Issue 15 YEAR THREE NOVEMBER Author: Lonni Holland

HAWKEYE Armed with a high-tech arsenal and the surpassing skill to use it, Clint Barton dons the familiar purple costume and fires justice from his bow.

The Good Old Days (Part Four)

cover art by Kevin Newburn

After defeating Iron Mask's men in the old west Clint, Two Gun and Rawhide are arrested, convicted of treason and sentenced to hang. As our story opens Hawkeye is the unwilling guest of honor at a necktie party.

"Oh, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!!!!!!"

BLAAAAMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!

"Gackkkk! Erk! I... can't.... breathe..."

I had expected to be kicking air, with my neck busted and my jeans likely soiled by a childish accident or two, but I wasn't. I fell, hit something hard and my legs crumpled; I lay in the dark but I... couldn't... breathe....

I was face down on a rough wooden surface, my hands still securely bound behind my back, someone clutching at my shoulder, the rope cutting deeply into my neck and I... couldn't... breathe....

I flopped around like a catfish on the bank, the blood rushing in my head made my ears ring, my vision was cloudy, my throat hurt and I... couldn't... breathe....

I could feel myself fading but then the rope around my neck was mercifully loosened and I tried to gasp in at least a bushel of air. I leaned back into someone's arms and surrendered to the blackness for a minute. I had no idea who had rescued me, or why, but I didn't really care, I was alive, and, most importantly, I could breathe again.

It was dark and I still couldn't see where I was but suddenly whatever I was lying on lurched and we burst out into the sunshine. I was sprawled in the back of a buckboard, and Two Gun and Rawhide were tossed into it beside me. I glanced to see who my rescuer was. Good Lord, it was Emily. Dressed in jeans and a shirt, she was busy untying my hands, and she looked wonderful. I glanced up at the driver of the wagon. Josh grinned back at me and slapped the reins across the horses' backs. Hadn't I seen this in a movie, Cat Ballou? I wondered when a drunken Lee Marvin and his lop sided horse would make an appearance.

There was gunfire ricocheting around as we hunkered down in the back of the buckboard. I realized that the bang I had heard, as the world had fallen out from under my feet, had been a shot cutting the rope that was around my neck. I didn't know who had fired that bullet, but if he wanted me to I'd give him a great big kiss (well, maybe a hug at least). Emily just kept us shoved down low and Josh barreled the wagon on out of town.

An hour later we were drinking coffee beside a campfire outside town and marveling at our odd collection of rescuers. Agent Nevins had intercepted Josh's letter to Hayes and taken it to him. Hayes had just tossed it aside muttering something about idiotic fan mail. Now apparently that was a big mistake, since Nevins remembered Josh and that Hayes knew him well and liked him. His suspicions aroused, he had sent a couple of telegraphs and lo and behold, a rescue was organized. It had been Clay the bartender who been the sharpshooter who had freed me from strangling, or worse. A couple of other guys from DC's had shown up along with Josh and Emily. They had managed to get here so fast by taking the train. Hmmm, guess we should have thought of that. Even a pair of Winslow's deputies were there; I guess they had been upset by Hayes' kangaroo court. One of them had thought to bring my bow and quiver. Now him I really was tempted to kiss.

A lot of debate was going on as to what we should be doing now. I stayed out of it for the most part and just listened. I felt kinda cruddy and figured I'd just let someone else run the show for a while, all I had managed lately was to almost get myself killed. I had some nasty rope burns on my neck that I knew were gonna be hell when I got back home and slipped a chainmail neckpiece on them when I donned the purple. Besides, my throat was still a bit raw so I didn't much feel like talking. Emily sat beside me, her arm around my shoulders, so I just leaned against her and took it all in. I still hadn't figured out what she was doing there, but I guess I'd find out eventually.

Nevins was still pretty torn about what part he should play, after all he was still supposed to be the President's right hand man and had no real proof that anything was wrong, just some conflicting evidence. He had organized the rescue, of course, but that was more out of his sense of justice. He'd been able to stay in the background so no one except us knew he was involved. The others were calling for a direct attack and that, to Nevins at least, was tantamount to treason. I could see both points. The hotheaded me wanted to go back to Winslow and kick some ass, but the Cap trained Avenger in me knew that we needed more than that to go on; we needed something solid.

