Dimensional Travel Guide for Avengers
Purgatory
Rule 1: Don't Mess With Wizards or Dragons
A/N~ Ok so this is a little AU (literally) of mine. It is set after Thor-The Dark World and before Captain America-The Winter Soldier. Hope you like this, please let me know. Was blocked on something else I was working on and this just appeared in my head and held my brain hostage until I agreed to write it. If it's well-received, may become a series of one shots. ~A
Thor slammed into the dragon from above and the lightning that followed him and struck the flying beast was shrugged off. The thunder god could tell from the shudder that ran through the length of the creature that it did feel the lightening, it just seemed to anger the beast more than injure it. As he considered his next move, the dragon spat a gout of flame at a heli-copter that had wandered too close, a man with something mechanical was hanging out the side
The pilot was blessed with excellent reflexes and managed to pull the flying vehicle out of the way of the flame. The man hanging out of the side was not so lucky, and had slid out the side after the pilot had banked sharply to avoid being barbecued, the only thing keeping him from falling was what looked like a seat belt. How he kept from dropping his mechanical device Thor had no idea but couldn't spare another thought for the foolish if lucky Midgardians.
Instead with a mighty swing Thor struck the dragon between its eyes with Mjolnir. It's hide may be thick enough to withstand his lightening, but even small planets would crack under his hammers fall. As the creature began to fall from the sky, Thor wrapped his arm around its neck and using Mjolnir pushed it towards the harbor to avoid property damage.
Apparently this was a great concern for the Midgardians, they had never had to build things as strong as Asgardians. Invasions of aliens, magic, gods, and giants had never been an issue before to the Midgard of the present. As the Asgardian reached a section of the port that was particularly deep he let go of the dragon and watched it splash into the deep water from the safety of the pier.
"Shield Brothers I have been successful in downing one of the fire breathers. Where am I needed next?" said the blond haired Thunder God after touching the device in his ear.
"Need a little help on Liberty Street Thor, got a couple of these things trying to get into some of the buildings down here." came Steve's voice in his ear.
Spinning Mjolnir Thor responded in his larger than life voice, "On my way!"
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Hulk snatched a woman carrying an infant in one of the cloth things Tin Man called a sling. The woman had been running down the street straight into the path of another flying thing. Carrying her very much like she carried her child he hid behind the concrete supports of the el-train. Hiding under the train had only worked a little while Hulk discovered. The flying thing started throwing itself at the structure and he heard the creaking and cracking noises.
The little woman and her baby had to get away so Hulk could fight. Looking around he saw the opening for the resting places for cars. He set the woman down and pointing at the entrance said firmly, "Run!"
The woman clasped her hand over the baby's head and ran for the opening. Hulk held the support as he watched the woman run, until a concrete slab from the upper structure fell in front of him, blocking his view.
The Hulk moved away from the support to look over the slab and saw the woman head down into the building. He heard the flying thing behind him give a hissing roar, at the same time he heard the little guy whisper in his head.
With a feral grin the Hulk folded some of the rebar on the slab and using it like Star's shield, he turned and ran into its gaping maw. Slamming the concrete as far back into its mouth as he could Hulk lodged the slab between the roof of its mouth and the back of its tongue. Backing out of its mouth, Hulk slapped the thing on it's snout deliberately to make it angry.
The little guy had already told him what was going to happen, so he leapt about a block away. The thing followed him a few feet, drew in a deep breath, and after a split second it's head exploded sending flesh and gore everywhere. What remained of the torso slumped over on its side.
There was another roar from the air as another dragon flew over his head. Leaping into the air, Hulk grabbed the tail of the big winged thing as it flew by him and yanked back and down hard. Yanking it to the ground and away from the fleeing humans. The thing had been flying up and down the street, shooting flames at the buildings and the few people left on the street who were running to get out of its way.
Hulk heard the voices in his ear from the little thing Cupid gave him when the little guy would let him out to play. He resisted the urge to throw the little thing away. It was making it hard to hear what the little guy was trying to tell him. Something about "tiger by the tail", then Hulk looked up into the very angry and hissing face of the ugly flying thing. The dragon roared at him and Hulk roared right back.
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Steve ducked his body behind his shield and reminded himself for the third time, when Tony got back from his honeymoon, he really had to talk to him about fireproofing his uniform. As the dragons flames shot around his shield, he looked around for some way to disable the flying menace.
Then he noticed the other dragon was still trying to dig through the foundation of the Federal Reserve Building, so far without any luck. That one seemed to be the smallest of the bunch, and the most focused. It reminded him of himself back before the serum. Steve could almost empathize, except he had seen the same beast stomp a taxicab flat with one paw, these things really had to go. Thor let him know he'd downed one of the dragons.
