Author's Note- Hello everyone, this is my second attempt writing MCU fanfiction and this piece is unbetaed so any feedback/correction comment would be greatly appreciated. As just for context, this particular story takes place just after the first Avenger's movie when the team is still trying to figure out how it fits together. This particular story has been mostly written while sitting with relatives in the hospital and without internet access, so please forgive any mistakes I may have made with locations, terms, or continuity.

Disclaimer- I do not own the comics nor the MCU...and I may have spent too much time leafing through medical literature in the hospital waiting area for my own good.

Chapter 1-To Fall

Steve Rogers reached to turn off the alarm only to fall out of bed. As he successfully grabbed the SHIELD communicator, he noted the time. It was just after two thirty…AM…so much for getting a full night's sleep. It was true that he didn't particularly need a full eight hours, he didn't even need four to be fully functional, but after being frozen for seventy years, one craves regularity. When you are a member of a strange team of heroes such as the Avengers and trying to clean up the wreckage of an alien invasion in downtown Manhattan, regularity is hard to come by.

"Steve here." As Steve's spoke into the communicator, his groggy mind half expected to hear Tony's voice on the other end. Unfortunately for his beauty sleep, this was not another prank call.

"Captain, this is Agent Hill, we need you to report to 43th street and 1st Avenue immediately." The familiar alto of Agent Fury's right-hand woman was crisp with the tension of an ongoing mission. Steve's instincts were sent into overdrive.

"What is going on?" Steve asked gravely as he instinctively begins to dawn his uniform.

"There appears to be an attack on the United Nations Complex currently in progress. We have SHIELD agents already deployed and but their hands are full with the evacuations. They are requesting back up and you and Ironman were currently in the neighborhood."

"What type of attack?"

"According to the boots on the ground, it appears to be some sort of laser cannon."

"An analysis I totally agree with, by the way." Stark interjected over the comlink. "You ready yet, Capsicle?"

"I'm in uniform." Steve commented as he slid his fingers through his hair and reached his shield.

"Then get your butt up to the roof. You have a flight to catch."

"Who is picking me up?" Steve checked magazine on his gun before heading out the door.

"Me." Stark stated simply. He really didn't need to say much more. Steve's apartment had been situated on the top floor of a sixteen-story apartment building in Brooklyn so that there was space for a small aircraft or Ironman to land.

"Stark you better not be flying drunk?" Steve rolled his shoulders to loosen up as he jogged up the short flight of stairs to the roof. Before he reached the door, there was a loud thunk which meant that his lift had arrived.

"I have been working on a project and I'm smart enough not to drink and derive. Besides the project involves radioactive substances and I would like the possibility of little Starks running around someday." The billionaire was being an ass…like normal, but it seemed like Tony was telling the truth.

"Well, the radiation appears to have not harmed your sense of humor."

"Of course, I am a genius after all."

"Stop fighting like an old married couple. You two are on live mikes and the banter is currently distracting my technicians." Agent Hill's smirk could be heard over the radio. i

"Is there a plan of attack?" Steve felt his cheeks pink slightly with embarrassment, but he turned his full focus on the issue at hand.

"The rest of the team is approximately 7 minutes out. Your job is to provide a diversion. We don't particularly care what you do, just as long as you keep enemy distracted and minimize damage downtown Manhattan. While you keep the enemy busy, the rest of the Avengers will attempt to sneak up from behind and take out the laser cannon."

"Be the targets so they can get all of the glory, blaw, blaw, blaw." The sarcasm in Tony's voice was so thick that Steve could practically hear the eye roll in his voice. "Yeah, we get the point Hill."

"Do we know who we are fighting?" Steve tried to shift the topic of discussion.

"Unable to determine at this time. We were hoping that information can be sorted out once the laser cannon has been successfully captured."

"So you expect me to get the bottom of things…again." One could hear the annoyance in Tony's voice as he spoke.

"You are Avenger's weapons expert." Agent Hill pointed out flatly.

"Well then, I guess I better listen to the Lady and go be a weapon then."

Before Steve could make an argument Ironman had already clamped onto him, and they where speeding north towards the island of Manhattan.

Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, had to admit that on some level he was enjoying watching Captain America and Ironman getting shot at. He took that back, he was currently getting immense enjoyment watching Stark getting shot at. The fact that Steve was also looking a bit ridicules dodging the laser was simply an added bonus.

