Chapter Text
"Which one of you is Coulson?"
"That'd be me ma'am" Phil looked at her, but didn't lower his gun from where he had it aimed at Barton's head.
"And him?"
"Bernard, Barney, Barton ma'am." Phil told her, he watched her face and knew when she figured it out.
"Shoot him."
"No!" That was Clinton Barton, stepping in to save his brother, because Phil just wanted the older Barton gone. His finger itched on the trigger regardless.
"Fine then, Clint come here. Coulson," Phil looked at her, he hadn't even realized that he'd looked away, to watch Clint instead of her. "This phone call is for you," she tossed him her phone and he caught it. He lifted it to his ear when Clint had made his way across the living room to stand beside Trudy.
"Coulson,"
"The crackers are out."
"And the cheese is fresh, seriously you think I'd let someone toss a phone at me if I wasn’t clear?" Fury laughed.
"I think you'd do just about anything to get on Peggy Carter's daughter's good side frankly." Phil huffed a chuckle. "And I know you Phil you would do almost anything to lure a target off guard, and just because you don't usually have to, doesn't mean you wouldn't, so don't argue with me."
"Wasn't planning on it sir."
"Sure you weren't. Sitrep."
"I have a Bernard Barton in custody, he is bringing allegations against Agent Smith; he will need to be interrogated; Smith as well. My recommendation is Guantanamo for the both of them, as long as they both shall live."
"I'll take that under advisement."
"I am in the presence of a Clinton Francis Barton, and a Reggie, now Frank, Burns; who will need a full assessment form Professor Xavier. And a Ms Gertrude McClucky, whom you were just speaking with so I assume that you've given her a brief rundown of the situation."
"I did."
"Good, is there a team nearby to pick up Barton?"
"I let them know you were going in sooner than expected, they should be there shortly. Stupid ass rookie mistake by the way." Fury chuckled, Phil rolled his eyes.
"I know-wait how did you?"
"That small town has a digital security network, it's wonderful. I'm fairly certain Sitwell saw the footage before I had a chance to classify it." No denying that Fury was nearly doubled over in laughter now, Phil would take him to the mat so hard that the mats would be feeling pain. Sitwell had been Phil's handler and had seen Phil at some of his worst, so him seeing the footage wasn't the issue. No the issue was, what that footage would do to Phil's hard earned reputation if it was seen by anyone else.
"No kidding, digital security. Go figure."
"You're carefully carved image might take a small hit, but if you bring in 'your Barton' they might just let it slide."
"Piss off Nick, see you later, ass." Fury was too busy guffawing to really hear any of what Phil was saying, so Phil ended the call and held it out for Trudy to grab.
"There is a team coming for you," Phil addressed Barton the elder, making sure that he had the man's full attention. "You will be held in SHIELD custody until I get the chance to interrogate you, and it will be me, don't think for even a second that I'm going to pawn you off. I'm going to enjoy breaking you, then sending you off to spend the rest of your days in a cell where you will never have visitors, or friends, or daylight."
"You can't do that, I'm a US citizen, I'm a fed, I have ri-"
"You have nothing," Phil interrupted, he didn't like arrogance especially misguided arrogance. "First off, you committed an act of treason when you solicited the help of Agent Smith so that you could have classified information from another agency's case; that is espionage which is treason in this country. People who commit treason, guess what happens to them? They get stripped of citizenship, and rank; and they get put in Gitmo. So you no longer have any rights, do you understand?" A nod. "Good. Secondly, I would hardly call working for the FBI being a 'fed', you feebs are the lowest in the hierarchy. Period." Phil looks over at Clint, Trudy and Frank. "Do you have anything to say to your brother?" Clint started to shake his head, but Bernard opened his mouth to speak.
"You serious? You ungrateful little shit! After everything I did for you! You're gun let this asshole take me in?" Clint held Frank out for Trudy to hold, then he crossed the room to crouch in front of his brother.
"Shut up Barney," Phil had thought Clint had sounded young at the library, there was nothing young about this voice. It was deadly calm, and it made Phil's heart race a bit; but he wasn't going to self-analyze right now. "I'm done with your shit. You're my big brother, you're supposed to take care of me; all the fucking books says so."
"Since when do you know how to read, you good for nothing little-" Clint flexed to raise his hand, but he didn't follow through on the action, apparently just the movement was enough to shut his brother up. Coward, Phil thought to himself of the older Barton.
