Hey. I haven't really done many AN's for this story so far but there's two things I'd like to say.
1) Thanks PtitBlond for translating the French for me. You rock! (Again!)
2) Sorry that this chapter took so long. Life has been awful lately and the characters refused to cooperate with pretty much everything! Ugh, I'm just so glad that it's finally done. Enjoy!
A to X
Chapter Twenty-six - Attacking the X-pert
Clint spent the rest of Saturday and part of Sunday morning confined to the med lab. He could have made a break for it and hobbled his way to freedom but there was nowhere to hide with several highly trained telepaths constantly checking on his well-being. Well, that and Natasha would have killed him.
Jean released the archer at lunchtime with a set of crutches that the injured man flat out refused to use. It wasn't until he was half-way out of the sub-basement that he realised the telepath must have done something to him because he was clearly supporting his weight on those damn things. Unlike his brush with Loki, Jean's mental touch was delicate. So much so that he hadn't even noticed the intrusion. Strangely enough, he was only mildly pissed at her meddling where a few weeks ago, he'd probably be trying to kill her right about now; injured or not. He decided to continue using them purely so Jean wouldn't mess with his mind again and he tried his best not think about how that was probably her intention in the first place.
Clint was bombarded with visitors at his table after he'd grabbed a modest meal. Most of the X-men stopped by to see how he was holding up and several members of his language classes came up to him unannounced. He took great delight in ordering them about to fetch him things and was surprised to see them all followed without question. Since he'd easily garnered the majority of the room's attention already, he cleared his throat loudly and announced, "Okay, there's something I want to tell you all. It's pretty important."
Everyone stared at the ex-Avenger with rapt attention.
"So, the first thing you should really know is that my name's not actually Flint. It's Clint Barton, although most of you will already know me as Hawkeye..."
Clint was cut off as pandemonium erupted.
A violet-coloured girl fainted from shock while many surprised and inappropriate words were blurted out around the room, causing Scott to frown deeply with disapproval at the rampant cursing. Jubilee and Logan watched the mayhem with identical feral grins. Петр stood up and sourly left the room, closely followed by a murderous looking Monet.
A loud crack of thunder brought the room to a standstill. "Enough," bellowed Storm with a tone closest to angry that he'd ever heard from the usually serene woman. When it was clear that everyone had shut up, she added, "I already have a headache. You would do well not to aggravate it."
"Look," said Clint now that he could be heard again. "Uncle Charlie was kind enough to let me stay here so Director Fury wouldn't find me. I mean, why would he look in a mutant school for a human? It worked like a charm but now he knows I'm here and there's no reason for me to hide who I truly am anymore. So, yeah. Um, that's all, I guess?"
"HOLY SHIT!" yelled a boy who Clint hadn't met yet. "Does that mean your smokin' hot friend is the Black motherfucking Widow?"
"RAY!" reprimanded Scott automatically.
The boy looked down at his chest where several Widow's Bites were now buried. "Wow. She totally is!" he whispered to himself in wonder.
Clint and Natasha shared a look of confusion. The kid should have been knocked out cold from that many darts.
An arc of lightning zipped through the air and connected with the boy. He was knocked over before he staggered back to his feet with frizzed up hair and a really dazed look on his face.
"Berzerker can absorb and project electricity," noted Storm calmly to the pair. "He requires a much larger dosage than usual." She turned to look at the now cowering teen. "You were warned." He tried to shrink back further but was saved from an unexpected source.
Logan mustn't have expected his voice to carry as much as it did because everyone heard him say, "That's my girl."
A second arc of lightning flew through the room, this time connecting with the feral mutant. Unlike before, this was a much more powerful surge and the smell of burnt flesh and hair began to permeate around the room, causing several students (and Angel) to abandon their meals in disgust. "I am no one's girl and only a fool would irritate me after I already electrocuted someone else." Without another word, the regal woman turned and strode purposefully from the room.
"Wow," chirped Jubilee with excitement. "I never thought I'd see Little Miss Rain, Hail and Shine lose her cool like that. You really messed up Wolvie."
