Chapter 3
If you didn't count the odd looks the SHIELD personnel were giving him the trip down to the range was surprisingly non-eventful. Thor clung tightly to Clint's arm and seemed to be taking everything in stride, for the most part, content to follow him further into the helicarrier. There was no hint of the attitude that had the kid trying to punch Stark's lights out in the hanger. Clint eyed the kid warily, he didn't know what to make of him. There was clearly something a little off with him, but Clint's instincts weren't screaming Defcon five at him. Thor hummed quietly to himself, swinging his left arm happily as he tugged Clint along.
Clint cleared his throat, "So, buddy how did you get all the way up here anyways?"
Thor gives him a confused look, tilting his head to the side, "I do not know what you mean, Hawkeye. I got here with you. Did you perhaps forget that we are going to archery range so you may show me the prowess of your bow?" His speech was oddly formal and occasionally lilted in such a way that it almost seemed like English wasn't his first language.
"Uh, yeah bud we are. But that's not really what I meant. Do you know where you are?"
Thor hums to himself as he seems to mull over Clint's words, "I... I was following my brother… then he," Thor's voice cracked, and he hunched his shoulders up, his voice a near whisper "He left me, and it was dark, and I could not see." Thor took a quick breath and his lip quivered, his grip tightened on Clint's hand. Before he glared at the wall in front of them, not meeting Clint's gaze. They walked a few more feet before Thor untensed and continued in a much more cheerful voice, "Then I woke up by the man made of metal and I met you and you're going to show me your archery!"
Well, shit. At best it sounds like a prank gone wrong and a kidnapping. At worst -well hell- it sounded like the kid's brother might have sold him to child traffickers. It still didn't explain how he ended up in SHIELD hanger fifty-thousand feet above sea level though. There were a lot of mysteries wrapped up in the blond little pint-sized package. Hopefully, Natasha was having more luck getting to the bottom of it than he was.
"What do you mean you don't have camera footage from the hanger?" Natasha asked in a deadly calm tone as she leaned closer to the tech operative's desk. The tech looked nervously around, twitching uncomfortably in her presence. She mentally rolled her eyes, honestly, for working at an intelligence agency he was rather spineless.
"It's like I said, ma'am the lightning storm seems to have temporarily fritzed out some of the cameras on the upper levels. The hangar was one of the areas affected." The man shrugged slightly, "There's nothing I can do if the footage was never captured."
Natasha let out an irritated hum. No footage that was certainly convenient. She ran her fingers along her wrist stunners. Far too convenient if you asked her. It seems like she would have to go elsewhere for answers. She'd start with Stark.
Luckily for Clint, the shooting range was empty when Thor and him arrived. At first, Thor seemed a bit confused about where they were, but as soon as Clint moved to set up one of the few straw bullseyes SHIELD kept on hand his face broke out into a grin.
Clint slid his bow off his back and notched an arrow. "Okay, kid watch this." He drew the bow and in one smooth motion fired. The arrow flew true and hit the bullseye dead center.
Thor nodded appreciatively. Clint grinned and fired another. The arrow hit slightly to the left of the first. People usually found it 'impressive' when he split arrows. But, he wasn't some circus act and that was just a waste of a perfectly reusable arrow. Instead, for those suckers, he wanted to impress he did what he was doing now. Sixteen arrows later and the target had the arrows tightly packed next to each other from the distance they were standing it clearly spelled the word, Thor.
Clint finished and turned to his companion, "So what do you think Thor? Worthy of the name Hawkeye?"
Thor grinned up at him, "You are most skilled indeed," a sly look crossed Thor's face, "It does not seem a fair contest though. Perhaps your weapon is enchanted, then it would be no great feat. I think I should test it; only then can you claim to truly have the Hawk's eyes.
Enchanted, huh? That was the kid's game. Clint couldn't keep the grin from creeping onto his face. For all Thor looked like a human puppy, the little shit had a devious streak. It reminded him of his daughter Lylla. She might only be five, but she still managed to goad him into taking ridiculous shots for her entertainment.
"Okay, Thor if you think I make it look easy go for it." Clint walked over to the target and pulled out his arrows, sliding them back into his quiver before he walked back to where Thor was waiting. Thor enthusiastically took the bow out of his hands. He seemed to examine it closely looking with particular interest at the grip and sight.
