Clint woke up to white. White everywhere. For a minute he thought maybe he'd gotten sent to a new foster home and the person had managed to beat him into oblivion. Then he spotted a heart moniter to his side, a steady peak showing every few moments, and he remembered.
Barney. The fight. The realization that Clint had been a terrible brother. The moniter to his right began to pick up pace. Clint's eyes shot fully open and he sat up, regreting the action as a searing pain shot through his ribs.
He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Steve standing next to him. Clint's eyes were blurred and he couldn't read Steves lips and he realized his hearing aids must have been lost in the fight.
There was a pressure on his arm and Clint got the idea. Lay down. You're hurt bad. You need to relax. Clint did as he assumed he was told.
He shut his eyes a moment then blinked them repeatedly to get rid of the fuzziness so he could read Steves lips. When he finally could, Steve was in the middle of a sentence.
"-tor said you would probably be here for a week or so." Steve shook his head, eyes closed and eyebrows drawn together in concern. "That was a stupid move you pulled. Not fighting back." Steve opened his eyes. "Why would you do something like that?"
" 'Cause..." Clints mouth felt full of cotton. He couldn't talk right and his throat felt like wrinkled paper. Steve grabbed a cup of water with a straw and let his friend drink a moment. Clint coughed and kept talking. "Because, I deserved what he was doing."
"What the hell does that mean?" Steve said, Clint assumed loudly. "How could you deserve that abuse in any way?"
"I had abandoned him..." Clint knew he was speaking quietly. Probably close to a whisper. Steve leaned in to listen. "He had been so hurt when our mom died and I'd never noticed. Never bothered to help him get through it. Just got mad at him when he tried to sort it out his own way."
"What? You mean...was that boy you were fighting related to you?" Steve asked. Clint only caught part of it, but figured the rest out.
"He's my big brother. Barney Barton." Clint answered. Steve's jaw dropped.
"Barney...Barton?" Steve spoke slowly, still trying to get his head around everything that had happened in the past two days. "The same guy Thor had mentioned back when you two first met? The one you'd said you weren't related to?"
Clint knew he was imagining it (especially considering he couldn't hear at the moment) but he felt that there was most definitly an accusing tone to Steves voice. A tone that said, 'You lied! You're a filthy liar.'
"I-I'm sorry I lied. I just...didn't want you guys to know." Clint struggled to keep the tears in his eyes. He didn't want to cry. He had no right to.
"Wait, wait. Clint, I'm not upset." Steve said. Clint had been staring at him, so he could read his lips, and Steve had noticed the wetness in his eyes. "Natasha and Thor told us you had some problems you hadn't wanted to tell everyone. I was just surprised is all!"
Clint took a deep breath. "Steve, could you go get a doctor? Or Coulson, actually. If he's around."
Steve stared at him a moment. "Sure. Coulson's right outside. I'll be right back." With that the taller boy quickly walked out the door.
Clint sat in thought while he waited. It was time, he decided. Time to tell his friends. He trusted them. He knew they'd understand, knew they wouldn't pity him if he asked them not to. Or, at least, they'd try their hardest not to.
A couple minutes later Steve and Coulson came in. Clint looked up at Coulson who looked back. "I figure it's time I told them all." Clint stated, knowing Coulson would understand. The man nodded.
"Is there anything you want?" Coulson asked. He'd already figured Clint called him in for a different reason than to tell him that.
"Yeah. I need my spare hearing aides. I lost my normal pair." Clint told him. Again Coulson nodded, before reaching into his pocket and pulling the case out.
"I wasn't sure if you'd need them or not so I brang 'em." Clint smiled his thanks and took out the two little devices. He was aware of Steve watching intently. Once they were in Clint turned to Steve.
"You wear hearing aides?" Steves voice had a hint of wonder to it. At least it explained the lip reading.
"Yeah. When I was 12 my dad hit me over the ears really hard and blew my eardrums out." Clint replied, easily. Ignoring the sudden horrified look on Steves face, he continued. "I went without sound for 2 years until the foster care agency got me hearing aides."
"W-what?" Steve choked out. "Hang on. I'm guessing you want to tell everyone this right?" Steve asked warily. "This was what you'd been talking about?"
"Yeah. If you could go get them." Steve nodded and left with Coulson. A couple minutes later everyone was pushing into the cramped room.
"Hey Legolas! Good to see you up and moving...er...awake, anyway." Tony stuttered, losing momentum as he went. The others all spoke their own variations of what Tony said, then Steve was hushing them all.
"Clint's got something to tell us." Steve turned to Clint. Clint hesitated so Steve decided to start him off. "About why he'd stopped fighting all of a sudden. And about why he's wearing these kinda bulky hearing aides."
Clint gave Steve a small smile that was returned. Clint turned to his friends, all of them wearing a look that was some form of confusion. Clint took a deep breath and spoke.
Author's Note: So the next chapter is the last one and will be up on Saturday. I know some of you were hoping for more 'Big Bro Barney' but he isn't showing up anymore; he's mentioned, but not there. Sorry if anyone thinks I'm rushing the ending. I don't mean for that. It's more like when I type I get to thinking 5 steps ahead of where I actually am and the story comes out seeming rushed. I hope you like the next chapter (and this one for that matter) 'cause it's the last one.
Alvedisane(I spelt that wrong. Whatever.)