conversation as she leaned against the wall.

"Nathaniel?" Clint asked. "Buddy?"

"It's okay if you can't come home for Christmas, Daddy." He finally replied. "We understand."

"Oh, boy, I'm...I tell you, I miss you so much."

Kate wrote, Says it's okay if you can't be home for Christmas.

Clint read the note and what it said hit him like a truck. He thought back at the many other times his work would keep him from spending holidays with his family.

"Um...I'm gonna be there, buddy. I—You know I'm gonna be there, like I said, right? I'm so happy to hear your voice. Daddy's gotta go, okay? I love you."

"Love you, Daddy."

"I love you more." His voice broke a bit.

He looked over at Maggie, who pointed at the phone. She wanted to speak as well and Clint nodded.

"Uh...Maggie wants to talk to you. She's here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Again, I gotta go, kiddo. Bye-bye."

Maggie stood by the counter where the phone was. She spoke.

"Hey, Nate!"

"Maggie! I miss you."

"I miss you too. So everyone is asleep?"

"Yeah. I'm bored."

"So I heard." She chuckled. "When they wake up, can you tell them I'm fine?"

"I will."

"Thanks. Like your daddy said, we'll be back home soon. Right on time for the rest of the activities."

"Okay."

"All right. I'll talk to you later, Nate."

"Bye-bye!"

She hung up the phone. Clint stood there with a solemn expression. He looked up at Kate and was appreciative of her taking the same to write what his son was saying earlier.

"Thank you."

Kate nodded. "Okay."

Clint turned around and faced the window over the sink. Kate fiddled with her hands and slowly walked back into the living room. Maggie looked back at the man, taking in a breath and walking away as well.

• • •

THE TRACKSUIT MAFIA was preparing to move to another base now that their location was compromised. As Tomas and another member walked out of the office, Maya entered and met with Kazi.

"Can we talk?" He asked in ASL.

She signed back. "Fine, let's talk."

"This morning got out of hand. You do realize how dangerous this is if we keep going after Ronin. I just hope Uncle won't find out. He wouldn't be happy."

"He should also want to go after my father's killer."

"But now we have Barton and the Captain's daughter involved. What if this evolves into a matter where the Avengers interfere?"

"It won't."

"The Captain has already done damage to some of Uncle's work. He doesn't need this."

"If it was my father would you be questioning him like this?"

"Your father always put the crew first."

Maya held her hand out and stopped him. "Remind me. Who's in charge?"

Kazi sighed and pointed at her. "You are."

"Right." She signed back. "Look into Clint Barton. He might know more about Ronin."

Maya walked away, leaving Kazi alone in the office. He simply stared ahead at the wall, anger lingering inside him.

• • •

THE TRIO SAT in a diner enjoying some brunch. Maggie and Kate had been talking about their encounter with the Tracksuits earlier that day. Clint just sat there...his recently repaired hearing aids turned off and simply listening to muffled echoes.

"You fought them in the car?" Kate asked Maggie.

"Kicked one straight into the window and then broke the next guy's nose. Driver tried to shoot me but I messed him up too. Got out through the sunroof right after."

"Wow. You're a real badass."

"I get that a lot."

Kate chuckled. She then started to speak to Clint and she was unaware that he couldn't hear.

"What was most amazing though...Better than anything we did in the middle of that crazy battle..."

Clint took a bite of his bacon and as he looked to the side, deep in his own thoughts. Kate kept speaking and Maggie was also chiming in. Still, the older man was oblivious...or just didn't care.

Finally, Clint turned his hearing aid back on right when Kate finished. She noticed the action and just realized he had it off.

"Was that...was that out the whole time?" She asked.

Clint looked over at the waiter coming by. "Can I get more coffee, please?"

"Yeah, sure."

He poured some more into his cup. Clint nodded.

"Thank you."

Kate took a moment before speaking to her idol again.

"Look, I know this may sound weird, but I've dreamed of this for as long as I can remember. My dad was fearless. And his whole life was about helping people. When I put that suit on, I thought, This is it. This is the moment I become who I'm supposed to be."

