Flasback/Dreams

'Thoughts'

"Speaking over the phone"

"Speaking"

Chapter 20: A Shared Suffering

When Joey finally came around, he his thoughts were still centered around Clint and the absurdity of the man actually being the one responsible for poisoning him.

…Wait, his eyes opened wide when he remembered that someone else had also been eating with him and that what if the culprit hadn't known which plate was meant for him and just doused them both? That meant…

"Hey, glad to see you're awake."

Joey looked over at the other occupant in the room and tried to fight off the guilty expression on his face. "You got put in here because of being poisoned, didn't you?" he asked, but they both knew what the answer would be.

"Yeah, my aunt is kinda protective of me and was really upset when she came to see me when you were out." Perenna replied and smiled ruefully. "What are the odds that we'd both be put in the same room?"

"You can really joke at a time like this?" Joey questioned darkly. "You've got a better outlook than I do then." He said after a pause and the door opened to reveal a dark-haired woman. "Miss Drew, what are you doing here?" he asked sounding genuinely surprised to see her.

Perenna looked between the two and grabbed the curtain with the hand that was closest to it. "I'll let you two be." She said pulling the curtain back.

Joey raised a brow at the curtain, but turned his attention to the woman as she sat down at his bedside. "Seriously, how did you know I was here?"

Jessica smiled grimly. "You weren't in school today, so I asked myself, where is Joey when he's not in school?"

Joey grimaced at that. "Yeah, I have been spending a lot of time in the hospital, too much time to be healthy for me certainly." He added. "Though, why come to see me?"

"Because, I never came to see you before as I thought it would be unprofessional of me." Jessica replied. "But I realized that you were more than just a student, you were like an attentive little brother, only less annoying." She confessed.

Joey looked at her with wide eyes and felt a smile come over his face, but unfortunately while he was truly touched she thought so much of him, he couldn't do more than just give a shallow smile in return. "That means so much."

It really did, as no one other than his almost-adoptive siblings and Serenity had seen him as a brotherly figure before.

"Well, I supposed I should be getting back to school since I'm only on break," Jessica started and Joey felt a slight frown cross his face, "but I'll be sure to collect your homework for you this time."

Joey smiled again even as the woman stood. "Thank you." He said and the woman nodded before walking out of the room and gently closed the door.

The blond heard light snoring from the other side of the curtain and presumed Perenna was sleeping and decided to get some more rest himself, though he wondered how Clint was doing…

…Oh no.

Joey felt his own vision darken when he closed his eyes, but felt his mind connect with another and all too soon a new sensation of pain overcame him in his back. His vision in Clint's eyes was also dark, but he assumed it was only because the man was closing his eyes and he heard other voices in the mind, voices that were all eerily familiar.

I wish I'd never met you!

…Laura.

Why couldn't you save us?

…Callum.

You weren't there to save us, Daddy.

…Nicole.

We'd still be here if you'd been faster.

…Lewis.

I hate you!

…His own voice.

Joey felt his own mind freeze up in agony as he heard these untrue things being spoken by phantoms of the people that Clint cared about. The older man was in pain, emotional pain; this was just cruel to make him hear these things.

The teen gathered up enough of his own resolve to push past these voices to remind himself they weren't true. 'ENOUGH!' he shouted into the man's mind and felt the voices dim to a murmur as he figured the only reason he was able to tone the voices down was because Clint was trying to escape the sound himself. 'None of these are true Clint, you are strong and what happened wasn't your fault; remember you made them pay.' Joey thought to the man.

'Joey? Is that really you?' Clint's thoughts sounded so amazed.

'Yes, it's me, and I don't hate you, I could never hate you…you're my dad.' Joey thought sincerely. 'What on earth caused you to think all those things?'

'Who, Joey.' Clint corrected him.

'Okay then, who's doing this to you?' Joey rephrased and sent worry through his mind, but was met with apprehension and he realized that the one responsible was inside the cell. 'Clint, open your eyes and let me see.'

'I...can't. Then you really will hate me.' Clint replied.

'No, I won't.' Joey replied and slowly the older man began opening his eyes, giving Joey a look at the one responsible for this. 'I…I don't believe this; it's the guy who I saw in the café and at the group, the one who Miss Frost seemed nervous about.' He thought incredulously. 'But…who is he? Seriously, I have no idea who this is.'

Joey felt Clint's apprehension grow before there was a resolve to it. 'It's Loki."

Joey felt like blinking. 'As in the super villain, are you serious?'

'Joey, I wouldn't lie to you about something like this.' Clint thought to him and Joey had to concede to that point.

'Then why is he doing this? Aside from the fact you're an Avenger of course.' Joey thought with an evident frown in his mental voice.

'He…he found out you were poisoned somehow.' Clint replied.

Joey sent out waves of confusion. 'Why the hell would he care what happens to me?' he thought before feeling a sense of disbelief as he dug deeper down into Clint's mind, long enough to find what he was looking for. He found the information and couldn't believe what he'd heard. 'But…huh…how is this even possible? Let me ask him myself.' He thought and before Clint could stop him, Joey felt the mouth on his guardian's body open. 'How can you have a kid?' he felt he eyes blink as there was no sound, and yet the man's face twisted up in fury.