With a tap to the device in his ear, he let the Thunder God know that he needed some help. Waiting until the dragon had taken a breath to let loose another ball of fire, Steve ran between its legs. Weaving in and out between its scaled limbs to try and confuse it. He flipped up into the back of its tail and ran up towards its head. The dragon was still looking under its body to try and find the Captain.
Its head came back up and twisted around to look at the man on its back. Just as Steve swung his shield at its head and was shocked when the shield bounced away with the dragon looking only slightly stunned. The fact that his shield bounced at an odd angle away from him was disconcerting, the fact the dragon was looking decidedly pissed off even more so.
The Captain flipped off the dragons back just as the creature breathed out another blast of flame in his direction. The beast recovered his equilibrium while Steve was recovering his shield from where it had embedded itself in the side of a building.
When he turned back to the dragon, he saw the dragon turning towards him. He also saw Thor coming his way. He glanced around for a weapon and seeing the smaller dragon again got another idea. He ran toward the other dragon and hoped the first would follow him. When he got close enough to the smaller one he turned to face the winged lizard that was lumbering along behind him.
Steve didn't really do what Clint called trash-talking during these battles. He left that sort of thing to Tony who was really good at being obnoxious. He really wished Pepper hadn't insisted on an incommunicado honeymoon., he could use some pointers right about now. "Hey you…big ugly thing…over here!" he yelled.
Luckily the dragon was already so aggravated with the human annoyance that was Steve, it attacked immediately. Blasting a stream of fire at the former soldier who tumbled out of the way so that the blast hit the smaller dragon. The blast didn't burn the smaller dragon but it did anger him enough that he turned on his fellow. The pair quickly became embroiled in a civil war of their own.
Thor landed beside him, clapping him on the shoulder and said, "Good thinking brother Steve. I must confess dragon meat usually gives me gas, and the smaller ones are usually quite stringy, but if you'd like…" he said indicating the two struggling creatures with a gesture.
"Um no, I don't think so." he said with a look of distaste.
"I don't suppose we'll get lucky. they'll forget about us and just kill each other off?" he said hopefully. Only to have the larger of the two roar at the smaller in what was apparently a sign of dominance before both of the dragons looked down at the pair of men.
Thor shrugged his shoulders and said good-naturedly, "Guess not."
While the Captain muttered under his breath, "You had to open your mouth Steve." As both men braced for the next bout.
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Clint and Natasha moved in on the dragon and its master. An Asian man who's costume reminded them for all the world of the actor who had played the Mandarin. Except this man was bald and was apparently speaking to the dragon. It was apparent to both agents that this dragons job was to protect this individual. Why he was staying in this spot, while the other dragons were spread out through the city was anyone's guess.
Clint had a plan, admittedly not a great plan, in Natasha's opinion. As it involved him probably committing suicide by dragon as a distraction. In order for the Widow to sneak up on the master and take him out in the hopes that would disable, distract or destroy the remaining dragons.
As Natasha moved into position, Clint pulled out a very special arrow. Since the Invasion of New York, Clint had been designing a variety of arrows, heavy duty arrows, for just these types of special occasions. With some manufacturing help from Tony, he had developed heavy duty acid arrows, high explosive arrows that could take down a building and what he called a god arrow.
That one he saved for Loki, this one though was what he called a bunker buster. No it was not based on Hammer Tech's Ex-Wife, plans that were actually stolen from Clint, but that was another story. This explosive was designed to create a high density, low impact explosive, basically a contained yet powerful explosion.
Clint knew there would be minimum damage to the surrounding area. He just hoped it would work on the dragons who so far seemed immune to a lot of normal tactical weapons. "In position," Natasha indicated quietly over the comms, he stood up from behind the rubble, and took aim at the last remaining dragon and fired. That's when all hell broke loose.
The Wizard had perhaps detected the impending disaster and was casting a spell to thwart the attack. Natasha was already moving when he loosed the arrow at the huge winged creature. They never really figured it out. The spell and the arrow met in mid-air at the same time that Natasha used her Widow Bite bracelets n the Wizard. There was huge flash with heat, then cold, then the strange sensation you get when salt water goes up your nose. Followed by a loud pop and then nothing
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Clint had no way of knowing how much time had passed when he woke up. Other than he was very sore, and he was wearing different clothes. He was on a bed in a bedroom not a cell, which was a plus. He had no weapons, no body armor, and no Tasha, all negatives.
His body made some protests when he got out of the bed and stretched. It made a few more when he walked to the door and cautiously opened it to peer outside. Hawkeye determined that he was in what appeared to be an ordinary apartment. He used a little more caution making his way towards what he thought were the more public areas of the apartment.
Hesitating when he heard a floor board creak ahead, Barton's fingers itched for his bow, or at the very least his dagger. Lunging around the corner into the kitchen he barely blocked the downward path of the skillet heading for his head. Seeing the flash of red and the flying foot he managed to yell, "Nat!"