It was a testament to how powerful the electrical surge had been since all Logan managed to do was glare at his protégé instead of eviscerating her on the spot. After seeing the ugly look on his face, the firecracker swiftly left the room under the guise of 'feeding her pet rock'.
Clint was subjected to a long and torturous remainder of his lunch where he answered all sorts of questions about his time with the Avengers. At least he wasn't alone, Natasha had her own share of inquiries but since the archer had been in the mansion longer and was the more approachable of the two, he fielded the majority of them. He generally told the truth but answered a lot of the more outrageous questions with 'that's classified' just so he wouldn't have to answer them. The only thing he flat out refused to talk about were the circumstances surrounding his leaving of his old team. That wasn't anyone else's business.
The two ex-Avengers then took the opportunity to train in the Danger Room for a bit. Clint lovingly worked with a bow once more (since his leg was still healing from his gunshot wound) while Natasha spent her time demonstrating her physical prowess. When word spread during lunch that the two ex-Avengers would be training, they'd received a lot of interest from the students and X-men alike. It spread like wildfire throughout the mansion and pretty everyone had turned up. Even Forge made an appearance and the technological mutant being out of the lab was always a rare sight. The only absence Clint noted was Storm. She must have one killer headache.
It had been Julian that haughtily said his powers would easily best the Black Widow because he was a powerful mutant and she was just a mere human girl. Clint didn't bother to correct him and enjoyed watching the cocky boy get his butt kicked soundly. The student flushed an ugly shade of red at the humiliation and moved back to the sidelines. However, his brazen challenge opened the floodgates and soon a large portion of the mutants wanted a turn at Natasha. When it became clear that hardly anyone was a match for her (Jean, Wolverine and surprisingly Pixie did quite well) they started forming teams of two or three.
When a group of seven came up to challenge her, Clint decided to dump his bow and provide his partner some long-range 'mutant' support. Kitty didn't even have time to blink, let alone phase, as a nerve gas disc smacked her in the face. Monet, Jimmy, Bobby and Rogue soon followed suit and before the team had even reached the Black Widow, there were only two left. She took care of them in short order.
"I have time for only one more round," announced Natasha calmly after about an hour of bouts. She stood proudly but Clint could detect slight fatigue in her eyes. "And there's one mutant that I still wish to face." Wolverine started moving forward but the Black Widow shook her head. "Not you, Logan. I have someone else in mind. A man who I'm extremely displeased with." Her dangerous eyes fell onto Петр, who'd been skulking at the back of the room. "Вы кого-то больно дорогой для меня (You've hurt someone dear to me)."
The Russian mutant stared unerringly back and evenly replied, "Тогда он не должен мне больно сначала его легкомыслия (Then he shouldn't have hurt me first with his thoughtlessness.)" He folded his arms.
"What did they say?" hissed Jubes to Monet.
The telepath rolled her eyes. "How would I know? I can read thoughts, not translate languages."
"Well, what good are you th...?"
Natasha's reply cut off the firecracker from continuing. "Правда. Клинт и идиот, но я не могу не думать, что он заслуживает лучше, чем вы. Он все еще восстанавливается от разбитого сердца, и вы сделали это хуже. Это непростительно. (True. Clint's an idiot but I can't help thinking he deserves better than you. He's still recovering from a broken heart and you made it worse. It's unforgivable.)"
Clint could see with his excellent eyes the moment when Петр registered shock, then dismay. It gave him a surge of hope that everything might actually turn out alright in the future.
Without waiting for the mutant to reply, Natasha switched back to English. "Pick two others of your choice and come at me with everything you've got." Excited mutters went around the room but Tasha's eyes found Clint's. "There will be no external interference or I will vent my displeasure."
The archer rolled his eyes. As if he'd be stupid enough to get embroiled in this fight.
Петр made his way to the middle of the virtual gym with Surge and Nightcrawler in his wake. Clint was quite impressed with the selection, not because of the powers themselves but rather that he'd chosen his Diamonds teammates. That way, they should fight more cohesively as a unit. It also caused him some amusement because Jubilee was being restrained at the sidelines by Monet. She did not like being left out of the action and was irate that Петр hadn't chosen her to help.
