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

A/N

Have you all seen the third Avengers trailer? I watched it about five times one after the other last night and now can't wait for April to roll around (we get it released in Australia then, yay!) It looks like we are going to get heaps more Hawkeye, find out what he's been doing during phase 2 since he hasn't been seen since Avengers, and apparently he is also going to be in Civil War next year! Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

Now that I've had my Hawkeye fan girl moment I'll get back to this story.

Firstly a big thanks to all my reviewers from last week! Three Guests, Hofherrp and Wayang,Silver all reviewed chapter 9 so thanks guys! Also thanks to Hawaiichick who reviewed several of the earlier chapters!

To all reviewers who asked; I can safely say that Natasha won't come on board with SHIELD for a while. A lot of things have to happen before we see Strike Team Delta formed properly, it probably won't be for a few years in the timeline of the story. As much as I want to write Strike Team Delta with all three of them in SHIELD it won't happen just yet.

This chapter was once again beta-ed by jaguarspot who as usual did a fantastic job. I take full responsibility for any remaining mistakes.

And so we arrive at the finale to Shades of Red and Black. I hope you enjoy the conclusion to Clint's journey, or at least to this stage of it.

If you could get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed. David Viscott

Chapter 10: A Second Chance

Coulson was both glad and terrified that the week he had given Barton to make up his mind about whether or not he wanted to join SHIELD was almost up. Glad because it would be over, terrified because he'd heard nothing from Barton thus far. Phil had been sure the kid would ring him within a couple of days; he hadn't heard as much as a squeak from him. Time was running out; there were less than 36 hours remaining to the deadline Phil had given him. Phil didn't understand how this could have happened; he just knew Barton that wanted out of his current profession, so why hadn't he rung yet? This question plagued Phil as the deadline drew steadily nearer.

Phil gazed expectantly at his phone as he taped his fingers nervously on the tabletop. There was one minute left until the deadline.

Tick, tick, tick.

Thirty seconds, Phil's leg began moving of its own volition.

Tick, tick.

Twenty seconds.

Tick, tick.

Ten seconds, Phil clenched his teeth.

Tick, tick.

Five seconds.

Tick.

One second.

Tick.

Nothing.

Phil had a hard time swallowing as his mouth was suddenly very dry. How had this happened? He couldn't accept that he'd been wrong about Barton; he didn't understand how he could have been wrong about Barton. Fury would ship Coulson off to the cold wastelands of Alaska or Siberia for this, likely for the rest of his natural life. Phil sat there in shocked silence, trying to sort out what he was going to do next.

The sudden loud ring of his phone made him jump. Phil grabbed it and answered with 'Coulson'. A familiar voice answered him.

"Well Coulson, are you right or was I right?"

Fury.

Great, just what he didn't need.

Phil desperately tried to sort things out in his head. After about a minute of silence he finally managed to speak in a fairly steady voice.

"Well sir, I...I...I..."

"Was wrong." Fury sounded triumphant, the bastard. "You should have listened to me Agent; I knew this scheme of yours wouldn't work. There is a reason this organisation has a Director, it's so everyone doesn't mess up doing things their own way, so things like this don't happen. I expect you back at base within twelve hours. Report to my office as soon as you land, I'll have a few things to say to you."

Phil cringed inwardly at how Fury said those last words. They didn't bide well for him.

"Yes sir, of course sir, see you then sir."

Fury disconnected the line without a goodbye, leaving Phil a slight mess. He took a deep breath, let it out, and took another as he tried to get his emotions under control again. He'd known at the time what he was risking with giving Barton time to make up his mind but he seriously hadn't expected this to happen. He didn't understand how he could have been so wrong about someone, especially after everything he'd seen in the kid. He'd been so sure he wanted an out and that knowledge had apparently blinded sided him to the kid's true intentions and nature. It would seem he didn't want a change of profession despite all the available evidence pointing to the contrary and for Phil this was a bitter pill to swallow.

It was with a very heavy heart that Phil reluctantly obeyed the Director's orders.

Phil stepped off the jet onto the runway of SHIELD's New York base and walked inside the building, heading towards Fury's office without breaking stride. Best get this over with ASAP. Phil knocked on the door and even though he knew that Fury could see him through the one way glass he was made to wait for about twenty seconds, growing more agitated with each passing second. He almost jumped a mile into the air when a sharp 'enter' finally greeted him and he just knew Fury had done it on purpose. Mustering all the courage he possessed to face the wrath of Fury, Coulson opened the door and walked in.

Fury was sitting at his desk, looking more sinister than usual, if that was even possible. He was reading some report, which he didn't put down until several tense minutes had passed. He then finally looked up at Phil who was standing nervously at attention and trying not to show that the look Fury was giving him was freaking him out.

"You're here."

It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes Director, sir. You asked for me to report when I landed. Sir."

Phil's mouth always ran away with him when he was nervous enough and the Director's glare was enough to intimidate the shit out of him.

"I did."

Fury continued looking across the table at Phil who did his best not to squirm or show he was affected by being under the scrutiny of what was probably the world's greatest spy master.

