25

You respond to the hail with a simple, "Hawkeye." You know better than to compromise your identity to an unknown caller.

"Hawkeye, it's Coulson," comes a familiar voice from the other end of the line. "I'm not sure why your standard channel isn't working. You have a sniper at your six; maybe you want to take care of that."

Oh. Yeah, you should probably take care of that. You turn slowly, moving to a position with better cover even as your eyes scan the forest behind you, trying not to look as though you're doing it. The hunt pays off; the guy is sitting in a tree almost directly behind you, and it takes you about a second and a half to nock an arrow, draw, release, and watch him fall.

"Thanks," you say. "So, how's the weather back at HQ?"

"No chatter on official -" says Coulson, but then he realizes what you already know - that he's not on an official channel at all.

You grin. "How's the weather?" you repeat, because nothing improves a boring mission like a decent conversation.