A/N READ THIS NOTE! PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR MINDS BLOWN! (AND HOW MANY OF YOU CAUGHT ON TO AGENTS OF SHIELD AND TAHITI? GOOD JOB!
Bagel Thursday
PeechTao
Chapter 11
Bagel Thursday. So much had happened between this Bagel Thursday and the last, making the day a bitter sweet reminder of everything it stood for. Change. Clint and Coulson first met in a Dunkin Doughnuts years before over his morning bagel. That day Clint decided to become a SHIELD agent. It was the day his life changed forever. He met one of the most influential men he would ever come to know and he got a job that not only appreciated his skills but challenged him like none other before. Thursday he was reminded of that moment. It was Bagel Thursday. The day he grounded himself back to the root of his life. Of course it was never quite the same after Coulson died. Ever since getting that news, Clint could be sitting in his bunk, a restaurant, or a little corner of Bagdad and his mind would relive the death of his mentor. It was good to share the day with others, whether they understood the significance or not. It was even more important now when his life was threatening to change forever. If he could still have Bagel Thursday, then everything was going to be just fine even if some of the little logistics of it had to change.
"Bruce and Tony texted me this. Bruce needs a coffee with as much espresso as possible. He was awake for the past three days finishing projects with me. Tony needs food." Clint passed his phone to Steve and indicted where on the screen it held their orders. "I want a salt bagel with pineapple cream cheese toasted. It better be toasted enough, not just waved under and easy bake heat lamp either."
"You order your own food, Clint." Natasha told him, laughing.
Clint didn't catch her words at first so Steve tapped him (accurately) and Natasha repeated herself. Clint, however, was serious. "But, no. I mean, it's hard to. The tellers never look right at you and then they ask me questions and I don't know what's going on and if they don't have it, then I don't know what to do. Please?"
At that statement, how could she refuse? She filed the statement away in the back of her mind. In the future, she realized this may be happening more often.
Steve stepped up and put their order in and the three went to a corner booth to sit down and wait. The bagel shop was slightly packed at this time of the morning. Business men, street artists, and students steadily flowed in through the doors until most of the restaurant was brimming. It wasn't long, though, before the girl was calling them over. Missing her entirely, Clint continued to sit and stair out the window to the New York streets. Instead Steve and Natasha got up and retrieved their food.
:(:):(:):
Bagel Thursday. He always thought it was a funny little nostalgia to hang on to, but even when Agent Barton wasn't around, Coulson found it hard to break himself of the habit. Barton and he had been stationed in the middle of some difficult situations in their many year history but no matter what happeneD, they always managed to do something for Bagel Thursday. One time it was croissants with camel butter which made both of them horribly ill, another it was deep fried doughnuts and cream cheese frosting. Clint would point out that at least the cream cheese fit. If Barton was away on a mission he would send a little encrypted message to his SHIELD handler asking: "Are you eating a bagel right now?" Usually Coulson was.
It was difficult leaving a lot of the people he knew and loved in Sector 6 of SHIELD. He'd started a new life, with a new team, and a level of security clearance that he'd literally died and gone to heaven for. He knew the Avengers were stationed in New York, how could they not be when Tony wouldn't leave Stark Tower? Given that his recent mission had Coulson at the Sector 7 New York office, he knew the likelihood of him running into one of the Avengers was a little higher. Never did he expect that walking into a bagel shop on Thursday morning that he would see Clint Barton. His former protégé and lifelong friend was sitting solo in a booth by the window. Without thinking, Coulson called his name. He was so surprised to see him that SHIELD formality went right out the window. But Clint didn't turn toward him. It could have been expected, the place was relatively busy. Coulson looked around to scan the area. Natasha and Steve were on the other side of the room, engaged in what seemed like a heated discussion on the proper toasting of a pineapple and salt bagel. Like a pain that wouldn't go away, Coulson realized that the order belonged to Clint. Why wasn't Clint himself up there making a hassle? He was so particular why was he giving the reigns up to Natasha? Even Steve? Barton looked happily oblivious to everything as he just sat there and stared off into space.
While Coulson didn't want to spill the beans for everyone, he suddenly desperately wanted Clint to know he was there. It didn't make any sense. He was an agent, he was not nostalgic towards people the way he was with his car. But the world was some how different now. This was still happening. It was their Bagel Thursday. Like twins separated at birth they'd arrived at the same place at the same time for this purpose. So he sat in the booth directly behind Clint with a newspaper up in some 1950s detective version of hiding his features.
Over his shoulder Coulson whispered to his friend. "Clint? Agent Barton, it's me. Just turn around slightly, but not too fast."
Clint remained in his own private world. Coulson knew he'd spoken loud enough for the Avenger to hear him. Risking everything he half turned in his seat to see the agent's back. Barton was looking intently at something out the window. Coulson said his name again, louder.