"I want a debrief on the situation from Paris, a thorough one. I want to know what exactly happened out there and why you acted the way you did against my explicit orders. What you did was insane and there better have been a really good reason for it if you don't want to be condemned to our base in the cold, empty wastelands of Alaska for life Coulson."

Phil licked his lips as he tried to think of where to start and how much to tell Fury about his thoughts and feelings regarding eliminating Hawkeye. Sitting down opposite his boss he took a deep silent breath to try and calm his pounding heart and to give him a chance to muster his thoughts together before he gave his report.

"Well sir..."

An hour later Fury knew what had happened in that alley and had a fair idea why Phil had pushed for the kid not to be killed in the first place. At least he knew what Phil had told him, he had a feeling there was something Phil was keeping from him but didn't push him just now. Looking at Phil sitting across from him Nick was sorry it had come to this with his good friend, he really hadn't stopped to think things through, but then that was simply Phil's way.

Phil would get an idea in his head and let it run away with him. Or he ran away with it in some cases. Fury was normally inclined to let Phil run with his ideas because they usually worked out in the end. This time that wasn't quite the case.

Coulson had recruited or 'picked up strays' in slightly unusual or unorthodox ways before, but this time was different. It was a dangerous international master assassin who had been on the line and had gotten away from them due to Phil's actions when they'd finally caught him after months of searching. Fury looked at Phil who looked fairly cool and collected on the outside; external looks could be deceiving however and Nick could only image how his friend was feeling.

Deciding that he'd punished Coulson enough for now Fury knew it was time to put him out of his misery. Rising to his feet he faced Phil and looked him in the eye, ignoring the trepidation he saw there. The man should be worried after all, Fury was the boss and Phil had wilfully disobeyed orders and managed to really screw this one up. Fury hadn't had to deal with a mess this big and complicated in years.

"Agent Coulson, what you did was wrong and irresponsible. You disobeyed a direct order from the head of this organisation after the original order had already been modified as per your request and you deserve to be punished for that alone. However, there is one thing you should know first."

Coulson gazed straight ahead without any emotion showing on his face as he waited for the verdict. Fury, however, had his own agenda up his sleeve.

"Yesterday, not long after getting off the phone to you actually, I received a phone call. An ex-army sniper called Clinton Barton who was thought to be dead is currently being held in the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. He's been in federal custody for going on four days."

Phil's head snapped up to look Fury in the eye.

"WHAT?!"

"The sniper Clint Barton, aka the assassin Hawkeye if your research is reliable, is in federal custody. He's there because of the court martial issued while he was still in the military, as far as I am aware they don't actually know that he is also the assassin Hawkeye as he hasn't said a word about it to anyone and Hawkeye is a ghost living in the shadows of the underworld."

Phil looked, well, Fury didn't have a word to describe how Phil looked right now. Incredulous, excited, angry? All of the above? None of the above? Phil was likely completely pissed off about Nick intentionally keeping this from him and letting him stew for the last twelve or so hours, but Fury had really wanted Phil to understand the consequences of his actions.

"How long did you say he's been in custody for?"

Trust Phil to forget everything else Fury had just told him and concentrate on what he deemed important.

"Five days all together, he was somehow caught in Spain and once they found out about the court martial they sent him back here to stand trial in America. He's been in the US for about four days. We are possibly the only people who know his true identity as the international assassin Hawkeye, he didn't have a bow with him when he was arrested and nothing has been said by anyone since. Still, due to the military incident he is either facing life-long imprisonment or death seeing as he survived that explosion and deserted the army. Because of that there are now multiple charges against him."

Phil did some quick calculations in his head.

"That's why he hasn't rung me; he probably hasn't had a chance. I have to see him, do you have a car I can use boss?"

Fury had expected this and had planned accordingly.

"Phil, you're not driving all the way to Kansas, it's an almost twenty-four hour drive and you are in no shape to do that after everything that has happened."

"I have to see him before they do anything to him or make any decisions Nick! I..."

Fury held up his hand and waited until Phil finally fell silent, his eyes trained on Nick.

"I understand what you want to do Phil and I completely agree with you. That's why I have a jet out back all prepped and waiting. Just let me get my coat and we can be on our way."

Phil blinked twice, his mouth dropping open.

"Sir?"

"I'm coming with you Phil; I want to meet this kid who has had such an effect on you. I want to know just why my best Agent refused a kill order more than once, broke all the rules in the book and disobeyed my direct orders multiple times to give this one assassin a choice about what he does with his life."

It wasn't until they were on the plane and halfway to Kansas that Phil had an alarming thought.

"Does the council know about all this?"

Fury shook his head from where he sat in the pilot seat, (we said you needed two eyes to fly a plane?) not surprised that had Phil worried. Barton was, after all, a world class assassin who they had specifically been told to neutralize by the powers-that-be. It didn't matter that the military was unaware of his true identity as Hawkeye, what mattered was that SHIELD had been told to eliminate him and they hadn't followed through on that particular order.

"I will inform them after we have the kid on board, providing he comes with us. It will be easier for us if he's already in the organisation when they find out the truth. It will be a lot harder for them to chuck him out than refuse to let him join in the first place."

Phil just shook his head from where he sat in the co-pilots seat.

