Work Text:
“I will be back home soon sweetheart,” Clint promised Laura with a soft kiss. He hated going undercover now he had a family waiting at home.
“Just be safe Clint, I don’t know what I would do if you didn’t come home to me,” Laura sighed, resting her head tenderly on Clint’s shoulder as she pulled him closer.
“I will be back okay. I’ll miss you all,” Clint smiled weakly as he embraced all of his children. Cooper had just turned nine a few weeks ago and Clint had taken the time to explain to him the important job his father did. “You’ve got to be the man of the house okay Coop?” Clint joked, ruffling his eldest’s mop of hair.
“I promise Dad,” Cooper murmured sadly but he still embraced his father.
“Lila, you look after your little brother okay?” Clint smiled and his six year old daughter smiled back with joy at being given some responsibility. Clint looked back at his ever growing family as he heard his quinjet landing in the field to the front of the farmhouse. He hated leaving them but so many agents had already been burned trying to take down Marco Mas. He was the best the new SHIELD had. It was his responsibility to go in there.
Clint’s eye fluttered open and what he saw terrified him. “Watching me sleep, new low even for you,” Clint tried to sound confident but his voice cracked and was weaker than he expected. How long was he out cold? He recognised the room; it was Mas’ dungeon. His old employer delighted in the theatrics and thoroughly enjoyed keeping the people who betrayed him down here to extract information. The walls were stainless steel with cupboards built in; as Clint had moved up Mas’ rankings he knew what was in those cupboards. A bed sat in the corner so people would not have to be moved after they were forced to talk. Clint hung from the ceiling, in old fashioned steel manacles. His feet were loosely chained together but they could reach the floor taking weight off his abused shoulders.
“You know nothing of my lows Clint,” the man replied, stepping towards Clint and gripping him round the neck. “Now what do you think my reaction was when I return home to find the man who has taken my place in Mas’ organisation is Clinton Francis Barton, Hawkeye, my little brother.”
XXX
“It has been four weeks since Clint last checked in!” Natasha shouted at Phil as soon as she stormed into his office.
“Natasha,” Phil began with a sigh but he was soon cut off by the continuation of Natasha’s tirade.
“He has now missed two check ins and I hear you are refusing to send in a team after him!” she continued to scream.
“Clint knew full well that he may miss a few check ins while he was under. There is nothing to worry about Romanoff,” Phil tried to reason with the superspy but Natasha was not having any of it.
“If you won’t send a team in after him then I’m going without your permission,” Natasha stated. She had promised Laura and the kids that Clint would be safe on this mission. If he was missing check ins then something must be really wrong. It was her responsibility to find out what and make sure Clint was safe.
“If you do that then you will be going in rogue Tasha. You could put Clint in danger along with yourself. I know that I cannot stop you, just make sure you think this is the right thing to do,” Phil sighed, he knew to Natasha was going to go her own way, he just prayed she went about it in the right way.
“This is the right thing to do, it just isn’t what the rulebook states,” Natasha huffed, spinning on her heels and striding out of the office. She knew what needed to be done, but first she had to do some research. There would be no point running in there full on with no back up if she did not know who she was up against.
The more Natasha researched, the more the uneasiness grew in her gut. Marco Mas was an old fashioned bad guy. He believed that the old ways of running an illegal business; he was a strong advocate of loyalty and was known to torture those who had things he wanted or betrayed him. His empire was built on fear meaning that people would kill themselves so they would not reveal anything. Each and every agent that had gone undercover had been returned either dead or with a significant lack of information. Clint had been their last hope; Mas refused to hire women into his inner circle so despite Natasha being better undercover, it would be pointless. She had put out feelers in the SHIELD informer network to see if anything had changed in the Mas network in the past few weeks. It took another week before Natasha felt comfortable going in after Clint. I seemed that if any of the inner circle betrayed him then he would deal with it in his main base, located in Mexico, just south of the border. This wouldn’t usually be SHIELD business but they had heard that he was dealing in arms that had been collected from various alien events. It was easier to just take down the whole organisation than just to stop the areas that affected SHIELD. Mas also always returned the bodies to their respective organisations; if Clint was dead his body would have been returned, it was an intimidation and respect thing. She just prayed the same would be the case by the time she got there.
“Hell no!” Darren exclaimed, trying to push past Natasha. She had managed to track down one of the few people that had been able to escape from the Mas organisation. Darren Johnson was an ex-CIA operative that had never made it into the inner circle; the CIA intercepted a message revealing Darren’s true identity and had managed to pull him out before Mas’ clean-up crew got to him.
“I don’t need you to go back under. I just need you to help me sneak in,” Naatasha tried to rationalise with him but she could understand his fear. If he was found then he would not be so lucky to get out twice. “We will not get caught. Just take me to the base and brief me on the ways in. I will leave you alone after that, you can enjoy your retirement in peace,” Natasha continued, she was not one to stand down.
“One last trip, that’s all I am doing. When you get there you are on your own agent,” Darren eventually conceded.
“That is fine with me,” Natasha smiled, shaking Darren’s offered hand.
“First things first. Everything is monitored within 2 miles of the base. You will need to park further away and try to sneak in on foot. It is relatively barren but there is some cover, probably enough if you are fast and efficient,” Darren explained as they walked into his house. Natasha did feel bad about dragging him into this. Darren had a family and a good life, it wasn’t often people did manage to get out of the spy life. He had done well with himself. Clint had been trying to leave for years now but every time he tried to get out, there was a major mission or the Avengers were needed. Natasha knew the pain this caused his family especially with the birth of Nathaniel and Clint’s almost death six months ago.
