KING OF THE ARCHERS.

  Five years after Thanos’ triumph, it was Natasha who sought Clint. As Ronin, he didn’t spend too long in one spot. He had moved through Mexico before he ended up in Japan. This new line of work was lonely but effective. Her red hair was distinguishable, and Clint immediately recognized the silhouette of his best friend. What they possessed went beyond love.  Natasha beckoned him to join what was left of the Avengers. There was a plan, something about time travel that Clint didn’t quite understand. It seemed impossible, but Natasha was revealing a glimmer of hope that Clint had lost all those years ago.

  For the first time in a while, Clint felt part of a team again. No, a family. It was decided that the only way to reverse Thanos’ destruction was to recover the stones from the past and restore order. Naturally, Clint and Natasha paired together for the mission to Vormir to retrieve the Soul stone.  They had been on innumerable missions together just never to space. Despite the dangers and the fear of the unknown, he found himself smiling for the first time. Doing anything with Natasha by his side felt conquerable.

"This is a long way from Budapest,” Clint joked. A gleam returned to his tired eyes.

He wasn’t wrong. Vormir was a barren and shadowy planet. Gee, someone turned down the lights real low here, he thought.  

A cloaked and floating figure approached them. The shrouded being reminded him of a Death Eater or the Grim Reaper.  

“Welcome, Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Welcome Clint, son of Edith,” the nameless being greeted the duo.

Clint hadn’t heard his mother’s name since he and Barney had been orphaned.

The unknown being’s face emerged, red and emaciated.

"In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul, for a soul."

Clint and Natasha joined hands. He rested his forehead against hers. He felt at peace knowing he would die for the greater good and that the last person he would see was Natasha. But Natasha didn’t take Clint’s verdict glibly. They argued and combatted for what would culminate in the ultimate sacrifice. They tousled and rolled on the ground. If the circumstances had been different, Clint would’ve found the physicality provocative. He believed he had managed to physically subdue Natasha. She lay on the ground and Clint ran towards the edge of the cliff. As Natasha raised her head, Clint locked eyes with her. He wore resolve on his face. At the last conceivable moment, Natasha ran after him and grabbed a hold of Clint’s shoulders. They were both careening to a fatal fall.   

Natasha saved them from the dangerous descent. Clint clutched her hand as she dangled below him.

“Let me go,” Natasha said.

“No. Please, no.”

“It’s okay.”

“Please,” Clint pleaded. His weary eyes swelled with tears.

Natasha thrusted hard off the cliff making Clint lose grasp of her hand.

Clint awoke in shallow water. He perched himself on his knees and opened his gloved hand. The Soul stone glowed. They had accomplished their goal but at what cost? Clint’s head hung low and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

    The Avengers succeeded at recovering all the stones. Hulk, Banner whatever name he was going by now was able to wear the newly crafted gauntlet. It wasn’t easy restoring what had been lost. A battle ensued between the heroes and Thanos but mostly Thanos’ cronies. The heroes were stronger now that they were united with those who had been lost. It wasn’t enough that Natasha had forfeited her life but Stark did not survive the final war.  

  Clint had never made amends with Tony after Clint had ended up in prison and then house arrest. Most of the anger had receded but resentment still settled inside him because everyone was honoring Stark’s life and left Natasha in the shadows.

He begrudgingly attended Stark’s memorial. Not because Tony didn’t deserve it but because Clint wasn’t ready to be friendly with the rest of the team. He refused to exchange words with Steve as Natasha had put everything on the line for him at one point. No one matched Clint’s loyalty or grief. He couldn’t admit it to himself, but not all of his anger was aimed at Steve and Bruce. Clint carried guilt like an old friend and as a reminder of his failures. He should’ve done more to shelter his mother from his father. He should’ve done more to shield Barney from becoming Trick Shot. And he should’ve protected Natasha from an untimely death. He owed her that much.

Clint saw a familiar face—Wanda. The years had changed them both and she no longer resembled the scared, young woman he remembered from Sokovia. The pair was alone, looking over a pond.

“I wish there was a way I could let her know that we won,” Clint said.

“She knows. They both do.”

Wanda and Clint both shouldered the grief for the two heroes who were relegated to the shadows.

    While grief embraced Clint like a fraternal hug, it did not suffice. At Vormir they had been assured that Natasha’s fate was irreversible. Yet, hadn’t they believed the same when they had been defeated by Thanos? Hope had been easy to clutch then and maybe it’s ease had been facilitated because Clint never questioned Natasha. But his fervent longing to reunite with her, powered his hunger to pursue her. Too long he had been the hunted. First, in 2012 when Natasha confronted him on the Helicarrier. Then more recently when he was an acting vigilante. It was time to return the favor.

Clint threw himself into training. He couldn’t stop because he refused to be just another man with a bow. He believed he needed to prepare for anything once he did find Natasha again. And he would find her, that much he believed. But, there was no telling in what condition he’d find her or if she would even remember him. Anyone with less than favorable intentions would jump at the chance to have someone with the talents of Black Widow.

The few friends that remained thought he was training too hard. Thor heeded that Clint was giving up too much. But Clint didn’t want to have a good, simple life if it meant that his best friend wasn’t afforded the same.