The Widow stopped the heel of her shoe less than an inch from connecting with the side of her partners head. Slowly she lowered her foot back to the floor, and breathed out slowly, before putting the skillet back on the kitchen counter. Clint glanced around quickly and confirmed that yes this appeared to be an ordinary apartment. Except for one glaring omission, no windows.
So obviously not Stark Tower, nor the heli-carrier, and definitely not his apartment. The décor was some throwback to the 50's or 60's. The clothes they were wearing while not their own fitted well. Natasha was wearing a pair of dress shoes and little white button up shirt and a cute little purple cardigan. He was dressed rather uncomfortably in a pair of dress pants and an oxford. Thank heavens whoever had changed his clothes hadn't tried to put a tie on him.
Looking at one another for a moment, the pair said at the same time, "Weapons." and proceeded to search the apartment. The bathroom didn't even have cleaning supplies in it, neither did the kitchen. The cabinets had canned goods, but nothing they could use, not even the frozen goods in the refrigerator would make a suitable weapon. The only thing useful were a couple of knives and the pots and pans. As for the knives they had nothing they could use as sheaths and the pots and pans were a little unwieldy to try and conceal or carry around for that matter.
Carrying the knives in their hands and forgoing the pans the partners headed for the front door of the apartment. Using hand signals the pair got ready and when Clint yanked the door open Natasha tumbled out the door and was in a fighting stance followed by Clint in less than five seconds. They froze in position as they became aware of their surroundings.
"What the hell?" Hawkeye said in perplexed hostility.
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Steve accepted the hand up by the Thunder god gratefully trying not to wince too noticeably as several very audible cracking noises came from his abused body. He straightened his shoulders and a very loud pop could be heard and this time he did groan out loud. He said in a relieved tone, "I'm glad that's over. What is this place?"
"I am not familiar with it." Thor admitted as he glanced at the building curiously, Shield Brother Stark has been trying to show me some of the sights of the city but he has never brought me here before."
Nodding as he walked toward the front of the building in the hopes of figuring out what the dragons interest in the building had been. Steve tapped the ear piece and said, "Hulk can you hear me? You okay Big Guy?" After a few seconds he heard the response growled back. "Ok Big Guy, Thor is going to send up some lightning so you can track us." The first Avenger heard a growled query and replied with a smile, "Yeah some ice cream would be good. Great idea Hulk. I'll call the others and we'll head back to the Tower, just need to check something out first. See you in a bit."
The Captain looked up at the front of the building and froze in place for a moment before saying softly to himself, "Uh, oh." Touching the ear wig again he said softly
"Um guys we may have a problem here. I'm pretty sure I know what the dragons were after and you're not going to like it," he said as he stared up at the imposing edifice of the Federal Reserve."
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The pair had rolled out into the middle of a curio shop. Two random customers were staring at them a little nervously as they were still brandishing the kitchen knives dangerously. Tasha quickly stood from her fighting stance and tucked the hand with the knife behind her back. Clint was still standing looking around suspiciously. "Clint." Tasha said warningly.
Her partner ignored her and continued to look around. Meanwhile the customers who were becoming more obviously frightened made their way further into the rows of shelves. "Clint!' the Widow said a little more sharply, drawing the snipers attention. Nodding at the weapon and then indicating the two strangers with a nod of her head, she raised her eyebrows at him.
Snapping to a fine semblance of attention the agent quickly adopted an air of nonchalance, while also trying to conceal the knife behind his back.
An accented vice finally spoke from behind the counter of the curio shop. "Excuse the employees, they're new. Please continue to browse. If you need any help we'll be right with you." The voice was followed by the appearance of an elderly man his almond shaped eyes nearly concealed among the wrinkled folds of his face.
Slightly stooped, the elderly man appeared even shorter as he shuffled over to the pair. He was dressed in worn khakis, a plaid shirt and an oversized cardigan. His hair, a new addition was raggedly cut and silvery gray but there was no mistaking that this was the Wizard who was in control of the Dragons.
When the customers had moved out of view he came towards the partners and said, "You won't be needing those," and the knives flew uselessly out of their hands and disappeared into thin air.
"You and your friends interfered in my plans," said the old man sounding for all the world as if he were scolding naughty children. "If you had just left us alone my pets and myself would have retrieved the gold and returned home with a minimum of fuss and minor property damage done. Now I have to start over, and that will take time. So in the interim you will have to run my curio shop, while I prepare."
The partners stared at each other dumbfounded for a few seconds, before Clint actually burst out laughing and said, "And why would we do that?"
The older man looked at them and said with a disarming smile, "Forgive me but I was under the impression that you might like to go home at some point in the miserably short existence you call your life spans." he let that sink in for a minute before adding with a shrug, "Perhaps I was mistaken."
