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Natasha briskly walked down the old cobblestone path, when she heard a strange scuffling coming from the side of a building. Her spystincts (spy instincts) kicking in she dove into the alley on the other side. She noticed whole in the beige wall that made for good footing. Quickly scaling the wall, she climbed to the roof to peer over the edge. Although the night sky hid her slight body, it made it damn near impossible to see. Her night vision slowly adjusting, she was able to make out a few beer cans, a moldy, multicolored, reeking, trashcan, and a cardboard box that at one point may have held a refrigerator.

She heard the scuffling again. 'Probably just a raccoon' she thought. However, as she inched closer she saw that between the cardboard box and rotting trashcan was a-a boy? He had blonde hair and blue eyes. The boy looked to be around her same age, so about 10 or 11. He had thin tattered clothes, a ring of purplish bruises around his neck, a few more on his face and legs, an obviously broken arm and was that a bow and arrow?

Natasha swung her legs over to the other side of the roof and slid down. As soon as she jumped off of the gutter the boy shot up. He quickly and painfully, due to his broken arm, drew his bow and arrow and aimed it at her. She didn't even flinch.

"Who are you?" The boy inquired in a quavering voice as they slowly started circling each other, like wolves before a battle.

"You're arm is broken." Natasha stated simply.

"So, what's it to you?" The boy spat bitterly.

"How, and are you alright?"

He lowered his bow, the boy seemed taken aback by this, apparently not a lot of people cared for him, Natasha could relate. "I'm fine, and this guy was mad at me, so he tried to kill me, he didn't but, hey! You never told me your name!"

Natasha didn't know anything about this boy, not even his name, but she trusted him. "Natasha Romanov."

"Clint Barton." The boy, no, Clint, stuck his hand out. Natasha eyed it warily, so many people had hurt her, what if Clint did too?

As if reading her mind, Clint said "It's ok, I won't hurt you, I won't let anyone hurt you, ever, I promise!" Natasha smiled back at him and shook his hand.

That's how it started.

Chapter Text

Clint never would have thought he would become best friends with a Russian spy. After the night in the alley, they pretty much ran away together. They ran all over the world Egypt, France, Japan, Portugal, Swahili, Italy, China, and Venezuela. Since Clint could fly, they could go pretty much wherever they wanted. They slept wherever they could, trains, motels, alleys, abandoned houses, wherever they could afford. Money was the hard part, Clint would do trick shots for party entertainment, Natasha modeled in Japan, which brought in a lot of money, Clint got odd jobs wherever he could and, when they really, really needed to, they did assassinations.

They both had scars, scars they tried to buy and repress, but with each other, there was no burying, or hiding. There was safety and a sense of home. They relied on each other to be the light at the end of the pain. They were family.

Occasionally, they were captured by terrorist organizations, vindictive mercenaries and corrupt governments. But they always fought their way out. Though they never escaped without burden. Clint and Natasha shared a lot of good times. He would never forget when Natasha got her first period.

"Clint! Clint I'm BLLEEEEEEEEEEDDIIIIIIINGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Natasha had screamed.

Clint raced from the motel's bathroom to their bedroom "What, are you hurt, where are you bleeding?" Clint inquired. At the last question Natasha looked down then back up quickly. Clint felt his face redden.

"But are you hurt, why is it bleeding?" Clint asked.

"I don't know why it's bleeding, and no it doesn't hurt, but why else would it be bleeding?" Natasha wondered.

"I'm gonna go look it up!" Clint said as he rushed to the meager computer they'd managed to afford.

"Hurry!" Natasha urged.

Swiftly, Clint typed /bleeding from a girls/ Clint looked back at Natasha /private part?/

Clint clicked on the first thing that came up:

/Women menstruate monthly when they're shedding the uterus' lining, most women deal with this by putting cotton pads on their underwear to absorb the bleeding/

Clint then looked up what the uterus was:

/The uterus is frequently thought of as a watermelon/ scroll scroll scroll /pear shaped, used to feed egg/ scroll scroll scroll /if the egg is fertilized it will use the blood, if not it will die/

"Clint do you know what's happening?" Natasha asked, tremors in her voice.

"Well Tash, the best I can figure is you have a pear shaped watermelon, the watermelon was obviously put into a machine that made it into a pear shape, inside of you, and then you hatched an egg which uses your blood to survive, like some destined to be scrambled Dracula, but you needed to eat plant fertilizer for it to survive and since you didn't it died and stopped using your blood so now it's leaving through the escape whole!" Clint stated, proud at his discovery.

"But if the egg died won't it eventually fall out?" Natasha queried.

Clint, the expert of the female reproductive system, said "Yes I suppose it will."

"But won't that hurt?" She said now scared.

"No it'll be just like pooping." Clint said soothingly. "Oh and so you don't bleed to death we have to go get cotton pads to seal the blood in!"

They had gotten the pads later that night and everything was fine. Later they (Natasha) figured out what was really happening and they lived happily ever after.

Until S.H.E.I.L.D.

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S.H.E.I.L.D. had been monitoring them for a while now. They had been receiving reports about them for a while. Good and bad.

"Wait, who are we talking about?" Steve asked. Fury looked at him like he was an idiot.

"I don't know either." Tony backed him up. Fury sighed.

"We honestly don't know." Fury sighed again. "We have some footage of interviews with people who've encountered them." He said as he pressed a button. Immediately, an image popped onto the screen of a woman probably 30 with green eyes and auburn hair wearing a large overcoat.

The man off screen began the interview "So what was happening to you prior to the encounter?"

"I was followed by a large man and he assaulted me," She took a shuddering breath "and began raping me."

"And can you tell me what happened during the encounter?" The man inquired.

"Well, at first, there was a banging from the front of the alley he you know, took me in. The man yelled 'who's there' you know, 'show yourself'. After a few more minutes there was a clattering from the opposite direction. The man started yelling again, then somebody walked into the alley from the front. Another man, he had a bow and arrow and it was drawn and pointed at the man. My attacker had a gun and started pointing at him. The other man didn't flinch, my attacker seeing it didn't scare him started pointing the gun at me, and he started screaming 'I'll blow her head fucking her head off right now if you don't lower the fucking bow right now'. That was when a woman jumped down from the roof. The roof was only one story above the ground though. My attacker didn't even notice her. She disarmed him and when he turned to face her. He tried to strike her, but the other guy, with the bow and arrows, shot his hand. The man, the attacker, screamed and that was when the woman hit him on the head with the gun, knocking him out. Then they both jumped on the roof and left."

"And how did the woman disarm him?"

"She grabbed the part of the gun where his hand was, so she had a hold of the gun and his hand, she twisted his arm backward and he let go of the gun."

"And what were they wearing?"

"Very dark clothing, but not like, spandex, they just looked like people you'd see on the street."

"Thank you." The video shifted to a different interview with what looked like a CEO of something. It was a woman interviewing him this time.

"Thank you for agreeing to talk to us, would you be willing to describe the encounter for us?"

"Yes, of course, well I was working late at my office when suddenly the door opened. I looked over, but no one was there, so I dismissed it as simply bad hinges, even though I had locked the door. I had the lights off to ease my headache so that probably aided them hiding in my office. Then the door abruptly closed, but when I looked, this time I saw a woman. She was expressionless but she had a mask on so she may have still been afraid. I started to reach for the panic button on the side of my desk when, apparently there was a man behind me, when he saw what I was trying to do, he said 'I wouldn't do that' he said pointing his bow and arrow at me. The woman then walked over to me and sprayed something at me. I should've noticed that they both had masks on that covered their noses and mouths. When I woke up I was tied in my chair gagged, but not blindfolded. The woman was sitting at the computer hacking into our systems. I started screaming, and I guess that even through the gag, one of my faithful gaurds found us. He walked in, and the man with the bow and arrow shot his leg before spraying him with the same stuff. The woman deleted a lot of our files on weapons then they left. We later found out that they stole a jet from our hanger."

"Thank you for telling us that."

"You don't have anymore questions?"

"No, you may leave." Then the video ended. Fury looked at all of them. They all looked at Fury. "They are incredibly dangerous and experienced. They're a threat to shield and all of America." Fury said.

"And what do you want us to do about it?" Bruce asked.

"I want you to find them and bring them back here. Alive."

"Are you positive, Director? They saved that woman from grave injury." Thor protested.

"Yes I'm sure, but don't worry, we won't hurt them. So will you?" Fury asked.

The team looked around at each other, then in unison said "Fine."

Chapter Text

It wasn't that difficult to find them, the last person who saw them said they stole his cellphone, so they simply tracked that. It was traced to a remote area of Venezuela. Maria Hill said she could fly them there. They left 2 hours after they found them.

They landed in a dusty clearing surrounded by trees, according to their GPS, the village they needed to find was 3,572 feet ahead. Upon arrival, they looked at the run down village. It was obviously very poor, the houses were falling apart, the crops were small and looked brown, and almost everyone they saw was severely malnourished. Then Steve, being the naïve Steve he is screamed "Are any of you 2 highly experienced assassins?"

Tony smacked his forehead with his hand while Bruce shook his head.

"Cap," Tony began "If you ask everyone if they're assassins why on Earth would they tell you if they were?!"

"Oh, right." Steve realized. "Well let's look around."

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Natasha and Clint had been living in Venezuela for about 4 months, they had a tiny hut of their very own, some villager friends and pretty good lives. Then some really weird people showed up.

"Are any of you 2 highly experienced assassins?" They heard a loud voice say. They looked at each other terrified.

"What do we do?" Clint asked.

"We suit up, just in case, and we try to discretely leave, if we need to, we fight." They quickly got into their suits. Their 'suits' were basically street clothes with special holes to put different weapons. Clint even had a few poison-tipped arrows. Natasha's outfit was lined with knives, guns, even a few grenades. They didn't pack anything, that would be too obvious, besides, they most likely used one of their electronic devices to find them. Swiftly, they exited their tiny home. Moments later they were spotted.

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"Hey, Cap look over there!" Bruce said hurriedly "They look like they're trying to leave."

"You're right," Then to the people trying to leave "Hey, stop walking. Good now turn around. Slowly." Tony called his Ironman suit and the rest of the team took offensive stances as they inched forward. The pair turned to face them, the man had his bow and arrow drawn aimed at them, and the woman had a knife and a gun. Then all Hell broke loose.

"Hey, things don't have to get messy, just come back with us." Steve tried to persuade them. Then the redhead shot him, the bullet ricocheting off of his shield. The villagers all fled into their homes as soon as they could. Tony took flight while the rest of them strode forward (except for Bruce, nobody really know why he's there, he's not supposed to hulk up with so many civilians) Tony started firing shots from above the two assassins ducking and jumping and rolling. That is, until the archer shot a bow into a vital part of his suit, he went down immediately. Luckily, however he was only a few feet above ground.

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Steve and Thor watched in amazement Steve charged towards the woman. He aimed a punch straight at her face, she ducked, grabbed his wrist and flipped him. She quickly turned fists raised, ready for him to get back up. He swung his legs at hers, attempting to kick her down, she simply jumped over them. He scrambled back to his feet. Aiming a swift kick to her head, she ducked. Punch to the jaw, blocked with a forearm. Knee to the stomach, jump doing the splits midair. Right cross, duck. She kept evading all of his hits, but her moves were distinctly defensive.

Meanwhile, while all of that shit was happening, Clint was running around trying to avoid the running mountain. He was being chased all around the tiny village. AHH cow, jump, jump, JUMP!! Whew, cow avoided. He saw a roof and quickly grabbed the gutter to swing himself on. Even running on the roofs didn't stop the ogre following him. Clint jumped from roof to roof until he had to swing himself off. He saw Natasha fighting the guy in the spandex and decided it would be a good idea to run circles around them, maybe he'd get a good shot in.

Thor was getting tired of chasing the puny little human everywhere. At one point he jumped onto a roof and Thor was forced to follow. Then, as if the roof jumping wasn't enough, the little archer began running circles around his teammates fight. Eventually Thor tired of this game.

"Stop, please, just let us take you back to our base." For a minute Thor thought the archer would give in, then Thor was shot in the arm by an arrow. The arrow scraped his arm but it hurt!!!! But when Thor looked up, the archer was gone.

Now, during all of this Tony was attempting to fix his suit. Suddenly, a light bulb formed above his head. The phone in his suit was still working. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

Clint was kneeling on a building, the chimney shielding him from view. He was watching for a clear shot to Spandex. But he might hit Nat. You know what? Screw it, he was helping Natasha! He jumped down from the roof and ran over to the fight. He landed a (really awesome) kick to his leg. Spandex turned stunned to see Clint had joined the fight. Natasha landed a gut punch, Spandex punched Clint's jaw, Clint leg swept Spandex. Then Mountain joined the fight. Mountain tried to kick Clint, Clint jumped, Spandex aimed a kick at Nat's stomach, Tash grabbed his leg and pushed him backwards, into Clint. Clint pushed him back to Natasha who pushed him into Mountain, Mountain pushed to Clint, Clint pushed to Mountain, Mountain pushed to Natasha.

"Would you all stop shoving me?!" Steve yelled. So the redhead kneed his gut. Thor attempted to kick the archer's head but the archer blocked his leg with his forearm and used Thor's own momentum to knock him down. This fighting went on, with Tony doing absolutely nothing. All of a sudden they heard a loud bang. The woman let out a gasp as the archer ran over to her. The redhead removed her hand from her gut to reveal a bullet wound. BANG!! The archer went dizzy, and he fell to the ground in a kneeling position. Bang! The woman fell to the ground. The man crawled over to her leaving turning his back to kneel at her side and hold her hand. Bang!!!!! He collapsed, his head and chest falling on to the woman.

"Well are they unconscious?" Thor and Steve turned to see Maria Hill running towards them.

"I think they're dead." Tony said walking over.

"What?" Maria looked at her gun. "I swear, I thought it was a DART gun!!!!!! OOOOHH ooh what have I done?"

"Well, who are they?" Bruce asked, feeling less Hulky.

"I don't know, let's take off their masks." Steve said leaning down to remove their masks. He had to roll the archer off the woman, but he couldn't pry their hands apart. He slowly put his fingers underneath their masks... "DO YOU PEOPLE MIND?!" Steve said to the people breathing down his neck.

"Well if you'd hurry up!" Maria said.

"Hey, I'm not the one who killed them, and I'm trying to build suspense for a dramatic reveal." Maria rolled her eyes. Steve, the ever-dramatic drama queen.

Steve took a deep breath and pulled the masks off. He looked, then he rubbed his eyes, then he looked again.

"They're just....... just kids." Bruce said.

"Good job Maria, you killed kids!" Tony said.

"She did not mean to!" Thor said in her defense.

"And no she didn't." Bruce added.

"Well Bruce, THEY'RE NOT ADULTS!!!!!" Tony said.

"I mean they're not dead."

"What? Then we have to get them in the jet!!" Maria exclaimed frantically. Steve picked up the tiny woman, no, girl. Thor taking the boy into his arms. They quickly raced back to the jet, almost leaving Tony. Within a matter of seconds they took of. Trying to save the tweens' lives.

Chapter Text

"Oh, good, you're back." Fury said as the Avengers rushed into SHEILD headquarters.

"Yeah with 2 barely alive assassins." Tony said bitterly. Fury looked stunned.

"What, how?" He said very confuzzled.

"Maria shot them." Steve said.

"It. Was. An. ACCIDENT!!!" Maria screamed exasperated.

"What were you even doing there?" Bruce asked. Maria had flown them, but she was supposed to wait at the jet.

"Tony called me." Maria answered. They were still running towards the ER .

"Oh, so it's Tony's fault." Steve concluded.

"What?! Hey, you couldn't handle them!" Tony said in his defense.

"Nonsense, we were doing fine. Ah here's the medical ward." Thor said as they reached the ER.

"Here, they've got a couple bullet wounds each." Maria said to the doctors.

"You were so NOT doing fine." Tony said earnestly.

"Whatever!" Shouted Bruce. "It doesn't really matter! What matters now is that they're ok." A chorus of 'oks' and 'yeahs' echoed around the room. "Now let's just try to keep our heads and wait for Fury to question us on what happened.
()()()()()

Steve was sitting alone in his room, thinking about the child assassins. The redhead seemed almost, hesitant, to hurt him. Almost all of her moves were defensive. Steve couldn't imagine what must have happened to them to become assassins at such a young age. At a first glance, they would seem so innocent. That is, until you saw the haunted look that shouldn't exist in a child's eyes. Maybe they were brother and sister? They obviously felt very close and protective of each other, but not in a romantic way. She was definitely a mystery.

Then there was the archer. He had perfect aim, shooting the most vital part of Tony's armor. His aim was inhumanly accurate. The boy was almost the exact opposite of Steve. Steve had longed for battle and combat, had wanted glory, and had eventually gotten it. The archer had not wanted to fight, but his unfair life forced it upon him. Glory, the boy wanted it too, but for him glory was peace and safety, and he hadn't gotten it.

()()()()()

Bruce, Maria and Thor were waiting in the Avengers living room. The living room itself was very nice, a long, dark blue couch, a dark green loveseat, a few royal purple armchairs and a TV a few feet in front of the couch, a picture of serenity. Currently, the people inhabiting it were anything but calm. Maria was pacing back and forth, Thor was harassing the doctors for information, and Bruce was practicing his yoga in an attempt to keep calm.

Finally, after what felt like years, the doctor came up.

"The girl had a bullet to the gut, it missed any important vitals, moved a few intestines," The doctor seeing the looks on their faces hurriedly finished." But we moved them back, so she's fine. There was also a bullet in her leg which we took out, and stitched up."

"And the boy?" Bruce said anxiously.

"Well, uh, he had a bullet in his shoulder which tore some tendons, but he should be fine. Another bullet hit his abdomen, almost puncturing a lung but we managed to safely extract it. We had to give some blood though."

They all shared a sigh of relief, the assassins were alive and safe.

Chapter Text

Natasha woke up , and it all came flooding back. The fight, the gunshots, oh shit!!!! Clint!! Natasha looked around she was in an ER, lying on a stretcher. Everything was so... white. The walls, the flour the stretchers and nightstands and chairs. Whew, Clint was lying just a few stretchers over. He was still asleep. Natasha (gracefully) stumbled over to Clint's stretcher. She poked him, he snored.

"Clint. Clint wake up." Natasha whispered.

"No, camel, you can't be a prima donna if the pickle says moo." Clint mumbled back, still asleep.

"Clint," She said, pushing on his stomach. "C'mon get up." He kept snoring.

"CLINT!!!! GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF BED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Natasha said, finally cracking.

Clint shot up. "Whoa, hey... why'd you wake.... oh, right."

"We have to get out of here." Natasha said, Clint nodding. "But how?" She saw the look on Clint's face. "No, no, Clint no! C'mon don't make me do this. Clint, no, not again. Please, Clint, I don't... I hate doing that. No no way!"

"C'mon," Clint persisted. "You know you want to, yes, yes I love doing this. We wont get caught, you'll be fine. Please?" Clint gave her his best 'I'll be your best friend' face.

"FINE! We'll take the vents!" Natasha relented. They raced clumsily to the vent. Natasha removed the screws while Clint got a stool. Clint clambered into the vent, Natasha right behind him grumbling about how dirty vents are.

"Would you stop your whining?" Clint began. "This is fun!"

"No, it most certainly is not fun!" Natasha stated contrarily. They crawled for about 15 minutes before finding anything.

"Stop," Clint hissed suddenly. "I see a room, a lot of computers and... oh it must be their database room file thingy!"

"Get the grate off!" Natasha urged.

"What do you think I'm doing!?" Clint replied. In a few seconds, Clint was lowering himself down into the room. There was a long table with two rows of five computers back to back. Filing cabinets lined the beige wall.

"Clint, check the filing cabinets, I'll look on the computers for anything helpful." Natasha ordered. Since there were 26 cabinets Clint assumed they were alphabetized. He started under 'L' for location. He found what he was looking for.

"Hey, Nat, I found our coordinates, I'm gonna enter them into the computer to see what city or state we're in."

"Good, I'm looking through their plane hangar, do you think you can fly this?" Natasha said pulling up a picture of a two-seater jet. Clint nodded heading over to a computer.

"I'll print a copy of the card used to access it." He said.

"I'll find out how many gaurds we'll need to take down." Nat said. Clint rapidly typed into the computer. Apparently, they were some place in Oklahoma. What was probably a forest used to hide the headquarters. It didn't take him long to print off the access card.

"Done," Natasha said. "We'll need to take down five gaurds, and we shouldn't go back for our weapons, we'd never make it."

"Alright, let's go."

()()()()()

"Hey, should we go see them." Bruce said to Maria. She thought about it for a minute.

"Yeah, although they might be asleep." She said as she, Thor, Bruce, Tony and Steve walked towards the ER. Maria had to practically jog to keep up with Thor and Steve. Finally they reached the hospital. Maria put her finger to her lips as she opened the door.

They looked inside to see two of the stretchers had disarrayed blankets. The kids were nowhere to be found.

"They're gone." Tony said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Steve said. One of the first things Steve learned about the 21st century was sarcasm.

"Hey, you're the captain here." Tony countered.

"Where could they have gone?" Thor asked.

"Look," Maria said. "It looks like they went through the vents! Bruce, call Phil. They've escaped."

Chapter Text

Phil was getting sick and tired of handling all of the Avengers' problems. He was not a life coach goddammit!! Tony and Bruce were refusing to leave the lab, call Phil. Thor ran out of Poptarts, call Phil. Steve broke the basketball net, call Phil. This time he expected that someone deleted Steve's favorite show, Downtown Abbey.

"What is it now!?" Phil asked exasperated as he walked into the ER.

"We have two assassins walking around the building!" Tony began.

"Well, technically, they're crawling through the vents." Bruce added.

"They escaped?!" Phil exclaimed. The team nodded. Phil walked over to the intercom on the wall.

"Attention, attention all gaurds and agents the two apprehended assassins have escaped. They are presumably in the building. Engage lockdown immediately, do not let them escape under any circumstances!" He stopped pressing the button and turned to the team. "Tony, Thor suit up!" Steve and Bruce looked disappointed. Coulson shrugged.

()()()()()

Natasha and Clint looked at each other as the message played over the intercom. They knew they had escaped. Natasha knew she and Clint had to act fast. They exited the file room to head to the hangar. The five gaurds were their as predicted. Natasha stalked up to the first one, his back to her she hit his head, knocking him unconscious. Clint walked up to the second guard, took a piece of rope (they found a bunch on the ground, weird right?), and looped it around his arms. The guard attempted to scream but Clint covered his mouth, tying the rope on his arms and legs, the guard was successfully tied up. Natasha's next victim met her head on. He swung a punch, she caught his wrist and twisted his arm. Then she pushed her knee into his back, forcing him to the ground. Swiftly, she tied him up, legs, arms, wrists, and ankles. Clint hit the other guard on the head and tied his wrists.

They looked at the last guard he was standing in front of the hangar door. Natasha and Clint had a brief, wordless exchange and then attacked. Before the guard knew what was happening, he was punched in the gut. He tried to get out his gun but Clint disarmed him. He took the gun and hit him on the head with the butt of the gun. The guard was merely dazed but Natasha took the opportunity to tie him up. Clint stole his keys and they entered the hangar with the jet.

The hangar was white, like the hospital, seriously had they heard of purple? Clint was impressed, he'd seen a lot of hangars. This one was... wow! They probably had a million different jets. An assortment of gas tanks and plane parts were organized into separate piles. The fluorescent lighting made the jet look even more beautiful than it already was. Natasha shook his shoulders, interrupting his ogling.

"Hello? I don't know how to fly!" Natasha said in irritation.

"Right, sorry." Clint agreed, running over to the jet. Natasha took her copilot's seat while Clint did all of the heavy lifting, getting all the gears ready. In a few minutes, Clint was taxiing down the runway.

()()()()()

George really hated his job as control tower guy. Oh, hey a plane was taking off. He checked his records. Wait, this wasn't scheduled. George pushed his talking button.

"You do not have flight authorization, turn back immediately." He said turning on the cams inside of the plane.

He was getting a reply. "Never!!!!! See you late bitches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The plane cams finally loaded. It was the assassins! Oh shit!! He'd better call Phil!

()()()()()

Suddenly, Phil got a call from George, at the control tower.

"Hey George."

"Phil, the assassins, they've taken a jet, they're leaving right now!" Phil hung up.

"Tony, Thor, they've taken a plane, since you can fly, go get them, destroy the jet if you have to." They nodded. These assassins were going to give him a heart attack.

()()()()()

Tony took off, Thor right on his heels. They spotted the jet.

"There, you see 'em?" Tony asked Thor, Thor nodded. They flew over to the jet. Tony sidled up to it, he could see the (he was getting tired of calling them assassins) adults inside.

"If you land the plane now, things won't have to get messy." The archer looked at him like he was crazy and did a barrel roll to try to get away from the billionaire.

"Alright have it your way." Tony said. He aimed a blast at the jet's engines. Said jet rolled. Tony tried to hit them 17 times on try 18 they couldn't dodge. They started going down. Tony had never seen a pilot so experienced. The archer started pulling them into a controlled crash. Thor and Tony raced down to the plane. Tony punched the glass window in. He grabbed the archer from his seat and pulled him out. Thro grabbed the struggling murderess and they took flight.

Tony had a grip on the back of the archer's shirt and Tony could feel how tense he was. The assassin curled in on himself, knees level with his chest. Tony felt kind of bad for him... no, no, Tony, he has killed people. Still.

"Aren't you used to flying?" Tony asked.

"This isn't a plane!!" Was the reply. Tony laughed.

Thor was having a hard time with the redheaded lady. She kept struggling, apparently she did not like flying. The lady started to struggle more and more. Thor lost his grip on her blouse and she fell. Silently, she fell, Thor rushed to her.

Natasha closed her eyes as she waited to hit the ground. She was so scared he'd drop her, or hurt her, that his grip had slipped. Well this is how Natasha would die. Then Natasha felt a grip on her arm. Her eyes opened. She wasn't on the ground, the large blonde man had saved her. He took a grip on the back left corner of her shirt.

Thor had managed to catch her, right before her slight body hit the ground. Thankfully, she stopped struggling. The lady actually held onto his arm. It was nice that now she relied on him and her grip on his arm was no doubt reassuring for both of them. Something strange he noticed is that she bowed her head as if she was expecting a scolding. Thor continued heading back to SHEILD headquarters.

Tony and the archer reached HQ first. (Tony was very proud of that) Tony gently set down the frightened killer (what?). And stood back. A minute later Thor arrived with the woman. She was clinging to Thor's arm for dear life. He set her down and she bowed her head as if expecting to be reprimanded.

Phil was waiting with 10 more agents all armed and ready. They found 3 gaurds unconscious and 2 tied up, no chances.

"Now we will take you in for questioning." Phil said to the assassins as they were escorted to the interregation room.

Chapter Text

Clint and Natasha were dragged, roughly, to separate interrogation rooms. Clint knew Natasha would never crack. Clint wasn't so sure about himself. The interrogation room was well lit, it had a metal table with two chairs on opposite sides of the table. He eyed a security camera in one of the corners. A woman entered the room after him, locking the door, and putting the key on her wrist.

"Sit," She gestured to the chair, Clint sat. "My name is Maria Hill. Um, I shot you. Sorry about that." Clint made a face, so this is the person who shot them.

"So, I'm supposed to interrogate you, so what's your name?" Maria said. Clint stared at her with a blank expression.

"Ok then, how old are you?" Same blank expression. Maria continued. "Where did you learn to shoot a bow and arrow? When did you become an assassin? Who are you're parents?" Clint was getting really annoyed. Would she leave him alone?

"Where are your parents?" Clint was getting frustrated.

"They're dead." Clint answered.

"See now we're getting somewhere! How did they die? How old were you? Did they die at the same time? Were you there?" Does she ever shut up?

"My name is Clint." He answered her first question.

"Did your parents just stop at Clint? What's your last name?"

"Just feel lucky I told you my first name." Clint replied. Maria chuckled.

"I'll make a deal with you," Maria began. "You tell me how you and her met, and I won't ask you anymore questions, or we can sit here for 3 more hours with me pestering you. Honestly, I'm good either way."

"You shot me, so can't you let me go, and we'll call it even?" Maria shook her head. Clint groaned.

"FIIIIIINEEEE!!! But you owe me. I had been working as a carnie after my parents died. That's where I learned to shoot, by the way. There was this guy there, he was embezzling money, when I found out, I wanted to turn him over to the cops. He was angry, he beat me. He thought he had killed me. I was left for dead in the middle of a street. I crawled into an alley, I was there for a few hours when, she, I'm not telling you her name, walked by. We talked and sort of ran away after that." Clint finished. "So can I go now?"

"Fine." Maria said. She got up and unlocked the door, slipping the key back on her wrist. Clint was willing to bet money he didn't have that that was a standard key for all interrogation rooms. They'd taken Nat to the room two down from his. LIGHTBULB, hopefully. Two gaurds and Maria started walking him, probably back to the hospital or something. Maria was standing right next to him. As they passed Nat's interrogation room, he reached towards Maria's wrist and slipped the key off of the bracelet. He was very experienced at doing this, she didn't even notice, so he also stole her gun.

Clint rushed past the guard on his right and jammed the key into the lock. The key fit, Clint turned the knob and ran in.

()()()()()

Natasha did not like being interrogated. She was a little surprised they weren't torturing her. She wasn't complaining though. Her interrogator's name was Fred. He kept asking her questions

"What's your name? Where are you from? How old are you? How did you meet him? What country are you from? Why did you become an assassin? Where did you learn to fight? Why do you kill people? Who are your parents? Do you have any siblings? How long have you known him? What's his name? Are you the same age? Do you know how to use knives? How long have you been an assassin? If you are an assassin why did you save that woman from being raped?" He asked over and over it was really annoying and frustrating. To every question she answered.

"YA s"yel siniy begemota , potomu chto on oskorbil muyo mat' , a nosit' pachku!" which in English translates to; I ate the blue hippo because he insulted my mother while wearing a tutu!

All of a sudden Natasha heard people walking close to her door. She assumed it was Clint, maybe he had a plan to get her out, she hoped. Natasha turned to Fred. She stood up.

"Sit down." Fred began, standing as well. He was interrupted when Natasha launched herself at him. Fred fell backwards. Natasha stood aiming a kick to his head. However, she forgot he was a trained spy. Fred grabbed her leg and attempted to pull her down. She launched herself backwards boing a flip so that she landed on her feet. By then, Fred had gotten up. Natasha aimed a punch to his head. He ducked and pulled out his gun. Natasha put her hands up.

"Good now walk there," he said pointing to her chair. "slowly and sit down." Natasha walked past Fred, she grabbed the gun's barrel and twisted it out of Fred's hands. She hit the butt against Fred's head, knocking him out. Right at that moment, Clint walked in. Natasha put the gun in the back of her jeans and ran out with Clint. When they exited they came face to face with four guards and, HEY THAT WAS THE PERSON WHO SHOT THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Put your hands up!" Two of the guard had guns.

"Ditto!" Clint said and he and Natasha put up their guns.

"I wouldn't shoot a couple of minors if I were you." Natasha said. They clearly had the upper hand. "Now throw your weapons this way." The guards didn't move. Clint shot the light on the ceiling, as glass fell down, they dropped the guns to protect their heads. Natasha rushed towards the guns, she picked up one and tossed the other to Clint.

"Now put your hands up!" Natasha said. The four guards and the woman obeyed. "Now get on your knees!" They complied. Natasha looked at Clint, he nodded and they ran. This time, they had no idea where they were going. They saw an elevator.

There!" Clint said, pointing to the elevator. Natasha nodded.

"Which button!?" Natasha screamed.

"Floor 6, they have weapons there, see!" Clint answered. It was true, next to the floor six button was a picture of a knife, a swimming pool, and a Tennis ball. They pushed the button. Right as the doors were closing, the guards showed up. Clint waved goodbye as the doors closed.

The elevator headed up to floor three when it shut down.

"Damn," Natasha cursed looking around, on the ceiling was a door, like a trapdoor, she pointed to it. "There! Help me up!" Clint made a basket with his hands and boosted her up. It took her a minute to open the door, once she got it open, Clint shoved her up. As soon as she got on top of the elevator, she knelt by the door to help Clint up. Once they were both up, Natasha looked around. There were a series of different chains and pulleys. Along the side of the wall were elevator doors.

"Ok, lets climb up the chains and open up the elevator doors when we get to the sixth floor." Clint nodded and they began to ascend the chains. Natasha selected a thick, sturdy chain.

"Race ya'!" Clint challenged.

"You're on!" Natasha replied. She scaled the chain as fast as she could, it was a little slippery, but she managed. After a few minutes, she had reached the sixth floor. She gripped the chain with her feet and her knees as she reached over with her hands to pry open the doors. It took a little work, but she got it open. She gripped the chain with her left hand and stuck her right foot out to keep the doors apart.. She got her balance again and made a little leap to get into the hallway adjacent to the doors. Her arm was pushed through the doors to help Clint get through.

"Let's go that way," Clint said pointing to the right. "It goes further back so maybe the weapons room is that way?" Natasha nodded as they headed to the right. They walked in the middle of the hall, heads high to pretend that they belonged there.

"Look," Nat exclaimed, pointing to a door with a weapons picture. It, strangely, didn't have a lock. Clint walked in to see... an assassins nirvana. Weapons were everywhere, a vast assortment too.

"Don't get any lethal ones, ok." Clint said. Natasha huffed. Clint didn't like killing though. They did it for the money, not because they liked it. Clint got a few gas grenades that would only knock you unconscious, and a lot of dart guns. Clint let Nat get one knife, and a few dart guns. They exchanged a look and walked out.

"Let's take the stairs to get to the ground floor." Clint said.

"Duh!" Natasha sassed. They walked to the end of the hall where the staircase was. A huge banister lined the wall and Natasha didn't hesitate to slide down it. Clint jumped on in hot pursuit. They reached floor 1 in a matter of seconds. Hesitantly they exited the staircase. Luckily, there was no commotion. They could see the door to the building feet away. Shit! It had a lock on it.

"I'll pick it, you stand guard!" Natasha ordered. Clint stood in front of her, arms folded, protecting her from harm.

Natasha took a pin out of her hair and put it in the lock listening for the tumblers to align. In a few minutes they were out. Aaaah, the sun! Natasha was used to spending most of her time outside, being cooped up was driving her a little insane. They began running when they heard a gunshot. She regretted turning, she saw probably a fifty agents. All lined up with guns, possibly dart guns, but she couldn't be sure. She got out her dart gun, and aimed it.

"Drop the gun." A speaker commanded, Natasha shot him, he fainted. After that, it was pandemonium. Natasha and Clint shot everyone they could. Darn, they hadn't thought to take any extra darts. Soon, there guns were empty, only about half of the agents were down. Clint threw the gas grenade which knocked out about ten of them. Natasha threw a knife at one of them, the knife became embedded in the spy's leg. Then it got physical.

Clint was punching, and kicking, and hitting, and kneeing, and ducking, and jumping, and all in all getting very sweaty. The agents managed to get in a few hits, but it was an unfair fight. Everything was going fine, the spies were proving to be a little difficult, but Clint knew he and Natasha would fight their way out. Clint was scared, usually they were tortured, or maimed. He didn't want to stay here just so he'd be hurt, AGAIN. The fight was beginning to turn to his and Natasha's favor when the gas grenade came.

Natasha tried to hold her breath, but after a few minutes she was down. 'NO, NO, NO!!!!!!!' Natasha thought 'I can't go through this again!!! I cant be hurt again! NO, NO!! And Clint, they had to be safe!!!!' Finally she lost consciousness.

()()()()()

Nick Fury walked trough the bodies of his agents, all unconscious. These assassins were a lot of trouble. Nick was stunned to hear they'd escaped again. Climbing up the elevator chains, ingenious, really. When the fight started turning towards the assassins side, he had made the call to knock out his own agents.

"They're fighters," Phil said, joining him. "We've never had somebody able to escape, er, almost escape twice."

"I know," Fury agreed. "I can't wait for them to meet the Avengers tomorrow."

Chapter Text

"We're WHAT!?" Tony screamed, incredulous.

"We just want you to meet them!" Phil said to the enraged billionaire.

"Why!? They're deadly killers!!"

"Well, yeah, but it's still important to meet them. And they're killers how would they not be deadly?" Phil asked.

