Authors Note: Please be warned there is a little angst in this chapter, and some references to abuse.

Thanks!

Tony woke with a start, he glanced around his room looking for the reason he had been disturbed of his beauty sleep. It was quiet for a minute or so then he heard it again, it sounded like a whimper.

Clint.

He jumped out of bed and made is way over to the sofa bed Clint was sleeping on, Tony bit his lip before leaning over and trying to wake his friend. Clint was covered in sweat, his hair plastered to his head, the grey t-shirt he wore was soaked through. Tony touched his arm and frowned when Clint whimpered again and pulled away from him.

"Clint…come on man, your having a nightmare…..wake up." Tony spoke quietly, his hand resting on Clint's shoulder. His friend started tossing and turning, his legs tangling in the sheets, Tony tried again, shaking him a bit harder this time.

"Clint…wake up!" He spoke a little louder, he didn't want to wake his dad.

Clint's head twisted in Tony's direction, like he heard him, then suddenly he cried out and clutched his right arm before rolling away from Tony and landing in a heap on the floor. Clint snapped to awareness, looking around the room trying to remember where he was. When he looked up and saw Tony sitting there looking a little scared, Clint sagged backwards, his head making a small thump on the floor. Tony climbed off the bed and crouched down next to him, his eyes worried.

"You alright?" He whispered.

Clint nodded and quickly got control of his breathing, he wasn't there anymore, no one could hurt him, he was safe. He repeated the mantra to himself until he felt himself start to relax, even if it was only a little.

"You want to talk about it?" Tony asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Clint stared for a long time, seemingly coming to a decision. He pulled the sweat covered t-shirt off and threw it to the side, then pulled the covers around himself and turned to face Tony.

"He broke my arm one time." Clint spoke in a whisper, Tony had to lean in to hear him. "I tried to stand up for one of the smaller boys, the kid was like five or six and he was crying, Paskin was going to take him into the room, the boy had wet the bed. I tried to stop him, I did. But he backhanded me, sent me flying into one of the metal framed beds. I didn't cry though and he didn't like that, he grabbed my arm and pulled me up then twisted it. I felt my shoulder pop out of its socket, so then I did cry and he just smiled." Clint wouldn't look at Tony as he told him the story, just focused on a point on the far wall. He felt nautious recalling the horrible memory. Tony looked ready to throw up too. "He told me never to do that again or he'd take me to the room. I was scared, I didn't know exactly what went on in the room but I could guess, you know?" Tony nodded mutely, he didn't want to think what that man was capable of.

"He didn't take the kid that night, but he took him the next and I didn't do anything….I didn't try to stop him Tony. What does that make me?" Clint cried, his hands gripping the sheets.

Tony pulled his friend into a hug. "You were just a kid too Clint. You can't blame yourself, you hear me?"

Clint nodded slightly but Tony knew he blamed himself. "How old were you?" Tony asked after Clint wiped the tears away.

Red rimmed eyes stared back at him. "That was a month after Barney had taken off."

Tony nodded. "So you were eight?" Clint gave him another small nod. "Clint, it wasn't just you there, there were other kids, some older than you. None of them tried to stand up to him. You can't blame yourself for anything that happened there. You were just a kid too. There should have been someone they're looking out for you."

Clint was silent but Tony hoped he was taking this in. "Maybe you should speak to Phil about this Clint?"

Blue eyes suddenly locked onto his. "No I can't. I can't Tony…what if…what…if..?" Tony put his hand on Clint's arm. "Calm down man….your alright. What if what?"

"What if….he doesn't want me anymore?" Clint looked down, unwilling to meet his friends gaze. Tony seriously wanted to go find this guy and shoot him, maybe his dad would help him, they could make some sort of robot or something do it.

"Phil would never not want you Clint, you know that. He's worried about you, I think he knows you haven't told him everything but he won't force you to tell him. He'll be waiting until you go to him yourself." Tony told him.

Tony and Clint sat side by side in silence, Tony nearly jumped when Clint's head rested against his shoulder, he looked at his friend and noticed he'd conked out again. He must have been exhausted. He knew Clint tried not to sleep if he thought he might dream about his past, but then came the exhaustion and he had no choice but to descend into the darkness. But Tony would be there to pull him back.

Tony knew Clint would have to speak to Phil, this was too much for him to keep to himself and that man deserved to rot in prison for the things he did.

Well prison or in the ground, Tony thought.

He would just have to convince his friend it was the best thing to do, for him and for all the other boys the guy had hurt.

It was a few weeks later, a man in his early fifties was found dead in his home, police had found evidence of child pornography on the mans computer, and pictures in his house of other boys from years earlier. The man who would later be named as Drey Paskin, had been taken out with a bullet to the head, execution style.

Fury sat back in his chair, his one eye focused on the print in front of him. He knew the police wouldn't be looking to hard for the killer of a pedophile, and he also knew that they might dig into the mans past and see he had run an orphanage for boys. He didn't want anyone digging into Clint's past, he had been through enough, so his file had been discretely removed from the records.

He knew Phil was taking this hard, when his agent had come back from his time off, Fury had expected him to be refreshed and maybe a little pissed, he knew his agent wasn't the sit around type. What he hadn't expected was a raging Phil storming into Fury's office, slamming the door shut and demanding to see Paskin's file.

Once Fury found out the truth he had told Phil to go home and be with his boy, he needed to be there for him. He would take care of Paskin.

And that's what he did, nobody messed with his family.