"I feel like I'm being put into daycare," Clint grumbled as Nat parked in the garage of the new and improved Stark Tower (though Clint did hear it was being called the 'Avenger's Tower' now.)
The woman next to him merely raised an eyebrow before smoothly exiting the car and, not waiting for Clint, heading to the elevator, Clint strode after her, rolling his eyes as he did so.
"I see that Stark got the tower up pretty quick," he remarked.
"It's been over a year, Clint." Nat reminded him, her tone detached.
He frowned slightly at that, and discovered she was right. "Huh, guess time flies." Clint said with a small grin, which quickly fled his face at Nat's cold expression.
"Over a year, and nothing! Even for you, Clinton Barton, that is ridiculous!" She snapped, evidently she had been holding back at the hospital.
Clint frowned at the use of his full name, his brows drew together in confusion at her statement. "What do you mean? Fury should have-"
"Well Fury didn't!" Nat glared at him icily, "and really? One note, that's it?"
"It's not like you've never been on long missions before!" Clint retorted, his temper flaring a little; he wasn't just going to be told off like a kid.
"I know I have, but I always check in regularly." She replied quickly, the frost not leaving her eyes. "That's your problem, you know that, Clint? You're unreliable, honestly, there are times when you're worse than Stark!"
The elevator doors dinged open, and the two master assassins found themselves faced with Tony Stark and Steve Rogers; both gaping in the direction of the elevator.
"I'm taking that as an insult," Tony said, gathering himself quickly. "No-one is more unreliable than me." He declared.
"Not something to be proud of, sweetie!" Pepper said as she dashed through the living room, towards the elevator. The assassins stepped aside as the CEO of Stark Enterprises marched past them and into the elevator. "I'll see you soon!" She called to Tony, who winked at her before the doors closed.
"Feed from the elevator directed to JARVIS?" Clint guessed, judging that, from the looks that had been on Steve and Tony's faces when they arrived, his and Nat's argument had been heard.
"Pretty much," Tony nodded, smirking a little at Clint. "So what's up, trouble in paradise?"
"Oh, go suck a lug-wrench, Stark." Nat snapped, striding past him and through the living room, down a corridor.
"What did I do?" Tony asked, feigning ignorance.
Steve raised an eyebrow, "well, you weren't exactly sensitive." He said, rolling his eyes as the billionaire pulled a face.
"Whatever, she's not usually so hissy about it." He said defensively. "You really screwed up, Katniss." Tony added, looking at Clint, who scowled.
"Yeah well, we can't all pay women to forget their troubles." He said, which was neither justified nor called for, but he was having a bad day.
Tony raised an eyebrow, glancing at Steve who had crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm beginning to think I'm not welcome in my own home," he said, voice verging on a whine.
Clint rubbed a hand over his face and released a sigh, "sorry." He muttered, if only the mollify the offended inventor. "Long day, which room's gonna be mine?" He asked, looking at Tony.
"JARVIS can show you to it," Tony said, apparently now all was forgiven. "But don't be a Banner and hide in your room all day."
As Clint smirked and made to step past him, Tony put out a hand to stop him. "Where's your bags?" He asked, a frown of puzzlement creasing his brow.
"Really?" Clint raised an eyebrow, "I've been on a mission for over a year, you think I have clothes with me?"
"Well, why didn't you bring some stuff over from your place?" Tony asked.
"I was living at the base that got destroyed," Clint said. "And I didn't exactly have time to grab my things," he said, an odd expression crossing his face, but it was covered by his dry tone.
Tony shrugged, "whatever. JARVIS will have taken your measurements, get him to buy you some clothes." He said, stepping towards the elevator.
"Uh, okay..."
"And don't worry about money," Tony added as the doors opened. "It can go on my account."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Clint grinned at Tony, who threw up a peace sign to him as the doors closed.
"What about you, Cap'?" Clint asked, turning to the man.
Steve rolled his eyes and smirked at Clint, "I'll be leaving you to deal with Tasha. I have some errands to run anyway."
"Real supportive of ya'," Clint muttered, waving to Steve and turning to walk down the corridor.
"This way, sir." Came the automated voice of JARVIS, lighting up a doorway a little way down the corridor.
"Erm, thanks." He said, pushing open the door and stepping inside the room.