I strained to remember anything at all about good old Rutherford B. Hayes, but I suppose the times when they were teaching that part of history class was likely also when I had been staring out the classroom window, thinking about baseball, or football, or maybe even girls. I thought I recalled something about him having a big bathtub installed in the White House because he got stuck in the old one, or perhaps that was Taft. Hayes was the one with the disputed election maybe? Yeah, that was it, just the year before. I really wished I had paid more attention in school but I guess you can't go back again. Ha! Funny thought for a guy who had time traveled as much as I had.

I had my back leaned against a rock and my head leaned on Emily. I suppose I was still tired, or the hangover had taken a lot out of me, or else getting half strung up had... whatever the reason I found myself drifting off, just catching snips of conversation.

"Matt, you're a lawyer, is there any way that was a legal..."

"So as soon as I got your telegraph I knew it was just like I've been saying. He's not even the..."

"The kid drives me nuts at times but I figured I'd tag along. You guys seemed pretty nice and I just..."

"I don't know about him. He's seemed odd ever since he decided on this western trip. Nothing in particular just..."

I had my eyes closed now, the words were becoming a soft hypnotic buzz in my ears. I was almost asleep when I heard my name and I came awake real fast.

"... and if the two of them are careful they should be able to get in and out without being caught. Clint's pretty good at this sneaky stuff."

Well, that got my attention fast. Sneaky stuff? Uhhh, okay, if Matt said so but I always thought of myself as the frontal attack type. Regardless of my self image I soon found myself out of the poncho, dark shirt and jeans I had been sporting and into a plaid shirt and overalls with a straw farmer's hat pulled over my brow, Emily in a long rather drab dress, and the two of us back in the buckboard heading to town to see if we could puzzle out what was happening. Looked like the ball was back in my court again.

We figured we'd just putter around town, look at buying the kind of supplies that a couple from the far backwoods would be getting and see if we could pick up any gossip, or maybe even get close enough to the hotel to get an idea of what the President was up to. Nevins headed back to town as well. He'd be on the inside and would help us if he could, and if it didn't compromise his position or sense of patriotic duty. We arranged a meeting for later.

As we approached town Emily asked me to stop the wagon for a minute. I did and she got down. We were at the town's Boot Hill or cemetery. I followed her as she walked to one of the graves and knelt beside it. The inscription read 'Mary Andrews 1856 - 1875'. Nineteen years old, man that was sad, but I supposed it was a part of life in these times. I wondered who she was to Emily. Then she told me.

"This was my kid sister. She was the supposedly lucky one you know. When I was sixteen I went to DC's to work off my dad's debt. Mary was fourteen so she stayed home and I would send money to her. Now Josh's dad was generous enough and I could have kept her all right but then Caleb Andrews came along and wanted to marry her. He had a spread up here and away she went. She died four years later, giving birth to her fourth child. When he wasn't getting her pregnant he was beating her. I was there when she died. Caleb had beaten her badly the day before because she was too pregnant to pleasure him the way he wanted. Of course afterwards he took her anyway. She went into labor early and died before the baby was even born. The Doctor cut it out of her but it didn't survive either."

She stopped for a minute to get her composure back. I could see the tears but she was trying to hold them back. I put my arms around her and she went on. "Clint, no one cared. It's a man's duty to discipline his wife. I can't live like that, I just can't." She sniffled. "Maybe I've been treated too well, but I can pretty much pick and choose my partners where I am. I didn't even have to entertain upstairs you know, not all of the girls do, it has always been our choice. I know you thought less of me because you think I'm a prostitute." I started to protest but she continued. "I like you, and I just wanted you to understand. Think about it though, who was the prostitute? Me? Or Mary who had to spread her legs whenever Caleb wanted and be beaten if she spoke out of line, and sometimes just because he enjoyed it, plus cook and clean and care for his squalling brats? Don't you get it? There is nothing in this country for women, we're property, we belong to the highest bidder. I'm about as close to being independent as any American woman can be. I have money, I have a good boss and I can retire in just a few years. I just wish it had been soon enough to save my baby sister."