"The great Nicholas Fury, disobeying orders and lying to his superiors. You really are a bad influence on the rest of us."

Fury glared at his right hand man and good eye who added a belated 'sir' to his last statement.

"Yes I am disobeying orders, but it's for a good reason; there are no emotions involved with this. Also Coulson, when we arrive at the prison we have to be careful what we say where we can be overheard because as far as I am aware no one actually knows that Barton is the assassin Hawkeye and I would like it to stay that way for now. It will make things much easier for us."

Phil nodded immediately.

"Okay, I won't say anything about it to anyone, including you. What about when we're asked why we are interested in him? 'Cause people will ask."

"We want him for his extraordinary sniper skills; there is no need to say anything about him being an assassin. It's not like this is the first time we've recruited someone with a less than stellar past out of prison."

"No, I guess it's not."

There was silence for a while before Phil spoke again.

"Why have you changed your mind about Barton Nick? I thought you were just humouring me before but this goes way beyond that. What happened why I was away to make you change your mind?"

"What really happened in Tokyo that caused you to change your mind regarding the original kill order Phil?"

Phil didn't answer the question and after a good amount of time had passed Fury nodded.

"There you go. I have my reasons for doing this and I'm not sharing them with anyone. I just hope that this trip isn't a colossal waste of time and resources."

Almost four hours later.

Fury and Coulson were led to an interrogation room located deep inside the prison complex. It contained one table bolted to the ground, two chairs, one of those bolted to the ground and having handcuffs attached to the arms, and a concrete floor that had seen better days. There were two doors; one was located behind the interrogation chair so prisoners wouldn't know who entered the room without turning around, an action made virtually impossible by the cuffs and high back of the chair. The other one was located in the opposite wall and in darkness so whoever was sitting in the chair would only see the silhouette of a person at first. The remaining walls comprised of one way mirrors. The table and interrogation chair were brightly lit with yellow light, leaving the other chair in shadows. It was definitely designed to be intimidating but after having been in SHIELD's interrogation rooms this one managed to look woefully inadequate in that department.

Nick and Phil waited patiently outside the chamber while the guards left to get Barton from his holding cell, they were keeping him locked up as per higher orders and had been interrogating him intensely ever since he'd been brought in but he apparently wasn't talking to them beyond giving a lot of snark. That piece of information didn't surprise either man in the slightest, especially Phil who after all had experienced firsthand how sarcastic and annoying the young man could be.

As they waited for the guards to return Phil went over their plan again in his head, they had formulated a plan of attack while on the plane. Fury would interview Barton first, while Phil stayed outside out of the way and observed the proceedings. Phil wasn't very happy about that but Fury wanted to assess Barton himself, without the kid knowing he was Coulson's boss. That made sense so Phil had finally conceded to waiting outside until Fury gave him the okay to enter.

After Fury was satisfied with the kid Phil would enter and then they would both offer him a place in SHIELD. If he accepted Fury was confident they'd be allowed to take him back with them today, if he refused to go with them then his fate was out of their hands.

Just then the guards entered the interrogation room with Barton in tow.

Fury took a good look at the kid as the guards forced him to sit down in the interrogation chair and snapped the handcuffs around his wrists roughly, despite the fact he didn't seem to be resisting them. Fury was surprised and slightly disturbed by what he saw, Barton looked nothing like a deadly assassin or even a too cocky sniper; he looked like a broken teenager. Dammit, that kid sitting hand-cuffed to the chair was too heartbreakingly young to be in this sort of mess.

After securing Barton the guards exited the room and the chief told them they could go in any time they wanted. Fury nodded and dismissed them with a wave of his hand; he wanted to observe Barton for a few more moments before he made his presence known to the boy.

Phil was shocked at the state Barton was in. Just a week ago he had been all ready to fight Phil and had refused to show fear even when he had him cornered, handcuffed and completely at his mercy. Phil saw none of that spirit and stubbornness now. What he saw was a broken, insecure, scared and abused kid, one who seemed to have given up on life.

He sat in the chair, shoulders hunched defensively and head bowed slightly. The orange prison scrubs he was wearing were a touch to big and combined with his long and slightly messy blonde hair only served to make him look about fifteen years old. There was a hopeless air about him and he looked like he couldn't care a less what happened to him, but it was a front; the uncertainty and fear evident in his body language was very clear to the two silent spectators. Fury brought Phil back to the present by nudging his arm. Phil nodded in silent understanding and watched as Fury walked towards the door.

Clint started when the door across from him suddenly opened; for a moment he was unable to see who had entered due to the placement of the lights. All he could tell was it was one person and he almost laughed. They seriously weren't going to play good cop/bad cop again where they? Clint knew there were two guys out there; he'd seen them through the glass when the guards had brought him in. This whole setup was like something out of those cop drama's he'd never bothered to watch but Natasha had seemed to like, and even they pulled it off better than these guys did. Then the person came into his sight properly and sat down in the chair opposite him and Clint got a good look at his latest interrogator.

