Just Darcy

Chapter 14: Just a Little Danger (pt. 2)

Buck Chisholm met Clint Barton was just a boy brimming with untapped potential. At the time, Clint was the apprentice of a rival member of Carson's carnival of traveling wonders in Jacques Duquesne also known as Swordsman. After winning against buck and a poker game, Jock gave Chisholm a choice, either pay back the money he owned (and couldn't pay) or training Duquesne's apprentice in the art of archery.

Buck chose option number two and not only did Clint well, he flourished. Buck could honestly say Clint had the potential to be better than even him. As time went on, Clint become like a son to Buck and after it was discovered that swordsmen had embezzled money from the carnival paymaster, he took the young boy and subsequently his younger brother in.

Years passed in the carnival, buck drank, Barney grew up and Clint watched as the world he fell into fell apart around him slowly, day by day. Barney left and Buck got desperate. He somehow managed to convince Clint to Rob an old museum. Maybe Clint was trying to hold on to what was left of his patchwork family, Buck didn't know for sure, and his drinking and gambling habits didn't really give him a reason to care. The point was Clint agreed, reluctantly, and of course everything went wrong. Someone got hurt and when Buck tried to silence the witness Clint got in the way. Buck cursed him a coward.

They fought and somewhere along the way Clint took a knife to the shoulder. It was at that moment Buck never felt so sober. He looked down at the pool of blood blooming from Clint's injured shoulder and ran.

For the next year Buck Laid low, taking odd jobs and attending AA meetings. Nightmares plagued him as the year went on visions of Clint lying on the floor. He's the same age as the day they met, but the floor he's lying on is the museum tile and the pool of blood is a bright, angry red.

Years passed, the nightmares faded, but the guilt is still there. This young man only wanted a place to belong and in his drunken stupor, Buck destroyed that. For years he debated finding Clint trying to at the very least apologize. But each time he thinks he can he backs down when he sees Clint. The first time he watched Clint step off the bus, his last tour over. He was in full uniform and no one was there to welcome him home. The second time, Clint been recruited to SHIELD and he watched Clint and a woman, her bright red hair glinting in the sun. They were undercover, so once again Buck ran away.

The third time Buck saw Clint; he appeared to be on a date. The young woman with him was beautiful, with long brown hair and bright blue eyes. When she smiled, Clint's face lit up, the heavy shadows put there by his past lifted and he seemed happier than buck had ever seen him before. This young woman gave Clint what Buck failed to. She had given him a home.

Buck stared down at the young woman, her breathing shallow as the drugs continue to keep her subdued.

Buck continues to watch the couple that day and many days after. He watches over them, making sure Clint was happy. And from what he could see he was. They loved each other, that much was obvious.

As buck watch them, he became aware that he wasn't the only one keeping an eye on them. He found Barney Barton lurking in the shadows. He hadn't seen The younger man in years but Barney remember the desperate man Buck used to be and was more than willing to invite Buck into his ranks. Buck was hesitant but a nagging voice in the back of his mind told him to go, to listen to what Barney was offering.

So he did.

In the years since Barney left Clint, he became a man for hirer. Anything you needed him to do, he would do, for the right price of course. He was no more than a thug with the idea his mind that Clint wronged him one too many times. A bad man, doing bad things, for bad people. His latest mission wasn't much better. SHIELD had taken something of value, information, from his employer and Barney was tasked to get it back. To do that, he needed to infiltrate shield, so he took the identity of an agent and was using the high-ranking position to vie for a job as second to an agent Phil Coulson, the man who executed the plan to take the information.

Unfortunately, Barney's plan fell through when Coulson, surprisingly, hired a second from outside the agency. It's through Barney off a bit, but he was stubborn like his brother and wasn't about to give up.

When he first saw Darcy Lewis he knew immediately what he had to do. Get close to her, intimate if necessary and steal the pass code to the classified servers that her clearance level gave her access to. Of course that plan backfired when it was Clint who was lucky enough to gain her attention.

Barney saw this as yet another wrong towards him on Clint's part begin writing a plan to hurt his older brother. But of course that came crashing down the first time his employer called to check in and he realize that such a plan would have to wait until he wasn't on the payroll. Or at least he thought so, until he managed to hack the personal server, while trying to infiltrate the classified server.

Darcy Lewis was Phil Coulson's daughter? What a fortuitous turn of events, indeed. The answer was starring him so blatantly in the face the whole time. Why else would Coulson hire a woman completely out of her depth? He wanted to keep his dirty little secret close.

And so a new plant was created. One that would not only accomplish his mission, but hurt his brother in the worst way.

Buck Chisolm listened intently as Barney laid out his plan. His face was the picture of calm as he watched d the young man before him, the young man he once considered a son in some regards. On the inside, however, Buck was thinking through every detail Barney was supplying and figuring out how to pull on each string to tear it apart from the inside.

Buck agreed to help under the guise that he needed the money. And while Barney enacted his plan, Buck would remain by his side, covertly doing everything in his power to stop him. By the time Barney finished Buck knew exactly how to make up his failure to Clint.

