A/N SOOOOO excited to see what you think of this!

Bagel Thursday

PeechTao

Chapter 12

Melinda May stood in the alley looking up to the sky. She had very little interest in what Ward was planning, but didn't feel like taking off either. "You know, one of these days Coulson's going to catch you spying and make you disappear for a while."

Ward threw her a glare. "Aw, come on. You can't tell me it's not killing you to know what Phil's keeping from us."

"I know that curiosity gets you in trouble." May replied. "And that spying on a spy is a little redundant."

Ward ignored her, pulling up the button camera he planted inside the bolt hole. The live feed over his smart phone was grainy at best. He hadn't expected on needing a quality image and after viewing some of the contents he found nothing to get over enthusiastic about. "Don't get what the big deal is. So SHIELD was the one who blew up Egypt. Big whoop."

May glanced at the screen. "We did that? I know the Avengers took our mission over. Some bang."

Ward scoffed.

"What?"

He passed the phone to her. Clint Barton was on the screen.

"Looks like golden boy got himself in trouble." Ward said. He laughed a little to himself. "Serves him right. Guy rubs me wrong. Did you hear he wasn't even supposed to be on that team? I was. I was more qualified. He goes and gets himself possessed by some Asgard crazy and suddenly he's living the high life."

May passed the phone back. "Rings of jealousy."

"Jealous nothing. My friends were on that Helicarrier when Barton blew it up. If it was me under Loki juju I would have snapped myself out of it."

"Sure you say that. I was on the Helicarrier. If Barton wanted to kill us all, really kill us all, he would have. He had a clean shot at Fury and missed, he only took out one turbine and not all four. He didn't even storm the bridge."

"You just say that cause you're one of those Hawkeye groupies."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to answer that. If I did, you wouldn't be moving for three weeks."

Ward went stiff. At first Melinda assumed her threat actually made a dent in his thick head but seeing that he was hardly paying attention to her all the change in his mood made even her curious. Pangs of alert hit her from all the tension in his shoulders and the momentary spite she held for him disappeared. Apparently he had seen something Coulson planned on them not witnessing. But rather than explain to to her, Ward switched off his phone and shoved it in his pocket. He took off without a word, stalking down the alley.

"Hey, what's going on?" May asked.

Ward lost himself in the throngs of people milling up and down 5th Avenue before she could devise to run after him.

May knew something was wrong. Seriously wrong. She returned to the private entrance of the SHIELD bolt hole and disappeared inside. Not seeing Coulson immediately, she knew he retreated to the office. She called his name once Coulson, slammed a fist against his door and let herself in talking all the while. "Agent Coulson?! Sir? Sorry, I know, look Ward just took off. He was listening in and-"

Coulson leaped out of his chair.

"I don't know what he saw. I'm sorry, he just ran off. Didn't say where. Didn't say anything. What's going on?"

Coulson rarely cursed, but little prevented him now from uttering a stray oath under his breath. He left his makeshift office in a huff, barking orders as he walked. "Skye, get on the traffic cameras and track Ward down. Fritz scramble your drones; send a few out to buzz him in the face. If they can taze him, do that. Simmon's scramble his phone signal prevent him from calling SHIELD directly. Actually, do a city-wide blackout radius around his location. I don't want him stealing a cell phone and using that instead. May, stay here."

"Sir!" Melinda objected.

Coulson turned on her, more fury in his eyes then she'd ever seen in Phil before.

"No! I give the order. You stay here. I'm going to get Ward back here if I have to shoot him in the leg to do it. If I hear anyone radioed back to HQ then that person will join Ward on the hospital." Coulson snatched a radio mic from the table and his pistol and left, slamming the door behind him.

:(:):(:):

When Clint agreed to leave the Tower it was under the general assumption he'd be better off in the company of friends. After actually going out with Natasha and Steve, he came to the belief that he was very, very wrong. Between poles, people, cars, and road signs he expected to return to Stark Tower in nothing short of ten pieces. Those ten pieces were to soon be consumed by the likes of the ever present bodies shoved around the Stark Tower entrance. They had a variety of names from cosplay queens, to Stark Bunnies, Avenger Groupies, and then the more mild and curious of the bunch. In the end the people dressed from spandex, leather, and green always proved to be an impenetrable barrier when returning home at certain times of the day. Weekdays were usually less bustling but not this particular weekday.