“All of the doors are heavily guarded and the security system is state of the art. You will need to cut off the electricity before even trying to get in. It takes five minutes for the backup generator to click into action,” Darren explained, he had sketched a quick map of the mansion and was highlighting things to her.
“So I have to get from the power box into the house within five minutes,” Natasha sighed, this was going to take work but it would have also been harder to achieve in a group.
“Really the further you get within that five minutes the better. But you need to get into the building at least. The easiest way will be through the sky lights. They are bullet proof glass but you can cut through it with a high intensity laser,” Darren continued, circling where the skylights were on his map. Skylights were not ideal, she would need to get down into the cellar to get to the dungeons where Clint would be held. That meant she would have to get through the house without being detected. “You don’t need to worry about replacing the glass, no one ever checks the roof as there is a laser grid inside the skylights and the glass is pressure sensitive. However these will go offline when you cut the power,” Darren continued. Natasha was honestly surprised how this man could know so much and still be alive. He must be really good at hiding. It had taken her a while to find him and she was the best in the business. “You cannot get back out that way as the system will be back up. After that you need to sneak down onto the next floor. In the North West corner there will be a dumbwaiter, which is protected by a five digit code. It changes daily but they never wipe their fingerprints off it so you can get the code easily,” the route was drawn onto the map once again. The dumbwaiter goes all the way down to the dungeons but only if the power is off. If the power is back on then there is a scanner that scans for living material between the kitchens and the dungeons. If the power is back then you need to get out in the kitchens,” they flipped onto the next page showing floor plans of the kitchens and dungeons. The kitchens should be empty but there is a camera in the south west corner of the room. It rotates on a pattern and speed that changes every week. You will need to drill a hole in the door of the dumbwaiter and watch what the camera does to be able to get past it,” Darren explained, Natasha was growing more and more impressed.
“How do you know this is all still in date?” Natasha questioned before they continued.
“Clint sent me a message that the security systems were the same but improved on the cells,” Darren confessed.
“Clint was in contact with you!” Natasha exclaimed, her eyes widening.
“I spoke with him before he went under. He promised to keep me updated on any developments,” Darren shrugged, Natasha understood. He couldn’t leave it be, if Mas came after him he needed to be prepared and have advanced warning. It was clever. “Anyway, once you have got past that camera is when you are on your own. You need to step out of the kitchens and down the corridor without being noticed by the guards, there is a door down to the dungeons at the end. That needs a handprint to open. I never got further than that and to be honest with you I don’t have a plan to get him out,” Darren confessed but Natasha still thanked him profusely, he was a valuable font of knowledge in all things Marco Mas.
“Good luck agent Romanoff, take him down. I couldn’t back then, you and Agent Barton need to finish this,” Darren smiled, offering her hand as she stood to leave.
“I never lose,” Natasha smiled in return.
XXX
“Aww poor little Clinton,” Buck taunted from where he loomed over where Clint was laid on the floor. Clint hated training with Buck, the self-deemed Trick-Shot but Jacques demanded that his assistant made the most of his archery talent. He always said that the apprentice to the Swordsman must be the best at what he does. And Clint’s talent was archery.
“Come on Clint, get up,” Barney huffed, with his arms folded. His was painting a picture of impatience and irritation which was entirely unwarranted.
“You just shot me!” Clint screamed, pulling the arrow out of his leg. Blood poured from the open wound before Clint could pulled his coat off and pressed it down on the wound.
“It’s your own fault boy. An archer’s strength is in distance but you cannot be static. You need to learn to dodge and shoot at once. People never learn without risk Clint,” Buck continued, hauling Clint to his trembling legs despite the teenager’s cries of pain.
“You’re an embarrassment to the Barton name,” Barney huffed before they dragged Clint back to the Swordman’s caravan.
“Don’t bleed on the floor!” Clint’s mentor shouted as he was thrown inside. Sometime he hated the circus.
Clint came too slowly with a pounding in his head and a numbness everywhere else. He remembered Barney giving up on his interrogation when Clint threw up on his shoes. It was just his luck that Barney was involved in Mas’ enterprises. The one person in the world that hated him so passionately was now in control of his life. But he had missed at least three check-ins now, someone should be coming to help him out. Unless SHIELD was not willing to risk more agents. Clint somehow managed to supress a cry of pain as he tried to lift his head. His shoulder was definitely dislocated and he could feel blood dried on the back of his head. His big brother certainly employed primitive forms of torture but Clint didn’t know how long he could hold out from this onslaught. Marco knew that Clint was high up in SHIELD and wanted all the information he could get about the agency that was out for his head. Clint had so far managed to keep the information to himself but he could feel his resolve cracking as Barney slammed a wrecking ball into it. “Are you ready to talk little brother?” Barney taunted, out of Clint’s eyesight. Clint didn’t respond. He needed to keep his personal demon out of his head, if he let Barney under his skin then he would not survive this. And he had to survive this, for Laura and the kids.
XXX
Natasha sat in her beat up old jeep with her eyes closed. This was it. If she messed this up then both of them would die, and not even a pleasant death. It would be slow and painful as they watched each other fall apart and reveal all of their secrets. She could not let that happen. It was a quarter of an hour walk to the mansion and she had to take care. The cameras would be watching hence the fact she was dressed like a desert. She hoped that if she took if slow and kept her head down the security guards would not recognise her as a person, she would just be a moving dust cloud; well that was the plan anyway. She set into motion, slinking through the night and trying to carry on going through the tension building in her gut. People never believed that the great Black Widow felt fear or nerves, but she did. Her skill set was just in fighting through them. She never let the nerves or fear she felt stop her, and that was the key skill of a spy. The desert was silent and barren with just a singular road running through. Natasha made sure to stay away from the road, they were less likely to be monitoring the wildness then the road cutting through it.
