AN: I was glad to see some interest in the last chapter. I hope this chapter goes over just as well.

THANK YOU TO MY REVIEWER:

TheNaggingCube – Not exactly. The Avengers are about to have their hands full.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Avengers. I wish I did. I don't though.

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"In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act." –George Orwell

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Clint pulled himself to his feet feeling sore and beaten. Falling down a flight of stairs could do that to a guy. He took an inventory of injuries but the worst he could find was a pretty painful bump just below his hairline that he'd gotten when his head hit the floor. Beyond that there were a couple of bruises scattered around his body and his ears were still ringing from the blast. He couldn't have been out for long since even the first responders had yet to show up. Clint shook himself of the last of his disorientation so he could leave. Sticking around any longer would only cause problems. It wasn't a huge jump to see the guy with a bow and arrows, two guns, and a bloody knife on him, look at the charred remains of a hotel room and start putting two and two together. Clint looked like a mercenary and if he didn't get out of here soon the cops would think the same thing.

Clint flew down the stairs at lightning speed. Running from a crime scene only makes you look guilty but in Clint's case, he was safer the farther he got from the explosion. He pulled his SHIELD issued cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Natasha. "Hey, meet me at the rendezvous point."

"You're supposed to call after you get there," Natasha said.

"I need out of the area fast," Clint said. "Trust me. I will get rid of all tails before I show up just meet me there."

"Is something wrong?" Natasha asked.

Clint thought back to what he'd learned about his and Natasha's employers. "Yeah, I think so. I'll tell you when we meet up though."

"See you soon," Natasha said. "Stay safe."

"Right back at you," he said and then hung up.

Clint tried to look as inconspicuous as he could while wearing an arsenal and fleeing the scene of a crime. There was definitely something to be said about long-distance kills. It's much easier to get away when you're three blocks away already. Clint ambled around the block a few times before heading to the train station. No tails, no one following him, no one even gave him a dirty look. Clint grabbed the sniper rifle, got on the train, and took off for the rendezvous point. He had a headache from the adrenaline rush and the bump on his head. Clint leaned back into the chair and used the opportunity to take a few deep breaths. If Clint was honest with himself he knew the reason he was so upset was the very simple fact that the explosion had brought him back to New York. He'd be a liar if he said that the events that had taken place one year ago didn't affect him. They affected all of them. Natasha had taken to coming to his room to sleep out the nightmares. Clint dreamed that Natasha didn't win the fight on the Helicarrier and he hurt her. Clint dreamed that they lost against Loki and Earth was destroyed. Clint had horrible dreams.

"Tu voudrais un oreiller?" An attendant came up and asked.

Clint let out a ragged breath before replying. "I don't, um, je ne comprends pas le français."

"American?" The attendant asked with a smile. Her French accent was faint.

Clint sighed and returned the smile. "How'd you guess?"

"In Europe you just have to throw a stone to hit another country. A person needs to speak many languages here. In America, you have to travel very far to meet another nation," The attendant replied. "Americans don't usually know another language."

"Well I am American but I know several other languages. French just isn't one of them," Clint supplied.

She laughed and nodded. "Then I am impressed. Would you like a pillow, sir?"

Clint shook his head, "No thank you. I won't be on the train long enough for that."

"Very well," she replied.

Clint mulled over what Francois Gautier had said. None of it, not the conversation, not the emails, not the mission reports, none of it mattered. All of the information was gone, destroyed along with the bodies and the hotel room it all was in. Clint couldn't prove anything. That was a depressing thought. Clint had gone head to head against the Council once before for Natasha and that had nearly got both of them a death sentence. "I need to stop reminiscing."

The rendezvous spot was in the secluded field of an abandoned farm. The nearest neighbor was miles away which made it a perfect spot for extraction. The jet was already there, ready and waiting. Clint got on board and took the co-pilot's seat next to Natasha. She frowned at him. "I don't need a co-pilot."

"I trust you," Clint replied. "But I don't want to have to explain this to you from the back of the jet."

Natasha nodded and the jet took off. "What's this all about Clint?"

"I don't know how much I should say," Clint said.

"What kind of statement is that?" Natasha asked.

Clint shrugged with one shoulder. "This is the kind of information that could get a person killed. I don't want that person to be you."

Natasha glared at him only as long as she could take her eyes off the controls. "So it's better if you die for it?"

"That's not what I said, Nat," Clint replied. "A bomb exploded Gautier's hotel room."