"No." Natasha said before anyone could ask. "We are not going through the throng of cosplay weirdoes."

Steve held his hands out to show he wasn't about to object.

They took a side alley and prepared to make the loop around the back of Stark Tower. It would take longer, but it was a better option than taking their chances at the front door.

"So much for warm coffee." Clint said, grinning.

They turned down the next side street and headed toward the far block. A few of the Stark Bunny stragglers hung down the back streets, but they were few. Instead other dwellers of the daytime took to the sidewalks for the morning New York Grind. Roach Coaches had their hotdogs, shwarma, and Gyros heating and steaming up the place with their exotic scents. The pretzel guy on the corner was lining up his mustard with one hand and making change with the other. Steve worried that they may lose Clint in the traffic flowing back and forth, so he glanced back often to be sure he was keeping up. This attention caused him to miss kid that suddenly shoved into the side of him before taking off down the street.

"Hey!" Natasha yelled after the runner.

Steve fished into his pocket, coming up without his wallet.

"Seriously?" Natasha groaned.

"What's going on?" Clint asked, looking between them.

Steve ran off after the pick pocket. Natasha shoved her coffee and food into Clint's hands.

"Wallet thief, stay here." She ran off after Steve.

The SHIELD archer stood there holding three coffees and two bags full of bagels wondering how in the world he turned into the guy left behind on a run. He was most certainly not going to sit there and wait for them to come back and get him. Instead he started up the street again after the back entrance. It was a little tedious balancing three coffees but he took his time, stayed aware for random cars at the intersections, and was a few steps from the Tower when suddenly someone grabbed him from behind. Clint flew off balance. The coffees and bagels went flying and Clint was thrown into the side of the Tower. Rough hands tore against his shirt and shoved him to the ground. The man picked him up again and before Clint could right himself a fist connected with his face. Again he was lifted and this time dragged off down the side of the Tower base. They were in a small alley now. Secluded and alone.

Clint was able to clear his head enough to get a look at the man who had him. At first he could only see a dark black suit and thin black tie and for a strange moment he was overcome thinking that it was somehow Agent Coulson. But that was impossible, and even if it was it made no sense to currently be kicked around by him. Then Clint got a look at the man's face and his deep seated fear came bursting out.

"Agent Ward." Clint said, shocked.

Ward threw him off, satisfied when Clint crashed backward into a tall green dumpster. "Agent Barton. Oh, wait, that's right you probably can't hear me can you?"

Clint pushed himself up, wiping the blood now flowing down his chin. "Don't know what you're going on about, Ward. What's wrong? Bored over in that hole of yours?"

"You can try and play that lip reading crap with me, Barton, but it's not going to fly. You know SHIELD doesn't carry dead weight. Deaf Agent? Deaf Avenger? Now that's a laugh!"

"Laugh all you want. You've got it wrong. Did Director Fury send you out here? Or did you look me up for old revenge sake?"

Ward shrugged, straightening the cuffs of his coat before pulling it off and loosening his tie. "Way I see it this has been a long time coming. You caught a break getting Stark in your back pocket, but Stark aint here is he? No Hulk, No super soldier and no Agent Romanov. It's just you, me, and this little thing called getting scrubbed out."

Clint rolled his shoulders to loosen them. "What? Not going to shoot me? And what makes you think I need anyone to back me up?"

"Don't play me, Barton." Ward said. "This is it. Between you and me. And let me tell you, you aren't the first agent I've had to drop. You all say the same thing. Deny, deny, then . . . well . . . you just die."

Ward rushed forward, baiting Clint toward him before backing off and coming up with a right hook. Clint took it on the cheek but used to momentum to swing around with a foot and knocked Ward's head sideways. Ward grabbed Clint's leg and twisted him hard against a wall back first. Clint pulled his leg to his chest, and Ward with it, until they were close enough for Clint to sock him in the chest, then the kidney, and lastly the face. Ward raised a knee into Clint's nose, but as Clint went down, he threw a punch forward, crunching between Ward's legs. They were both on their knees now. Ward head-butted Barton. Clint's skull reverberated off the wall. The agent fell sideways, his brain swimming in dizziness. He groped for a hand hold to drag Ward down with him, but he was met with something else. First it was Ward's gun. The butt snapped his head to the side with the force of the blow. Clint wanted to call out the dirty move, but currently he was running into unconsciousness.

