Hey everyone! We're starting to get to the stuff I had planned for this story, so it will hopefully pick up a bit. I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!
Clint had wondered about this day for years. He wondered how this confrontation with his brother would go. Never did Clint imagine it would be during a mission and his brother would be the target.
A throaty chuckled reverberated throughout the room, causing a chill to run up and down Clint's spine. The dark figure slowly turned around to face Clint and the archer wasn't quite sure he was ready to face his biggest fear. It had been years since he'd seen Barney and they hadn't exactly ended on good terms.
"What? No hello? No 'good to see you?'" Barney asked with a smirk.
"What are you doing here, Barney?" Clint growled, tightening his grip on his gun.
In the dark room, Clint could see a mischievous smirk on his brother's face. His crooked teeth poked out from underneath his lips and his monstrous body shielded most of the source of light coming in from the window behind him.
"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet, baby brother. I mean, you do work for SHIELD after all," Barney said.
Clint stared at his older brother in confusion. SHIELD had given them every piece of information when it came to this mission. There was no way they would withhold information from them, especially if there was a threat for one of their agents. This could be another Rome scenario. Clint hoped it wasn't another Rome scenario.
"Haven't you heard? I'm working with Varga," Barney boasted, clearly proud of his accomplishment. "Yeah, he found me on the streets of Amsterdam, completely whacked out of my mind. He took me under his wing, taught me a couple of things, and now we're business partners."
"And you think SHIELD missed out on that detail?" Clint questioned.
"Possibly, but I'm surprised you didn't figure it out," Barney drawled slyly.
Clint shook his head. How could he possibly have known that Barney was working with Varga?
"You see, it was only a matter of time until Director Fury put you on this case," Barney mused as he started to wander around the room with his arms clasped behind his back. It was a mannerism that Director Fury did often that it concerned Clint as to what Barney's intentions were. "I was the one who took the money under the SHIELD agents from London's watch. While Varga had the team distracted, I hacked into SHIELD's accounts and transferred the money to an account in Switzerland. Then, from there, I withdrew it and closed out the account so that it couldn't be traced.
"I knew Fury would put you and that little red head on this mission, drawing you closer to me," Barney continued. "You are SHIELD's best partnership, am I right? I knew they'd assign you to this mission. Though, I'm surprised, considering what happened the last time you two were in Budapest."
Clint's heart skipped a beat and his finger curled tighter around the trigger. "How do you know about that?" he growled.
"Ah, ah, ah," Barney scolded. "Easy there, tiger." Clint noticed his brother was resting a hand on an object on his belt. In the dark, he couldn't see exactly what it was but he would bet his collapsible bow that it was a gun. "I've been following you, little bro. How you managed to miss that, well, I'm actually quite appalled. I thought you were one of the best."
"I am," Clint growled as he thrust the gun closer to Barney.
In retaliation, Barney pulled out his own gun and aimed it at the archer. "Look, I don't want to shoot you - ."
"Yeah, well, I do, so if you don't mind, I'd like to pull the goddamn trigger right now," Clint growled through clenched teeth.
"Hey, take it easy," Barney said calmly. "We haven't seen each other in years and this is how you treat me?"
"Last I checked you tried to kill me the last time we saw each other, so I think I have every right to treat you like this."
Clint narrowed his eyes to slits, staring his brother down in the dark. He heard a scoff, which most likely elicited a smirk from the elder Barton brother. "You know, I did just want to talk and catch up, but I think I'll just skip to the big finish."
Before Barney could even react, Clint pulled the trigger of his gun, but forgot to aim. The bullet went astray, shattering the antique lamp in the corner of the waiting room. He pulled the trigger once again and the second bullet shattered the floor-to-ceiling window behind Barney. The elder Barton brother shielded himself from the rain of glass.
"Hey!" Barney shouted. "That was not nice!"
Clint was always better with a bow so his aim with a gun was off. But never did he miss so much that he couldn't even manage to graze his target. Clint watched as Barney glanced behind him before turning back around to smirk at Clint.
"Well, I wanted to give you the full blow-by-blow, but I've got to run," Barney said.
And then, Clint listened. The sound of helicopter blades cutting through the air grew louder and louder until the aircraft appeared outside of the window. With a smirk and an arch of his eyebrow, Barney got a running start and then launched himself out the window and into the helicopter. A couple seconds later, Clint ran towards the shattered window to catch up, but it was too late. He glanced up at the helicopter as it rose in the air. As it sped away, he caught a glimpse of Barney hanging out the side and saluting mischievously at Clint.