"I remember the day I thought the same thing." He responded. "You know, it's, uh...It comes with a price."

"What does?"

"This life you wanna live. To really help people. I mean, try to help people, anyway."

Maggie rested her arms on the table and nodded. Clint glanced at her.

"I know your parents have told you the same thing. I get your desire to be like your mom and dad." He told Maggie. "A desire to be like your role models. You girls...are alike in many ways."

Kate agreed as well. Clint continued.

"This comes with a lot of sacrifices. And some things you'll lose...forever."

Maggie understood what he meant, thinking about the people they lost recently, like Pietro Maximoff and Tony Stark. She looked down at the table.

"Well, there's also things you gain..." Kate tried to lighten the conversation. "Like trick arrows and a cool costume."

Clint lowered his head and shook it. Kate continued.

"Speaking of which. I've been thinking about your branding issue. You need a more recognizable costume."

She pulled out the paper from underneath her plate and picked up a crayon. Kate started to draw on it.

"Uh, you realize that my job for the last 20 years was to be not recognizable, right?" Clint asked.

"Well, you've officially failed at that." She remarked and then showed her concept art. "Picture this... in purple."

"Oh, wow." He reacted.

Maggie also looked at it. "Ooooh. You'd look great in that, Uncle Clint."

Clint wasn't sure if she was joking or not. He rolled his eyes.

"What's that on his head?" He asked Kate.

"It's your head. Uh, wings. Like a hawk." She pointed. "That's an H that's on your forehead. That's...for Hawkeye."

"Well, not happening."

"Okay. Um, what if it was all black? All black with a mask? Maybe a hood?"

He didn't reply. Kate stood quiet until she finally decided to speak what was on her mind.

"You can't say who Ronin is because it's someone close to you, isn't it? It's your job to keep their secret."

Clint kept staring at her. Maggie just sat there, not wanting to say anything involving the Ronin, at least not with the man's permission. She understood how it affected him.

"There are several reasons why I'd never wear a flashy costume." He finally replied. "My job is to be, number one, a ghost. Number two, my wife would divorce me if I put something like this on. Hmm? And number three, uh...I'm not a role model."

Kate glanced up at him and so did Maggie. Clint continued.

"I'm sorry. I'm not a role model to anyone. Never have been."

"Clint..." Maggie spoke. "You can't think that."

"It's true Mags. No one...no one should look up to me. I'm not a role model."

Kate was shocked by her idol's words. She gave a genuine and heartfelt response to his lack of confidence in himself.

"What? Yes, you are. You are. You—You came here. You left your family at Christmas because you thought some stranger was gonna get hurt. You stuck around even though I screwed up. And now you're stuck. Whether you like it or not, the Tracksuits have connected all of us to Ronin, and it's pretty clear they're not just gonna drop this."

"Well, that you are not wrong about." He replied.

"Not to mention the fact that my mom might be marrying a murderer." Kate said.

He took a sip of his coffee. "And then there's that."

Maggie spoke up. "We can't go back home until this is dealt with. So as far as I'm concerned...we're in this together."

The waiter came by and dropped off the check. Kate glanced at it.

"I'm gonna need you to get that. My mom canceled my credit card."

Clint chuckled. "Yeah, I got it."

• • •

THE TRIO WALKED down Central Park with Pizza Dog. They were currently discussing the Tracksuits.

"You pick up any tension between Maya and the hot guy, or was it just me?" Kate asked Clint, recalling their experience during their capture.

"His name's Kazi." Clint asked.

"These Tracksuits...I figure they're into some pretty bad stuff?"

"Yeah, bad stuff."

"What kind?" Maggie asked. "That deaf chick mentioned my dad interfering with some things they did."

"Don't know if I should get into it."

"I'd appreciate it if you elaborate."

Clint sighed, relenting and choosing to speak about the group.

"They started small, but grew. Or at least the guy at the top, he'll do anything to grow the operation."

"I thought Maya was the boss?" Kate asked.

"No, there's someone above Maya. Someone you don't want to mess with."

"There's obviously bad blood with Ronin, right?"