He instantly knew that he had never seen this man before. Ever since arriving here the same people had questioned him multiple times but this guy hadn't been among them, Clint hadn't even seen him watching through the glass. He had dark skin and was sitting comfortably in the second chair as he looked Clint up and down with a calculating eye. Literally eye, singular; the guy had only one eye, the other one was covered with a black leather eye patch which made Clint wonder what had happened to it and why he didn't just get a fake. But then maybe he was just into pirates. Clint would have snickered at the thought if he hadn't been in such dire circumstances.

There was something about this guy that unsettled Clint more so than anyone else had. Mr. Pirate Guy wasn't anything like all the other types who had questioned Clint over the past few days, this guy was heaps creepier and gave off an air of being menacing and deadly and being able to kill you faster than you could blink with whatever lay at hand. There was something else about him that Clint couldn't place, something that made Clint regard him in a slightly different way to any of the other types who he'd met over the last few days. One thing he was sure of was that this man was not your typical military grunt; he gave off too similar a vibe to Natasha, who was a trained spy, for that.

Clint stared at the dark guy with an irritating smirk on his face as he waited for him to say something. Clint thought he'd learnt a fair bit about interrogation techniques that the so called good guys used over the last few days and found it somewhat amusing to see how far he could wind his interrogators up before they snapped. Especially when it became obvious they were under orders not to kill him and weren't allowed to torture him no matter the amount of snark he gave them, all he got for it was slaps and a lot of foul language that was enough to make sailors blush. Clint didn't care; he'd heard worse and been called far worse names in his life than anything these guys could come up with. It wasn't like he was getting out of here anyway so he might as well have some fun while he still had the chance. He knew it would be taken away from him soon enough.

Fury was slightly disturbed when he was able to get a good look at Barton. The kid's face was a mass of still-purple bruises and small grazes and cuts; he also sported a particularly nasty cut on the side of his head that looked like it could be starting an infection, it was stitched up and surrounded by the worst bruise of them all. And the nasty looking scar that was clearly visible on the neck line of the orange jumpsuit he was wearing did nothing to placate Fury either, even though that one was obviously old. Fury didn't let on that what he saw disturbed him; he simply sat there and stared at the kid.

Barton stared right back at Fury, eyeing him up and down with something of a challenge in his eyes. Fury felt the piercing gaze scrutinising him but gave no outward sign he did. If the kid was trying to intimidate him he was going to be disappointed; Fury could not be intimidated. Fury let the silence stretch on for a while until the kid was finally starting to look uncomfortable before he spoke, choosing his words carefully.

"Mr Clinton Barton, I am Colonel Nicholas Fury. I know all about you, I know about your superb marksmanship skills and how you never miss what you aim at, I know that you've managed to stay under the radar of every government agency and organisation for almost two years. I know all about that little incident in Afghanistan that landed you here, I even know that you're not as old as your military file says. You're not even twenty yet. I bet you really don't want the army to find that one out."

That produced a reaction out of the teen. A look of pure panic flashed across his eyes and his whole body stiffened. Fury knew not even Phil had that information and he wasn't about to tell him how he'd obtained it. Phil had done a good job with his research, but Fury had more contacts and reach then Phil did and had had over a month to put it to good use. Watching the teen narrow his eyes at him in anger Fury decided it was time to get to the serious stuff with this kid.

"Still, given your other crimes, whether you're twenty-one and four months, or nineteen and eleven, is now irrelevant. The courts certainly won't care. So let's get down to business, shall we?"

The only response he received was an angry look and given who Fury regularly dealt with Barton's glare didn't even make him uncomfortable. Fury watched Barton carefully as he dropped the bombshell on him.

"I also happen to know that you haven't spent the last two years idling away your time. No, you've been rather busy travelling all over the world letting people pay you to kill other people, haven't you Hawkeye?"

The pure panic on the kid's face that he couldn't hide was the first real facial expression he'd shown to Fury. Without giving him time to process Fury ploughed on.

"Still, I suppose that doesn't matter now, does it? You've practically got a death sentence on your head anyway though I think that they are more likely to favour life-long imprisonment. If it becomes known just who you are your death would be guaranteed don't you think? I can't say I blame you for not saying anything. Wouldn't want to give people more fuel to light the fire of evidence currently burning against you."

Fury stood up, leaning over the table in a slightly threatening way as he did just to see what the kid would do and how he would handle pressure and respond to being threatened. He saw Barton suppress an urge to cower away, instead putting on a defiant if somewhat scared expression and holding his ground as he refused to back away. Interesting, the kid wasn't going to admit weakness; whether that was a good or a bad thing only time would tell.

Fury walked around Barton's chair slowly and stopped directly behind the chair where he couldn't be seen and started talking again. He knew Barton wasn't going to speak to him just yet; no, he obviously used silence as a defence mechanism when he knew he couldn't win the argument and would need very good incentive to speak after what Fury had just said to him. Fury was confident he could give him the incentive he needed to talk very soon.

"How does one never miss what they aim at? Our best marksmen miss sometimes, they are only human after all and human's make mistakes. Even the best snipers in the world occasionally miss; they can't help it, it just happens. How come you don't ever miss? How is that possible?"