"Some assassins are more deadly than others, they are VERY deadly. So, we shouldn't meet them!!!!" Tony persisted.

"Technically, we already know them." Steve added, getting a glare from Tony.

"Yes, but we want this to be official!" Fury cut in.

"Bu-" Tony began.

"Zip." Fury ordered.

"The-"

"Sh!"

"I-"

"Hush!"

"It's-"

"ENOUGH. You. Are. Meeting. Them. End. Of. Story." Fury concluded. Tony looked disgruntled but sighed. Fury walked out motioning for Phil to follow.

"Sir," Phil began. "They're not going to be happy when they find out they'll have to watch the assassins."

"I know, that's why I'm making Maria tell them!" Fury answered, Phil shrugged and they moved on.

()()()()()

Clint shot up. Ow, that hurt his head. He looked around. Four grey walls surrounded him, it was lit by a single light bulb in the center of the ceiling. One corner was home to a few crates. Clint saw a door to his right, he got up to take a look. He moved to take a step, and came crashing to the ground.

"Oomph." He said as he fell. "Ow!" He looked at what tripped him. Oh, it was Nat.

"Hey Nat get up." Clint had been up and battling a headache for a while. She needed to get up! He gently kicked her. She grabbed his foot and flipped him.

"Wha?" She yawned. "Oh, Clint! Stop lazing around! Get up!" She said in irritation. A look of aggravation met her gaze.

"Oh, did I sleep-flip you again?" Clint nodded. "Sooorrryy." Nat apologized. Clint could see Nat survey the room.

"Look," She pointed to the security camera in a corner. "I was trained to do some stuff with standard security cameras. I think I can get it to take a picture and have that be the only feed."

"Can you set up a timer? You need to be in the picture to!"

"Nice to know you care! And it'll take a lot longer but yes, so we need to act like we're going to sleep. If we get a picture of us in motion, they'll know something's up." Clint nodded as he positioned himself on the ground. Tasha had talked about her spy training. That was part of how they met, Nat had been running. She said that they sent her on a practice mission with two other spies. The other spies, she fought, killing one of them. The red room was horrible for her, she knew she needed to leave. As she was running, she found Clint in the alley he'd crawled to after the swordsman tried to kill him. They had both run from their homes. When they ran away together, they didn't leave their homes because, they were each other's home. Tasha finished and took her place next to him, taking a long time to feign going to sleep.

The camera took the picture, and they set to work trying to escape.

"The lock is on the other side of the door so we can't pick it!" Natasha said.

"Also there aren't any vents." Clint added.

"Wow, the monkeys have learned." Natasha said in amusement, earning a smile from Clint. She looked around the bare room, her eyes stopped on the crates. Clint followed her gaze.

"Battering ram?" He said. Natasha nodded.

"First we'll need to pry off all of the nails though." Clint groaned. Natasha always made Clint do stuff like that. They quickly set to work. Soon they had an assortment of nails and about 40 wooden boards They stacked five pieces of wood on top of each other, so that the front was a perfect square. Then they nailed them together, using a piece of wood as a hammer. They did that 2 more times so they had 3 stacks of 5 pieces of wood. Nat made Clint nail those together as well.

"Done!" Clint exclaimed proudly. They had their key to freedom.

()()()()()

The team slowly walked towards the room at the end of the hall, where the assassins were being kept. Phil had given Steve the key (because Steve is his favorite) refusing to let anyone go with them. Phil said he wanted them to meet without anybody else there. All of a sudden there was a loud boom. The team looked at each other, what on Earth could that be? BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! At the third boom, the door burst open and the two killers spilled onto the floor. The archer, wait, Maria said his name was Clint, got up first. He saw he was cornered, a wall was behind them and four powerful people were in front of them.

The redhead, however, got up and immediately launched herself at them. The archer, no, Clint, grabbed her around the waist, her feet on the ground she struggled to get to them.

"Clint! Let me go!" She demanded.

"No." He answered, struggling to restrain her.

"Why, I can take them!"

"You'll get hurt!"

"I'll be fine. Let me go!"

"Oh why, so they can kill you!?"

"I'd kill them first, and you know it!"

"The big one can fly!" He insisted.

"They're all big, you need to clarify!" She said, followed by a shriek as she nearly escaped his grasp.

"The blonde one!" He strained.

"Two are blonde!!"

"Would you fly in spandex or a cape?"

"Whatever! I can take them!!!!"

"No!"

"Yes, let me go!!"

"I'll never let go, I'll never let go Jack!" He said with a smile on his face.

"This is not an appropriate time to quote Titanic!!" She protested angrily.

"I'll start quoting The Princess Bride if you don't stop struggling!" He threatened.

"I can fight them!!!"

"Inconceivable!"

"FINE, you win, just let me go!!" She said.

"As you wish!"

"I love you too!!"

"I KNEW IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!" Then the killers turned to face Steve and the rest of the team. They looked at them questioningly. Steve stepped forward, they probably already knew who he was though. Captain America was pretty famous. In fact, he couldn't walk down the street without being bombarded by fans.

"Hi, I'm Steve Rogers, Captain America, you probably already know me!" The killers looked at each other obviously confused. The girl raised her hand.

"I'm Russian."

"America, CAPTAIN America," Clint mumbled, knitting his eyebrows together. "So are you like a Kardashian or something?" Steve had no idea what a "Kardashian" was, but it sounded like a good food. Luckily, Tony stepped forward.

"I'm Tony Stark, like you don't know, I'm on the news all the time, very famous, no autographs, please."

The girl leaned over to Clint. "You know who he is?"

"No idea." Was the audible reply. Before Tony could reply Thor stepped forward.

"I am the mighty Thor. Recently, I saved your planet from destruction. They show it often on the magic portal box. I am sort of a God to your people." Clint and Natasha told him they had never heard his name before and moved on. Natasha (her POV now for a little bit) turned to the last guy while Clint asked Thor how he could be "sort of a God". The last guy was small, he had glasses and messy hair, he looked very tired.

"Hi, well if you don't know them you definitely don't know me but, I'm uh, Bruce, Bruce Banner." Natasha wanted to faint. Her mouth dropped open. She squealed. The scientist looked startled at that.

"Y-you're Bruce Banner!?!" Bruce nodded. A little scared now. She turned to archer, Carl, or something.

"Clint, Clint. CLINT!"

"What?" he asked obviously slightly irritated.

"That's Bruce Banner!! THE BRUCE BANNER!!" The assassins turned to face him.

"Dude, we've read like, everything you've ever written!!" The archer said enthusiastically.

"Your paper on chemical bonds." The redhead said. "was AWESOME!!"

"Have you been able to harness gamma for energy yet!!"

"We saw your designs of biomechanical weapons! They were great!!!"

"You're research on uranium atoms and why they're used in nuclear physics was the best we've ever seen!!!" Bruce was honestly just surprised someone knew his work, other than the Hulk.

"Wow, Bruce," Tony observed. "Looks like you've got some stalkers!" The assassins turned to Tony.

"Right now, we can kill you 23 different ways, weapons or not." The girl began.

"So you can either shut your mouth by choice, or because you're dead." Clint finished. Tony looked stunned and the assassins returned to interrogating Bruce. Eventually, after Bruce was thoroughly exhausted, Maria came down to talk to the killers.

"Ok you two, can I take you upstairs?" Their reactions were startling. Clint stepped protectively in front of the girl. He was visibly shaking and the girl took a defensive position, with her fists raised, partially beside him. When Steve took a step forward, Clint pushed the redhead back on the ground and looked like he was bracing for a punch.

"CLINT!!" The girls screamed getting back up ready to fight. Clint kept pushing her back behind him, but she was growling like a wolf.

"Whoa, chill you guys, we're just showing you your room!!" Maria said confused at their reactions.

"Wait, we get our own room?" The girl said, stunned.

"Yeah what did you think was going to happen?" She asked.

They exchanged a look. "Nothing." Clint said.

"Alright, well Director Fury wanted to talk to you guys." Maria said to the Avengers. She left with the tiny assassins and Fury walked in.

"I've got something to tell you." Fury said. Maria bullied him into telling the Avengers.

"You're going to be watching them for some of their stay here."

Chapter Text

"Wait, you want us to babysit them?" Steve said.

"No, we want you to guard and watch them!" Fury replied in irritation.

"So, babysit them?" Tony said.

"Look, you guys are the only ones able to contain them and not let them escape, again."

"Whoa the first time we fought them, we would've lost if Maria hadn't shot them!!" Bruce added.

"What do you even want with them?" Steve asked.

"We want to assess their skills, then we don't really know." Fury said.

"I do not feel like we really have a choice." Thor said.

"Exactly so get used to the idea, I'm talking to you Tony!" Fury left leaving Tony very angry.

()()()()()

Bruce followed Tony out.

"Hey, why do you hate them so much?" Bruce asked.

"That's the thing, I don't!" Tony said.

"What?" Bruce asked, incredulous.

"They're assassins, I'm not supposed to like them, they're horrible people right?" Tony said.

"You're afraid to like them." Bruce concluded. Tony nodded.

"I mean, if I like murderers does that mean I'm a bad person?"

"No, no, of course not. They must've gone through some pretty bad stuff, for them to turn to killing. But they're still people, and I like them, so does Thor, and Steve."

"Yeah, I feel a little less guilty. Mention to this to anyone else, and Jarvis will destroy you!!" Bruce nodded, that was a powerful AI.

()()()()()

Natasha was very surprised they were given their own room. It had a bathroom, two separate beds and a mini-fridge! Natasha had been sure that the lady, Maria, Clint had said her name was, was taking them to get tortured for not talking. Clint always got so protective!! When they met in that alley, Clint had promised he'd never let anyone hurt her. So far he'd never willingly broken that promise. He always insisted on being tortured or beaten instead of her. If she was being tortured for information, Clint would tell them so they'd stop. Clint only ever let her get hurt if he was unconscious, or incapacitated, but if he could stop someone from hurting her, he'd do it at the cost of his own life.

Currently, Clint was running around celebrating their room. He was also surprised and thrilled they'd gotten their own room. This never happened. He wondered what would happen next. They'd probably wait a little while to torture them. This place screamed government.

"Hey, Tash, what do you think is gonna happen next?" Natasha visibly thought about it.

"I don't know, but if they try to test us, physically or something, refuse to take the test."

"Also, do you think you should tell them your name?" Clint said. Nat looked at him like he was crazy. "Well, if they torture you, I'll just tell them, but if you tell them now, they might wait."

"If they ask twice, I'll tell them." Nat relented. And they looked around their room. The vent was covered and they couldn't make another battering ram. Oh well. Later.

()()()()()

The Avengers were being briefed on the proper care of assassins.

"Make sure they eat, they look kind of thin." The doctor said. Fury had a doctor, a psychologist and a criminologist talk to them about the tiny killers.

"They might not eat a lot of your food, they'll assume it's poisoned." The psychologist cut in.

"If they don't poison your food first. Watch them around weapons." The criminologist said.

"Also, they're obviously intelligent so don't condescend." The doctor said.

"Be careful, they might try to kill you." The criminologist added.

"Only if they're provoked. They've obviously been through some trauma."

"They are very muscular and fit so they'll want exercise." Doc added.

"They're not dogs!" Psychologist put in angrily.

"Of course not, dogs won't try and kill you in your sleep!" Criminologist.

"They were shot! By them!" Doctor.

"So they might retaliate! It's very logical." Psychologist.

"Killers kill for revenge, they want it!" Criminologist.

"Well, they know that the avengers are physically bigger that them so they might not!!" Doctor.

"The just don't trust people, is it that hard to understand!!" Psychologist.

"They'll stab who they don't trust!!!!" Criminologist.

"They don't even have a reason not to trust them, you idiot." Doctor.

"They were kidnapped you jackass!!!!!" Psychologist.

"Yeah so is it that hard to believe they'll kill the avengers you narrow-minded bastard!!" Criminologist.

"They know that the Avengers are stronger dick!!" Doctor.

"Oh dick am I? Your so convinced they wont kill them, could you be so stupid?!" Criminologist.

"They. Are. Scared. Children!!!!!" The psychologist smacked the criminologist.

"That's it you jerk!!" The criminologist screamed as she launched herself at the psychologist, he ducked so she crashed into the doctor.

"You, son of a bitch!!" Then all Hell broke loose. The doctor punched the criminologist, the psychologist kicked the doctor, the criminologist tackled the psychologist. The doctor kneed the psychologist, the criminologist leg swept the doctor. Then it was a smart people dog pile as the criminologist jumped on the psychologist and the doctor jumped on them. Maria walked in and the screaming and fighting stopped.

"So this IS the dart gun." Maria said. "That is the first time I've had to tranquilize scientists!"

"Yes, thank you Maria." Fury said. "Ok, so Bruce, I guess you'll cook like usual for everyone, now them too. Steve, when they want to go to the track or something that's you. Tony, Bruce, show them your lab if they want. Thor, keep them entertained and busy. Maria, and Phil will help you guys too." A chorus of yeahs and oks echoed around the room.

"So what do we do now?" Bruce asked.

"I guess now, we'll get them from their room and you can get to know each other." Fury said

Chapter Text

Fury said the Avengers should get to know the assassins. That's how Steve (and the rest of the team) ended up sitting across from two killers, eating breakfast. The assassins couldn't have been sitting closer to each other.

"So," Steve began, he turned to the archer. "What's your name?" Steve knew what his name was, Maria had told them, still, it was polite to ask.

"Maria told you my name, your just asking because you want it to feel like we're choosing to tell you stuff." The archer replied coldly. Steve looked a little stunned, he was not expecting that.

"Ok, but we still don't know her name. Well, what is it?" Steve asked the little redhead. The archer looked at her expectantly.

"Natasha." She said quietly.

"See, now, we're getting somewhere!" Tony added.

"So, how old are you two?" Bruce asked.

"Yes and where are your parents." Thor continued.

"First of all, don't condescend, it's frustrating." Clint said.

"Second of all, you want us to open up to you, while you refuse to say anything about yourselves." The redhead, Natasha, finished. The team looked at each other, it was true. Condescending, was a great way to describe their tone, and they had said nothing about their personal lives.

"True, well, I was a soldier in World War Two but I got frozen in some ice and woke up about a year ago." He decided to leave out the part about the serum, not yet.

"And I own a billion dollar company that makes weapons." Tony said.

"Yes, he also has a pathetic crush on his assistant." Bruce added.

"Bruce!!" Tony said.

"Well, they said personal."

"Yeah? Brucie over here has a relationship with the daughter of the man trying to kill him!!!!" Tony retaliated.

"Over the line!!" The assassins were smiling, it was funny.

"So we have, unwillingly, told you some about ourselves. I believe you said you were Russian." Natasha nodded slowly.

"When did you leave Russia?" The killers looked at each other and said nothing.

"Ok, well is there anything you will tell us?"

"You left your oven on, its been on for a while and will probably ignite in a minute." Natasha said. Bruce ran over to the oven to turn it off and Steve continued the conversation.

"So what's your favorite color?"

The spies looked at each other. "I don't know, we don't really think about that stuff." The archer said. He immediately looked guilty, as if he'd given something away.

"Clint!!" Natasha said angrily.

"I'm sorry I wasn't thinking!" Clint apologized

"Good job!! Now they know everything!!" She said standing up.

"Oh like you've never slipped up before!?"He retorted also standing.

"I haven't!!"

"What about that time in France, at the café with the Puerto Rican guys?!"

"We were fine!!" She insisted.

"They set off a bomb!!!"

"But we lived!"

"They probably don't even care!!" Clint said in his defense.

"They probably do care!!" She screeched.

"This place screams government!! They don't care about that aspect of our lives."

"Ok, I guess." She said still suspicious.

"Well do they seem like they care!!"

"Yeah, yeah you're right." She agreed. Steve was really confused. What had the archer given away? The pair sat back down and surveyed the teams faces.

"Oh, right they're not agents." Natasha said.

"What was that about?" Tony asked, very confused.

"Nothing." Natasha said.

"Yeah, sure it was well are you guys done eating?" Bruce asked. The assassins nodded slowly, although they'd barely touched their food.

"Well, Tony said he'd take you guys to meet some of the agents who'll also be watching you." Steve said.

"What, I don't remember saying that?!" Tony replied.

"Yes, well, brother, you got lucky, congratulations!" Thor said. Tony looked a little disgruntled, but, what other choice did he have? He got up and gestured for the assassins to follow him. Phil and Maria were working on a mission on floor 3. Riding the elevator, Tony recalled how the pair had climbed up the chains.

"So you two escaped the elevator, was it fun?"

"You already know that, yes, we had escaped the elevator." Natasha said.

"And we were trying to escape the building, we climbed up some chains which is very difficult, so no, we were not having fun." Clint finished.

"Are you guys aware that you finish each others sentences?" Tony asked.

"No we had no idea, we've only been doing it for the whole time we've known each other." Natasha replied. At that, Tony laughed. They all stepped out of the elevator and walked towards the end of the hall where Phil and Maria were working. They opened the door to see two of SHEILD's best agents doing something horrible and scandalous. it was thoroughly appalling and probably scarred the assassins. Phil and Maria were doing. Disco.

They had music on and a plug-in disco going. The running man, the sprinkler and other moves infiltrated the room. When Phil saw them he turned the music off as Maria unplugged the disco.

"Hi, hey, sorry about that, we thought you were coming later!" Phil said.

"Yes I see you were working hard, as always!" Tony teased.

"Are you sure they're government?" Natasha asked Clint. Clint shrugged.

"Hi, I'm Maria, Clint knows me, I shot you guys. On ACCIDENT though!" She shook their hands and started winding up the disco.

"I'm Phil, I have not shot either of you, yay me! I am an agent here, have been since I was eighteen."

"Who are you dating?" Clint asked.

"What? How'd you-"

"You're staying far away from Maria, like you already have someone, so who?" Natasha finished.

"A cellist, please don't read my mind anymore, it's scary." Phil said. Tony was surprised to see the pair actually smile.

"Alright, you have now met them, so now we can leave!" Tony said eagerly. As soon as they walked out the door, the Russian stopped.

"Clint, I'm tired!!" She complained, The archer sighed and walked over to her. He turned, his back to her, and bent down. Natasha jumped onto Clint's back. Clint began to walk, his muscles, coupled with her low weight, made it easy for her to be carried. She often took advantage of this. The man, Tony looked at them quizzically.

"I'm her unofficial slave." Clint said.

"We're trying to get the papers!" Natasha added. The man laughed. Tony said he was taking them to a different room where the team now was. Natasha and Clint were supposed to 'bond' with the team by doing gymnastics. Natasha was surprised they hadn't tortured them yet. Clint earlier had revealed he and Natasha had had a very rough life. He let them know they didn't have time to worry about which color was the best. Clint had been carrying Natasha for a while when the came across a woman with dark black hair and glasses.

When Darcy saw the tiny boy carrying the even smaller girl on his back, she knew it was the assassins. She heard about them from Maria, they had a gossip circle. Darcy had wanted to meet them so bad!! She loved pre teens and strange people. Fury told her she couldn't meet them. And, when Darcy is told she can't do something, she will find a way!! She saw the assassins and she dropped the books she was carrying. She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Darcy!!" Tony screamed as the crazy woman ran towards Clint and Nat. Clint put Tasha down and stood back.

"Hi!" The psychotic lady said. "I've heard so much about you!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKK!" She screamed.

"Crazy lady!" Clint said. Natasha nodded in agreement.

"You have no idea!! Tony is shaking his head at me, so I should go, but I will find you later!!" And with that she was gone. Tony shook his head and ushered the pair to the gymnastics room.

Chapter Text

Thor had been noticing some odd behavior from the young warriors. They often flinched, as if the pair believed the Avengers would hurt them. It was very disappointing. Thor was fond of the assassins. He did not want them to be hurt or scared. For example, when his brother, Bruce, showed the pair his magic workshop.

FLASHBACK

"...and this is an LC-MS, it tells me the chemical composition of a liquid." Bruce explained. The pair looked on in wonder. Apparently, they had not seen such contraptions before. Thor did not know what most of the machines did, neither did Steve. Bruce was showing the warriors some of his magical experiments. The boy, Clint, reached out to touch one of the experiments.

"You really wanna touch that?" Bruce asked. Clint nodded staring at the strange goop. Bruce waved him on. Clint hesitantly reached towards the goop, his hand stopped just before it touched. He poked it, then began grabbing and molding the jelly like substance.

"Nat, you've gotta feel this!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. The female warrior rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I'll throw it and you'll have no choice!!!!" Clint threatened gleefully. She sighed and gracefully floated towards Clint and his strange goop. She poked it and gasped, smiling. It made Thor glad to see her happy.

"It's so squishy!" She observed.

"Right!?" Clint said happily.

"Would you put that down?" Bruce asked in exasperation. The young male warrior raised his hands in mock surrender. He made a motion to put the goop back, though Thor distinctly saw him pocket the jelly. Bruce continued with the tour showing them DNA samples. Tony reached towards a glass vial.

"Steve, catch!!!!" Tony screamed. Steve caught the vial and threw it back to Tony. This amusing game continued for a while. Bruce protesting in the background. Eventually, when Steve threw the bottle back to Tony, Tony dropped it. The engineer turned to Bruce sheepishly. Bruce slammed his fist against the table in annoyance.

"Stop it!" He said angrily. When Bruce hit the table, the warriors flinched, their eyes closed, expecting pain. The pair slowly opened their eyes. The Avengers stared in shock, they had not been expecting that.

"Well," Bruce began, trying to break the awkward silence. "I think that's enough for today." And that was the end of that.

END FLASHBACK

Thor hoped the pair was ok. Right now Thor was waiting for Jane, it was her 'Girls' Time' though Thor did not know what that meant.

()()()()()

"So, have you heard the news from the guys?" Jane asked the group. As soon as she knew Thor was keeping a secret from her, she'd devoted all her time trying to figure it out, eventually Thor spilled. Who knew the Avengers would become babysitters?

Betty raised her hand. "I had to interrogate him, with the light and everything!!" The ladies laughed. They were sitting in a living room, listening to music, doing their nails and eating snacks. It was basically the unofficial girls' club. Darcy had even made a 'No Boys Allowed' sign.

"Tony cracked when I gave him 'The Glare'!!!!" Pepper said. She knew Tony liked her and often used it to her advantage. Pepper was just waiting for her boss to ask her out.

"I scared them in the hall." Darcy said.

"What did you do now?" Jane asked with a groan.

"Nothing! I swear!" Darcy insisted, tapping her fingers wildly.

"That's, like, your tenth coffee." Pepper said.

"Sixth, and it's decaf!!" Darcy said humming and swaying.

"Is it really?" Maria said.

"Nope!!!" Darcy giggled gleefully.

"I wonder what happened to them, you know to make them so..." Jane wondered aloud.

"Child abuse?" Pepper suggested.

"I hope not!!! That would be SSSSSOOOOO horrible, like really really really really bad!!!!!!!!" Darcy said, vibrating.

"I know, but some of it adds up." Maria said.

"Bruce said he accidentally made them flinch!!" Betty added. The girls looked shocked, Bruce was a really nice guy.

"Exactly, maybe child abuse is why they're so flinchy and distrustful?" Pepper said.

"We should start acting really motherly towards them!" Betty said enthusiastically.

"Like, how, and why?" Jane asked, confused.

"Well, obviously, they're scared here and they need parenting." Betty began.

"So we should take care of them!! Hug them, give them life lessons." Maria cut in.

"Exactly, give them a shoulder to cry on, do everything our moms did for us, except steer them away from drugs." Betty finished. The girls started nodding and smiling.

Darcy laughed hysterically. "That is a-a-a-a-a-a GREEEEAAT idea!!!! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!!!! I love it SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO much, that sounds like SOS!! Hahahaha SOS, someone help me ahhh someone help me!!!" Darcy stood up on her chair and began jumping up and down. "Yeah yeah!! We'll be their MOMs I've always wanted kids, nonono, that's a lie, I don't want a baby. Babies are D-I-S-G-G-G-S-S-T-I-I-N-G DISGUSTING!!!! Hhhmmmmhmmmhmmmhmm!!! But I love love LOVE preteens what with their hormones and such!!! But you know what?? hahaha, you wanna know what, my mom, like, never EVER hugged me!!!! But I'll give THEM hugs!!! Yeah I'm gonna go give them hugs, then we'll stay up all night drinking CCCCOOOOOOOOOFFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" And Darcy raced towards the elevator.

The girls watched in horror as Darcy ran towards the elevator. They stared in terror as she went up the elevator to the Avengers floor. Maria, first to recover from the shock, ran over to the intercom.

"We have a code 6, I repeat, a code 6 on the Avengers floor!! Brace yourselves!!!" Maria screamed.

Chapter Text

Tony heard the message over the intercom and turned to face the others. They'd been in he middle of a poker game. The assassins had been creaming them.

"It's a code six which means that Darcy is on caffeine high," Tony sighed, "Again." The team prepared at incredible speed. Last time Darcy was on a caffeine high, the level seven kitchen was destroyed. She'd ran into the kitchen, taken one look around and had thrown the microwave out the window. The fire started from the electrical sockets, igniting the counter.

She'd put the fire out with the kitchen sink faucet. Then she'd taken a shower with it blasting anyone who came near. Quickly, she'd pried off the cabinet doors. Using a cupboard door, she wacked the light fixture off the ceiling, screaming 'The Unicorn ate my brother, the unicorn ate my brother!' Later, she'd shaken the flour bag all over he room, insisting it was confetti. The syrup, whipped cream, and tomato sauce were also victims of her rampage.

It had taken four agents and Steve to restrain her while a doctor tranquilized her. 17 janitors and 6 agents had spent 23 hours cleaning the kitchen. It ended up costing Fury roughly 4,000 dollars, no more chances.

Thor, Steve, and Tony braced the door while Bruce ran to the assassins, just in case. They waited for what felt like hours. They heard the elevators ding and open. The human barricade tensed. Bruce held his breath.

"HHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!" A voice behind them screamed. Bruce turned, it was Darcy. But how? Bruce looked around, a window was open. Of course, a caffeinated Darcy is a creative Darcy.

"The crazy lady!" Natasha said to Clint. Then with inhuman speed, the psychotic person rushed towards them. Instinctively, they flinched.

Clint stood, expecting pain,butinstead, he was pulled roughly into a hug. She embraced both him and Natasha. Thoughts were racing through Clint's head. He wanted to trust this strange woman. But how could he? She'd just hurt him in the end. It had been so long since he'd touched someone other than Nat. The psychotic woman was warm though and she wasn't hurting him right then.

Clint relaxed his tense muscles and melted into the hug. He didn't hug her back, but he leaned into her comforting arms. Nat, he noted, leaned away from her with a scared look in her eyes. Clint knew that look. She wanted to trust it, to hug this crazy lady back, but every instinct in her body was screaming RUN.

Darcy pulled away from the teens. She thought she saw a look in both of their eyes. A look want, wanting the hug, but scared to. In an instant the look was gone. She turned to face the Avengers. Tony was holding a tranquilizer shot.

"Darcy," He began.

"Have to catch me first!!! MUAUHAHAHAHA!!!!!" She screamed and ran away Tony, Thor and Steve in hot pursuit.

Bruce turned to the pair of kids. Natasha was holding herself with a glazed look in her eyes, rocking back and forth. Clint was rubbing his arm really fast, while pacing, his eyes roving all over the room like a wild animal.

"I think that's enough for today, you guys can go back to your room." Bruce said gesturing for them to follow him. They did slowly and awkwardly.

()()()()()

Natasha closed the door to her and Clint's room and slid down, her back against the wall. Clint looked at her as she held herself and muttered. He strode over to her and picked her up. She had curled into a little ball. He carried her over to her bed and set her down. He sat next to her and she adjusted herself so she could cling to his dark gray shirt.

Natasha was still in her semi-ball, and Clint wrapped his arm around her slight body. She intertwined her fingers in the fabric of his shirt as she leaned her head against his chest.

"You still remember what you promised me?" Nat asked him.

"What? That I'd never let anyone hurt you? You never let me forget it!" At that Natasha let out a small chuckle. "And I will never break that promise." He whispered to her, partially to comfort himself.

"I know." She replied. Clint wrapped his other arm around her waist and they rocked back and forth whispering words of comfort to each other. They fell asleep like that.

()()()()()

It took two and a half hours to catch Darcy. The damage was cheaper this time though. Only one broken window and a singed wall. The agent who had given Darcy the coffee had been punished. Soon Steve, Thor, Bruce and Tony were called to Fury's office/meeting room.

"Come in." Fury said when Steve knocked. The Avengers slowly filed in.

"You wanted to see us?" Steve asked.

"Yes, obviously." Fury answered.

"If it's abut Darcy, we didn't know she could hotwire a car!!" Tony said.

"It's about the assassins. C'mon, sit." Fury commanded. The Avengers sat.

"Good boys." Fury said, the team looked at each other. "The teens have been her roughly five days and we don't know their last names!!!" The team winced at the directors scream.

"They're kind of secretive." Bruce argued.

"Which is why you're supposed to get them to trust you!!!! Have you done anything together!?!" Fury said, his one eye bulging.

"Bruce showed them his lab and we played poker?" Tony offered.

"So NOTHING?!?!" The team sighed and looked properly ashamed. Fury sighed. "Well you need to do something to bond with, do an activity or something with them, preferably away from the living room!!"

"What such entertainment?" Thor asked.

"Figure it out yourselves!!!" Fury ended, sending them out.

Chapter Text

"So, yeah, Director Fury said we have to bond with you. Any ideas?" Tony asked, explaining Fury' s orders to the assassins. They looked at each other, then back at Tony and shrugged.

"We could go camping!" Steve suggested. Tony shook his head vigorously, camping disgusted him. Steve sighed.

"We could go into battle!!" Thor said enthusiastically. The team looked at him like he was crazy. Apparently, Asgard was different.

"Actually," Bruce began. "That's not such a bad idea!" Natasha and Clint looked at each other a little scared. "I mean," Bruce continued. "Not like that, but war games actually do bond people, sometimes." The team considered this for a minute.

Tony spoke first."So like what?" Bruce shrugged.

"What's that thing?" Steve said. "Y'know with the fake guns and the obstacles and red lights?"

"Laser tag?" Bruce asked.

"I do not know what this 'laser tag' is but it sounds interesting." Thor agreed.

"You guys cool with that?" Steve asked. The pair of killers kids nodded. So it was settled, laser tag it is.

Chapter Text

It took the team about 15 minutes to drive to the laser tag place. The kids said absolutely nothing the whole time. The building was brick, and kind of really big. The guy at the desk, where they got their code names, was playing on his phone, looking extremely bored. He didn't look up when they walked over. Steve cleared his throat, the employee did nothing.

"Hi!" Tony said in annoyance. The guy looked up, rolled his eyes, and continued playing on his phone. Natasha was getting a little frustrated. She leaned over the counter, grabbed the guys collar and looked him straight in the eyes. The employee dropped his phone.

"Ok, ok, just please, please, stop it!!" The employee begged. Natasha released him. The employee quickly took their money, Clint laughing hysterically.

"Alright, what do you want your codenames to be?" The employee asked.

"Living Legend." Steve said, stepping up to the stool.

"Living God." Thor answered, Steve shot him a look.

"Billionaire Genius." Tony said triumphantly.

"Geeks Rock." Bruce said. The team looked at him. "I'm not a competitive person!!" Bruce said. Clint and Natasha looked at each other, they raced towards the stool. They were neck and neck, when Clint took a giant leap at the stool. He hit it with a clatter, but he got there first.

"Assassin!!" Clint said, looking smugly at Natasha. Natasha's face lit up as she got an idea. She stepped up to the stool.

"Better assassin!" She said looking even more smugly at Clint as his face fell.

"Ok," The employee said. "Do you want to choose teams, or...?" Clint and Natasha stood next to each other. Thor, Steve and Tony stood next to each other. Bruce ran over to the rest of the team.

"No, Bruce," Tony said. "This is the team with the cool nicknames, you are not allowed." Bruce glared at him, but walked over to the kids. The team assumed the kids would lose. They were going up against a weapons designer, super soldier, and warrior God.

They were lead into the debriefing room, where they were handed their guns. The employee opened the door to the laser tag room. It was so dark! Bruce couldn't see, the kids almost left without him.

"Come on Bruce!!" Clint exclaimed in irritation. Bruce was gasping for breath, apparently, being an assassin meant you were a good runner. Finally, the kids stopped, they knelt on the ground. Natasha grabbed Bruce's arm and pulled the ignorant scientist down.

"Ok, there are four forts, one on each wall. There are semi-wall things everywhere, and ladders leading to tiny platforms, for the Clint's of the world." Natasha said. She looked at Clint. A long time ago, they invented a secret language. It was composed almost entirely out of different faces and facial motions, it was rather elaborate.

Clint raised his eyebrows and sucked his cheeks in. What should we do? Natasha sucked in her right cheek, then her left, then puffed them both out. I don't know. Clint rolled his eyes, made a box shape with his fingers, then puffed his left cheek out and stuck out his tongue. They're probably in the fort, you flush them out. In response, Natasha jutted her chin out, then whistled. You snipe them. Clint turned his head to the right, then back, he squinted, opened his eyes and squinted then opened his eyes, he cocked his head to the right. Then Bruce takes them out again?

"Sounds good!" Natasha said, in English.

"I'm sorry, did I miss something?" Bruce said.

"SHHHHHHH!!!" Clint whispered angrily.

"We came up with a plan, I snipe them, while Nat goes in and flushes them out of whichever fort they're in."

"And I push them right where you'll be waiting to take them out again!" Natasha finished. Abruptly, she got up and jogged away.

Bruce shook his head and asked Clint "Well, what fort are they in?" Clint looked at him like he was crazy.

"That's what Nat's finding out!" He said. They waited in silence for a few minutes. Natasha came jogging back.

"They're in the fort at the right, Bruce when you're done taking them out, run to the fort on the left, Clint go there as soon as you're done sniping, I'll meet you their once I'm done getting them out." They nodded and silently moved out.

Clint scaled one of the ladders, he had a good aim, and he could see Bruce and Natasha. He thought back to the hug the psychotic weirdo had forced upon them. It had been nice, having someone (other than Nat) touch him and not hurt him. But he knew this was just temporary, as soon as he and Nat gave them what they wanted, or escaped, they'd never see these people ever again. Clint would miss them, not.

Oh, wait, Nat was in, go time. He spotted Tony and aimed. Direct hit!! It was kind of funny, Tony looked around in confusion. Clint shot Thor, man he could hear form here.

"Who was that?" Thor said in irritation. Clint chuckled to himself as he shot Steve. His, targets hit, he climbed down the ladder and ran back to the left fort.

()()()()()

Natasha could see them, Clint had successfully sniped them. It took about 45 seconds for their lives to come back. It took her a couple tries but she took out Thor. The warrior looked around in confusion. She shot Tony in one try. After that she came out from her hiding spot. Steve pointed his gun at her, so she shot him.

"Boo!" She said. Thor's gun came back on, he aimed it at her, she ducked and rolled behind a wall. Her gun pointed at him, she shot them all again.

"C'mon, let's go!" Tony said finally Natasha sighed gladly. She ran out the other exit and to the left fort. As she jogged back, she thought about why they were there. The strange, black-haired man said it was to 'bond'. During her time in the Red Room, and during her time with Clint, nobody had ever,ever wanted to 'bond' with them. That must mean it was a scheme! Exactly, they were trying to get her and Clint to trust them, so they'd talk. That was not going to happen!

She reached the left fort. Clint was already there. A few moments later, Bruce joined them.

"Ok, what's the plan now?" He asked, very out of breath.

"What, we have to come up with everything?" Clint asked, Bruce looked a little worried at having to come up with a plan.

"He was joking." Natasha said, Bruce nodded, still gasping for breath. "Anyway, they won't feel safe in the forts anymore-"

"So we'll find them on the ground." Clint finished. "They'll probably launch an offensive attack, so they won't get attacked again-"

"So we should plan an ambush for them," Natasha concluded. "We'll climb on the platform ladder things and-"

"And wait for them to show up," Clint added. "We'll snipe them at first so-"

"That they don't have any idea what's happening," Natasha helped. "Then we'll drop down-"

"From the ladders," Clint took over. " And surround them, we'll separate them, and attack them."

"So they'll have no idea what's gong on, like a pack of wildebeest."

"I guess that makes us the lions." The teens fist bumped.

"You guys," Bruce gasped out. "Are terrifying!" Bruce was wheezing by now. The teens exchanged a look.