He headed into the shelves after his customers as the pair gaped after him.
"Is he serious?" asked Clint, "I can see the front door from here."
The pair moved toward the front of the shop and the revolving door that stood there. Despite the muffled sounds of a busy city street filtering through the door, the glass of the doors were blacked out. No light or sign of life showed through the doors as they continued to rotate.
Natasha and Clint studied the door for a few moments, "It doesn't seem to be wired as far as I can see," Tasha said as she studied it from different angles.
"Yeah looks clean," Clint said before adding, "I'm going to try it out." he said and stepped forward only to find Tasha in front of him blocking his path.
"Why you?" she said and while she tried to look belligerent Clint could detect the slightest hint of concern for him.
So when he replied, he did so a little flippantly, "It's my turn, remember?" With that he stepped around her quickly and headed out the door, as she called out, "Clint?!"
Only to have him rotate back in a second later. They stared at each other in surprise, when Clint whirled back to the spinning doors and said, "What the …" Before Natasha could say anything, he tried again, and once again he rotated right back into the curio shop.
"A trick door," his partner suggested, "Maybe to distract us from the real door?"
"Thank you, thank you so much." said a middle aged female as she came toward them, calling back over her shoulder. The smile she turned on them was almost painfully large as she walked toward them and then she hugged them both impulsively as she continued to say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much."
With a final cheerful wave she headed through the revolving door. They were still standing there a full minute later before they realized she wasn't being shuffled back into the shop. This time Tasha stepped to the door and tried to exit the store, only to end up right back beside her partner in a few seconds.
Both of them stepped to the side of the doors once again to check for equipment, that didn't look as if it should be there. Some way to explain what they had just seen and what had happened to them as they tried to exit. Suddenly a teenaged boy hurried towards them and out the door without a word to either of them. E also didn't revolve back into the curio shop.
The partners stared at each other for a moment clearly unsure of how to explain what was happening. The old man came out of the shelves and looked at the pair with an amused expression before saying, "And now that the customers are taken care of we can get down to business." Indicating the counter, he said, "Shall we?" and without waiting for their response he headed in that direction.
Clint shrugged helplessly at his partner and the pair followed the old man behind the counter. He had already pulled out a delicate looking china tea set and poured them each a cup. He also gave them each a plate covered with a napkin.
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Steve and Bruce were trying to determine whether anyone inside the Reserve had been injured during the attack by the two dragons. Thor accompanied two of the guards to see if any structural damage had been done to the building during the attack. Apparently the Asgardian had developed a fondness for the different types of structures built by Midgardians. When the Avengers met back up in the lobby, Steve noticed to his surprise that Clint and Tasha hadn't joined them.
He realized that neither of the two partners had actually responded when he had revealed his theory on what the dragons had been after. When the others had reassured him that the structure and occupants of the Reserve were both safe and secure. Steve revealed his concerns for their friends. When all three had tried once again to contact the pair without success, Steve asked Jarvis to track Hawkeye and the Widow down..
Within seconds the A.I. informed them, "Mr. Barton and Ms. Romanov no longer appear to be in the area." A few seconds later Jarvis added, "Captain Rogers I regret to inform you that I can no longer detect Agents Barton or Romanov anywhere in the United States. I will continue to search the rest of the planet when the respective satellite feeds come online. In the meantime sir, if I may suggest? I do have the coordinates for the last known location for your teammates and would be happy to direct you to that location."
He looked around at his remaining two teammates, Thor was already nodding and sending Mjolinir spinning, preparing for flight. Bruce's eyes were already beginning to glow green as well. "Yes thank you Jarvis that would be appreciated."
"Of course sir, at your service." the A.I. said thoughtfully, before rattling off the GPS coordinates and then giving the directions to reach the last known location of the Black Widow and Hawkeye.
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"People come in asking for what they want," said the wizened old man as the pair eat their lunches, "but you will be tasked with giving them what they need."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Natasha asked before continuing, "We don't even know these people."
"You will find it to be instinctual, just follow your instincts." the old man replied with a secretive smile, "As I understand it you are both very good at that."
When they had finished their lunch, the old man led them around the shop which was really more the size of a large warehouse. While he was showing them around a lady customer came in and the old man asked if she would mind if his apprentices observed the process, which the woman agreed to cheerfully.
Natasha couldn't understand why the woman was here. She seemed much too cheerful to need anything. Then in an achingly sweet gesture the woman shook their hands and thanked them for any help they can provide. When she shook Tasha's hand the former assassin noticed the bruises around her wrists. They were all too familiar to the former Red Room student. Without a word she walked to the left and most of the way down the third aisle from where they had been standing.