"You should still be in agony right now, Avenger." He hissed.

'I'm not an Avenger, I'm…' Joey paused before saying it, 'Joey. I'm inside his mind right now.'

'Maybe you didn't think this whole thing through, and since when can you possess people?' Clint thought in disbelief.

'Since…that's a good point actually.' Joey thought as he saw the man's face again twist up and Joey felt his mind get pushed out of Clint's, leaving him back inside his body and he snapped his eyes open. 'Clint, Clint!' he shouted mentally as he thought about getting back into his pseudo-guardian's mind, only to get blocked out.

'Oh this cannot be happening.' Joey thought before getting out of bed, his back aching and his stomach as well. He paused as a wave of vertigo came over him and he had to steady himself with one hand on the bed side. He grabbed the hospital robe and put it on over his gown and walked over to the door somewhat awkwardly and leaned against the wall as he made his way to the public phone on the wall.

When the blond reached the phone, he dialed the number for the police station. "Yes, could I please speak with Clint Barton?" he asked and when he received protest this he was in holding, his temper flared. "Just do it!" he hissed and there was the sound of lights exploding, but he paid no heed to it.

"Joey?"

The blond felt relieved to hear his guardian's voice. "Oh good you're still alive, I thought something had happened to you when I couldn't get back into your head."

"Yeah, I know…wait, why you on the phone? And what do you mean you couldn't get into my head?" Clint asked in confusion and Joey felt his insides grow cold.

"You don't remember?" The blond teen questioned quietly. "The super villain, the voices, the emotional pain, you don't remember any of it? It happened just a few seconds ago!"

"What…what are you talking about?" Clint asked sounding worried. "I can safely I have no idea what you're saying."

Joey frowned and stared down at the phone. "O-oh, I'm just glad you're okay, that's all." He replied shakily. "And I just wanted you to know that I don't think you would have poisoned me."

"So far you're the only person who does think that." Clint said darkly.

"Oh I feel so special." Joey said sarcastically before worry again laced his voice. "Seriously, you can't remember anything?"

"I don't understand what you're asking me to remember." Clint replied and Joey felt his shoulders slumped.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay is all." He replied and hung up the phone, his brow furrowing as he morosely walked back to his and Perenna's room, guilt creasing his features as he realized that she was here in the first place because of him.

The blond heard the snoring of his roommate and knew Perenna was still asleep, so he tried to get back onto the bed quietly. When he put the blanket back over him, he saw the nurse from before come in and she looked at him, smiling slightly and Joey smiled back.

"And how are you?" she asked conversationally as she looked over Joey's start.

"Don't you mean 'how are you now'?" Joey asked frowning as the woman had come in to see him earlier.

The nurse nodding absently as she put the chart back and pinched the fabric of the robe he was wearing. "And why do you have this on, you've already got a blanket."

Joey shrugged as he tried to look disarming. "It was a little chilly in here, so I put it on."

"Really now? Are you sure it wasn't from calling your guardian?"

Joey froze as while woman's voice hadn't changed from its rather pleasant lit, the hand gripped his arm and he looked at her, his insides growing cold when he saw that the woman's eyes weren't gray anymore. "I…I have no idea what you're talking about."

"'I'm Joey. I'm in his mind right now'," The woman recited and Joey felt his eyes widen minutely, "cut the act, how much did you hear?"

"Enough to know who you are." Joey shot back and was surprised at his own gall; that or his stupidity at forgetting that the person in front of him was not the nurse from earlier or trying to be smart was the best idea in this situation. The hand tightened on his arm and he quickly made way to revise his statement. "I mean, I know that you're my…" he paused and it felt strange to finish that particular sentence.

"Father."

"Clint is my dad." Joey said automatically and the hand tightened more. "Uh, what I mean is, I already have a biological father."

The grip on his arm lessened a fraction. "Well obviously you couldn't have sprung up from thin air." She said derisively and Joey reframed from thinking of the fact Clint had told him the same thing when he'd suggested it.

"Okay then," Joey said tentatively as he'd witnessed Clint's emotional suffering and amnesia just minutes ago and didn't want that to happen to him, "but you're a dude."

The woman raised a brow at him. "I know for a fact that none of my children are stupid, so use that brain of yours for a second."

Joey felt like snapping back that he wasn't an idiot, but gritted his teeth and thought over the current situation and the answer came to him. "You're a girl now…then that means…" he trailed off and his eyes widened. "So I really do have a mother…"

"You sound surprised." The woman drawled and Joey noticed that there was a touch of scorn in her voice.

"How can I not be?" The blond asked frowning.

The sound of the door clicking as it opened and Joey glanced over at the door and when Doctor Reyes came into the room, and the blond looked back at the side of his bed, but there was no one there. Joey blinked, but he guessed he shouldn't be surprised by this and looked back at the doctor.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Wheeler?" she asked as she began to check over his vitals.

"I'm…fine, all things considered." Joey muttered mutinously as the woman began looking over his cast before checking his temperature.

"Keep this in your mouth; I'm going to check on your roommate now." Doctor Reyes said before walking over to the other side of the curtain.

Joey looked down at his lap and thought over how much things had happened in such a short time. And despite the revelations, his biggest worry was still if Clint was going to really be okay.