"And you'll stay here." Clint said. Natasha nodded. Bruce sighed in relief.

"Operation Wildebeest is a go." Natasha said as she and Clint moved out.

()()()()()

The plan was very successful. They attacked first, as predicted, and Clint and Nat successfully sniped them. The other team had absolutely no idea what was happening as they were separated and hunted down. The platforms were exceptionally close together, so the teen athletes could jump from them, easily following their prey.

Natasha was actually enjoying herself. She understood why this was so popular. Thor, Steve and Tony got so disgruntled, it was amusing. All of a sudden, there was a beeping and a flashing light at the exit, the game was over.

They walked out, squinting at the sudden light. An employee stood up on a bench to announce their scores.

"These scores are rounded to the nearest ten, ok?" The employee said. "In fifth place we have Billionaire Genius with 130 points." Tony sheepishly got up to receive his score sheet.

"In fourth place we have Living Legend with 250 points." Steve got his sheet, angry at himself for his score.

"In third is Living God with 270 points." Thor got his paper, disappointed.

"Geeks Rock, you're in second with 540 points." Bruce looked very smug as he took his score.

"And we have a tie, each with 1120 points, Assassin and Better Assassin, you also got the high score for the week. Congratulations." The employee finished sarcastically.

"Let's go!" Tony said angrily.

()()()()()

On the drive back to SHEILD, everyone looked over their scores.

"Holy shit, Clint you got 93% accuracy!" Bruce said in awe.

"I know." Clint said, in a tone that would suggest he was upset with his score.

"You're kidding, right?" Tony said. "Natasha, yours was freakishly high too!"

"Clint, you have to show us how good you are with a bow and arrow!" Steve said.

"Yes, young archer, show us your skills!" Thor agreed.

Clint shrugged, and looked at Natasha, she returned his look of 'These people are crazy'.

"I'm gonna take that as 'yes as soon as we get back' ok." Tony said. They arrived at SHEILD where they followed Steve down to the archery field.

"Alright, Clint, go ahead." Steve encouraged. Clint picked up a standard bow and took his archer's stance. Legs spread shoulder width apart, his side facing the target, he drew back an arrow with ease. He made a gesture to Natasha. She sighed, but walked over to the target. She stood, legs together, arms spread out.

"Wait, what are you-" Bruce began to say, when Clint let the arrow go, he loosed arrow after arrow, he aimed them around Nat's frame. Once he was done, Natasha stepped out, there was a perfect silhouette of where she was standing. Applause sounded from behind him.

"So can you hit, like, anywhere?" Tony asked. Clint shrugged.

"Yes." Natasha answered. The team looked shocked.

"Micheal!" Steve said.

"Yes, Captain." An agent said, running over.

"I told you not to call me that, and could you set up the flying targets?" Steve said. Micheal nodded and ran off, presumably to do that. Clint went to pull out the arrows from the target. A few seconds after Micheal ran off, the high tech targets began flying. They were remote controlled. So far, nobody had shot more than three.

Clint prepared himself. He saw the targets fly up, he drew an arrow and let it fly. It hit the target exactly where he aimed it at. He drew another arrow, the target was moving, Clint saw the control panel, he aimed just in front of it, so that at the rate of speed, it would hit it. The target fell. He shot down another and another. Target after target hit the ground.

()()()()()

"He's good!" Steve said.

"Who's good?" Phil said, just walking in.

"Clint." Tony answered. "The archer."

"Wait, he's hitting the flying targets?" Phil asked in surprise.

"He's hit twenty eig-nine." Bruce answered. About a third of SHEILD was watching Clint, but the archer was oblivious as he shot them all down. The agents were murmuring and gasping, it seemed that Clint wouldn't miss a shot.

"Well, this is nice, but." Phil said. The, raising his voice. "Clint and Natasha, it's time for you two to be questioned again." The assassins stopped what they were doing to walk off with Phil, back to the interrogation hall.

Chapter Text

"Please, PLEASE, just tell me!" Natasha's interrogator, Ethan, begged. He'd been asking Natasha questions for roughly 3 hours. Silence, as it turned out, annoyed him very much. Natasha was actually getting a little bored. Ethan was asking her the most rudimentary questions. Natasha sat, back against the arm of the chair, feet on the table, giving off an air of nonchalant. She had been handcuffed, they were attached to the table, which was a little uncomfortable.

"Ok, ok I'm ok!" Ethan said, laughing a little hysterically. "Ho-how old are you?" Natasha looked at him, rolled her eyes and looked away, examining her nails.

"I said, HOW OLD ARE YOU!?!" Ethan screamed, standing up. He sat back down.

"I'm sorry I screamed, just please tell me." Natasha ignored him adamantly.

"Will you please, please, please, PLEASE, tell me!?!?" Ethan persisted.

"You know what?! Screw you!! Haha. Screw. You. Y-you are an evil, bitchy, person. Your>so much better than everyone else!" Ethan was frustrated and angry. "You are NOT!!! You are just a dirty, street rat, who had to resort to killing innocent people!!!!! So stuck up, you won't even tell us your age!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ethan finished angrily. Natasha couldn't take it anymore.

"Because, I don't know!!!" Natasha screamed, sitting up straight, blood pumping through her veins, laced with adrenaline. She quickly sucked in a breath.

Ethan, slouched, looking like a kicked puppy. "What?" He asked his voice breaking with sad surprise. Natasha sighed, relenting finally.

"When you don't now your birthday, and you're on the run, you just, stop keeping track." Natasha said, letting out a breath at the end. Ethan sat there in stunned silence.

()()()()()

Clint was worried about Nat. She rarely, if ever, talked while being interrogated. But places like this, would torture people for information. He promised Tash he'd never let her get hurt. He was having a hard time focusing on what Maria was saying.

"So, what other skills do you have?" Maria asked for the fiftieth time. Clint couldn't stop himself.

"Are you torturing Nat?" Clint asked, Maria looked shocked at this.

"N-no, we, we don't torture people for information." Maria answered shocked at his question. Clint was visibly relieved.

"Ok, I answered one of your questions, so now you must answer one of mine!!" Clint rolled his eyes at Maria's statement.

"Don't roll your eyes, it is your duty!!" Maria insisted. Clint sighed and waved her on.

"Goody!" Maria said enthusiastically. "So tell me about your parents!!" Maria asked, leaning forward.

"That's kind of more than one question." Clint said.

"UGHH!!! What do you want?" Maria asked.

"Hmm, what do I want?" Clint began, enjoying his power. "You tell me why Nat and I are here, detailed, and how long we'll be here!!" Clint demanded.

"You drive a hard bargain, but I'm a woman of my word! You're here because we know that you're both dangerous assassins, and we don't want you killing SHEILD people. I don't know how long you'll be here, but plan on a long time. Ok, now tell me about your parents!" Maria insisted. Clint groaned.

"My dad was abusive. My mom was neglectful, but she meant well. They died, in a car crash, I was there, so was my brother. Then we ran away to the carnival. That's it." Clint said, he didn't want to tell her anything.

"Do you miss them?" Maria asked softly.

"Sometimes, I miss my mom." Clint replied quietly. Maria wanted to cry.

"You can go, the guards on the outside will take you to the Avengers floor." Maria said, Clint nodded and left. Suddenly, Maria had an idea. She should invite Natasha to 'Girl's time'!! Yes, that was an incredible idea, Maria. Why thank you, Maria. Anytime, Maria. Nice chat, Maria. You too!

()()()()()

"Little girl, you need to come with us." A guard said to Natasha. She looked around. She and Clint were in the Avengers living room. They were sitting on the ground talking to JARVIS, trying to see if they could trick the AI. She stood up, so did Clint.

"Not you." The guards said to Clint. Natasha looked back at Clint, Clint looked at Natasha, this was not good. Natasha slowly walked away, Clint standing behind her.

Natasha didn't say anything as she followed the large guards. She was led down a few floors, to a dark room. She opened the door, and the guards left. It was dark inside, but she had to walk in.

"Natasha." A voice said.

"You have been chosen." A different voice said.

"To join the all sacred." Another voice added, this was creepy.

"'Girls' Time'" One voice finished. The lights flipped on. Natasha looked around. Hey, that was the woman who shot them! And the crazy lady! There were three women she didn't recognize, one had black hair, one had brown, and looked very smart. The last lady had red hair, and looked very business like. What was this place? The crazy lady blew a whistle, and threw confetti.

"That was your initiation!!" The crazy lady said. "Oh, by the way, I'm Darcy."

d she won't be having ANYMORE coffee!" The brown-haired lady said. "I'm Jane, girlfriend of Thor."

tty Ross, I'm dating Bruce."

m Pepper Potts, yes I know P.P. Tony has a crush on me, but to wimpy to ask me out." The redhead said.

u know me. I'm dating nobody. Btw, it was my idea to invite you!" Maria said triumphantly.

know!!" The rest of them said in unison. Natasha looked at them, they were obviously friends. They seemed sort of nice. Natasha would stay.

Chapter Text

"So, Bruce said the weirdest thing the other day." Betty said. It was 'Girls Time', Nat had just been initiated and now she was listening to them talk.

"What?" The girls said, leaning forward.

"If we have kids, would their names start with a B too?" Betty squealed. The rest of the girls (minus Natasha) shrieked in response. Natasha was a little confused, why was this important?

"Wait, so he's seriously thinking about having kids, and, like, starting a family?" Jane asked. Betty nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, so if you need any love advice, ask me, because I've reeled one in!!" Betty said happily.

"How do you get a guy to ask you out?" Pepper said, sadly.

"Still working on it?" Maria asked. Pepper nodded.

"Yes, I've read every webpage on how, nothing works!" Pepper whined.

"My happiness aside, we must focus on Pepper and her idiotic boss!" Betty said. The girls turned to her, a gleeful look in their eyes.

"Be yourself!" Jane said.

"Be nice to him!" Maria added.

"Always look presentable." Betty advised.

"Hit him with your car!" Darcy said, the girls looked at her. "What? It worked with Jane and Thor!" The girls shook their heads.

"Never nag him." Maria said.

"Trust him." Betty said.

"Every guy has an innate need to chase the girl of his affections. Right now, he believes you'll be there when he's ready to ask you out. He feels secure in that, what's really exciting, and scary for guys, is knowing that you won't wait for him. You need to pretend you don't like him. Date someone else, or at least flirt. His instincts will wake up, and he'll man up and ask you out." Natasha said, mostly to herself. The girls looked at her. She looked down.

"I think she's right." Darcy said.

"Sounds pretty solid." Jane said.

"Well you heard from the scientists, do what the Russian Love Expert, or R.L.E says." Betty said.

"Yeah," Pepper said, she thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, that just might work!!" Pepper finished triumphantly.

()()()()()

"So," Steve began, talking to Bruce, Tony and Thor. " Micheal said that Phil told him, Maria said, that the girls invited Natasha to 'Girls Time'." Steve observed.

"So?" Tony asked.

"So I thought we should invite Clint to 'Guy's Time'." Steve explained.

"We don't have a guys time." Bruce said.

"Yeah, that, so what should we do?" Steve asked looking around.

"Jane informed me of a pastime known commonly as camping." Thor suggested,

"NO!!!" Tony said adamantly.

"Ok," Steve said. "We could watch football."

Bruce shook his head. "We could go to a physics lecture!" Tony nodded.

"No thank you." Thor said, he did not like physics.

"Well, we're not doing laser tag again!" Tony said. They all shook their heads. That had been embarrassing.

"We'll figure this out later." Bruce said.

"Agreed." They said in unison, departing from the living room.

()()()()()

"Hey, Clint, I'm back from 'Girls Time'!" Natasha said walking into their room, closing the door on the guards.

"I missed you, never leave again." Clint said. Natasha turned to him and smiled. It was about 9:00 at night so they got ready for bed. SHEILD had given them some standard clothes, which included pajamas. They turned out the lights and crawled into their, comfortable plush beds. Natasha was a little worried about her nightmares, still, exhaustion came over her.

"You're not good enough! So, you'll be punished." The man kicked Natasha in the gut.

"Please, I'll do better." Natasha begged. She was punched in the face.

"Do not speak unless spoken too!" The man said, beating her. Natasha felt terror overcome her, she was scared. She didn't want to die. She'd do better, she knew it! The man punched her repeatedly. Slapping her face and jaw. Bruises began to cover her body.

In the red room, if you weren't good enough, this is what happened. As she was kicked in the throat, she fell on her knees. Stars danced in front of her eyes. Kicks battered her torso over and over. Coughing up blood, she wanted it to end.

"You're a pig, you'll never be good enough!" He said, continuing to beat her. No matter how much she wanted it, it didn't end. The darkness, the terror and pain overwhelmed her. Her only thoughts were of the horrible pain and fear.

She screamed. She looked around, she was in her shield room. A breath was let out form her shuddering figure. Her scream had awoken Clint from a different nightmare. He got out of his bed and walked over to hers. Pulling up her blankets he slid in, Natasha scooted over to make room. They sat up. Clint sat in a pretzel, criss cross. Natasha sat next to him, legs tucked up to her chest. Clint wrapped an arm around her shoulders, while she wrapped an arm around his waist.

"What was yours about?" Natasha asked quietly.

"The crash, yours?" Clint asked.

"The red room." She whispered.

"We have to get out of here." Clint said quietly. Natasha nodded, but for now they held each other.

()()()()()

"We gained some information from their interrogations." Phil said. The team was having a late night meeting about the kids. Phil, Maria and Fury were there, along with the girls' club.

"What information?" Thor asked.

"Well, they don't know their age. Natasha's interrogator discovered this when he insulted her. Apparently, they just stopped keeping track." Phil answered. Bruce thought about this, what would it be like, to not know your own age? That was a vital part of your identity.

"Also, the archer, Clint, worked as a carnie, where he learned to shoot, a man there tried to kill him. And, his parents were abusive, they died in a car crash." Maria added. The team looked around, man these kids had had hard lives.

"What are you going to do with this info?" Tony asked.

"We plan to have a psychologist analyze it, it'll make it easier for you to get them to trust you and reveal more important information." Fury cut in.

"What are they doing now?" Steve asked. Fury looked pointedly at Phil. The agent picked up a remote and pressed a few buttons. A screen was projected on the wall, showing their room. They were in the same bed, holding each other, looking very shaken. It looked, to Bruce, as if they'd had nightmares. The blankets were in disarray. Bruce suddenly felt a little protective. He didn't want them to be hurt or scared. The hulk was raging on the inside, Bruce had to calm him down, insisting the kids were fine.

()()()()()

Clint and Natasha decided to plan their escape in the morning. All would happen then.

Chapter Text

The next day, Clint and Natasha used their secret language to communicate escape plans.

"What should we do?" Natasha asked.

"Well, every time they've caught us, it was because they noticed it as soon as it was happening. Clint replied.

"So, disguises?" Natasha asked. Clint nodded.

" So we knock out the guards and steal their uniforms?" Natasha asked.

"Security cameras." Clint said.

" Right, but they rotate, we'll have to get our timing just right." Natasha concluded.

"Then, we just walk out the front door and drive away!" Clint said happily, Natasha nodded and they set to work.

()()()()()

"You two, have caused me more stress than Tony ever has!" Fury said, yelling at the teens.

"You attacked to guards, without us noticing, stole their uniforms and walked out the front door!! If the guards hadn't woken up and notified us, you would've gotten away with it!!!" Fury yelled.

"You know, you spit a lot when you talk." Clint said. The vein on Fury's forehead looked as if it was about to explode. The director turned to the Avengers, also being chastised.

"And you all, you were assigned to watch them because we thought they wouldn't escape if they were with you!" Fury screeched, the team looked down sheepishly. "That's it!!" Fury motioned to the guards. "Take them to the containment units, far away form each other!!!"

"WHAT!?!" The assassins said in unison. The agents reached for the kids.

"No, no you can't do that!!" Clint screamed in terror.

"I can and I did!" Fury said.

"No, please, anything else, no, STOP!!" Natasha said struggling against the agents restraining her. They might've been able to escape the agents' holding them back if they weren't so scared. Clint began to hyperventilate while Natasha froze in place.

"Director, do you not think this is a little extreme!?" Thor asked. Fury shook his head. The teens began having panic attacks. Clint was hyperventilating, adrenaline coursed through his veins, making him fight even more, but it was reckless. On the other hand Natasha stood in place, eyes wide and trembling mumbling 'no' over and over.

"Fury!" Tony said.

"No." The director said. The teens were pulled away. The team looked on in shock.

()()()()()

Clint hated it!!! He hated it he hated it he hated it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nat was gone, he didn't know if she was ok and he couldn't even make a nest! Once they had shut him in his 'containment unit' he began pounding on the door, frantic to get out. As soon as he realized it was futile, he turned his back against the wall and slid down. The panic slowly ebbed, he looked around, there were security cameras everywhere. The furnishing consisted of a bed, a chair and a bathroom. He noted that the door had a tiny slot, probably for food.

Clint was worried about Tasha, he promised her he'd never let her get hurt. Nat wasn't his ally, she was his friend and more importantly his family. For what seemed like hours, Clint sat there, thinking about Natasha. He knew she was in the room next to his, though the walls were to thick for any communication, including Morse.Wait a minute, what if...

"Jarvis?" Clint asked tentatively.

"Yes, sir?" The British AI answered. Clint let out a sigh of relief.

"Could you let me out?" Clint said hopefully.

"Director Fury has instructed me not to." Jarvis answered, almost apologetically. Clint shrugged, he knew it was a long shot.

"Um, is-is Nat o-ok?" Clint stuttered nervously. Preparing himself for the worst.

"Physically, she is healthy, although my sensors indicate that she is uncomfortable in the current situation." Clint breathed again. She was no worse off than him.

"Can you tell her I said hi?" Clint asked timidly.

"My apologies sir, Director Fury has forbidden me to assist your communication." Jarvis replied. Clint frowned, at least Nat was ok.

()()()()()

Natasha was roughly shoved into her cell. She simply stood there in shock, though her mind was racing. Clint's gone. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO, NO!!! This couldn't be happening. Not now, not ever. They were a team, Clint was her home, he couldn't be gone!! He just couldn't leave her. It wasn't his fault they'd been forced. Why? Why had they tried to escape again? Clint would be worried sick. Not that she wasn't worried about him. Now they would never escape, no-no way of communication, they were stuck. THEY WERE STUCK HERE. No, no this couldn't be happening. It just wasn't right. After that she sort of shut down. She tried to block out all thoughts of Clint.

She felt tired and knew it was about nighttime. She went through her normal night routine, minus everything she did with Clint. Their banter, their fight over bathroom rights, everything was gone. Just gone. It killed her on the inside. She hoped sleep would save her from this.

Natasha was running, alongside Clint. They were running from some men trying to kill them. It was dark and they were running along a road without any streetlights.

"Get back here and die, street scum!!" One of the men screamed in a thick accent. Clint and Natasha looked at each other, fear clouding their eyes as their pace picked up. They made a right turn to come face to face with a dead end. They turned, trembling. The men knew they had cornered the kids, they stalked slowly towards them. Clint looked at Natasha, Natasha looked back. The man on the left pulled out a gun.

Clint froze as the man aimed at him, the man pulled the trigger but Clint ducked just in time. Natasha rushed forward, terrified, energy pulsing through her. She grabbed the gun from the man, hands trembling she aimed it. She pulled the trigger. Natasha woke with a start.

()()()()()

"Guys, I really don't feel right about this." Bruce said. The Avengers were sitting in their living room, along with the girls.

"About separating them? Neither do I." Steve agreed. The team looked down, worried and sad.

"It can't be that hard, right?" Darcy asked, not wanting to believe they were in pain.

"I don't know, they wouldn't be that different if they were actually joined at the hip." Pepper said.

"I have an idea." Tony said. "Jarvis, can you show us the security footage, right now, from the assassins' rooms?" Tony asked.

"Yes sir, shall I put it on the large TV?" Jarvis replied, Tony nodded. A few minutes later, an image flickered on the screen. The screen was split in two, the divide in the screen was the wall that separated the kids. It was about 10:00 so they weren't surprised to see Natasha in bed. The little Russian was tossing and turning as if her life depended on it. It looked like she was having a nightmare. Suddenly, she shot up.

"Clint!" They heard her say before looking around and remembering he was gone. They watched in sadness as she curled into a ball, holding herself. Their attention turned to the other half of the screen. Clint was obviously upset. He was standing, his forehead leaning against the back wall, holding his head. His entire room was in disarray, as if the Hulk had paid a visit. The chair was tipped over, a leg missing. The blankets from the bed were mostly shredded, the mattress leaning against the opposite wall. The bed itself was flipped over.

Looking back at Natasha, they saw her walk over to the wall that separated her and Clint. She slid down, her side against the wall, still in her ball. Clint, as if on cue, walked over to the same wall on his side and lied down on his side, his back against the wall. Lying in the fetal position. They were so close, and obviously missed each other.

"Jarvis, what time is it?" Natasha asked.

"10:23." Jarvis replied.

"C-could you t-tell Clint th-that I said goodnight?" Natasha waivered.

"Do it." Tony ordered Jarvis.

"Sir," They heard Jarvis say to Clint. "Natasha wishes you goodnight." Jarvis said.

"Goodnight, Nat." Clint said, obviously distressed. The team watched as the children fell asleep like that, against the wall, sad and alone.

"Turn it off." Tony ordered Jarvis. Most of the team and the girls were holding back tears.

Chapter Text

"They miss each other!" Tony said. The team (and the girls, though they basically ran the team) were trying to convince Nick to put the kids back together.

"So, you want me to put them back together, so that they can escape?" Fury said sarcastically.

"Why are we even keeping them here?" Darcy asked. Their director sighed in exasperation.

"Because they're a threat to SHEILD." He answered.

"So, you plan to just keep them here forever?" Steve asked. Fury gave him a look.

"Put them back together!" Jane said. "Now."

"No. I don't take orders from you." Fury said.

"Show her some respect and do as she says!" Thor said.

"I got this, babe." Jane said to Thor. "Show me some respect and do as I say!" Jane finished.

"Seriously, what did they ever do to you?" Pepper protested.

"It could be very harmful to them if this goes on!" Bruce said.

"They can't see each other, and they can't even talk, it's not going to end well!" Maria agreed.

"Just stop torturing them!" Tony said.

"It sucks because they both know the other one's so close, it's cruel!!" Betty screamed. Fury was growing more and more annoyed and frustrated.

"Fine you don't want them to think the other one's right there!!! Is that what you want!?!" Fury walked over to the intercom and pushed the button to Clint's cell.

"Natasha is currently in the hospital but her condition doesn't look good, we predict she'll die, we want you to be prepared." Fury said calmly. He pressed the button to Natasha's room.

"Clint is currently in the hospital but his condition doesn't look good, we predict he'll die, we want you to be prepared." Fury said turning to face the Avengers. Their mouths were open in shock. Fury gave a fake smile and walked out the door.

()()()()()

Clint couldn't believe it, Nat was going to die, he couldn't even see her. That's it, his life was over. Nat was everything. She couldn't be gone. It was better when he knew she was safe. Now she was going to die alone and without him. His mom and dad had died, his brother betrayed him as has hid mentor, Nat was the only person he cared about. Now she was gone. Really, he had no reason to live. Nobody would really miss him, and it wasn't like he had a future. God, he just still couldn't believe Nat was going to die. He knew how Romeo and Juliet felt. To love somebody as a friend, as family as everything. To love them so much, you just couldn't go on.

Right then and there, Clint decided to stop eating. 3 weeks, right? Then he'd be with Tasha.

()()()()()

Natasha froze as she heard the news. It couldn't be true. This whole time she knew he'd been fine. What could've happened? Had they killed him on purpose? The intercom had said 'predicted death' that just meant that there was stuff they'd do, it just wouldn't work. People had let her down and betrayed her, her whole life. Clint had never. Now she couldn't trust anyone. "Have you ever loved someone so much, relied on them so heavily that when they die, you die?" A man had once asked Natasha that. He was an old man, walking alone on the street. Natasha had seen him and said hello, the man struck up a conversation and he'd asked her that. Natasha had stood there not knowing what to say.

The answer was yes. And know he was dead. She couldn't even say goodbye. No one would understand, or listen to her. She wanted her parents dead, she had no family. No friends. No future. She had never pictured her life without Clint, she was now, and she hated it!!

Then and there, Natasha decided she wasn't going to do anything. She was going to sit here against the wall until she died, from starvation or thirst, she didn't care.

Chapter Text

Clint estimated he'd gone about five days without eating. Sure, he was hungry, but without Nat, hunger was nothing. He missed Na like crazy, their banter, their secret language. Everything, especially the little stuff. The way Tasha would close her eyes when she was thinking, the sleep-flipping, the way they made everything a competition. Clint and Natasha had done everything together. It still seemed so surreal, Nat being dead.

Clint had never once considered it. She and Clint got, had gotten, into some pretty dangerous stuff, but he knew she had been safe. Now, he couldn't protect her, she couldn't protect him, it was horrible. Whenever exhaustion took over Clint's body, he'd have a nightmare. Clint would shoot up, then reach for Tash. He'd remember she was dead and then spend the next hour or so choking back sobs.

He just couldn't wait to die, to end the loss he felt. Maybe he was dead, maybe this was Hell. What had he done to deserve this?

()()()()()

Dr. Jacobs considered herself a reasonable person. She was a psychiatrist that worked for SHEILD. It was her job to watch the assassins, for a good portion of the day. Not watch as in personally, but she watched the live security footage and analyzed it. She knew that the kids didn't trust the Avengers at all. It was obvious from the killers' body laguage and secret conversations.

She analyzed all of their behavior. It appeared as if the teens were very close. They relied on each other for everything. Most importantly, they believed that the other one would never hurt them. Clint believed with every fiber of himself that Natasha would never hurt him. Natasha knew, with everything that she was, Clint would be there for her. Dr. Jacobs knew they needed each other.

But she couldn't have predicted this. The children, believing the other was dead, stopped eating. It appeared as if it was almost suicide. Just, a slow process. One it had gone on for a few days, she decided to notify Director Fury.

()()()()()

Bruce was eating his lunch with Tony in the cafeteria. It was a large gray room. Blue tables lined either side of the wall, leaving an isle in between. In the front of the cafeteria was the food. They were serving tacos. Bruce looked over to see a short, small woman with black hair pestering Fury. The woman was wearing a tweed brown jacket, tan blouse and brown pencil skirt. Bruce gestured over to her, drawing Tony's attention to them.

"But they're starving themselves!" The woman said persistently, Fury speed walked.

"That's Dr. Jacobs." Tony said. "She's a psychiatrist." He explained they continued watching.

"Then force-feed them, I don't care!!" Fury answered annoyed.

"It won't matter, they're trying to commit suicide, they'll find a way!" The small woman insisted.

"Then get rid of all the dangerous things!" Fury said.

"That will NOT solve their mental issues!!" She said, frustrated.

"It's your job to solve it, so solve it!!" Fury said.

"So, I can put them back together!?" She asked, a gleam of hope highlighted n her voice.

"No, and you can't remove them from their cells!!" Fury conclude briskly walking off. Dr. Jacobs growled and walked away, she began to pass Bruce.

"Wait, hey. Dr. Jacobs?" Bruce asked, grabbing her wrist.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Was that about the assassins?" Tony inquired. She nodded. Bruce tracked her eyes down to an empty seat.

"Please, sit!" He said earnestly. She eagerly sat.

"Yeah, I'm their psychiatrist, I watch the security footage, then analyze it." She explained proudly.

"Is there anything you can maybe tall us?" Tony asked. In a split second, her entire demeanor shifted. She sat forward, obviously excited, eyes wide and ready to share any and all information. She kind of reminded Bruce of a dog that brought it's owner a shoe.

"What would you like to know?" She said, Bruce envisioned her panting like a puppy.

"Well, are they trying to commit suicide?" Tony said, a nervous tremor in his voice.

"I think so." Dr. Jacobs said, suddenly very depressed. "It's horrible, they miss the other one so much, they'd die without them. They've both stopped eating. But Director Fury won't put them back together. It's horrible!!!!" She exclaimed.

"What's there behavior, how badly do they miss each other?" Bruce asked, fearing the answer.

"They avoid sleeping, they have night terror. Whenever they do have a nightmare, they wake up and look for the other one. After they remember, they try not to cry." She explained quietly, no doubt recalling the events. "Also, sometimes they'll be thinking about something and start talking. They forget and think for a minute they're not alone. Then, they look around and get depressed." Dr. Jacobs frowned in sadness.

"Right, and you can't tell then the truth?" Tony asked, Dr. Jacobs shook her head.

()()()()()

Steve watched in anger as Tony and Bruce explained what happened in the lunch room.

"It kills me on the inside! How could Fury do that!?!" Tony said, making wild hand gestures.

"Do they have night terrors?" Thor asked in concern. Bruce nodded vigorously.

"That's horrible, they need to know, we have to tell them!!!" Steve said in anger.

"No," Bruce said. "We have to get them out!"

Chapter Text

After a long time of arguing, they had most of their plan. Jarvis made copies of the key cards necessary to enter the cells. Steve would go to grab Natasha and Tony would get Clint. They knew alarms would sound, so they'd have to be quick. Their goal was to get them out, so they could see each other and know the truth. They wanted to get them out of those torturous cells.

They knew Fury would find catch them, what they'd do they had no idea.

"We could just insist he doesn't separate them." Bruce suggested.

"Yes, and if that fails, you could assassinate Director Fury." Jarvis said evilly. The team looked up at the ceiling with wide eyes.

"Tony, your robot is planning our deaths." Steve said. Tony shrugged.

"Though he may be onto something, we could threaten Director Fury if all else fails." Thor thought aloud. The group considered this an adequate idea.

"Jarvis should warn them ahead of time." Bruce said.

"My bot, my rules, but ok." Tony said.

"Bruce and I shall be waiting at the end of the corridor, you both must be quick." Thor said. They felt it as a mediocre plan, but thought it would work. No doubt the assassins could do better, but.

()()()()()

"Sir would like me to notify you that it is lunch time." Jarvis said through the intercom on Natasha's room. Natasha thought about this, it was wrong for a number of reasons. By 'sir' Jarvis had meant Tony, Tony had never communicated with her through while she was here. Nobody had 'notified' her of lunch before, it just came through the slot in the door. And they'd already given her lunch, she hadn't eaten it, but still.

Slowly, she realized it must be code, they were trying to tell her something was about to happen. It could've been a bomb or a break in, anything. At least Clint would be gone. She just knew to be ready. A few minutes later, she heard the door handle jiggling. She ran to the side of the door, with the hinges. The door opened, Steve walked in.

"Come on!" He said, Natasha narrowed her eyes but followed him into the hallway. The sight that met her stunned her. Tony was standing there, door to the cell next to hers' open, with CLINT!!! She froze for a minute, still trying to process the information. Clint's back was turned to her, so he hadn't seen her yet. In one giant leap, she tackled him.

Clint turned just as she hugged him.

"What? Y-y-you're a-alive!?!" He stuttered. Natasha nodded against him, he embraced her. His arms engulfed her in warmth and safeness. Natasha knew right then why he had promised to keep her safe. Because if either one of them was gone, the other wouldn't know how to live. Natasha for the first time in a while felt happy. Clint, her partner in crime, her ally, her friend, her family, her home was alive.

"Look, guys, this is touching and I know how it's been, but we need to go!" Tony urged. Immediately they broke the hug and started running towards the end of the hall. Natasha ran right next to Clint. They nearly left Tony and Steve behind. Bruce and Thor were waiting at the end of the hall. As if on cue, an alarm began blaring. Bright red lights began to flash accompanied by a loud beeping.

"Ok, c'mon, let's go!" Bruce urged, he ran ahead the kids following him. They followed Bruce and Thor to an elevator. Quickly, they squeezed into the cramped elevator.

"So, what's the plan?" Clint asked quickly.

"Well, that's basically it." Tony said. Clint and Natasha looked at each other in confusion.

"In our defense, we're not master spies." Steve said.

"So, you've got nothing!?" Natasha asked. They shrugged. Clint groaned while Natasha smacked her forehead. The elevator stopped.

"Well, I can tell you that Director Fury and several other agents are right outside the elevator doors." Jarvis put in. The elevator doors dinged open. Just as Jarvis had said, there was Fury.

All at once, three of the agents, wielding knives, threw them. Tony ducked, Thor hid behind the elevator door, Bruce hid behind Steve, Steve stood to shocked to move. Natasha was pushed by Clint to the side while Clint ducked. Thankfully the knives all missed

" Did I say fire!?!" Fury yelled a the agents. "What the Hell do you think you're doing?" He asked the Avengers in anger anger.

"Director Fury, we do not believe they should be kept apart, believing the other is dead." Thor said defiantly.

"Yeah, it's mean!" Steve agreed.

"I run things, not you." Fury said, teeth clenched.

"Yes, but we are a team of powerful superheroes, rethink what you're about to say." Tony said. Fury visibly considered this.

"Are you threatening me?!" Fury asked, incredulous.

"It was Jarvis' idea!!" Bruce said, trying to deflect the blame.

"Yes, but we will not hesitate to go through with it!" Thor added swiftly. Fury clenched his teeth so hard, it looked as if they would break.

"Fine!! But wait for what will happen!!" Fury said walking away, signaling the agents to follow him. The kids let out a pent up sigh. They would be together.

Chapter Text

Clint and Natasha quickly said goodnight to the Avengers and went back to their old SHEILD room. Natasha noticed that Clint never removed his arm from his side. As soon as they entered their room, Natasha closed the door. She turned to face Clint.

"What's wrong!?" She asked.

"Nothing!" Clint said automatically. Natasha narrowed her eyes.

"I know when you're lying, Clint, c'mon, spill." Natasha insisted, crossing her arms. Clint sighed and removed his arm from his side. Blood lined his arm and his shirt. Natasha gasped.

"When I pushed you away from the knives, I got hit. It's nothing, really." Clint said, not believing it for an instant. Natasha couldn't understand, what on Earth had possessed him to take a knife for her.

"What if it gets infected!?" Natasha said worried for Clint. "SHEILD won't help." She said, biting her lip.

"I don't know, they got us out." Clint reasoned.

"One, it was probably just to get us to trust them, and you know it never lasts. People don't like us Clint." She said sadly.

"I know, they don't trust us, we can't trust them, I know." Clint agreed, frowning.

"We better go wash it out." Natasha wavered. They went to their bathroom to try and save Clint from an infection.

()()()()()

Barely two days later, it was bad. Natasha watched Clint slowly deteriorate. He got tired, he was barely eating. They kept to themselves, they didn't want to draw any attention to themselves. But Clint wouldn't listen to her. She tried to insist that he was NOT ok, and that he needed to rest, not be active. As always, he didn't want her to worry so he shooed her off.

Then, he fainted. He was just standing there. Natasha heard it before she saw it. They were in their room, when she heard Clint fall to the ground. Quickly, she turned just in time to see him go down. She panicked, she tried to wake him up, oh, God, what was she going to do?

She had an idea, it probably wouldn't work but... It was all she had.

()()()()()

Bruce and the team were sitting in the living room, watching TV and arguing about which characters should hook up. Bruce was the first to see Natasha walk up. For the first time she showed emotion, she looked nervous and doubtful and scared.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Bruce asked. The rest of the team turned to see her.

"Clint, he..." But she didn't need to say anything else, the team was up and running to the kids' room. Bruce saw Nat following them. They opened the door, to see the slight teen on the ground.

"He's n-not dead." Natasha informed them.

"Wha- nevermind, tell us later." Tony said, about to ask Natasha what had happened. Without question, Steve scooped up Clint's limp body and started running down to the infirmary. The rest of them followed. Natasha and Thor were the only ones who could keep up with Steve. The two scientists were jogging behind trying to keep up. They were huffng and puffing, but nothing was happening. Bruce and Tony looked at each other.

"It's ok," Tony said. "Individually, we have a higher IQ than they do together!" Tony said trying to recover some of his pride.

"Are you kidding, those kids are pretty smart." Bruce gasped out. Tony glared at him and they resumed running. At last, they reached the infirmary. Clint was already lying down on a table, still unconscious.

"What happened?" The doctor asked Natasha.

"He has an infection, on his side." She explained. The doctor nodded and summoned a few nurses over. Tony pulled Natasha aside, naturally the rest of them followed.

"Do you want to tell us how this happened!?!" Tony hissed out.

