"This is really going to endear us to Zalle," grumbled Barton as he sat up to make room for Tony to sit down on the bench.
The jail cell door slammed behind the billionaire as he moved to sit next to the archer. "Hey I made a call to Pepper; she'll have us out in no time."
"This was a really good idea Tony," snarled Steve. Bruce just nodded in agreement.
Thor gripped the bars. "I do not understand why you don't let me call for Mjolnir. This pathetic cage would be no match for it."
"This cage wouldn't be a match for any of us, but we should keep the felonies down to a minimum, otherwise SHIELD will stick us in a hole so deep we'll never see the light of day again," explained Clint.
"Seriously, they know who I am, if we just explain who you all are I'm sure they'd find it in their hearts to let us go," proposed Stark.
"Yes, because I'm sure the Director would love nothing more than to see us on the news for getting into a bar room brawl," snapped Steve. Tony just shrugged his shoulders.
The billionaire perked up at the sound of high heels clicking down the hall. He turned and put on his most 'you know you love me' face he could manage. "You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!"
"Save it Tony!" The team was highly impressed at the absolute professionalism and perfection that Pepper could manage at such a late hour. "If you think I don't have better things to do than come down here at three in the morning to bail your sorry asses out of jail, you have another think coming."
"We're sorry Pepper," apologized Steve as the guard opened their cell door releasing the slightly battered and bruise Avengers.
"Not as sorry as you're going to be when you get back to the tower. Our lovely Agent Zalle heard all about your boys' night out and has called a team meeting for dawn." There was sympathy in that warning.
Clint scrubbed his hand across his face, careful of his black eye. "You guys can just shoot me now or leave me here to rot; either way is fine with me, just so long as Zalle doesn't get the satisfaction."
"Hey, we did this as a team, we'll face the consequences as a team," explained Rogers.
"She's not gunning for the team Cap," replied Clint. He had just tied the noose for his own execution.
The Avengers followed Pepper out the back and into the waiting limo. The trip back to Stark Tower was silent and they made it back in time to get cleaned up before their appointed ass chewing.
Zalle stormed into the briefing room and looked around to make sure all of the offending parties were present before she slammed her briefcase on the table. A tall blond in a suit followed and quietly sat at the back of the room.
Tony leaned toward Clint and whispered, "do you think it's her broom that's lodged up her ass or does she park that in the garage?" Well, if Clint was going to face the firing squad there might as well be some humour.
"Something you would like to share Mr. Stark?" Zalle snapped.
Tony shook his head and smiled. They might not have reached 'black out level' drunkenness but he had reached 'delightful' mood drunkenness and he didn't really want to ruin it by getting into it with some suit over little things.
"Who would like to explain to me why an elite SHIELD group wound up behind bars over a bar room brawl?"
"It was a situation that got out of control ma'am and it won't happen again," assured Captain America.
"No one got hurt; there were bumps and bruises on both sides. That chair practically bounced off Thor's head; I mean the guy's a rock and Bruce didn't hulk out, he was very Zen master in there. You should be proud," boasted Stark.
Zalle countered, "you picked a fight with civilians."
"They picked a fight with us," countered Tony. They may have been arrested for fighting but he was still itching to go another round and there was nobody he'd rather do it with.
The lead agent zeroed in on her target. "And what were you doing while all this was going on Agent Barton?"
"Me?" Trust Zalle to pin a team mishap solely on him.
Steve jumped into defend his teammate. "This wasn't his fault."
"Agent Barton is a representative of SHIELD and is required to conduct himself as the agent he claims to be at all times and not as some barbaric ruffian." Honestly she expected Barton to never behave himself appropriately, but that was to be expected when SHIELD went looking for agents in the gutter. They should just save everyone the trouble and stop employing embarrassing riffraff in the first place.
"Hey, Steve behaved worse than Clint did. Sorry to throw you under the bus Rogers but Captain America threw the first punch; Barton did nothing but back his team up. On the list of people who are culpable here he's at the bottom, so just back off," interrupted Stark. He'd had enough of trying to appease someone who was taking shots at his friend.
"Enough!" silenced Zalle. "It's time we started looking at alternate team line ups." That statement managed to get everyone's undivided attention.
"You don't need to do that," assured Rogers looking around at the people he had come to look at as friends. Thor let out a growl and Banner began to fidget in his seat. He could see Barton grow pale as he watched his future with the team being called into question, because there was little doubt in any one's mind who she was going to go after first.