He still received no reply. Fury walked back around into Barton's line of vision and looked him in the eye. He saw anger, pure panic, fear and more than a hint of confusion in them. All of which were perfectly natural responses to what he was putting the kid through, he must be completely stressed out, but Fury wasn't finished yet. Fury really wanted to make this kid talk to him, silence was getting them nowhere and he wanted a verbal response of any kind out of the kid who had so far not said a word. Not removing his gaze he asked a direct question that was a bit more neutral but likely a touchy subject for Barton given his current situation.

"How did they manage to catch you? You've avoided capture and detection for almost two years, driving my people insane with the fact that you are, to all intents and purposes, a ghost. I'm curious as to how some random cops in Spain got hold of you and managed to arrest you when my own agents had a really hard time even finding you?"

Barton was the first to break eye contact and look away. Fury waited to see what would happen next, but it wasn't anything like what he'd expected. The kid suddenly raised his head and gave Fury a glare that almost made him take a step back, it was that intense. Angrily yanking against the restraints seemingly not caring if he injured himself in the process Barton lashed out with enough venom to rival a cobra's strike.

"Who exactly are you and what do you want with me? Your types don't just come to torture me, no; you always have an agenda, an ulterior motive to everything you do. And who is with you? It's kind of stupid to stand behind a one way mirror when I can see straight through them, just so you know the good cop/bad cop routine is getting really old. Just to prove I can see through them he's standing on the right side mirror towards the corner closest to the door behind me with his arms crossed, tapping the fingers of his left hand on his right bicep. I see like a hawk, that's why I don't miss. I don't miss anything; I have never missed anything that I've aimed at. And the name is CLINT, not Clinton so don't you dare call me that again!"

Fury almost blinked in surprise at the angry outburst from the young assassin but expertly schooled his features, years of experience preventing any emotion from showing on his face or in his body language. He looked hard at Barton instead, the kid looked right back at him with a challenging expression; his eyes were now blazing with anger and hatred as he dared Fury to do something.

It was clear to Fury that the kid was almost at the end of his emotional and mental reserves. The last week had obviously worn him down so that he was now hovering right on the edge of completely losing it and doing something everyone would likely regret for a long time. Fury was secretly glad the kid was currently restrained, if he wasn't things could get messy really fast, though Fury was sure he and Coulson could easy outmatch him it would be a disastrous start to a potential partnership.

"Clint then, okay that's good to know. Though how I was supposed to know when you weren't talking to me I'm not sure. Despite what some people think I am not a mind reader. Seeing you apparently know my partner is here how about we invite him in now?"

Fury ignored Barton's answering glare as he turned and beckoned to Coulson to come in. Phil had been right with what he'd said to Fury; this kid wasn't stupid, he had guts and wouldn't let himself be intimidated despite the circumstances he was in. And he wasn't quite ready to die, he was a fighter and despite his attitude Fury could see there was still something left in him that might be worth salvaging. Fury had seen enough to make his judgement on Barton's character, it was time to get serious and see if this kid was really worth all the trouble Phil seemed to think he was and if bringing him into SHIELD was a possibility.

Phil had heard the whole conversation through the comm receiver in his ear, Fury was wearing a bug as he'd jammed the audio feeds to the room as soon as he'd gone in there, not wanting anyone to overhear his conversation with Barton. Though the prison was unaware of that as Fury had his ways of making nothing appear amiss thanks to SHIELD's superior technology.

Phil had been amazed with some of the things Fury had said to the kid. He was still trying to get his head around certain details he hadn't known. Like Barton apparently being under twenty years old and not over twenty-one, when the kid surprised and impressed him yet again.

Barton apparently saw straight through the one-way mirror and had described Coulson's position exactly, down to what his fingers were doing (Coulson hadn't been aware of that himself but Barton was right, taping his fingers was a nervous habit of his that he really had to break) so he wasn't making it up. Phil wasn't surprised when Fury beckoned him in not long after that. It was obviously time for a serious talk with the kid, not like what Fury had been baiting him with to see what reactions he got. Phil opened the door nearest to him and entered the interrogation room.

Fury watched Barton listen intently as Coulson entered the room behind him. He was wary and had reminded Fury of a caged wild animal while they were talking but he was doing a superb job of hiding his fear behind anger, it wouldn't have been visible to someone who wasn't actively looking for it. Barton's head was tilted as he listened to Phil enter the room behind him. As soon as Phil walked into Barton's line of sight Fury saw him relax marginally as the recognition dawned on his face.

"You again, Agent Phil Coulson of some super secret spy organisation right? I should have known; you both have the same vibe. And just who are you exactly?"

This last was addressed at Fury, who did his best not to look smug. Due to the angry glare he received from the kid he knew he hadn't quite succeeded but didn't care.

"Director Nick Fury of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division."

The kid raised an eyebrow, managing to look completely unimpressed.

"You know, that really is quite a mouthful. I still don't know how you fit it on a business card."

"We call it SHIELD in everyday speech."

"That's somewhat easier to remember. Did you name it just so you could have a cool acronym? Seriously, who would call an organisation that?"

Phil turned a laugh into a cough; he'd said pretty much the exact same thing to Fury when he'd first heard the acronym. In fact a lot of people asked the same question, Phil thought they should put it in a FAQ's booklet and publish it to give out to new Agents. Fury, sadly, wasn't on board with the idea.

