Disclaimer: I don't own The Avengers. Marvel does.

Hi, everyone! This piece will be six chapters, and each will be from the point of view of a different Avenger. As you can see, this one is Clint's POV. Please drop me a review or a PM if you like it so far or have any constructive criticism (and I love suggestions, too!). The next update will probably be on Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Warning: This contains violence (not excessive) and swearing.

Rescue Mission

They'd been in tough situations before, but at least they'd been prepared those other times. This time, they'd only been expecting minor resistance - nothing like the shit they were actually wading through now.

It had all seemed so fucking simple. Enter the HYDRA base, grab the three kids that were being imprisoned there, and get out fast. But before they'd even gotten in, Fury had sent in Agent Greg Platt, the newest darling of the WSC, to help. Clint had worked with him twice before, and the last time they'd seen each other had been a few months ago on the Helicarrier, when Natasha had broken his nose. Platt was one of the many arrogant bastards who somehow ended up with high-powered careers at SHIELD. From the second he'd shown up, he made it very clear that he thought he was in charge.

Tony had tried to shut him down with snark, Cap had tried to be diplomatic, and the rest of them had ignored him. Then Fury had called in and said that the WSC's order to the team was to obey Platt. After that, Platt had smirked and completely mismanaged everything. First off, he'd kept Banner out, claiming that the Hulk was uncontrollable and more of a liability than an asset. Next, he'd sent Cap to guard the main exit of the HYDRA compound, and didn't bother to disarm the security cameras. He'd then told Tony and Thor to break in through the front gate, which they did very grudgingly. The team had still been confident that they could pull through, no problem, until Platt sent Natasha into the compound all by herself, against about a thousand HYDRA operatives. His reasoning? Apparently it was such a simple mission, and Natasha was such a competent agent, that there was no reason to risk the rest of the team.

Two minutes after she'd gone in, seven hundred armed HYDRA soldiers had marched out into the courtyard and started shooting them with weapons suspiciously similar to Phase 2. That was when the team stopped caring what Platt said. Clint found a good perch on the top of one of the main gateposts and began loosing arrows into the throng of enemy soldiers, trying to lessen the burden on Tony, Cap, and Thor, who were in the middle of the mess. Platt was fighting alongside them, and Clint had to admit that the guy could be brave when he wanted.

The talk on the com was rushed, scattered, and mostly incomprehensible. Curses were flying at the speed of light, Thor was shouting battle cries, Platt kept trying to regain control, and there was still nothing from Natasha. All of a sudden, Clint's heart dropped out of him as the sniper saw Cap go down. He was swarmed by soldiers, at least until Thor got to him and started blasting lighting all over the place, which unfortunately obstructed Clint's view. Over the com, everybody started shrieking, demanding to know what was going on.

"Everybody, shut up!" Clint finally yelled as he sent a grade-3 explosive arrow hurtling towards a spot where there were just too damn many enemies. "Cap? You okay?"

Steve groaned for an answer, but Thor put in, "He'll be all right."

Clint decided that further explanation could wait. He was in the process of fending off a couple of high-climbing soldiers when he heard Tony shout, "Banner, get here now!"

Tony must've had Jarvis link Banner to the com system, because the next thing Clint heard was the doctor's voice. "What? Platt's orders were to stay out!"

"Fuck orders, fuck Platt, fuck the Council!" Tony shouted, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Clint made a note to compliment the billionaire on his poetic genius once this was over. "Do you not hear what's going on?"

A tidal wave of relief crashed through Clint when he heard Steve say, "We need you, Banner."

Within two minutes, Hulk had crashed through a wall of the compound and smashed half of HYDRA. The enemy soldiers began to withdraw, retreating into the main building. Out of the corner of his vision, Clint saw a side door burst open, and Natasha staggered out, holding a three-year-old and flanked by two slightly older children. She took a few steps toward the team, set the toddler down, and collapsed.

By then, Clint had already hit the ground running. His partner was barely conscious by the time he reached her, and she was bleeding out from multiple knife wounds. Clint did his best to stop the blood, muttering comforting words for his sake as well as for hers, until Banner ran over to help.

A SHIELD extraction unit arrived a few minutes later, and the doctors aboard the Quinjet assured him that Natasha would probably pull through and that he couldn't do anything to help. Only then did he lift his head and survey the situation. Thor was guarding the three kids who'd been rescued, trying halfheartedly to entertain them. Banner and Tony were standing next to Steve, who'd been shot in the shoulder (thank goodness it'd been a normal gun and not one of those creepy, high-tech things). Clint saw Platt looking at him and Natasha with a guilty expression on his face, but once the other agent caught him looking, he made a show of acting smug and in-control. Clint wanted to go over and tell Platt exactly how much he'd screwed up, but then Natasha's eyes fluttered open and she squeezed his hand, and he realized that Platt didn't matter right then.