Come hell or high water, his actions would speak louder that the words he was never able to say.

"What have you found so far?" Fury questioned as he, Clint, Coulson, and Steve stepped off the elevator on Darcy and Clint's floor. the tension between the men was irrefutably volatile. Clint could barely stand to look at Coulson, much less be in the same room.

"We've found a sophisticated ID mask." One of the tech agents spoke, his Scottish accent thick. His badge read 'Fitz' and he didn't look much older than Darcy. "This kind of tech is expensive and not available on the open market." Fitz continued. "In fact, it's exclusively patented for military use under S.H.I.E.L.D.s control."

"Are you saying he stole this technology from S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Steve asked. "How, aside from Stark Industries, isn't S.H.I.E.L.D. the most secure agency in the world?"

"It is, however, Mr. Barton did this from the inside." Fitz said, he tapped a few commands on his tablet. "I was able to reconstruct the face he was projecting through the mask." He turned the tablet to face them. "Facial recognition shows him as Agent Kevin McDowell, level 5."

"I knew there was something off about him." Clint murmured, his brow creasing in frustration. Sitwell appeared before them.

"I sent a team over to McDowell's apartment. They found his body sealed up in the bathtub. The coroner is looking him over now, but he's putting his T.O.D. at about ten to eleven months ago.

Coulson turned to Dr. Costilla then. "Agent Simmons." He called to the young woman attending to the older man. She looked up at Coulson. "How is he?"

"He'll be fine as far as I can tell." She explained. "It appears to be a simple hairline fracture and possibly a concussion."

"I'll be fine." Costilla grunted.

"Good," Fury interrupted. "Then you can tell us what happened." Costilla nodded, and then cringed at the movement.

"I was in the parking levels when I met up with McDowell. At first he seemed surprised to see me, but he quickly covered it up saying Coulson sent him to watch over Agent Lewis because Jarvis was down for maintenance." Costilla paused. "I thought it was strange because Tony Stark told me himself that Jarvis doesn't go down for things like that. I remember because he was quote proud of the fact and completely ignored my Jurassic Park jokes. I let it go though and we boarded the elevator and road it to this floor." he paused again wincing at the pain in his head. "It suddenly occurred to me that is Jarvis was down then the building itself would be on lock down and we wouldn't have been able to get into the parking garage. I said as much and the next thing I know he's got a gun in my face telling me to play along or he'll kill both Darcy and me.

Clint clenched his fists, the tension growing in his muscles as Dr. Costilla continued to explain what happened up until Barney knocked him out. he just didn't understand why his brother, his own flesh and blood would do this.

Things had been strained between the Barton boys as they grew up side by side. Clint loved life in the circus, but Barney believed there was something more out there for him. he wanted to get rich, to leave the temporary tents and nomadic lifestyle behind him and actually accomplish something. Clint respected that but at the time he was caught in his own little fantasy, doing whatever he wanted because he was the pay master's golden boy people paid good money to see.

Clint wanted a family when he left the army that included a wife and kids. At S.H.I.E.L.D. it was Natasha, Coulson, Fury and Wade and later Darcy and the Avengers, but back then his family was Buck and Barney and he was selfish enough to think that Barney felt the same way and that his little brother would continue to follow him unfailingly. But his delusion caught up with him and soon the rift between them was too much to repair.

Fists were made, punched thrown, and words that hurt more than bullets and could never be taken back were said and the next morning Barney was gone and Clint was left alone to pick up the pieces and try to keep what was left together.

He failed to do so in a way that left him wandering aimlessly until he came across a recruitment office. One thing led to another, life progressed and now here he was, trying to figure out why his little brother was filled with so much hate.

Clint was pulled out of his thoughts as Tony's voice echoed through the apartment. "I found the problem." his face appeared on the TV screen, Drs Foster, Selvig and Banner in the background. "Someone used a line of code, emailed in a notice from S.H.I.E.L.D. to embed an override sequence in Jarvis' programming. It allows the author to mute Jarvis' systems, stopping security alerts and preventing him from articulating."

"Can you fix it?" Steve asked. Tony scoffed.

"Of course I can. It's buried pretty deep so it's going to take a little while but I've got it covered."

"You're going to want to hurry Mr. Stark." Costilla spoke up. They all turned back to look at him. "I didn't get the chance to examine Agent Lewis, but on first impression alone, if she doesn't get treatment for her cold soon, it could very well develop into pneumonia or worse."

The tension increased.

Darcy moaned her head pounding as she tried to open her eyes. the events that led her to this moment flashed behind her eyes quickly, making her nauseous. A vicious cough welled up in her chest, letting loose with painful ramifications. She tried to bring her arm up to cover her mouth only to find them both secured with padded cuffs, like the kind you would find on a hospital stretcher.

Darcy could hear shuffling in the room around her and the next thing she knew someone was beside her, raising the head of the bed. she finally managed to pry her eyes open, starring blearily at the man beside her.

