The Arc Reactor.
"I've got it," Eric's voice said softly, echoing from everywhere at once. "Camouflaged cave. Fake entrance."
The particles converged.
Eric reformed atop a dune, pointing toward an unremarkable rock formation.
"There," he said.
He activated the internal channel.
"Target located," he reported. "Beginning approach."
Silence.
Tactical approval.
Nick Fury's voice came through a few seconds later.
He was tracking both missions live.
It was impossible to miss how Tony Stark's importance had suddenly escalated to an entirely different level.
They moved.
"Alright, bright light," Clint said as they advanced. "From here on out, I'm in charge."
Eric raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," Clint nodded. "Because I have experience, judgment… and a bow."
"I have light-speed movement and lasers."
"And zero completed missions."
Eric clicked his tongue.
"That hurt more than it should've."
Clint kept walking, serious.
Five seconds later.
Eric was crouched behind a rocky outcrop, studying the fake cave entrance. At first glance, nothing. Too much nothing.
Beside him, Clint Barton calmly adjusted the tension on his bow, almost bored.
"Sentries," Clint murmured. "Two on the ridge. One hidden near the real entrance. They're nervous."
Eric blinked.
"How do you know they're nervous?"
"Because no calm man smokes like that," Clint replied, subtly pointing. "And the one on the left looks at the sky every ten seconds. Waiting for something that isn't coming."
Eric had no words.
"Focus, bright light. This is where the quiet work starts."
Eric nodded and dissolved into particles again.
Clint drew his bow.
The first arrow flew.
The sentry on the ridge fell backward without ever understanding what hit him.
Eric materialized behind the second.
"Good night," he whispered.
A precise touch.
Instant blackout.
The third man lifted his head, alerted by something he couldn't name.
Another arrow struck him.
Total silence.
Clint lowered the bow.
"Perimeter clear," he said. "Nice work."
Eric reappeared beside him.
"Did you see that? I didn't blow anything up."
"Remarkable progress," Clint replied. "I'll put it in your monthly evaluation."
They approached the real entrance: a narrow, uneven crack between rocks, hidden under fabric, dust, and bad intentions.
Eric stared at the amount of Stark Industries weaponry scattered around.
No wonder Tony had his existential crisis before becoming Iron Man and shutting the entire weapons division down.
Clint stopped and raised a fist.
Eric froze.
"Listen," Clint whispered.
Eric closed his eyes.
"He's alive," Eric said quietly. "Two heartbeats together. One weaker. And…" he frowned. "They're building something."
Eric knew exactly what that meant.
Tony was building the suit.
He wondered how fast he'd manage it. After all, the Mark III already existed.
Tony just hadn't lived long enough to wear it.
Clint exhaled slowly.
"Great. He's always building something."
He slid a special arrow into place, small tip, thin cable.
"I go first," Clint said. "You stay intangible, full cover. Don't play hero."
"Understood," Eric replied.
Clint fired.
With one fluid motion, he vanished through the crack.
Eric followed as light slipping between shadows.
Inside, the cave was exactly what Clint hated.
Narrow corridors.
Blind angles.
Armed men on edge.
Clint moved first, precise, silent.
Every movement had purpose.
Every arrow found a neck and dropped its target with an electric discharge. Some didn't get that mercy and died instantly.
"Enemy attack!"
Someone managed to raise the alarm.
Eric flowed through walls, disassembling AK-47s before they could fire, shoving bodies down without unnecessary force.
"Contact right," Clint whispered.
Eric was already there.
"Neutralized."
"Two ahead."
"Done."
Clint tilted his head, impressed.
"You're starting to make me look slow."
"That's impossible," Eric replied lightly. "Your ego wouldn't allow it."
They reached the main chamber.
An improvised workshop.
Iron.
Sparks.
And there—covered in soot, beard unkempt, eyes burning bright even in the dim—stood Tony Stark.
Beside him, Yinsen looked up first.
"Tony," Yinsen said calmly. "I believe we have company."
They'd felt the chaos approaching but could do nothing except hope it was rescue.
Tony turned.
Saw Clint.
Saw Eric.
"…Okay," he said. "Either I'm dying again, or you're very real."
Clint lowered his bow.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm getting you out of here."
Barton already knew Tony was aware of SHIELD, so he spared them both the explanations.
Tony looked at Eric, faintly glowing.
"And him?"
Eric smiled.
"Moral support."
Gunfire.
Shouts.
Clint was already moving.
"Bright light, rear cover. Now!"
"I really hope that nickname doesn't leave Afghanistan."
Eric fragmented and sealed the corridor, deflecting bullets, ripping rifles apart, slamming enemies into walls.
"Move!" Clint shouted. "We're leaving!"
Tony grabbed Yinsen.
"Can you walk?"
"Yes," Yinsen replied. "As long as it's toward the exit."
They moved.
The chaos escalated.
Too many reinforcements.
Tony was too valuable to lose without squeezing everything out of him first.
Eric felt the pulse of light spike as he saw the number of weapons trained on them.
He wasn't worried about himself.
He was worried about Barton, Tony, and Yinsen.
"Clint—" Eric warned.
"I know," Barton replied without looking, already calculating.
The enemy didn't give them time.
Not after witnessing Eric's power.
A projectile struck nearby. The cave ceiling groaned, and the rear exit began to collapse.
Eric reacted on instinct, lifting his leg as light surged up to his hip.
PIUUN!
He materialized a laser far stronger than usual.
BOOM!
Too fast.
The photonic explosion tore through the chamber, ripping structures apart, pulverizing weapons, and hurling every terrorist and mercenary into the walls like broken dolls.
Brutal silence.
Only screams remained.
Clint covered his face.
"Hey!"
Eric breathed hard, shaken by how many he'd just killed.
"Sorry," Eric said. "Survival instinct. Also… possible claustrophobia."
Clint surveyed the damage, then the now-cleared tunnel.
"Forget it," he said. "Immediate extraction!"
Tony stared around, stunned.
"Definitely real," he murmured. "You're a god too."
Yinsen snapped him out of it.
They ran.
The desert greeted them with immediate gunfire.
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