"Tony, be nice!" Bruce said. But they looked at her expectantly. She sighed, looking over at Clint worriedly.

"When those agents threw the knives, in the elevator, Clint pushed me out of the way, but got hit himself." She explained quietly.

"Why did you not tell us?" Thor asked in a hushed tone.

"We didn't think you'd do anything." Natasha said meekly.

"What on Earth made you think that?" Steve whispered, frustrated.

"Yeah, we got you out of Hell!" Tony agreed.

"Do you not trust us?" Thor asked.

"Why don't you get it, we like you guys, we care about you two!" Bruce said, upset as to why they'd think otherwise. Natasha couldn't take it anymore, she was getting angry.

"Because! That's just it, nobody cares about us!!!! No one!! Ever!! It's a lie, you just want us to trust you so that we'll tell you everything!!! Well you want to know something, all we have is each other! That's not about to change!! No matter how much you lie!" She finished angrily. Bruce watched her walk over to Clint and the doctors, waiting for him to wake up.

Chapter Text

The Avengers waited for about half an hour while the doctors worked on Clint. Tony noticed that Natasha spent the whole time breathing down the doctors' necks. At one point they were going to inject something into Clint when Natasha stopped them.

"That's not the right amount." She said, gesturing to the shot.

"Excuse me, I have a medical degree, I know what I'm doing." The (male) nurse said defensively.

"She's right." The doctor said, looking over at the commotion.

"You're two milliliters off." Natasha explained, a little smug. The doctor nodded, the nurse shot Natasha a look and added the right amount. It was about ten minutes later when the doctor went to give them a report. Tony looked up as the doctor walked over.

"He'll be fine, his infection was severe but he'll be ok. We gave him a pain killer. But it has some side affects." The doctor began hesitantly.

"Such as?" Tony asked.

"Patients reported having dreams that were memories, but during REM sleep, and mumbling about it. Nothing major though. He's going to be out for a while, we also gave him a sedative." The doctor said, then walked out the room. All of the other doctors and nurses had left, so it was just the Avengers and the kids. Tony watched Natasha, this was obviously taking a toll on her. Steve noticed it too, apparently.

"Natasha, you should go and get some sleep." Steve told her caringly, she shook her head.

"Rest is very important young one." Thor insisted.

"No, Clint-" She began to say.

"Will be fine." Bruce said.

"Yeah we'll stay here and watch him." Tony said. Natasha looked very suspicious.

"He will be fine, you will not be, if you refuse to rest." Thor insisted.

"We're not taking no for an answer." Steve informed her.

"I'll walk you up!" Bruce said, gesturing for Natasha to follow him. Tony watched them leave. He wished he was better with kids, he really liked these two, just didn't know what to say. He watched Steve pull his chair up to sit next to Clint. Tony thought this was a good idea and followed suit. Then he heard Thor join them

Tony watched Clint, he looked so much more peaceful asleep. The mask of emotions he always wore had dissipated. Clint looked vulnerable. For the first time Tony really grasped how young they were. When Clint was awake he seemed so adult, intelligent and mature. But Tony realized he had been forced to grow up. Tony wondered for the millionth time what they had been through.

"He looks so, vulnerable." Steve said, gazing at the kid with sadness.

"I agree." Thor said. At that moment Bruce came back.

"Hey, what's going on?" Bruce said. Clint stirred a little.

"SSSSHHHHHHH!!!!" They all said at once. Bruce put his hands up in surrender. They sat for a few minutes in silence. Then, just as the doctor had said, Clint began to mumble his dreams.

"No, Dad, stop it!" They heard him beg. Tony's eyes widened, he had been abused.

"Ow, please, it hurts, stop." He said. Tony's heart broke, how could someone do this.

"No, Dad, I'm sorry, I'll do better, I promise." Clint continued. Tony looked around. Steve and Thor looked like they wanted to kill something and Bruce, Bruce looked a little greenish.

"Bruce, hey, Bruce, it's ok, he's ok." Tony said. Bruce started taking deep breaths. Thankfully, he started to look less Hulk and more Bruce. Clint had stopped mumbling by then.

"Sorry, sorry, it just reminded me of my dad." Bruce explained apologetically.

"What?" Steve asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I uh." Bruce began obviously embarrassed. "My dad was an alcoholic. He would drink, then abuse me and my mom." Bruce finished quietly.

"God, Bruce that's nothing to be embarrassed about!" Tony said, upset that Bruce would try to hide that. Tony thought about this revelation for a minute.

"Wait, Bruce, does my drinking, bother you?" Tony said, worried about his friend. Bruce shrugged, not meeting Tony's eyes.

"It's stupid, I shouldn't be scared." Bruce beat himself up.

"I am such a jackass, I swear I'll stop drinking around you. I'm really sorry Bruce." Tony said.

"My parents died when I was a kid!" Steve said suddenly.

"What?" Thor asked. Steve nodded. "That is horrible, I had no idea." Thor said looking at Steve sadly.

"Yeah you should have told us, that's horrible!" Bruce said, forgetting his own problems.

"Yeah, my dad died when I was really little, I barely remember him. My mom got pneumonia when I was a teenager. I quit school to take care of her. I couldn't do anything, she just kept getting sicker. I was with her when she died. It was horrible, I blame myself." Steve said. "But, I interrupted you Bruce." He said turning to Bruce.

"That sucks, though. My mom died too. My dad was drunk and really, really mad. He slammed my mothers' head into the sidewalk. I was standing right next to her when she died. To make sure I didn't tell the police, my dad threatened me. My own dad told me he would kill me." Bruce said on the verge of crying. Tony rubbed his back.

"Thor, you wanna go?" Steve asked, wiping at tears of his own.

"My father wanted me to succeed. Unhealthily so, he would push me too far, telling me I was never good enough. It cannot compare to what you both went through, though. Loki, my brother, would also tease me and use his magic to hurt me. My father would sometimes encourage it." Thor said. The team comforted each other, they told Thor that he was good enough. They insisted that it wasn't Steve's fault, that Bruce could be scared. It was a very emotional time.

"Tony, you haven't said anything." Bruce said, eyeing his quiet friend.

"Look, nothing big happened to me." Tony said, convincing no one.

"Tell us." Steve said warmly. Tony sighed but relented.

"Well, my parents didn't really care about me, they ignored me. A few times, Howard hit me, nothing huge just minor stuff." Tony tried to play it down.

"Tony, it's never minor, he shouldn't have hit you." Bruce said.

"I just kept asking myself, what was I doing wrong. I never got an answer." Tony opened up finally. It felt good, sharing his demons. They sat, comforting each other, until they heard Clint again.

"No, please, ow." Clint said, dreaming about pain.

"I won't tell the cops just, stop, ahh!" He said in terror. His mumbling became incoherent as he began screaming indistinctly. Occasionally, they could make out a 'No' or a 'Stop' maybe a 'Please' or perhaps a 'Why'. They couldn't take it anymore. Thor reached out to touch Clint and wake him up.

Chapter Text

Thor watched with the rest of the team as Clint had a nightmare brought on by a sedative. It was pure torture watching him like that.

"No, please, aah, ooow, stop!" He begged in his sleep. Thor had had enough of Clint's suffering. The god reached towards Clint's shaking body to wake up. Thor reached out to touch the teen's shoulder. Clint shot awake an instant before Thor touched him, spystincts rocked. Clint didn't look at them, he just sat up and curled into a ball, head in his knees.

"Clint-" Tony began.

"No." Clint said before Tony could speak. Thor stared forlornly at the child. It was obvious his dream had shaken him. Clint had been screaming and begging for someone to stop hurting him. Thor knew it had been horrible to watch, he couldn't imagine experiencing it. The team watched Clint in silence. He was shaking, visibly shaking and gasping.

"Clint-" Bruce said.

"Can you leave?" Clint said to his knees. They looked at each other. Steve sighed and got up to leave. Thor watched him go, Steve was followed by Tony. Bruce sat with Thor for another minute. Bruce looked at Thor then Clint then Thor again, Bruce frowned sadly and left as well.

Apparently, Clint thought he was alone. The small teen began to cry. His body was shivering. and he was gasping and hiccupping. He's obviously distressed, what do I do? Thor thought. Comforting him seemed obvious, but how could he do that? Thor wasn't good at comforting people, on Asgard, being a warrior meant you couldn't show emotions. Thor had them, on the inside, he was a very emotional person. On an impulse Thor reached out to touch Clint's back. As soon as Thor layed his hand on Clint's shoulder, the teen flinched.

"Y-you're still here?" Clint asked, shrinking away from Thor. Thor nodded at Clint's question.

"Are you alright?" Thor asked in concern. Clint looked down and the god knew he wasn't. Now, he wasn't sure what to do. Clint was staring at him with wide eyes, hugging his knees to his chest, looking shaken. Thor really wanted him to feel better. Clint was sitting on the hospital bed, squished in the corner. Thor decided to chance it and sat across from Clint on the hospital bed. Sadness overtook Thor as Clint shrunk away from him.

"It's fine to be scared." Thor said. Clint continued to stare at him.

"I mean it, bravery is admitting what you're scared of, what you want to avoid. Courage is knowing your limitations." Thor said, and he meant it, his friends all claimed bravery, but Thor knew what it really was.

"If you want to, will you tell me what your nightmare was about?" Thor asked hesitantly. Clint maintained his small stance, but opened his mouth to croak out an answer.

"This guy, the guy who taught me how to use a bow and arrow, was embezzling money, and I found out. Before I could go to the cops," Clint took a shuddering breath. "He tried to kill me, I thought he was my friend." Clint said before burying his head into his knees again. Thor was not expecting this, to be betrayed by a friend like that, it was unspeakable. At the time, it would have been very traumatic, re-experiencing it could not have been much better.Thor heard Clint begin to cry again, softly this time.

"I'm sorry." Clint said, as if he was scared Thor would be mad he was crying.

Thor moved to sit next to the teen. Clint didn't look up. Thor wrapped his arm around the quivering child. At first, Clint leaned out of the physical contact. Thor held on though, persistent on holding the vulnerable teen. Slowly, as Clint realized Thor wasn't angry, he stopped leaning away. After a few more minutes, Clint leaned into Thor's arms. Relishing the positive human contact. Thor heard Clint sob into his arms, Thor wrapped his arm around him, tighter, and whispered words of comfort to the child. Then, Thor told him everything.

Thor told him about his family, how his dad pushed him. How Odin pushed his son away and told him he wasn't good enough. Clint heard about Thor's adopted brother, Loki. Thor spoke of how Loki resented him and was often cruel to him. Loki's betrayal, his father's illness and disapproval, Thor relayed all of his story to the silent teen.

"Why did you tell me all of that?" Clint asked quietly. Thor raised his eyebrow.

"I don't mind, I'm just curious, it was kind of personal stuff." Clint explained. Thor thought this was an odd question did Clint not know Thor trusted him?

"I trust you." Thor replied quietly. Clint hummed in response. In a few minutes, Thor looked down at Clint. The exhausted child had fallen asleep. Clint's eyes were closed and his face was resting against Thor's chest. Thor was loathe to do so, but he knew he had to lay the teen down. Thor shifted to lay him down and pull the blankets up to cover the cold teen. Looking down at the now peaceful child, Thor was glad he had stayed.

Chapter Text

Natasha was glad Clint was feeling better. The day after he went to the hospital, he came back out. All of the nurses and doctors tried to get him to stay in bed, but Clint was a stubborn person and insisted on leaving the ER. Natasha had missed him and was relieved he was back. But right then, they were sitting in their room, bored out of their minds.

"Hey, Nat." Clint said.

"What?" She asked him.

"Chicken butt." He said to her.

"What are you, five?" She asked at his antics.

"Yep, I'm a bored five year old," He responded seriously. Natasha rolled her eyes.

"I'm bored too, but I don't pretend to be five." She replied.

"Who says I'm pretending?" Clint asked smirking.

"UGH! But I am bored." She said.

"And what I am I supposed to do about this?" Clint asked her sassily.

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" Natasha asked.

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" Clint said back.

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" She asked again. This time, Clint thought about her query for a moment.

"Didn't you say you knew how to program?" Clint asked her.

"Yeah, so?" She asked. Clint looked at her, grinning.

"Didn't you say you knew some about building?" Natasha asked, returning his devious smile. Clint nodded.

()()()()()

Bruce and the rest of the team was sitting in the living room, bored out of their minds. For a minute Bruce wondered if the kids were doing anything interesting, then he dismissed the thought. They wouldn't want to spend time with the Avengers anyway. But he did want to know what they were doing.

"OW!" Steve said suddenly, hand reaching for the back of his neck. "What the..." Steve began.

"OUCH!!" Tony bit out suddenly as he grasped his abdomen. He removed his hand to look at a large paint spot. They looked to where the paintball had come from. A mass of metal with wheels, armed with a paintball met their gaze. Then it shot Bruce.

"Hey!!" Bruce said.

"Haha!" Natasha said walking in with a remote. Clint followed her.

"You made a robot that shoots people!?!?" Tony asked, still rubbing his abdomen.

"Paintballs, and hey, we were bored!" Clint defended.

"That doesn't mean you injure people!!" Tony insisted. He was hit with another paintball.

"Hey!!" He said loudly. Then the robot opened fire.

"MUUAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!" Natasha laughed evilly. In an instant the team was paintballed, as was the couch.

"I want a turn!" Clint said enthusiastic to hurt them. Natasha handed him the remote. He laughed as he hit them over and over. Natasha was trying not to laugh. Unsurprisingly, he hit every target. Then, when the teens had decided they were colorful enough, they stopped.

"OW!" Bruce said. The teens smiled at each other. Then, the girls walked in. From head to toe, they were covered in paint.

"I see we weren't you first victims." Tony observed.

"Not by a long shot." Jane answered.

"Yeah, it's disgusting!!" Darcy said.

"Oh look, you finally match your personality!" Bruce said sarcastically.

"Clint, would you?" Darcy asked, gesturing to the kid. He nodded and shot Bruce. The girls laughed.

"Betty!!" Bruce said, embarrassed she would laugh at him.

"Hey, you deserved it!" She said, still laughing.

"This is going to take forever to get off!" Steve complained. "I don't want to walk around like a rainbow all day!" He said.

"Y'know, it's a really nice day out." Jane said a little off hand.

"Water is fun on hot days." Maria agreed.

"Especially, ammunition that we could use for revenge!" Pepper said turning to the teens. They looked at each other and frowned.

"Uh-oh." Clint said.

"We angered Pepper." Natasha said worriedly staring at the CEO.

"So what are you all saying?" Steve asked. The girls looked at each other.

"WATER BALLOON FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGHHTTTT!!!" They screeched in unison.

"But they can't be on the same team!" Bruce said pointing to the assassins.

"What, why not!?" Clint exclaimed as Natasha said "That's not fair!"

"You're too talented to be on the same team!" Thor said.

"Yeah, you'd kill us with the balloons, you'd find a way!!" Steve said. They looked like they were going to protest the accusation but then shrugged and nodded.

"That's scary but ok, how are we going to divide teams?" Maria asked.

"Couple up and do small teams?" Bruce said reaching for Betty.

"Steve and Darcy are single." Jane said.

"What about girls versus guys?" Steve said.

"Five guys, six girls" Tony said.

"So, draft Coulson." Maria said evilly.

"I must warn you though, you shall fail!!" Thor said.

"We'll work on your trash talking later." Tony promised.

"Ok, one hour gather and fill all water balloons and water guns and fill them. Meet out back ok?" Steve said, they nodded and set to work.

()()()()()

One hour later they were all gathered in the back of SHEILD where there was a nice field with several trees. Buckets of water balloons were arrayed randomly everywhere. They had guns and garbage can shields, except for Cap, he had his shield. It took a while for them to make Coulson understand that real guns weren't allowed.

"One...Two...Three! OPEN FIRE!!!!!!!!" Steve screamed. Gleefully, they obeyed his orders. Thor and Phil ran out armed with water balloons to hit the girls. Phil started throwing all of his ammo, while Thor stood there, silent. As Phil aimed one at Jane, Thor ran over to protect her.

"I can take care of myself!!" She tried to throw a balloon over Thor's bulk.

"I will not harm you!" He said protectively.

"I wish I could say the same!!" Jane sad as she pelted him with water balloons. He dropped all of his in shock.

"Sorry babe, survival of the fittest!" She said running off.

Natasha climbed a tree, along with Maria and they began to assault the guys. Maria was pretty cool, Natasha decided. Natasha hit Tony a couple times with water balloons as Maria shot them with her gun. Steve spent pretty much the whole time hiding behind his shield. Clint was ducking though and running, aiming his gun at them as well. Natasha couldn't stop smiling. She had never done anything like this before. It was fun. Maria screamed in surprise as Bruce hit her, then she laughed aiming back at him.

Thor and Phil came back to reload and Natasha dropped down from her tree. Before they could reload, she aimed her gun and Phil put his hands up and Thor followed suit. She smiled and gestured for them to kneel down on the ground. There was a bucket of water balloons and she took them and ran back to her base.

Clint watched her go.

"Ok, new plan." Clint said and the guys leaned in to hear him better.

()()()()()

Betty was having a great time, she had gotten Coulson twice, said boo and Thor ran off, and had sprayed Steve for literally three minutes straight. Then she heard someone in pain. She looked at Jane and Pepper, they heard it too.

"Darcy, Maria, Natasha c'mon." Pepper said. They dropped their weapons and jogged over to the noise, Clint was lying on the ground holding his leg. Natasha didn't like this, Clint was too smart for this. She stayed back as the rest of them ran to his aid. She got her gun ready, there was way too many trees here. And a lot of noise.

"It's an ambush!!" She screamed an instant before the guys started to shoot them. Natasha ran back to where the girls had dropped their weapons. She grabbed as many as she could and tossed them to her teammates.

"Tony, I swear, I'm gonna put you into the longest meetings!" Pepper said as Tony blasted her with water.

"I'll fire you!!" He threatened as Pepper chucked a newly acquired water balloon at him.

"You couldn't tie your shoes without me!!" She said as he shot her again.

"Get a room would you?" Bruce asked, they both turned t him and attacked.

"Tony! You're on my team!!" Bruce said, gasping through the water.

"Not anymore! FREEE FOOOR AAAAALLL!!!!!!" Tony began to shoot everyone. Natasha and Clint couldn't stop grinning and laughing as they were drenched with water. Then they looked at each other and sneakily climbed up the trees with all of the ammo they could carry. They watched the carnage below.

Bruce held Betty up on his shoulders as she pelted everyone with her gun, laughing and screaming. Thor still refused to hit Jane, so he cowered as she repeatedly slammed him with water balloons. That is, until Darcy shot her, Jane turned slowly and tackled her friend, they rolled on the ground laughing and screaming.

"PEPPER!!!! Protect me!!" Tony said hiding behind his PA, Pepper rolled her eyes and went to go help her boss hide from Phil. Phil was circling the pair smiling as he tried to get an open shot at Tony. Maria helped him, laughing at Pepper as she drenched her. Thor, now that Jane had left him alone, was trying to get Steve behind the shield.

"You'll never catch me aliiiveee!!!!!" Steve laughed as he knelt behind the shield. Betty and Bruce just threw balloons randomly at people.

"Wait, has anyone seen the kids?" Bruce asked suspiciously. The team looked around. Natasha and Clint looked at each other, they were planning on staying moderately dry. They raised their balloons and fired. The team's heads whipped around searching for them. Water showered down on them.

"In the trees!" Maria laughed spotting them.

"No, no, no you two don't get to stay dry!" Tony said as he slipped over to the pair. Steve climbed up the tree to pull the teens out. Natasha was hugging the branch and refusing to come down, he managed to get Clint though.

"Kidnaping!! Kidnapping! This is ILLEGAL!!" He tried to protest. Tony an Thor went up next to retrieve Natasha. She came down reluctantly, but she came down. The teens were pushed into the center and bombarded with water balloons. Natasha and Clint were surrounded by laughter and happiness and so much water. They still had some ammo and threw them blindly out. Surprisingly, they managed to hit some people.

Eventually, they ran out of water balloons and they assessed the damage. The kids had gotten the most drenched, and were shivering. But for the rest of them, the paint was off. They walked back to SHEILD. Clint and Natasha had their arms crossed in cold and their teeth were chattering. The team felt a little bad, but they got their revenge.

For the kids, it was one of the best times they had ever had.

Chapter Text

After the epic water balloon fight, they all went back inside. Steve noticed the teens were exceptionally cold. Then he heard the sniffling. Then came the coughing, next the sneezing. The team, and the girls, were sitting on the couch in the living room, while Bruce made dinner.

"That's it!" Betty said as she walked over to where the kids were lying. Steve watched as she laid her hand across their foreheads.

"You've got a fever." She diagnosed.

"Really, cause I feel kind of cold." Clint said, it was true, the kids were still shivering. Then all of a sudden, the entire team (which includes the girls) ran to make sure they were ok. Steve and Maria ran to go get all of the blankets they could carry while Tony and Pepper ran to get tissues. Thor situated the kids to make sure they were perfectly comfortable. Jane ran to go get some cough drops and medicine. Betty ordered Bruce to make chicken soup while she got down water bottles and rushed back over to the kids. Darcy did absolutely nothing, the same as the water balloon fight.

"We're fine!" Natasha insisted, followed by a sneeze.

"Really, we're ok!" Clint gasped out between coughs. The team stopped for a minute and looked around, then continued to fuss over them. Steve and the group stepped back to admire they're handiwork. Two blanketed teens with boxes of tissues and water bottles surrounding them sat on the couch. Right next to them was soup, cough drops and medicine.

"Greetings caterpillars." Tony said, referring to the kids' blanketed appearance. Natasha began to struggle against the blankets.

"I'd strangle you if I could move." Natasha said, frustrated.

"Ok, now what, they can't exactly do anything." Bruce said bringing over dinner. It was rice and curry, again.

"One, do you know how to make anything other than curry!? And two, I don't know, we could watch a movie?" Tony suggested.

"Which movie?" Steve asked.

"Disney." Thor said.

"Pixar." Jane said at the same time.

"Technically, isn't Pixar part of Disney?" Darcy asked.

"Yeah, but Pixar makes better movies." Jane said.

"That is your opinion." Thor muttered quietly, Jane shot him a look.

"So which Pixar movie?" Maria asked.

"Brave!" Jane said.

"The one with the alien." Thor said. Jane stared at him.

"Brave." Thor said meekly. Jane pat his head.

"Good boy." She said. Steve watched in amusement, he missed Peggy often, missed this.

"What's Brave about?" Clint spoke through the blankets.

"If you two had a kid, it would be the main character." Tony answered. Steve watched Clint and Natasha look at each other then back at Tony.

"She's a redhead archer with a thick accent, a hatred for rules, an extremely athletic body, and clever mind." Bruce said. Steve put in the movie and they began to watch.

When Merida split the arrow in two, they all looked at Clint.

"Have you done that before?" Thor asked. Clint nodded, still staring at the movie. The team looked at each other, that was really talented. They watched the part where Merida's mom turned into the bear. At the part where Merida was jumping out of the pit, Steve looked over at the kids. They were leaning forward, eyes wide and tense at the animated scene. Steve felt his lips crack into a smile at their antics.

At the end when the mom turned back into a human and the dad didn't kill her and they were a family again, Steve gauged the kids' reactions. At first they both looked longingly at the scene, then their facial expressions turned to dismay and sadness, as if they felt they would never have this. It hit Steve like a bus, they thought it wouldn't happen. What was going through their heads was It's never happened and it never will. The movie ended and the credits rolled.

"Know can we watch the one with the alien?" Thor asked, looking at Jane hopefully. She sighed and waved him on, he got up from the couch to put the movie in, Steve looked around at their seating arrangements. Steve was sitting in a recliner, as were Darcy and Maria. Thor and Jane sat next to Bruce and Betty, the couples couch he dubbed it in his head. Pepper sat on the end of the couch next to Tony. Natasha was next to Tony and obviously, Clint would be next to her.

Then the movie started. Steve understood why Thor liked it. All the talk about family and how Stitch was an angry, blue, adopted, family member. Steve knew it reminded him of Loki, he also knew that Jane didn't want him to watch it, in case it reminded him too much of his brother.

()()()()()

They were at the part when the big alien was trying to catch Stitch when Natasha fell asleep. Tony saw the whole thing happen. Her eyelids started to flutter down slowly, then she opened them wide in an attempt to stay awake. He knew she didn't want to sleep around them, to be so vulnerable, but, eventually, exhaustion over took her and she fell asleep. On top of Clint. Her head rested on his shoulder. Tony watched as Clint leaned his head against hers and proceeded to fall asleep as well.

"Guys, look." Tony whispered, pointing to the kids. A lot of them made 'aw' noises.

"Should we take them to their beds?" Bruce asked loudly.

"SSSSHHHHH!!!" They all said at once. Bruce mouthed 'sorry' and looked down.

"I think we should take them to their room, though." Pepper whispered.

"Yes, we should do that." Tony agreed quickly.

"Alright." Steve said, moving to pick up Clint. Thor got up and carried Natasha. Tony watched the kids go back to their room to sleep, he missed them already.

Chapter Text

By the next day, Clint and Natasha's colds had dissipated. Naturally, Maria had an incredible idea. Fury didn't want any of them to leave SHEILD premises. But Maria really wanted to go roller skating. So, she hatched an ingenious scheme, she would roller skate around the SHEILD halls!! Maria strapped on her roller skates and got started. She began on the Avenger's floor, she rolled around. It was slow at first, but she quickly gained acceleration.

"Woohooo!!" She screamed, skating around the Avengers' rooms. It was 7:00 in the morning, and she new they'd all be asleep. Her only choice was to wake them up. She swerved around at the end of the hall, she pulled out her bullhorn.

"Excuse me, excuse me, all Avengers need to wake up immediately. As in, RIGHT NOW!!!!!" Maria hollered the last part. She continued to skate to the end of the hall. At the end of her little spiel, she was greeted by a chorus of "uuugh" and "what now?!" Maria smiled to herself and skated back. A few of the Avengers opened their doors to see what all of the commotion was about.

When Maria rolled up to the kids' room, she was surprised to see them awake and dressed, peering at her curiously.

"C'mon, lets go get you guys some skates and wake up the rest of shield!" Maria said. The kids smiled at her deviously and stepped out of the hall. Maria walked them down to the elevator and they rode it down to the bottom floor. For whatever reason, Fury kept a lot of shoes down there. Roller skates, ice skates, running shoes, tap shoes, boots, moccasins, heels, everything was down there!

Maria found some skates in their sizes and they got started. Apparently Clint knew how to play the flute, so the trumpet wasn't much of a stretch. They found one down there as well, for some reason. Then, they rolled down the first floor with sleeping agents. Clint played the trumpet, the tune you here on TV shows to wake up the army. Then Maria shouted through her megaphone.

"Attention, attention all agents, even though you're supposed to wake up at ten 'o' clock, I decided to wake you up at seven. WAKE UUUUPP!!!" Maria screeched at the end. Natasha followed behind her, on her roller skates, she knocked on everyone's door. On the second floor a few more people joined them. Pepper, Bruce, and Phil had strapped on their roller blades and joined them. They rolled down the halls, screaming, knocking on doors, yelling through bullhorns, and playing the trumpet. The whole time fighting down laughs at the disgruntled agents.

Tony, Jane and Darcy joined them on the third floor. Darcy brought eggs and paint. Tony was cradling a bag of flour in his arms like it was precious cargo. Maria smiled to herself, Fury was on this floor. They caused mayhem up and down the hall, but Darcy hadn't used anything yet, or Tony. When they got to Fury's room, Darcy took out a carton of eggs and showered them on Fury's door. Some of the paint came next, Fury's door looked like an eggy rainbow mess, then Tony threw flour all over it. They laughed and high-fived each other.

Steve, Thor and Betty came next, saddled with toilet paper, honey and grease. Thor ran ahead of them, spreading the toilet paper everywhere, snickering to himself. Then came Tony and Pepper, they slathered the doorknobs with honey, making a sticky mess. Clint played came next, paint in hand, coloring the doors. Natasha and Maria egged the doors and the ceiling, laughing hysterically at the mess they were making. Phil spread the flour, and Jane and Bruce, took a can of hidden superglue and lined the hinges. Steve, Darcy and Betty laid grease all over the floor, especially in front of the doors. Last of all Clint played his trumpet while Maria hollered into the megaphone.

On the elevator they laughed and smiled at the sounds coming from downstairs. They left the next floors alone and simply rolled around. Clint and Natasha clinged to each other laughing as they rolled around. Tony followed Pepper, falling down every five seconds, Pepper would always have to turn around and help her boss up. Bruce and Betty gripped each others hands and spun around in circles, gazing into each others eyes. Jane was teaching Thor disco, smiling at his attempts.

"Gun, holster, gun, holster, gun, holster." Jane said, Thor mimicked her actions poorly. Jane put her head in her hands, Thor did the same, Jane cracked up. Steve and Darcy were having a race, Maria was sure Steve was going to win. But was surprised when Darcy over took him, doing a horrifying happy dance. Phil was simply going around in a circle, staring at the ceiling. He looked like he was five. Maria just leaned against the wall watching the scene of joy before her.

Natasha and Clint noticed her leaning all alone. She saw them roll over to her, trying not to fall. They looked at her expectantly.

"What?" Maria asked the pair. They looked at each other.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" They asked in unison. Maria shrugged.

"I don't know, nobody to do anything with, I guess." Maria replied.

"That's a stupid reason." Clint said.

"Look at Phil!" Natasha agreed. Maria shrugged. Then Clint reached for her am, Maria went limp, not letting him pull her. Natasha went around to Maria's side to push. Maria went partially limp, making it almost impossible to move her. Eventually, Natasha got behind her and started to push on her back, Clint continued to pull at her arms. Jane must have noticed because she glided over smoothly to assist them. She helped Clint pull at her arms. Then Tony apparently saw the commotion and went to help Natasha push.

One by one, they all came over. Natasha, Tony and Betty were pushing from behind. Thor, Bruce and Pepper pushed at her sides. Jane, Clint, Phil, and Steve pulled at her arms. Darcy was pretty much useless, she was on the ground pulling on Maria's legs. She was also their unofficial cheerleader.

"We can do it guys!!" Darcy said, then, under her breath. "I'm just gonna take a little break." And she stopped pulling. It took forever, but they did get Maria off of the wall.

"What did you have for breakfast!?!?" Tony asked, out of breath.

"Ok, we got her off, now what?" Jane wondered aloud, also gasping for breath. They all looked at each other.

"Circle!!!" They all said at once, they all grasped hands and spun in a circle. Phil seemed to particularly enjoy this. Then they stood n a circle, mocking Thor with their disco skills. Thor glared at them and pouted. It was fun, skating around, causing panic and injuring people.

Chapter Text

"So, we thought it would be fun to have a girl's slumber party!!!!" Darcy explained enthusiastically. It was a few hours after the whole roller skating fiasco, and the girls had an idea to invite Natasha to a sleepover! They stood in the living room, announcing their proposals to Natasha, naturally, Clint and the Avengers were their as well. Natasha looked around.

"Can Clint come?" She asked. They shook their heads.

"Why?" Natasha asked curiously.

"He doesn't have boobs." Darcy explained.

"Darcy!!" Steve said, blushing at the comment. Darcy shrugged. The assassins frowned and looked at each other.

"She means it's girls only." Tony explained.

"That's stupid!" The kids said in unison.

"Yeah, and trust me Tony has tried many MANY times to sneak in." Bruce said. Tony shot him a look.

"It's fun and awesome and they're just jealous!!" Pepper said, sticking her tongue out.

"That is a lie!" Thor said.

"Babe, just don't." Jane dismissed.

"Well, we aren't jealous, because... because," Steve began, stuttering.

"We're having a guys night and your not invited!!" Bruce decided, pointing at the girls.

"And, pray tell, what do you do on 'guys night'?" Darcy asked sarcastically, Steve rose to the challenge.

"We order take out and play video games, and gossip about our girlfriends!" He said adamantly. Darcy looked at him and crossed her arms.

"Really, cause you don't have a girlfriend!" Darcy said, looking smug.

"Uh," Steve said putting a hand on his chest, mocking hurt. "Like you have a boyfriend!" He insulted. Darcy stuck her tongue out and made 'ooh' noises. Steve mimicked her rudely.

"Anyway, it's fun and we're inviting Clint and not you!" Tony said. The guys nodded.

"Fine!!" Darcy said, glaring at Steve.

"Fine!!" Steve said back, and they parted ways for their nights of fun.

Chapter Text

"TRUTH OR DAAAAAARREEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!" Betty screamed. The girls screamed in response. At first, Natasha hadn't really been sure what a sleepover was, but it was fun! They had decided on having the slumber party in Jane's room.They did their nails, ate junk food and hid the alcohol from Darcy. Natasha was having the best time hanging out with them. Truth or dare seemed like a pretty self-explanatory game. The girls all sat in a circle on the blue, plush carpet.

"Ok, I'll go first, I mean, I'll ask someone, then we'll all go in a circle. But you can Truth or Dare who ever you want." Jane explained, the girls nodded in understanding.

"Ok, Betty, truth or dare?" Jane asked, Betty glared at her.

"Truth." Betty said, biting her fingernails.

"Ok, can you see you and Bruce getting married?" Jane asked. Betty shrugged smiling.

"That means yes!" Jane said, they all giggled. Darcy was next.

"Pepper, truth or dare?" She asked.

"Do I have time to make a pros and cons list?" She asked hopefully. Darcy shook her head.

"Fine! Dare?" Pepper said, unsure of her answer.

"Ok, time travel back to fifth grade, prank call someone random!" Darcy said, Pepper frowned and shook her head at Darcy. She whipped out her phone and dialed a random number. As the phone dialed, she put it on speaker.

"Hello?" They all heard a man's voice say. Pepper froze, she mouthed 'What do I do?!" frantically. Natasha reached to grab the phone.

"Hello sir, have you eaten at any major chain restaurants in the past two weeks?" Natasha asked. The girls all looked at each other in confusion.

"Yes, why?" They heard the man reply.

"It appears there was a packaging problem, some foreign bacteria contaminated the food." Natasha bean.

"Yes..." The man said.

"You may have been infected. Some of the earlier symptoms are coughing, sneezing, headaches, mild nausea and cold flashes. You may be experiencing several of these. Later symptoms include seizures, lung failure, heart attacks, vomiting, and, in extreme cases, death. Please seek medical assistance immediately." Natasha said. For an instant there was silence on the other end. Then the man exploded.

"WHAT!?! You've infected me with a DISEASE!?!? NO!! This cannot be happening!!!!! How could you do this!?! Let me speak to your manager!!" Then, to probably his wife. "Honey, we've been infected, we're SICK!!! We need to go to the hospital now!! No, right now!!! Listen to me, we are going to die!!! Are you crazy!?!?!? FINE!! When you die form sickness, I will LAUGH!!!! Just talk to the phone lady!!" He said.

"Hello?" A woman asked.

"Yes, we've called to inform you that you won a contest! A trip to Hawaii for two! All expense paid, five star hotels, luxury trip! The winners were selected by random, please, enjoy your trip!" Natasha said to the woman. The girls around her were cracking up.

"No, what?!? Are you crazy?!? That's not true!!! Give me the phone!!" They heard the man say as she informed him of the 'contest'.

"Hello!" The man said in frustration.

"In conclusion, have a lovely day, please don't sue! Bu-bye." Natasha ended on a cheery note. The girls laughing hysterically.

"What if they call back?!" Betty asked, stifling the giggles.

"It's Pepper's phone." Natasha said, tossing the phone back to Pepper. At the comment, Pepper's face turned white, soliciting more giggling. Then it was Betty's turn to ask.

"Ok, Maria, truth or dare?" She asked. Maria considered for a moment.

"Well, after that dare, I have to say truth." Maria answered nervously.

"Um, how did you come to SHEILD?" She asked, the girls perked up, they realized, they didn't know the answer.

"I'll tell you, but get comfortable, it'll take a while. So, right after high school, I was offered a scholarship to an Ivy League school, I forget which one. But, right before I was about to accept, my mom got sick. Dad died when I was really little, I don't even remember him." Maria took a breath.

"So, I stayed home to take care of her. I wasn't good enough, she died. It's my fault, I should have done better. Anyway I was poor, the bank took the house. All of the scholarships were taken, and I couldn't afford college. I was homeless and poor. Being homeless is probably the worst thing that ever happened to me. Not being able to support yourself, having to beg people for food, it's humiliating.