She picked up an old fashioned folding photograph stand that had two pictures, both black and white photos set in a silver frame. The first is of a young woman in a twenties style flapper dress and high heels, Standing by a roadster with her high heeled shoe up on the running board showing off a scandalous amount of leg. The other was another woman slightly older wearing a classic 1950's style dress her hair was shoulder length and flowing freely in a slight breeze. She stood leaning against a metal rail on a staircase, a couple of oak trees and a clock tower were standing in the background.
Carrying the frame back to where they had been standing she handed the woman the frame without a word. "What's this?" the woman said with a wary smile on her face.
While Clint looked on curiously, the old man with a proud smile at Natasha, "Why don't you open it and find out?"
The woman who had identified herself as Jane, did and for a few seconds she simply stared at the pictures and then covered her mouth as a sudden sob tore through her small frame. How did you get these? Where did they come from?" She said as tears welled in her eyes and spilled over to run down her cheeks. "I thought these were lost in the fire a few years ago."
"What fire?" Clint asked as a nagging suspicion ran through his brain.
"Apartment fire, it happened shortly after I had met Charlie, so yeah about three years ago. My apartment burned down, the insurance took forever to pay off so I ended up having to move in with Charlie.
"Why did it take so long for them to finish paying off the insurance claim?" Clint asked thoughtfully.
"They said the fire was suspicious, like arson and they were investigating to clear me of any wrongdoing before they paid the insurance claim." replied the woman gutlessly as she caressed the edges of the silver frame.
"Who are they?" Natasha finally asked.
"They are my grandmother," she said indicating the woman in the flapper style dress, "and my mother."
"They look like free thinkers and adventurers," Natasha said admiringly as she stared at the photographs.
"Oh they were that and so much more." said the woman. "My mom became a lawyer and a judge. She wouldn't put up with anything stupid in her courtroom or her house. Charley wanted me to sell the house after she died. I couldn't do it though there was a codicil in the will, that was the first time he hit me." she drew in a deep breath.
Then aid, "I swear if Nannie were here and saw that happen she would have shot him with her pearl handled revolver. You know when the first World War happened and her husband died she got all of his families money and everything, she decided to live a little. She took a trip to Australia, lived there a while and adopted a couple of daughters because she and her husband didn't have time to have children before he died."
She took a tissue out of her purse and dabbed her eyes, "I'm named for one of them, they wouldn't take any bullshit from anyone. Charlie wanted me to loan him some of my inheritance and put me on his checking account, we had an argument about it."
"Did they ever resolve the arson case?" Clint asked thoughtfully.
"Not yet that I know of. Why?" Jane asked as she trace the faces of the two women.
"I suggest you go back and talk to them ask them if they think it's possible that Charlie started the fire. Tell them you suspect that he burned you out to get you to move in with him." Clint said in a gentle tone.
Jane stared at him for a moment and her mouth was hanging open. When she spoke again it was with a slight squeak in her voice that betrayed exactly how upset she was as she said, "You think that he did that, but why, he barely knew me?"
"He knew enough to know that your mother and grandmother had left you with a good bit of money and property…greed can be a powerful motivator. Unfortunately." said the old man with a sad expression on his wrinkled face.
The woman held the picture frame to her chest like a shield as her expression changed from fake cheer to righteous anger as she said, "Thank you so much for helping me." she said as she shook all of their hands again. "This isn't what I was looking for when I came in but you've returned part of my history to me. You don't know how much this means to me, or how much I appreciate it. How much do I owe you?"
The Wizard told her gently, "Nothing, nothing at all. We were happy to help you and this was yours to begin with. Please take it with our compliments and the hope you will perhaps recommend us to your friends." he says as he ushers her to the door and she goes through the revolving door outside with ease.
He turns back to them with a huge smile on his face, "and that is how you help the customers here. Well done. Very well done indeed you two. Now I have some bookkeeping to do. I'll leave you to it shall I? If you have any trouble just call for me and we'll work it out together. Alright?" With that he disappeared, literally. A slight popping noise and he was gone.
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So that was how their lives had been running ever since. By their rough calculations they had been here for three weeks. Although it was difficult to tell because there were no windows anywhere and the door of course was blacked out. But at a certain time each day the lights in the warehouse would dim and the pair knew it was the end of their work day.
As for the work itself, the pair would find the things their clients would need/ Strangely enough sometimes it's a memory from their childhood or relieving them of grief or guilt. They somehow find these things in the shop.
They did find out that if you weren't given what you needed before you tried to leave you also couldn't leave a curio shop. A young man came in, late teens, early twenties. Clint didn't say anything but the young fellow reminded him of him when he was the same age. Before he had come up on SHIELD's radar and had met an agent named Coulson who had changed his life for the better.
The kid was tough and hardened, from a lot of time on the street if Clint was any judge. But when the partners offered to help him find something, the young man flinched away from them and said, "I don't need any help." He nearly ran back to the entrance, snatching up a knapsack sitting just inside the door, and slid into the revolving door.
