If Only

By

Nicole

Disclaimer: I don't own The Avengers

Summary: After Barney leaves his brother half-dead on the side of the road, an Ambassador finds Clint and takes him under his wing. Three year later, he's in Russia where he meets Natalia Alianovna, unbeknownst to him, he was her next target, but what happens when the Black Widow is compromised by feelings she never had before?

If Only

Chapter 1: A Different Life

Sixteen-year-old Clint Barton walked out of the tent after doing his final bow for the show that night. It was a cold night in the middle of Colorado. He pulled his jacket on, pulling out his hearing aids and putting the barely visible devices into his ears. He suddenly realized that he forgot to leave a note for his boss about needing a couple of days off so he could get used to the new hearing aids his doctor had given him.

Turning on his heel, he went towards the trailer and opened the door. Stepping inside, he was shocked at what he saw, his older brother, Barney, was stuffing the money they had made that day into a bag. "Barney?" he said in shock. This forced him to look up, shocked that he was caught. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"You shouldn't have come in here, Clint," Barney answered.

Clint stared at him quizzically when he suddenly felt something hit him on the back of his head, sending him sprawling across the floor. He went to get up when two people grabbed his arms and a punch landed on his face. "What the hell, Barton?! You said no ne would be in here for another hour?!" a man exclaimed.

"I didn't know he was going to come in!" Barney snapped.

Clint suddenly couldn't hear anything after that. As soon as another punch and kick hit him in the head and stomach, his hearing aids fell out, but he looked up to see his brother staring down at him. "Barney…help…" he insisted. Barney just stared at him and punching him in the face.

When Clint came to, he groaned softly. His hands were sinking into the sand beneath his body, making him realize that he was in a desert. It was dark, it was difficult to see anything at all. He dragged himself through the dirt when his hand touched cement. His head started to throb and unconsciousness took over him once again.

As the young man was left dying on the side of the road, a large black Buick pulled up beside him. "Stop, Elliot," a voice called out inside. A man climbed out of the car and went over to the teenager, pushing him onto his back. "He's alive, we need to get him to the hospital," he told his driver. He carefully lifted him up into his arms and moved him into the car to get him to the hospital.

When Clint came to, he saw that he was in a hospital room. He sat up slowly and saw a man sitting by his bed. "Good morning young man," he greeted. Clint stared at him for a second.

"I can't hear," he signed to the man.

"Lucky for you I know sign language as well," the man signed back.

Clint smiled a little. "What's your name, young man?" he asked.

"Clint Barton…who are you?" Clint asked.

The man chuckled lightly. "I'm Ambassador Thomas Bartholomew, I found you in the middle of the desert two days ago," he explained. Clint's eyes grew wide.

"Thank you sir…" he signed slowly.

"Where are your parents?" Thomas asked.

Clint frowned even more. "Dead…car crash four years ago," he replied

"I'm very sorry," Thomas signed to him.

Clint let out a sigh. "I was just getting used to hearing again," he signed.

"Hearing aids?" Thomas asked.

The teen nodded his head slowly. "I can give you more," Thomas told him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You seem like a good young man, one who certainly didn't deserve something like what you went through," Thomas replied.

Clint lowered his head, staring into his lap. He felt nothing but anger and betrayal, his own brother tried to kill him. Thomas reached over, resting his hand on the young man's arm. "Nurse, can you bring this young man some hearing aids?" he asked as a nurse came in. The nurse nodded before she left to get him a pair.

When she came back, she handed them to the young man who slid them into his ears. "How does that feel?" Thomas asked.

"Weird, but at least I can hear again," Clint replied.

"I'd like to make a sort of arrangement here, Clint," Thomas stated as he stood up.

Clint lifted his head, looking at the man that was standing at the end of his hospital bed. "What kind of arrangement?" he asked.

"I'm becoming an old man, Clint, an old man with money and power and no one to pass it to," Thomas replied, "My wife, Rachel, died before we could ever have children."

The young man frowned. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"What I am trying to suggest is, I'd like to bring you back to my home in Manhattan, since you don't seem to have a family, I could provide for you everything a father would provide for a son. You'll get the best schooling, best training in any activity your heart desires and I would have an heir to my estate," Thomas explained.

"And you're wanting to help me with my hearing?" Clint asked.

"It's an experimental surgery that will basically rewire your hearing," Thomas replied.

Clint was stunned. "So…you're saying I could get the chance to hear without the help of hearing aids?" he asked.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," Thomas replied.

The teenager sat in his hospital bed, mulling over the idea of actually being able to hear. "Could I actually get into law enforcement?" he asked anxiously.

"You don't want to be an officer in Manhattan, son, trust me," Thomas told him as he patted his shoulder, "I can get you into a more elite team of law enforcement."

Clint's eyes grew wide at the idea. "Really?" he asked.

"Anything you want my boy, anything you want," Thomas replied.

Clint sat back in shock. He went from a deaf sixteen-year-old circus perform to the adopted son of an Ambassador. "What do you say?" Thomas asked, holding out his hand. He stared at the man's hand before shaking his hand.

"I'm in," he answered.