Graner was so going to fire him.
A loud bang at her balcony doors caused Natasha to bolt out of bed and grab the gun she kept stowed underneath her mattress. It was still dark outside so Natasha could only see the silhouette of the figure outside her doors. She quickly grabbed her phone and pressed a random button to check the time. It was only 4:37.
"Nat. Come on, it's me. Let me in," she heard the rough voice of Clint Barton say.
With a relieved sigh, she set her phone back on the bedside table and returned the gun to its rightful place under the mattress before padding across the room to unlock the balcony doors. She'd barely opened the doors six inches before Clint plowed through and stomped in. She could tell he was shaken up and the previous day came flooding back to her. His nervous behavior could only mean one thing.
"Clint, what's wrong?" she asked, even though she quite possibly already knew the answer.
"It's him, Nat," Clint said, his voice shaking.
"Him? Who's him?"
"Barney," he stated. "It's Barney. Barney's…he's…he's fucking working with Varga!"
Natasha released a shaky breath. Now was the moment she decided whether to tell him she knew or not. Clint would find out eventually. She didn't doubt that Barney would keep that piece of information to himself. The evil glint in his eye when she'd met him the day before had said it all.
"He's been following us, Nat," Clint confessed. "I don't know for how long or why but he knows about the last time in Budapest. He's been trying to run into me for a long time.
"And he's planning something. I just know it," Clint continued. "There's got to be a reason he wanted to find me again."
"Clint, stop," Natasha said. She drew in a shaky breath, not daring to meet Clint's eyes. "I know."
Her eyes still didn't meet his but she could tell, just by the lengthy silence, that he was staring at her in confusion. "W-what do you mean?" he stuttered.
"He came into the office yesterday with Varga." This time, she did lock eyes with Clint. As she confessed, she saw his expression go from confused to angry.
"And you didn't think to tell me!?" he exploded.
"I'm sorry, Clint. I'm so, so sorry," she apologized. "I wanted to tell you but I didn't think - ."
"You didn't think what? Hmmm? That it wasn't important? That it could wait?" he shouted.
"I didn't think. That's the problem. I wasn't thinking, okay?" she snapped. "And I'm really sorry. But you're okay, right?"
"No, I'm not okay!" he growled, throwing his hands up in the air. He started to pace the room, breathing heavier than usual. "I just saw my fucking brother for the first time in years and my fucking partner didn't tell me she'd seen him!"
"Clint, I'm sorry. How many times do I have to say that?" she growled, crossing her arms across her chest.
Clint shook his head as he continued pacing. "I can't believe this. I can't believe you!"
"Oh don't be so dramatic, Clint," Natasha scoffed. "Yes, I didn't tell you and I should have, but we've been through far worse than this."
Clint rubbed his hand over his face before collapsing on the edge of her bed. He rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. "Sorry, Tasha," he sighed, his voice muffled from being shielded by his hands. "I didn't mean to…"
"It's okay," she yawned, hugging her arms to her body as she sat down next to Clint. "I won't let him hurt you."
The archer sat upright before leaning over to rest his head on Natasha's shoulder. They stayed like for quite some time, sitting in silence and enjoying one another's company. It was after about ten minutes when Clint finally sighed and said, "I should be getting back."
Natasha turned her head to catch a glimpse of Clint's face. "You're still supposed to be at work?" she questioned with an arch of her eyebrow.
"Yeah," he sighed, standing from the edge of her bed and stretching his arms above his head. "I should probably be getting back."
Natasha stood from the edge of the bed and wrapped her arms around Clint's muscular torso. "He's not going to get away, Clint. I promise."
Clint nodded. "I know. I'll kill him myself. Brothers be damned."
Natasha chuckled before unwrapping her arms from his torso and giving him a light shove. "Get back to work before you fuck up this mission."
Clint chuckled and then padded across the room to the balcony doors. Just before stepping out, he looked back at Natasha. The female assassin nodded in reassurance to her partner and he nodded back. In a flash, he disappeared into the dark.
Natasha yawned once more, but she glanced over at the clock. It was a little bit before five o'clock but she knew there was no chance she'd be falling back asleep. There was no way Clint was going to have a plan for this situation so she was going to take it upon herself to make one. Pulling on her sweater, she retrieved her SHIELD files from the loose floorboard underneath her bed and began to draw up a plan for when everything went to hell.
Uh oh, Clint's pretty much losing his mind and it seems like it's Natasha's job to salvage this mission. Think Barney will make this mission harder? Or is he the mission? Stay tuned!
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