Somehow no one noticed the camouflaged figure slinking towards the base and Natasha was safe in one of the highlighted camera blind spots. Now she had to be fast. She just needed to overload the system through a security control panel on the side of the building to short circuit the system and take down the power grid. She had done this a million times before. Just not in a minute. That was how long she had before the camera spun back around and she was caught before this had even really begun. The camera slowly slid round away from the box and Natasha jumped into action. She had pulled off the camouflage and was now just wearing her normal cat suit for ease. The jimmied the lock and set to work striping and reworking the wires. With five seconds left, sparks flew from the wires and Natasha watched the lights flicker out and cameras stop. Stage two was in the bag.
The building wasn’t too high, Natasha told herself as she pulled on the new gloves she had stolen from the research department. They could stick to any surface and we easy to pull off, perfect for climbing a five storey high mansion in the dark; or so they told her. The practice went okay so Natasha wedged her foot on one of the window ledges and pulled herself up with the gloves. Natasha really did not like relying on technology. She much preferred the old methods of spy work, deception and stealth. However they would not be enough here, and Clint’s life was on the line. Unfortunately there was not time to be steady. There was a strict time frame that left no time for caution. She raced up the side of the building as fast as her straining arms could carry her. It wouldn’t be long before someone came round to investigate the short circuit. Of course Natasha had tried to disguise her handiwork but she was no electrician. Eventually someone would work out that it was sabotage. But hopefully both of them would be long gone by the time they did.
As Darren informed her, the laser grid was down and the laser that she had borrowed cut through easily. The landing was opulently decorated like it belonged in a European palace not a drug lord’s mansion but if you have money then you might as well spend it. She hooked a rope onto the ventilation fixture and dropped it down the hole. It made a soft thump on the polished floors but no movement stirred. Two minutes had already passed as she dropped down onto the top floor. All was still. The cameras were still shut down and no guards were patrolling. Darren had explained that this section was the staff’s sleeping area, the only time there would be movement was at switchover, which was in an hour’s time. Softly, Natasha raced across the foyer and leant down the stairs, she couldn’t hear anything. Everything was too still, too easy. That was when she saw them, a group of three guards were walking down the corridor straight towards the dumbwaiter she needed to be in. Two minutes remaining. She need to be in that dumbwaiter before the time ran out and the cameras came back into action. The group of guards turned to stand at the top of the next flight of stairs; it did not look like they were going to be moving any time soon. Natasha was going to have to take them out and quietly too. She padded down the stairs with a silence that only the best spies had mastered. One of the men walked down the stairs and the others stood to attention looking away from her and down the flight of stairs. It seemed no one was expecting an attack from above. She really needed to buy Darren a fruit basket for his help throughout this. That was if she made it out alive. With a quick movement she wrapped her arm around the neck of the man on the left and used his honestly impressive stature to throw them both onto the other guard. It all happened in a flash, even for Natasha who instigated the scuffle. They all fell into a heap and somehow Natasha managed to knock them both out without a sound, until she tried to move from the pile of limbs. One of the guards was dislodged and slowly slid down the stairs. She had one minute left. Now she had to prioritise, what was the best plan? She could either leave the bodies on the stairs and carry on with the plan or hide the bodies and find another way down.
The dumbwaiter was tiny and very hard to operate from the inside. Natasha spent the whole of the ride down cursing herself for being so sloppy with dispatching the guards. In the end she had pushed both their unconscious bodies down the stairs to make it look like an attacker was heading upwards not down. She just had to get out of this moving box before sensors decided to investigate the movement. Ten seconds were remaining as she hit the kitchen level. With another prayer, Natasha rolled out of the dumbwaiter with a gun raised. She was not used to leaving a plan like this up to chance; she was always over prepared with back up plans and a team at her beck and call. But now there was only one plan, and that was sketchy at best. There was no back up waiting for her call; now was not a time for flaunting her ability and divine intervention would be much appreciated. Thankfully there was no one present to witness this display but she had taken to long dealing with the guards. The plan was out and she had to improvise to get through the kitchens without being noticed. In a flash of motion Natasha managed to press herself against the wall as the cameras whirred into action. Darren had said that the camera followed a pattern; she still just needed to work out the pattern to be able to get out into the corridor. It took a few cycles of the pattern before Natasha worked it out. If she pressed herself flat against the wall she would have fifteen seconds to get to the door and out. As soon as the camera began to shift she ran. Within ten seconds she was at the door and thankfully it opened without any resistance. She shut the door just as her count reached fifteen.
“What are you doing down here?” a voice spoke up behind her. Natasha closed her eyes and groaned; she had got all the way without being spotted and she had become sloppy. Slowly, she stood up and turned round to find herself face to face with four guards. Four shouldn’t be too hard to take down.
“I know what the famous Black Widow is doing here. She is trying to rescue her partner,” a gruff voice chuckled. A tall, muscular figure had just stepped out of the door from the dungeons and stood smirking at her with his three guards.
“And who might you be,” Natasha asked, trying to reach for her gun before he noticed.
“The man who has been torturing dear Clinton for the past month or so. I have to tell you he is quite loyal. He has only spilled on insignificant details so far. But I am enjoying this far too much to let you take him Miss Romanoff,” he continued, gesturing for a guard to disarm her before she could pull the weapon on him. Of course she tried to stop him but seven on one was not good odds. Natasha managed to knock out three and shoot one in the shoulder before the leader managed to pin her against the wall. “Come with me Natasha. Can I call you Natasha?” he smiled pushing her forwards.