"Why would we do that?" demanded the billionaire. "You don't switch all star players when their on a winning streak."
"There's a fair bit of redundancy on this team and not where we need it most. Agents Romanoff and Barton bring the same SHIELD presence and similar skill set to the team. You only need one spy in this group."
"Then I guess it's a good thing we have redundancy, because last time I checked Romanoff is off playing spy games for you guys and not here where she belongs," corrected Tony, hostility flowing off of him.
Clint slumped a little at that. Natasha's sudden desire to flee to parts unknown was his fault. Once again Loki had forced his hand against her and he honestly couldn't blame her for wanting to run as far away as possible from him. He'd do it himself if he could. The archer was surprised she had lasted as long as she did; he did excel at driving people away.
"Rogers covers the leadership aspect, Banner the science, you technical, Thor muscle and Romanoff stealth and espionage." Zalle turned to Barton who was doing his best to keep his mouth in check. "Explain to me what you do on this team?"
Clint bit his tongue and weighed the consequence to salvaging some of his pride. He had managed to hold onto a little self respect. If his days were numbered he might as well go out with a bang. "I'm the witty personality with killer aim."
Sensing that the argument was going to get kicked up a notch Steve decided to intervene and deflect Zalle from crushing the archer. "He's our sniper. I believe he's the best SHIELD has to offer and he has the support of this team."
"You don't need a sniper full time on this team and skills like that can be put to better use. Besides Agent Barton is suspended until further notice so there is no better time try out new members."
All eyes shot to the man that had been sitting at the back of the room. Clearly Zalle had already made her decision before ever entering the room.
"You can't do that," raged Steve. He was willing to put up with a lot to appease Fury after what they did, but was he willing to let this happen?
Ignoring his teammates' outrage Clint turned to Zalle. "What happened to three strikes?"
"Behaviour unbecoming an agent and a general bad attitude have earned you strike two, which is suspension, without pay. One more infraction and you're off the team permanently. The length of your suspension will depend on your teammates' cooperation. So I suggest if you want your sniper back you all better get it together and start following the rules."
The rest of the Avengers took a deep calming breath. Using Barton's reinstatement as leverage was a low blow but it did do the trick. They knew what being a part of SHIELD meant to the man and he had earned his spot on the team more than once. They didn't want to be responsible for him being kicked to the curb.
Clint shifted his focus to the table; it was bad enough he was having a horrible week now he was the carrot being dangled in front of his friends.
Going in for the kill Zalle added, "for the record Dr. Banner, you've earned your first strike."
"Oh come on! What the hell did Bruce do?" shouted Tony.
Iron Man's outburst went unanswered. "Since we are going to continue on with Avengers' business," continued their handler, "you are dismissed Agent Barton."
That was the final blow. Clint tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He knew how this was going to turn out; out of sight, out of mind. She'd bench him long enough that the new guy fit in better than he did, then it would be a question of if it was even worth bring the archer back or putting him to better use elsewhere. At least he could hope it was elsewhere and not termination with SHIELD.
Everyone watched as the archer silently got up from the table and left. He tried to hide his misery but they could all see it anyways. Their pity and apologetic looks didn't do anything to help.
Zalle didn't even have the courtesy to wait for Barton to clear the door before she added, "Agent Marks will be joining the team. He comes highly recommended and has an impeccable service record. He will be a valued addition to this team."
Agent Marks moved up and took the seat formerly occupied by Clint. Tony immediately slid his chair over not so subtly, creating a greater space between himself and the new guy.
"Is there a problem Mr. Stark?" asked Zalle as she crossed her arms and tapped her incredibly high heels against the floor.
"I don't play well with others and that includes you and him." Thor nodded his agreement and while Rogers supported the statement but he shook his head in disagreement. Creating a rift between them and SHIELD wasn't going to help their cause and only do Barton more harm.
Zalle cleared her throat. "Today at 1300 hours we are going to conduct battle simulations to see how you function as a team under various circumstances. We're going to focus on how well you fight without your talents. That means no weapons, no suits and no hulks."
"And why would we do that?" snapped Stark. Clearly she was full of horrible ideas today.
"What would you do if Rogers defected and attacked you without your suit?"
Tony sat straight in his chair, a serious expression on his face. "First, if Captain America defects then we were clearly playing for the wrong team to start with. Second, I'd distract him by telling him a little old lady needs help crossing the street. While he takes care of that, I'd have enough time to get the suit on."
