Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Marvel. I just have fun with their characters.

A/N

Thanks to reviewers of chapter 9;

CrazedFangirl13, amy. d. fuller. 9, Armandis.

Also, thanks as usual to jaguarspot for the beta-ing.

Only one more to go after this guys, and that's an epilogue to start off the next phase of the storyline. So the actual Clint, Phil, Fury and May part ends here. I hope that you enjoy.

Epilogue 2 will be up tomorrow at some point. I'll also be releasing titles and brief summaries of some other stories that are planned and titles pretty concrete at the end of the epilogue.

Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved. Martin Luther

Chapter 10: Aftermath

Clint was sitting in his usual spot on the roof of the SHIELD complex gazing out into the night when he heard the door grate on its hinges. Clint didn't bother to look to see who it was; he already knew it was Fury. He wasn't surprised to see him; after all Fury was the one who had requested this meeting.

Well, the note he'd found slipped under the door when he'd gotten back to his room from his mandatory, absolutely non-negotiable, no-excuses-short-of-dying-accepted appointment with the shrink hadn't been signed but Clint had known instantly who'd sent it. After all, who else knew about his habit of spending most of his free time up on the roof?

Well, Coulson apparently knew he liked the roof but the Agent was currently doped up in medical hopefully sleeping.

That left one person.

Fury.

Clint didn't need to turn around to know that the Director had sat down on the roof where he'd sat last time they'd talked up here. Neither said anything for some time, instead they both just sat there enjoying the silence and tranquillity. It was Clint who finally broke the silence.

"Why did you want to see me sir?"

Fury turned to look at him; Clint stared right back without blinking.

"I wanted to talk to you before you head off to the Academy tomorrow and to give you some advice. Before that though, have you heard anything suspicious that you want to bring to my attention? How is the mission going?"

Clint shook his head in response to the first question.

"Nothing that is really interesting. I can tell you never to use the coffee machine in the level two break room as someone is always swapping out the real coffee for decaf thinking it's funny, I haven't been able to figure out who's doing it yet which is kind of annoying but that's not my top priority. Molly from accounting keeps complaining that her pens are growing legs and walking away and accuses her co-workers of stealing them while the real culprit is her forgetfulness. She must have a draw full of pens at her home that she isn't aware exist. The number of crushes that exist in SHIELD is more than what exist in a juice bar and for almost everyone being a trained spy the amount of signs they miss and the way they are completely oblivious to the fact that the other has a thing for them is laughable or sad for humanity, take your pick. I could go on and on about these sort of things but I don't think any of what I've found out is relevant to the mission."

Fury nodded.

"Okay, thanks for the tip about the coffee. How did the appointment with Kalman go this afternoon? Did he pass you?"

Clint shrugged.

"I don't know, I didn't ask."

Fury raised his eyebrow.

"According to the report you didn't ask anything at all. You didn't even speak. How you got away with it I'm not sure but he did pass you, on one condition. You will have mandatory counselling sessions at the Academy twice a week, and, like this one, they are non-negotiable. If you miss one without a very good reason then privileges, like range-time and other things you enjoy, will be taken away. It's not by my decision so don't give me that look, the rules state that all agents have to be psychologically stable before they graduate from training and the shrinks have to be satisfied that they aren't going to have a mental breakdown during a mission and compromise themselves or other agents. I know that you like making life difficult for those around you Barton but it would be in your best interest to at least pretend to cooperate. I'm sure you could do that quite successfully."

Clint just stared at Fury.

"You're suggesting that I lie to a shrink?"

"Not lie, I said pretend to cooperate. There is a difference."

"I don't see one."

"You will in time. Welcome to a spy's life Barton."

Neither of them said anything for a while after that, instead they just sat there and enjoyed the silence. It was Fury who eventually broke the silence.

"So Barton, do you have any other questions that you want to ask about the mission before you leave tomorrow? If so tell me now. I'm essentially sending you into the Academy undercover as a double agent here so if you have any misgivings about anything now is the time to speak up."

Clint nodded.

"Okay then, what exactly do you want me to do there? It's not like I've got a clearance level, I haven't even officially entered training yet so I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to do. A traitor isn't going to be at a new recruit level if they've really been going on as long as they have."

Fury nodded grimly.

"You are correct. However, new recruits might be an easy target to persuade to join the dark side if they can be convinced that it's the right thing to do. People are gullible Barton; we both know that to be true. Given your unique skill set if they are persuading young agents to change sides you will be a prime candidate."

Clint's eyes grew wide.

"You're making it sound like a conspiracy sir; I thought we were simply dealing with a traitor!"

Fury's expression darkened.

"Initially that's what I thought as well. However, I've received new information since the last time we spoke and that information suggests that there is more than one person in on this game. It could very well be a conspiracy and as of yet I don't know any details and have no idea what their game play is. The next move is theirs."