"I'm talkin Barn. I'm not stupid you know, just because I've never been taught doesn't mean I'm stupid. I remember how I was always the one standing up to dad, protecting mom while you were holed up in your closet. I was doing your job, you were supposed to protect us, but you're a coward. You think I don't know that you would have left me at the orphanage and never once looked back, you think I don't know that the only I ever got to go with you is because I heard you get off your bunk? You think I don't know about all your rants to your 'friends' at the circus, all those talks to the townies of how all you want is a family because you're on your own in the big world. You think that I don't know about all those times you tried to have me gotten rid of? I remember, I remember and I was only 4 when we ran from the nuns. I remember the lion that 'escaped' from its cage; the rigging that was suddenly loose, i remember when my bow snapped during an act and nearly took out my eyes, then Trick nearly took my life for embarrassing him. You think I couldn't see?" Clint's voice had gotten progressively lower, and more dangerous as he spoke. He was nearly whispering. "And when you finally convinced Trick that I was a liability, you think I didn't know it was coming? I knew big brother, I just hoped that I was wrong about you. The only person you've ever cared about is yourself, and now the only person you'll ever need to care about is yourself. You're damn right I'm going to let Agent Coulson take you in, I'm going to let him break you and then when he tells me that I can never see you again I'll thank him." Barton moved and Phil had the safety off and aimed back at him as fast as he's ever done, but Clint had already knocked his brother out. The kid was fast. Clint stood and walked to Phil.
"That team of yours going to be here soon?" Phil nodded.
"Should be about 10 minutes, you alright?" Clint shook his head and looked at Trudy, who had put the phone down on the bookshelf and was holding Frank close, the baby seemed to be asleep.
"I'm going to take this little man upstairs and put him down for a rest, then I'm going to pack. You two let me know when you've finished talking." Clint nodded.
"Yes ma'am" Phil answered, because verbal responses were better. Trudy turned and went down the hall, he listened as she made her way upstairs then he looked at Clint. "You come with me, we can talk in the kitchen." Another nod. Phil grabbed Clint's arm and dragged him to the kitchen, well where he figured the kitchen was. When they made it to the kitchen Phil let Clint go and pulled out a chair for the younger man. "Sit." Clint sat, which was a good trait for a future asset, but not a good sign as to Clint's mental state. "Tell me what's going on in your head Clint, I can't help you if you don't talk to me." Clint nodded again, agreeing with Phil's assessment but not moving to help rectify the problem. "Talk to me," Clint blinked and looked at Phil, eyes piercing into his soul.
"Did I- I'm a horrible brother, he's my brother and I-" Phil grabbed his shoulders, then wrapped Clint into a hug, just like Phil's big sisters used to when he was upset, just like they had when Phil's parents had died. Phil ran a hand up and down Clint's back as he sobbed and kept the other in his hair, just holding him while he broke down.
"You are not a horrible anything; you are brave, and smart and loyal and everything a big brother could ever ask of a younger brother; you hear me. You did nothing wrong, nothing." Phil continued speaking those words into Clint's hair as he help him close; he spoke of other things, things he would be afraid to admit to a jury of his peers. He told Clint how special he was, how amazing, how smart; maybe even how beautiful, but Phil's not really concentrating on what he's saying, he's more focused on how Clint is reacting. His shaking is subsiding and his sobs are lessening and Phil thinks that he's doing something right, when Clint loosens his grip on Phil's shirt Phil is surprised, because he hadn't realized that Clint was clinging to him.
"I'm sorry,"
"Never apologize for your tears any more than you would apologize for your laughter, they are both a part of you." Phil had been learning that lesson his whole life, was still learning it.
"Okay."
"Alright?"
"Yes." Clint let go and Phil stood and pulled out the chair next to Clint, he usually laid out recruitment in diners but this would be alright.
"Good, would you like to hear about SHIELD?"
"Who?"
"The organization that I work for." Clint nods and Phil talks. He explains what SHIELD does, who they hire, why they're needed. he explains some of the work that Clint would be doing, he can't gloss over it because recruits need the full picture before signing up.
"What if I can't?"
"Can't what?"
"Can't kill the bad guy? What if I freeze up and can't do it? Do you have to take me out? Erase my memory?" Phil chuckles and makes a mental note to get the Harry Potter books for Clint to read.
"No, we don't do that." They don't, so it's good that he doesn't have to lie, because Phil honestly doesn't think that he could ever lie to the person in front of him and the terrifying part is that he doesn't want to ever have to lie to him. "We would bring you home and talk, probably have you talk with a therapist and see where that takes us. Sometimes we can use people for clean-up, for helping others, sometimes we need people to observe and gather intel and sometimes people just aren't wired in way to work for us and with them we just have them sign a non-disclosure form so they won't talk about our organization and we let them leave and live a normal life. Usually we know how a person is going to react before we send them on a mission."
"You know I can't read all that well."
"You speak very well, and we can teach you anything you need to learn and want to learn. I think we even have a feng shui tutorial."
"You'll teach me?" Phil felt a pressure in his chest; this kid was going to make or break Phil, and Phil had a feeling that there would be a lot of both in his future.