"Yeah." He replied and glanced at Maggie. "And now that you mentioned it...your dad."

"Of course."

"Ronin hit the suppliers and then hit Tracksuit's upper management years ago," Clint said. "Just recently, Y/N's been taking out separate cells in and around the boroughs."

"Why is an Avenger going after guys like this?" Kate asked.

Maggie decided to answer.

"It's just how my dad is. No situation is ever too big or too small to try and resolve. To help. My grandpa taught him that."

"Steve Rogers?" She asked.

Maggie nodded. Clint agreed with her statement.

"Just the kind of guy he is." He added. "But now, the guy at the top is gonna be pretty pissed off since we're involved too."

"Sounds like a lot of drama," Kate said with a nod and looked at Pizza Dog. "Which is why you should never get involved in organized crime."

Later, they were taking a cab to Kate's mom's penthouse apartment. They kept on talking about the situation.

"Do you think that the Tracksuits were after anything else at that auction?" Clint asked Kate.

"I don't know. I was pretty focused on Jack and Armand."

"It's pretty upsetting to think there might be stuff from the Avengers Compound floating around out there." He remarked.

"What kind of stuff would they have even taken?" Maggie asked.

"A lot of things. Weapons, tech, metals."

The redhead sighed. "When Thanos blew up my room, I lost all my basketball cards. I wonder if some are still out there. Like my rare blue-prism LeBron."

Clint ignored her remark and moved on.

"So, you still think Jack is involved somehow?" He asked Kate.

"Yes. There's too many coincidences. He was at the auction that night, and yesterday, he offered me a butterscotch."

There was a pause before Clint replied.

"Not exactly a crime."

"When I tried to stab his face to prove he was lying, he parried like a pro."

"You tried to stab your mom's fiancé in the face?" Maggie asked.

"Plus, he has everything to gain from Armand's death."

"The Jack thing, it's weird," Clint said. "I get it, but it's not exactly airtight."

"Right. Which is why we need more evidence. And why we're gonna sneak into my mom's penthouse."

Clint thought they were going there to just drop off the dog.

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" He asked.

"We can get into her company files. Bishop Security has a huge criminal database." She replied. "There's gotta be info on the Tracksuits and Jack in there."

He sighed. "Yeah."

• • •

CLINT, KATE, AND MAGGIE snuck into the archer's mom's penthouse. There, they were going to look through her Bishop Security database and search for information on the Tracksuits and Jack Duquesne.

"You're sure no one's home, right?" Clint asked.

"Yes. Relax." Kate answered and took the leash off Pizza Dog. "Come on."

Clint looked around the vast space of the penthouse.

"Jeez, this is a home?"

"Yeah. My, uh, great, great, great, great grandfather built the building." Kate pointed up. "I tried to swing from that very chandelier and broke my arm. So, uh, yeah, pretty impressive family, all the way around."

"Wow," Maggie replied. "I don't even even know what my great, great, great, great grandfather did."

"Knowing your old man and his old man...probably fighting a war or something," Clint remarked.

"Funny thing is you are most likely right."

Kate opened up a laptop in the dining room as Clint looked around.

"So, from the home network, we should be able to get past the encryption with my mom's password." She muttered.

Clint was still flabbergasted at how nice and how large the home was.

"Man...I'm in the wrong business." He said under his breath then walked over to Kate. "How'd you say Armand was killed?"

"Stabbed with a sword." She answered with eyes glued to the computer.

"See if there's anything on Kazi."

Kate did as told and looked up at the man. A file on him popped up.

"What's this company, Sloan Limited? Kazi is an employee?"

"Wait, Sloan Limited, that sounds familiar." Barton remarked.

"You think there's someone there?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

Clint heard a noise in the other room. Kate was oblivious to it and continued her work on the computer. Maggie didn't hear it either as she was tending to Pizza Dog nearby.

He walked away and slowly strolled through the room, entering another. Suddenly, a sword was brought to his neck and the archer stopped.

Jack Duquesne kept the blade by his throat. Clint didn't move a muscle. The socialite spoke lowly.

"Don't move."