"You need to know what to do if you don't have the things that make you special. We can't apologise to the world that we failed because you couldn't use your powers. It's my job to make this team better and that's exactly what I'm going to do starting today. I suggest you take from now until then to get acquainted with Agent Marks."
Thor frowned and chased her out of the room with his eyes. He didn't always understand the way things operated here, but he knew in his gut that removing their archer from the team was a mistake.
Needing to break the building tension Marks turned to Stark. "Jason Marks, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Tony looked from the out stretched hand and back to the agent. "Don't hand me things."
"Tony!" chastised Rogers.
"It's not a thing, it's a hand Stark," clarified Jason.
"Look I can handle Rage, Boy Scout, Thunder, Feathers and Stabby but you don't make the cut; therefore you are a thing. I don't like you. And did we say you could speak?"
"Being childish isn't going to get Clint back on the team. We still have to play ball Tony, so let's try to make it a painless as possible for everyone," encouraged the Captain.
"It's alright Captain. We all have some adjustments to make. Maybe we can continue this at lunch when everyone's calmed down a little." Jason politely nodded to each Avenger and left them to settle the matter between themselves.
"We're falling apart. Romanoff's on vacation," started Tony wistfully.
"Natasha's off infiltrating a Hydra base," corrected Steve with a huff.
"Like I said, she's on vacation. Zalle's benched Barton and she's working at making Bruce feel likes he's two feet tall. I've had enough of this punishment crap from Fury."
Rogers slammed his fist down on the table. Everyone liked to complain about their current circumstance but everyone conveniently forgot how they ended up in this position. "What are we going to do? We messed up Tony, and it's not like we can just stop fighting in protest. Innocent people depend on what we do."
Stark leaped out of his chair. His rage focused on the blond sitting across from him; Rogers' perceived smug look grating on Stark's last nerve. "As team captain you should step up! We're about to lose Barton and your sitting there letting it happen. One day you're going to have to choose between being the perfect soldier or us!"
Steve rounded the table to stare down the billionaire. "We're in this mess because you decided to go off half cocked with the stupid idea to bring Loki here!"
"He was not alone in that action," corrected Thor as he rose out of his chair.
Tony clenched his fist and let it fly. He connected with Rogers' chin causing the super soldier to snap his head to the side. He shook his hand out trying to elevate some of the pain. Satisfaction filled him at making the Captain flinch even if he was never going to be able to use that hand again, it was seriously like punching a brick wall. "Someone had to be willing to do something to help Barton and you were too busy agreeing with Fury not to help!"
"Enough!" shouted Bruce as he pushed his way between his two teammates just as Rogers was preparing to return the punch. Thor pulled Steve back leaving Stark for Banner to deal with. "This isn't getting us anywhere. Steve's right; making this worse right now isn't going to help anybody."
Tony pulled out of Bruce's grip. "So you're siding with Captain holier than thou about playing nice to get our curfew extended again?" It definitely stung; out of everyone Tony thought Bruce would have his back. "We're supposed to save them, you know."
Steve struggled to shrug Thor off. "Who?"
"All the people that think we need to survive to do good in the world, the people willing to lay down their lives and souls to make sure that us, the heroes, are around to save people. We have superpowers and Romanoff and Barton don't, but they're both going to lay their lives down for this team to work because they believe that the four of us are something special; the least we can do is look out for them."
All the pressure to be larger than life, the faith everyone seemed to have in them to do amazing things was soul crushing. Too many times Stark had to stand by and watch good people die believing that he was more valuable in the grand scheme of things. He never would have chosen this team or these people for himself but they had somehow managed to grow on the billionaire.
Steve's voice softened. "Tony." Sometimes having to be in charge really sucked. There was nothing Captain America wanted to do more than tell Zalle where she could go and to leave his team alone, but Fury had laid things out for Steve and toeing the line was the only way things were going to smooth over. It was going to be the only way to keep this team together in the long run because the Director had not so subtly hinted that if they didn't follow the rules the Avengers would be disbanded and he had some very undesirable posts to put them all at. Even if the Director didn't have authority over all of them, he had it over enough of them for Steve to take the threat seriously.
Stark just shook his head and stormed out of the briefing room. He preferred to sulk in the solitude of his lab with a bottle instead of having group caring and sharing sessions.