“How about no,” Natasha growled as she walked down the stairs. Cells lined the sides of the corridor looking like a tradition dungeon but with high tech security measures. However her attention was drawn to the end cell. Blood stained the stainless steel walls and Clint hung limply in the manacles hanging from the ceiling. His hair had become unruly and stubble dusted his chin. Blood mixed with sweat dripped down his bare chest and his body was shivering noticeably. He wasn’t going to last much longer at the hands of this maniac. Natasha was thrown into one of the cells and the door slammed behind her.
“I also want to thank you Natasha. You just revealed all the holes in Mr Mas’ security,” the man taunted as he walked away from her cell and towards Clint’s.
“Leave her alone Barney,” Clint whispered, weakly through his clearly abused throat.
“I can’t do that Clinton,” Barney replied. Natasha had heard the name Barney before, in reference to Clint’s past.
“So how did you end up working for the law then?” Natasha questioned. They were on a stakeout in London where someone was smuggling some form of extra-terrestrial matter. They didn’t know what it was and SHIELD didn’t really care. They would get their scientists to investigate as soon as the object was back on American soil.
“What?” Clint replied, his brow furrowing.
“You know how I got into the SHIELD life, what’s your story hawk?” Natasha asked again.
“I used to live with the circus with my brother,” Clint began solemnly. Now Natasha did not see Clint as a circus kid, but that did give an explanation for his embellished bow and arrow tricks. “After I had been there a couple of months I was taken in as the apprentice of a sword juggler called the Swordsman. He taught me all the knife skills I know and he brought in another circus member called Trick Shot to teach me archery skills. My brother always resented me for this as he was thrown to the side in favour of his baby brother. One day I caught Swordsman stealing from the circus and confronted him. He nearly killed me and Trick Shot saved my life. I owed him a debt and he pulled me into the criminal life. I worked with him for about a year, I tried to get out but he had too tight a hold,” Clint continued, this was clearly hurting him but Natasha knew how much it helped to get it off your chest. Clint had helped her do that, now she would help him. “We were caught breaking into a criminal’s mansion by some of his security. I shot one of the guards, it was my brother. It was Barney,” Clint muttered, tears dripping down his face silently. “I was caught then as I refused to leave Barney to die. SHIELD arrived in my cell and told me that they could give me a job and I could leave the criminal life behind. I took it, and haven’t looked back since.”
The man torturing her best friend was his brother. The brother who’s life he had ruined by getting him kicked out of the circus and then shooting him. No wonder the maniac was enjoying this so much. But Natasha knew that Clint regretted everything that happened and those demons were constantly haunting him like Natasha’s past haunted her. She was going to have to get them both out of here. However there were two guards outside of her door and two outside Clint’s, not counting Barney. It was then the screaming began. Natasha had been tortured before and she knew Clint had as well, but those were screams of someone’s soul being torn apart. Sounds she never wanted to hear coming from her partner. He was at the stage where pain was everything. Then all feel quiet and Barney strutted past her door with a self-satisfied smirk. “He will talk Romanoff, or he will die. And then it is your turn.” So Natasha spent the whole night planning. She was going to have to take out the guards outside her cell and Clint’s then shoot out the cameras. If they were going to make it out of here alive there needed to be an element of surprise about their attack. It also needed to be soon. As soon as Clint talked they would both be dead without even a change of escape and Natasha was not sure how much longer he could last through this sustained pressure without cracking. Tomorrow night, that was when she would make her move.
The next night came and Natasha took stock. She would have to get one of guard’s attention to be able to disarm him through the door. She had managed to form a few bandages from the bedding to treat the most urgent of Clint’s wounds but there would not be much time for medical care. Once they were clear of the building that would become more urgent in her mind. However it would not do for Clint to bleed out in their daring escape. “Please, I need to talk to Barney. I can’t stand this anymore,” Natasha whimpered, leaning on the bars of the cell. Silence greeted her. “I’m begging you,” Natasha sobbed quietly, this got their attention.
“You, go find Barney,” one of the guards ordered the other one, stepping closer to the bars. Natasha sprang into action. She reached through the bars, grabbing the closest guard’s head and slamming it against them. He crumpled to the floor and Natasha grabbed his gun; that attracted the attention of the other three. With three shots all the guards were in varying degrees of pain and life and Natasha could breathe again. It was hard to rummage through the guard’s pockets through the bars but eventually she found the key card and clicked the door open. Time was of the essence. Natasha spun round, shooting out the camera and sprinting towards Clint’s cell.
XXX
“Clinton Barton, you have a visitor,” Ben, the prison warden, sighed as he opened Clint’s door. A visitor? He had been in here was a month and no one had cared. His boss was in the wind, he had been kicked out of the circus and his brother promised that the next time they saw each other Clint would die. So who would be visiting him now? Clint stepped to his feet and stood silently as Ben fastened the chains around his wrists and ankles before walking out. He was being contained as a high violence prisoner due to his history but the wardens knew he wouldn’t hurt them. They saw him as a lost boy not a villain. “Just shout if there is any problems okay,” Ben smiled softly as he opened the door. It was a private meeting meaning that the person who wanted to see him had pull in law enforcement. The man waiting for him was certainly intimidating; he was large built and wearing an eye patch. Seriously, a black eyepatch and a long black leather trench coat. “Clinton Francis Barton, please sit,” the mysterious figure requested and Clint obeyed, sliding cautiously into the chair across the table from his visitor.
