Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Clint Barton sighed as he watched the clouds roll across the sky. He was in the cabin he owned in Oakhaven in New England. It was fall and the town was in full fall swing. It was a sleepy little town, but Clint new it had a dark side. There was a ghost haunting the streets of Oakhaven. And it filled his blood with fire. It was a foreign concept, ghosts were, but it just made Clint feel more alive than anything else. Being close to a spirit, that was exciting. It made him feel more alive, excited, feeling more than when he out risking his life for the civillians as an Avenger or when he was SWAT. No, scratch that, not SWAT. He felt just as alive when he was on SWAt as he did now. Maybe not LAPD and SEAL, but SWAT was a time where he was truely alive. Maybe that had to do with his partner, James 'Jim' Street. But if it was Jimbo, then wouldn't he have felt just as alive on LAPD and SWAT since they were together there as well? No, it couldn't have been Jimbo, unless it was because SWAT was more dangerous than LAPD and SEAL, thus making Clint feel like he has to protect Jimbo.

 

"Clinton! It is great to see that you have come for the October festival!" Mayor Hunt smiled at the reclining blonde.

 

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Best festival in New England." Clint grinned as he got up. Mayor Hunt was a nice guy. He was in his mid-fifties, had graying brown hair, emerald eyes, tan skin, and a jolly air about him that was infectious, unlike his son, Ethan, who had his brown hair and emerald eyes, yes, they only looked similar. Ethan was a serious man, but also was Clint's kind of crazy, and he worked for the Impossible Mission Force, so he was very dangerous. Ethan was handsome with tanned skin, shoulder-length straight brown hair, beautiful emerald eyes, and well defined muscles. He was tall, just an inch or two taller than Clint. Ethan was hardly ever around (not that he could talk with SHIELD's crazy schedule that changes at the drop of a hat), but when he was around when Clint was, he seemed pretty happy with his girlfriend, excuse me, wife, Julia Meade. He never spared a glance at the ex- Navy SEAL/LAPD cop/SWAT officer or the Avenger that was Clint Barton. At least, Clint didn't think he did. (In reality, Ethan paid alot of attention to Clint because he was very curious about him, with his unique job as an Agent of SHIELD and the Avenger Hawkeye. He also had a very healthy respect for him and the talents he exhibited.) Clint jumped a little when his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. By this time, the mayor had walked off to handle some last minute details for the festival, and Clint pulled out his phone. His eyes widened as he saw that it was a text message sent by his ex-partner/best friend/brother, Jim Street.

 

Hey, Bri. I know you can't read this, I don't even know if it'll reach your phone... But I wanted to say sorry... you know for killing you and all... I'm going to this little town called Oakhaven for something called the October Festival tomorrow... Boxer, his family, Sanchez, Eliza, Deke, and Deke's wife are draggining me along... from what it looks like, it's a nice place... wish you could be there

Clint breathed in sharply and with trembling hands; he texted back;

 

Underneath the large oak, by the shooting booth. 11:30.

Clint buried his head in his hands and laughed softly like a maniac. He could explain everything to Jim tomorrow. With a smile on his face, a light heart, and a skip in his step, Clint went to help with the preparations for the October Festival.

 

"Clinton! Thank goodness you're here!" Mrs. Potter said as Clint walked up.

 

"Is there anything you need help with, Mrs. Potter?" Clint smiled.

 

"Yes, can you help Ethan Hunt get some hay bales up to the loft of the barn? He needs some help." The elderly lady replied.

 

"I will do that." Clint replied with a smile and walked to where Ethan was climbing a ladder to the loft. Ethan, for whatever reason, lost his balance and the ladder started wobbling from him catching himself. Clint lunged forward and steadied the ladder. Ethan looked down at Clint and sighed in relief.

 

"Thanks." Ethan said.

 

"No problem. Mrs. Potter said that you needed some help?" Clint said.

 

"Yeah." Ethan nodded as he climbed down. "It'll be easier if one of us was up in the loft while the other hands the bales up."

 

"Sounds simple. You want to be up in the loft, or handing the bales up?" Clint crossed his arms.

 

"What are you comfortable with?" Ethan asked. Clint noticed how polite Ethan was by asking what he preferred.

 

"I don't care either way. I used to be an acrobat in the circus and I'm ex- Navy SEAL, LAPD, and SWAT." Clint shrugged. "It really doesn't matter." Ethan nodded.

 

"I'll be handing the bales up, then." Ethan said. Clint immediately jumped up the hay bales, grabbed the edge of the loft, and flipped himself up. "Wouldn't it have been easier of you had just used the ladder?" Ethan asked.