"Phil found me, on the street, I asked him for food. He took me back to SHEILD. Phil convinced Fury to take a chance on the poor, homeless, orphaned, uneducated kid. I'm just lucky that Phil found me." Maria finished.

"It wasn't your fault." Natasha whispered quietly.

"What?" Maria asked, wiping her eyes.

mom dying, it wasn't your fault. You tried to take care of her. Her body just couldn't handle it. The medicine wasn't good enough. You couldn't have done anything. What you did is more than most." Natasha said. Maria looked at her as if she was having an epiphany.

wonder what the guys are doing?" Darcy said randomly.

()()()()()

"Dammit, Clint!" Tony swore as he lost yet another round. The guys were sitting on the couch in the living room, playing video games and eating pizza. They were playing one of those one on one combat games. Clint was destroying all of them.

"We should probably stop playing this, we don't want an assassin knowing all of our weaknesses." Steve said.

"Ha! Like I don't already know!" Clint said.

"That is terrifying." Thor replied, staring at the teen.

"BOO!" Clint said, Bruce put his hands up. I am tired, computer is stupid long update tomorrow, promise, Barney will come, goodnight. Sorry it's not longer my five year old sister deleted half of it and I'm too tired to retype it all I should probably put this in the notes but, whatever.

Chapter Text

Tony got up from the plush couch to put in Mario Brothers.

"Wait, isn't Mario Brothers a four player game?" Clint asked. Tony looked at him.

"I hope you know how much I resent your intelligence." Bruce said. Clint just smiled.

"I'll sit this one out." Steve offered eagerly, he had no idea what Mario Bros was. They shrugged and put in the game.

"Dibs on Mario!" Clint said. Tony glared at him.

"Dibs on Luigi!" Bruce said.

"What, I have to be a toad?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"What is a 'toad'?" Thor asked.

"Toads are the lowest of the low, the most pathetic of game characters, they are mocked and ridiculed!" Clint exaggerated. Thro smiled.

"HA!!!!" Thor said happily.

"You have to be a toad too." Bruce said. Thor's face quickly turned to dismay. Tony smiled at him, mockingly. They watched Peach get kidnapped by the evil turtles and began playing. They were at the second castle of world one when Steve spoke up.

"I don't get it, why doesn't Peach just escape herself?" He asked.

"Because then there'd be no game." Bruce said, not taking his eyes off of the screen.

"And what Peggy wasn't a damsel in distress?" Tony asked, the guys stared at him, Peggy was a sensitive topic.

"But at least Peach lives, and they can get together." Tony said, still gaming.

"TONY!" Bruce said in surprise at his thoughtless comments. Steve was looking down forlorn expression.

"Why were you so careless?" Thor asked.

"What?" Tony asked, clueless of his flaw. Then he looked at Steve. "Oh." Tony said. Clint shook his head at Tony.

"Well, he sort of does need to move on!" Tony said.

"Seriously!" Clint said in exasperation.

"Tony, that was over the line, don't talk about Peggy, please." Steve said quietly.

()()()()()

Finally, they made it to the boss world.

"WE DID IT!!!" Bruce said through his pizza. Soon, after a LOT of dying, they made it to the roller coaster level.

"Oops." Tony said as he fell of. "You all have to start over, I want to join!" Tony whined and they were forced to commit suicide via lava. Then Thor was pushed accidentally by Bruce.

"Bruce!" Thor said, as the yellow toad landed with a plop. Bruce shrugged sheepishly and they started over again. Somebody died the next 7 times, not Clint though. On try number 11 Clint got frustrated.

"THAT'S IT!!" Clint said. Mario walked over to Luigi, picked him up and tossed him over the edge.

"What?" Bruce asked as his carcass fell off of the roller coaster. Then Tony got lifted up into the air, to be thrown into the lava.

"Clint!" Tony said in disbelief.

"Your all holding me back!" Clint said.

"That doesn't mean you throw people into lava!" Bruce protested.

"Survival of the fittest." Clint replied. Thor was chased all over the roller coaster, until he fell off.

"NOOOO!!!!" Thor said, Clint laughing maniacally. Steve joined him, glad he hadn't played. Clint finished the level successfully, the guys glaring at him the whole time. They were so immersed in their laughter, they didn't notice the stranger.

"Wow, Clint, you've gotten better." Clint's head whipped around to face the stranger. Bruce had no idea who he was but Clint seemed to know. The teen scrambled up to face the stranger.

"Barney?" Clint asked in confusion.

"Hey little brother." 'Barney' said, he must be Clint's older brother. Bruce saw the realization dawn on the rest of them.

"W-what are y-you doing h-here?" Clint stuttered out.

"Your my brother Clint, I'm gonna take care of you." Barney replied, taking a step towards Clint. Bruce saw Clint automatically take a step back.

"How did y-you even know where I w-was?" Clint asked, Bruce noticed Clint made himself very small.

"I'm FBI Clint, I hear stuff." Barney said, taking another step forward. Clint retreated again.

"So, w-why are you he-here?" Clint asked.

"I'm taking you with me." Barney took yet another stride towards Clint. Clint backed up, hitting the wall behind him, he was trapped.

"Lets go!" Barney said, suddenly mean. He took moved towards Clint, the teen flinched at his brother. Barney stopped for a minute then grabbed Clint's wrist.

"We're leaving." Barney said, trying to pull Clint along, at his brother's tight grip, Clint winced. Up until then, the Avengers stared watching in shock at the scene before them. But at Clint's apparent pain, they sprung into action. Tony appeared at Barney's side.

"Let go." At that, Barney's grip simply tightened, Clint shrunk at the pain.

"Leave him alone." Steve said, Barney just glared at him.

"Let go of his wrist." Thor threatened. Finally, Barney relinquished his grip. Bruce saw red when he saw the bruises already forming he took a deep breath and motioned for Barney to leave. Barney shot Clint one last look and left. But Clint knew it wasn't over.

Chapter Text

Later that night, Clint decided to skip sleeping on the couch and went to bed. Most of the guys had just passed out on the couch. Clint was still really shaken by Barney finding him and thought it would be better to sleep. Clint was just worried about Nat, she was still at her sleepover. Clint opened the door to his room, at first everything seemed ok.Clint took a step in and a hand covered his mouth.

"Don't try anything, and this will all go smoothly." Clint heard Barney hiss into his ear. Clint didn't listen and but down hard on Barney's hand. Barney cursed, forced to let go. Clint turned to face his brother, he knew he probably wouldn't win the inevitable fight. Barney was bigger, stronger and armed. As if on cue, Barney lunged at Clint. The teen ducked and Barney passed over him.

Clint turned fists raised. Barney aimed a punch at his face and Clint dodged to the side. Barney reached for Clint, and Clint leg swept his brother. Barney fell to the ground and reached for Clint's calf. Clint jumped over him and opened his mouth to scream. But Barney anticipated his move and tackled Clint. He gasped as he felt a sharp pain. Barney moved away and Clint saw a knife buried to the hilt in his abdomen. Clint looked at his brother, Barney just smiled.

But Clint wasn't done, painfully he got up. Barney snarled at his brother. He lunged at Clint, but Clint dove to the side, avoiding Barney successfully. Barney looked at his brother angrily, he pulled out another knife. Clint's eyes widened at the glistening metal. He opened his mouth in a futile attempt to scream again.

Barney charged Clint, grabbing him around the waist, Clint cried out and tried to escape Barney's grip. Barney dug the second knife into Clint's shoulder, and pulled it out.

"None of that Clint." Barney said. Clint began to feel himself faint from blood loss. He saw Barney walking towards him with a cloth of chloroform. I'm sorry Nat.Clint thought as his consciousness slipped away.

()()()()()

Natasha got up early the next morning. She hadn't slept much for fear of having a nightmare. She was bored and missed Clint. She walked into the living room to find the guys crashed on the couch.

Bruce was asleep on the ground, using Tony's foot as a pillow. Tony himself was stretched precariously on the back of the couch, legs stretched everywhere. Thor was lying comfortably on the couch, back against the arm of the couch and feet pressed up against Steve. Steve was curled up on the opposite side of the couch, upside downish. His head was leaning over the side as was one of his feet. Natasha chuckled to herself at their sleeping positions

Clint wasn't there, so Natasha figured he must be in their room. Natasha strode to their room, plotting out how she was going to wake Clint up. The first thing she noticed was that the door was open, that wasn't normal. The second thing she noticed was the pungent smell of chloroform. That definitely wasn't right, Natasha rushed into the room, nearly slipping on the pool of blood. Her pulse quickened as horror over took her.

She saw the knife on the ground, the disarrayed furniture and pieced together a conflict. Clint was nowhere to be found which meant he was either kidnapped or.... No, Natasha couldn't think like that. Panic slowly overtook her as she thought more about it. Clint was hurt and gone and maybe dead. Natasha began to hyperventilate. Maybe the, the guys would help her. Yeah, that seemed like a good enough idea.

As fast as she could, which was pretty fast, she ran back to the living room. She shook Tony awake. He fell off of his perch on the back of the couch.

"Wha-" Tony said suddenly, he got up and looked at Natasha, seeing the expression on her face, he seemed to realize something was wrong.

"Clint." Natasha choked out. In a flash Tony took off running, Natasha in hot pursuit. Tony entered the room and gasped at the sight of the blood. Natasha leaned against the wall, to support herself as she gasped. Tony seemed to piece together the events of the fight and ran back to the Avengers in the living room. He shook them awake and they looked at him expectantly.

"Clint's gone, he's hurt, I think it was Barney." Tony explained in one breath. In an instant they all ran back to the room. Natasha perked up at that. Barney had found Clint? Clint rarely spoke of his brother, but when he did it wasn't pretty. Darcy and Pepper had been woken by all of the commotion and followed the guys to Clint and Natasha's room.

"Oh my God." Pepper said at all of the blood. Steve walked briskly over to an intercom on the wall.

"Fury, get down here, Clint's gone." He said in worry. In minutes, Fury was here as were a lot of the agents. They were doing forensics and getting information on the detail of last night.

"Barney came in, none of us noticed and he demanded Clint go with him. He tried to force Clint to go with him." Bruce explained.

"And he left, we believed for good." Thor added. Dr. Jacobs was writing down what they were saying.

"Look, I saw the footage a few minutes ago. He displayed some narcissistic qualities." She explained.

"What?" Steve asked.

"A narcissist is someone who believes they're the best. Sometimes it gets aggressive and harmful. Barney believes he is Gods gift, Clint refusing to go with him, that's not good. Some narcissist traits are lying, aggression, manipulative behavior." Dr. Jacobs explained. She glanced over at Natasha who was talking to an agent. She leaned in closer to all of the Avengers.

"They're both psychologically fragile, someone from Clint's past, like his brother. If Barney turns more aggressive towards him, which he will." She gestured to the room. "It could be extremely psychologically scarring. For her too." Dr. Jacobs finished. The Avengers looked at each other. They had to get Clint back!

Chapter Text

Bruce was getting seriously annoyed with SHEILD people.

"How EXACTLY are you going to find him?" Thor asked for what seemed to be the millionth time. This time however, they got a pretty straight answer.

"Well, one of our standard SHEILD cars was stolen. Probably by Barney, all SHEILD vehicles have a tracking device. We'll track him with that, and go from there." One of the agents said. Bruce looked down at Natasha, her expression unreadable.

"And go from there?" Natasha said through gritted teeth. In a flash, she sprung at the agent. The poor agent found his back against the wall, her hands around his throat.

"You had better find him and . He means everything to me, and I'll be very upset if you fail to find him!" She threatened, finally relinquishing her grip on his neck. The agent rubbed his neck and nodded frantically. When Natasha saw a group of the agents leaving, presumably to find Clint, Bruce saw Natasha follow them. Bruce and the other Avengers exchanged some looks and agreed to follow her.

They scurried along as Natasha pestered the agents on how they were going to find Clint. She helped them get their equipment set up, and assisted them in monitoring the SHEILD vehicles. It was apparent that Barney had been speeding as the car was a few hours away.

"It's stopped moving." One of the agents observed.

"Barney was smart enough to ditch it." Natasha inferred.

"Ok, lets take a car and go to where that is, see where it is and what's going on." A second agent said. Bruce saw Natasha get up to leave with them. Right as they all walked out, they ran into Fury.

"I'm sorry, where do you think you're going?" Fury asked Natasha, his arms crossed.

"Going to find my friend." Natasha said, not pausing.

"I don't think so." Fury said. At that, Natasha became defensive.

"We can't have you getting hurt too." Fury insisted.

"Whatever, he's my family and I'm going to get him!" Natasha said, attempting to walk forward. Fury signaled for a few of the agents t restrain her. They grabbed her arms and started to pull her back. Bruce watched Natasha begin to panic. She kicked and screamed and bit, she gave the agents a real fight. It took 9 agents to restrain her. Two to each arm and leg. Another agent helping restrain her legs. Natasha was not happy about it.

"Look, I know you want to make sure he's ok, but he will be. Just trust in SHEILD and try and have hope." Fury said gruffly. He walked out and the agents attempted to carry her away. Natasha gave them a really hard time, but it gave the search agents some time to escape. Bruce and the Avengers watched her be carried away and Tony spoke the thought they were all thinking.

"What if he's not?" Tony asked, worried for the teen.

"Barney's still his brother, maybe he'll go easy on him?" Steve hoped.

"I fear for Natasha." Thor said.

"I know, Clint was everything to her. IS! Is everything to her." Bruce said, agreeing with Thor.

"I really hope he's ok." Tony whined.

()()()()()

Clint was jostled awake. At first, he had no idea where he was. Then it all came flooding back. Clint looked around he was in a car with Barney. It was a van, and he was shotgun surprisingly. Barney hadn't yet noticed Clint was awake, luckily.

Clint was scared of Barney. He knew that Barney had resented the Swordsman training Clint and not Barney. When the Swordsman tried to murder Clint, Barney found him and left him for dead. Barney had always acted violently towards Clint, hitting, verbal abuse, smaller things than his dad had done. Now that Barney had him and he couldn't leave, Clint had no idea what to do.

"I see you're awake, Clint." Barney said. Clint looked at him.

"Don't worry, in a few hours, we'll stop at a motel. There's a remote one coming up in a few hours." Barney said. His tone reminded Clint of the night before. He looked down at his knife wounds. Apparently, Barney had bandaged them, not correctly, but it would have to do. Even if it did hurt like Hell.

"I did warn you, Clint." Barney said, noticing his brothers attention. Clint just stared at him. They drove in silence, until a few hours later, Barney stopped at the motel.

"Ok, Clint, don't say anything to anyone, or I'll find that pretty red head your friends with." Barney threatened before walking them in. Clint knew he would, Barney would find Nat and shoot her. Clint remained silent while Barney got a room. He was roughly pulled along by his brother. Clint was shoved into the cheap motel room and faced his brother.

"Why am I here?" Clint asked his brother quietly.

"Clint. we're brothers, I'm gonna take care of you." Barney said, as if that explained everything.

"But why kidnap me?" Clint asked timidly.

"I DIDN'T KIDNAP YOU!!!!" Barney yelled, slamming his fist in the counter. Barney sighed. "Clint, you need me. You need discipline. They were keeping you away from me. I'm your only real family." Barney said. Clint didn't do anything but stare at his brother.

"I'm gonna take a piss." Barney said, walking to the bathroom. Clint saw his window of opportunity and snuck out the door as soon as he heard Barney lock the door. Clint stalked down the hall. This was a crappy motel, really bad town. Clint wasn't sure how he was going to get out, just that he hadto get out. Clint was almost to the elevator when Barney grabbed his wrist.

"I know you too well." Barney said as he forced Clint back to the motel room.

"I don't know how I wasn't clear. But obviously, I need to make you understand, THAT YOU ARENOT LEAVING!!!!" Barney screamed. Clint flinched at his brother. "I said you needed discipline Clint, I'm gonna take care of you." Barney said as he strode forward. Clint shrunk, he'd been in this position before.

He gasped as Barney struck his face. Clint fell to the side, on the ground. He knew better than to fight back, it never worked. Barney kicked his gut repeatedly. Clint just laid there, taking the abuse wordlessly. Barney pulled him up by his collar, so that they were face to face. Clint avoided his brother's gaze.

"LOOK AT ME!!" Barney demanded, punching Clint with every word. Slowly, Clint looked up at his brother, looking him in the eye as he was beaten by his brother. Barney slammed his knee into Clint's stomach. He picked up Clint by his collar again and threw him as hard as he could into the wall. Clint slid down and began to cough. Some blood, hot and thick came out. Clint felt disgusted with himself.

Clint looked up at Barney. His brother stared down at him, still menacing. Then, Barney's demeanor completely changed.

"Oh, Clint, oh, I'm sorry." Barney said, he rushed over to sit next to Clint. Barney put his hand on Clint's uninjured shoulder. Clint had no idea what Barney was doing, but wanted to avoid another beating so said nothing. Barney scooped up Clint in one swift movement and cradled his brother in his arms.

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I promise, I'm sorry, Clint." Barney said as he held his Clint. Clint just sat their, tense, as he wished desperately for Natasha.

()()()()()

It had been decided that Natasha should sleep on the couch. She didn't feel comfortable sleeping in that room, it, just...no. Natasha just wanted to be left alone to worry about Clint. And, she was worried. She was scared, pathetically terrified. If Clint wasn't ok, what would she do? What if Clint thought she abandoned her? She knew Clint's greatest fear was dying alone, what if that happened?

A blizzard of horrifying thoughts swirled inside her head. Each more elaborate and painful than the last. It took her what felt like days to finally drift off. Even if she was terrified of her nightmares, exhaustion overruled her.

"Why did your mother leave you, Natasha?" A man asked her. Natasha was back in the Red Room.

"W-why?" Natasha asked, scared of the answer.

"Because no one could love a monster!" The man said as she was hit in the leg by a metal chain the man was wielding.

"Your disgusting and horrible. How could someone ever love you?" The man asked as he assaulted her with the metal chain. Her neck was hit, as was her hip and thigh.

"No one will ever care about you!!! You're unlikable! And deep down you know everyone hates you, you're unlovable!!" The chain hit her shoulder and her leg. The man pulled her up by her throat. Natasha panicked as she felt her windpipe close off.

"No one will miss you when you die." The man said calmly as his greasy, yellow fingernails dug into her throat. Natasha struggled futilely against him. Her vision darkened, she couldn't breath. She COULDN'T breath! She couldn't BREATH!! No, no, no, no, she couldn't die, no, no, no!!

Natasha cried out as she shot up.

"Clint!" She said before she remembered he was gone.

()()()()()

Steve had a room right next to the living room. He heard Natasha. She said Clint's name. Steve knew something was wrong and shot up to see what was wrong. He entered the living room to see Natasha.

"Are you ok, what's going on?" Steve asked. Natasha craned he neck a little.

"Nothing, I-I just had a n-nightmare." She stuttered out. Steve knew she usually went to Clint when she was having a nightmare, she looked so lost without him. Steve watched her curl up into a ball, head in her knees. Steve didn't know exactly what she had been through, but he knew it wasn't good. Her nightmares wouldn't be pleasant.

On an impulse, Steve walked softly over to her, He sat down next to her, she didn't even look up at him. Steve put his arm around her trembling body soothingly. She flinched away from him.

"W-what are you d-doing?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, you just, I wanted, I was trying to help." Steve said, looking down at his hands.

"N-no, i-its." Natasha began. "I don't want to be alone. W-would you, if you want to-" Natasha added trying to explain.

"I'll stay." Steve said. Hesitantly, he put his arm around her. At first she leant away from the contact, Steve was about to retract his hand when she leant into his touch. She buried herself into his arms. Steve gladly held her in his arms, he leaned back on the couch, resting against the back. Natasha was still curled up and leaned into Steve's side.

For the first time, Steve realized just how touch-starved they were. None of the physical contact they got was positive. For the first time, Steve looked past the fact that they were assassins, on the inside, they were kids. Scared kids who had been forced to grow up way too early. Steve tightened his grip on Natasha, he was going to make her feel safe.

Steve laid down so his head was resting on the arm of the couch. Natasha paused for a minute, looking nervous about laying down with him, but the doubt passed. She curled up next to him, her head resting against his chest. Steve wrapped both of his arms around her protectively.

"You're really not going to hurt us?" Natasha asked.

"Never." Steve replied. For once, Natasha seemed to believe him and pressed deeper into his side. Steve was glad, she felt safe. If not safe, at least comfortable. They fell asleep like that, curled up on the couch, but with no more nightmares for the rest of the night

Chapter Text

The next morning, Natasha was waiting impatiently for a report from the search agents. She was pacing frantically and would attack anyone who cam near her. At about ten in the morning, the agents finally called back. Natasha heard the phone ring, Tony reached fro it, but Natasha took a leap and beat him to the phone. Thankfully, she put it on speaker.

"Hello? Did you find him? Is he ok?" Natasha asked before the agents could say anything.

"We found the car, it was at a motel. We questioned the motel manager, Barney checked in last night, but left before we got here. He stole a different car. But don't worry, we'll find him. The car had a built in GPS, so we'll find a way to track it. We'll report back tomorrow." One of the agents reported back and then they hung up.

Natasha looked like she was about to punch someone. They needed to find Clint. Alive and safe. Natasha knew what Barney was capable of, it wasn't pretty. Barney was an expert on psychological torture. She needed Clint back.

()()()()()

Barney forced Clint out of the motel at 6 in the morning. Clint was exhausted, despite being unconscious most of the day before, he had spent most of the night awake and afraid. Barney stole a different car this time, a blue van. Clint didn't bother trying to fight Barney as he was shoved into the van.

Barney started the car and began to pull out from the drive way. They were in an urban area, highly populated. With a slow speed limit, it was early, but if Barney went slow enough and Clint jumped out, he might draw attention to himself and someone would call the police. Barney was going slowly, very slowly, right next to the curb.

In an instant Clint's hands were around the handle and he pushed outwards. The door opened and Clint rolled out. He scrambled up and began to run.

"Clint!" He heard Barney scream, before his brother stopped the van and jumped out. Clint tried to shout and run. Barney tackled him to the ground, Clint rolled over and kicked his brother in the face.

"Help, someone he-mmmph!" Clint's mouth was covered by Barney's hand. Clint was still on the ground and was trying to get away. Barney stomped his foot on Clint's wrist. Loud and clear, Clint heard the bones in his wrist snap like dry twigs. Barney muffled his scream. Clint wasn't done fighting though, he kicked his legs at Barney. His brother wrestled Clint down, Barney slammed his knee on Clint's legs, putting most of his weight on the knee so Clint couldn't move.

Barney dragged Clint up by his uninjured wrist and urged him to the van. Barney pushed Clint into the seat, taking a rope and roughly tying it around Clint's wrists. He winced as Barney irritated the broken bones. Barney slammed the door, soliciting a flinch from Clint. Barney opened his own door and sat next to Clint, he started the car and began to drive, locking the doors.

"I don't know why you tried to do that, Clint. Are you trying to get back to that redheaded friend of yours?" Barney asked, Clint just stared at Barney. "She doesn't care about you. She never did. I've been watching you, Clint. She's just using you. Survival, that's her focus, she's using you to take care of her own survival. Don't tell me you haven't wondered why they haven't been looking for you." Barney said.

"Shut your mouth, Barney." Clint said heavily.

"Why? Because you know it's true? Your just a hassle to them. They're glad your gone. Who would want you anyway? Dad sure as Hell didn't. The Swordsman didn't, no one ever has! Just face the facts Clint, I'm the only one who will ever want you. Think about it, if Natasha really loved you, she would have been looking for you." Barney mocked.

Clint was thinking about it. Could he be right, the Avengers hadn't really seemed to like him, why would they? Clint was just a waste of time. No wonder Natasha had abandoned him, no, Clint couldn't, couldn't think like that. But what if it was true? His parents, the people who were supposed to love him most, hadn't. It made sense that no one else would.

They drove in silence for a few more hours. Except for Barney telling him about how Natasha didn't care about him every few minutes, it was deadly quiet. Eventually, Barney had to stop for gas.

"Don't try anything Clint." Barney said before getting out of the car. In a minute, Clint saw someone walk by the car window. It would be so easy to wave at them, to call for help, Clint looked back at Barney. He nearly screamed, Barney was staring at him, slowly, Barney shook his head. Clint got the message, don't try anything. Barney got back in the stolen car and they drove on the highway.

"So, you're probably wondering what the plan for today is." Barney said, looking at Clint, Clint just swallowed and looked back at his brother. "Well, I have an apartment somewhere soon. We'll get their at about 9 at night. We're not stopping for food or anything like that. So, don't even ask." Barney explained.

"What's the long term plan?" Clint asked, if people weren't looking for him, and if he couldn't escape, he wanted to know what was going to happen.

"Well, I don't really know. I guess we'll just stay on the run, but I can tell you we'll leave America. I'm just glad your getting used to the idea of staying with me." Barney said. Barney continued to convince him that no one cared for him. Every few minutes Barney would go on a short rant about how Clint was alone, and unloved and unwanted. Clint started to believe him.

Just as predicted, they arrived at Barney's apartment at about 9. Barney dragged Clint by his bound wrists up to his room. He threw Clint roughly on the ground, Clint couldn't stop himself from falling flat.

"Clint, I wish I could trust you, honestly I do. But I can't, you keep trying to scream. So, I've decided to damage your vocal cords. Don't worry, it's reversible, so when I can trust you, it'll be fixed. But for now, it'll hurt, but I won't let you die." Barney said, his tone was soothing but Clint was shocked. Barney wanted to damage his vocal cords!?!

At first he didn't know if Barney was actually going to go through with it, or if it was just a threat. But then barney came back with a pair of really, really sharp scissors. He knew what Barney was trying to do. Intubation, if it wasn't done properly, which Barney wasn't going to, he wouldn't be able to eat or drink without pain. No way would he be able to talk.

"Please, Barney, you don't have to do this." Clint tried to beg. Barney just looked down at him.

"You've given me no choice, Clint. And please don't fight me, I really don't want to impale you in the wrong spot." Barney said, advancing. Clint's eyes widened on the scissors. He couldn't believe his brother was about to do this to him. Clint tried to run. Barney put down the scissors and grabbed Clint around the waist. Clint tried to scramble away. He put his feet on Barney's chest and pushed, but Barney didn't let go.

"Clint, what did I say?" Barney asked. Clint still struggled pointlessly against his brother, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Barney just carried him with minimum effort. He was forced into a chair, Barney put his knee back on Clint's legs and restrained him. Barney reached for the scissors and brought them back to Clint's face.

Barney put his hand on Clint's cheek and pulled it to the side so that he had a clear shot at Clint's neck. Clint could feel Barney's rough hands searching his neck.

"Right here." Barney said, tapping his finger on his brother's neck. Clint froze in fear, he closed his eyes as he waited for his brother to stab him. He felt the cool metal of the scissors once before Barney drew his arm back and plunged the sharp edge into his neck. Clint couldn't scream, he was too shocked. It took a second for the pain to fully register, but once it did Clint just wanted to die. He welcomed the unconsciousness that was seeping on him.

Chapter Text

Clint didn't sleep that night either. He had woken up after Barney had destroyed his vocal cords and didn't even try to sleep. Barnet had tied up both Clint's hands and his feet, he wasn't getting away. Clint could feel his neck though. It was injured and felt painful. Breathing was hard now, but Barney had been honest, it is reversible.

But that wasn't going to happen, no one was looking for him. Barney would only take him to a hospital 'when I can trust you' and Clint wasn't sure when that would happen. Clint sighed as he waited for, who knows what?

Barney woke up at about 5 in the morning. Clint watched him get up and stretch. Barney began to walk over to Clint and he flinched. Clint's fear seemed to anger Barney.

"Your seriously going to flinch away from me? What about all the shit dad put us through? Huh, he's worse than me! But fine, you want something to flinch about, I'll give you something to flinch about!!!!" Barney exclaimed through gritted teeth. Clint's eyes widened in terror. Barney reached for Clint's shirt yet again and pulled him up so that they were eye level. Clint couldn't even beg him not to. Barney put his hand on Clint's abdomen, as if feeling for something. Clint let out a choked whimper, Barney's hand rested on one of Clint's ribs.

"You feel that, Clint?" Barney asked. Clint felt Barney's fists pummel his ribs, he kneed Clint several times. It was apparent that Barney was trying to break his rib. Clint let out a gargled scream when Barney succeeded. Barney dropped his brother to the ground, Clint curled into a ball, glad it was over. He couldn't have been more wrong.

Barney kicked Clint on the side. He kept kicking and beating Clint until his back was against the wall. Barney crouched down in front of Clint. Looking into Barney's eyes was like looking into a torturous river of pain. Barney gripped Clints chin so he'd have no choice but to look into those dead eyes.

"Don't flinch from me Clint, just don't." Barney let go of his chin so that he could slam Clint's head into the wall. Clint just wanted to curl up and cry. Barney had never been this cruel. The worst part was that he was completely and utterly alone. Clint did curl up, he closed his eyes and put his head in his knees.

For some reason, Barney scooped Clint up into his arms, rocking the small teen. Clint felt too scared to look up, scared of what he might see. Barney's behavior confused Clint, Barney would beat him then hold him, it made no sense, Clint couldn't move or protest. He felt impossibly helpless. Barney got up from his apartment floor, Clint still in his arms.

At this point, Clint was pretty sure it was over. He looked up at Barney, the look on his face was deadly. Clint winced before realizing his error. Barney picked him up and ran, slamming Clint into a wall.

"WHAT. DID. I. JUST. SAY?" Barney asked, punching him with every word. Clint felt his already short breaths shorten even more as he began to hyperventilate. Luckily, after that Barney stopped, Barney's head leaned forward so that his forehead was against the wall, next to Clint's.

"I just don't want you to be scared of me." Barney said. Clint thought it was a miracle nobody heard this.

()()()()()

Rebecca was one of the search agents, one of the frustrated search agents. They had managed to track the GPS. It was ditched at an apartment building. Rebecca was getting angry, if they failed and the kid was dead... She was scared truthfully. Apparently, Barney owned an apartment and that was where he had driven Clint.

Rebecca sighed. Right now they were interviewing the other residents to find out what was going on. Rebecca was questioning the owner of the building, who also lived their.

"And did you notice any strange behavior?" Rebecca asked.

"Well, I was here when he checked in. The smaller one, Clint, you said, he seemed kind of scared. Barney seemed almost, possessive of him. Y'know?" The owner replied.

"Do you have any idea where they might have gone?" Rebecca asked. The man bristled at this, it was his car Barney had taken.

"Well I- wait." The man said. He was obviously thinking.

"What?" Rebecca asked, confused at his antics.

"My phone, it's in the car!" The man explained.

"That's brilliant!! We can track them!!" Rebecca said excitedly. She quickly reported the news to her comrades, they shared her enthusiasm. Barney would only be a few hours ahead of them, they might actually catch up to him!

Chapter Text

Barney had gotten Clint out on the road and had left. He knew that Clint was exhausted and was glad to see him pass out from pure exhaustion. Barney sighed as he thought about Clint, of course he had known his brother was at SHEILD. You don't work for the FBI without hearing things. He had been watching Clint and Natasha for a while. Natasha, Barney sneered at the thought of her, keeping Clint away from him like that! She had no right.

Yes, Barney had technically been brainwashing Clint to believe they didn't care about him. But it was for his own good! Barney needed Clint to stay with him, to want to stay with him. Barney got an idea and pulled the silver van over to the side.

He stopped the van and leaned over to Clint. Clint was exhausted, no way was he going to wake up now. Barney pulled his brother's mouth open. Barney had some special pills, the FBI invented them as a torture device, it would make you hallucinate your worst fears. He emptied the pill bottle into his brothers mouth, forcing him to swallow. People believed the hallucinations were real, or at least partially real. He knew it would hurt Clint, but it was worth it.

Barney started the van and pulled away, getting back on the highway. After a few minutes the drugs started to take affect. Barney grinned to himself. He heard Clint begin to whine and moan. Whatever was happening, it wasn't good.

()()()()()

"I'm sorry Clint, but it's true, I don't want you." Natasha said. Clint shrunk, her every word a like a punch.

"N-no, y-y-you s-said-" Clint tried to protest. He begged Natasha, it couldn't be real.

"I lied." She said simply, stalking towards him. Clint fell on the ground, still facing her, he tried to crawl away. The room they were in was without walls and floors, in fact, it wasn't really a room. It was just a mostly empty space, full of darkness.

"Please, please d-don't-" Clint began, still trying to escape her.

"Don't what? I'm telling you the truth Clint. I never liked you. Who would really? I was just using you." She said, her face stone cold. Natasha kept advancing. Clint tried to run, he needed to hide, to get away from this. But he stopped, he wasn't in a room, but there was an endless pit behind him. He couldn't see the bottom and knew he could never jump. Natasha, cold and emotionless, pulled him up by his shirt and looked him in the eye. She tilted her head and smiled, pushing him off of the cliff.

Clint didn't scream as he fell. He welcomed death, anything to get away from this. But his wish was not granted. Slamming into something hard, he felt immediate pain.

"Well look what the cat dragged in." He heard a voice say. Wait, he knew that voice. Clint looked up to identify the speaker. It was Tony, the other Avengers were there as well. Clint pushed himself up on his elbows to face them. His expression turned to horror at their demeanors.

"He's back." Bruce said, ice cold.

"Am I supposed to celebrate?" Steve asked sarcastically. Clint looked at them.

"W-what?" Clint asked timidly.

"Is it not obvious?" Thor asked.

"No, he thinks we like him." Tony explained. Clint merely looked at them in shock.

"You are mistaken." Thor said, turning to him.

"We never liked you. It was all an act. I'm sorry, not really, but it's the truth." Bruce said.

"N-n-no. I-it-" Clint whimpered.

"You knew it was true Clint, you always knew." Steve said. Up until then, the Avengers had been relaxed. Tony had been leaning against some unseen surface, Steve was sitting on the ground, across from Bruce, and Thor looked impossibly relaxed standing with his arms crossed. But at what Steve said they all got up. They stood, shoulder to shoulder, facing Clint.

"We never liked you, Clint." They said in eerie unison. "No one ever wiiiiiiiiill." They said. Their voices deepened at the last part. They all opened their mouths, a black, spirit like substance poured out from their gaping mouths and eyes. It looked like a dark fabric, darker than the night. The black fabric-spirit emerged from their mouths with a screech. Their bodies collapsed and melted away, the black demons rushed towards him.

"NOOOO!!!" Clint heard himself scream before he was enveloped by the spirits. They coursed through him, stripping away all good feelings and leaving only pain. It was true, they hated him. IT WAS TRUE!!

()()()()()

Barney watched his brother in silence. Clint was writhing around, obviously in pain. Barney was sure he'd be screaming if it wasn't for his vocal cords. But then, it all stopped, apparently the pills were done. Clint shot up, the bonds somewhat stopping him. Clint didn't cry. he just stared ahead, eyes wide and haunted. That was one of the things Barney liked about Clint, he never let his weak side show. Never let himself be scared.

Clint's eyes went everywhere around the car. Barney sighed, maybe, maybe if Clint was blindfolded, he'd stop finding ways to try to escape. Barney decided he would do that when they stopped at a warehouse in a few hours. However, Barney was getting a little worried about Clint. He'd had his brother for just under five days, his brother hadn't had anything to eat or drink in that time span. And now, it would cause his serious pain.

They drove in silence for a few hours, they were at the warehouse when Barney started to think about Clint's injuries. He had picked up the teen, and was carrying him into the abandoned building. Clint had at least one broken rib, a broken wrist, and two knife wounds. Not to mention the bruises Barney had left on him. Clint tried to protest as Barney began to tie the blindfold on him. But Clint couldn't talk, or even move so there wasn't much he could do.

Barney never meant to hurt Clint, he just got so angry. He became blind with rage. Clint just kept trying to leave, he couldn't leave!! What did he not understand about that!?!?! Oh no, Barney felt the anger pouring back. He lost his common sense and began to yell at Clint again. Here we go.

()()()()()

Clint began to panic when the blindfold was forced over his head. His eyesight was everything, having it taken away. Barney must know what that would do to him! Then, Barney got angry.