Then slid right back out again. He blinked a couple of times and then tried again. Only to appear in the shop once again, he started to reach inside his knapsack and Clint forestalled him, "Don't feel bad it does it to us too."
"What, why?" said the young man with old eyes. As he looked around with a trapped expression on his face.
"What's your name?" the Widow asked with a very comforting expression on her face. Clint blessed her silently, he didn't think, "Because it's magic?" would go over to well with the teen as an answer.
"Jesse Dixon," the boy said almost belligerently as he walked slowly back toward them. Clint studied him the clothes he was wearing were practically rags, his shoes were falling apart and the backpack was held onto like a lifeline. Clint recognized himself in the boy, and in the same instant he realized what the boy needed. Now he just had to find it.
Ducking back into the shelves of the curio shop, he heard the murmurs of Natasha's voice and the slightly deeper tones of the young man as Natasha talked to him quietly. Without knowing where he was going really Barton crossed over two aisles to come across a backpack sitting next to a wool trench coat and a pair of combat boots. He picked these things up but knew he wasn't finished. He kept walking down the aisle to the very end, at the end was a set of file cabinets.
Cocking his head briefly and searched for the D drawer, finding it he pulled it open. Inside was a large manila envelope wit the name Jesse Dixon on it. Placing the clothing and backpack on top of the file cabinet, Clint opened the unsealed envelope. Inside was a map of the United States, with a route clearly marked from Norfolk VA to Blue Ridge GA. Also included was what appeared to be a hand drawn map from Blue Ridge to an area near a river there were no roads to speak of from the map but coordinates.
There was also a large envelope of cash, probably a thousand, some id, a check for 25000, and a deed for 300 hectares of land somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He nodded and stuffed everything back into the envelope, he carried it, the pack and the clothes back up to the front of the shop. Smiling reassuringly at the boy ad his partner he said, "Come with me," and walked to the counter. He opened the backpack and took out a pair of jeans, t-shirt, socks and underwear. Still carrying the coat, boots, and envelope he flipped a switch behind the counter to set an alarm in case someone else came through the door. Then walked on back to the apartment area that he and Natasha shared.
Jesse followed the pair and he said, "What's going on?"
Clint replied, "Go change into this, there's a bathroom right there." When he saw the figurative storm clouds brewing over the kids head, Barton forestalled him. "It's your stuff, now change and we'll talk about the rest." He said and then piled all of the stuff into the teenagers arms, before joining his partner at the table.
Natasha watched as Clint quickly took everything out of both backpacks and repacked it into the larger of the two. When Jesse came out of the bathroom he looked older, stronger, definitely not like a half-starved kid who a strong breeze could blow over. Natasha heated up some soup as Clint called the boy to the table and explained what he needed to do. It was hard to convince the boy until Clint showed him the money and even more difficult when he showed him the check for the incredible sum.
When he showed him the deed to the land, Jesse said, in awe, "Grandpa? When I was a kid, I went to visit my grandfather, he took me to this place. I told him I had this idea about building some log cabins out there, for people who wanted to rough it, you know, no electricity really but they didn't want to sleep in a tent or in a sleeping bag on the ground." he paused for a minute with a faraway look in his eyes, "We used to talk about it for hours until I could practically see it all mapped out in my head. He built a little log cabin up there, when he died my step mom and her boyfriend tried to sell it but there was something in the will to block it. She was pissed and that's when things started getting worse at home."
"I have a feeling you know why that happened now." Clint said sympathetically.
"Yeah I guess I do." Jesse answered as he continued to stare at the map and coordinates almost longingly. With amazing skill Barton taught Jesse how to read a compass, use a map, and when he found out the young man knew how to ride a bike. He advised him to buy a street legal dirt bike and drive to the property. He also advised him to buy a horse or two and work on the cabins, if they weren't already built (which he suspected). Then started advertising first locally and then on the web.
Needless to say when Jesse Dixon left the curio shop, he definitely had what he needed. Hope, a home, and a future. Now Tasha thought if only we had the same things.
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The partners were spending so much time together, now in non-life-threatening situations, they were getting closer. As they spend more time together, they started having dinners together. They also found several board games throughout the shop, so they started having game nights.
As they are eating one night they returned to a conversation they had been having earlier in the day. The customer they had helped today had been trying to find a man she had known in high school who for the life of her she couldn't remember his last name. They had actually found an old high school yearbook with the picture of the customer and the man, Kyle Jeffries. The woman was thrilled and practically danced out of the door.
The discussion had been about whether the partners believed in true love and who they might think if for a significant other. Of course having been her partner for several years now Clint knew Tasha's feelings on love being for children. She had explained, "The Red Room and my trainers…well they made intimacy either a torture or a part of the mission." she laughed hollowly, "sometimes both."