"Miss Lewis?" he called out to her softly. She groaned, trying to focus in on him. she opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a dry pained rasp. A glass of water was held up to her lips and she sipped from it greedily. Minutes passed and her vision cleared enough to see where she was.

The walls that should have been pristinely white were dirty and crumbling. The lights overhead were bright, shinning down on her painfully. She slowly turned her head to look at the man beside her.

"Who are you?" she rasped. He held the water up for her again. She drank from it.

"The names Buck, Buck Chisolm." He explained. She squinted at him. She knew that name. He starred down at her surprised, and she realized she'd admitted that out loud.

"You know who I am?" Darcy shrugged as much as the restraints would allow.

"Your face and your name seem familiar." She squinted again, trying to figure it out before giving up. "Everything's so foggy though." Buck sighed.

"I'm sorry." He told her. she looked at him suspiciously before reason caught up with her. She tried to scoot away from him, panic getting the better of her. "Please, Miss Lewis, stop. You're going to hurt yourself." He told her. She flinched when he laid a hand on her arm. He sighed again. "Please, I'm not going to hurt you." He explained. "I'm here to help you." He continued. Slowly she turned back to him. "It's a long story, but I promise, I'm going to get you out of here." Somewhere in the distance a door opened and closed.

Buck looked away then back at her, speaking in hushed tones. "Just stay calm, ok? Try to get some rest. I'll be back soon."

With that Buck left her.

"He was like a father to me." Clint's voice echoed off the tile walls of S.H.I.E. pool room. His breath was finally returning to normal after finishing his laps in the pool. He waded through the water coming to stop in between Darcy's knees, her legs dangling in the water.

"What happened?" the question was soft.

"Life." Was his reply, laughing bitterly. He shook his head. "Buck was always a drinker but as Barney and I got older it just got worse. A part of me wonders if he may have started to resent me as I got better." He hesitated. "I don't really know." he finally admitted. He opened his mouth to say more, but eventually closed it again when he realized he didn't have anything more to say.

"Do you think you'd still be there if things had been different?"

Clint smiled lightly, looking down as he fiddled with the buttons on her shirt. He finally shook his head 'no'.

"I really don't think I would. Things were kinda heavy with Barney for a while. I was…selfish enough to believe he wanted the same things I did. I though because I was his older brother, he looked up to me, I was his hero, but I was really just his older brother. He didn't need me as much as I wanted to believe.

Darcy watched him as he starred down at her lap. After a few moments passed, she lifted his face up and smiled at him. "I need you." Was all she told him. Another few moments ticked by before a small crooked smile bloomed on his face.

The memory played behind her eyelids like a dream. She wanted to stay there on that moment, real or not. As time passed more memories played with dream like clarity.

Coulson starred down at the royal blue tie in the gold box. A happy little snowman smiled back him. An eyebrow lifted ever so slightly as he studied it and for a moment, Darcy was sure he was going to refuse the gift. He looked up at her and studied her face for a moment before the faintest of smiles graced his features. "I love it." He told her. She finally released a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding, smiling brightly at him.

She knew getting Coulson said tie was a little hit or miss. He would either hate is and stuff it in his desk drawer or he would find it 'cute' but only because it came from her and he had mentioned before how much he appreciated her quirkiness. What surprised her most though was when he started removing his own tie and then replaced it with the one she had gotten him. She resisted the urge to laugh at how ridiculous he looked. "How do I look?" he asked her. she smiled.

"Ridiculous." She answered with a big cheeky grin. She then leaned forward and pressed the center of the tie right over the snowman. We wish you a marry Christmas began to play in a tinny mechanical tune while lights danced around in strategic places.

"What the hell." He murmured. "Oh awesome. It's a treat for the eyes and the ears." his sarcasm was not lost on her.

"Merry Christmas, boss man."

He looked up at her then. A look in his eyes that she couldn't quite describe. If she had to venture a guess it almost seemed like regret but it was there one minute and gone the next leaving her no time to dwell on it.

Clint came in later that day to pick her up for their flight to Pittsburgh. Coulson came out of his office, still wearing the tie, and greeted Clint.

"What was that? I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you over that tie." Clint replied with a smirk. Darcy flicked a paper clip at him, claiming the tie as a gift from her. Clint then made some back handed remark about not even wearing something like that if his own daughter gave it to him. Darcy called him a liar knowing full well any little girl of Clint's would have him wrapped around her little finger. Somehow, and she's not exactly sure how, the conversation ended up with talk of Coulson if he had a daughter. He off handedly mentioned that if he did she would probably be Darcy's age. Darcy laughed, telling him he wasn't nearly old enough to have a daughter her age.

"One day you may find that comment ironic, you may even laugh." He told her, and before she could ask him why her phone was ringing telling her that Happy was still waiting downstairs to take her and Clint to the airport. They rushed out and the conversation slipped from her mind.

The memories played on, taking her to happier times and away from what awaited her in the waking world. Eventually, however, she could no longer put off what was coming.

She opened her eyes, and Barney Barton starred down at her with a smirk that told her he had a secret to share.

A/N: No, Buck was not Bucky Barnes. FOOLED YOU!

-RED