"YOUR WEAK CLINT!!! YOUR PATHETIC!! IT'S NO WONDER NO ONE LIKES YOU!!!!" He knew it was true, Natasha had said so. "I HATE YOU CLINT!! YOU MAKE ME SO ANGRY!! YOUR JUST A WASTE OF TIME!!!" Clint knew it was all true, it had happened. They had said so, it was true. They hated him. He wasn't sure how he knew, he just did. Clint knew Barney was moving around, his voice getting farther away and closer again.

Clint just sat their, blind to the world. A rocket of pain shot up his spine when Barney kicked his back as hard as he could. Clint launched forward, sprawling over the ground. He attempted to curl up. He didn't hear Barney sneak over to him. Not until he felt an even worse pain strike his broken wrist. He tried to scream, but he couldn't. Apparently, Barney had crouched down in front of him, because he felt a fist on his shoulder.

This was worse than anything else Barney had ever done to him. At least then he could anticipate what Barney was going to do next. He felt his shoulder become laced with pain as Barney punched him over and over. Clint was trying to see frantically, to see Barney, see himself get hurt. Then, Barney's foot assaulted his shoulder. Kick, kick, kick, would it ever end? For the third time in the last five days, he heard the sickening crack of bones.

Unbearable feeling overwhelmed him. His shoulder breaking, his brother the one doing it, Natasha not liking him, not being able to see, being alone and hurt, it was just too much. He let out an inaudible sob. His shoulder tormented him, just as his wrist and ribs did. He needed to escape, or someone needed to find him. Before this killed him.

Chapter Text

Phil, as soon as he heard they had found them, had taken a plane out to the warehouse they had tracked the car too. He hadn't told any of the girl, Avengers or Natasha. If Clint wasn't ok, he didn't want them to know right away. Phil needed to assess Clint's physical and mental health before telling them anything. He had gotten the call from Rebecca at about 5 in the morning. She was frantic, explaining about how she thought they could catch up to Barney. Phil had listened to her intently. She said that she and the search agents were only a few hours behind them. Rebecca explained that they had stopped, and Phil had mean frantic as well, he hopped on one of the SHEILD planes and flown to the warehouse Rebecca said they stopped at.

He had landed a few miles away and 'borrowed' a car. Soon, he caught up with the agents in their vehicles. They saw him and began whooping. Teenagers Phil thought, rolling his eyes. Technically, they were adults but they acted so childishly. He followed them to the warehouse. A silver van was parked carelessly outside. Silently, they all pulled up. Phil sprung out of his vehicle. He looked at the younger agents. One of them motioned for Phil and two other agents to join him.

"Ok, we'll go in, scope it out and get Clint out. The rest of them are going to stay out and wait for the worst." The agent explained. Phil knew what he meant, if Barney killed them and tried to grab Clint. Phil and the others nodded and moved out. Quietly, they crouched and walked to the warehouse. The agent who had called them over, creaked open the door.

They entered the rotten building, guns raised. At first Phil saw nothing, then he found the light switch. He wished he hadn't. Barney was asleep, lying, head against the wall. Phil held back his rage at the bastard. He motioned angrily at two of the agents to wake him up.

"Get up, you're under arrest." One of the agents said, poking Barney with the butt of his gun. Apparently, Barney wasn't asleep, he reached his arm out and grabbed the agent's leg. The agent fell down and Barney shot up. He tried to attack the other agent, landing a few swift punches. Phil and the other agent joined the fight, managing to restrain him. The agent he'd pulled down, got out a pair of handcuffs, putting them on Barney's wrists.

"Like I said, you're under arrest." The agent said, joined by one of his comrades. Phil watched them force Barney out. He shook his head, there was something wrong with Barney.

"Um, Phil?" The other agent who had remained with Phil asked tentatively. The agent sounded worried.

"Yeah?" Phil asked before turning around. When he did, his heart sank. In the agents arms laid a bruised, starved and bound Clint. He was unconscious, or at least Phil hoped he was unconscious. He looked at the agent expectantly, the poor agent handed over the injured teen, leaving them alone. Phil got a good look at Clint's face. He looked exhausted, not just physically but mentally. The teen's head rolled over, revealing his neck.

Phil gasped. Right there, was a bloody mark where he had obviously been stabbed. Phil swallowed hard, trying not to run outside and rip off Barney's head. He did walk outside though, Clint still in his arms.

"I'm gonna take him in the plane with me." Phil said, a few of the agents looked wary, but Phil left no room for argument. He carried the starved kid back to the 'borrowed' van and drove them back to where he'd landed the plane. He took off as quickly as humanly possible. But he set the plane to auto pilot so he could examine Clint further. With a shock, he realized he still hadn't untied the poor kid. He pulled at the rope binding his hands, he noticed Clint's sleeping face wince in pain.

Phil was confused, but held Clint's hand in his own, examining the wrist. Yep, it was broken, Barney had broken Clint's wrist. Phil hadn't even looked at the knife wounds he had gotten from the kidnapping. But first he had too untie Clint's feet. His ankles, at least, weren't broken. With a swallow, Phil lifted up Clint's all but destroyed shirt to reveal a multitude of horrible bruises. Phil would never be able to count them all. It was depressing. Gently, he pressed down lightly on the wounds. Right there, he had a broken rib as well, his knife wound wasn't looking exactly healthy either. And it was obvious Barney hadn't fed Clint once.

Phil was also willing to bet he had had very little to drink as well. Worried Clint had more broken bones, he felt around his legs and chest. His shoulder was broken, everything else was bruised and /or bleeding, but not broken. He sighed in relief. It was short-lived though, when he looked back at Clint's injured neck. Hesitantly, he reached out to touch it. It looked as if Barney had been meaning to do improper intubation, which would result in damaged vocal cords. Which meant Clint wouldn't have been able to talk or eat or drink without extreme pain.

Clint was resting on Phil's lap, slightly curled up. Naturally, right when Phil had his hands on Clint's neck, Clint woke up. He shot forward, eyes wide and scared. Phil would guess that the last few times he had woken up weren't so pleasant.

"Hey, hey, it's ok. We got you out, your away from Barney. Your safe now." Phil tried to soothe him. He reached out to put his hand on Clint's back but Clint flinched away from him, then closed his eyes as if waiting for Phil to hit him. Slowly, Clint opened his eyes, as if realizing Phil wasn't going to hit him.

"You have a broken wrist, shoulder and rib. Is anything else broken?" Phil asked quietly. Clint looked down and shook his head.

"Good." Phil said awkwardly. As if realizing for the first time where he was, Clint got up unsteadily, and moved over to the copilots seat.

"Um, so, I'm taking you back to SHEILD, they'll fix your broken bones and, well Natasha and the Avengers have been driving everyone crazy looking for you. So yeah." Phil said. At the mention of Natasha, for some reason, Clint winced. Phil had no idea why, but it wasn't like he could ask. This was going to be a long ride. He was just a little worried about the Avengers and Natasha seeing him.

Chapter Text

When Natasha heard they had found Clint and Barney and were bringing them back, Natasha was filled with joy. Clint was back!!! Back and safe!! Then, when she heard he was injured, her happiness turned to rage. Barney, she hated him, but it was hopefully just a few bruises. That would be it, right? Dismissing her negativity, she went back to her anticipation at Clint's arrival.

Currently, she was running clumsily through SHEILD. She heard that Phil had taken him in a plane, so she was scurrying up to the hangar. Upon arrival, she saw what looked like the plane, steadily advancing. Her blood was bubbling with excitement, these past few days without him had been Hell for her. She couldn't contain the slight bouncing from her feet. Soon, she was joined by the Avengers, they all shared her broiling enthusiasm and impatience.

For what seemed like hours, they watched the slow plane, snailing forward. Natasha really wanted to scream for them to go faster. Finally, she covered her ears as the plane made it's noisy landing. She ran to the plane as fast as her shaking legs could carry her. The plane door opened, the suspense slowly killing her. For an agonizing minute, nothing happened, then Phil walked out, followed by Clint.

In that moment, Clint walking, walking out of that plane, she lost control. Here he was, alive and safe, her emotions were in turmoil, the feelings racing and pounding through her at deafening speeds. Without thought, she rushed towards her comrade, all rationality thrown carelessly to the side. In one giant leap, she basically tackled him. If it wasn't for his athletic experience, she would have knocked him flat. But instead, he just stumbled backwards once, hissing in pain.

She held on for one, long, but all too brief, minute before releasing him. Right away, before looking at anything but his face, she knew something was wrong. He wasn't looking at her, in fact, he was looking at the ground like it was the last thing he'd ever see. Natasha was too shocked to say anything, she assumed he'd be celebrating or at least hugging her back. Frowning, she did a once over, from the way he was holding himself, he was in a lot of pain.

Phil nodded at Natasha and briskly lead Clint away, presumably to the infirmary. Natasha turned back to the Avengers. Tony was sniggering very loudly. She glared at him.

"Who knew, the heartless assassin has feelings!" Tony said, before bursting into a fit of laughter. Steve chuckled and Bruce began giggling as well. Natasha put on her best 'I can kill you right now' face and strode towards them confidently. She looked them in the eye and gave a sarcastic smile.

"You start saying I've got feelings, you will find yourself in a very uncomfortable place. With a few limbs mysteriously missing!" Natasha said. In an instant Tony's face turned from laughter to fear, Natasha smiled again.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Natasha asked sweetly before walking away.

()()()()()

Thor was worried about Clint, they all had noticed some... unpleasant things. First, Clint didn't seem all that thrilled to be back. Not to say he was unhappy to be away from Barney, more he was just... sad. Second, he didn't look up or at anyone, he had been so full of happiness, Thor was concerned that that was gone. They had watched the son of Coul take him to the healing ward and retreated back to the 'living room'.

Technically, they were all sitting together, they were just lost in thought. Patiently, they awaited Phil's return. They wished to hear of his physical health. It was apparent Barney had injured him, they wished to know how bad. Natasha especially, she had joined them in the living room and was extremely tense. As if on cue, Phil walked in to the living room. Immediately, they all perked up and stared at Phil intently.

"Ok, your all a little creepy, and he'll be fine." Phil said, not meeting one pair of eyes. They all looked at him thoroughly unconvinced. Phil sighed.

"Well, he has two knife wounds, they're examining them now. At least one broken rib that I found, there could be more. His right shoulder is broken, I'm not sure what part though, so is his right wrist. Barney also, well he stabbed Clint in the neck. Intubation, it can injure your vocal cords. Which means he hasn't been able to talk, eat or drink for a while. He also has a multitude of bruises." Phil said quietly. Thor was overwhelmed with rage, Barney was going to be hurt.

"Where are you going?" Phil asked, his voice exhausted and exasperated.

"To maim his brother." Thor explained. At that, Steve, Tony, Bruce and Natasha stood to join him.

"We're not maiming Barney, we still don't know-" Phil cut himself off.

"Don't know what?" Bruce asked. Phil looked away.

"Spill." Natasha demanded.

""Psychological torture. We know it happened. You've probably noticed some unusual behavior. We need Barney to tell us what he did." Phil explained. They all slumped down in defeat. Thor knew they were all praying and hoping for Clint to be ok.

Chapter Text

Barney had his hands around Clint's neck. He was squeezing, tighter and tighter his fingers clenched. Clint's vision darkened, his limited breathing hitched. His body began to shake around, gasping for air. He looked into Barney's cold, dead eyes.

"You deserve this, and you know it." Barney said, squelching his breath even more. Fear clouded his vision, Barney picked Clint up and slammed him down to the ground, Clint tried to push himself up but Barney kicked him as hard as he could. Again and again he was hit and abused. Blood poured from his bruised mouth in gallons. Hot and thick, a river of blood emerged from him, never ending.

Once again, Barney closed his fingers around his jugular. Clint's hands reached out to pull on Barney's wrist, even though it was futile. He couldn't breath, he frantically searched for air, it burned, his lungs seared with blinding pain.

Clint woke with a start, he had been writhing around and had painfully yanked out his stitches. They had stitched up one of the knife wounds, they said the other one was infected. At first, nothing happened with his wound. Then it began gushing a steady amount of blood. Clint couldn't scream or ask for help, not that he thought anyone was going to help.

But one of the night nurses noticed his bleeding and rushed over. Her eyes widened at all of the blood. Trying to staunch it she called in one of the doctors.

"What happened?" The doctor asked.

"He pulled out his stitches, it reopened, he's already weaker from starvation, we might need to do a transfusion." The nurse speculated. The doctor joined her in stopping the bleeding. The doctor pulled he hands away, they were covered in blood.

"He's a blood type O negative." The nurse said, not removing her hands. Clint was starting to feel a little woozy.

"Isn't Tony Stark O negative?" The doctor asked, though she already knew the answer.

"You, keep him from bleeding too much, you may need to administer a sedative, I'm gonna go talk to Stark." The doctor said before she exited. The nurse looked down at Clint, Clint just looked away.

"Do you mind if I sedate you, you'll use less blood and it'll conserve it." She tried to explain. Clint was very wary of being unconscious, but shrugged, they might force it on him. She got the shot ready with one hand, still failing at blocking the bleeding. Clint saw Tony walk back with the doctor before going unconscious.

()()()()()

"So, yeah, there he is." The doctor told Tony. Yeah, Clint looked bad. Tony scurried over to a chair that was right next to Clint's hospital bed. He was a little frustrated with the nurse, she wasn't sticking the needle in fast enough. Tony huffed indignantly, and let out a 'finally' when she finally succeeded.

The nurse was shooed away and the doctor continued the transfusion. Clint had been sedated, which was a little disappointing, he had hoped to talk with Clint. Naturally he had hacked into SHEILD's files about Clint's whole ordeal and had been pretty terrified. SHEILD hadn't gotten much from Barney. But he said he had beaten Clint at least daily, playing on his brother's fears.

Tony had been traumatized by Afghanistan, and Afghanistan wasn't his brother. And the way Clint had acted earlier, frankly,Tony was worried. He knew PTSD when he saw it, Clint would have it. Anything could be a trigger. The kids were just starting to warm up to them, if any one of them induced a flashback... It would be bad.

Examining Clint's face, he saw evidence of many bruises and slaps. His eyes trailed down to Clint's neck. The gruesome mark on his throat made Tony see red, the fact that Barney would do that to his brother? It was ridiculous.

"Ok, you've given all the blood we need." The doctor informed him, giving him the signal to leave.

"Can I stay?" Tony asked, not taking his eyes off of Clint.

"Mr. Stark, I work for SHEILD. I get a lot of kidnap victims in here. Right when they get here, it freaks them out, waking up with someone sitting right there." The doctor explained. Even when Tony gave his best puppy dog eyes, she ignored him. He sighed sadly and slowly got up to leave.

()()()()()

When Clint woke up again, it was late. He looked at the clock to his side, in red numbers plain and clear it read 3:27. Clint sighed, he hoped it was the morning, if it was sunny he'd have an easier time of staying awake. It was terrifying, closing his eyes. He couldn't do it with out feeling like he was being blindfolded. Like kicks and punches were being landed, unseen and unanticipated by Clint.

Oh no, he was heading into a flashback, Clint but down hard on his fist. Slowly, his breathing slowed and he was brought back to reality. He curled his legs up to his chest, resting his head. Weak, Barney had called him weak, Barney was right, Clint was weak, he was pathetic, useless, a waste of time, he knew it was true.

Clint thought back to earlier that day, with Natasha. She had acted so excited to see him, Clint wanted to believe it, he really did. But he knew she didn't like him, he knew it. He just wanted to scream, to insist that he knew she hated him. Still, the way she had hugged him it seemed almost genuine. She had practically tackled him, it felt so normal, like home, but she would just hurt him. He hoped it wasn't true

Chapter Text

The next day, Clint was impossibly uncomfortable, the doctors were doing all kind of medical stuff on him. All of those people, up close and touching him, he hated it. Not that he was in a place to protest. They all seemed worried about his vocal cords and the challenges they presented. Part of Clint was glad they were trying to fix that, he was starving. Another part was terrified of them touching his neck.

"So, when we sedated him, you know, when he first got here, and did the surgery, something went wrong." One of the nurses said, prodding his neck uncomfortably. The doctor looked at her.

"I'm not sure what, but he should be able to talk, but he still can't." She explained. The doctor nodded.

"Well, I cant do anything now, not while your working on his bones." The doctor said before walking out to do God knows what. Clint felt like a doll, being poked and invaded, it was terrifying. He purposely avoided whatever looks the nurse(s) threw at him. Until all of a sudden, the nurse grabbed his injured wrist.

"I need to look at it." She said roughly. That did nothing to ease Clint's terror.

It might as well have been Barney's foot, cracking the bones in his wrist. It definitely didn't help that he was lying down, suddenly, he was back ground, trying to escape. Barney's foot slamming down sharply on his wrist, his scream for help muffled. He couldn't breath, he couldn't breath, he couldn't breath!! He panicked, trying to call for help and squirm away from his brothers grip. He was stuck, he was in pain, he couldn't breath, he was scared. He barely registered the fact that he was having a flashback, before he was immersed in a scene of horror.

()()()()()

Steve walked in at the worst possible time. He heard the nurse frantically trying to do something. He hurried in to see what the commotion could be. He had just walked down to see if Clint needed anything, apparently he did. Clint's face was white, his hands gripping the sides of the hospital bed. Steve ran over to the panicking nurse.

"I just grabbed his wrist!!!" She said, looking at Steve.

"You mean the one he probably, traumatically broke!?" Steve asked, disappointed at the nurse's lack of common sense. She just looked down. Steve sighed, he knew what PTSD looked like. He just wasn't sure he'd be able to snap him out of it. Clint's eyes were wide, staring at whatever terror he was experiencing. Steve could hear his breathing hitch and falter, he was literally shaking in fear. The nurse made a move towards him.

"Just don't." Steve said, lightly pushing her back. She looked at him thankfully and stood several feet away. Steve looked down at the horrified kid. He had no idea what to really do, just that he didn't really want the nurse trying anything. Gently he reached out to touch Clint's shoulder. Bad idea!!! Clint's face turned impossibly whiter as he began to hyperventilate, his fingers clenching dangerously around the hospital bed.

Tentatively he tried to grip Clint's hand, another not so good idea. Steve succeeded in prying his hand off the table and Clint gripped it, trying to push him away. It was obvious he didn't know it was Steve. In an instant, Steve made the decision to sedate him.

"You, sedative, now." Steve commanded, trying to calm Clint down to no avail. The nurse rushed over to do as Steve said.

"Ok, right there, just stick it in." The nurse said. Steve did so and watched as Clint's efforts to push Steve away got weaker and weaker. He watched Clint's eyes close to enter a tense unconsciousness. Even though Clint's grip was gone, Steve didn't let go of his hand. Guilt overwhelmed him as he thought about what he had just done. He had sedated a kid that was panicking, to make it easier for himself he had put him under.

Steve held Clint's hand even tighter as he berated himself for his horrible decision. It was horrible, what he had done, he had barely tried to comfort Clint. Steve sighed in disappointment with himself, he should have done better. The nurse was looking at Steve expectantly, obviously wanting him to leave. Steve felt like smacking her, she had no right. But his anger subsided, last time he trusted his judgment, he'd failed. He gave Clint's lifeless hand one last squeeze before leaving.

()()()()()

Naturally, Clint had woken up from the sedative, thankfully, he barely recalled his panic. It was just a faded memory. But one thing did annoy him.

"Yeah, while you were out, we fixed your vocal cords. You still won't be able to talk for like, three to five days, but you should be able to eat and stuff." The nurse explained. That made Clint uncomfortable, they took advantage of him being unconscious. He would have appreciated it if they had asked at least, but they were fixed. It just felt so unsafe, knowing someone could, and would, invade your space while you were unconscious.

It made Clint so unsafe, and scared that as soon as all of the nurses and doctors were gone, he got up. He had decided to go to the only place he felt safe anymore, the vents.

Chapter Text

Clint, after some struggling, pried off the vent cover and crawled in, sealing the cover back into place. It was more difficult, crawling through the vents with his injuries, but after some adjustments, he found a limping pace that worked with minimal pain. He slowly inched throughout the vents, paying mild attention to the conversations going on around him.

"She's so fat!"

"No, he did NOT dump you!!?!!?!!"

"I totally bombed the physical!!"

"No, my package hasn't come yet."

"I hate that cereal so much, it's unreal!"

"No way, you're kidding?" Were some of the meaningless conversations bombarded Clint's ears. He tried to make out anything interesting, but was disappointed. All of a sudden, he got an idea! Picking up his crawling pace, he hurried to his destination.

Clint peered through the vent to look at his brother. He had found the cell they were keeping Barney in and had inched towards his brother's cell. The scene was, indescribable. Barney was sitting on his small, SHEILD mandated cot. The silver bars stood, definite and unmoving in front of Barney. As Clint was in the vent, he felt mostly safe. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel, his brother/kidnapper behind bars.

A storm of hissing, steaming and broiling feelings swelled up inside of Clint. Relief, terror, joy, anger, hope, resentment and sadness attacked Clint in a tsunami of force. They swirled and whooshed through Clint, the turmoil would have been enough to make him fall if he hadn't been in the vent. He wasn't sure how to feel, enraged, disappointed, glad? It was all too much!!

Clint decided he had been near his brother for too long, he steadily found his way out of the vent. He tried with difficulty not to think about Barney. About everything his brother had done, everything he had said, all the blows he had landed, the threats he had spat, he steered his psyche away from the trauma. Forgetting what had happened, he knew it was impossible, he just prayed to any god that was listening to not let it happen again.

After a while of stumbling through the vents, Clint got tired. Naturally, he had been straining himself for a while, pushing through his ever-worsening injuries. Well, it was tiring, normally, Clint would have been terrified to fall asleep in SHEILD. Now that he knew they didn't like him, he didn't want to feel so vulnerable. In the vents, it could be completely different, he was alone, in a place he felt safe.

Searching for a good spot to crash took a while but it was worth it. He selected a place that was moderately large, but still small enough to feel comfortable. Clint curled up into a tiny ball, and closed his eyes. He didn't even panic, not thinking about not being able to see. Clint was exhausted, he didn't even have time to worry about people trying to find him.

()()()()()

"Jarvis, where's Clint?" Tony asked his all knowing AI. He wasn't sure if Clint was still in the ER or if they had moved him.

"He is in the ventilation system, sir." Jarvis said in his accent. Tony made a face at that, why would he be in the vents?

"Are you sure? Why would he be in the vents and how?" Tony asked.

"Yes, my cameras show him in the ventilations. Although he was unauthorized, Clint climbed into the ventilation pipes and has been crawling around for about 2 hours." Jarvis explained curtly. Tony nodded, he understood that. Natasha said that vents made Clint feel safe, he could understand that.

"Well, what's he doing now?" Tony asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"It appears Clint has fallen asleep, in the ventilation pipes." Jarvis answered. Tony nodded and went back to work. He was in his lab, repairing one of his robot arms. None of the other Avengers were there, Tony had insisted on being alone. He was worried about Clint, he built things when he was worried.

Tony thought more and more about the vents and how clean they were, how comfortable Clint would be, everything. Wait, didn't vents have dust? He had been told that Clint had knife wounds, easily infected knife wounds.

"Hey, Jarvis, is there a chance of Clint getting an infection from the vents?" Tony asked, his fear evident in his voice.

"There is an 83% chance of infection, I advise you get him out of the ventilation system." Jarvis said.

"You think Jarvis!?" Tony asked sarcastically.

"I detect sarcasm, shall I give you Clint's location?" Jarvis asked. Tony mmhhmmed and went back to silently freaking out. Jarvis emailed him a picture of Clint's outside location. Tony regretted ever giving that AI his email address and picked up a screw driver and step ladder. Tony silently and swiftly jogged out of his lab and down to the remote room Jarvis had emailed a picture of.

No one was in the room, probably part of the reason Clint had chosen to sleep their. Tony put the step ladder under the vent, he stepped up with his screwdriver. Unscrewing the volts in the vent, he peeled off the cover and poked his head in. Just as Jarvis had said, there was Clint, fast asleep in a little ball.

Tony partially wanted to leave Clint there, asleep and peaceful. Another part of Tony slapped the first part of Tony, insisting that Clint would get even sicker. Tony stepped up one more stair to allow his arms through the top. Clint was barely six inches away from Tony.

Thankfully, Tony was able to pull the way too small teen towards him. Amazingly, Clint was still asleep. Poor kid, must be exhausted. Carefully, Tony lifted Clint up and poured the still unconscious kid into his arms. Barney had starved Clint, making him way too easy to carry. Lightly, Tony squeezed Clint through the opening in the vent, taking him away from all the dust and the germs.

He was inwardly thrilled when Clint's asleep head fell against Tony's chest. It was just an endearing and trusting gesture. Tony grinned down at Clint. Stepping clumsily down from the stool, with Clint cradled preciously in his arms. Tony made his way back t the ER with Clint, he assumed that's where he was supposed to be.

Shockingly, the nurses had no idea that Clint was gone, they thought he was still there the whole three hours. Tony shook his head, so these were the people he was leaving Clint with. Tony still had some stupid business to take care of. But he didn't want to leave Clint alone. As a solution, he ran to the living room and drafted Thor into watching over Clint

Chapter Text

Thor sighed as Tony dragged him to the medical ward. His brother Tony had told Thor he needed to watch Clint. Apparently, Clint had gone into the vents, undetected. Tony was worried about this happening and had asked Thor, quite rudely, to watch Clint, to make sure it didn't happen again.

SHEILD halls passed Thor's vision as Tony pulled him along. Thor blindly following him. He was led down to the medical ward when Tony promptly left him. Thor sighed and briefly searched the room for where Clint was. His eyes were drawn to the puny hospital bed nearest to him. Sighing yet again, Thor dragged a chair so that he was next to Clint's bed.

Though Thor feigned annoyance, inwardly he was a little relieved to watch Clint. He shared Tony's distrust of the healers, they did not seem very competent. He gazed at Clint's sleeping face. Originally, Clint and Natasha always looked so peaceful while they were asleep. Now, however, Clint looked mentally exhausted and hurt, even unconscious.

Yet again, Thor sighed, but at his comrade's sadness. Not that Clint was really his 'comrade' per say, he was more like a child to Thor. A hurt, pained child. For the millionth time, Thor wondered what Barney had done to his younger brother. Barney was worse than Loki. Loki had never kidnapped Thor and tortured him.

All of a sudden, Clint woke up. His injured body shot forward like a rocket, Clint's eyes wide and frantic. He hadn't fallen asleep here. Thor watched as Clint tried not to panic. Clint's breathing was quick and short, still trying to register where he was. Slowly, as his eyes moved around, his breathing paced out.

Thor reached out to lay a soothing hand on Clint's shoulder. As if his life depended on it, Clint flinched away with all the force he could muster. As quickly as he could, Thor retracted his hand, widening his eyes some at the child's responses. Clint looked back at Thor and winced, as if expecting Thor to strike him for flinching away.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to frighten you." Thor said. Clint looked confused at his apology. Thor remembered he couldn't voice his confusion.

"We will not hurt you." Thor tried to tell him. The young archer shook his head, as if dismissing Thor's promise as a lie.

"I speak the truth, we all like you and wouldn't do anything to injure you." Thor said calmly, as if he was trying not to startle a wild animal. Which he supposed Clint almost was. Again, Clint looked as if he thought Thor was lying. What on earth had Barney done to him? What torture had he burdened the poor child with? Thor began to see red as he envisioned all of the horrible things.

Thor stood up, knocking the chair a little. He murmured a gruff apology at Clint's flinch. Storming off to go find Barney.

()()()()()

"Where are you going?" Steve asked. He thought Thor might be getting bored and was offering to trade off when Thor marched out, anger dancing in his eyes. Thor barely slowed down.

"To ask Barney some questions." The way Thor said questions made Steve want to join him.

"Coming." Steve said as he turned to walk with Thor to the cell he knew they were keeping Barney in. When they encountered a guard, they just stared him down.

"Second cell to the right." The guard said averting his gaze submissively. Steve grinned and walked past the guard to the second stall on the right, taking the guard's key with him. Barney was leaning against the wall, as if he hadn't done something horrendous. Steve unlocked the door, Thor barreling past him.

"Well look who it is." Barney said, not looking nervous for a second.

"What did you do to Clint?!" Thor asked angrily.

"I have no idea what you mean." Barney insisted.

"You know perfectly well what we mean." Steve said, locking the door menacingly behind him.

"Not really, no." Barney said, not skipping a beat. Thor apparently had had enough of Barney and put his hands around the bastard's neck, slamming him against the wall.

"I have had enough of your games. Tell me!! What torture did you bestow on him?!?!!" Thor asked angrily, slamming Barney into the wall again and again. Barney just smiled at him. Thor took his knee and pounded it into Barney's stomach. Steve had fought Thor, he knew what Barney was getting. Not that he felt bad for the dick.

"What did you do to Clint? Why does he flinch from Natasha? Why does he think we'll hurt him?" Thor asked, pulling Barney back up. At fist Barney looked like he was about to say something, he opened his mouth and spit blood onto Thor's face. Steve was getting really tired of Barney, he threw a punch at Barney's jaw, his head whipped to the side, banging against the wall.

Thor threw Barney to the ground yet again. He kicked Barney's abdomen, the arched curling up on himself, just for Steve to launch his foot at Barney's back.

"What did you do!!!" Steve asked. They were lucky Barney had little endurance.

"FBI," Barney gasped out, Steve gripping the front of his shirt so they were face to face. "Experimental drugs, fears." Barney coughed. "But, I think the real question is what have you done? I know I did this shit to Clint, but what if he knew you did it to me? What if he knew what you would do to someone? Maybe even him? What would he think then, that you all would hurt him?" Barney asked malevolently.

"That's ridiculous, we would never-" Steve began. Then he followed Barney's gaze. Because Clint's older brother was looking past his cell bars. Steve turned his head, as did Thor. There was Clint, staring at his brother, Steve's hands still gripping Barney's collar. Clint must have followed them, silently as usual.

"This is just what they do, Clint. I tried to tell you." Barney said, punctuating with a laugh as Steve let go of his collar, Barney's head falling on his cell floor. Clint's eyes were as wide as saucers at the scene of violence in front of him. But, before Steve and Thor could say anything, Clint looked down, turning so he couldn't see them. Briskly, he walked away, Steve watched him go.

"Clint, wait!!" Steve tried to say. But Clint was already gone. Steve frowned, how could he have been so stupid!? He looked back at Thor, he shared his shock and sadness. He looked back at Barney, shaking his head, as Barney just laughed. Drugs, he must have given Clint a nuero-drug. Steve knew some about those drugs, they could make you hallucinate things, horrible things.

Clint must think they hate him, or will hurt him. No wonder he flinched away from Natasha, he thought she hated him. Steve sighed, he had just made things impossibly worse. Now Clint knew they had injured his brother, now Clint would think they would definitely hurt him. This was going to be a pain to explain to the team.

But at least now they knew how to solve the problem, though it was as if Clint had regressed in his trust of them. Would Clint ever trust them?

Chapter Text

"Wait, Barney did what?" Bruce asked Steve and Thor. They had just ran back to the Avengers' living room and were explaining what they had found out from Barney.

"Yeah, Barney drugged Clint." Steve said, pacing the room.

"Don't some FBI drugs have hallucination stuff in them?" Tony asked.

"Yes, and if it was a torture drug..." Natasha speculated.

"If it was used for torture, it would make the victim experience... unpleasant things." Thor said.

"And, that's why he's been... different?" Tony asked, persistently beating around the bush.

"What did Barney say he experienced?" Bruce asked, still trying to calm down.

"His fears, new meaning of the term inner demons." Steve said dryly.

"Well, what are those?" Thor asked.

"Think for a minute. What would Clint be afraid of?" Bruce asked.

"You really want to ask that?" Natasha said, she had been almost completely silent. "Someone who has been hated almost their entire lives? Who's parents hated them? What do you think he's afraid of?!" Natasha asked getting angrier with every syllable.

"Being hated by everyone, especially the people closest to him." Tony speculated, gaze wandering down to his hands.

"So, the dugs made, or make him think we hate him?" Steve asked. Bruce nodded solemnly.

"Barney made Clint think I hate him." Natasha said, getting up.

"Where are you going?" Thor asked, head turning to watch Natasha.

"To murder Barney." She said, and she meant it, she was walking briskly to Barney's cell. Steve got up and grabbed her around the waist.

"Let. Me. Go." Natasha said, deadly serious as she struggled to get away from Steve.

"You honestly think killing Barney will help Clint?" Tony asked.

"I just... want to do something." Natasha said. Steve put her down and she stopped struggling.

"Yeah, we all do, lets just, explain to Clint what happened, maybe, I don't know." Steve said.

"Someone should do that." Thor said. Bruce raised his hand and walked out, presumably to the ER.

()()()()()

"I, uh, need to talk to Clint." Bruce said to the nurse blocking his path. He had scurried down to the ER to talk to Clint about the drugs and several of the nurses had formed a barricade.

"Mmhmm" One of the nurses said, giving Bruce a disapproving once over. Man, those nurses were whacked up.

"Seriously, we think we found something that'll... help him." Bruce explained, hands grasped in a pleading gesture. One of the nicer nurses looked like she was about to crack.

"Please?" Bruce said in his nicest voice.

"Fine, we finally managed to fix his vocal cords, at least temporarily. His voice is scratchy, so we don't want him talking too much. But, if you really have to." The nurse added. Bruce nodded affirmatively and moved to step forward. The big nurse put her hand out, stopping him effortlessly.

"We'll leave you alone, but if you do something to injure any more parts of his body..." The nurse let the threat hang in the air. He nodded again and tried to walk. Again, he was stopped by the nurse.

"He has his lunch, and he's, like, really malnourished, so, if you could, I don't know, just make sure he eats something." Another nurse said.

"Got it." Bruce said, trying to walk. The large nurse just steadied her hand.

"What!?" Bruce asked, agitated.

"Be nice to him." The nurses said, finally letting him through. Clint was listening attentively to a doctor. When she saw Bruce, she excused herself from Clint's presence and left Bruce alone, as promised. Bruce smoothly pulled up a chair and sat next to Clint. The teen looked down, avoiding Bruce's eyes.

"So, they fixed your vocal cords!" Bruce said, trying to be enthusiastic and failing miserably. Clint still didn't acknowledge him. Bruce sighed loudly.

"Look, you know that Steve and Thor got... rough, with Barney, but you probably don't know what they got, information wise, from Barney." Bruce began, not really sure how to explain this.

"Barney said he had stolen FBI drugs. You know, torture drugs. At some point, he must have given them to you. The thing about hallucinogenic drugs is that the victim believes it's real, or at least the concepts are real. So, yeah." Bruce ended poorly. For the first time, Clint looked up at Bruce with blue, wide confused eyes. This must be hard on him. Clint said nothing just looked at Bruce, obviously contemplating what Bruce was saying.

"We think that Barney made you think we hate you. Which is NOT true! We actually really like you and Natasha and, it sucks, seeing this all happen." Bruce said, finally letting some real emotion enter his voice.

"I actually know what that's like, feeling hated by everyone." Bruce said, his dad often had made him feel like that.

"No you don't." Clint spoke for the first time. The nurses had spoken the truth, his voice was rough and scratchy. And overall just sounded broken and beaten. As if storms had battered it and rocks desecrated it, knives whittling his voice down to nothing but a broken, injured creature, all hope gone and obliterated.

"I do, my dad was abusive. I would always just ask myself what I had done? You know, what did I do wrong? Why did he hate me? Was I just not good enough? It ate me up inside. My self esteem was nonexistent. It took me a ling time to finally like myself. To realize that people did like me."

"My dad, he hit me all the time. My mother too, sometimes she'd try to protect me. That would always get him angrier. Eventually, he killed her. Slammed her head into the sidewalk, so hard she died in an instant. He told me he'd kill me to if I called the police. I lived in fear of him for years. I hated myself and felt unloved for too long." Bruce said. He was weary about opening up like that, but he trusted Clint.

"What changed?" Clint asked, still not meeting Bruce's gaze.

"Well, I trusted people, I let them in. That's what helped me. And we're here to help you Clint." Bruce said, trying to offer him help. It was hard, Bruce really didn't know what to do.

"You're really not going to hurt me?" Clint asked, a shred of hope just barely glazing his voice.

"Never." Bruce confirmed, not skipping a beat.

"Thank you." Clint said. Bruce was about to respond, saying Clint didn't need to thank him, but it was clear Clint wanted the conversation to be over.