"Then of course there's the fact that the serum has basically rendered me sterile. Not many men would enjoy being with damaged goods." Natasha said quietly.
"Tasha you are not damaged goods and not everyone wants kids. I mean after all of your work for SHIELD they could potentially be used against you." Clint said soothingly. "Besides if you decide to have kids, do you have any idea how many great kids there are to adopt out there?"
"And whoever I decide to marry do you think they're just going to forget or be unaware of my past, my background, I doubt it. If I can't trust someone with that, why would I trust them with my heart?" she said and then looked at her partner.
"Yeah, I get that." said Clint bitterly, "I have trouble trusting people. I mean in my experience they only hurt you, use you and throw you away like so much garbage. So I know where you're coming from, but after all this time there must be someone at SHIELD you trust."
"Of course I trust you, I trusted Coulson too," she says a little sadly and then, "I trust Fury and Hill to do what's right for the world, but I don't trust them with my life. I'm also starting to trust the other Avengers, but that's still kind of new so…"
"So you still don't trust enough to love yet?" Clint made it more a statement than a question, so Natasha didn't answer.
"What about you?" Natasha asked thoughtfully. "If you had to think about it, which would you say is beyond your experience right now? Trust, love or both?"
"Can you really have love without trust?" Barton said thoughtfully as he rubbed e light stubble on his chin. "I would say we are lacking both to various degrees. Mine is more an issue of trust and yours is love."
He thought about Jesse from the other day and then slowly a smile started to form on his face as he turned to his partner and said, "I think I figured it out, we have to find each others need. You find my trust and I find your love. Then maybe we can get back home," Barton said with quiet excitement.
Nat considered all the angles of what he had suggested and gave a warm smile and nodded her head in agreement. They decide to wait until in the morning when it is generally not as busy.
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The next morning they waited until near their break time and Clint said with a wide smile. "I'll get yours and then you can go after mine. Okay?"
Natasha nodded her head in agreement and Barton moved into the shelves swiftly. He picked up a purple jar about the size of a baseball and started to walk back to the counter only to find himself taking a right instead of a left at the end of the aisle. When he collected the deep cobalt blue bottle that was only the size of his thumb, he wanted to go back to the counter except he went deeper into the shop instead. He reached deep into a shelf and pulled out another bottle, this one a deep emerald green.
With his collection of bottles held carefully in his arms he walked back to the counter and gingerly put the jars on the counter. He smiled at her and said, "Your turn." As he took the lids off all three bottles to check the contents. The largest green on was only about half full so he carefully poured the contents of the other bottles into that one.
Meanwhile Natasha went into the shelves to find his trust, she searched all over and was finally drawn to a small globe shaped stone as she started to leave the shelves the stone slipped through her fingers and rolled under one of the shelves and she said softly, "No, no, no!" in desperation. She fell to her knees beside the shelving unit and reached under the shelf trying to find the stone again.
After several minutes Clint called, "Nat it's ready." When she didn't answer, he became concerned. Then he heard frantic murmuring and he left the counter quickly to go find his partner. "Nat?"
"Tasha?!" he said, when he glanced down several of the aisles without spotting her. Then he heard what sounded suspiciously like a sob. He had never since he had met her seen or heard the Widow cry. Not when Coulson had died, not when she was remembering the death of her parents or her torture at the hands of the Red Rooms operators.
Whatever was making Tasha cry had better have filled out its insurance cause Clint was coming to help cash it in. Wishing for his bow, Barton instead grabbed a heavy brass vase and a ceremonial looking dagger and ran towards where the sound of the sobbing was coming from.
He found Natasha on the ground, on her side with her arm up under the shelving unit. Her sobs were punctuated by her repeatedly saying softly, "No, no, please no." After assuring himself that there was no one else in the aisle, Clint moved toward his partner.
"Tasha, what's wrong?" he said as he squatted down beside her in the aisle.
"I lost it," his partner whispered dejectedly, "It rolled under here I know it did, but I can't find it. I know your gonna hate me, but its not here. It should be right here, I swear Clint…." As she was speaking her voice became more dejected and her usually composed and neutral expression crumbled right before Barton's eyes.
She was curled up on her side in the fetal position, and he understood what had happened. Clint was actually relieved, that she wasn't hurt, he also realized that as long as she was safe, the rest didn't matter.
"It's okay," he said, his husky voice soothing, as he held her close. "Its gonna be fine, I want you to drink this," he said as he handed her the potion he had concocted.
She looked at him perplexed for a second and then when she realized what he was trying to do, sadness and confusion were quickly replaced with the fury of a Russian redhead and he actually cringed as she began screaming Russian expletives at him.