A few hours later, the Quinjet landed on the Helicarrier. Steve and Natasha were rushed to the infirmary, but both were somewhat conscious and insisting they were fine. Hill was waiting on the runway to meet the rest of the team, and she told them that Fury wanted a report ASAP.

"Good," Tony said caustically. "Because we want to talk to him." He glanced at Platt. "Alone."

Hill sighed and rolled her eyes, then escorted them through the many passages of the Helicarrier to the empty Director's office. She left them there by themselves as if she knew not to risk being in the same room with them. They ignored the blank mission reports spread across the table which were plainly there for them to fill out, and no one sat down.

Ten minutes later, Fury walked in. Clint had never been in a room so silent, and that was saying a lot considering he was a sniper who often worked in quiet places. For a second, he thought they were all going to spontaneously combust from the rage-filled glares they were shooting at Fury, and from the way he was scowling right back at them.

Nobody said anything for another drawn-out moment.

And then it all exploded as Tony, Bruce, Clint, and Thor started shouting, not caring that they were talking over each other and failing to make much sense. Fury just stayed quiet, letting them vent, until finally they wore his thin patience out, and then he told them to shut up and take turns.

They sullenly stopped, cutting themselves off as if they knew they'd be more effective if they spoke one at a time. Clint sat in the nearest chair, fuming, as Tony began.

"Where in hell does that guy get the right to order us around?" his voice rising. "We barely even answer to you, and that's only because we choose to."

"Why'd you think we needed him?" Banner asked.

Clint felt the table shake as Thor slammed his fist on it. "His strategy would have gotten us killed or captured if we had not disobeyed!" The Asgardian had been fighting in battles for a long time, and if he said Platt's tactics were crap, Clint would be inclined to agree with him even if he hadn't already judged them that way on his own.

Fury held up his hands. "The WSC wants to promote him -" and that was when Clint understood the whole damn thing.

"To handler," he said, barely controlling his anger "You want him to take Coulson's place." Horror and betrayal flooded through him, but he knew he was right. A small part of him told him to shut up before he got himself fired, but now he was on a roll and he couldn't find the will to stop. "The son of a bitch sent Natasha on a goddamned suicide mission, and you want him to be our fucking handler."

"I don't want anything, Barton," Fury said. "I have a job, too, in case you haven't noticed, and I can lose it."

"Right, because you care more about your salary than you do about your agents," Banner snarled, and they all paused for half a second to check him for telltale green, but apparently he wanted to finish the argument because he was holding the Hulk back. "Platt put Natasha in the most danger on purpose."

"She nearly died," Tony added, "and Steve got shot, too."

"Platt is an incompetent commander," Thor yelled.

"You've all committed insubordination," Fury spat back. "So forget Platt and focus on the bigger problem."

Clint was about to reply that their insubordination saved all their lives, but then the door swung open and everyone spun around to see if it was someone else they could vent their anger on.

Steve walked in, still in his dirty uniform and with a bandage around his injured shoulder. He looked upset, but not angry, and compared to the rest of them he was as calm as Lake Placid. Clint was so relieved to see him up and about that some of the fight went out of him, and he started to think that maybe this wasn't completely Fury's fault.

"Director, I take responsibility for the insubordination. They were all acting under my orders," he said, then turned to the team. "Enough arguing. This wasn't his call."

The other four Avengers went quiet, which meant that they probably realized that Steve was right. Banner took a deep breath and broke the silence. "Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Maybe we should take this up with the Council instead. Sorry, Fury."

Thor nodded once in agreement, and Steve apparently thought that was good enough. Clint thought he was going to haul them all out, but he turned back to Fury, and Clint heard a slight hint of a threat in his voice. "On the other hand, Director, make sure this doesn't happen again."

"I'll do my best," Fury promised.

"Good," Steve said, and he grabbed the stack of uncompleted mission reports. "We'll fill these out as soon as possible."

The other four followed him out of Fury's office. Tony sighed, as if he was glad to be out of there. Steve looked at each of them. "All of you did a great job, and I just wanted to let you know how proud I am of you."

Somehow, that statement made it all worth it, and Clint was about to say how glad he was to have Steve as their leader, but the captain turned to him and patted his shoulder. "Natasha's awake, and she's asking for you."

They had saved the mission, and Natasha was okay. Clint couldn't help but grin as Steve went on. "Before you go see her, though, here." He handed each of them a mission report packet. "Now, this is what we're going to do. We're going to write these up, and we're going to be very professional, and we're going to make it clear that Agent Platt needs more training before becoming anyone's handler. Got it?"

They nodded, and Clint knew that they were all thanking their lucky stars that they had Steve.