"Barton, I don't think that I really need to tell you how serious this is because I realise you are already well aware of that. But be careful. Don't make people suspicious and make sure you keep your wits about you. But also learn. Just because they might be moles in the organisation there are still extraordinary people in SHIELD that can teach you a lot if you are willing to listen and learn. After all we are sending you to the Academy to learn the skills you'll need to be an agent. Just be on your guard and report back to me anything that you find. Do you understand?"

Clint nodded as he sat up a bit straighter.

"Yes, I do. Do you have any other advice for me?"

"No, that is all for now. If you don't have any questions I'll be off. Just remember to keep your eyes and ears open at all times Barton, and watch your back."

Clint stared at the Director.

"I thought SHIELD was supposed to look after its agents?"

Fury's expression didn't change.

"It is supposed to Barton and I know that telling you to watch your own back is vastly different to what you were told when you signed up. However, when you sighed up I didn't count on this happening. I certainly didn't think for a second that I would tell you about this and ask for your help or that there would be multiple suspicious incidents in less than one month. I didn't think that I would almost lose Coulson to one of those incidents. I didn't think a lot of things that have happened would happen so many things have changed. I don't think I really need to tell you this but be careful out there Barton. I don't want anything to happen to you. That would be counter-productive to what we are trying to achieve."

Clint swallowed around the lump in his throat that formed upon hearing the Director's words although there wasn't any emotion attached to them; Fury was too good a spy for that. His desire to not let the older man down had just increased tenfold. While he would still willingly die for this man he was now going to do his uttermost not to. For perhaps the first time in his life Clint Barton realised that staying alive might achieve more in the long run than dying would as he would be able to do his uttermost to make the world a better place as long as he was alive. That realisation, more than Fury's words, was what shook him to his core. It took a while but eventually, when he felt he could speak without his voice trembling, Clint answered Fury.

"I'll be careful."

Fury's reply was short and to the point like everything Fury did.

"Good. Keep your eyes open out there Barton; you aren't called Hawkeye for nothing, which is how I know you are up to this. Whether there is one traitor or several of them the rules here are the same. Good luck Barton."

With that Fury got up and disappeared without another word leaving Clint to slowly realise what had just happened. The Director had wished him good luck. The no-nonsense hard-core bad-ass Director of SHIELD Nick Fury himself had wished him good luck.

Clint ended up remaining on the roof for a long time that night.

Fury glanced at the time. Barton should have arrived at the Academy by now and though he knew he wouldn't hear anything, no matter how hard he tried to work Nick simply couldn't concentrate. There was too much other stuff on his mind, on top of wondering if Barton and May would uncover any new information on their traitor or traitors there was the issue of when and how he was going to break the news to Coulson. And whether he would tell him that Barton and May knew or keep it a secret. So far those two didn't know that the other one knew and Nick thought he probably should keep it that way with Coulson as well, at least for now. He just hoped that there would be time later to tell them all and that he was doing the right thing keeping them in the dark for now.

As Clint stood outside the Academy looking up at the buildings for the first time he thought about Fury's words to him last night.

Whether there was a traitor or a mole in SHIELD it didn't matter; whoever was sabotaging the organisation was dangerous, end of story. Leaked Intel had almost cost both May and Coulson their lives in the space of a few weeks, anyone could be next on their list.

The group Clint was with finished disembarking the bus and happily headed towards the main office complex, Clint picked up his bag and trailed behind them, not joining in their conversation as he continued to think.

Clint didn't know how he was going to do it but he was determined to find the person responsible for hurting those who he considered friends and see that they were punished, he would do it himself if he had to. This mission was now personal for Clint, it meant more than it had before. Almost losing Coulson had put the traitor firmly in Hawkeye's crosshairs and that was never a good place to be for those involved.

As the appointed tour guide came up to the group waiting in the foyer area her warm words of welcome seared themselves into Clint's brain.

"Welcome to SHIELD everyone. My name is Sonia and I will be showing you around today, I hope you will have fun here and learn the skills that will enable you to be successful agents of SHIELD for the rest of your lives. First stop is the bunk rooms..."

As Clint followed the group and the still talking Sonia to the bunkrooms her first words to them continued to echo around in his head.

Yes, Clint thought, welcome to the beginning of the rest of his life. Welcome to the world of spies. Welcome to the world of secrets. Welcome to the world of lies, deceit and death. And loyalty.

In short, welcome to SHIELD.

Epilogue 1:

Phil couldn't sleep which was very frustrating.

He was tired and had been looking forward to sleeping in his own bed again after several weeks spent in a surprisingly comfortable bed in the medical ward. They'd finally stopped monitoring him at night and just this morning had decided he could sleep in his own bed as long as he kept attending his daily check-ups. Phil had been looking forward to this night for over a week and then finding out he couldn't sleep once he was actually in his own bed was annoying him no end.