Fury looked completely unimpressed as he answered the question. Gosh, how Phil envied the man's perfect poker face.

"Something like that. I wasn't part of the organisation back when it was named so I couldn't tell you. I did know some of the founders personally so it is entirely possible that was their intention, a shield to protect the people of earth from threats too big for ordinary people to handle."

Phil just nodded in agreement to Fury's statement before looking straight at Barton.

"You didn't ring me."

The question was implied.

"I don't know if you've heard but I've been slightly busy for the past week. I haven't exactly had a chance as I've suddenly become a very popular person."

"I am well aware of that. Just how did local police manage to catch you? It took me months to track you down, even longer to actually get near enough to talk to you not to mention the amount of time and effort it took to find out your name in the first place. I'm curious as to how some random, bumbling Spanish police officers managed to do all that in less than a week?"

Barton looked Coulson in the eyes for a long moment before replying.

"I was slightly distracted after the meeting with you; I was so busy thinking on what you'd said that my concentration slipped and I got careless. Managed to get involved in a car accident and hit my head real hard, I was still unconscious when they sent me to hospital. Woke up to find I was handcuffed to the bed under armed guard, they must have taken my fingerprints while I was unconscious or something as I have no idea how they figured out who I was. They kept me on strong drugs after that so I wasn't coherent enough to successfully escape, don't get me wrong I tried but didn't get far. They ended up securing my feet to the bed as well after that."

"Next thing I know I'm back in the States facing an old court martial and having people tell me I'm gonna be killed for deserting the army despite the fact I wasn't officially part of the army at the time as I'd already been discharged. Then you creepy spy types turn up and want to talk to me. As you can see with a week like that I kind of haven't had the time to ring anyone."

So that's what happened in Spain, a mixture of carelessness and dumb luck on the part of the police officers. Fury waited for Phil to continue, the kid seemed to be answering his questions and he didn't want to interrupt just yet.

"So were you going to ring me?"

Barton managed to look like he didn't care for a brief moment before the defensiveness crept back into his stance and he answered tersely.

"Was planning to, I just wanted to get a few of my things first. Instead I'm locked up here on US soil and what I wanted to bring with me is still there. I missed the deadline, didn't I?"

The way that last sentence was said had Fury inwardly smirking. The kid clearly still had a sense of humour, even given the stressful situation he was in and how scared he was. Phil was looking at Barton thoughtfully but there was a gleam in his eye that set off alarm bells in Fury's head.

"Yes, but if all this hadn't happened would you still have missed it?"

Barton shrugged and smirked as he sat up as straight as the chair and cuffs would allow him to.

"Maybe. I'm normally pretty good at being on time when I want to be however. Punctuality is good for business."

Fury spoke up then.

"So the accident is what happened to your face?" He gestured towards the side of the kids head.

Barton instinctively cowed at that before sitting up and looked at Nick like he was mad.

"What else could it be from? It was bad enough to actually knock me out cold, which is saying something as I've got a hard head. But it is actually an old wound that hadn't quite healed yet and the accident just re-opened it."

"What about the other bruises?"

"What part of hitting my head on a hard road surface did you not get? Sir."

Damn it, the kid sounded just like Phil did when he wanted to be annoying and insult his boss in the politest way possible. Fury felt a terrible sense of déjà vu about this whole situation as his thoughts were interrupted by Phil speaking.

"So Barton, you thought about that offer to join SHIELD?"

The kid gave him a calculated look that someone that age shouldn't be capable of giving.

"Yeah, but I thought it had expired days ago."

Phil smirked, looking mighty pleased with himself.

"Due to unforeseen and unplanned for circumstances, I think it could probably be extended at least another few minutes. What do you say Director?"

This last was addressed to Fury who nodded as he turned fully around to face them both.

"Five minutes. Max."

He removed a lock pick from somewhere on his person and placed it on the table where Barton could reach it in spite of the cuffs. He locked eyes with the boy for a long moment before walking away from the table, examining the room from the inside and apparently ignoring the ex-sniper and his own agent.

Phil kept the smirk on his face as he settled back comfortably in the spare chair, placing his feet on the table as he glanced at his watch.

"Four minutes forty-five seconds left Barton."

The kid eyed the pick for a few moments and looked hard at Fury and Coulson before he reached for it. Slowly and deliberately the first cuff, and then the second one, popped open. After stretching the kinks out of his arms and shoulders he placed the pick back on the table before tenderly rubbing his bruised and chafed wrists, the cuffs had been tighter then were strictly necessary and pulling against them hadn't helped. Finally freed from the cuffs and having restored blood circulation to his hands Barton fixed his eyes on Coulson.

"Time?"

Coulson smiled as he removed his feet from the table.

"Thirty seconds left. Welcome to SHIELD, Probationary Agent Barton."

Fury turned around at that.

"Yes, welcome Agent. I hope you know what you're getting into."

Nick seriously hoped he knew what he was getting into going along with this.

Phil spoke with Barton a bit more. Fury was only half listening to what was said, being too busy planning on how to get Barton out of here. It wasn't until Phil asked a strange question that made him turn and give the pair his full attention.

"How deaf are you exactly?"