“May I ask your name?” Clint replied cautiously.
“Nick Fury, direction of the Strategic Homeland Intervention and Logistics Division,” Fury stated, sliding his card across the table. Clint slowly repeated the name in his head and couldn’t help a little smile forming.
“SHIELD, I like it. Nice acronym you’ve got there,” Clint commented, however there was no response from Fury.
“I have an offer for you, and you would be wise to accept it Mr Barton,” Fury continued, Clint just managed to resist chuckling at the cliché. “I am recruiting new agents for the Strategic Homeland Intervention and Logistics Division and we would like to hire you. Your archery skills have been noted and if you accept this job we will wipe your record and get you out of prison,” Fury explained. Before Clint had never known what ‘too good to be true’ felt like.
“What about Buck, Trick Shot?” Clint questioned. The other archer had put a bounty on Clint’s head and he knew as soon as he stepped out of these doors they would lock onto him.
“We will deal with that, and the reward,” Fury nodded. There was nothing else to do, Clint held out his hand. Fury accepted it and shook, the deal was done.
“Clint, Clint wake up,” he heard a vaguely familiar voice shouting. His head was already ringing and this person was not helping the matter in the slightest. Something touched his arm and pain rippled through his mind, but Clint could only retaliate with a whimper. Every inch of energy was leaking from his body as he lay there motionless. Was this what dying felt like? He was not going to die, he would not give Barney the satisfaction of ending his life. Slowly with as much force as he could muster, Clint inched open his eyes. It was Natasha. Natasha had come for him. He was going to be okay, the Avengers would get him out of here.
XXX
Natasha smiled softly as Clint opened his eyes with a groan. But she had to get him out of here. “Clint I’m gonna lift you onto my back okay. It is going to hurt but it won’t be for long,” Natasha explained softly. His whole body was different colours with red cuts dotted around the exposed skin. His shivers had died down but there was still a bluish tinge to the minuscule area of his flesh that was not bruised. Natasha hurriedly wrapped the lone blanket over the worst of Clint’s injuries and lifted his far too light body onto her back. He let out a bone chilling cry of pain but they had already spent too much time down here. “Sorry Clint,” Natasha sighed before they set off going. She could hear Clint moaning in pain every step she took and knew that it was only going to get worse. One guard had come to investigate and was running down the stairs, he was easily dispatched with one shot to the leg. She needed to save bullets as none of the guards carry any spare ammo on them. It wasn’t ideal to have to fight her way out but it had to be done. There would be no sneaking in Clint’s condition. She jogged up the stairs, just coping with Clint’s bulk on her back. Thankfully her partner wasn’t too tall and she had dragged him out of places before. Two more guards were running down the corridor and they were dispatched simply. There couldn’t be too many more in this house when the boss wasn’t even here. However she could hear numerous footsteps upstairs. Then everything fell silent. Natasha stopped in her tracks at the silence. It wasn’t right.
Then the wall exploded.
Even though it was on top of the landing, Natasha was still thrown back by the sheer force of the explosion. Somehow, probably due to her impressive reflexes, Natasha managed to roll over to protect Clint’s now fragile body with her own. The debris stung her back but she stayed curled over Clint until the dust settled. It seemed like the blast had taken out the rest of their pursuers but who knows who would be following the bomb through. “I said get us in not kill everyone inside!” an exasperated voice shouted over the ringing of her ears.
“Sorry Cap,” another apologised. The Avengers were here.
XXX
“Morning Clint,” Phil laughed as Clint spun round, bow up and aimed. It always had amused Phil that Clint refused to go anywhere without the weapon despite its bulk.
“For god’s sake Phil, I could have shot you!” Clint shouted, eventually lowering the bow and trying to shake the tension from his muscles; it still unnerved him when people snuck up on him.
“The director has a preposition for you. He has tasked me with assembling a team of the best,” Phil explained, passing a file over.
“The Avengers Initiative?” Clint questioned as he flicked through; Captain America, the Hulk, Iron Man, Tasha. “Why do you want me? I don’t have any powers,” Clint questioned.
“They need someone level headed, a person who is experienced in life and missions,” Phil explained. It made sense, if they brought together this team the egos would be unbearable. Everyone would want to lead but they wouldn’t know how. Plus putting Tony and Steve together in small spaces was never a good plan.
“I’m in. Who are we recruiting first?” Clint questioned with a smile.
“You are not recruiting. I have another job for you. SHIELD has obtained an artefact that is currently being studied and needs protection,” Phil explained. “I want someone we trust heading the effort.”
“Glad to know you trust me Phil,” Clint joked but he was ready; both Fury and Coulson trusted Clint despite his shady past. He would serve them well and loyalty for all they had done to help him get his life back together.
Clint’s eyes flickered open to a shining brightness. Somehow, with reserves of strength he didn’t realise he still possessed, he managed to keep his eyes open despite the onslaught. “Hey handsome,” Laura sighed, he couldn’t see her but he had never been so relieved to hear her voice in his life. Barney had claimed that he knew where Clint’s family lived but he had no way of getting a message to them so SHIELD could bring them in. If Laura was here and happy then they must be safe. But they were going to have to move again, at least Clint would have a new house to do up once he was recovered. However the currents of pain that roared through his body implied that his recovery was going to be a long and hard one. “Stay still darling, you got yourself a little beat up and need to rest,” Laura soothed, repositioning the blanket that was tucked round his legs.
“I know how bad I look,” Clint coughed, his voice barely more than a rasp. His head was surprisingly clear unlike how I had been when Natasha broke him out. “How long has it been?”