"If I win," said Natasha quietly, "you will sit down and have an actual conversation with Clint."
"And if I succeed?" inquired Петр with a thick raised eyebrow.
The Black Widow shrugged. "Name your prize. Whatever it is, I'll deliver."
As the male Russian thought, the female one scanned over her competition and Clint immediately knew she was taking advantage of the moment to assess their weaknesses with her mutant power.
"If we win, you'll go on a date with Jubilee," decided Петр.
"YES!" yelled a suddenly ecstatic firecracker, who lived up to her name by letting off a powerful display of pyrotechnics entirely by accident due to her excitement. Monet had the good sense to release the girl she'd been restraining to save herself from getting blown up. "Peter, I fucking love you right now!"
Clint felt a curl of jealousy that was rather unreasonable considering the Russian man wasn't currently talking to him. Or the mutant herself for that matter.
"Fine," Natasha readily agreed. She assumed a defensive pose and said, "Start whenever you're ready."
Just as the Black Widow had already deduced, Nightcrawler immediately vanished in a puff of smoke and she dodged to her left just in time to evade a furry blue kick aimed at her head from behind. She used her momentum to dive forward in a roll to avoid a lightning blast from Surge. After scissoring her legs to knock the Japanese girl over, she fired two darts directly above her. They hit the newly materialised Nightcrawler, who had teleported once again and he was stunned into unconsciousness. She rolled to her right to avoid the body falling on her and flipped back to her feet. She noted to herself that Colossus had armoured up.
Surge's eyes narrowed as she sent blast after blast of electricity at the Russian woman. Naturally, the superspy was able to avoid all of them bar one. The surprising zap had been a ricochet shot that Surge had sent at Colossus, knowing her strike would arc off the metallic man to the nearest source. After the shock, Natasha stopped toying with the electrically enhanced mutant and took great delight in rendering her unconscious the old-fashioned way, with a strong flying kick in the torso.
Standing up with her hands on her hips, the Black Widow eyed her metallic foe. He'd hurt Clint and that was unacceptable. She focussed her power on the man and read his weakness before launching herself at him. A large smirk crossed her face as she dodged around her surprisingly swift opponent. Whoever would have thought that someone so bulky could move so fast? She didn't really try to attack him since she'd only do herself harm but instead bided her time, waiting for the most opportune time to strike.
Петр managed to knock the Black Widow over twice but as he moved to punch her right in the torso, she saw her opening. She slipped a hand into one of her pouches as she fell into the splits and extracted a gift she'd received from T'Challa a year before. It was something she'd never had to use before; a ceremonial mambele. Ordinarily, a mambele is made out of iron. In this case (since Wakanda is rich with vibranium) the tri-bladed dagger was much more deadly than its contemporaries. It could cut through adamantium like a knife through butter and since Colossus was currently made out of metal, it easily sliced right into the man's thigh.
The moment the metal pierced Петр's armoured up leg, the pain shocked him out of his mutant form and back into human. Natasha took her chance to knock the Russian out with a solid punch between the eyes. Once the man had fallen, she removed the mambele from his leg and the safety protocols of the Danger Room kicked in. It placed the unconscious man into a state of suspended animation, while releasing medical nanobots (designed by Forge) which began repairing the damaged tissue right before everyone's eyes.
"I win," noted the Black Widow coldly before she shared a look with Clint and left the room. As soon as she left, whispers started up and the remaining ex-Avenger made a hasty retreat before the horde could start assaulting him with more questions. He couldn't help but feel a bit pleased. Петр had no choice but to talk to him. Hopefully, the man might even forgive him for the deception but the archer wasn't going to hold his breath. He wasn't really one to be unnecessarily hopeful.
Clint spent the rest of the day mooching around his apartment and catching up on some TV. He'd rather die than admit it to anyone but he was rather tired after his small workout (plus his wound was still recovering) and spent much more of his time sleeping rather than viewing.