"What? Clint, come on. I know you were itching for action but could you start out slower. Did you have to blow him to kingdom come?" Natasha demanded.

"Cool your jets, Nat," Clint said. "I didn't blow him up. The bomb was already there and had to be there before I even got into the room."

"Someone else was after him?" she asked.

"I don't know. I guess so. Look, the point is that I was in that room and I found some papers. There were emails and balance sheets and mission reports and they were all from SHIELD. I mean, damn Nat, there were mission reports from some of our missions," he said.

Natasha's eyes widened. "What are you saying?"

"SHIELD was selling secrets. That's what Gautier said before I killed him," Clint said.

Natasha frowned. "I thought you said you didn't blow him up."

"I didn't. I'd already killed him when the bomb went off," Clint said.

Natasha chewed on her bottom lip in thought. "Do you think Gautier was telling the truth?"

"He knew he was dying and all he wanted at the end was for me to tell people," Clint said. "I don't know why he would lie."

"I don't know, because he's a corrupt politician. Maybe he lied because he's a criminal. Maybe he lied because he wanted to go out winning. Hell, politicians get paid to smile. Maybe all he knew how to do was lie," she said. She gave him a sideways look out of the corner of her eye. "Are you going to tell anyone?"

"Of course!" Clint exclaimed. "Why would I keep something like this a secret?"

"Why? Oh, I don't know," she replied sarcastically. "Maybe because, as you said earlier, this is the kind of information that people die over."

Clint couldn't believe what he was hearing. "That doesn't mean I can just keep it to myself. The information in those papers, that could endanger the lives of a lot of people."

"It didn't endanger us," Natasha reasoned. "You said it yourself. All that information on our missions and no one used it against us. You can't even be sure that any of what Gautier said was true."

"You didn't read the emails," Clint said shaking his head. "It sounded pretty truthful to me."

"Can I see them?" Natasha asked.

"What?" Clint asked.

"The emails," Natasha said. "I trust you but I want to see them."

Clint looked away guilty. "I don't have them. They were caught in the explosion."

"You don't have any evidence," Natasha said. She cursed as loud and as foul as she knew how. "Clint, honestly, what do you think you're going to do with this?"

"Nat, I know you don't always agree with me on everything but I expected you to back me up on this," he said.

Natasha let out a heavy breath. "If anyone knows what it's like to have the people that are supposed to help you turn on you it's me. I went through this once with the Black Widow program."

"Are you telling me you regret leaving and fighting?" Clint asked. The thought of her feeling that way hurt him at a level only she could hurt him at.

"No," Natasha said immediately. "I just think you need to spend some time on this."

"I'm not scared, Nat," Clint snapped.

"I know," Natasha replied softly. "But I am. Promise me you'll think about sitting on this for a while?"

"I'm not going to wait," Clint said.

"Just promise me you'll think about it," Natasha said. "We have a long flight home. Just think about it."

"Fine," he said. "I'll think about it, and only because it's you who asked."

Clint did think about it. He considered for one millisecond of a moment about keeping the information he'd found in Gautier's hotel room quiet. Why endanger himself, Natasha, and perhaps even the other Avengers with information that he'd yet to see thus far in action? Why put them all in danger on the mere chance that it could cause someone trouble? But the truth was clearly visible. Someone in the Council was endangering the lives of his fellow agents. Clint wouldn't turn his back on them. He'd already cost SHIELD so many lives when he was being used by Loki. He wished that he could look at this the same way as Natasha and put them over the others. That would make what he was doing so much easier. Instead he had to decide between his duty to the innocents everywhere or his duty to his partner. Never let it be said that the choice wasn't hard for him.

Natasha set the jet down on the runway and silently started shutting systems down when they came to a halt. Clint swallowed hard. She was waiting for him to say something and that spoke volumes. Natasha's skills were tied directly into how well she could manipulate you. The most potent way of doing that was through her words. Staying quiet, assassin or not, was not something that came naturally to the redhead. Clint spoke, "I'm going to tell them."

Natasha looked like she was holding herself back. She probably wanted to hit him. "God, you have no sense do you?"

"Sorry. I'm a country boy," Clint said with a guilt-ridden smile. "Lots of brawn but not a lot of brains."

"Don't act like you're stupid. We both know that you've got a genius IQ. Maybe you're not as bright as Stark or Banner but you are no idiot," Natasha snapped at him. "This, however, is a very stupid mistake."

"I'm going to request a meeting with the Council," Clint said.

Natasha nodded. "You never do anything halfway."