()()()()()

Clint wanted to believe Bruce. It was a few hours after Bruce had visited him and Clint was thinking back. He hadn't known how to respond when Bruce had opened up like that. It had made Clint feel very trusted, he knew how hard it was to talk about that. Clint hadn't even asked Bruce, yet he had shared the most personal and scarring parts of himself.

That must mean Bruce liked him, right? If he would open up like that, he wasn't lying about hurting Clint, was he? Believing Bruce could be dangerous, but he really wanted to. Thinking that he could trust people and that they wouldn't hurt him, it would be very comforting. Another, darker part of himself, thought Bruce was lying, that he just wanted to hurt Clint further.

Had Barney drugged him? He couldn't remember, but if it was a hallucination, would he? It mad sense he'd remember the concepts and what he was feeling, but forget the hallucination itself. Now he was even more scared of Barney.

Ever since Barney had found him, he had been terrified of his brother. Subconsciously Clint shivered at the thought of his brother. That alone was horrible, Barney was his brother, they were connected by blood, something about that just made Clint extremely uncomfortable. Now that he knew Barney wouldn't hesitate to seriously harm him, it kept Clint up at night.

Honestly, he really missed Natasha. He had (still was) been really scared that Natasha hated him and would want to injure him. Natasha knew his worst fears, his weak points, she could use those against him. He hadn't wanted to think that Nat would hurt him, but he still almost did. The practical part of him knew that Tasha loved him.

Clint was just nervous and terrified about asking for comfort. He had been so close earlier, so close to telling Bruce everything. Deep down, he wanted to, just didn't. If they thought he was weak or needy, they might hurt him. Clint felt he would die if someone else hated him. It would tear him up like a pack of wolves destroying a caribou.

Sighing, Clint rolled over, attempting to fall asleep. He was still afraid of closing his eyes, could still feel the punches being thrown, unnoticed by Clint. Partially, he wondered if someone else would visit him tomorrow. If he ever got to sleep.

Chapter Text

Loki looked down upon the sleeping child. Obviously, Loki was always very aware of what his brother was doing. He had heard of the child and his injuries and despite himself, felt sympathy towards the child. No one should fear a brother. Loki sighed aloud, he knew he had been... unpleasant towards Thor.

Part of him regretted that he had never had a better relationship with Thor. It would have made everything so much easier and better. Still, he had never done anything like this to Thor, he knew that Thor never would. To think that someone could do this to a person so previously scarred, it made Loki think much worse of Midgardians.

All of a sudden, the teen woke up in a frantic mess. He shot forward and winced in pain at his broken ribs. It was apparent he was partially unclear of his whereabouts. The child's sudden movements startled Loki and the god of mischief rocketed up. The teens frightened eyes landed on Loki with confused, guarded look.

"Who are you?" The teen asked suspiciously.

"Loki, god of mischief." Loki said, a little smugly. The teen narrowed his eyes.

"As in Thor's brother? The one he said was mean?" Clint, he had heard, asked. Loki rolled his eyes at that. Would anyone ever know him as something other than 'Thor's brother'?

"Yes and about the 'mean' thing, it honestly depends how you look at it." Loki replied.

"Mmhmm, and why are you here?" Clint asked. Loki honestly wasn't sure, he had been watching for a while, he was concerned about the innocent child.

"Why are you here?" Loki asked, he was the god of mischief after all.

"I'm hurt and this is a hospital." Clint replied, as if this was obvious, which it was, but still.

"You have proof it's a hospital?" Loki asked. The teen gave him a mildly confused look. Loki had many powers, some of them involved being able to change how people perceived things. Loki snapped his fingers and the room shifted. The walls shifted and began to look yellow and wavy. The floor became a blue, shiny slide, full of bouncing mirror-like waves.

The furniture, minus the bed the child was on, all disappeared and was replaced by a Midgardian animal, a penguin, he thought they were called. The 'penguins' were large and fat, not moving save for their breathing and the shifting of their feet.

"See, this hardly resembles a hospital." Loki said in triumph. This solicited a half hearted smile from Clint. Loki returned the minor gesture.

"But why ducks?" Clint asked. So that's what they were called.

"I'm pretty sure they're called penguins." Loki said as if Clint was incompetent. This got him a light chuckle. Loki snapped his fingers again and the room shifted back.

"How did you do that?" Clint asked. Loki winced a little at the poor teen's voice, it was cracked and injured.

"I am the god of mischief, it's my specialty." Loki said proudly.

"What else can you do?" Clint asked curiously. Loki thought for a minute. He opened up a large window that showed the Avengers. They were sitting in the living room, that was all they ever seemed to do. Loki looked at Clint, the teen was watching the scene with interest.

Loki snapped his fingers and Tony, one of his least favorites, his hair turned pink. A bright shade of fluorescent bubble gum pink. The man of iron was completely unaware of the change. Though his comrades were. Loki made the window even larger as he and Clint watched the scene unfold.

Steve, Loki thought, jumped up, hand covering his mouth. Loki smiled at the soldier's shock. Bruce cocked his head to the side and squinted, opening his mouth with a frown. Thor hopped up from the couch and jumped behind it, hiding at the sudden appearance.

"What?" They heard Tony ask, muffled as it was. Bruce tried to say something but it didn't go well.

"I-u-it-b-wh-I-ho-r-PINK?!?!" Bruce ended, only making out what word.

"Pink, what's pink?" Tony asked in confusion.

"Your hair." Steve said, eyes wide at the color. Loki couldn't stop grinning and was glad to see Clint shared his mood. The teen was happy for once, smiling and chuckling.

"My hair what?" Tony asked, confused.

"Brother, your hair is pink." Thor said, very solemnly.

"No it's not." Tony said as if they were crazy. Bruce nodded, pulling out his phone and taking a photograph of Tony. Handing the phone over, Tony's expression remained amused, until he saw the picture.

"AH!!" Tony yelped as he reached instinctively towards his hair.

"AH!" Steve said in response.

"Ah!!!" Tony screeched again, leaping up to look at a mirror. Loki snapped his fingers and Tony's hair turned blue instead. Tony screamed again, feeling his hair in confusion.

"What's happening?!" Tony asked frantically.

"Don't look at me." Thor said, they all followed Tony to the mirror he was in front of.

"I don't know what's happening, but I am NOT losing this opportunity!" Bruce said, taking a multitude of photos, sniggering at Tony's condition. Tony made a face as he tried to grab the phone. Clint and Loki were both giggling hysterically at this point.

Then Tony's hair turned a brilliant shade of purple.

"Seriously, Steve how did you do this?!?!" Tony asked angrily.

"I'm not smart enough to do this!" Steve said between his chuckles at Tony's hair.

"LIES!!" Tony insisted pointing a finger at Steve.

"Ok, why would I not take credit for this?" Steve asked, pulling out a phone as well. Tony's hair then became a shimmering rainbow of splattered color.

"UGH!!" Tony exclaimed as he tried to rub the color off of his hair. Clint laughing beside him, Loki snapped his fingers. Tony's hair fell of all at once, landing in a neat pile on the ground.

"ENOH!!!" Tony whined as he felt around his bald scalp. Clint was having trouble breathing through all of the laughing. Then, finally, after letting Tony flounder for a while, Loki restored his hair, closing the window to the Avenger's living room. For a minute Loki tried to hold in his laughter but failed after a second, joining Clint in the laughing round.

"What'll he do now?" Clint asked, finally managing to stop laughing.

"Well, I imagine he will now be paranoid about his hair for a long time, but they got some decent blackmail from it." Loki asked as Clint let out a chuckle.

"So, now what?" Clint asked.

"What do you mean?" Loki asked.

"Are you leaving, or staying or what?" Clint clarified.

"Why so eager for me to leave?" Loki asked, feigning offence.

"Well, now I'm kind of worried about the well being of my hair." Clint replied.

"If I wasn't Loki would you want me to stay?" Loki asked, cryptic. Clint just looked at him as if he knew Loki was about to do something. Loki suddenly shifted. One of Loki's powers was that he could shape shift into several animals. He chose a seal. Loki flopped around on his fins. Clint laughing, watching Loki waddle around horribly.

"AR!" Loki said, what he had tried to say was 'this isn't as easy as it looks.' but it didn't come out right.

"You know I can't understand you when you talk like that." Clint condescended, Loki tried to smile, it just looked weird. So, Loki resigned himself to doing tricks. He rolled around on the ground, flopping around comically. He jumped onto his hind flippers and did a sort of jump step thing. He purposefully fell flat on his face to make Clint laugh.

He hopped up onto a few of the beds, attempting to do jump and failing horribly. But it was all worth it if it made Clint laugh. Loki really felt bad for him, the Avengers did care for Clint, the child was just to scared to believe it. That should never happen, he shouldn't need to be terrified, he shouldn't have to feel unsafe.

Finally, once Loki got tired, he shifted back into his human form. Tired and panting, but still smiling along with Clint. He got up a little unsteadily. Finding his balance took a minute, but he got it. Reaching out towards Clint to steady himself against the bed railing, Clint flinched. The teens arms drew in, his eyes scrunching shut so he couldn't see.

"I'm not going to harm you." Loki said as he looked at the child. Clint opened his eyes, looking down.

"Barney got angry whenever I flinched." Clint said, partially to himself. Loki thought for a second. Hurting someone for being afraid of you, that could never be good.

"I have no reason to get mad at you. It's no wonder you were frightened, I'm quite muscular." Loki said, showing of his biceps, then, on a more serious note. "But not everyone is Barney. They won't harm you." Loki said.

"You never did say why you're here." Clint observed, obviously wanting an answer. Loki sighed, he wasn't derailing Clint this time.

"I've been watching for a while. I know what it's like to feel scared and alone. Let's say I have empathy for you. The Avengers are slightly incompetent, they don't really know how to deal with someone afraid. I do, so I figured I should help some. It was a moment of weakness, my conscious took over. Just feel lucky, I finally care about someone." Loki explained, although it was a little sappy.

Clint nodded then yawned. Loki understood, it was late for Midgardians and laughing could be tiring. Loki had meant what he said though, he cared about Clint. Which meant he shouldn't keep him up when he was obviously exhausted.

"Sleep." Loki said coldly, though his tone betrayed hints of concern.

"I am not tired." Clint said between yawns.

"I'm sure." Loki said, frowning at Clint.

"Go on, it's obvious your tired." Loki said. Clint looked down.

"You said you wouldn't get mad at me, right?" Clint asked timidly.

"No, I would never get mad at you." Loki insisted.

"I'm scared to close my eyes." Clint said quietly and quickly. Looking down to avoid Loki's eyes.

"What?" Loki asked, that was a strange and difficult fear.

"Barney blindfolded me and I couldn't see... couldn't see his fists." Clint said, muffling his words into his knees. Then Loki understood, he couldn't see Barney when he beat him. That would be something to be scared of.

"Ooh." Loki said softly. He couldn't say anything to comfort the unfortunate child.

"You won't be able to sleep if your sitting up." Loki said, gently pushing Clint down. The teen complied without complaint. He was lying in the fetal position, Loki sitting next to him, back to Clint's legs, but he turned to see Clint's face.

"I'll stay if it'll help." Loki offered. Clint didn't say anything, but Loki thought he saw a minor head movement that could have been interpreted as a half nod. Clint probably had the shaggiest blonde hair Loki had ever seen. It drooped down into the boy's eyes, making it hard to see his piercing blue eyes.

On an impulse, Loki reached out to brush the hair back with his hand. Clint tensed automatically, staring with wide eyes at Loki. Quickly, Loki withdrew his hand.

"I could stop if-" Loki began, feeling ashamed for startling the child.

"No, I, I sort of like it." Clint mumbled quietly. This child just knew exactly how to play Loki. His ice cold heart melted at his want for positive touches. Loki resumed the petting, it was relaxing, just sitting quietly, continuing the minor motions. Slowly, Clint's eyes closed. Loki murmuring 'shh' and 'it's alright' into the silent room.

Nobody ever saw this side of Loki. The comforting and nice side of Loki, that, he kept to himself. Still, here he was, stroking a child whispering words of comfort, his brother just a few floors above him. He looked back down at Clint. Thor had better take good care of him. Continuing the tiny strokes, Loki hoped Clint was asleep.

He knew it could be terrifying, trying to face an inevitable fear. Honestly, Loki was glad to stay and comfort him. Someone had to do it. Only when Loki was sure Clint was asleep did he make his way back to Asgard. Knowing he would probably come back.

Chapter Text

Natasha really missed Clint. She understood that he thought she didn't like him, so, for a while, she had kept her distance. Sometimes, it was just better to let people try to work through problems and trust issues by themselves. When it became obvious the affect of the drugs wasn't about to wear off by itself, Natasha decided to visit Clint.

He was literally her partner in crime. It was impossible to go from inseparable to isolated. Now, Natasha was walking very quickly to the ER. She could barely contain her anticipation at seeing Clint again. Finally, she got to see Clint!

One of the doctors was talking to Clint. Based on her body language, Natasha figured she was instructing Clint on proper medical care. Natasha decided that wasn't important and strode over to Clint. The doctor looked at Natasha and held up a finger as a waiting signal. She finished her conversation, gave Natasha a wary look and walked away.

Clint obviously knew she was there but didn't really look at her. Natasha was saddened by this. Though she knew the affects of psychological torture, they were never pretty. It would just take time for Clint to trust her again.

"Hey." Natasha said, her happiness pouring into her tone. Clint didn't say anything but looked at her and plastered an obviously fake smile onto his face, Natasha, though worried, said nothing.

"So, you're back." Natasha said, for some strange reason she didn't know how to start a good conversation with him.

"I'm back." Clint repeated, smiling a little at her. Natasha knew it wasn't real, but remained silent about it.

"I was worried about you. Seriously, never do this again, it's bad for my health." Natasha joked. Clint smirked but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Are you ok?" Natasha asked on a serious note.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Clint tried to assure her.

"Are you positive?"

"Yes, alright, I'm perfectly fine."

"No, you're not."

"Yes I am."

"Cut the crap Clint. I know you too well." Natasha said to him. He looked back down.

"Well, I feel fine, ok." Clint repeated, obviously trying to end the conversation. Natasha wasn't having it.

"No you don't. And I want to know why. Clint, just let me help." Natasha (almost) begged.

"No." Clint said softly. Damn him and his want to protect her. Why wouldn't he just let her help? This conversation went south fast.

"Clint! I. Am. Here. For. You." Natasha began stubbornly. "Trust me, won't you? I know about the drugs, Clint. I would never hate you, ever. Ok, you should know that!" Natasha said, she just wanted to help!

"I don't want you to help Natasha. You've got enough to worry about without me saddling you with my baggage." Clint said, just as stubborn as her. It was the most he had said to her since he got back, but it was telling her to leave him.

"You can't carry it all yourself, Clint. And you know it! Don't shut me out!" Natasha said, frustration coloring her words. Clint just looked away, not meeting her gaze. Natasha shook her head, there was nothing she could do to get him to open up!

"Please." Natasha whispered quietly. "Let me help, just once." Natasha said. Man, this conversation really was not going well.

"You'll leave." Clint said, so quiet Natasha barely heard it. She knew it wasn't met for her ears.

"Have you ever left when I told you stuff?" Natasha asked. Clint looked at her with wide, broken eyes.

"I want to help you Clint. Ok, I know how it feels. How it feels like everyone hates you and you'll never amount to anything. You know I know how that feels Clint. I'd never leave because of that." Natasha tried to insist. It was obvious Clint didn't trust it. She sighed in defeat.

"What do I need to do to prove that? I'll do it Clint." Natasha tried to comfort. He didn't always have to be strong, he could be small if he needed to be.

"I don't know." Clint said. "There's nothing you can do, Natasha." Clint said.

"Look Clint, I'm here for you, ok? I'm here and I'm not leaving! Don't shut me out!! Clint, don't keep me away!!! What, what are you so afraid of!?!" Natasha asked, her frustration steadily rising.

"Barney! I'm afraid of Barney! I'm afraid Barney will break out! I'm afraid someone else will find me or you! I'm scared to close my eyes! I'm scared of people touching my wrist! I'm scared of people touching my neck! Most of all I'm afraid you'll hate me and that you'll leave me!! I'm afraid of being scared!!" Clint said, anger and frustration coloring his voice. That made Natasha pause a minute. She understood what he meant. She just didn't know how to comfort him.

Clint curled into his signature ball, head in knees. Natasha got up and sat next to Clint. He didn't acknowledge her presence.

"I'm scared of my dad. I'm scared of my nightmares. I'm afraid Barney will come back. I'm afraid of how many things I'm scared of. I'm afraid you won't be there in the middle of the night. Most of all I'm afraid to lose you!" Natasha said facing Clint. Well, facing the side of his head. Clint looked at her with wide, injured eyes. Natasha just stared back.

"What's one reason your scared of Barney? Just one." Natasha said, hoping to rebuild the ground of trust.

"Whenever he'd hit me, after he'd always try to comfort me. He'd tell me it would be ok, that he'd never do it again. He always did. I tried to escape so many times, it was always pointless. That's terrifying, trying futilely to leave over and over again, and just being told you'll never leave. I started to believe it." Clint told her. That was technically more than one reason, but it was so much better.

"Why are you scared of your nightmares?" Clint asked, Natasha was worried about telling him, but after he shared with her...

"I'm terrified I'll never wake up." Natasha answered. Clint was facing her now, she was facing him too. Wordlessly, Natasha embraced her comrade and Clint melted into the physical contact. Their bodies turned so their backs were against the crappy hospital bed. For once, Natasha got to hold Clint. Now, she wasn't afraid to fall asleep and Clint wasn't afraid to close his eyes.

()()()()()

Natasha was gone by the next morning. Clint was a little relieved. It had taken all the will power he had to not break down n tears right then and there. He loved Natasha but she had enough to worry about without his emotional baggage too. Besides if she saw how broken down he was on the inside, she might hate him. Still, the night before had been nice. Natasha had been with him and he had said some about Barney and how scared he was.

For now though, Clint was exhausted, the doctors and nurses had been driving him crazy and keeping him awake. Besides what else did he have to do but nap?

()()()()()

When Clint awoke in a cold sweat, a nightmare tormenting his dreams, he was greeted by a figure standing at the edge of his bed. Clint began to feel himself go into an automatic panic mode. He had no idea who this stranger was, it was dark and the doctors were gone. This was not good!!

"Easy, I'm not going to hurt you." The voice said. The voice turned on a lamp and Clint recognized Director Fury. Clint didn't reply to him.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Fury said. Worried for his well being didn't really seem characteristic to the Director.

"You separated me and my best friend and tricked us into thinking the other was dead." Clint said, then looked down. He didn't want the Director to hit him for being out of line.

"Ok, look." The Director began. "I'm the director of a large, often rebellious organization. Sometimes, you need to set an example. Alright, I have to act kind of really mean. I am sorry for that by the way. We were planning on getting you out. But one of my agents predicted that the Avengers would work together to free you. It's good for them to work together like that. Anyway, I do apologize. Sorry." The Director ended, hand going to rub the back of his neck.

"Ok." Clint said eloquently.

"I give you that speech and all you have to say is ok?" Fury asked. Clint shrugged. The director shook his head.

"So are you alright?" Fury asked in a strangely caring voice.

"I guess." Clint said.

"Really? Because you were kind of just kidnapped." Fury said.

"I don't know, I've definitely been better, but I've been a lot better but I've been worse too." Clint said honestly.

"Anything I could do?" Fury asked.

"I don't know?" Clint said uncertainly. He hadn't known the Director actually cared for him.

"Would you like to see Barney? I know that can help with closure. Or get a psychologist to help with the trauma?" Fury asked. Clint just shook his head.

"You just don't want to be helped do you?" Fury asked mildly irritated.

"I don't know." Clint said.

"Look, I know it can be hard excepting help and seeking it. But the Avengers love you, it's almost creepy. I know Natasha loves you more than life itself. People are here for you alright? So, it's ok to ask, anything at all just ask. Ok?" Fury asked.

"Ok." Clint repeated, though he knew he wouldn't take up the offer. Fury moved to leave, he walked past Clint. The Director stopped, put his hand on Clint's uninjured shoulder, squeezed and moved on. Maybe, maybe he could ask for help. No, but just maybe.

Chapter Text

Phil looked down at Clint, lost in thought. It was late, about 9:00, and Clint was asleep. The nurses had warned him, saying he had been awake for a few days on end Phil wouldn't wake him or else. Those nurses might not be that professional or particularly qualified, but they were scary! It was sad, how Clint didn't like sleeping. Dr. Jacobs still watched Natasha and Clint and said that 'he displays signs of anxiety and phobia of not being able to see, is that free ice cream? Bye Phil!" Psychologists were easily distracted, apparently.

What Clint went through, it was horrible. Phil had interrogated Barney some. Psychological torture, abuse, it wasn't pretty. Phil shuddered involuntarily. By itself what happened would be bad enough, having your own brother do it to you, when your parents had previously abused you, it would be traumatizing. For years, Phil had had spy training, he could read people well, and predict behavior. Clint probably believed everyone hated him, including Natasha. That just wasn't right, Phil hated Barney for it.

Sighing, Phil returned his vision to the child below him. Phil was sitting on a chair next to Clint, contemplating the teen's dilemma. He saw a twitch. The child's face turned a sickly shade of white. Clint's fingers gripped dangerously around the edges of the hospital bed. Phil watched as Clint's muscles strained against an unseen adversary. The teen's breaths became erratic and labored. He was having a nightmare.

For all of Phil's training, none of it said what to do if a teen assassin who had been traumatized was having a nightmare. Oh well, he probably would have failed the test anyway. Phil observed, feeling utterly helpless as the poor teen fought his demons.

When people were having a nightmare, it was probably a good idea to wake them up. Yeah, th-that would be the plan for now. Phil shot up, now with an idea of what to do. He reached towards Clint's shoulder to lightly jostle him. The movement did nothing to wake him. If anything, it sent Clint into a deeper panic.

"Clint, you're ok, just wake up." Phil said urgently. Clint was still in his most definitely terrifying nightmare. Phil grabbed both Clint's shoulders, as gently as he could. Lightly he shook Clint, desperate to wake him form whatever torment was consuming him. With a gasp, Clint shot forward, startling Phil so much he took a step back. Phil clattered into a chair, but, despite the noise, Clint didn't notice him, just stared ahead, still reliving whatever Hell he had been in.

Hesitant at first, but then dismissing the feeling, the teen was scared, Phil stepped forward. He wasn't sure what to do, his hands felt clammy and useless. He could still hear Clint's breathing, scared and small, that was what it sounded like. Phil reached his hand out and put it on Clint's shoulder. The teen just flinched away, terrified.

"Hey, easy, easy, you're alright, it's over." Phil said soothingly, though he didn't attempt to touch Clint again. Slowly, Clint's breathing went back to a normal pace, though the haunted look n his eyes refused to dissipate.

"You alright?" Phil asked tentatively. He knew the answer. Phil was curious as to what Clint would say, would he insist he was fine? Or would he tell the truth and admit he was hurting? Phil's eager ears were met with silence. Clint didn't acknowledge his presence, probably so he didn't have to answer.

The child still just stared into space, fixated on whatever had happened. The hurricane of torture going on in his eyes would haunt Phil forever. Clint appeared to be petrified, a statue of horror. On a (probably stupid) impulse, Phil reached out again. Laying his palm gently along the top of his uninjured shoulder, the bone Phil discovered broken. Clint flinched away, yet Phil maintained the position his hand was in, eventually Clint let it lie there. Though he still ignored Phil.

"Hey, you're ok. You're alright." Phil tried to comfort him. Something in that sentence must have done something. Clint began to sob. Quiet, choked noises of utter misery. Phil put his hand around Clint's collarbone, carefully avoiding his neck. Ever so slightly, he pressed the crying teen's head into Phil's abdomen. He didn't care anything about his suit or the fact that he had woken the child.

All that mattered now was comforting him. Clint's head willingly dove into Phil. His sobs muffled by the fabric of Phil's suit. Carefully, Phil removed his hand from Clint's shoulder. Clint's head was right below Phil's chin, fitting in comfortably. Phil used his hand to press into the back of Clint's head, stroking his hair.

One, two strokes of comfort into the soft blonde hair. Then he stopped, wrapping his fingers around the locks of hair. Phil held the child as he cried.

"Shh, shh, you're ok. You're safe now, you're safe. It's ok, it's alright." Phil said soothingly into Clint's hair. "Shh, shh, it's ok, shh, shhh." Phil mumbled the soothing words into Clint's ear. It seemed to work. The sobs became stifled and quiet as Phil held him. Even after the sobs progressed into hiccupping, Phil didn't stop the miniscule strokes behind the ear.

At some point, Clint had intertwined his fingers into Phil's suit, clinging to the fabric like a lifeline. Phil had a view of his watch. The fluorescent red lights read; 10:47. Phil really didn't want to leave, knew Clint wouldn't want him to either. But if it was almost 11:00, Clint may need to go back to sleep. If he could manage over everything that had happened. Coming to a conclusion, Phil decided he wasn't going to leave.

Even when he laid Clint back down and continued the thumb strokes behind his ear, Phil stayed. When Clint finally drifted off into a, hopefully, peaceful sleep, Phil didn't leave. Many of the things he had been taught to develop. A lack of empathy, higher psychological defenses, a cold exterior. How did they all vanish in the blink of an eye? What had happened to force this?

Clint, Clint had happened. Naturally this was more of the Avenger's thing. Dealing with people SHEILD found, but Phil liked Clint. Wanted to keep him safe. Wanted, in part, to throttle Barney very painfully. Clint had done nothing to deserve his asshole brother.

Thinking about all of this, Phil still didn't leave. Phil stayed and kept him safe for the night. Just wishing he could keep him safe forever.

()()()()()

Phil, thankfully, was gone by the next morning. Clint had a nightmare. It was the worst on he had had, Barney had choked him, while Clint was blindfolded. Natasha stood there, laughing and encouraging it, at one point she had broken his wrist. He wanted to believe, needed to believe Nat liked him. He had to be able to trust her. A large part of Clint was glad, so glad, Phil had been there. Had made him feel safe and content.

Another part of Clint wished Phil had never been there. Clint was a lost cause, just causing people problems left and right. If Phil hadn't been there, he wouldn't have needed to worry about Clint. Phil wouldn't have lost sleep because Clint was scared to fall asleep.

On the bright side, the nurses said he was leaving tomorrow. Reluctantly, they said that technically he was well enough to leave and that he was sort of fine but that really he should stay, he needed to be observed. Clint had just shaken his head, these nurses were weird.

Still, Clint was inwardly thrilled to get out! He could leave and get away from the chemicals and the nurses and the being stuck in bed. He just was really excited to be able to see Natasha on a regular basis. She helped him cope a lot. Clint just hoped she'd still want to help him.

Chapter Text

Natasha was very excited to hear Clint was finally getting out of that stupid hospital. She couldn't really blame the ER, she just wanted Clint out. The one thing she was worried about was his anxiety. Naturally, Natasha could easily read the signs of PTSD, Clint didn't want anyone to help him, least of all Natasha. Though, she wasn't sure the Avengers really knew how to take care of that.

Sure, they meant well, but that didn't necessarily mean they would be sufficient. Clint would definitely be very uncomfortable around them, for a while, most likely. She prayed they'd be able to help Clint. Natasha had extensive martial arts training, could hack many many things, very intelligent, with advanced psychological defenses. It made sense that fate wouldn't allow her to take care of the friend who had cared for her for so long. It was fitting, really, almost poetic.

Currently, Natasha was jumping up and down. The ER was on the lowest floor and she was lazy, so she had taken the elevator. Now that appeared to be a horrible idea, she couldn't seem to get down fast enough! Even if he wasn't all that eager for her help, Natasha wasn't going to be stopped from helping him get out of that monstrous ER. After what felt like hours, the elevator doors dinged open and Natasha hopped uncharacteristically happily to the ER doors.

About 5 of the nurses and doctors were lecturing Clint on his proper health care. From his initial body language, one would assume he was listening attentively. Natasha knew him so much better, she could tell he was bored out of his mind and on the brink of strangling the annoying nurses. She smiled to herself, he was starting to revert back to his old self, the Clint she loved.

"So, you ready to go?" Natasha asked, completely ignoring the vindictive looks the nurses were giving her. Clint turned to her.

"Quiet, they're talking!" Clint reprimanded her. The tone sounded serious, but it had sarcastic undertones only she could detect. The nurses and 'doctors' (if they were even that qualified) looked pleased at his defense, oblivious to the insult behind it.

"So, as we were saying," One of the nurses said, shooting daggers with his eyes. " Just, be careful, don't injure your broken bones any further! Um, physically, your in, like, really good condition, so it'll be different, not being able to do all of the things you can normally do. It's just temporary though! Just until those bones have healed completely. Again, talk as little as possible for a full recovery for your vocal cords. I think that's it. You can leave now." The nurse finished, resentfully.

The ER didn't get a lot of patients. It was just for one SHEILD location, and although they were agents, they didn't go on missions all the time. A regular patient was a rare occurrence, so they had grown attached to the sense of normalcy. Now they would all sit around, with absolutely nothing to do. Besides that, Clint really had no idea how charismatic he was.

Sometimes, this led to jealousy from Natasha. People liked him so easily, cared for him more than they ever would for her. Natasha was closed off, secluded. It was very very unusual that people would actually connect with her. Still, it was good for Clint, that so many people would like him so easily. She was sure that if they're positions had been reversed, nobody would have visited her in the ER, no one would have missed her nearly as much.

Clint looked at her, and Natasha realized she had been standing there for a minute, stone still. Her musings had gone bullet fast in her mind and had only taken up a few seconds. Readjusting her mask, Natasha motioned for Clint to follow her out of the ER. To follow her back to the world.

()()()()()

Steve had heard Clint was finally coming back. It had only been, like a week, but it felt like several years. Dr. Jacobs said 'he has PTSD and so be very gentle and patient, ooh, is that pizza? Bye-e Steve!!' She was an odd person. Nevertheless, Steve felt almost relieved Clint would be back. A large part of the soldier felt protective of the youth, as if the Avengers were the best people to take care of him. Which Steve thought they were.

Right now, the Avengers were sitting in the dining room, Bruce was making breakfast. Most of it was bacon. Natasha had gone to get Clint and they were all patiently waiting for their arrival.

"No, I'm telling you, Star Wars isn't real! There are absolutely no tiny bears that worship, almost worship, Princess Leia running around in the woods!" Tony had shown Thor the movies which proved to be a mistake as Thor assumed it was a documentary.

"Are you positive?" Thor asked suspiciously.

"YES!!" Tony exclaimed, highly exasperated.

"Alright." Thor finally believed him.

"Actually, Thor, Tony is lying to you." Bruce began, still making the bacon that was tantalizing Steve's nose. "Star Wars is true! The force is real! It's all real, and Tony is a jedi." Bruce sais. Tricking Thor successfully. Tony smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"I KNEW IT!!" Thor screamed, jumping up and pointing at Tony.

"Alright, guys calm down!" Steve commanded. The screaming and Bruce giggling to himself stopped and they looked at him. "Ok, not that serious. Clint's getting back. In a few minutes. Dr. Jacobs says he has PTSD. That means we have to be gentle and patient. No sudden movements, ask before touching him. Please please don't induce any flashbacks, ok?" Steve said. Though he ended with a question, it was obviously an order. They nodded affirmatively.

As if on cue, the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

Chapter Text

Clint had followed Natasha dutifully to the upper levels of the SHEILD building. The elevator doors dinged open and Clint followed Natasha out. The elevator led out to the Avenger's dining room. Thanks to Clint's brilliant luck, every single one of the Avengers was there, sitting at the table. Clint followed Natasha uncomfortably out into the room.

Before he could really see anything, Clint averted his gaze to the ground. He felt very uncomfortable. He hadn't seen them in a while and it was different. A large part of Clint still knew, knew they hated him. At least a little, he was just a burden to them, dead weight. Through his peripheral vision, Clint could see Natasha give a small wave.

Natasha gently laid her hand on his uninjured wrist, very softly urging him forward. For that, Clint would be infinitely grateful. She understood that he didn't like to be touched. She was gentle and made sure he was ok. Natasha didn't deserve for him to dump his emotional baggage on her. Leading him away from the dining room, Clint followed her back to their room.

He took a deep breath before walking into the room. All of the evidence from the fight when Barney had kidnapped him had been fixed. The wreckage and destruction mended and gone. It was eerie.

Clint didn't like it. Just how a traumatic event or evidence of one could be forgotten. A subconscious part of Clint shivered. Erased, all of it, erased, like it had never happed, like he had never been kidnapped. Yet another part of him was thrilled the damage was gone. Glad that he wouldn't be forced to recall the details.

For the first time since reentering the room, Clint looked at Natasha. She too, was viewing the room, mind riddled with thoughts. They both had learned how to read the other very well. Natasha was glad he was back, but worried about him. That wasn't right. Natasha shouldn't worry about him, he had his problems, he didn't need to saddle her with them. New plan, pretend to cope so Natasha doesn't worry.

She seemed to notice Clint was looking at her and smiled. You're coping Clint thought. Smile, not too big, mirror her. Like that. He thought as he feigned a smile.

"I'm glad your back." She said.

"Of course you are, I'm a delight!" Clint said, Coping, joking. She smiled.

"Your a drama queen that's what you are." Natasha said, when Clint really wanted to, he could trick her.

"Ok, look, the Avengers are going to try and help. They're definitely not that qualified to help, just be patient, kay?" She said, Clint shrugged and nodded. Though he knew he'd never ask for help. Never accept it. Even if he wanted it.

()()()()()

Tony had really missed Clint. Clint and Natasha brought fun and life into the dead SHEILD building. Without them here, it had been pretty boring. At least that was one of Tony's less emotional reasons.

He had been worried out of his mind for Clint. Tony had felt scared and had missed everything. He felt like his worry consumed him. But Tony wasn't sure if he was more scared when Clint was gone or now that he was back. It was obvious Clint felt uncomfortable and scared, that was not good. And for the first time Tony realized how much they meant to him, how much time he spent with them.

It had made him think about the long run. What was going to happen to them? Fury said they were a threat that needed to be apprehended. Was Fury eventually going to kill them? Would he set them free? Were they really being held captive? Would Tony walk in and one day they'd be gone?

Sighing, Tony went back to his work. He had flown (In the suit, Capsicle) back to SI and was sitting, very bored, in his office. Pepper had a lot of paperwork Tony needed to sign. He insisted on thoroughly reading them, even after Pepper had read and filled them out. He was a little paranoid, not that he didn't trust Pepper, just liked to make sure.

Read, sign, repeat, read, sign, repeat, read sign, die from boredom. Tony just couldn't focus, too worried about Clint. Naturally, since it was Tony Stark's office, it was filled with technology. Computers, tablets and gadgets were everywhere. Not pausing to fight his distractions, he hopped on to the computer and looked up how to deal with PTSD.

Reliving, one may relive trauma, through hallucinations, nightmares, and flashbacks. Victims may avoid places that remind them of the trauma. Probably more alert. Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, being jumpy, flinching at loud noises or sudden motions and overall hyperawareness. Other symptoms include feeling alienated, general mistrust of people, depression and self-blame.

Some general symptoms include stress, anxiety, paranoia, hiding the trauma. 'Hiding the trauma' was blue, so Tony clicked it curiously.

Some people, after experiencing trauma, will pretend to be fine. They will do this generally because they don't want to "Bug people with their problems" or "Saddle them with my emotional baggage". Watch closely for signs of this, it can be very convincing, if people want to believe the victim is coping. Never let victims insist they're fine, it's a lie. That sounded like it was from personal experience. Tony shivered and looked up how to deal with flashbacks.

Grounding techniques are very helpful tools. Sound: Play loud music or if it's not you having the flashback, but a friend, you can start talking to them. Feel: Gripping a piece of ice, in an emergency, some people tightly grip their shoulders or wrists to snap themselves out of it. Sight: Take an inventory of everything around you. Tony had JARVIS print them out and gathered the papers up.

Tony already knew some about PTSD, triggers could be anything. The team needed to know how to snap Clint out of a flashback, just in case. They all needed to know about PTSD.

Chapter Text

Tony dropped the thick stack of papers in front of his comrades sitting at the dining table. He had called an unofficial meeting, saying he needed to talk to all of them. He felt like he needed to share the information from his research. If they were going to properly take care of Clint, they needed to do it right.

"So, your text was kind of cryptic. What's this about?" Bruce asked sitting down. Tony remained standing.

