Rise of the Champions - Chapter Forty-One
Author: Milady Dragon
Clint stormed out of the Keep and into the back garden, down the path into the valley, needing to get out and calm himself down before he could even hope to talk to Phil.
"Idiot," he muttered under his breath, although who was calling that he wasn't sure. It was most likely Phil, but it could have been himself as well.
For most of his life, Clint had considered himself a loner. That had been even after Natasha had found him, and had become his partner; they loved each other, depended on each other and trusted one another, but there was still a little distance between them, more emotional than anything else. It hadn't been until this second chance with Phil that he'd come to the realization that he hadn't been made to be truly alone, that having someone to love and to be loved in return had filled a hole within his soul that he hadn't been aware of before.
So, he could understand Phil's rationalization of his going and dumping Loki's spear into the Void on his own, with just Lola for company. Because his lover had been the same as Clint had, and it had been one of the things that had drawn the Elf to the Wizard, recognizing that same hole within the Dark One that Clint had carried around with him, even if he wasn't aware of it at the time. He saw it now with a clarity he'd wished he'd had back then, because it would have explained why he'd fallen so hard for the dark Wizard.
Clint found himself back in the clearing where he'd met Idris. It looked different during the day, but those differences were only peripheral to his roiling thoughts.
What Phil had done last night was to protect the family. To protect Clint. And he was also sure there was a bit of vindictiveness against the weapon that Loki had used to kill him and to mind control Clint himself. The Elf could get behind that sort of rage, approved of it actually.
He was just having problems with Phil not letting him help.
They both needed to stop thinking like they were alone anymore. They weren't. They had each other, and the girls, and friends and chosen family and that needed to count for something. Oh, he was sure it did with Phil, but there would always be that little bit of his lover that would have him doing things all by himself, out of his own overblown need to protect his loved ones. He'd had so little love and protection as a child, Phil needed to lavish that on his own family.
No matter how much it stomped all over Clint's feelings. Or how much Clint could relate to that idea.
Clint had the same need to protect Phil as Phil had to protect Clint himself. That was what was at issue here. Phil had wanted to keep Clint as far away from that damned spear as possible, knowing what Loki had forced him to do under its thrall. He got that.
But Phil hadn't taken Clint's own need to keep Phil away from the very weapon that had been used to kill him. Or his need to protect their family from that selfsame spear.
He'd taken away Clint's choice in the matter. He hadn't discussed it with him. He'd just done it, expecting forgiveness after.
Oh, who was Clint kidding? He was totally going to forgive Phil, because he would have done the very same thing.
The Elf sighed. Was that why he was so angry? Not because Phil hadn't taken him along, or that he'd put him to sleep so he wouldn't notice Phil was gone, but because he'd beat Clint to the punch?
Not that Clint would have been able to get into the Secure Archives. He wasn't a Wizard, even if he had the dragon of one. Still, it was the principle of the thing. And, here he'd thought it was because Phil hadn't confided in him, or taken him along. It was because his lover had done something that Clint couldn't, despite the need for him to be able to act on getting rid of the damned spear.
Damnit.
Still, Clint had been correct in one thing – Phil had needed back up when he'd gone to the Secure Archives. He hadn't been up to full strength, and could very easily have collapsed down there and no one would have known. It had been pure luck that Ianto had gone there today. Phil could have been down there, unconscious, for days, and everyone would have been panicking about it and not had any sort of clue where to look.
Sure, Lola had been with him. But she never would have left him in order to fetch help. Phil was her Wizard, and she would have stayed by his side no matter what. So, what Phil had done had put both himself and Lola in danger.
Shit, that made him furious.
Clint let himself sit his ass down on the grass. Lucky chirped at him worriedly, clambering up into his lap in order to cuddle with him. The archer wrapped his arms around his dragon, understanding that Lucky would have done the same for him: not left him for anything, watching out for him until either help came or it was too late for it. Dragons had free will, even if they were connected to their companions, and that free will would have had them standing by in case they were needed by their Wizards – or not-Wizards, in Clint's case – and would have baulked at leaving them alone for any reason whatsoever.
He loved dragons. Adored them, actually. So, for Lola to be put into that sort of situation wanted to make him scream.
As if thinking about her made her appear, Lola was by his side, cooing at him, rubbing her snout against his cheek comfortingly. Clint freed up an arm to wrap around her, pulling her close. "Hey, beautiful," he whispered.
He ignored Phil for the moment; if Lola was there, then her Wizard wouldn't have been far behind. He must have lost complete track of time, but then there was no way of knowing how long Ianto had stayed. To his credit, Phil remained silent as well, which told Clint that he'd figured out just how much he'd screwed up.
Eventually, Clint called back over his shoulder, "We need to talk about this."
"Yes, we do." Phil's voice was soft with regret.
He came into view, settling himself on the grass in front of Clint. "I'm sorry." He certainly looked apologetic, and Clint was inclined to let him grovel a little, but after his own bit of soul-searching the archer figured they both had a hand in the blow-up that had happened back in the study.
"I know you are. I also know that you have this protective streak a league wide." Clint snorted softly. "Hells, you even had it back in the Dark One's heyday, or else we never would have gone up against Wolfgang von Strucker for those kids he was holding."