"I want you to stay away," Clint said finally. He knew she'd blow up at this.

She did. "You're taking this too far. I don't agree with what you are doing and if I was in your position we wouldn't even be having this conversation. If you're going to go through with it then I'm helping you."

"It isn't safe-" Clint started.

"Don't bullshit me with your martyring and your lone wolf load of crap," she snapped at him. "You are not the lone ranger. You don't get to play Maverick when you have a partner."

"I can't lose you, Natasha," Clint said. "I've lost my parents, my brother, and my friend. You're all I have left."

"When you die you're going to lose me anyways," Natasha pushed. "And when you die I'm going to lose you too. Because I didn't have anyone to lose does that somehow make your death easier? Is that how it is?"

"You know it's not like that," Clint said.

"Do I? Because the way I see it, it's okay for you to die but I should have to live with the guilt and the pain every day for the rest of my life," she said. "That's what I see."

"Fuck you," Clint spat at her. She was making this harder on him. He didn't need someone to make it harder on him. Maybe he was being harsh but he didn't know what else to do. "I love you, Nat, and I can't leave this world knowing you died because of a choice I made."

"Love is for children," Natasha replied automatically.

"Well then call me a child," Clint replied. "Maybe it's not the love other people have but I know what I feel. It's called love, Nat, and it makes me hurt when you get hurt."

Clint wanted her so desperately to tell him that she loved him too. He wanted her to admit to herself, to him, to the world, that she had emotions and that the emotion made her weak. In that moment, in the moment before she opened her mouth to say another word, he knew that if she said those words now he'd walk away from it all. He'd walk away from the truth, from the Council, and from SHIELD. He would walk away from the Avengers, from his job, and from danger. He would walk away and he'd take her with him. She hesitated. The truth of the matter was there in her eyes. All she had to do was say it. Finally she opened her mouth, "We're a team. I won't let you die alone."

Clint let out a ragged breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He was fighting a losing battle. Nothing he was going to say was going to make Natasha leave him. It was fitting in a way that they died together. He hung his head and said quietly, "Fine."

When the dynamic duo walked off the jet it was clear to everyone that the air around was two was electrified. From a distance one could see the tense way Natasha watched Clint's back and the near panicked look on his face when someone got to close to Natasha for Clint's liking. There was an air of resignation on the pair's faces as well. They walked with purpose and they walked with dignity. No one in the hangar could quite put their fingers on what the two master assassins looked like as they walked together in the hangar but if either Clint or Natasha had been watching the answer would have been simple. They looked like two people walking to their execution.

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Director Fury might have been startled when his two most effective employees stepped into his office but Clint watched his face carefully and the daunting man didn't show it. He simply raised his head to look at the pair and with an arched eyebrow, questioned their presence in his office. "Can I help you two?"

"The assignment you gave me has been completed. I talked with Ops and they agreed on a debrief this Friday," Clint replied.

"You came to my office to tell me that?" Director Fury asked.

Clint looked to Natasha for support and then took a deep breath. "I'd like to request an official meeting with the Council."

"I'd like to take a vacation to Aruba and work on my tan," Fury said drolly. "Guess neither of us will be getting what we wanted."

"I'm an official employee of SHIELD and therefore have the right to request a meeting with any personnel above and below myself," Clint said.

Fury countered, "I'm the official Director of SHIELD and therefore have the right to deny any meeting that any employee requests. You are dismissed, Barton."

"Fury, I will go through any channels I have to for this meeting. It'd be a whole lot easier for everyone if I got to do it through the right ones," Clint said.

"It's Director Fury," he said. He looked over Clint like he was analyzing him. It was an unusual request, Clint knew that. Fury was going to want to know Clint's motive. "Trust me when I say, you don't want to deal with the Council. They are a pain in the ass but it's my job to deal with them. Let me deal with them."

"Director Fury," Clint said making the Director sound as sarcastic as humanly possible. "For one final time I would like to request a meeting with the Council."

Fury paused again and analyzed. Finally he asked, "Are you resigning, Agent Barton?"

"No, sir," Clint said.

Fury's eyes drifted over to Natasha. "Is she resigning?"

"No, sir," Clint said.

Fury's face heated up and Clint could practically see the sparks going behind his eyes. "Is she pregnant?"

Clint had never known Natasha to show any emotion she didn't want to show. The cough that sounded unexpectedly behind him made him smile. "No, sir."

"Are you going to tell me what this is about?" Fury asked.