He'd laid there with his eyes closed for what felt like hours but sleep continued to elude him. Finally in frustration he'd carefully rolled over and glanced at the clock to find that barely an hour had passed since he'd gone to bed. He could have sworn it had been about five hours but the clock told him otherwise. Sighing in resignation Phil gave up on sleep and laid back on his pillows staring out into the darkness of his room as he thought back over the events of the last few weeks.

It occurred to him right then that he hadn't really had a chance to put things in perspective before now. Medical had been keeping him on a tight schedule and limiting his visitor time as he was still inclined to fall asleep without warning during the day. Medical said that was normal and that sleep would help him heal, as if Phil didn't know that already. What was annoying him was the fact that while he could nod off during the day he was finding sleep impossible now.

So instead of sleeping Phil just laid there thinking over the events of the last few weeks. Clint was now almost two weeks into his training at the Academy and seemed to be going well from what Phil had heard, he was breaking records all over the place and shaping up to be one of the best agents they'd ever had in terms of physical prowess. It was the boy's trust issues and mental health that had Phil slightly worried.

While Phil had been in the coma Barton had spoken to him and shared some very personal thoughts and feelings. Phil hadn't thought much of it until now, as loopy as he'd been on the drugs he hadn't been sure it wasn't an illusion, but the more he thought about the more he had become certain that it had been real. Barton really had said those things to him and that scared Phil like nothing had in a long time.

He wasn't sure that he was worthy of that amount of trust and gratitude. He was absolutely terrified that he would mess up and get Barton killed, missions always carried a risk of death and he wasn't sure he could watch the same thing happen to the archer that had happened to Claire. It had been a couple of years now but the pain of losing her was still great and liable to give him nightmares at times. Phil quickly pulled his thoughts away from that. The last thing he needed right now was to dwell on what had happened back then, it had taken him years but he was slowly learning to let the past go and move on. At least he was before Barton came along.

Barton, well, in a few short weeks the kid had managed to turn Phil's life upside down and inside out. He'd shaken Phil's very foundation to its core and had him questioning things he'd never have thought twice about before. Barton needed a lot but wasn't willing to ask for anything or trust anyone to help him. But what really hurt Phil was the fact that he could act like a little kid at times yet also possessed the wisdom of someone twice his age. Barton hadn't ever been allowed to be a normal kid and so had never grown out of that behaviour and it was painfully obvious at times. At other times he showed the maturity level of someone more than twice his own age.

Phil sighed sadly as he thought about the archer's life before the army and the little they actually knew about it. The answer to that question amounted to a few pages in a file. It was basically the little information that Phil had managed to gather in his initial investigation when they were trying to find the archer and that information didn't amount to much. Despite the numerous questions Barton had been asked about his past by several people in SHIELD ever since he'd been brought in the details they'd actually found out from him first hand were practically non-existent. They were relying on Phil's research to fill in the blanks which was problematic to say the least but they didn't have much of a choice with Barton refusing to tell them anything that happened before Phil and Nick had pulled him out of prison. And those few details painted a pretty grim picture.

Phil non-so-silently cursed as a soft knocking on his door roused him from his thoughts. Hoping it would go away as he was warm and comfortable and didn't want to get up right now he tried to ignore it, but whoever was knocking was very persistent, and they were also getting steadily louder. Grumbling under his breath Phil slowly got out of bed and grabbed the crutches medical had issued him with to avoid putting unnecessary strain on his still healing wounds before hobbling towards the door. Phil glanced through the peephole and saw his visitor was Fury, suddenly alarmed he opened the door and beckoned the Director in. The look on Fury's face had Phil glancing up and down the corridor to see if anyone was spying but he saw no one and so quietly closed and locked the door. Turning to face Fury who was still standing Phil couldn't keep the trepidation out of his eyes.

"What's happened Nick? Is it Barton?"

Fury shook his head and Phil relaxed slightly. It didn't last long.

"I wish it was that simple. No, the kid is doing fine."

Phil's worry came back in full force at Fury's words and the look on his face.

"What's wrong? You are starting to worry me boss."

Fury's frown didn't abate which didn't make Phil feel any better.

"I want you to sit down before you fall down and I'll tell you what is wrong."

Once Phil was settled on his lounge Fury got straight to the point.

"I won't beat about the bush. Phil, I believe that there is a traitor within SHIELD."

Phil could only stare. It was a while before he found his voice but Fury was very patient. Finally it fully registered what his boss had said and Phil's mouth dropped open.

"There's WHAT in SHIELD?"

End of chapter 10.

Yes Phil, you heard correctly. For the record we never get to see the rest of that conversation so feel free to speculate on what happens next!

This is where we say goodbye to our titular characters. that being said tomorrow's epilogue is going to be great and you certainly do not want to miss it.

If you enjoyed this story and have been following it please review and let me know what your thoughts are.