Hey guys! So I know I said I'd have this up a long time ago but a lot of things came up. So sorry about that, but heres the first chapter!
When I was little, my dad always told me; 'Someday you're gonna be a SHEILD agent, just like me and your mom.' That is, until I was three. One night, I was over at Coulson's house, being babysat by him and his girlfriend. It was all fun and games and laughter, until Coulson got a phone call. The phone call that completely changed my life. After he got off the phone, he knelt down next to me with tears in his eyes, and told me that my mom and dad weren't coming home. At first, as such a young child, I didn't know what he meant. But eventually after a lot of explaining, I understood that my parents were never going to wake up again, I understood that I would never see them again. This is when I learned to put on a stone-faced expression and hide my emotions. Coulson and his girlfriend raised me, and right off the bat, Coulson started training me to be an agent. He played different games with me that modelled exercises real trainee's do. Things like; 'See if you can remember how many windows are in the house.' Or 'Play ninja and escape the house to get away from the bad guys.' Coulson already started to sharpen my senses. As I got older, he gave me more and more difficult, and age appropriate tasks. At age thirteen, he taught me how to shoot a gun. I liked the idea of a long range weapon, but a gun just didn't quite fit me, it was too loud. I wanted to be able to sneak up on people and kill silently. For my fourteenth birthday, I received my first recurve bow. It was perfect for me. Arrows were so much quieter than bullets, and the bow was easier for me to handle and aim. So, on for the next couple of years I adapted to going out in the forest and teaching myself to hunt with it. I took to climbing up into trees, so I could see my prey, but they couldn't see me. I found that I loved heights, loved the birds eye view. Soon I found away to get up onto the roof, several actually, and spent a lot of time up there, watching and observing. That's when Coulson started calling me Hawkeye. Then it was my sixteenth birthday. This is where the story picks up, where we dive into it and pay attention to the little details.
It was my sixteenth birthday, and by now I knew about SHEILD, one of the things I knew what that sixteen was the youngest age that they started to recruit trainees at. I was once again sitting up on the roof, looking out at the setting sun as I heard Coulson call up to me,
"Hey Clint, come here." I sighed as I got up and quickly scaled down the side of his house, landing in front of him. I noticed a smile on his face and almost immediately knew what was coming. "So Clint, you're sixteen now, you're one of the sharpest pre-trained kids I know, and I think it is time to recruit you for SHEILD training. You pass the training, and you're an agent." I smiled softly as he handed me a badge that would get me into SHEILD HQ. I had been waiting for this day, even if I had never admitted it. It was a happy moment, knowing that I was going to be trained as a deadly killer to help the world, but at the same time, behind my actions was a pang of sadness. This reminded me so much of my father, or at least the little I could remember about him. It made me wonder if he would be proud if he were here. Coulson had known me so close for so long, he could read my deepest emotions in the only place they could be seen, in my eyes. I knew he would end up seeing and ask if I didn't mention something first so I went ahead.
"Do you think... Do you think my dad would be proud?" I asked and took in a deep breath, looking at Coulson briefly then looking down at the badge. I hadn't cried since that day. Since that one day, I hadn't shed a single tear, not when I broke something or even fell when I was still young, I just kept that same stone-faced expression, and I wasn't about to break that anytime soon.
"Yes, I think he would be very proud." Coulson responded and I looked back up at him as he nodded to me. "You start tomorrow." He said, pointing at the badge. I nodded in return and started walking back into the house. "Barton." He said and I turned around. "I know I could never replace your father, but for what it's worth, you're like a son to me." I stopped, staring at him and nodded. I got that feeling, that nearly choking feeling in my throat, keeping me from speaking, that tingling sensation in my nose, and that burning in my eyes, but I forced a smile and turned away from him, walking back into the house before my thoughts could wander and twist and torture me, before any tears could even think about trying to squeeze their way out of their prison of stone. I made my way into the house and up the stairs, opening my bedroom door and walking in, then closing it behind me. I sighed as I sat the badge on my dresser and let myself fall back on my bed. I stared at the ceiling, thinking to myself, then closed my eyes for a moment, calming myself.
"Keep control of yourself Barton." I mumbled to myself and got back up off my bed. I stripped down to my boxers and slipped under my sheets, reaching over and turning off my lamp then laying down. I had to get up bright and early tomorrow, so I thought I should get some good sleep. It didn't take long for me slip into the void of blackness I knew as sleep, and it didn't take long for the nightmares to start either.