At that she broke down and cried. I didn't know what to say or what to do so I just held her and thought about what she had said. I guess she was right, I just had never paid much attention. The west that I had dreamt of and idolized wasn't at all like I thought. Civil rights were unheard of; it was a land for the white man and all the others were second class citizens, or slaves, just under a different name. I realized that the thought of staying here really had been in the back of my head, but I knew now that I couldn't. I just didn't belong here, I never truly would.

I patted her back and held her until she stopped crying. There wasn't much to say so I didn't even try. I guess she mostly needed a hug then so that's what I gave her. When she finally did look up I leaned down and kissed her, not an intimate or passionate kiss, just an 'I care' kiss. She seemed happy with that and we got back on the buckboard and headed into town, her wiping her eyes and me deep in thought.

So, it was several hours later and there I was sneaking up the back stairs of the Winslow Hotel while Emily kept guard below. We had met up with Nevins a while back. We hadn't heard much but he was getting antsy, said Hayes was acting more and more erratic, mumbling about pink and blue enemies, which made no sense to Nevins but was starting to with me. I had managed to convince him that I really needed my bow and quiver. He had insisted that I not take them when we first came to town but I wanted them back now. Josh had brought them and then he and Clay had gone around to the front of the hotel.

I wasn't real sure where Matt and Johnny had ended up but I was standing outside the President's door listening. I didn't much like what I was hearing either. I caught something about dynamiting a dam a ways farther north. He was glibly talking about the possible destruction of a town! Josh had to be right, this couldn't possibly be the President of the United States. I had to do something, I just hoped I wasn't overplaying my hand. I hauled off and kicked in the door.

"Okay bud, how about an explanation." Hayes was seated behind a desk, plans of some town spread in front of him and a couple of henchmen standing beside him. I raised my bow with a net arrow nocked, just in case. "Don't you think that knocking off an entire town might make you a few enemies? Maybe your next election will be even closer, although one vote is plenty close."

He glanced up at me but didn't seem very concerned. "Well, Hawkeye, I wondered how long it would be before you made another appearance after your most untimely rescue. Come in, don't stand there in the doorway."

Hawkeye? Okay so how the heck did he know who I was? Two Gun, Rawhide and I had been really careful to not use our code names at all. I stepped a bit farther in the room, my bow still ready. I was just getting ready to ask him what he was talking about when something clipped me behind the ear and I toppled forward.

Damn, I knew better than to leave my back uncovered, but I guess I was underestimating them because they weren't super geeks. So there I was on the floor; my bow had fallen half way across the room from me. I was gingerly rubbing the back of my head and was being thoroughly covered by a pair of very big guns. What was even worse, I had no clue as to what I had stumbled into, well, barged into I guess.

Hayes laughed at me, kicked my bow even farther away, pulled his own gun and then told his goons to leave. They protested a bit but they left. "Okay smart boy, I suppose now you expect an explanation, and why not? It's pretty standard fare for someone in my position to rub it into the well meaning but dumb hero isn't it?"

Oh good, he had read the super villain's handbook and was about to bore me to death with an overblown description of his evil plan was he? Well, better men had tried, Doom, Korvac, Graviton, the Collector... actually I guess they all had almost bored me to death, in fact at least one or maybe more of them had kinda killed me at least once.

Well, I'd play along. "Sure, sport, lay it on me. I know, you are going to take over the world from the middle of Arizona, right?"

He laughed again. "You aren't far off, Avenger"

Avenger?!? What the... ???

"Once I have a firm hold on the United States I can use my advanced technology to expand my influence, and of course then I will be able to wipe out the future that you're from. I'm not stupid enough to just let the Marvels develop and band together to stop me."