This was one of Clint's more trusted heavy-duty bows. He had dozens scattered in SHIELD bases across the continents. He usually kept them handy in case things went south. Arrows, unlike bullets, could be recycled, especially in close quarters. Sure, he could use a sniper rifle like the rest of them. But then he'd miss the ridiculous look on the bad guys' faces when they realized their buddy had just been killed by an honest to god arrow. He lived for the little things in this line of work.
Thor had yet to take an arrow and instead was still staring with interest at the bow, "You know how that works bud?"
Thor chewed his lower lip, "Yes, I was admiring your weapons craftsmanship. My father made me, and my brother practice our archery." He stuck his lower lip out in a pout, "He still will not let me go on a hunt though." His leather boot scuffed the ground, "I'm still not as good as my brother. Loki bests me every time." Thor's voice grew silent as he stared at the bow. Well, apparently Thor's parents were really committed to the Norse theme. "I much prefer swords anyways like the Valkyries use." Thor turned to look at him with a completely straight face and held his hand out for an arrow.
Swords. Who the fuck still used swords? Clint filed that away for later as he reached into his quiver and pulled out a single arrow passing it to Thor. Thor skillfully notched it into the bow and pulled the drawstring back. The arrow flew true and hit the target with a thwack. It was slightly off center compared to Clint's usual shots, but clearly, the kid knew what he was doing. Clint grinned it wasn't every day he met someone who appreciated archery as much as he did.
"So, kid, still think it's a magic bow?" Thor was smiling at him a bright and happy look on his face.
"I fear that I still do not have enough information. Loki tells me the scientific process is important. I think we must have a contest to see who the better archer is."
Ah, so that was the kid's game. Surely Nat wouldn't get too mad at him for showing off, even if the kid did turn out to be a little sociopathic child soldier, it's not like knowing Clint was a good shot would help him any if SHIELD got serious. Hell, that was practically common knowledge in their field. "Okay, little man just remember when you lose you asked for it."
Natasha found Tony sitting alone in the lab. His armor sprawled around him while he tinkered with his helmet. "Stark." She said in greeting.
He blinked at her seeming to come out of his focused state, "Ms. Rushman, blueberry?"
Natasha blinked as he seemed to pull a Ziploc from nowhere. The man was so much like a squirrel sometimes it was shocking. Amused she shook her head and Tony shrugged popping a dried berry in his mouth. She carefully stepped around his scattered parts.
"Did you and manage to find the source of the interference?"
Tony rolled a dried blueberry between his fingers before dropping it in his mouth, "Interference? What interference I thought Fury didn't want us to talk about that?" Natasha rolled her eyes, "But if we're keeping it between us Red, the readings dissipated while we were up there and then disappeared entirely on our sensors. I took the data we did have to Bruce but," He shrugged, "I don't have any answers for you on that. Radiation isn't really my field."
The cameras were off and now the sensors were getting finicky. She may not be a scientist, but she didn't like this at all, "Alright, what can you tell me about the kid then?"
The inventor stared blankly at her for a minute, "Yeah, I can't say I've ever been punched by a kid before. Let alone with the kind of force Tiny Tim was packing down there. Don't know how he did it, but he managed to put a few dings in my armor. I have Jarvis running diagnostics on it right now."
Natasha frowned. She hadn't noticed a weapon on the kid, how did he manage that? She was still missing something important. She could list on one hand the number of organizations that could train a child soldier that well. The Red Room could have if she'd left its network intact after her departure. The shadow organization called the Hand had operatives that could match her, but they were nearly impossible to track, and none of them were children. Was there a new player on the ground? Was this part of the Maw's plan? She ground her teeth. This was getting more convoluted not less.
"What happened before Barton and me came to back you up?"
Tony frowned and shuffled the package of dried fruit, "Well, I walked in. I was suited up, so I could scan all the Quinjets, see where the anomaly was coming from and hopefully pry the tech off and whisk it downstairs to my big green science buddy. Then I noticed a heat signature. At first, I thought it was an agent, so I asked if he knew this area was off limits."
Natasha nodded, for Stark that was a surprisingly composed response.
"I didn't hear anything, so I fired up the repulsors and went to investigate. I find that caped kid unconscious next to one of the supply crates. He was sprawled out all over the floor. I was, well, concerned you know. Last time I checked top-secret government organizations weren't supposed to have kids."
Natasha snorted if only he knew. If anything, it was more likely that covert government departments involved children. She would know better than anyone. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine. Tony blinked at her but continued.