It was cosy, and obviously Tony had taken it upon himself to design and furnish Clint's room himself with his limited knowledge of the man. Instead of a bed, a hammock was hanging from the ceiling; instead of a normal chair, there was a purple bubble chair which hung in front of a desk against the wall. The walls were painted a dark purple and there was a plush, black carpet under his feet, a set of French doors led on to a balcony, which Clint immediately opened and stepped onto. From it he could see most of New York; of course Tony had taken it upon himself to house Clint on the floor second from the top. Clint re-entered his room, and saw that on the desk there was a Stark tablet and phone, it seemed Tony didn't believe anybody could survive without technology, Clint mused as he picked up the tablet and sat back in the bubble chair which, he had to admit, was actually pretty cool.
After shopping online for a few hours, no expense had been spared for Tony, Clint uncurled himself from the chair and stretched, clicking his neck. His stomach growled and Clint set off in search of food, really he should have been looking for Nat to talk to her, but; he reasoned, nothing good would come of talking on an empty stomach. Though, that wasn't the real reason he was avoiding her. Unreliable, that was what she'd called him. It had hit home in a way Nat couldn't possibly know. He had been unreliable when Loki had turned him to his side, unreliable when he brought home the assassin instead of killing her, like he was supposed to. Unreliable when he'd let Hunt see a little of his true self. Unreliable when he'd nearly died from taking the virus when the chems ran out. Unreliable when Eldridge had been shot in the leg because of him. Unreliable , reckless; that was him. Clint tried to shake the sombre thoughts from his head, the guilt would overwhelm him, and if that happened; he would be no use to anybody.
Having found the kitchen without getting lost too many times, Clint had decided against making himself anything and instead ordered a pizza, there was barely any food in the kitchen and he doubted even the most resourceful agents wouldn't have been able to make anything edible from the contents of the fridge. As he was waiting for his pizza to arrive, by seating on the couch in what appeared to be the living room and flicking through TV channels, his phone rang.
Clint frowned slightly as he picked up the phone, it was new, but he guessed Tony could have given out the number to anyone who might need it. The number came up as unknown, but Clint answered anyway; it could be someone calling from another number, the people he knew weren't exactly in the habit of keeping devices around that could be tracked.
"Who is this?" He said by way of greeting, turning down the TV.
"You thought you could get away."
"What?" Clint's frown deepened. "Who is this?" He repeated.
"We know all about you."
"Tony, if this is some kind of joke-"
"Aaron Cross. William Brandt."
Clint faltered, those were both names from two of his most dangerous missions, and he had only just dropped the last persona; that had been a part of his mission.
"William James."
That name sent a jolt of pain through him. Connie, his son. The memories threatened to overwhelm him, but he forced them down.
"What do you want?" Clint growled into the phone, leaning forward. "Who are you?"
"You left the CIA, the army, even the IMF without them ever questioning it. But we know who you are, and who you have been." The voice on the other end of the line was feminine, cold, betraying not a sliver of emotion.
"What do you want?" Clint demanded, his voice was tight, controlled, and very, very angry.
"You'll find out soon enough." The voice betrayed its first hint of emotion, the barest trace of cool amusement before the woman hung up.
It was all Clint could do to stare at the phone, held limply in his hand, his mind whirling at the implications of the conversation he'd just had. The voice, the woman, she'd known him. Worse than that, she'd known everything. He must have screwed up at some point. Or he'd been sold out. Clint's jaw clenched at the thought. He didn't necessarily trust the people at S.H.I.E.L.D, but he didn't think they'd sell him out; especially not with everything they could lose.
"Clint?" He whipped around at the sound of the voice, feminine; yes, but hers contained emotion.
Nat walked slowly over to him, "Clint, what happened?" All the tension from their earlier fight dissolved, and he could see the rare concern in her eyes.
"I-" He paused, swallowed, and started again. "Somebody knows, Nat."
She was immediately alert, icy blue eyes searching his own pearl grey ones. "What do they know?" She asked.
"Everything," Clint almost choked on the words, but he swallowed the lump in his throat; those names brought up emotions he didn't like to deal with. "My aliases. Some of the most important missions I've ever done, and they knew who I was."
Nat pursed her lips, she knew how that could undo a person; especially an agent such as Clint. "Do you know who it was?"
He shook his head morosely, "no. It was a woman, that's all I know." Clint said, "but it must be to do with whoever sent me to get my suntan." He added drily, the memory of the harsh Saharan sun still vivid in his mind.
"We need to call the others," Nat said decisively. "If they know about you, they could know everything, about all of us. You get that, JARVIS?"