"Even if I didn't know it myself." One side of Phil's mouth was twisted upward in a self-deprecating smile.
"Well, you were so used to being evil it never would have occurred to you that this was what you were feeling."
Phil didn't answer, but then he didn't need to. His lover knew better than anyone what had provoked the Dark One and, despite all the other evil acts he'd perpetrated, there had always been that tiny core of Phil Coulson within him that would slip out at times. He just hadn't recognized it as himself.
"The problem is," Clint went on, "is that I have that same streak in me, as well. And, this time, they both clashed big time." He reached out past Lola and took Phil's hand, his finger sliding over the cool silver of the ring there. "I wasn't kidding when I said you have to let me in. Oh, I know we're so far into each other's lives that we have that soul bond thing –"
"The what?" Phil was apparently shocked by that.
So, he really hadn't known. The Elf hadn't thought to even mention it yet, but it had really just slipped out. His timing sucked.
Which meant Clint would have to explain it now, rather than later when he'd gotten up the courage to do so.
So, he did.
"That…explains why I felt like you were lending me your strength back at Ianto's, during that curse breaking." Phil looked pensive. "I thought I was imagining it."
"Nope. Stephen pointed it out. Said it's just like the one Jack and Ianto have, only weaker because we haven't been bonded for as long as they have. He said it would eventually be that strong, though."
"That was what you didn't want to talk about yet."
"Yeah. But it seemed like my mouth wanted to talk about it now."
There was such an expression of heartbreaking hope on Phil's face. "I've noticed the bond between Jack and Ianto before, but I never thought I'd have that for myself one day…" Then his face crumpled. "That makes it worse, doesn't it? That I'll live on, and you'll die someday…"
Shit.
"Hey." He squeezed Phil's hand. "Let's not go borrowing trouble just yet. We'll have centuries together, and who knows what might happen? We have plenty of time to figure things out. We should just enjoy what we have now."
"You're right." He gave Clint a wan smile. "And I promise…I won't cut you out like I did last night. Although, I'd been hoping that no one would discover the spear being missing for a long time yet."
"And that's another thing…if something had happened to you down there, it could have been days before anyone would've thought to look down there…if they ever have. And you claim you had Lola with you, but she would never have left if you'd collapsed down there. You not only put yourself in danger, but her as well."
Phil nodded, looking suitably chastised. "You're right. But I do want it on record that Lola agreed with me doing it with just the pair of us."
Lola nodded, her chattering equally apologetic.
"Next time you want to do a little breaking and entering, ask for someone to watch your backs," Clint chided, although he put enough lightness in his voice to make it sound as if he was teasing both of them.
"Deal." Phil's eyes looked a little lighter, a little less tired. "In the spirit of sharing, I suppose I should let you know exactly what prompted Ianto to go to the Archives."
"That might be a good idea, yeah."
His lover explained.
Clint thought it was way too scary to contemplate, if Loki had used the so-called Mind Stone to its full effect.
He shivered involuntarily.
"Yes," his lover agreed, "that was exactly my reaction. No one can have access to those Artifacts; they're just too powerful."
"And the one Stark's carrying around?"
"We have a plan to draw anyone curious about the armor away from the truth." He laid out that plan, which had Clint nodding. "It's not like we can easily remove it at this point."
It was simple, yet it would work. The world knew Baron Tony Stark was a genius, so it would be an easy sell to convince people that he'd come up with some sort of mysterious power source for that armor he'd come up with.
It impressed Clint that he'd managed to figure out a way to syphon off power from the very thing that had been keeping him alive. Only the Baron of Ferrous would be brilliant enough for that sort of thing.
"Are we alright now?" Phil asked, sounding oh-so tentative.
"We are," Clint reassured him. "But no more of that doing shit to protect me. We're in this together, so keeping me informed is the best way to not make me mad. Oh, and not doing alone something I'd want a hand in. I wasn't the only one that spear affected. It killed you, Phil. It took you away from me. That's something I'd kinda want to do something about, you know?"
"I do." This particular smile was full of relief. "Hopefully, we won't have to deal with it ever again. No one but me can get it from the Void, and there isn't a lot that would convince me to do that."
What he didn't say was that threats to his family would do it. However, Clint also knew that Phil would kill anyone threatening the people he loved, which meant anyone even attempting that shit wouldn't get very far.
"Ianto's also asking me to do the same with another of the Artifacts in the Secure Archive, one that was created by the same Wizard. I'll go and do that later today. Right now, I just want to spend some time with the man I love and one of our daughters, the one who doesn't have official lessons today. And, when Daisy does get home, we can all be together. How does that sound?"
"That sounds like an excellent plan." Clint got to his feet, pushing Lucky away in order to do so, and then pulled Phil up using the hand that he was still holding. He then tugged his lover snug up against his chest, his arm around Phil's waist, and kissed him quite thoroughly.
They finally broke apart when the need to breathe became imperative. "You still need to show me how much you appreciate my ass," Phil reminded, his voice slightly husky.
Clint gave him a sly grin. "How do you feel about having sex outside?"
"I may be persuaded."
"Then I'll have to work on that."
So he proceeded to do so, happy that Phil was so willing to let him do just that.