Oh brother, another time traveler, just what I needed. Then his face started to melt and I knew I was screwed. He was a friggin' Skrull!!! How had a Skrull got into the past and where was the real President Hayes?

I didn't have my bow; I didn't have any backup Avengers kicking around; face it, I didn't have a chance. It's never stopped me before this. I still had my mouth so I figured I'd ride him a bit and see if I could get a reaction, preferably one that wouldn't get me shot.

"Man, you guys are pathetic. You never give up do you? What's the matter, can't cut it in the present so you had to come back here to pry on folks that have never dealt with creeps like you before?"

He looked pissed. I thought he was gonna whack me, but he didn't, just tightened his grip on his pistol. Pity, if he got close enough to take a swing at me I might be able to take him. I pressed on.

"So, the Skrulls get their asses kicked by every other race that can stand upright so you are trying out the past are you? Your government is pathetic. And you guys just go along with every hair brained idea your Emperor comes up with, don't you?"

"My government didn't have the vision to think of this idea. I did it! Me! R'Akreth! I proposed it to them and they told me I was a fool."

He was fuming and getting greener. I guess that's what Skrulls did, got green in the face instead of red like humans. He was pacing back and forth, getting closer all the time. I let him rant and bided my time.

"Your stupid President was easy enough to dupe and so were his minions. I knew it would work, I knew it but they wouldn't believe me." He was really angry now and getting closer...

It was over before I had a chance. I grabbed at him, he smacked me with the gun butt then threw me across the room. I hit the wall and then the cavalry arrived but I could barely see them. Things went by pretty fast, arms, legs, a chair or two, then it was over and Emily was there holding on to one of my arms, Josh was holding the other and the two of them were helping me up. I was confused again, but that seemed to be my normal state lately.

"I, uhhh, I..."

"Just bear with us a sec, Hawk, we'll figure it all out." Rawhide was there, too. So was Two Gun, and what was really annoying was everyone seemed to know what was going on and what had just happened... except me. And then it got even worse.

Clay spoke up. "Well. it's taken me years R'Akreth, but I finally managed to get my hands on you and now you are going back where you belong."

He knew this guy?

Hayes... I mean the Skrull, growled at him. "You bastard, Mir-yell, why didn't you just stay on your own world where you belonged?" "

"I've chased you over a hundred different years of history and on six different worlds and my government wasn't about to let you take over earth and change history. Do you really think the Kree are that gullible?"

A Kree too? I shoulda known. And me without my Captain Midnight decoder ring....

Well it looked like Clay, I mean Mir-yell, had things well in hand but how were we going to explain all of this to all of these people without changing the past anyway? He secured the Skrull and then motioned me off to one side. "I really have to thank you for all of your help, Hawkeye." Help? Oh yeah, I'd been a big help today, hadn't I? He continued, "We knew that R'Akreth was in this time line, and so were you a few times, but if you hadn't shown up now I might never have caught him. I've been stuck in this backwater world for five years, waiting for something to happen. You were the catalyst."

Hmmm, I hoped that was a good thing. "Well, that's great but now what are we going to do about the others who know that we are time travelers and that you guys aren't even from Earth?"

He laughed, everyone seemed to be laughing at me today. "Well, I think that your two companions are already pretty aware of the future and the existence of aliens." Well, he had that right, especially in Two Gun's case since he had even been kidnapped by the Collector a few years back. * "Agent Nevins stayed downstairs with the others, I can handle Josh. That just leaves Emily. Don't you think you can manage to charm one pretty little bar girl?"

* during the Korvac saga in Avengers late 160 - mid 170 issues

And that's exactly how we did it. Josh was delighted to be part of the big conspiracy, amazed that a guy he had thought to be just his bartender for the past few years was really an inter galactic cop, and a bit chagrined to realize that he was gonna have to replace him back at DC's too. Nevins was a bit tougher but that Kree was one smooth talker. He managed to convince him that everything was cool, especially since a couple of telegrams confirmed that the real President had been vacationing in upper New York for the last three weeks and was fine. Nevins gathered his men together, made a couple of nebulous public statements, shook hands with us and headed back to east.