From across the restaurant Steve called out for Clint as well. Coulson turned at the sound in time to watch as Natasha punched Captain Rogers in the gut which probably hurt her more than it did him. They finished at the counter and approached, having solved their toasting problems. Neither of them was speaking. Coulson ducked just before they came and hid his face in a fit of coughing. They sat down, both across from Clint.
Natasha said. "You're right, toasting trouble. You ok?"
"Fine. We eating here or back at the Tower?"
"Let's head back, Bruce can't get stuck with a reheated coffee." Steve suggested.
"Lead the way." Clint slid out of the booth behind them. He suddenly remembered something by the counter and broke off to get it. Steve and Natasha made it to the door before they realized he wasn't with them. At first Natasha called for him but Steve smacked her for it. She clocked him back. Together they waited for Clint to find his way back to them, this time with-
Coulson knew without looking. It was two packets of white sugar. Clint would go back to the Tower, peal the two halves of his bagel apart, and then pour the sugar on either half. With a lighter, blowtorch, Coulson had even seen him use a match once, Clint would caramelize the sugar and eat each half one at a time. The smell was horrendous, but it made him happy. Coulson was never brave enough to endure the taste. The three left. Coulson watched them circle the coffee shop until they passed not far from his own window. A cabby honked its way through an intersection, Steve yanked Clint out of its path. A look of concern passed between Natasha and he. Clint was smiling. Happy and undamaged.
Coulson caught a sight out of the corner of his window. While he sat, Clint's focus had been on a man on the street corner. The man was sitting on a cardboard box with an upturned trashcan pounding away at an unrecognizable tune. Clint had been fixated watching the man. Coulson had a small idea why. It wasn't necessarily anything Clint did, it was what he didn't do. Before he made a decision on it, he had to confirm his suspicions.
Suddenly Coulson wasn't hungry any longer. He left the restaurant and climbed into his waiting signature car. He needed to know what was going on with his team, and he wanted to know that now.
The current SHIELD bolt hole was stationed only a few blocks down the other side of town. It took Coulson no time to manage his way through traffic and he arrived to his team all ready at their places. He'd given a call ahead, a very brief indication of the things he required finished by the time he arrived and he was happy to find them accomplished.
Agent Melinda May was parked on a revolving chair, watching the nerd pair Simmons and Fritz fumbling around each other to set up their technology hardware. Agent Ward was propping up a wall to keep out of their way. Their new hacker, Skye, was sitting on the floor with her laptop propped on her knees typing frantically.
As Coulson pulled the door to the temporary SHIELD station open, the Skye was the first to address him. "Pulling up the satellite data now. No encryptions. Didn't you say their would be encryptions?"
Coulson shrugged. "I wasn't sure. May? Ward?"
The agents straightened to attention.
"Both of you take a break for a while. Enjoy the sights." Coulson told them, hiking a thumb at the door. He was the senior agent, so back talk was unlikely.
Apparently, it was not impossible. Ward was the first to bark back. "Wait, we don't get to look at this? You call up with a super important video file we need to hack and we can't watch?"
Coulson fixed him with a rigid gaze. "No. Walk."
His disappointment difficult to hide, Ward took off. Melinda followed behind him. Though she didn't say it, her curiosity was piqued. When both agents had gone out, Coulson nodded toward Fritz and Simmons. "The two of you are not official field officers and therefore have no responsibility to turn over the evidence you may soon witness. Do you understand? Skye, this doesn't apply to you, you are an outside consultant."
Both Fritz and Simmons exchanged furtive glances.
"I need you to agree." Coulson said. "If you don't feel it within your duty to do that, you can follow Agents May and Ward. If you do stay it must be under the strictest confidence. You must not share the information we find now. Is that understood?"
Not knowing what else to do, and too excited now to consider being excluded from top secret information, Fritz and Simmons agreed. Coulson went on.
"The image rendering I've asked you for corresponds to the date and location of Captain Steve Rogers, Agent Clint Barton and Mr. Tony Stark's latest mission. By the coordinates you know that mission was in Egypt and yes, it was all over the news. SHIELD will not claim involvement given the high stakes region and it was confirmed that a modified weapon once owned by Stark technology was in the region. Stark heard about the information and volunteered the team. It was on our plate originally but Stark took it over. Skye is that satellite feed running?"
Skye flicked a few keys on her laptop and the image was sent to the central console's rendering system. The SHIELD bolt hole was rather small. Having a full three dimensional scene was difficult, so Fritz worked to shrink the satellite feed to a more managable size. A miniature battlefield appeared at their feet.
Coulson stooped down to see better.
"Any clearer satellite feeds, Skye?" Coulson asked.
She shrugged. "I'm using SHIELD's war bird as it is. All the other country satellites were turned in the wrong direction for some strange reason."
