Chapter 3

Snart had understood Sara's silent order to watch the interactions between Mick and Barton but he had to admit that he was curious too. Agent Barton had a haunted expression in his eyes and Leonard was uncomfortable reminded of Mick's eyes after they got him back from the time masters.

There was confusion and a deep hurt because you have to live with consequences and repercussions of actions you would have never done on your own free will. Moreover, there was remorse, more remorse than he would characteristically see in Mick's eyes but he knew Mick too well to think that Mick was not capable of feeling regret.

Leonard now understood why Agent Coulson had warned them. This was a deeply traumatized man; there was no telling, how he would react when pushed too far und he finally snapped. Leonard would bet, it would be swift and very violent, he recognized a dangerous man when he saw one.

Mick walked to the replicator and ordered a six-pack. Barton sat at the table and laid his bow beside him on a chair. Mick put the six-pack on the table, gave Clint and Leonard a beer and sat down.

Leonard sat beside his friend, both leaving enough space between them and the man's bow. For Leonard a sure sign that Mick saw the same things he did, Mick had definitely changed in the last two years.

"So an alien invasion, huh? What happened?" asked Mick directly.

Ok, he did not change so much either, thought Leonard.

"A self-proclaimed god with the name Loki came to Earth, called us ants and wanted to free us from our greatest lie, freedom." The sarcasm was obvious. "He had a spear, when he touched you with it, you lost your free will and he had absolute control over you. He did not even have to say anything, it was enough for him to think it and you did everything for him. You would hurt and kill the people you would ordinarily fight and die for."

Oh yes, definitely reminded him of Mick after his time with the time masters.

"Brainwashing is a bitch, isn't it?" asked Mick morosely.

Clint looked at him and replied, "Yes, it is. As it turned out, he had a master and from him the task to build a big and stable wormhole for a full-scale invasion. He needed minions, a few missing items and distractions to set his plan in motion and I provided him with all these things."

Barton smirked humourlessly. "And I was very successful! I can honestly say that without me Loki would never have come so far."

Mick liked Barton they seemed to have a lot in common. "Well at least you put a stop to the invasion."

"Yeah, but it was very close and we were lucky."

Snart snorted. "Luck is always a part of a strategy, the rest is planning."

"The man doesn't go to a toilet without a plan", agreed Rory solemnly.

A ghost of a smile hushed over Barton's face. "Believe me, it was luck. The Avengers were busier with fighting each other than fighting Loki." Barton shook his head. "Or should I say, two of them or more precisely one is inherently an asshole and the other one was only three weeks out of the ice. Don't ask, it is a long story! Luckily my boss is good and creative in motivating people."

"Would that be Agent Coulson?" asked Leonard.

"No, Phil is my handler and my friend. Fury used him as motivation after he was nearly killed through Loki so that the Avengers would have something to avenge."

"Sounds cold." Leonard played with his bottle.

"He is a calculating man and he is not the director of Shield because he wants to win a popularity contest, he has a job to do." Clint shrugged; Fury's machinations did not bother him much. Firstly, he knew the man and secondly, Fury did not do it out of spite, he did it to protect people. "So how it is to travel through time?"

"The same. Bad guys who want to kill us, we crash every two weeks with our ship and then have to fight against those, we disturbed with our crash", said Rory nonchalantly.

"We broke the time as we wanted to save the world, now we have sometimes dinosaurs in the present time and one time Julius Caesar took over the world with knowledge of the future and we nearly lived in a reality where the Roman Empire still existed", added Leonard.

"You lead interesting lives", deadpanned Clint and Rory laughed.

Leonard did not know if he should be alarmed or pleased how quickly Mick took to this dangerous stranger. The last man he made so quickly friends with was an egomaniac who nearly had circumvented the existence of the USA.

"So what does an Agent of SHIELD do?" asked Leonard curious.

"We deal with the weird shit for what the regular spy organisations have too little imagination. We protect as a shield so that other people can go on with their life without worrying or knowing that are things out there, which will subjugate, transform or kill them. Regrettably we have failed in our duty because now everyone knows what is out there."

Interesting, Barton clearly believed in that what he said and he was proud to be a part of SHIELD. "So warding off invasions through Aliens is the usual for Shield?"

"I would not go this far. Honestly this was a little too weird even for SHIELD's standards; we never fought against gods or trained to withstand magic."

"Sounds for me like it wasn't your fault that Loki brainwashed you", said Leonard quietly.

Barton shrugged and did not answer, he clearly thought otherwise.

"What happened with him?"

"His adoptive brother brought him back to Asgard, his home world, where I hope he gets his just punishment."

"You said that you would everything which Loki asked of you, even hurt and kill your friends. How many of them did you kill? Or do you mean colleagues?"

"I killed too many of my colleagues and innocent bystanders who were in the way of Loki's plans. And it was only luck that I didn't kill Fury, Maria, Phil or Natasha as I had the opportunity."

"Hm, so you had the opportunity to kill them but all of them were lucky, that sounds a little too improbable for me." Leonard watched Barton carefully and saw how the man opened his mouth to reply but then closed it again.

"I think you feel guilty for things you had no control over and are not proud enough of the things you prevented or withstood."

"Why didn't you talk to me the same way as I was in the Waverider's cell?" asked Mick mock offended.

"Firstly because you wouldn't have reacted well if I tried to talk to you this way because you were angry with me. Secondly, talking was never you preferred method of dealing with things like this."

Mick lifted his bottle as a silently concession.

Barton had looked back and forth between them, his attentive eyes not missing a thing, dangerous indeed. Leonard was interested to know what Barton had taken from this exchange between Mick and him.

"Huh, Captain Lance is certainly a remarkable woman, she and Natasha will go along as a house on fire", was however the only thing Barton said about it.

"Another beer?" asked Rory.

"Yes, with pleasure."

The three men serenely continued to drink together after they had taken each other's measure.