Despite the throbbing in his leg, Clint still taught his French class the following afternoon. At least there were no Danger Room sessions he needed to attend. The class was unusually attentive and hung off his every word. Apparently the students were much better behaved for Clint than Flint. It started to irritate him after about fifteen minutes of dead silence. They'd never been this quiet before and it was rather unnerving.
"Alright. I've had enough of this shit," growled Clint with a deep frown. There was a collective gasp around the room. Whether it was at his tone, curse or glare, he couldn't tell. It was probably a combination of the three. "Where the hell has my French class gone?"
"We're right here," said Monet with amusement from her customary position at the back of the room. I've been waiting to see how long it would take you to crack she whispered quietly into his mind.
Clint continued to glare around at the class and sent a much more venomous look her way. "I'm the same guy who taught you all last week. Stop being so... so weird!"
There were a couple of chuckles at his statement but the rest of the class remained eerily silent.
"Mais vous n'êtes plus la même personne qu'avant (But you're not the same guy as last time)," Julian disagreed, purely in French. "Avant, vous n'étiez qu'un professeur mutant de plus qui connaissait le professeur. Maintenant, vous êtes un des meilleurs superhéros que le monde connaisse! (Last time you were just some mutant teacher who knew the Professor. Now you're one of best superheroes the world has ever seen!)"
"Hum (Well)," snorted Clint, "Je ne sais pas si je dirais ça (I don't know if I'd go that far)."
"Moi oui (I do)," the teen continued to argue. "Avant, je pensais que vous étiez sexy mais maintenant je ne pense plus qu'à vous M. Roberts... Hum... M. Barton. (Before I just thought you were hot but now I just can't get you out of my mind, Mr Roberts... er, Mr Barton.)
The ex-Avenger felt his mouth fall open at the declaration and he looked over at Monet with surprise. She simply smirked at him and any small hope that he might have somehow misunderstood or misheard the telekinetic was crushed. His only saving grace was that the declaration had been in French and only the three of them were able to understand it. The rest of the class were watching on with great interest but no comprehension.
Clint took a moment to collect his thoughts and looked back at Julian. The student had blushed a brilliant red but met his gaze evenly. He had to give him credit for that. "Julian, tu es un gars super mais quelqu'un d'autres m'intéresse. J'espérais que tu le réaliserais sans que j'ai à te blesser mais tu as l'air d'être particulièrement buté. Tu trouveras quelqu'un mais ce quelqu'un n'est pas moi. En plus, je sais déjà que quelqu'un est fou amoureux de toi, c'est juste que tu ne le vois pas. Bon, retournons à notre leçon. Si tu as besoin d'en parler plus tard, demande-moi, d'accord? (Julian, I think you're a great guy but I'm interested in someone else. I had hoped that you might realise this without me having to hurt your feelings but you appear to be quite stubborn. There's someone out there for you but I'm afraid it's not me. In fact, I know that there's a guy who's head over heels in love with you, if you could just see him. Anyway, let's get back to the lesson at hand. If you need to talk to me about this later, just ask me, okay?)"
"D'accord (Okay)," parroted Julian, despite the distress that clearly showed on his face. The lesson then progressed but the unexpected conversation did achieve something. Clint's class of zombies regained their former verve and the usual chaos of the classroom returned. Although it took more work from the archer to control them, it was far better for his piece of mind. He'd had too many run-ins with the shapeshifting Skrulls and mind-manipulating masters to not find radical changes in people to be anything other than downright alarming. It was a welcome change.
Clint did notice that Julian turned rather introspective for the remainder of the period and he refrained from engaging the lovesick student any further. Working through his problems in his head would be a better use for his time than being bored out of his mind, listening to a lesson about a language he already had a great grasp over.
Despite his vociferous protests, Clint was forced out of the Danger Room from his team's training session the next day. As Jono not so eloquently put it, With your leg all shot up, you're about as useful as Toad in a friggin' beauty pageant. Get outta here, watch from the control room and don' expect to join in until next week at least. Idiot.
