The perch is too close, Clint knows that, but he doesn't really have a choice. Seems Logistics missed the memo about the construction site that had sprung up, blocking the line of sight for the only other decent perch within a mile radius of the target. Coulson is ticked, Clint can see it, and he has a feeling that heads will roll when they get back. For now, though, he has a job to do.
He takes the shot the first opportunity he has, and immediately grabs a grappling arrow, aiming for the building opposite him. He jumps as soon as he's sure the line will hold, but it's a split second too late - a bullet catches him in the calf as he's swinging down and he barely manages to use his good leg to absorb the impact as he hits the side of the building. He lets go of the line and drops to the ground, leg screaming in protest. He manages to stumble over to the only spot with decent cover, huddled against the side of the building he'd been perched in a few seconds ago.
Clint hates getting shot. It hurts like hell and each time is an opportunity for his secret to be blown wide open. Clint has nightmares sometimes - being tied down to a table while doctors peer down at him and the light is too bright in his eyes. The worst ones are the ones where he wakes up in the morgue. When a wolf is injured badly enough they go into a healing coma - all other bodily functions slow to a point where they can't be detected as all resources are diverted to healing the injury to the point that it's safe to finish healing at the regular rate. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and Clint's heard horror stories of wolves being thought dead and finding themselves in a morgue, or worse, under the coroner's knife.
No chance of that this time though - it's a simple through and through on his lower calf and he'll be right as rain in a couple of days, as long as he can hide it from Medical.
Clint is cursing up a storm as he pulls out his knife and cuts a strip of fabric from his tunic. He can hear Coulson's pounding footsteps and he didn't even know the man could run that fast. Clint knows the moment that Coulson hears his voice because the steps stumble to a stop and he can hear Phil heave a sigh of what sounds like relief. Clint's heart speeds up because Phil sounds . . . worried. Really worried. Not just 'I may just have lost an asset' worried but more like 'I may just have lost a friend' worried and Clint forgets about pain in his leg for just a moment as he contemplates that.
In the weeks since Phil returned from vacation, Clint has noticed that Phil has been going out of his way to treat Clint like a friend, and not like a subordinate. Clint would feel patronised if it wasn't obvious that Phil is being completely sincere. And Clint knows that Phil covered for him with the whole superglue arrow thing. In return, Clint had started bringing Phil tea after all those annoying meetings Clint listens to from the ventilation ducts. So Clint had known that Phil cared for him as more than just an asset, but he'd never thought Phil cared enough to be scared for him.
Phil is turning the corner and Clint starts to look up at him with a self-deprecating smile when he notices that Phil has a phone in his hand. He's calling Medical.
Clint panics. He's not exactly sure what's coming out of his mouth but he's pretty sure that he begs Coulson not to call Medical and that's not really cool but Clint has a feeling that Coulson isn't the kind of handler who'd let him get away with ditching Medical before they can notice that his wound is healing a hell of a lot faster than it's supposed to be.
Phil hesitates a moment, but eventually he puts the phone away. Clint pointedly doesn't sigh in relief.
"Let me see it," Phil demands, and Clint inwardly cringes. Phil's smart and exceptionally observant. There's no way he won't notice. Clint tries to protest but Phil cuts him off, "Someone is going to look at that leg, Barton. It can be me or it can be Medical - your choice."
Thing is, Clint trusts Phil. Certainly more than he trusts Medical. It may mean the end of their friendship, but Clint trusts Phil not to turn him into SHIELD. So he inches his leg toward Phil, who begins unwrapping Clint's temporary bandage.
Clint already knows what he'll find. The bleeding will have stopped already, the healing already begun. He watches Phil's face nervously, waiting for the shock, the questions, the recriminations.
But Phil doesn't say anything. He just cleans it and re-bandages it without comment. "If anything goes wrong, or if it's not healing the way it should, you tell me, got it?" Phil's tone is harsh, harsher than Clint has ever heard from him, but he nods gratefully and finally relaxes. Phil's not going to make him go to Medical.
Phil keeps his word back at HQ and waves the medics off. He also doesn't say anything when Clint comes back to work two days later not even limping.
Phil covers for him with medical two more times in the next month and a half - all for injuries that were relatively minor for Clint, but would have required medical attention for anyone else. Each time Phil examines the wound, patches it up, makes Clint promise to tell him if anything goes wrong, and says nothing when Clint comes back to work well before he should have been able to. Each time Clint relaxes a little more
Clint's not stupid, he knows what's happening here. Clint hasn't had much luck with Alphas in his life, that's why he's Lone. His father had been a drunken abuser whose Pack consisted only of his immediate family because all the rest had run for the hills. After his parents had died, Clint had looked to his brother Barney for guidance, which in retrospect, hadn't exactly been a great idea. Then there was the circus - Barney had pretty much abandoned him out of jealousy after the Swordsman had taken Clint under his wing. And then when Swordsman put him in the hospital he'd foolishly expected Trickshot to protect him. He should have known that an Alpha who let his Beta break a kid's legs would hardly be the protecting type. After Trickshot left him for dead Clint decided he would never trust an Alpha wolf again.