The battle had been well at hand when the quinjet had hovered above the US mission to the UN, giving Clint enough time to jump to his assigned perch. He had quickly set up a spotting post and began to take observations on the behavior of the laser cannon. It was pretty clear that the weapon was located across the river in Queens, and that it had limited firing rate. While the cannon was highly disruptive, it could only shoot once every 45 seconds and the beam only lasted for three-tenths of a second. Tony commented that this was probably due to the high amounts of energy required by the weapon, as well as the massive amounts of heat produced when the beam was created.

Clint glanced at his watch and determined that they were nearly due for another shot. "The laser should be booting up again. Expect a shot in the next five to ten sec…"

A stream angry red light shot across the sky cutting deeply into the asphalt and bursting a pipe at Captain America's feet. Steve only had enough time to duck behind his shield before the laser swept across where his legs used to be. The beam of light ricocheted off the shield straight into Ironman's flight path sending the armored Avenger into a nearby building. Moments later the light blinked out again as the cannon shut down. Even from his vantage point a block away and forty stories up Clint could clearly see just how powerful the weapon was. The right side of Ironman's armor was blacked and a few panels appeared to be deformed. Captain America shield's paint job was also scared and cracked, but shield itself was still intact.

"Hawkeye, what just happened?" Steve queered as he dusted himself off.

"It appears that the enemy has found a way to shorten their recharge timed." Clint pulled out the night vision goggles and tried to determine if Stark was still moving. "It appears that Ironman was taken out by the last blast."

"I'm right here you know. I'm also fine." Stark's voice was steady, but there was an edge of pain in it and he was breathing heavily. The fact that he was still sprawled on the pavement also wasn't a good sign, but it was clear that their armored teammate wasn't ready to throw in the towel. "The suit has sustained some damage, but I am fine."

"What has happened?" Thor's voice boomed over the comlink.

"Just a little accident, Stark you will sit the rest of this out." Steve stated solemnly, and then Clint practically heard the other hero break into a smile when he continued. "Miss Potts would kill me if I bring you back in less than pristine condition."

"Fine, I am retreating, but only long enough to run a diagnostic." Pain and exhaustion had started to slur Stark's usually cocky voice.

Luckily for Stark, it appeared that the battle was already over. A great roar from across the city caused Clint focused in that direction, just in time to see the Hulk throwing the ruined chunks of the laser gun off of another skyscraper. A clap of thunder finished the job, cooking the pieces into indistinguishable lumps of metal. Stark was probably going to throw a hissy fit over the demolished laser, but Clint was pretty sure that none of the other heroes would lose a minute sleep over the damage. The battle was over, in a few more minutes the whole site would be swarming with SHIELD agents who perform the cleanup.

"Hey, I'm going to have to reconstruct that you know." Stark whined as he watched Thor melt another piece.

"One cannot stop the Hulk." Thor laughed.

"I am not mad at the Big Guy. He is just doing his job." Stark was clearly miffed, but his voice was more tired than angry. "You, on the other hand, seem to be intent on making my life miserable by cooking all the pieces."

"Come on guys don't fight until after we get through the debriefing." Steve sighed clearly annoyed at his team's antics.

There was a faint hissing sound and Clint turned just in time to feel small, sharp pain at the base of his neck. The source of the threat was dead before Clint could fully process his actions, a black arrow neatly threaded through one of his eye sockets. Only after the enemy had toppled backwards did he allow his hand to feel the small feathered dart buried deep in the side of his neck. Then he felt the numbness spreading down his arm and across his shoulder. His hand spasmed, then to Clint's horror, his bow slipped loosely out of his fingers.

"I'm hit." He barely managed to croak into the com before his vocal cords also ceased to function. Then there was nothing he could do as he slid bonelessly off his perch.

Even as he plummeted towards his death, his brain wouldn't stop working. It judged the distance he was traveling and the time it had taken to get this far. He remembered his mass and calculated acceleration in earth atmospheric conditions and determined that based on the height of the building he was not going to reach terminal velocity before he smashed into the sidewalk below…Not that that would make much of a difference.

Endnote- So, it turns out someone in the hospital waiting room was working on their physics homework so I was able to do a little bit of math. Hawkeye was about 320 feet in the air and according to the comics, he has an official weight of 230 lbs. If no one manages to come to his aid, Hawkeye would hit the pavement in 8.08 seconds at a velocity of 79.2 meters per second. So, in short, not a good day for Clint.

Next Chapter- Watching a teammate plummet from the top of a 26 story building was one of the most stressful parts of the job...luckily it was something Stark's actions could effect. Unfortunately, things are just going from bad to worse.