The agent leaned over him. Switching out his gun for his knife. He looked riled up enough. His lip and eyebrow were split in half. Clint, in the edge of his mind not pounding to Pachelbel's Cannon, felt a little pride in that.

"Nothing personal, Barton." Ward said. "We all know you're a screw up. All those men you killed on the Helicarrier? Yeah I don't think their friends in the agency are going to mind this much."

Clint lifted his knees, trying to dislodge Ward from over top him. The knife came down. He felt his head split against the uneven pavement of the abandoned Stark alleyway and Clint's vision faded to black.

:(:):(:):

"Figures Clint wouldn't wait." Natasha told Steve. "No sense going back to look for him, He's probably already inside torching his bagel by now."

Steve nodded. He shoved his wallet back into his pocket as they returned back toward Stark's place. They left the pick pocket hanging from a street pole two blocks away. "Yeah, you're probably right." He said. They were closer to the back door then where they'd left Clint, so they pulled the access open to slip inside. They waved their security passes to the officer.

"Hiding through the back way?" the officer said, smiling.

"Just trying to get to breakfast before Clint eats it all." Steve replied.

The man accessed the elevator for them and ferried the Avengers on. "Well, should be along soon I imagine. If I see him I'll be sure to protect the lot."

Natasha threw a hand out to prevent the elevator door from closing. "Didn't he come through already?"

The man shook his head. "Doubt it, not unless you expected him before my shift and that was near an hour ago."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Leave him for a minute and he does something stupid. Like actually waiting where you told him to." She got off the elevator stopping Steve before he followed. There wasn't much Steve needed to go along for nothing more that picking Clint up and walking a few coffees back. To make her point, Natasha hit the button on the elevator and set Steve up and on his way. She left through the same door and headed out into the street again. She looked ahead to try and pick out Clint's head among the passersby but was surprised that in the thinning populace she was unable to find him. Her steps were caught up short by a sight on the ground. Three spilled coffee cups from a familiar shop and two bags of food. Natasha looked around on full alert. Why would Clint leave? Was he dragged off? Did SHIELD know? Natasha's heart skipped beats in her chest. She searched around desperately, gripping one of nearly a dozen weapons she had hidden on her person. Must likely extraction point? The alley, the overhang, the shut-up building across the street, the back of the Perling Store on the corner, these were the simple places she knew to look for instantly. Give her options she went for the closest, the overhang, first. It took her only a minute to realize no one had been dragged there and moved on to the alley beside Stark Tower. It was half blocked off by a tall metal gate, the other side hung open. She slipped inside. Directly behind the gate was a stack of discarded cardboard near as high as herself. Beyond it metal scraps and trash blowing in the breeze of the two tall buildings flanking either side of the pass way. She pressed forward, circling a large green dumpster.

She found him!

Natasha was moving on sheer adrenaline. Seeing Clint flopped limply on his side with a suited man standing over him triggered her instant response. She struck out with one leg, caught the man in the chest and sent him flying like a soccer ball. The suit hit the side of Stark Tower with an oof!

"Clint!" Natasha exclaimed, leaning down to him in horror. "Clint, wake up! Clint—"

"He can't hear you, Natasha."

Romanov turned on the man in the suit, meaning to silence him forever for what he'd done to Barton but sheer shock sent her reeling back. She stayed, protectively standing over her fallen partner but focused on the newcomer.

"It—it can't be—"

Phil Coulson got to his feet, rubbing a hand over his chest from where she'd hit him. "Still got a nice kick on you." He said wincing.

Natasha remained like a frozen deer staring into the face of a ghost.

Phil held a hand outstretched toward her. "Now, before you say anything, the answer is no."

"What?" she asked, her head spinning.

"No I am not dead. No I did not do this to Hawk. Do you know Agent Ward?"

Natasha brought a hand up to her face to rub the mirage from in front of her eyes, but still Phil persisted before her. Should she attempt a conversation? "Yes, I know Ward. He and Clint have a grudge match."

"More than that." Coulson told him. He looked first down one alleyway and then another to check that they were still alone. "Look, I don't really have time to explain everything and I wasn't supposed to be here at all. Honesty now? I saw the three of you in the restaurant. Bagel Thursday was always Clint and my thing first. I could tell he was injured. I reviewed the film footage from Egypt. I saw what he did. I've since destroyed that footage. Ward is on my new team. He disobeyed orders to get that information and I trailed him here to stop him."