In a way, it worked out for the best. The team were working on their trust of one another and (although Clint could hardly believe it) they were practising trust falls. He wasn't saved from how juvenile it was but rather from how horrifying the exercise turned out to be. It was a bit more than the usual 'fall back into my arms, I'll catch you' stick. They had to climb a ladder three stories high wearing a Genoshan collar (some sort of device that depowered their mutant abilities) and then fall backward where one of the others would save them from plummeting to their death with their powers.
The exercise was devised by Storm after she'd plucked Clint out of the sky only two days before. He hadn't even known who'd saved him until that point and he made a great show of thanking the stately woman for her aid many times over. Apparently, he had been the source of her headache as she'd had to push herself hard to reach him in time. She'd been shopping over nine suburbs over when she received a telepathic distress call from Xavier via the ever potent Cerebro interface.
Clint was more than happy to be given a pass and watched from the control booth that oversaw the Danger Room. It was his job to disengage the safety protocols before each fall and re-engage them upon a successful completion. In reality, however, he was only pretending to switch them off and on again (as per his instructions from the Weather Witch) so that nothing untoward occurred. Just in case.
"There you are, Sunshine!" chirped a voice from behind, startling the archer badly enough to jump in his seat. His attention had been completely focussed on the last fall (Storm herself to be caught by Monet) that he hadn't even noticed Tony Stark had barged his way in. A quick glance showed him that an irate Scott, nonplussed Logan and a very amused Natasha all stood behind the billionaire.
"Fuck. Jesus. Are you trying to kill me Stark?" growled Clint when he was finally able to speak semi-coherently. "And what are you even doing here, for that matter?"
Tony raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Really, Robin Hood? I just finished at the meeting of smart guys and one damn sexy gal." Scott's already potent glare intensified at that, since the billionaire was referring to his girlfriend. Even if Tony had seen it, Clint would have bet Shirley that the man would have continued on unrepentantly. "You were there when Mr X himself invited me to it, I believe." He looked down at the archer's still bandaged wound. "Of course, if you weren't getting yourself shot AGAIN, you might have remembered."
Clint rolled his eyes. "Please, as if I didn't get into enough trouble from her over that," he groused while he nodded toward Natasha, who just grinned. Tony blanched at the thought of suffering from the Black Widow's discontentment.
"Suck it up, Princess," snorted the philanthropist when he regained his casual demeanour. "Anyway, I had a date with Mr Flexible, the Pym-meister, Spider-spandex and some of the X-geeks. I can't say it was my first seven-some and it wasn't the most satisfying..."
"Spare us," growled Summers from behind the man. His hand was twitching by his side and Clint knew he was showing remarkable restraint by not blasting Tony right in the face with a potent optic beam. Hell, many a time he'd wanted to put an arrow in the man's eye himself.
"Whatever," Tony waved away absently. "Are you all done in here?"
Clint looked out the window to see his team had already left the Danger Room without even bothering to let him know. Then again, the mike had been left on and they would have heard the conversation anyway. They probably assumed he would have his hands full. "Apparently so."
"Excellent," chirped Tony as he hauled the ex-Avenger to his feet. "It's time for a drink or fifteen. Pep's made my excuses for me to the Avs and its high time we got plastered, don't you think? Oh, you should get that little Jubbly girl to join us. Anyone who can down scotch like that deserves to be present." He turned around to look at the three who were still standing behind him. "Of course, any other interested X-peeps or whoever else really are also invited. The drinks will be on me and believe you me, I can afford it. Even his," he added with an imperious wave at Logan, who was smirking deeply.
"You'll regret tha' come tomorrow," Wolverine chuckled darkly.
"Pfft," spat Tony. "With the money I make in a second, I could buy twelve mansions just like this if I really wanted to. I provide alcohol for Spangles himself and he can't even get drunk!" He blinked and frowned. "Why am I even defending myself? I'm too rich to give a shit about what plebeians think." The genius' grin returned. "Let's just get Hulk Smash-ed already!"