"I did some research on PTSD that I think we should all look at." Tony said, serious for once.

"Please, share." Thor said, eager to learn how to care for Clint.

"Wait for Steve." Bruce said, always concerned. As if on cue, Steve walked in and sat down, rather in a hurry.

"Sorry, what's going on?" Steve asked inquisitively.

"Tony has some information on PTSD." Thor filled in. Steve nodded and they all looked expectantly at Tony.

"I was 'working' and I decided to look up PTSD and it's symptoms. Um, anxiety, stress, hyperawareness, flinching, trust issues, flashbacks, nightmare and hallucinations. I also looked up how to deal with a flashback, like how to snap out of it, just in case. Uh, for sound, play loud music or start talking, like to him. Sight, ask him to take an inventory of what's around him. Touch, like grabbing a piece of ice, or gripping shoulders or wrists. One thing it said is that people will act like they're coping. Even when they're not. With Clint..." Tony said, trailing off.

"That's a huge worry." Bruce finished for him. Tony nodded.

"That was really helpful, do you really think he'd do that?" Steve asked.

"To protect Natasha? I think he'd do anything." Thor answered.

"Do you know what some of his triggers are?" Bruce asked.

"No, we'll just have to be careful, I guess." Tony answered, glad he had helped.

()()()()()

Clint was still pretending to be ok. Though he was avoiding nearly everything. His old room, where Barney had attacked him, didn't like going in there. He avoided the Avengers, avoided the girls, the agents, the ER, the cells, most things. He spent a lot of his time in the vents. That was were he felt safe. When he could actually get to sleep, it was in the vent, he didn't sleep at night.

Not in that room, never in that room. At night he'd go and he'd pretend to go to sleep. Then he'd wait until Natasha was out and he'd hide under the bed. Nothing bad had happened under the bed, the bed was safe. He would stay there. If Natasha had a nightmare, he'd crawl out from under it and comfort her. Still uncomfortable, but willing to comfort Nat.

That room, it reminded him so much of all of that, he still had the knife wounds, could still see Barney hiding in the dark, still felt the fear of not being able to scream. Clint was really worried that his avoiding people routine wouldn't work. Natasha had missed him. Natasha also spent a lot of her time with the Avengers. So if she was going to be with him, which she wanted to, he'd be forced to be near the Avengers as well. He wouldn't say that he was uncomfortable, he was still pretending to be ok.

Part of him hoped that if he told himself he was coping and acted like he was ok, he'd start to believe it. At this point though, he didn't think that was going to happen.

Definitely not. Since he was still hiding the nightmares that shook him and destroyed him in the middle of the night. Still hiding his problems with being touched. None of his fear or pain was shown. He had become an expert of how to look ok. Had mastered putting on the mask in the morning.

()()()()()

Bruce was walking smoothly through the halls of SHEILD. He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing. He was just walking aimlessly through SHEILD. Sometimes, walking around like this, no point what so ever would help clear his mind.

Turning a corner, Bruce saw Clint. The teen was walking towards the elevator. Eager to talk to Clint, Bruce hurried forward. Clint was seemingly lost in thought and didn't hear Bruce coming. Innocently, Bruce grabbed Clint's wrist.

"Hey." Bruce said. Something had happened. Clint's eyes glazed over almost instantly. Oh, shit. Clint had probably been thinking about Barney. Bruce had triggered him. Clint began to shake. Violently, it was terrifying, a moment straight out of a horror movie. Bruce tried to snap Clint out of it.

"Hey, hey, Clint, Clint. C'mon, stay with me." Bruce tried to comfort. It failed. Clint's breathing was labored and terrified. All at once, Clint practically collapsed. Reacting as if he had been punched. Bruce just barely managed to semi-catch him. Clint's back happened to be against the wall. Bruce gripped both of his forearms and assisted him in slowly inching down the wall.

"What? What happened?" Thor asked, walking in to witness the scene of panic. Clint didn't react to Thor's voice. His arms just cured in on himself. He would flinch and wince, experiencing invisible hits.

"Flashback." Bruce said. Thor rushed over, followed by Tony who had just walked in. They tried to snap him out of the flashback.

Chapter Text

Clint was drawn deep into his mind, forced back into the past. He didn't have time to panic before the memory consumed him. He had been thinking about Barney. Wondering what would happen to his older brother. He had been remembering Barney, he had been startled by Bruce, hadn't liked the physical contact. It had forced him into the past. All he could remember was Barney, Barney finding him trying to escape. Trying to escape the first motel Barney had forced him into.

"I know you too well." Barney said as he dragged Clint's wrist back to the crappy motel room.

"YOU ARE NOT LEAVING!!" Barney screamed. He had said something before that, but Clint was too terrified to focus on his brother's words. Yet again, Clint was small and scared, anxiously waiting for the inevitable blows. A gasp escaped him as Barney struck his face. He let himself fall to the side, knowing by now it was futile to fight. Kicks form Barney's frighteningly muscular legs bombarded his abdomen. Barney gripped his collar.

A wave of immense fear cascaded over him. Barney pulled him up so they were face to face. Clint avoided his Barney's eyes, not wanting to see the evil behind them. Not wanting to look at his brother beating him.

"LOOK AT ME!!" Barney screeched angrily, punching and beating Clint with every syllable. Fear, thick and powerful flooded his mind. Pain joined it, emotional pain, to think his brother would do this. Physical pain at the terrible blows being landed all over Clint's tender flesh.

Barney's knee found it's mark on Clint's stomach. The pain of the hit overwhelmed him, taking the air from his lungs in a sharp moment. Again, Barney gripped his collar, slamming his smaller brother hard into the ground. He couldn't breath, couldn't feel. The injuries blinded him with hurt. His vision turned white with shock and injury. Before anything else could happen, Clint began to hear voices, the Hell ending

()()()()()

Steve had walked in last in the emergency. He saw Clint, leaning against a wall, breathing labored and he was tense and wincing. Bruce was crouching directly in front of him, attempting desperately to end the flashback. Tony was kneeling down on Clint's side, trying to gently shake him out of it. Thor had no room, so was looming over them all, peering in, also trying hard to end the pain Clint was in.

"Clint! Clint, c'mon!" Bruce said anxiously, looking Clint in his glazed over eyes.

"JARVIS, play loud music!" Tony ordered. JARVIS complied and AC/DC began to blare, that just made Clint panic more. He flinched, curling further in on himself.

"Turn it OFF!" Thor ordered, seeing Clint's distress. The music ended.

"Clint, it's not real!!" Tony said, gripping his shoulder. Clint flinched away from him.

"Clint, look at me! Look at me!!" Thor said, almost angrily. That definitely didn't help.

"It's ok, it's not real. Snap out of it!" Steve said, trying hard not to let the panic seep into his tone. In a last effort, Bruce gripped Clint's face between his hands, forcing his wide, disassociated eyes to face him.

"It's not real. You're not with Barney. That's over. You're at SHEILD. You need to get out of the flashback. Come on, snap out of it!! Get out of it, SNAP OUT OF IT." The last part wasn't angry, just sincere. Clint shuddered, then blinked repeatedly, shaking his head. They all breathed an audible sigh of relief.

Clint, having just got out of a nightmare, reacted a little unexpected. He rubbed his forehead with his fingers in a motion of relief mixed with a headache. It was at that moment, Natasha walked in.

"What happened!?" She asked, very concerned. Clint got up, steadily for someone who had just re-experienced Hell.

"Nothing." Clint said, very seriously. If Steve hadn't been there, he wouldn't have known the teen was lying.

"Really? It doesn't look like nothing!" Natasha said, a little disbelieving.

"It was nothing, kay." Clint shrugged. "I'm fine, we're fine, nothing happened." Clint said, very convincingly. Steve wanted to believe it. He sort of did. Maybe Clint really was fine. Flashbacks weren't real, so they weren't that bad, right?

"Ok." Natasha said, breathing out.

"C'mon, I'm bored, and it's your job to entertain me." Clint joked.

"Naturally your highness." Natasha replied, Clint walked out and followed Natasha away.

"Maybe, maybe he is fine." Tony mused.

"I hope so." Thor replied. And they all hoped he was ok. People believe what they want to believe.

Chapter Text

The Avengers had started to really believe Clint was ok. They never saw him have another flashback, according to Natasha, he was sleeping and eating regularly, it seemed to be over. Some wounds just take time to heal.

Besides, Clint was back to himself. He still didn't spend as much time around the Avengers, though neither did Natasha. That was probably going to happen again soon though. Just once Clint had gotten used to being back.

According to Natasha, a very reliable source, Clint was coping well. Cracking jokes and being happy again. They all felt very triumphant. What Barney had done was repulsive, but it hadn't lasted. Clint was healing, very, very well.

They didn't think that he was faking. No one was that good a liar. Natasha would see through it right away anyway. So, Clint wasn't faking recuperating at all. How could he? And why would he?

That only left one option, Clint really was getting better. Soon, he'd be the same as before, the scars gone. Everyday Clint was progressing and getting better.

()()()()()

Clint felt like everyday he was regressing and felt horrible. He barely slept ever. When he did, it wasn't long.He still pretended sleeping normally. Natasha believed he was fine. And, on the bright side, Nat was sleeping very well. Less nightmares. The Avengers were helping her, making her feel safe. Natasha deserved that, a home.

He wished he had that. Though by now he was too smart to take the chance. Every time he would try to belong, it never lasted. For a while, Clint and Barney had drifted from foster home to foster home. They had never belonged. Not once. The people were nice, they were always nice. For a little bit at least, then came the yelling and the screaming and the feeling of fear and shame. It always happened. Clint had come to expect it.

At first, he and Natasha had both been very apprehensive about the Avengers. For Clint, it had been just another foster home, just waiting to be put out with the garbage. Eventually though, it had become a lot different than just another foster home. Just once, just once in his pathetic life, Clint had wanted to feel safe, had wanted to belong. It was then, when he had begun to trust them, had he been kidnapped by Barney.

He still knew deep down that they didn't like him, that they thought he was a nuisance. Maybe, maybe Natasha didn't. But the rest of them did. They didn't like him and Barney definitely hated him. That hatred and utter disgust had scarred Clint. Marred him, left a mark on his bones. He was certainly not progressing.

The nightmares were getting so much worse. 15 minutes after fainting from exhaustion, Clint would wake up in a cold sweat. His demons attacked him in the middle of the night. They bombarded him, pestering him with pain and suppressed memories. It wasn't like he could ask anyone for help. The only time Clint got to sleep was in the vents. He spent a lot of his time in the ventilation system. Being up high and out of reach comforted him. As did the walls, nothing could creep up on him.

Clint remembered one of his more unpleasant nightmares. He had re-experienced being stabbed in the throat. It had been torturous. Feeling the sharp, consistent pain in his throat. It had burned, searing his mind with the pain al over again. That might have been the worst part. Knowing that even being away from Barney, he hadn't escaped his brother.

He could also remember waking up from that nightmare. He had shot up, terrified and breathing heavily.

"Loki!" Clint had cried out, looking around for the God. Clint wasn't particularly sure why he had called out for Loki. Maybe it was because Loki had been there for him when he was scared. Maybe it was because Loki hadn't left him. In that moment of intense fear, his mind had searched frantically for someone to protect him. Someone he knew didn't hate him. That person was Loki. Though Loki wasn't there. Clint had been alone. And the nightmares didn't stop. It was still impossible to fall asleep.

It was in the middle of the day, embedded deep into the vents that weariness would overcome him and he'd sleep. Not for long, he would always jerk awake, feeling desperate and alone. So alone, no one was ever there for him. No Nat to comfort him. Though he supposed that was a good thing, they thought he was coping. Thought he was getting better, it would be best to continue the charade. So, scared, defeated and alone in the vents after a nightmare, those were the best circumstances.

()()()()()

Loki, while Odin said they technically weren't gods, Loki possessed some powers. For a while, since visiting the Midgard teen, he had been silently watching. Not constantly, but he checked every now and then. Loki could do a fair amount of magic. Keeping an eye on the child really wasn't hard.

No, the difficult part was watching him suffer. Loki saw all of the daily torment. Saw the hidden nightmares. Watched him hide the pain and trauma he so obviously felt. Seeing Clint hidden in the vents and driven mad by night terrors may have been the worst.

Clint would start out peacefully. Loki would pray that it would stay that way. It never did. After mere seconds his condition would turn to disaster. He would contort his face and tense up, experiencing some terror Loki couldn't see. The nightmare would escalate. Hurried breathing, rapid pulse, Loki saw it all. The God of Mischief could no nothing to ward off the demons.

All of that was horrible. Still worse was how he hid it. Clint would hide his fear from the redhead, would blatantly lie to the Avengers about his health. Hiding sleeping habits and eating habits, that, that was extreme. Natasha had no idea of Clint's true pain. The Avengers were so dimwitted they were blind. Loki gave the teen credit, he was an exemplary liar. If Loki hadn't been watching, he would have truly believed the charade.

That was another thing; they all believed the lie. People believe what they wish to believe. His brother and that group of misfits wanted to think Clint was coping, so they did. As did the female warrior. They had all grown extremely fond of him and let themselves be tricked into believing the child was alright. This frustrated Loki. Clint wouldn't get better if no one knew he needed help. And Loki wouldn't accept it if Clint was further injured! Naturally, the God of Mischief had to interfere.

His ill-conceived plan was to go Midgard and inform his dimwitted brother of Clint's well meaning deceit. Thor might not be all that thrilled to see Loki, but it was about time Loki visited anyway. They were family after all.

()()()()()

Thor walked in to his chambers. Clint seemed to be doing better, so Thor had begun taking a lot more leisure time. If the teen didn't need help, why should Thor devote all of his time worrying about Clint? Why, when he was obviously fine? So, Thor was heading back to his room to research 'Star Wars', to determine if it was real or not.

However, when he entered the large brown doors, what, or rather, who, was standing their shocked him. Loki, his adopted brother was sitting in one of the armchairs, reading a book calmly. As if Loki was meant to be their. The notion was completely misplaced, Loki was not welcome.

"Loki?" Thor asked. Loki shut the book and looked intently up at his brother.

"Obviously." Loki replied.

"Leave." Thor said, calm, though his voice bubbled with order and anger.

"You haven't even said hello!" Loki said, mischievously as usual.

"Leave!!" Thor said, even more commandingly.

"I think you'll actually want to pay attention to what I have to say." Loki said with a hint of seriousness and intenseness that he rarely donned. It was a trick. Thor said nothing, just pointed at the door, shaking his head. Loki slammed the book lightly on the table, getting up deliberately and with uncharacteristic meaning.

"Fine! If you really don't want to hear something about your friend." Loki said, beginning to walk out. Thor sighed, he knew he was going to take the bait.

"Wait." Thor said, putting his hand on his forehead in a gesture that resembled that of a headache.

"I knew you'd come to your dim senses." Loki mocked. Thor ignored the comment.

"What? What must you say Loki?" Thor asked his brother.

"It's about Clint-" Loki began. Thor let out a short chuckle.

"What, on all of the realms, do you have to say about Clint?" Thor asked, surprised his brother would mention the child. Loki cocked his head in offense.

"I'll have you know that I visited him while he was in the medical ward." Loki defended. Thor turned dead serious.

"What have you done? How have you harmed him?" Thor said, raising his fist threateningly.

"I did not harm him. And truthfully, between us, if one of us were to harm Clint, it would be you." Loki said, apparently angry Thor would question if he had hurt Clint.

"Do not speak in riddles." Thor said, sighing at his brother's elusiveness.

"He's lying." Loki said instantly. Thor chuckled, Loki honestly thought Thor was that stupid?

"Lying about what!?" Thor said between breathy chortles.

"Thor. You dimwitted buffoon. Clint is lying. He is not progressing in anyway. He's faking it. I believe so he doesn't worry Natasha." Loki said. At first, Thor was caught off guard by Loki's seriousness. Then he remembered the skill of which his brother could trick at. He broke out into a smile and laughed. He did not notice Loki getting ever angrier. It was only when Loki sent the minor shock up Thor's spine did he look at his brother.

Loki was standing, shoulders raised, fists balled in frustration. Thor ended his mirth abruptly, facing his brother.

"Your serious?" Thor asked.

"YES!!" Loki exclaimed exasperated. Thor looked his brother up and down, focused this time.

"How can you tell he is not progressing?" Thor asked.

"I possess magic, Thor. Do you not think it's simple to check in on Midgard?" Loki asked, as if it was obvious.

"What have you seen? Thor asked curiously, partially frightened of the answer.

"He does not sleep at night. He crawls into the vents and has nightmares after he sleeps. He lies blatantly about feeling better and improving." Loki said. Thor just wasn't buying it.

"No. No, you always play pranks. You have a reputation for lying." Thor said, still not believing his brother. Loki huffed in annoyance, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"You know what? Fine! Thor, refuse to believe me! Let him get worse! It's your fault! I tried! I tried to tell you! You just wont listen! You know I care too, if I didn't, I wouldn't have come down here! Goodbye Thor! And good luck, you'll need it!" And with that Loki snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving Thor to contemplate all his brother had said.

()()()()()

Loki had vanished, yes, but had not left the SHEILD building. Loki had used his extensive magic to transport himself to the proximity of Clint. He hadn't teleported right next to the child. Loki felt no need to hear his lies. The lies about 'being ok' and 'perfectly fine' and 'I'm alright, really'. No, Loki had chosen to appear close, not seen, but near the child.

The God had ended up under one of the vents. He could sense Clint up there. He was asleep, peacefully for now. Loki sighed. This was usually the part things started to go south. Any minute, Clint would face some horror, alone and afraid. In solitude, he'd be tormented and scared, no one to comfort him. Clint insisted on that, that no one would comfort him.

As if on cue, Loki heard the beginnings of a nightmare. The child's breathing hitched and Loki could feel the immediate panic overwhelm the archer. Suddenly, Loki thought of a way to help.

He concentrated hard for a moment. Minor sparkles filled the air, the result of Loki's magic. The sparkles glinted and shone gold, floating delicately upwards. Gracefully, they dissipated. From down there, Loki could hear Clint's unconscious relieved sigh.

Loki had sent a burst of calming magic. His supernatural spurt had been designed to relieve Clint of his nightmare. Loki was glad to see his attempts had worked. Clint was calm, and for once, would sleep calmly. Loki allowed himself a little grin. He had helped, he might not have been able to make Thor listen to him, but the God had, temporarily, dismissed some of the pain.

Thor, his dimwitted brother. Loki was really starting to regret pulling all of those tricks. Thor no longer believed him when he was serious. All Loki could do was pray his brother saw the sense of it and acted on it. It might be unlikely, but it was all Loki had. The God of Mischief really cared about Clint. With that last depressing thought, Loki returned to Asgard.

Chapter Text

Bruce wasn't all that worried about Clint anymore. Sure, he never really saw him, or interacted with him, but that didn't really change anything. Besides, he rarely saw Natasha either. Bruce just figured Clint was shy. He had been shy before, and it was the same now. No real difference. Clint was fine. If Bruce did see Clint, and did ask if the teen was ok, he'd insist he was fine. Bruce had no reason to believe Clint wasn't alright.

He knew his friends felt the same way. If, for some reason, they decided to discuss it, the conversation was brief. They didn't really have anything to say. Clint was fine, that was it. So, Bruce and the others were rather baffled when Thor abruptly brought up the topic.

"Are we positive Clint is alright?" Thor asked.

"I'm pretty sure, why?" Steve asked. They were playing poker, and Steve had just lied down a card.

"He's been back for 17 days. Out of the medical ward for 10 days. That just seems too short to fully recover, does it not?" Thor asked. Brice considered this for a moment, it was a little brief.

"I guess. But why this all of a sudden?" Tony asked. Thor sighed, it appeared as if he had been hiding something a little.

"Loki visited the other day. He claimed Clint's lying about feeling alright. I dismissed it as a trick, but I'm starting to reconsider." Thor relinquished the information.

"That's big." Bruce observed.

"Yeah, why would Loki care? Isn't he kind of malicious?" Tony asked, playing the card game still.

"Mischievous is the word my family uses. But why would Loki come just to play a trick like that? Would he not have a real motive? He did seem actually serious, so I don't know." Thor further explained. Bruce nodded. Then he recalled something Tony had said.

"Hey, Tony." Bruce began. "Didn't you say that victims of trauma sometimes lie about actually coping?" Bruce asked. Tony nodded, the actions continuously getting more and more vigorous.

"Yeah. Yeah! People will do that. But is Clint that good a liar?" Tony asked.

"Well, let's think," Steve began. "He's a spy slash assassin, obviously he knows absolutely nothing about lying!" Steve said, Tony glared.

"Well I see you've mastered sarcasm." Tony mocked.

"That's quicker than Thor." Bruce said.

"On topic." Thor said seriously the mockery ended instantly.

"If he's that good at lying, what can we do? Even if he does let us help, we wont know if it's really working." Bruce mused.

"Yeah, and how do we know he'll even listen to us?" Steve asked.

"He has been a lot more shut off." Tony added.

"Should we talk to Natasha? She knows more about him than anyone?" Thor asked.

"Not everyone." Steve said, referring to Barney.

()()()()()

"Oh, you're back." Barney said, eyes landing on Thor and Steve. Steve had thought that Barney may know a little more about Clint, and they should ask. Politely, this time. At least at first. Thor had decided to come, which was a good idea. Thor was a highly intimidating person.

"We're back." Steve answered, looking at Barney through the cell bars. He was thriving. Barney looked well groomed, well fed and overall very healthy. It wasn't right, he shouldn't be sitting here, perfectly alright, while Clint apparently was not.

"What do you want now?" Barney asked in annoyingly smug voice. Steve looked at Thor, unsure of what to say, but the God had a plan.

"You claim to care about Clint-" Thor began.

"I do!" Barney said, instantly defensive. Thor ignored him.

"And if you really do, you'll tell us something. You traumatized Clint. Now, he's pretending to be ok. We believe he is deceiving us. If you actually love him, you'll tell us how to get him to open up to us." Thor commanded. Barney had the audacity to laugh. It took all of Steve's will power not to strangle Barney. it was hard to believe he was related to Clint. Sweet, innocent, caring Clint, related to this monster.

"I'm sorry. Just, that's so like Clint, he'd always pretend our dad hadn't hurt him too bad. I cant tell you how to get him to open up, it's not like he opened up to me ever. You're on your own." Barney said.

"You must know something." Steve insisted. Barney just smiled. Steve rushed forward angrily. Thor beat him though. The Gods fingers wrapped around Barney's throat.

"But," Barney choked out. "You could tell him you know he's lying. Ahrg! If he knows you know he isn't ok, there's no pointtokeeplying!" Barney ended on a high note as Thor continued his death grip. After Barney was done talking, Thor let him go. Clint's brother dropped to the ground in a heap.

"Let's go." Steve said, gently urging Thor forward.

()()()()()

"Basically, we know your not ok." Tony said awkwardly. As soon as Steve and Thor came back with a plan, they had searched, as a group, for Clint. It had been a long process too. Clint really did not want to be found. He didn't know they had been looking for him though. Still, Clint was good at avoiding people. Tony wasn't sure how well this 'talk' was going to go.

"We're not, like, mad or anything." Bruce hurried to say. "We're just worried about you. People with PTSD can pretend to be ok. Even when they aren't. And we don't think you are." Bruce said, stumbling over the words. He was obviously not quite sure how to explain the groups' thoughts.

"And, it's ok to not be ok. Honestly, it would be kind of weird if you weren't ok." Steve said. Clint just stood there, face emotionless. Arms crossed, Tony knew he wasn't all that willing to be there. Tony could understand that though. He certainly wouldn't have enjoyed a talk like this one.

"What we're just trying to say is... well, just don't hide it if your not feeling alright, ok? We're here for you." Tony said, trying to comfort him at least a little. At that moment, Natasha walked in. That promptly ended the one-sided conversation.

"Come on, I'm bored." Natasha commanded, lightly grabbing Clint's wrist to pull him along. Clint followed her meekly out. Tony realized Clint hadn't looked at them for that entire conversation.

Chapter Text

It had been roughly a day since Steve and the others had talked to Clint. There really hadn't been much of a change in his behavior at all. He was still very cut off. That... that worried Steve, a lot. The soldier was out of ideas. No idea what to do to get Clint to finally trust him. Clint hadn't even trusted him before this whole Barney spectacle. The assassin just has too many trust issues to let anyone but Natasha in. Even that was fading.

Clint had been too scarred to even trust his best friend. Steve sighed. He felt completely and utterly lost. He supposed the best thing he could do now was be there for him. In case Clint (hopefully) had a change of heart and decided to let them in, Steve would be there. Steve would never, could never, abandon Clint.

It just felt like Clint didn't want any help. Or was too scared to ask. Too scared to be vulnerable. So, naturally, someone just had to trigger a panic attack!

Steve walked around the SHEILD building, looking for Tony. Steve needed help with his iphone. It made NO SENSE! Steve huffed, it was about 9:00 at night, it was getting too late for this. Then, Steve heard voices. He could identify one of them as Alexander Pierce. He really, really did not like that man. Something just seemed off about him, something Steve just couldn't place. Steve listened in as he turned to stride towards the voices.

"So, are you alright!?" Pierce asked someone in a gruff voice, not seeming that concerned.

"I heard about what happened," Pierce said. Then the strange man let out an annoyed sigh. "It's very rude not to look people in the eye when they're talking to you! C'mon, look at me." Steve really did not like where that was going. He picked up his pace, moving towards the threatening voice. Steve turned the corner to see something he didn't want to see.

Pierce was talking to Clint, the teen was looking down, terror clouding his eyes. He was shaking, looking like he was trying not to relapse into the past. Clint was too terrified to notice Steve. Peirce was just oblivious. The estranged man gripped Clint's face and drew it close to his. Clint's blind terror radiated off of him. Pierce leaned in towards Clint. Steve's super soldier ears were able to pick up the menacing words.

"Look. At. Me!" Peirce sad calmly. That seemed to do it. Clint gave some monstrous shudders, trying to keep himself in the present. Then he staggered, looking towards the wall for support. He slowly slid down, eyes clouded in fear.

"What the Hell is wrong with you!?!" Steve asked in anger. Until that moment he had watched simply in horror. He rushed to wards Clint. He tried to catch him a little. Tried to slow his fall to the ground.

"Clint. Clint! Come on, come on Clint." Steve urged attempting to snap him out of the flashback. Clint closed in on himself. He wrapped his arms around himself. The child's breathing was uneven and the breaths small, like he couldn't seem to get enough oxygen. Steve was too busy to hear Pierce leave. Though he was glad the other man had left. If he hadn't, Steve may have mauled him.

"N-no. B-B-Barney, Stop." Clint mumbled in sheer terror. Steve was down on the ground, leaning next to him. He had been with Clint when he was in a flashback before. Sedative, that had been his horrible solution. Not this time, Steve would do something better this time. Not a horrible, cruel answer.

"No. It's not Barney. Barney's not here. I'm here. You're safe. Come on. I know you can do it. Please, just snap out of it!" Steve said. Clint twitched, shaking his head like he heard something. That had to be good. That had to mean he was somewhat in the present. Steve grabbed Clint's shoulders. He tightly squeezed them, trying to make Clint focus on him.

"Come on. Clint!" Steve said. Though he was forced to remove his hands from Clint's shoulders. The child had flinched, soliciting a wave of guilt over Steve and he let go of his shoulders. He put his hands on Clint's face, palms resting on the sides of his face. Mumblings, terrified whines reached Steve's ears. He held Clint's gaze, searching. He explored Clint's eyes, looking for any sign of acknowledgment.

"Clint. Come on. You're at SHEILD. You're sitting on the ground. We're in the hallway. Right under a light." Steve thought maybe if he described the surroundings that would help something. Clint winced, breath hitching as if he had been smacked. "Come on. Wake up. It's not real. It's over. You're at SHEILD. In the hallway. I'm here. I'm here. Barney's gone. He's gone, I'M here, YOU'RE HERE! You just need to WAKE UP!!!" Steve ended with a punctuated air of command. Clint's eyes finally seemed to focus on him.

A sigh of relief escaped Steve. Clint was breathing heavily. Like he'd never have enough air. Clint was staring at Steve with wide, scared eyes. Suddenly, Steve felt like he knew what to do. He reached for Clint. The teen didn't flinch, this partially encouraged Steve, speeding up his arm. The soldier put his hand gently around Clint's head. He pulled Clint's head into him.

Steve was still semi kneeling on the ground. By then it was a lot closer to sitting. Clint seemed to all of a sudden want the comfort. Hell, he had probably wanted it all along, now he was just willing to accept it. Clint let himself be pushed lightly into Steve's chest. The teen was relieved for the comfort, with a gasping breath, Clint was obviously glad the flashback was over.

In a sudden burst of motion, Clint intertwined his fingers into the fabric of Steve's shirt. Steve held him there, Clint's head in his chest. Steve could hear Clint's breaths, like he couldn't remember how to properly inhale.

"It's ok, it's alright. Shh, it's over, you're here, you're safe." Steve comforted. He tried to keep his own breathing steady. Though, while his breaths were calm, his tone betrayed him. Steve had felt scared and worried. The flashback, seeing Clint go through something like that.... it had shaken him up. In his voice, his relief and worry shone through.

"It's alright. You're safe. It's over, it's over." His hand found Clint's hair and comfortingly stroked it. He repeated the ministrations, his thumb and going up and down, up and down. The movements seemed to somewhat calm him. His breaths hitched and gasped in an effort to stabilize his respiration. Steve was inwardly thrilled. It was a good feeling to know you were helping. Especially when you really wanted to help.

Finally, Clint's breaths evened out. They calmed and spaced out. He no longer gasped for breath. Steve's serum enhanced ears could pick up the slightest deviations. Steve held him there. His body had turned so that he was next to Clint, though still slightly slanted. Clint was partially kneeling, face buried in Steve's chest, fingers intertwined in his shirt. Steve never stopped stroking Clint's hair.

He missed it when Clint's breaths slowed. Steve listened intently, Clint's breathing was significantly more spaced out. Gently, ever so gently, Steve slightly pulled away. Clint's eyes were closed. He was asleep. Clint had felt safe enough to sleep. Steve let in a sigh of relief. It was late, and Steve wasn't stupid. He could tell Clint wasn't getting any sleep.

Then Steve remembered where he was. A random hallway in SHEILD. Hallways weren't exactly optimal conditions. Steve put his feet underneath him, so that he sat in a crouched position. Clint's fingers did not loosen even with the shift of movement. Steve wrapped his muscular arm under Clint's back. His other arm found a place under Clint's legs. Slowly, so as to not wake him, Steve lifted the child up. Clint's head lolled back, Steve lightly moved so Clint's head would come to rest against him

Not once did Clint's fingers give the slightest notice of moving. Steve quietly and gently carried Clint up to the room he shared with Natasha. Clint would stir every now and then, but it didn't lead to anything. A twitch here, wince there, Steve prayed he wasn't having a nightmare. He also prayed that his presence was soothing Clint. It seemed to, to a degree at least.

Steve arrived at the door to the room. He awkwardly leaned down to put his hand on the door knob. He put the hand under Clint's legs around the brass doorknob and turned it. He used his foot to push in as his hands and arms were being used. Steve strode over to, what he assumed was, Clint's bed. He looked down at the child in his arms, glad he was finally asleep. Steve bent down and put Clint on the plush bed.

Softly, he rolled Clint over just a little to grasp at the center of the blankets. He pulled them out from under Clint, soliciting a minor movement. Steve froze. Luckily, Clint didn't wake up. Steve gently, slightly pushed Clint over. He laid the smooth blankets over his slight body, smoothing them out. When he was finally convinced Clint was comfortable, he took a step back.

When Clint was asleep, he looked so much younger. No, not quite that. When Clint was awake he looked.... old. Too mature for a thirteen year old. At least that's the age Phil said they were at. But Clint had been forced to mature way too early. He had never been allowed a childhood. But now, when Clint was asleep, his real age stood out. He was a kid, plain and simple. The lines and scars of hardship dissipated to leave the child alone.

Steve took one last look before turning away and walking out. He shut the door behind him, finally feeling like he had accomplished something. It felt like Clint would finally trust them. Steve hoped he did.

Chapter Text

Clint thought back to the day before. It had been... nice, letting Steve comfort him. Clint had apparently felt so comfortable that he could fall asleep. But that feeling, the feeling of safeness. Well, he had liked it. He hadn't worried about Barney, he hadn't been scared. That whole thing had just made Clint feel so much better. It honestly didn't feel like they hated him.

For the first time since he got back, he felt completely safe and unafraid. He was no longer scared to be scared. If that made any sense. He let it show later that night.

His throat burned. it seared with horrible, sharp pain. All he could focus on was the consuming pain. Like he would never feel anything else again. Then he saw Barney's eyes.

His eyes.

The look in them was indescribable. They were dead. Cold and torturous on the inside. Every single evil and twisted part of Barney was layered behind his eyes. 'The eyes are the window to the soul'. Clint had always known what that meant, but now he was seeing someone's soul.

It was dark. And terrible, it infested him. The evil presence infecting his soul, marring it to the bone. It struck him, how screwed up his brother was. And how utterly at his mercy Clint was. He hadn't known fear until then. Nor pain as the blinding feeling in his throat only increased. Clint screamed but no sound came out.

He shot forward, gasping for air. It had been a nightmare. Another one. Clint looked around. This was different. He wasn't in a vent, He was in his bed. His bed in his room. The room he shared with Natasha. The room he and Natasha shared. He looked at her. She had been awoken by the nightmare as well.

"Are you ok?" Natasha asked. Clint considered nodding. He changed his mind and simply looked away. He could hear Natasha though. She got up and crept over to his bed.

Naturally, he slid over to make room for her. She got in, pulling the blankets up to cover herself as well. Clint didn't look at her.

"You know you cant keep things from me forever, right? You don't always get to be the strong one." Natasha joked. He looked at her, giving a little smirk. She laid down, Clint followed. They both turned onto their sides. Each curled their legs up. They were lying in such a position that they were facing each other.

"You know you're literally the best friend ever, right?" Clint said.

"Yeah." Natasha said in a way that worried him. "Which is why I've been thinking." There it was, and here we go. "Why don't we have one of those necklaces? You know the heart ones that say BFF?" Natasha asked. Clint knew she was joking. At least he hoped she was joking.

"A BFF necklace? I don't think so." Clint said.

"You're right. I should bedazzle your bow!" Natasha replied. Clint's eyes widened. Not his BOW!!!!

"You don't even LIKE bedazzling!!" Clint pointed out.

"But you like it less!" Natasha countered.

"I take it back. Horrible friend." Clint said.

"Why? Because I want to show that we're best friends?" Natasha asked, feigning offense.

"No. Because you know what bedazzling is." Clint said, honestly a little surprised she knew the term.

"Good night, meanie." Natasha said, cracking a smile.

"Good night, dumbie." Clint replied. He was glad to have the company. Thrilled that she wasn't leaving. Deep down he thought he knew she would never leave.

()()()()()

Tony had noticed a change in Clint's behavior. A large one. It seemed like Clint was no longer afraid of them. Or afraid to be near them. The Avengers, that is. He had started talking a lot more to them. Hadn't flinched once around Tony.

Obviously, this thrilled Tony. To know that Clint was no longer afraid to be vulnerable. Tony felt like he finally had an opportunity to help. It was a good feeling. Tony loved Clint. That was why he was terrified of what would happen to him long term. Would he really be ok? Tony felt like he'd die if Clint wasn't alright. He really cared for him.

But he did seem to be improving, a lot. He and Natasha ate dinner with them. Even when it was Bruce cooking. They talked. Clint smiled a lot more. Natasha did too. They were basically connected. One wouldn't be hurt without consequently injuring the other. If Clint was hurt, Natasha would feel it, and vise versa. They were very connected.

For some reason, Tony felt like it was over. He felt like if Clint wasn't feeling ok, he'd tell them. Like he finally at least semi-trusted them. He seemed to have recovered a lot of himself. It felt like the whole Barney spectacle was over. That, finally, Clint could be himself again.

Chapter Text

This stays up for 24 hrs. So, I don't really like most of the works I have on here. I don't really feel like I want to continue this fic. My friend found it and I don't want him/her to read it. I prefer anonymity. This is my goodbye on this fic and on AO3 I will come back under a different pseud. I may rewrite this fic. I have loved all the comments and readers I thank you all. ITS BEEN FUN, I LOVE YOU ALL GOODBYE.