Jumping up from his lap she began pacing up and down the aisle next to him, hands waving dramatically and screaming language that any sailor would blush at. Apparently when she ran out of Russian curses she began using ones that he recognized as Spanish, German, Italian, French, Kirdish, Pashtu, and what he finally determined was Gaelic.
His smile gets wider with each passing moment and when he steps in front of her and she doesn't take a punch at him, he laughs. "What's so funny?" she says hotly.
"You don't get it, Tasha. I don't need the ting whatever it was to give me back my trust.. You did that you crazy woman." he said simply and crossing his arms over his chest, he cocked his head at her waiting for the next explosion.
It tool her the span of two blinks before the shock in her eyes dissipated and she said, "What?" Before she could start cursing him in a variety of Asian languages he caught her face in his hands and surging forward lowered his head to taste her lips only it quickly turned into more than a tasting.
Pulling away when his breath grew short he said, "You heard me, I said you already gave me my trust back and I love you. I don't need whatever it was that rolled up under the shelves. Now.." he said releasing her face. Before he quickly relocated the small glass bottle and picking it back up, tried to hand it to her again.
Still refusing to take her need back from him she said, "How do you know you don't need it?"
He smiled and said, "I trust. I trust you and the Avengers. I also trust that if for some reason this doesn't work," he said as he once again offered her the potion, "that you and the others will come back and get me."
Suddenly something flashed so quickly in her eyes he didn't even have time to recognize it before she had slapped the glass bottle out of his hands. When he shouted wordlessly and tried to catch it she wrapped her arms around him to hold him back, as it hit the floor and shattered into a million pieces with the liquid contents splattered in several directions including under the same shelving unit as Clints need.
"Tasha no," he said belatedly.
"Clint you said you trusted me." she said softly as she released him and there was a hint of doubt in her voice.
Whirling back to face her he replied, "I do, but I want you to be safe and back home. I want you to have your heart, your love, your need." The Russian assassin stared at him for a moment and whatever she saw seemed to convince her of the veracity of his declaration, what she saw seemed to satisfy her curiosity.
She moved forward and said, "I figured something out too. Russians don't care much where they stay its who they are with that's important. When you find people or a person that are everything to you, you stick with them. You are all those things to me, my home, my heart, my love, my need." She smiled at him and reached out to touch his chest, feeling his heart hammering underneath the skin. She smiled at him before continuing.
"Those things they weren't what we thought we needed. You remember the Wizard said, its not what they want that important but what they need. WE found what we wanted and I think we already had what we needed before we ever came here. It just took us a while to figure it out. We were just finding what we need right now. You know what that is right?"
He looked at her perplexed for once his mind not following the complexities of the Russians mind. Then it clicked, "We need a way home." he said.
The pair looked behind them at the floor where the spill had turned into a hole in the floor, taking each others hands they jumped through the hole. Only to land very hard on the sidewalk a few seconds later and only a few feet away from where their time with the Wizard had started. Natasha coughed a few times to try and get some breath back into her lungs. Meanwhile Clint groaned as he turned himself over on his back painfully.
"You know I think we should recommend that Stark work on adding a little more padding to these things." he said referring to his TAC suit. "They can stop a bullet but they sure don't help you bounce at all when something like this happens." he said gruffly. When his partner didn't answer his head turned sharply to stare in her direction and he noticed she wasn't moving. Pushing the pain aside quickly her rolled to all fours and crawled to her quickly through the remaining rubble and debris.
"Tasha?" he said with concern, wanting to pull her into his arms but not doing it in case she was severely injured. Instead he found her with her eyes open staring up at the sky, she smiled dreamily when she saw him though. Holding her arms out to him she said in surprised wonderment and complete sincerity. "This must be heaven, the sky is blue and the angels look like Clint."
He smiled at her and careful not to lay across her in case she was injured, he lowered himself to kiss her thoroughly. Right up to and through the embarrassed but grinning faces of their trio of friends. Stark is going to be very unhappy that he missed this Steve said with amused good nature.
Bruce who was grateful to still have clothes on after shrinking back down to normal had added in a helpful tone, "Oh don't worry I'm sure he's probably given Jarvis orders to bring up any and all video, satellite and surveillance feeds of us while he was gone. With highlights of anything embarrassing or blackmail worthy to be sent to him discreetly, no matter what Pepper said about staying off grid. This is Tony we're taking about after all."
The group had laughed knowingly and with a little embarrassment as they made their way back to SHIELD headquarters to be debriefed.
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Meanwhile back at the curio shop the Wizard had returned for one of his twice weekly visits only to discover the mess in the aisles and the missing pair. The hole had since closed back up leaving only the shattered glass to be dealt with.
The old man shook his head and conjured a broom to clean up the mess. As he swept he shook his head and muttered, "It's so hard to keep good help these days."
The End?