“It’s been a week and a bit darling, they kept you in a medically induced coma for a week to let your body heal better,” Laura explained slowly, like she had already tried.
“Have I woken up before?” Clint asked and the frown on Laura’s face said it all. That was why he was so awake, because he couldn’t remember having this conversation so many times before.
“You’ll get better Clinton, and that is all that matters,” Laura softly scolded, drawing him out of his mind, but was interrupted by someone pushing open the door. Clint didn’t even try to turn to see who it was. He knew that Steve would have people guarding the door and he knew how much pain such a simple movement would cause in his disintegrating body.
It was just Dr Cho, they had both bonded over the experience of having their minds controlled by the tesseract. It was a haunting experience and it was nice to have someone else to share the nightmares with. Laura knew about his nightmares but he really didn’t want to worry her any further when she had the kids to look after. His family was his everything and he would never see them hurt. “Hey doc,” Clint wheezed before being scolded, once again, by Laura for exerting himself.
“Morning Clint, I would ask how you are feeling but I think I can guess that much,” Helen chuckled, picking up Clint’s charts from the end of his bed as she spoke.
“Does your guess include a rude word?” Clint rasped and Helen laughed.
“Why yes it does how ever did you guess,” Helen replied.
“Tell me what’s up doc, don’t sugar-coat it,” Clint sighed, slowly looking up and down his unresponsive body.
“Well the good news is that it seems Barney deliberately did not do anything that could kill you unless we do not treat it properly,” Helen began.
“Probably wanted to kill me himself,” Clint whispered.
“But however you have multiple lacerations, a couple of which are infected. We are giving you a dose of antibiotics through the IV,” Helen continued. She was clearly pretending to ignore Clint’s depressing, but probably true comment.
“The extensive bruising means we are quite concerned about internal bleeding so we are also infusing some more blood, thankfully Sam Wilson is your blood type and he was willing to donate,” Helen explained, Clint made a mental note to send Sam a fruit basket when he was better. Actually after all this, everyone was getting a fruit basket. He owed them that much.
“We hope it shouldn’t be long before the worst of the discolouration fades. Your cheek bone was fractured but we have managed to repair it with minimal facial scaring. There was also some damage around your ribs and three broken ribs. It is going to be a long recovery but we believe there will be no major permanent damage,” Helen smiled. Clint was relieved to hear there would be no permanent damage but he knew this was the end of his active duty. He wouldn’t be going out into the field again. And maybe that was for the best.
Helen left once she checked his vitals were all okay. Clint was beginning to feel tired again but another person knocked on the door. “Do you mind if we have a minute?” Natasha asked from the doorway and he saw Laura nod. Laura pressed a soft peck to his forehead before making way for Natasha. Clint knew that his wife understood the relationship he had with Natasha. It was closer than friends, Tony described it as platonic soulmates and it did make sense. They shared guilt over their pasts and the bonding that comes with repeatedly saving each other’s lives.
XXX
“Miss Romanova,” an unfamiliar voice called out. Natasha stiffened slightly. She was supposed to be undercover as an American model by the name of Natalie Rushman. No one should know her real name. She had never been caught in all her time working for the Red Room. She spun round with a knife appearing in her hand to find a pistol pressed to her forehead. A pair of cold blue eyes met hers and she saw a flash of regret behind the mask. “Regrettably I have been sent here to kill you,” her assailant stated as if this was a normal thing to be talking about in an alley in London.
“Then you will understand that I can’t let you do that,” Natasha replied, she had to stay calm to get away from him. The surprisingly short and innocent looking man was clearly a trained assassin to be able to find out her identity and sneak up on her like that. He would never let her live.
“Before we fight about this. Do you want to kill Natalia?” her assassin asked, stunning Natasha once again.
“What?” she explained, eyes wide open and jaw slack. The gun was lowered from her forehead.
“The organisation I work for wants to give you another chance. We have heard about what the Red Room does,” the man stated, it seemed he didn’t want to kill her. “We want to give you a chance to help people not kill them Natalia,” he continued. And Natasha didn’t know what was happening. Her training was screaming at her to kill him, so why wasn’t she. The knife was in her hands and he was unprotected but yet she couldn’t lift her hand and plunge the blade into his chest.
“Think on my offer,” he shrugged, turning to walk away with no concern for his safety.
“What’s your name agent?” Natasha shouted after him.
“Clint Barton, Agent of SHIELD,” he smiled and it was then Natasha knew she would end up accepting his offer.
“Both Barney and Marco are in the wind,” Natasha sighed as soon as Laura had shut the door. She had spent the last week hunting for the two fugitives but they were nowhere to be seen. Clint’s face dropped and a slowly closed his eyes.
“I knew it wouldn’t be that easy, Barney would not be a valid nemesis if you had been able to find him,” Clint replied and Natasha was surprised, he seemed incredibly calm about everything that had been thrown at him.
“I’ve upped the protection around you, Laura and the kids. They will be staying in the base until you are well into your recovery and the high levels of Mas’ organisation have been taken down. Their room is next to mine. I’ll take care of them,” Natasha promised. Auntie Nat took her responsibilities very seriously. Nothing would happen to his family while Natasha was with them.
“Make sure they stay safe Nat,” Clint whispered and he finally succumbed to the exhaustion gripping his bones.
“I will.”