Simmon's crouched down as well. "I guess the mission was top secret enough. What are we looking for, Sir?"
Coulson nodded to Skye and ignored Simmons. "Play it forward. Slow it down too. I want everything from before the explosion and before the strike team was called."
Skye adjusted the information and the four silently watched an overhead view of a sandy desert waste. First appeared a slew of assailants running into the frame. The SHIELD camera angle adjusted, giving a full view of the men's faces for ID recognition. Then, the team of Avengers showed. The scene played as the miniature men reenacted the events that would forever change one agent's life and adjust dramatically those of his friends. Coulson watched, mesmerized as Clint moved skillfully. That pride Coulson felt seeing his agents in action swelled in him now. At first he thought perhaps he was wrong. Maybe he fabricated the entire oddity of Clint's behavior. Maybe Clint was doing him a favor by not looking at him. Maybe Clint was trying to keep Phil's cover under wraps. The scene changed. The three Avengers dropped. The video footage went fuzzy but returned again. It was difficult to see just what was happening.
"Fritz enlarge this, I want to see what Agent Barton is doing, cut the others out." Coulson instructed.
The girl straightened and brought up her tablet. With a few flicks, they had a zoomed in version of a silent Clint Barton. He was reeling against the ground, screaming in agony from the effects of the sonic weapon.
"That looks like it sucks." Skye said. "Can I just say, any time the spandex squad wants to take over one of these missions from us they can just go ahead and do it?"
"Can I ask what you are looking for, sir?" Fritz asked.
Coulson watched the image play on. The SHIELD jet flying recon continued to focus and unfocus depending on what part of its surveillance arc it was flying. What resulted was a series of cluttered playbacks. Fritz worked to string them together in a more legible account.
Clint on the ground. Clint in pain. Clint's arrow close by. A zoom out to the scene. Everyone was down. The assailants raising their guns. In moments it would be over. Then Clint, getting up, inexplicably unaffected. Awake now. Aware now. Pulling arrows. Downing men. Saving the day.
"You said he was a top agent, but wow. Hey, can I save a picture of this so I can watch it on replay later?" Skye piped up.
"No." Coulson replied firmly. "Wipe the data. Figure out who has a copy of this and burn it. I want all evidence destroyed, no copies, and not even in that private file you have on your second hard drive."
Skye raised an eyebrow.
Simmons crossed her arms. "Um, I know we've all been sort of sworn to secrecy and all that, but can I ask what this is all about?"
Coulson turned toward the back of the building and the small office he'd arranged there. "No you can't. Wipe that data."
Coulson shut the door behind himself and collapsed into the chair behind his desk.
Deaf.
Coulson felt the pit of his stomach drop. Sonic devices and Clint's private arsenal of arrow tips were a recipe for disaster. Clint wasn't fluid yet. He wasn't adjusted to the disability. Disability. The word caught in his throat like a rotten apple. His Clint Barton. His agent. His friend. Something terrible had happened to Clint and Coulson wasn't there waiting at the end of it to tell him it would be all right. He should have been sent instead. His team should have been the ones there. SHIELD needed the best, brightest, fully capable individuals out there. If Director Fury got wind of this like Coulson was mandated to report on, then Clint ran the risk of getting scrubbed out. Coulson knew exactly what that would mean. He'd seen it happen enough and always did what he could to spare his team from that sort of result. Clint had always, always, been fixable after a mission. If the Director found this out he'd be off the Avenger initiative. He wasn't even supposed to be part of the mission to begin with, but his skills put him in that position and Coulson knew that little secret more than anyone else. Tony might try to use his influence to spare Clint's life but he couldn't protect the agent forever. Someone would get to him and there would be nothing the Avengers could do to prevent it.
Sending Ward and May away spared Clint for now. May might give Clint a pass out of professional courtesy. Clint had saved her life often enough in the field to develop a level of irrevocable respect. Even the events of the Helicarrier couldn't dispel that. Ward? Now that was a different problem. Ward generally was that angel of death. He had been the cause of enough Agents impromptu "retirements". Ward would enjoy getting a mission to scrub out Clint. He'd held a grudge against Barton ever since the Avengers promotion. Ward, like a lot of agents who didn't know the truth behind Clint's qualifications, resented him for it.
But Clint was still alive. He was happy for now, safe for now. Coulson had to do something before the truth came out. He could do something. He had a Level 7 clearance and all file access to the Avengers mission backgrounds. He was going to do something he'd never considered before in his long career as a loyal field operative. If it saved Clint's life, then it was worth his own.
So everyone who was looking for some Agents of Shield, maybe even a little Coulson surprise: HERE YOU ARE! I am SOOOOOO excited for these next few chapters. get ready to blow your socks off cause coming up next: Clint's secret is out!
-Keep on reviewing! I want to know what you think!