Barton's eyes dropped for a moment before he crossed his arms defiantly and glared at Phil with a challenge in his eyes.

"Why? Reconsidering your offer? Don't like damaged goods?"

"Of course not." Phil was deadly calm. "But it is classed as a disability on our books so we need to know everything about it. I presume it happened after the army as they would have noticed something that major. Was it the explosion?"

Barton dropped his eyes and chewed his lip for a moment before answering.

"Not that explosion. And I'm almost eighty percent deaf in both ears. These hearing aides are custom made."

Fury joined in than, glaring at Phil.

"You didn't think to mention this sooner Agent Coulson? How long have you known?"

"Since our pleasant little meeting in Paris a week ago."

Phil was unruffled even as Barton's jaw dropped and he stared at Coulson. Fury spoke then, his tone indicating just how pissed off he was at Phil for not telling him this before.

"When were you going to share this information with the class Coulson?"

"I just did."

Fury's gaze swivelled around to land on the young sniper who still had his arms crossed defiantly in front of him and wore a death glare on his face.

"So you can't hear without hearing aids?"

Barton looked cowered as he replied.

"Not clearly, there is some slight noise but nothing identifiable. You plan on leaving me here now that you know about my weakness?"

Phil wisely kept his mouth shut so Fury could answer that question. A good move in Fury's opinion, none of this was the kids fault and no, this didn't change wanting Barton on their side. However, there were a few things Fury wanted to clear up first.

"How long ago did it happen?"

The young assassin hesitated before replying with some reluctance.

"Just over a year."

That meant he'd been operating as a highly successful international assassin despite his disability for at least twelve months. That meant it had happened way before he'd landed himself on Fury's radar and SHIELD started actively chasing him.

"Obviously it doesn't interfere with your ability to do your job?"

"I work from a distance for a reason and it's never been a major problem."

Fury nodded, satisfied for now.

"Okay then, that's all I wanted to know." Seeing Barton's look of suspicion and disbelief he continued, "The offer to join SHIELD still stands; I just needed to make sure the hearing loss wasn't a recent occurrence. You have been inactive for several weeks now; I wanted to make sure it wasn't due to that."

Fury continued to watch the kid as Phil spoke to him some more, patiently answering questions.

"I saw the aids after I tazered you in Paris. I'm not sorry for that by the way, just bear in mind for future reference that I have a tazer and I'm not afraid to use it. Anyway, I presume that is part of the reason you keep your hair long, to hide your ears."

Barton seemed relieved to be free of any restraints, going by the way he was sitting there and kind of talking to Coulson, and it might have been Fury's imagination but he thought the boy looked slightly calmer for it as well. He obviously heavily resented been restrained, something Fury and most of SHIELD could personally relate to.

Barton was still wary and unsure, understandable given the conversation they'd just had and who they were, but didn't look as if he was about to bolt on them. It was probably only because they knew the way out of the prison and had the power to take him with them but Fury still counted it as a win for now. After letting Phil talk with Barton for a while longer Fury interrupting him.

"Coulson, are you ever going to stop gasbagging and be ready to go? The jet's waiting outside and we still have to have Barton discharged, find him a change of clothes, and go through all the paperwork this is going to generate. I'll like to be back at base before tomorrow, if that is possible? I do have an organisation to run back in New York."

Coulson smirked at that before looking across the table at Clint.

"Ready to go kid?"

Clint felt like laughing because of what Fury had just said but kept his expression neutral as he nodded. He was more than ready to get out of here; in fact he'd been ready to leave before he'd even arrived.

He hadn't actually thought he would be leaving, and even though he still wasn't sure about going with Fury and Coulson he wanted a chance to live. Despite everything he'd been through in his life he wasn't ready to die just yet. Besides; he wanted a chance to do some good for a change and wasn't using his skills to change the world for the better what he'd always wanted to do? Clint sat up straight in his chair and uncrossed his arms as he looked challengingly at both the older men.

"SIRS, yes, SIRS."

Clint watched Coulson's face break into a badly concealed smirk and then he looked at Fury to see he wore a blank mask, but he was sure there was a slight twinkle in his eye that hadn't been there before. Fury then marched towards the door, beckoning for Clint to follow him.

This was different, his superiors in the army had always been mad and often started swearing at him and cursing whenever he'd used that insult. A few of the shorter tempered ones had even hit him. If his new bosses actually possessed a sense of humour maybe this gig wouldn't be so bad after all.

It was ironic, Fury thought several hours later, (after they'd dealt with all the paperwork) as he watched Barton board the SHIELD jet back to New York and sit in the seat in the corner, the way things had a habit of turning out. Almost a decade ago, when Fury had been younger and a lot less wise than he was now, he'd seen potential in a troublesome, rebellious, somewhat crazy and often seemingly insane sniper, and people had thought he was mad when he'd plucked said crazy sniper out of a military prison and made him his right hand man. That had eventually extended to his left eye as well. Fury had been sure at the time that he would never meet another Coulson and that might not be a bad thing, and here he was now looking at the living proof that assumption had been wrong.