 

"Probably,but I never do things the easy way." Clint grinned. Ethan laughed." They worked until everything was in order then split up to help others.

 

"Clint!" Sarah Raleigh waved to the blonde archer.

 

"Yes?" Clint ran over to her.

 

"Can you move this target for me? I can't get it to budge." She smiled.

 

"Of course, where do you want it?" Clint said. 

 

"A few yards back. I'll tell you when to stop." She said. Clint pushed the target until Sarah told him to stop.

 

"Is there anything else you need help with?" Clint said.

 

"No, thank you." She smiled. Clint ran to help about fifteen more people before the day was over and he went to The Red Wolf Grill, a local favorite and owned by the foster parents of one of his closest friends in Oakhaven.

 

"Clint!" His friend, Aisling, jogged up to him. "Glad you're in town." She gave him a hug.

 

"Me too." Clint laughed. She led him to a table where they sat down. "My ex-partner is gonna be here tomorrow."

 

"The one that 'killed' you?" She did air quotes on 'killed'.

 

"Yeah." Clint nodded.

 

"Telling him the truth?" She leaned her elbows on the table.

 

"Yeah. Told him to be by the large oak tree by the shooting booth." Clint nodded. Aisling grabbed them some sodas. She slid the Dr. Pepper to Clint and kept the Strawberry-Kiwi Sparkling Ice for herself.

 

"Of course it's the shooting booth." She shook her head.

 

"Yep." Clint grinned.

 

"So predictable." She muttered. "He coming alone?"

 

"No, he was 'dragged' here by Boxer, his wife, Sanchez, her daughter, Kay, and his wife." Clint shook his head.

 

"Might have a problem with them." She said thoughtfully. "Me, Marie, John, and Asher can handle them. You just focus on your almost-lover." Clint flushed a deep red.

 

"We were not-" Clint was cut off.

 

"Whenever you talk about him, my Spidey-senses are off the fucking UST charts. Besides, I knew his sister back in Ireland. She said that he would not shut up about you. Your eyes, your hair, your lips, your expressions, your smirk, your ass, your everything! He's got it bad for you. You've got it worse, I can tell." She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, when I saw that footage of you, I would need a chainsaw to cut that tension between you two if I was there."

 

"Fine. Maybe I have a crush on him." Clint sighed.

 

"More than a crush, mien freund." She said.

 

"Fine, damn you, I'm ass over heels in love with James Ronan Street! I love him!" He threw his hands up.

 

"Loud and proud, Sweet Heart, loud and proud." Aisling grinned. "Now that you have finally stopped kidding yourself, let's eat. Then, go home and sleep. You've got a long day ahead of you. Maybe even with some hot fucking at the end."

 

"You really love embarrassing me, don't you?" Clint mumbled as he slammed his head onto the table.

 

"Of course, love." She returned a moment later with two large plates, one with a hamburger and fries and the other with chicken-alfredo and rolls. She handed the hamburger and fries to Clint and kept the pasta. They ate quickly then left for their homes. When Clint had showered and changed for bed, he glanced at the picture on his nightstand. It was one of him and Jim on the beach. Jim had his arm around his shoulders and Clint had his arm around the taller Irishman's shoulders. They were soaking wet and smiling.

 

"Goodnight Jim, I'll see you tomorrow." Clint smiled and turned off his bedside lamp.

Chapter Text

Clint smiled at Aisling and her three friends, Marie, Asher, and John. They were lying in wait for Jim's companions so that Brian and Jim could talk without their eavesdropping. He was helping Ethan get some more prizes for the games. Ethan was a nice guy. He even understood his problem with people thinking they had killed him cause of his own IMF career.

 

"Good luck. Hopefully you friends won't need to come get me to rescue you." Ethan snickered. Clint rolled his eyes.

 

"I am perfectly capable of handling myself in a fight, thank you very much. But, I'm just worried about how he'll react. I mean, I don't want him to just freak out and never speak to me again after I told him that he didn't need to live with the guilt cause he didn't actually kill me." Clint said.

 

"He really doesn't look Irish." Asher muttered to Aisling as he saw the approaching group.

 

"He is." Aisling said. Clint took a deep breath as he walked over to the tree where Jim was standing. As if on cue, the freshmen, sophomore, and eighth grader swooped in and after a few moments the people around Jim were gone. Jim was about to follow them when Clint spoke.

 

"There's a reason why they got dragged off, you know." Jim jumped about three feet in the air and spun around.

 

"Brian?" Jim gasped.

 

"Yes?" Clint tilted his head.

 

"BRIAN!" Jim launched himself at the smaller man and pulled him into a tight hug. "Brian... You're not dead... You're not dead..."