"No," Clint replied. There was a long, long pause before Clint added finally, "Sir."

Fury did another long pause. He picked up the phone and cradled it in his hand. "Should I set it up for after the debrief?"

Clint knew Fury was trying to stall but the archer was going to have none of that. "No. I'd like it as soon as possible. Today if you can make it happen."

"The Council is not going to take kindly to having to drop their business at a moment's notice to meet with an assassin," Fury said. Clint noticed he wasn't pulling punches.

"Just tell them it's concerning information discovered in the midst of the Gautier assignment," Clint said, hoping that would draw their attention enough to earn him a meeting.

Fury frowned. "That sounds like something I should be aware of. What kind of information?"

"Classified," Clint said. He barely managed to keep the smirk of his face. Even in the impending hours of his doom Clint was still pushing Fury's buttons. Some things never change.

Fury snarled at him. "I'm the Director of SHIELD. There is no classified for me."

"Then once I'm done sharing it with the Council I'm sure they'll be happy to share it with you," Clint replied.

Fury looked at Natasha with a piercing glare. "You've stayed pretty silent throughout all this. What's your view on the matter?"

If Fury was asking these kinds of questions he had to be suspicious. Of course, Clint was asking for a meeting with a group of people that even the garbage men knew didn't like Clint. Natasha's response was slow and precise. "We need a meeting with the Council, sir."

Fury sighed deeply. "Then I'd best get you a meeting. You're dismissed."

"Sir, I-" Clint started.

"You're dismissed, Barton," Fury said. "As are you, Romanoff."

"Yes, sir," Romanoff said and then they left.

Two hours later and the pair had the meeting they had asked of Fury. He was standing outside the room waiting for them and the surprise was, for once, very clear on his face. "Clint, what have you gotten into?"

"Are we on a first name basis now, Nick?" Clint asked. He was feeling brave. He imagined it was a common feeling for people this close to death.

"I don't know what you found in Paris but it's got the Council tripping over themselves just to have this meeting. A world conference on something more important than you was postponed for this meeting," Fury said quickly. He stood between Clint and the door. "Before you walk into that room I want you to think very hard. Think hard about what your priorities are."

"Right now, my priorities are to walk into that room," Clint replied.

Fury nodded once. "I hope to God you know what you're doing."

"He doesn't," Natasha said.

Fury looked from Clint to Natasha and back to Clint. "Somehow, I don't think I'm going to be able to stop you anyways."

Fury stepped aside. Without hesitation Clint stepped inside the room and Natasha soon followed suit.

The room was dark. The only light in the room emanated from the twelve barely lit screens. Clint's eyes moved from one screen to another. About half of the screens were filled with a male shaped silhouette and the other half were filled with a female one. Never let it be said that SHIELD wasn't equal opportunity. A female shaped silhouette on the right spoke first. "Greetings Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff. Director Fury said you had information regarding the hit on Francois Gautier."

"That's true. But first, if you'll indulge me, I have a question," Clint said.

"A question? What question?" A male silhouette asked.

"When you sent someone to put the bomb in Gautier's hotel room did you intend for it to kill me as well or would that have just been a pleasant bonus for you?" Clint asked.

Cliché as the saying may be, one could have heard a pin drop in the room. Another male silhouette snapped at him. "These are some very dangerous accusations you're making."

"Dangerous for you," Natasha said from behind him. It made Clint feel stronger, like what he was doing was right. He hadn't quite realized how unsure he was about all of this up to this point.

"You have been a thorn in our side since the beginning of your time here. This is the last straw. We will not be slandered by a…a…a glorified murderer," One of the women said. Clint nearly laughed as she attempted to call him names. How easy for her to point fingers but let it not be forgotten that someone had to give him names. Clint didn't just shoot anyone.

"He is no more a murderer than you," Natasha said. That still made Clint a murderer but as a trained sniper and a government assassin he knew as much.

"You have proof then?" A man laughed.

And there it was the hole in Clint's plan. Natasha didn't speak. She had pointed this flaw out to him as well. Clint wouldn't let it dissuade him, however. "No. You're right. The evidence was destroyed, but before Gautier died he told me that he wasn't the only one. I can find the other people you sold secrets to. I can find them and they'll tell the world everything they know."

"You have no evidence. You have nothing but the ramblings of a desperate dying man and you are nothing but a rebellious ungrateful agent that doesn't officially exist," Another man said. "We are not fooled into thinking you have anything on us."

"Ungrateful? You have made my life miserable at every turn!" Clint exclaimed. Nothing was ever easy with the Council.