"Like I said supposed to. So, I went over to wake him up, as soon as I touched his shoulder he jolted awake and started freaking out. I tried to grab him, but he slipped away from me and went back into hiding so I backed off." Tony reached out and flipped over his helmet his fingers digging into the wiring and pulling out a cord.
"You pretty much saw what happened next, I tried to get him to come out, he tackled me and then Clint did his weird kid hypnosis or something." Natasha raised an eyebrow at that, "What for a spy that man is freaky good with kids." Tony said defensively.
She smiled internally, Clint had a protective instinct a mile wide and a soft spot for kids that went against common sense. She would know Budapest was always fresh in her memories.
A thought crossed her mind, "Stark, do you have a way of recording with your suit?"
"What do you think this is 1970? Of course, I have JARVIS keep a backlog. Pepper would kill me if we didn't keep video footage. Never know when someone will try to take me to court."
Frankly, that didn't surprise Natasha she'd worked under Pepper for three months before she'd made contact with Stark in person. The woman was efficient at what she did and ruthless when she needed to be. Can I get a copy? I'd like to analyze the kid's fighting style and see if that tells us more. Something's not quite right with him."
Tony sighed, "You're betting on child soldier, huh?" She dipped her head in acknowledgment. It always surprised her how observant Tony Stark was when he wasn't lost in his own ego. "Yeah, I thought so. Shit, my tech was supposed to end war not be used on kids."
"Sometimes, there's nothing to be done." Natasha said with finality, as much as she hated to admit it she was not the norm when it came to dangerous indoctrination and they had more pressing concerns to deal with, "Don't lose sight of the bigger mission Stark. We still have no idea what Maw is planning with Coulson or the team of scientists he's taken. Focus on that."
"Yeah, but, you better not kill that kid no matter what you find." Natasha gave him a reassuring smile. She would always do what needed to be done, but there was no need to put the billionaire off when they needed his help.
"Here, go crazy," Stark said, flicking his fingers against his wristwatch and one of the screens in the room lit up with the crisp picture of the hanger.
Natasha said a small thank you and went to settle down and watch the footage. After a minute she paused it and turned back to Stark, "You said you got readings, when will you and Banner have those analyzed?"
"Oh," Tony flipped his wrist around and glanced at his watch, "About twelve seconds ago."
Clint was sweating. It turned out the first shot the kid had taken wasn't a fluke. Thor was actually pretty good with a bow for how young he was. They'd backed up the target several times until it was resting against the back wall. Since Thor was still hitting the target, albeit not as consistently as him, Clint decided a different approach was needed.
He'd popped his head out into the hallway and kidnapped the first young looking staffer he found, seniority had its perks. The young guy, said his name was Fitz, was inching towards the door as soon as he was inside. He claimed he had lab work to do. Clint gave him his most charming smile and politely asked him to throw things for Thor and him to shoot out of the air.
The guy seemed baffled and rattled out some probabilities about how unlikely hitting a moving target at that distance was.
"You do not understand," Thor whined at the agent, "We must determine if this bow is enchanted for scientific reasons!"
The man paused and opened his mouth like he was ready to argue. He looked ready to say something about magic not being real but then his mouth snapped shut. It seemed he'd caught sight of Thor's puppy dog eyes. He sighed running his hand through his curly light brown hair, "You said this was for science?"
Clint grinned and sent the agent down with some smaller paper targets. He told him to toss them up.
"You know a monkey could do this!" Fitz yelled down the range at them.
"Yeah, but we don't have a monkey, we have you so put on your science hat and get to throwing!" Clint yelled back.
"You know the results won't be consistent. I could build a machine to drop them at regular intervals then the results would be more accurate-"
"Throw them!" Thor cheered behind him in a booming voice. Fitz scowled and tossed up the paper targets looking like he regretted everything.
"Watch this kid," Clint said to Thor before he turned his back to the range, held his bow behind his neck and fired an arrow without looking.
He heard a steady thunk and turned around to see his arrow pinning the tiny paper target dead in the center of the bullseye. The shaft of his arrow was in exactly the middle of the paper target.
Thor let out a little breath of awe, "That was glorious!"
"That makes no sense. That shot was improbable. The odds of it happening are- and without looking-" Fitz babbled before he swallowed, and a look of recognition dawned on his face, "You're Hawkeye!"
Clint grinned and lowered his bow, "The one and only!"