XXX
“Wake up Clinton,” a voice hissed in his ear, jolting Clint out of his deep sleep. It had been a week since he awoke fully from the medically induced coma and according to the overly positive nurses, he was improving greatly. He could now sit up with assistance and move his arms with only minor pain. Barney loomed over his weak form with a taunting smile and a psychotic glint in his eye. It said a lot for Clint’s character that his first concern was for the fates of the guards stationed at his room. Barney would never leave any survivors, he would never let anyone see his face that he did not intend to kill. And that included Clint. “I wasn’t finished with you when your lady friend rudely interrupted us,” Barney laughed, pulled Clint up so he was leaning on the wall. Clint deliberately didn’t resist. He needed to save all scraps of his energy to be able to make it out of here alive. There was hours before the next change of guards so he was going to have to do this himself. But Natasha made sure he was prepared, inside his sleeve was an emergency button that he just had to press without Barney noticing him. And under the pillow Barney had thrown him on, was a knife. He hated being defenceless and so he had convinced Natasha to sneak the small blade into his room. He was going to have one chance to pull this off.
“You had your chance Barney. I am protected here,” Clint replied, his voice surprisingly strong in the face of the man behind his latest set of nightmares. He knew that despite his power, Barney was just a bully that never grew up. He was used to his baby brother just rolling over and obeying his every whim. But Clint had managed to grow up and he wasn’t scared of his big bad brother anymore.
“Oh really, lets see your precious SHIELD save you from this,” Barney laughed maniacally and pressed his hand against Clint’s neck. He let out a cry of pain but this was moment he needed. Clint slowly worked the knife out of its hiding spot as Barney pushed harder and harder, crushing his windpipe. There was not much more time; black spots were already forming at the edges of his vision. The blade finally came loose and without a moment’s hesitation, Clint plunged it into his brother’s chest. Barney’s grip loosened in slow motion as he looked down as the knife sticking out of his chest, back up as Clint with an almost comedic expression and then fell to the floor. Strained breaths tore through Clint’s chest as he stared in shock as Barney’s limp form. He couldn’t believe he had done it. He had just stabbed his big brother. Barney was dying, on his hospital floor.
Laura was worried. Clint had barely spoken a word since they ran in to find him shaking and Barney bleeding out on the floor. Clint’s brother was the devil in disguise but he was still her brother in law. Despite all they had done to each other, Clint still cared for the boy that raised him and it tore him up inside to plunge that knife into Barney’s chest. But her husband had always managed to pick himself back up after things like this. He was barely effected by any mention of his parent’s deaths or his childhood issues. But this had hit him deep. She just didn’t know what to do to help him.
The doctors said that he was recovering well especially with the help of Dr Cho’s technology. It wouldn’t be long before he would be up and moving about again. After that it was going to be a long road back to physical peak fitness but they were optimistic he would make it. The one downside was that he would never be fit enough to be a field agent again; Phil had been the one to break the news to him and Laura could see Clint’s spirits crumble once again. However Phil did have another job to offer his best agent. Clint Barton was promoted to the handler of the Avengers, he was the one in charge of keeping track of them all and was the home base operative on missions. Phil had a lot on with the rebuilding of SHIELD and was happy to delegate the team of troublesome heroes to someone else. “Morning sweetie,” Laura called out, finally building up the courage to step into her husband’s hospital room. He lifted up his head with a weak smile at her arrival.
“Morning, how are the kids?” Clint asked as he used the remote to manoeuvre himself into a more comfortable upright position.
“Wanda is brilliant with Lila and Cooper adores Pietro,” Laura chuckled. She had been upset at first when Clint brought the rest of the Avengers home but through all this she really appreciated their support. Either Natasha or the twins were always on hand to look after the kids if she ever needed a break and the other members of the team were all involved in the manhunt for Mas. Clint chuckled, “I wouldn’t have thought the twins would be babysitter material.”
“I think it’s because their childhood wasn’t the best. They want our kids to have the best experiences possible,” Laura smiled, settling down to perch on the bed next to her husband.
“Thanks for including them, I’m sort of invested in them both,” Clint sighed but it wasn’t in regret. It was him that convinced Wanda to team up with the Avengers and Pietro did risk his life to save Clint’s, he couldn’t just leave them alone now. It was clearly the father in him speaking.
“Just don’t bring home any more strays okay,” Laura teased light heartedly.
XXX
Slowly Clint was feeling better both in mind and body. A week later the doctors announced that Clint had been progressing well with the exercises and was allowed to try walking again. But now he was standing at the end of his bed with Sam on one side and Pietro on the other it was looking less and less like a good idea. “Come on old man,” Pietro taunted as they just stood there waiting for Clint to be ready to take that first step.
“Oh shut up. I’ll do this in my own time,” Clint grumbled, but in doing that it made him feel even older than before. He had to do this. Slowly and tentatively Clint lifted his foot, his still recovering balance deserted him. Clint slumped into Sam and Pietro, gathering himself back up again.
“You can do it Clint,” Sam spoke out as Clint straightened back up again.
“I know,” Clint replied, ready to try once again. With another steadying breath, Clint stepped forwards. It felt like he was jumping into the void with no idea what awaited him on the other side. However this time his trembling limbs managed to withstand the weight and Pietro let out a woop of joy. Now the twins had abandoned their revenge mission, Clint was getting to know them and they were just kids, kids that had been forced to grow up too quickly. Another two steps and Clint was practically falling asleep once more, but he had done it. He had taken the first step in his recovery.
XXX
Clint stood in front of the mirror, trying to tie his tie with shaking hands. Laura given up trying to help him get ready as he snapped her head off for her earlier attempts. It was finally the day for Barney’s funeral and Clint didn’t know what he should be feeling. When Steve brought up the problem of what to do about Barney, Clint had insisted that his brother needed a funeral. Now he was starting to regret that action. The only person attending that actually knew the deceased was the man who killed him, this was never going to be a good idea. But on the other hand, he needed to do this for what we left of his brother. Barney hadn’t always been like the man Clint killed. Before their parents had died Barney had been the best big brother Clint could wish for. However when they ran away from the orphanage and joined the circus, Barney became twisted by the thieves and murderers they were living with. The same almost happened to Clint. He was lucky to get out when he did, or he would be still there now. Or sharing the same fate as his brother.