"Maybe not me personally, but SHIELD will endeavour to teach you anything and everything you ever want to know." Clint's face fell slightly. "But I can certainly help with the reading." Clint's smile is tentative, and Phil loves the hope that he can see in Clint's eyes.
"So you'll read to me?" Phil smiled, yea he would teach this kid to read. He would teach him a lot more than that, if the feeling in his chest was anything to go by.
"I'll teach you to read." Phil could still remember with such clarity that it could have been yesterday, his father giving him the talk. Phil can remember how nervous he had been, because hadn't told his parents that he'd always admired Captain America's backside in his comics, rather than the damsels’ ample bosoms. He can remember his father's laugh as Phil had stammered his way through his 'coming out' speech. Remembers his father's words: 'O son, you know your mom and I love you no matter what. Doesn't help matters that you have four sisters; it matters not now. It doesn't matter what the plumbing is, son; what matters is your happiness. I just want you to know that you can trust your instincts in regards to love; I remember when I first met your mom, I felt like my whole body was asleep and had started tingling awake. I want you to promise me, that when you find that feeling, you hold onto it with everything that you are.' Phil had nodded and his father had hugged him. Phil had been 14 at the time, he'd just finished highschool, and he was preparing for college applications.
A hand waved in front of his face, bringing Phil back to the present. And yea, being distracted like that; really not good in his line of work.
"Sorry?"
"There's someone at the door," Clint's eyes seemed to be mocking Phil, but his face had a tinge of worry to it. Phil heard the knocking and Phil stood quickly, he made his way to the door quickly; putting an arm out to stop Clint from stepping in front of him.
"Hello?" Phil called through the door.
"Damnit Cheese, open the fucking door. It's cold out here." Phil chuckled and opened the door, revealing Jasper Sitwell and a team of four others. "Fucking finally, out of my way. Seriously I've been out here for ages." The team pushed through the door, shoving Phil out of the way. Clint made a noise of protest at Phil's treatment, but Phil wrapped a hand around Clint's wrist and gave him a reassuring squeeze.
"It's alright Clint, Jasper's just pissed that I caught up with you so soon; he had a pool and his date isn't for another week."
"Shut it Cheese, you cheated."
"Sure I did, look. I need you to get Barton to HQ and into interrogation; someone is going to need to take the car back and I'm going to need a chopper."
"Budget cuts Phil," and yea, that was annoying.
"Fine I'll take the car to the airport, we'll fly to DC, I'm going to need a child's seat."
"Copy that," Sitwell looked over Phil's shoulder at Clint. "Come on then, let’s go." Phil felt Clint tense and yea, no; Phil wasn't about to let Clint out of his sight.
"Not this Barton, the other one, on the floor over there." Jasper gave him a stink eye then went to have a look at the older Barton drooling on the floor.
"Pick him up guys, let's go. Cheese is being protective." And yea, Phil knew that he wouldn't be living this down any time soon.
"See you at HQ Jasp, it'd be best to not let that one speak."
"Roger."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Clint wasn't sure what to make of Phil Coulson, hell he wasn't even sure what to make of himself at this point. He had seen Coulson take out Barney; who was bigger and stronger in appearance. He'd seen Coulson wield a gun like an extension of himself; yet Clint had never felt safer than he had when he'd been wrapped in the other man's arms, and that was something that Clint didn't understand.
Clint watched as Jasper and his team carried his brother out of Trudy's house, as they carried him out of Clint's life, and all Clint could feel was relief.
"Why are we going to the airport?"
"Need to get to headquarters, I need to find out how compromised SHIELD is because of your brother and Smith." Coulson turned to look at him, and Clint knew that he would trust this man for the rest of his life. "I also need to get you debriefed, and Trudy too. We need to get Frank assessed by Professor Xavier, and-" Clint doesn't think he could ever explain how his lips ended up on Coulson's, but that's what happened so he went with it. Coulson's grip on his wrist tightened and pulled him closer, his lips opened for Clint and god the man tasted good. Clint was immediately addicted. He heard the gun drop onto the table next to the door, then he felt Coulson's hand mold itself to the back of his head; Clint moaned and pushed Coulson up against the wall, slotting a leg between Coulson's thighs and yea Coulson wants this as much as Clint.
"Gentleman," Clint pulled away so fast that the rush of air between him and Coulson (Phil, Phil Phil!!) that Clint shivered. He turned, his face bright red, to see Trudy standing in the kitchen entrance. She was watching them with a glint in her eye that Clint couldn't quite grasp. "I've put the leftover casserole in the oven, Clint I'd like to have a chat with Agent Coulson so if you could go and get your things packed, and maybe collect Frank's things."