 

"Yeah... You didn't kill me." Clint awkwardly patted the back of his ex-partner. "I've been alive this entire time."

 

"Why didn't you let me know?" Jim pulled back slightly.

 

"Got a little busy. Seems like some of my co-workers fucked up and I had to fix it. And believe me, trying to stop nuclear war is not fun. Too many damn egos and wounded pride going around. Of course after that, World Security Council fucked up and I had to fix all of their fuck ups. Took me a few years. Then came space rock babysitting, mind-control, and the Battle of New York and now I'm here." Clint grinned.

 

"Damn." Jim blinked. "You've been busy."

 

"Yeah. I barely escaped the clutches of Tony Stark, Captain America, and Thor to come down here for some R&R at the October Festival." Clint chuckled. "Fucking hell are they hard to escape from. Cap wants to do team bonding all the damn time, Thor is always on a learning spree about Midgardian customs, and Tony is a persistant nosy bastard. Took help from Bruce and Tasha to get them to leave me alone long enough for me to get the hell outta Dodge."

 

"I feel so sorry for you." Jim snickered.

 

"Wanna walk and talk? See what's around?" Clint asked.

 

"Sure." Jim shrugged. They began walking. "So, Avenger, huh?" Jim grinned. "This town has some pretty badass people."

 

"I'm not the only one. The IMF's Golden Boy is here. Hell, I saved his ass, literally, yesterday from falling off a ladder." Clint grinned. He nodded at Ethan who winked.

 

"Damn. Next I'm gonna hear that James Bond is here." Jim laughed.

 

"No James Bond, but-" Clint was cut off by a shriek. John was running from Marie and Aisling was chasing the two down.

 

"Get your asal diabhal back here, Marie, ceart an ifreann anois!" Aisling shouted. Clint sighed and grabbed the sophmore and eighth grader as they tried to run.

 

"Tá mé go raibh sé suas le anseo le do cac damnaigh! Faigh do ghníomh diabhal le chéile!" Aisling shouted, obviously pissed off. "Marie, no fucking Twilight for two damn weeks. John, no damn Star Trek or any other fucking thing. In effect now. Hand over your damn electronic device with internet access." She held out her hand and the two handed her the devices in question when they saw the look on her face. "Now, you are to go back with Asher and stick with the LA people. You act up and I'm increasing punishment severity and duration, we clear?"

 

"Yes, Aisling." They said in unision. They scurried away. Clint raised an eyebrow.

 

"Everything okay there, Ais?" Clint asked.

 

"Marie tried to beat up John for no damn good reason. I had even told them best behavior. Fucking tired of playing policeman to their shit." Aisling growled. "How the hell could you do this for a job?"

 

"We had training." Clint replied. "Aisling this is Jim. Jim, Aisling, you've probably heard of her from your sister."

 

"Molly told me about you." Jim shook her hand.

 

"She told me about you." In a low voice where only the two Dubliners could hear, she said; "Most of that was how you wouldn't shut up about Clint/Brian. She said that you wouldn't stop talking about his eyes, ass, hair, lips, expressions, smirk, his everything." She smirked at the wide-eyed look and the deer caught in headlights look he threw over to Clint.

 

"Shut up!" He hissed. "He's right there!"

 

"I know. He knows. Nothing to hide." She smirked. In a louder voice, she said; "Now, I have to go entertain a bunch of LA people and monitor the trouble makers. Clint, you really should do something about the Spidey senses and charts." She walked off. Jim had a blush on his face when he looked over at Clint, whose face was completely red.

 

"AISLING!" He spluttered. "I am sorry about her. She is very inappropriate." Clint rubbed the back of his head.

 

"It's fine." Jim mumbled. He noticed the dark haired man Clint nodded at walking to them.

 

"Hey Ethan." Clint mumbled.

 

"You okay? You're really red. What happened?" He raised an eyebrow.

 

"Aisling happened. Her perverted self." Clint mumbled.

 

"She definitately doesn't act like a fifteen year old." Ethan chuckled. "Though, I suppose you know more about that since you're here more than I am."

 

"Yeah. She's something else all right." Clint muttered. "Anyways, what's up?"

 

"Just thought you might wanna know that the Avengers are here. If you wanted to avoid them." Ethan shrugged.

 

"Fucking hell." Clint groaned. "Can I not have a few days? Really?"

 

"Apparently not." Ethan replied. "See you later." He walked off.

 

"Let's go find a place to hide. Since you obviously don't wanna see your team." Jim snickered.

 

"Good plan." Clint muttered and pulled Jim into the crowd.