Matt was pretty anxious to get back to Tombstone and Rawhide wanted to head back up to Wyoming for a while so we said our good-byes, punched each other in the arms a few times and they left. Now I had to deal with Emily. She had been pretty quiet when I had explained about who Hayes and Clay and I really were, and where and when we were from. She'd just slipped out quietly but I caught up to her as she was harnessing the team to the buckboard.

"Emily? You all right?" She looked kind of sad to me but I had no idea why.

She smiled. "Sure, Clint, I'm fine. I guess I understand now why you're so different from all the other cowpokes. I suppose I was just hoping that you might visit Show Low again some time, and maybe we could finish what we never quite got started." Yeah, okay, so I blushed again, but it sounded like a nice idea, even though I knew it was never going to happen. She continued, "Well, I know now that isn't going to happen and I'm sorry, but you can tell me one thing at least. You're from the future. Are things always going to be like this? Will sweet kids like my sister always be victims?"

I shook my head. "Things are going to change, and for the better." I knew I should say more, but what? Tell her about women's suffrage, or the civil rights movement or women's lib.... sure things were going to change, but there would always be victims too. That was part of the reason why there was still a need for spandex clad folks like me and the other Avengers. But that wasn't what she needed to hear so that wasn't what I told her. "Emily, just keep hold of your convictions and don't let anyone convince you to do things you don't want to do. Some day your daughters or your granddaughters will thank you for it."

She smiled and stood on tip toe to kiss my cheek. "Thank you, Clint. That's all I needed to know, and probably all you can tell me anyway. Good-bye."

I squeezed her hand, turned, and left.

I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona,
such a fine sight to see.
It's a girl, my Lord,
in a big buckboard,
slowing down to take a look at me.

Okay, maybe I am paraphrasing the Eagles, but there I was, all alone, getting ready to head out of town so I could flip a switch on my handy dandy pocket time machine thingie, and there was Emily smiling and waving at me, motioning for me to come with her. Hmm.... well since I technically had lots more time available to me in the past and I'd still would only be gone for six hours in the present I figured could afford to spend an hour with her, or maybe two... or three. I climbed on board and we headed out of town to find somewhere private

Well, the old west had been pretty good in spite of all the problems, and the last couple of hours had been really great. I was still a bit sore in places from the various battles we'd gotten into but Emily and I had said our rather extended good-byes in the back of the buckboard just outside town and I still had a pretty euphoric glow.

When I got back to the mansion what I really wanted was a shower, a shave and to get back to the compound so I could sleep for a week. I walked into the mansion from the Quinjet hanger, which is where I had returned to. I had grabbed my costume and figured I'd get cleaned up before I headed back to the west coast. Jarvis met me in the hallway.

":Ah Master Clint, it is good to see you again. I'm afraid the others aren't here at the moment * but there have been several urgent messages for you. Master Quicksilver, Master Falcon and a representative of a Congressman Proctor have all called several times." **

* check Avengers 429 and 430 to see where the rest of the team is

** see AWC 109

Pietro I understood, but Falcon... and a Congressman?? What the heck was going on back in LA? I bolted back down the hall, shedding my old west gear as I went. I was gonna be in costume when I got back. If I was gonna see red I'd at least be dressed in the purple and whoever had created havoc in the short time I was gone was gonna see stars!

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I have to once again thank Kevin Newburn who has provided me with the great cover art for this issue. Poor Kevin, I gave him next to nothing to work with but in only thirty minutes he had a rough sketch for me and a finished product just a couple of hours later. I faithfully promise to give him a bit more to work with and even more time to do it in for next issue.

Clint is finally back from the past, but other things from the past will continue to haunt him next issue. In the meantime he'll have more than enough to deal with in the present. Be sure to see him in the World Without arc in AWC starting in issue 109 and concluding later this month.

Next issue... do you dream in color? Well Hawkeye does.. in shades of tan and brown, surrounded by blue. Confused? Don't worry, so is Clint.

Lonni Holland
April 18, 1999

lonni@paratime.ca