"Is that so? We accepted you instead of continuing with an assassination protocol, we accepted Agent Romanoff instead of having you complete the assassination protocol, we allowed you to work with the Avengers, and we did not punish you for your stint with the mass murderer Loki," A woman said. "I think we have been quite generous."

"Being brainwashed by Loki was not my fault and as for those other things, Fury made that happen. Not you," Clint said.

"What the Council does to continue SHIELD's good work is no concern of an assassin," The only woman on the left said. "If you cease your petty attack now we will make the punishment swift and we will limit to you, Agent Barton, and you alone."

Natasha had to grab his shoulder because he tensed like he would attack. That would be ridiculous of course, the Council wasn't actually there, but Clint's tendency to fight came from instinct and right now his instincts were screaming at him to hit something. "I'm going to the T.V. stations and anyone else that will listen to me. Maybe you're right and maybe they don't believe me right away but the moment I tell them what I know someone somewhere will start looking into it. Someone will find the truth."

"Agent Barton, let me remind you that threating the Council is a very quick way to earn yourself a position of SHIELD's threat list," One man said.

Clint felt Natasha tense behind him. This threat, the threat of turning SHIELD on him, had been used once before. When Clint had brought Natasha in they'd threatened him and tried to get him to kill Natasha. Hearing him threatened again was probably bringing back some bad memories for her. It was certainly bringing back some bad memories for him. Clint sucked in a breath and replied in typically Clint Barton fashion, "Fuck you."

"We will not be spoken to in that manner-"A woman started.

"I think he just did," Natasha said. She and Clint exited the meeting room.

Fury was still waiting for them outside. He checked his watch once and then said, "That was over pretty quickly. How'd it go?"

"All SHIELD personnel, Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff are currently considered hostile and dangerous. Please detain them for further questioning. Repeat, Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff are considered hostile and dangerous," The voice over the P.A. system echoed in the halls.

Clint snorted. "Let's just say it didn't go well."

Fury snorted. "I warned you."

Natasha pulled her gun and aimed it at Fury. "Don't take this personally."

Fury held his hands up in surrender. "I'm not going to stop the two of you from running. "

"You're not?" Clint asked.

"Of course not. That would make things for the Council too easy. No, I'm going to let you hit me over the head and steal my pass card," Fury said.

Natasha frowned. "You're going to what?"

"Don't waste my time making me repeat myself, Agent Romanoff. Here's my card," Fury handed Clint a plain looking pass card. "Now I'm going to turn around and you're going to hit me over the head with that gun of yours. Try to aim for unconscious but not dead."

"How long do you want to be unconscious?" Natasha asked.

"Minutes, preferably, but I can handle a couple hours if you misjudge the force," Fury said.

Fury turned around and waited for the hit that would put him down long enough for Clint and Natasha to escape. Clint looked down at his gun and then up, uneasily, at the back of the Director's head. "This doesn't feel right."

Natasha scoffed and brought the butt of the gun down on Fury's head. He dropped to the ground immediately. She knelt down to check his pulse. "He's fine. The pulse is still strong."

Clint smiled. "You know, I hate to say it at a time like this but…I'm kind of enjoying this moment."

Natasha grinned as well. "I actually got to hit him. I'm on cloud nine."

Clint gripped the pass card tighter in his hand. "We should be going."

Natasha nodded. "Where do we go?"

Clint knelt down as well and dug through Fury's pockets until he found his phone. "I'm going to call the Avengers. We can't do this on our own, obviously. They're the only people I know with enough pull to rival the Council."

"We'll be putting them in danger by bringing them in," Natasha said.

"I don't know what else to do, Nat," Clint replied.

"Then call them," Nat said.

Clint dialed the first number he found for an Avenger. On the third ring they picked up, "Hello?"

"Dr. Banner? My name is Clint Barton? Remember me?" Clint asked.

Bruce gave a soft chuckle that sounded only slightly sarcastic. "How could I forget?"

That sounded a lot more sarcastic.

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AN: So, this chapter was actually supposed to be about double this size. I underestimated the amount of words it was going to take to tell this part of the story. I decided to cut the chapter in half instead of posting an 8000 word chapter. I'm aiming to keep the chapters in the 3000 – 5000 range but this is actually the longest chapter I've ever written so maybe the chapters might be on the larger end of that range. I didn't get a whole lot of feedback on the last chapter but I'd really like to know what people think. Please review! It helps me know what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing right.