Underestimate Me (I Dare You)

To them, he's not a threat, this witch hunter crazy enough to walk into their midst with one gun and declare he'll kill each and every one of them. Since they don't understand he'll do anything to save his sister and the children, they underestimate him.

The truth is he sees himself the way they do sometimes. After every close call, he can't help but wonder how much of their success is attributed to skill, and how much to luck. They've killed over 600 witches since that fateful night in the gingerbread house from hell, and they nearly died over 600 times. Their foes can't harm them with magic, but they still always make them bleed.

But he promised himself, the moment he realized he was alive by some miracle, he would find a way to finish what he and Gretel had started, even if it ended in his staying dead.

When the witches laugh at him, treating his threat as a joke, he doesn't react, though he can feel his heart starting to hammer in his throat. As always, he's left his fate to chance, but he can't say he's surprised when he finds out it's on his side again. The witch's head explodes, and Mina fires up the big gun. He bleeds along the way, but he makes good on both his promise and his threat.

Their kind, after tonight, will truly fear his name. And he doubts they'll underestimate him again.

.

To them, he's just an analyst, a bureaucrat in a tailored suit and a designer tie who's so far removed from the field he'll be lucky to survive it. Since they don't recognize him for what he really is, they underestimate him.

The truth is he sees himself the way they do sometimes. Ever since Croatia, he's second-guessed every single decision he's forced to make, down to what tie he wears to work. He's logged 15-hour days at his desk, running scenarios, memorizing names, faces, facts and figures, trying to figure out how to control for every last variable even though he's well aware he can't.

But he promised himself, the moment his head broke the surface of the water, he wouldn't let his guilt keep him from helping the team accomplish what he calculated is impossible.

When Hunt demands to know who he really is and shoves a gun in his face, he reacts on pure instinct for the first time in too long. Within seconds, he disarms Hunt and stares him down over the barrel of the gun, daring him to ask that question again. He knows he's blown his cover, knows he still has to answer for what happened in Croatia, but part of him is relieved.

They know he's an agent, just like them, now. And he doubts they'll underestimate him again.

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To them, he's nothing but a number, a task to cross off a twisted to-do list as they clean up a mess he didn't make. Since they don't see him as a living, breathing human being who doesn't feel like dying today, they underestimate him.

The truth is he sees himself the way they do sometimes. Whenever he looks in the mirror and sees Kenneth staring back, he understands why they don't value him enough to care whether he lives or dies. Before Outcome, before the blues gave him what he so desperately wanted, he was just a number. Back then, it wasn't 5. It was his IQ.

But he promised himself, the moment the missile struck the cabin, he wouldn't only stay alive; he'd figure out a way to stay smart so he could make them pay for this, and everything before it.

When the wolf is ensnared in his trap, he doesn't hesitate; he throws himself on top of it and pries open its jaw. Though the wolf thrashes, snaps and claws, he shoves the tracker down its throat right before he hears the dull roar signaling the drone's return. He lets the wolf go and it flees, just as he thought it would. The missile finishes the job he wanted to back in the woods.

They'll find out he's alive. And, as soon as that happens, he doubts they'll underestimate him again.

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To them, he's dangerously out of his league, this mere archer who thinks he can run with the gods, monsters and super soldiers of the world. Since they don't know he's fighting for far more than just himself and his team, they underestimate him.

The truth is he sees himself the way they do sometimes. In his nightmares, he relives his many failures, watches as he becomes a blue-eyed puppet with the touch of a scepter, collapses in the middle of a rubble-littered street after shawarma, bleeds out in the middle of an icy forest. Unlike the others, he's just a man; he bleeds, he aches, he can break.

But he promised himself, the moment Laura reminded him he still had to fix the tractor when he finally managed to sneak away to call her, he would make it home.

When only static fills his earpiece, he knows something is wrong. Just as he's about to ask if anybody copies, he hears painstakingly soft footsteps behind him. He doesn't need to see her to know who it is, and he presses a taser arrow to her forehead the moment she gets close. Seconds later, her twin sends him crashing through a window, but he knows he taught them both a lesson.

They've learned he's in, maybe even above, their league. And he doubts they'll underestimate him again.

Hi, everyone! After watching Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation and Bourne Legacy in the space of four days (and nearly dying of a Jeremy Renner overdose) I was trying to figure out what was so similar about all his characters. And then it struck me: so often, he plays the underdog. And, thus, Underestimate Me was born. For the record, I'm not writing this as if Brandt, Cross and Clint are brothers, twins or clones (though I do like thinking of them all as decedents of Hansel, hence starting this story with him).

I decided to post this in the Avengers category, and not as a crossover, because Fanfiction won't let me tag all four movies. I apologize for that. Anyway, obviously this is very different, for me and for Fanfiction, so I'd love hearing what you think. Until next time. ~Moore12