But Phil - Phil is everything an Alpha should be: he's authoritative without being overbearing. For all his maverick tendencies, Clint doesn't mind taking orders from Coulson because he trusts him. It's a strange feeling after all this time to have someone he trusts watching his back. And yes, Clint is head over heels for his handler, he knows that and has made his peace with it, but it's more than that. The fact that Phil's not: for the first time since Trickshot Clint doesn't feel like a Lone. He doesn't ever want to lose that.
Which is why he freaks out a little when his eavesdropping reveals that Coulson had cupcakes tested for poison. So Clint drops by Phil's office when he's not there and checks out his computer - Clint's actually a better hacker than most people give him credit for but in this case he doesn't need to hack, he's known Phil's password for months.
Turns out Phil has been investigating his neighbours. Clint can put two and two together. He takes a quick look at Phil's calendar before going down to the range to work of some of his anger.
Clint waits five minutes after Phil is due back in his office before storming in. "Why didn't you tell me you had a stalker?" Phil just assures him that he's "handling" it, and nothing Clint says will make him take it more seriously.
So Clint takes matters into his own hands, er, paws. For days he stakes out Phil's house in wolf form, making sure that the guy, whoever he is, doesn't make an appearance while Phil's home.
For several days there's nothing, but Clint can tell by the pinched look on Phil's face that the gifts haven't stopped. And then one night, he comes.
Clint follows him at a distance as he rounds the side of the house toward the back door. Clint itches to sink his teeth into the man, but he has to make sure this is the guy, has to catch him trying to break in or doing something else threatening, lest he get himself shot on sight for a rabid dog.
When the man pins a sheet of paper to the side of Phil's house with a knife, that's all the excuse Clint needs. Clint charges from across the lawn, grabbing the man's leg in his teeth and pulling. The stalker lets out a surprised grunt before falling, cracking his head on the pavement of the patio and lying still, a handgun skittering away on the cement. Clint growls at the threat the gun represents. It's only when the light comes on and Phil appears in the door, gun in hand, that Clint realises he's still growling.
Phil lowers the gun and opens the door, quick eyes taking in the scene. Clint immediately drops the man's leg and licks his lips to get rid of the blood. He doesn't think Phil would shoot him, but best to look as nonthreatening as possible. To that end Clint deliberately pricks his ears forward and wags his tail. It's not a natural movement for a wolf, but it's dark, and if he's lucky, Phil will think he's someone's dog.
Clint starts to back away from Phil's appraising gaze, but Phil looks down at the man, still unconscious, and then back to Clint saying, "Watch him," before heading back into the house.
The part of Clint's brain that recognises Phil as Alpha obeys instinctively, just like he does on missions. Clint could leave, it's not like he's actually obligated to follow Phil's orders off-duty, let alone as a wolf, but he also won't take the chance that the man may wake up and go after Phil again.
Phil returns and drags the man closer to the house, handcuffing him to an iron railing near the door. "You were right," Phil says, seemingly to no one. "I should have taken this more seriously," he continues, and it occurs to Clint that maybe Phil is talking to him.
Clint's mind is racing - he had told Phil to take this guy more seriously, but that was at work, in human form. How could Phil possibly look at Clint now and recognise him?
Phil walks over to the side of the house and wrenches the knife out of the wood panelling, pocketing the note. He turns around and meets Clint's eyes steadily, and there are things in those eyes Clint can't quite read but it's not the way one looks at an animal.
"You might as well come in, Clint," Phil says, and then turns and walks into the house, leaving the door open.
Clint is frozen in shock. Phil knows. It's the only thought in his head right now, running on an endless loop of . Clint had grown up believing that to be found out was tantamount to death, but Phil knows and Clint isn't dead yet. Phil knows and Clint feels like he should be panicking but somehow he's not, because Phil knows but he didn't run, he didn't yell, he didn't freak out, he just invited Clint in and all Clint really feels is a sense of relief.
The door is still open but there's nothing stopping Clint from running and he knows he had a choice. He can run, leave SHIELD, leave Phil. Start over somewhere new, always looking over his shoulder. Or he can go through that door and talk to Phil, to find out what this all means for him - for them. Clint's surprised by how easy a decision it really is.
Clint steps over the threshold an into the house. The house smells clean, lingering scents of the chicken Phil must have had for dinner and the scent of Phil everywhere. Clint can hear him moving around inside, opening the refrigerator, closing it, pencil scribbling on a pad of paper. By the door Clint notices a set of sweats that Phil must have picked up when he went in to get the handcuffs. Clint's grateful, because the upcoming conversation would have been even more awkward if he had had to have it naked, but it makes him wonder just how much Phil knows.
Checking to make sure Phil isn't anywhere in sight, Clint changes quickly pulling on the sweats as soon as he's back in his skin. Taking a deep breath, he squares his shoulders and with more confidence than he really feels, heads deeper into the house, heading for Phil.