There was no grandiose ceremony or tearful farewell. Clint barely said a word throughout the whole proceedings, it still hadn’t sunk in that this was actually goodbye, and his brother wasn’t just slinking away coming back when it served him. He was really gone. Clint had no one left from his old life. All ties were gone and he could finally move on with his life. It was like a weight he didn’t realise he bore was lifted from his chest. But he couldn’t be happy about it, not when it had to come with Barney’s death. That blood would forever stain his hands. “Come on Clint,” Natasha whispered once the grave had been filled. Clint was the only one left standing out in the cold and the superspy had returned to pull him out of the pit of grief he was lingering on the edge of. “Everyone’s waiting for you inside, you should be resting.” It was true, he felt drained to the core and just wanted to sleep. However he had a duty, he had to send his brother off properly. Slowly kneeling down, Clint pressed an arrow and the knife he had used to commit the deed into the soil, covering them. It was something they learnt from the circus. Whenever someone died on the road you were supposed to forget them to let their spirit roam free. So they all buried the person with items that would have reminded them of the dead. Barney would have appricated the sentiment.
“I’m done,” Clint replied, wiping the tears from his cheeks. It was time to let the spirit roam free, and never be haunted by him again.
XXX
“Clint! Wake up!” Natasha shouted, barrelling into his room. Two months after he was rescued, Clint had been discharged from medical observation. However he couldn’t leave the base. Marco Mas was still at large and some of SHIELD’s contacts had reported that the smuggler had put a large price on Clint’s head. The depths of the criminal underworld were waiting for Clint to venture outside of SHIELD’s safety. Clint jolted out of bed, his gun subconsciously aimed at the intruder. Natasha didn’t seem to care about the weapon pointed in her direction. “We found him. We found Mas, he has been arrested,” Natasaha beamed and the gun clattered to the floor. Clint had been furious that Phil wouldn’t let him help with the investigation, he just wanted this to all be over and that would only happen when Mas was behind bars.
“Laura, Laura,” Clint exclaimed, shaking his wife. She could sleep through anything but she needed to know the news. His wife slowly blinked her eyes open and frowned at the fact Natasha was in their bed room. “They’ve caught him.”
Once Clint was given time to wake up, the whole team and the Barton family assembled in the briefing room to get all the details. Natasha, Steve and Sam were the only ones that seemed fully awake, he guessed they were the ones that made the arrest. “Tell us what happened?” Phil asked as soon as the last person arrived. Clint had never seen him around before, must be one of Steve’s new recruits.
“We managed to locate one of Mas’ agents but even with having him brought in and questioned he would not turn on Mas. There was no way of bugging him because it would be spotted as soon as Mas scans for them. But Sam knew a guy,” Natasha explained, gesturing to the new arrival.
“This is Scott, also known as Ant-Man,” Sam introduced him. The superhero community had been talking about this new arrival. Apparently he was the man who inherited Hank Pym’s shrinking suit and took down Yellowjacket when he tried to weaponise the Pym Particle.
“Morning everyone. Sam worked out that Mas would only be able to detect a bug if it was transmitting. So my job was to hide in the thug’s bag and turn on the transmitter as soon as he went through all the checks. That meant that Nat, Steve and Sam could track him straight to Mas,” Scott smirked as he explained the sting. It was clever and Sam did certainly seem very pleased with himself for coming up with this idea and recruiting Scott into the fold.
“There is already so much evidence against him and with Clint and Darren’s testimonies it is certain he will get at least life,” Steve continued, a smile was twitching at his lips no matter how hard he tried to stop it and remain in business mode.
“It’s over,” Laura whispered.
XXX
“For gods sake Scott can you please get those beasts of yours under control!”
“Sorry roadrunner, didn’t realise the bugs were getting to you.”
“Oh if you say that again I’ll stand on you, you little…”
“Boys shut up!”
“But Nat…”
“Pietro!”
“Oh come on now you are just ganging up on me! Women.”
Clint rubbed a tired hand over his face from where he was sat in the control room. Every mission went like this. They would start taking people out, then they would get cocky, then they would start to bicker and it was now Clint’s job to stop them and keep them on track. He could understand why Phil desperately wanted to delegate this job.
“For once can you please just focus on the mission?” Clint shouted as he could hear Pietro about to argue back.
“Yes dad,” Pietro, Wanda, Scott, Natasha and Sam chorused before bursting out laughing. He was going to kill them, if the villain of the week didn’t manage it first.
“I thought the mission plan was to sneak in and retrieve the object?” Clint questioned as he saw more explosions from where the fight was progressing.
“Well it didn’t go as planned and we improvised,” Steve shouted over the commotion.
“Oh and your improvising is just great,” Clint muttered, gesturing for the pilots to move the helicarrier closer now they had been spotted anyway.
“I have the object,” Vision spoke up for the first time. Clint sighed once more, at last someone remembered what they were actually there for.
“Okay retreat protect the object at all cost. I am sending a quinjet down for you,” Clint ordered, turning to his team to get the jet ready and down before the fools could mess his mission up even further.
“I just want this on the record,” it was Pietro again and Clint almost moaned in despair. “We’re lucky to have you Clint, you’re the best supervisor we could have wished for.”