Romanov looked down at Clint's prone body. Phil saving him was somehow completely appropriate. Phil was always saving them, even when they didn't know he was there watching.

"Stark working on this?" Coulson asked.

Natasha nodded. "Bruce too."

Coulson smiled some. It hurt her to see that look but at the same time it brought memories back of better times. "I always thought they would get along. Captain Rogers?"

"Staying in the Tower, with the rest of us. Has an apartment if he wants it. Sometimes he goes there."

"Across Central Park, know" Coulson confirmed. She wouldn't ask how it was he knew. "And Barton?"

Natasha leaned down to check her partner but a word from Coulson stopped her.

"He's ok. I made sure. He's going to have a headache larger than Stark's ego, but he'll be all right. I think it may be better he not know I was here."

"He's doing ok with us." She reported to him. "He's staying with all of us. Tony, him, they're like two kids in a bouncy castle most days. Clint would do anything for him. Tony's the same way."

Coulson's smile widened. "It's better than I could have thought. I knew you'd be fine, Natasha. You're smart, brave, been on your own long enough to know how to get on. Clint . . . You know I never got to see him? You know what the last thing I ever said to him was?"

Natasha shook her head slightly. "He never told me that."

"It was the day Loki came through the portal. The day he took off with him and I had to make the call to bring everyone in. It was a Thursday funny how that works. The last thing I ever said to Clint was, "don't forget, it's Bagel Thursday." You see, he was always telling me. It was the first time I got the jump on him. I never saw him again. I watch the mission briefs once in a while, to check up on him. But I never got to see him again after Loki." Coulson looked both ways again, as if waiting for either Ward to reappear or a SHIELD hit squad. "I shouldn't stay much longer. Look, don't worry about him getting cut. This is the only time you will see an agent against you over this. I'll take care of the SHIELD end. Just make sure Stark gets him together again."

"How are you going to possibly do that?"

"Don't ask me that." Phil said. "I need to go. I dragged out that bone-head agent of mine and dropped him in Lola. He's probably blood staining my seats now."

"Lola? You still have her?" Natasha asked, smiling.

Phil moved forward, setting a hand on her shoulder. "Take care of them for me. I'm sorry about all this."

"I understand it." Natasha said.

Phil moved away. "Good bye, Natasha."

Natasha watched him go, her eyes following after him. "Goodbye," she whispered.

Beneath her Clint shifted. He groaned as he began to come slightly around. Natasha watched the last traces of Phil Coulson turn away from the alley and disappear into the streets before she returned to Clint's fallen form. He groaned again, his arms coming up over his face.

"Ow." He mumbled. "I'm alive, I think."

Natasha pulled his arms down to look at the raised bruises and broken edges of his marred face. "Some week you've had." She told him.

Clint blinked his eyes up at her. "Hey, weren't you just a six foot white guy?"

She smiled. "You idiot. I said you wouldn't survive a day, didn't I?"

He held his fingers against her lips. "Double." He said. "Seeing double. No idea what you're saying."

"Can you stand?" Natasha moved away, grabbed his hands in hers and tugged. He understood the meaning and shakily made it to his feet. Natasha hooked an arm around his back and chest. His arm remained over her neck.

"Snuck up on me." Clint said, slowly making his way forward. "I'm thinking that pick pocket was staged. Ward was never too bright. Should have seen it coming. Hey, what did you do with him?" He looked over at her but didn't wait for an answer. "No, don't tell me. Last thing I remember was almost getting my heart cut out. I'm fine not knowing. Not that I could hear you tell me anyway. I want to get home now. And I want my bagel. I want to sit on the couch listen to the TV and eat a crappy bagel."

"I'll go back out and get some replacements." Natasha said. She sighed when she remembered he wouldn't hear it.

They made it unaccosted back to the Stark Tower entrance. The guard let them in and called the elevator down for them, inquiring frantically whether or not Clint would require a hospital. Natasha sent him away, instead assuring him that Bruce was more than adequate to play doctor. Clint admitted it may be prudent to go for Bruce now rather than wait. It was surely to be a surprise for the doctor in either case. Natasha agreed.

-EEP! I'm so excited for this and the next chapter. hope you liked!

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