After seeing Barton in the flesh he finally fully understood why Phil hadn't been able to carry through with the kill order. Barton reminded them both of Coulson when he was younger. They had the same attitude to life, some way of coping, same insults, same everything. The kid was like a reincarnation of Phil Coulson which was a very scary thought.

Phil would probably never admit it, even under torture, but Fury was sure he now knew the real reason Coulson hadn't killed Barton and had been so insistent he should live; it was because he couldn't kill himself. Barton was obviously a survivor and fighter or he wouldn't have lived this long and Fury suspected that was part of what Phil had seen in the kid that had made him change his mind about killing him. Thanks to Fury and his moment of insanity Coulson had never had to resort to what Barton had had to do to survive, he'd never gone so low and gotten such a black soul. Apart from that they were almost identical, apart from the trust issues the kid obviously had, in fact he had more trust issues than Fury had seen in anyone in a while which was a very disturbing thought given some of what Fury had seen.

That obvious lack of trust was the big difference between Barton and Coulson; Barton didn't trust anyone and likely hadn't trusted anyone in a long time. Phil had always had trust in other people and sometimes too much faith. The lack of any sort of trust was painfully obvious in the way Barton's eyes never left them for long, always coming back to rest on them after looking around a bit. His eyes were constantly in motion, taking in everything that happened around him, he was relying heavily on his eyes to let him know what was happening.

It made sense that his eyes were valuable to him, especially after finding out at the prison that Barton was 80% deaf and wore hearing aids most of the time. Fury wondered how that had happened but knew the question wouldn't be answered in the near future; Barton obviously wasn't going to tell them how it had happened in a hurry and really Fury didn't blame him.

Teaching him to trust would take time, everything would take time, but Fury knew from past experience that he was a good judge of character and after talking to Barton personally and assessing the sniper himself he was confident they would succeed in the end, if Barton really wanted to change that is.

Everything depended on Barton and if he really wanted this, if he didn't then nothing they did would work and he'd either be on his way back to prison or dead within a few months. After the plane took off Fury thought idly that Barton may prove to be an even greater challenge then Phil had been, and that was really saying something.

Fury looked over again at the kid who was sitting tensely in his chair and staring out the window, his shoulders were rigid and he was sitting ramrod straight in his chair. Oh yes, this was going to be fun. Fury had a suspicion he'd regret agreeing to this more than once before they were through.

Barton was Phil's problem now, though Phil didn't know what Fury had planned for him in that regard yet, that would make a nice present later, part of his punishment for disobeying Fury's orders. Fury still had his doubts that this would work out, but after listening to Phil, doing his own research into Hawkeye and what he had witnessed firsthand he had no doubts he was doing the right thing by at least offering Clint Barton a chance to live a better life. Whether he embraced it and used it for good or ended up back in prison or dead and buried was entirely up to him.

The End (for now)

The interrogation scene with Fury was inspired by a scene in the Ultimate Comics Hawkeye mini-series.

There you go. That's the story of how Clint came to be recruited into SHIELD in this Universe. It wasn't an easy journey for him and isn't about to get any easier for anyone. In the meantime, as I promised last week, the titles and summaries of the next few stories in the Choices and Second Chances Universe are listed below.

Secrets and Spies (sequel to Shades of Red and Black)

Recruited into SHIELD by Agent Phil Coulson and Director Fury himself Clint Barton, aka the assassin Hawkeye, knows this is his second chance to do something good with his life. However, in an agency full of spies there are many secrets and Clint is unwittingly drawn into playing their game. Is our archer up to the challenge?

In progress

Those Nine Months

Do you wonder what happened to Clint between the time he left the army and the time we meet him again in chapter 2 of Shades of Red and Black? What happened during that time to change him from being a cheeky snart-mouthed sniper into an almost emotionless master assassin? This series of short stories and one shots will aim to answer those questions and more besides as we delve into the mystery of the events surrounding those missing nine months.

In progress

Through Blood and Fire (working title and summary, may change some before posting)

Before they were Agent Phil Coulson and Director Nick Fury of SHIELD they were Private Phil Coulson and Colonel Marcus Nicholas Fury. This isn't the story of death defying feat of superheroes, it's the story of two ordinary men doing extraordinary things and forming a lifelong bond of trust in the process.

Nick Fury and Phil Coulson origin story.

Coming soon

The sequel is about 95% written but won't be up for several months probably, sorry guys but things aren't working with it and I currently haven't got time to do the extensive research and edits it needs but it will be up as soon as I can manage it.

I wish to thank Midnight Star26 and jaguarspot for beta-ing this whole story for me!

I also want to thanks all who have reviewed, followed or favourited this story during the time I've been posting. Especially Hofherrp who has reviewed every chapter from number four onwards without fail, and whose reviews have been really insightful as well! To anyone else who has reviewed most chapters, thank you. Due to the sheer number of Guest reviews I can't thank any of you personally so I'm doing it now. If any questions arise from this chapter please feel free to comment or PM, I'll do the best I can to answer them but the sequel ties up most of the loose ends from this story so I may not be able to say much without giving my future plans away but I'll do my best.

Well, that's all for now though I'd encourage everyone to keep an eye on my profile page as I will be announcing the progress of future stories there.

AustralianRanger012 out. (for now anyway)