"Okay," Clint tried to walk away, but was stopped short by Coulson's hand around his wrist. Clint looks at him, and Coulson blinks a few times and then looks at his hand around Clint's wrist, Clint feels his fingers twitch, almost like he didn't realize he'd still had a hold of Clint.
"Sorry, I-" Coulson let go of Clint, and yea they were going to be exploring that more later.
"Don't kill him please," Clint said to Trudy as he walked past her on his way to 'his' room.
"Promise kiddo, just need to sort out logistics." Her tone was reassuring, but Clint couldn't help but feel like she wasn't being entirely honest with him.
He made his way upstairs to pack his things.
~*~
He can't quite believe how much stuff he's accumulated over the week he's been with Trudy; she had bought him a pair of jeans and sweats and some shirts, she'd bought him enough clothing to completely fill the backpack that Clint had used to carry Frank. She's bought him a new backpack, minus the leg holes; and she had bought him a collection of books that he couldn't fathom leaving behind. For the first time in his life he had stuff, stuff that he couldn't carry, it was weird. Clint set everything out on the bed, trying to figure out how to pack. He’d left the door open, so that he could hear if Frank needed him. Voices floated up the stairs from the kitchen, and Clint knew; he knew he shouldn’t be listening, but he couldn’t help himself.
“What are you going to do with him?” That was Trudy, her tone was almost accusatory.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to make him kill people? Make him be your spy, entice him with romance and then throw him out for the world to take advantage of?” Clint was offended on Coulson’s behalf, he wanted to argue with Trudy that he wouldn’t do that; but he was curious as to Coulson’s response, so he kept his mouth shut.
“Ma’am,” Coulson’s voice was steady and calm, and it sent shivers down Clint’s spine, it was a dangerous voice. “With all due respect, you know nothing about me. Clinton Barton is an ideal candidate for a SHIELD agent; he is intelligent, insightful and would be an invaluable addition to our team. He thinks faster than many agents who currently serve under me, he sees things that no one else can see. I have been chasing him for 407 days, 18 hours and 39 minutes; I have never invested that much time on any other recruit in my time at SHIELD. I assure you ma’am, my motivation for recruiting him is purely professional.”
“What I just saw, was anything but professional agent Coulson.” Clint had never had anyone stand up for him like that before, it was nice. Clint hoped that he would be able to keep in touch with her once he worked for SHIELD; because he would be working for SHIELD, no question.
“Ma’am, surely you can’t have missed how attractive Clint is; I admit I feel some very unprofessional thoughts towards him. You have my word though; I would, will, never ask anything of him that I would not ask of myself.”
“That’s what worries me young man; you strike me as someone who demands an awful lot of himself.” Clint found himself agreeing with Trudy’s assessment of the agent, from what he’s seen he doubts that there is anything the young man would not do to accomplish his goals.
“You’re right; I do demand a lot of myself. I demand that I bring my entire team home; that they are of sound mind and body after every mission, that I am able to discern the truth from a lie. I also feel like I should let you know that I did not initiate that unprofessional display that you saw just now, but in the interest of full disclosure I am a more than willing participant.” Clint didn’t know how, but he knew that Coulson was telling the truth. He knew in his bones that the agent downstairs would never leave a man or woman behind if there was anything he could do about it.
“Well then son, I guess that I am just going to have to come with you.” Clint nearly jumped for joy; he couldn’t imagine not having Trudy around him; even though he’d only just met her a week ago. Clint dropped onto the bed, he could not believe how much his life had changed, how quickly he was trusting these two people how much he couldn’t bear the thought of letting little Frank leave his side.
“Of course, I would expect nothing less from you ma’am.”
“Stop it with that ma’am malarkey. My name is Trudy, you’d best be getting used to calling me that.”
“Yes ma’- Trudy.” Clint chuckled softly to himself, he could definitely get used to being around these two people; hopefully for the rest of his life. A terrifying thought, but something he was ready to face.
“Trudy,”
“Yes son?”
“My name is Phil,” Trudy’s laugh echoed up the stairs. “And SHIELD will be giving Cli-Barton a housing allowance; I am sure that you will find something suitable for the three of you.”
“The three of us?”
“It seems obvious to me that young Frank is quite attached to Clint, and that Clint is very much attached to you. I would not dare separate you; after the assessment for Frank I am quite certain that Professor Xavier will be more than happy to educate you in the care for a gifted young child.” Yeah, Clint was going to be making himself am irreplaceable presence in Phil’s life, whether it be a professional presence or a very much unprofessional presence.
“Quite right you are, would you care for tea? Clint! Stop dropping the eaves, and get down here for tea, and dinner!” Clint smiled and stood, his life was going to be so different; and yea he would have difficulties adjusting, but he would be able to handle it. He felt like he could handle anything.
“Coming!”
His life would never be the same, he was looking forward to it.