"Mr Stark is on his way up now, Agent Romanoff, as is Dr Banner. I have called Captain Rogers and Thor is on his way." JARVIS replied, and Clint raised his eyebrows at Nat.
"Assemble?"
It wasn't exactly as Clint had imagined it, when he had pictured the world's greatest heroes assembling to address a serious breach in security, he had imagined it... Well, differently.
Tony Stark; genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, was sprawled in an armchair, fiddling with his phone. Thor; son of Odin, Prince of Asgard, was sitting on the couch, hunched over a box of pop tarts. Steve Rogers; also known as Captain America, was leaning back on the couch next to Thor, sketching something absently in a notepad. Dr Bruce Banner, also the Hulk, was sitting in a chair, eyes darting around behind his glasses as he settled amongst his fellow 'superheroes'. Natasha was standing up, in front of the TV, with Clint pacing behind the couch and just out of the group.
He wished there was a good high spot in the tower, he saw better from a distance and Clint thought he might be able to figure something out if he could just get up higher. Sure, he was in a skyscraper which towered above most of New York, but it didn't have quite the same effect.
"Everybody listen." Natasha ordered, her cool, calm voice demanding attention. "The situation has been explained to you, now we need to do something about it."
"Well, all due respect, Legolas," Tony said, of course he spoke first. "But, why? Shouldn't S.H.I.E.L.D be dealing with this? Call Nick."
"Because he is your team-mate, Stark." Steve said, looking up from his notepad to fix Tony with his stare. "We help each other, and we don't question it."
"His question still stands, though." Bruce pointed out, "why isn't S.H.I.E.L.D getting involved in this? I would have thought they'd want to be informed about this, especially as one of their agents could be compromised."
The whole team looked to Clint, who paused in his pacing and raised an eyebrow at them. "What?"
"It's just..." Bruce trailed off, looking uncomfortable.
"You have been around least, Clint." Steve explained, "no offence, but we don't really know you-"
Clint waved away the apology, it made perfect sense. Fury liked to keep Nat close at hand, and not send her off on long missions. Tony, of course, would have been hanging around his beloved tower, Bruce with him. Steve had been enlisted into S.H.I.E.L.D, and had much the same job as Nat. Even Thor was living on Earth now.
"And so, we don't know why you might be targeted." Steve finished, and Tony, Thor and Bruce nodded.
"Do you even know?" Tony asked, looking at Clint curiously.
"He works for S.H.I.E.L.D," Nat cut in. "He always going to be a target."
"Anyway," she continued. "This is going nowhere. Stark, I need you to see if you can trace the call from Clint's phone."
"On it," Tony nodded with a grin, he stood up and held out his hand to Clint, who gave him the phone reluctantly.
"I just got this," he muttered, and from the small smirk that tugged on Tony's mouth, he figured the other man heard.
"In the meantime," Nat said, looking at the other three. "Steve, you check with Fury, see if he'd received any weird threats or messages recently. Bruce..." She trailed off, unsure of what to ask the man.
"It's alright," Bruce said quickly. "I'll go with Steve, Fury might be a bit more willing to talk with me around."
Steve smiled at Bruce and the two stood, then headed to the elevator with Tony.
"Is there any job for me?" Thor asked, looking at Nat.
"Yes," she said. "Clint is going to make a list of everyone with a grudge against him, and you're going to check them out."
Clint spluttered, staring at Nat in disbelief. "You can't be serious. There's no way I'll be able to get everyone I've ever pissed off."
The look he received from Nat somewhat convinced him otherwise, but he still grumbled as he went to fetch the Stark tablet; he'd be damned if he wasn't going to cut a few corners with his ridiculous workload.
Okay, wow. So my brain did a thing and now this is kind of a crossover, no characters from the mentioned movies will be involved (not to any great degree, well that's the plan right now at least). I hope people aren't put off/ annoyed by this.
McGladiator- Thank you! Here's your update. :)
Guest- You may not see this, hope you do! Thanks for your encouragement!
AustralianRanger012- Definitely won't be revealed until the end (obviously not because I'm just writing as I go along...). I most certainly will keep writing! :)
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
If anyone was wondering, the characters mentioned that are played by Jeremy Renner are from these movies:
Aaron Cross- The Bourne Legacy
William Brandt- Mission: Impossible 4- Ghost Protocol
William James- The Hurt Locker (which, incidentally, had Anthony Mackie in AKA Sam Wilson/ Falcon- ooooooh, even more ideas. You guys are gonna get sick of my ideas soon! :) )