Thor giggled behind him, "Yes, you do indeed have eyes like hawks. You're like Heimdall you must be able to see everything!" Clint chuckled, honestly it was nice to get this sort of admiration from someone for his skills. Usually, everyone was too busy being scared shitless by Natasha to notice him and when they did notice him it was usually to laugh at his choice of weapon, that didn't usually last too long; it was hard to find arrows funny when you had one stuck in your gut.
A curt cough cut through his inner celebration.
He turned around see Rogers standing by the door still in his Captain America get up, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes flickering over to Thor, "Hey, Cap, what's up?"
"Barton, Romanov sent me to find you."
Clint nodded his head. Natasha probably wanted to compare notes. The fact that it was Steve down here instead of the whole strike team probably meant that she hadn't concluded Thor was a threat, at least not yet.
Clint looked back over at the younger agent and Thor. Fitz looked over the moon at getting the chance to see Captain America, typical. Clint could practically see him vibrating with curiosity. He sighed, what could he do? The attention was nice while it lasted. Thor, on the other hand, looked on with mild interest, but just like with Iron Man he didn't seem star struck.
"Are we going Hawkeyes?" Thor asked stepping closer tentatively, staring up at Rogers as he gripped his cape in his hands. The kid really did seem to be treating the piece of cloth like a security blanket.
Clint rubbed his jaw as he folded his bow over his back and gathered his remaining arrow out of the target. He couldn't take Thor with him, but he needed an accuse. He cast an eye around the room, the younger agent clearly couldn't take him he was too inexperienced and a little too geeky to keep a good eye on the blond pipsqueak. That left him with- he locked eyes with Rogers.
Yup, it would have to be Rogers. Now the question would be if he could convince Thor not to follow him or run off.
"Hey, Thor this is my friend Captain America."
Steve's face twisted into a grimace at the title, "Please, call me Steve." He said sticking his hand out.
Thor eyed the hand warily before he reached out to take it, pulling Rogers forward into a tight hug with a slap on the back, or it might have been if the two were anywhere near to the same height. Instead, Rogers stumbled forward, half falling as Thor latched onto his legs and patted the back of his thighs.
"Greetings Captain America friend of the Hawk's eyes!"
It took everything in Clint not to laugh out loud at how awkward America's icon looked. Rogers' face went bright red and he went as stiff as a board. Fitz didn't have Clint's kind of restraint he immediately laughed and then looked embarrassed as he met with the Captain America's eyebrows of dissapointmentTM. The poor kid couldn't take it. Blushing Fitz excused himself and ducked out of the shooting range.
Rogers cleared his throat and Thor released his leg hug and stared curiously up at Rogers, "You are a Captain truly?"
"They keep telling me that, so I guess I am, and you are?"
"I am Thor son of Odin!" Thor proclaimed loudly. Rogers shot Clint a confused look. Clint shrugged.
"Nice to meet you," Rogers said in a polite tone before turning back to Clint, "Romanov wants you for a debriefing in the lab."
And yup, Clint was well aware of that but there was still the kid-sized issue in the room.
Thor's stomach took that moment to let out a high gurgling sound that echoed around the range. Thor looked up at him with wide eyes his hand automatically went to his stomach.
And there it was: the perfect escape.
"Hey, Cap, why don't you take Thor down to the kitchens. Go find him some Pop Tarts or something to chew on." Steve started to sputter something, but Clint leaned in to rest a hand on his shoulder and said in a lowered voice, "Keep an eye on the kid. We think he might have some link to the alien invasion." Steve stiffened slightly but then relaxed and dipped his head in agreement.
"You are leaving Hawkeyes?" Thor asked, frowning.
"Sorry, bud," Clint reached out and tried to ruffle the kid's hair, only for the kid to dip away from him and scowl, "But I'm leaving you with Steve. You're going to love him. Everyone loves him. He's tons of fun you can ask him about all the times he punched Hitler!"
Thor seemed to pique up at the mention of violence and his scowl lessened as he looked at Steve again, before declaring, "He cannot shoot like you, but I suppose I can watch your friend while you must work."
Clint laughed, leave it to the kid to somehow completely flip around what was actually happening. It reminded him of Lylla, "Thanks, Thor. I know I could count on you. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Author's Note: Here you go! Enjoy some more cute Thor and a Fitz cameo that I wasn't expecting at all but it happened anyways. Also, I readjusted the chapter count. There should be 6 or 7 chapters now because as I've been writing the next couple of chapters some scenes I had no plans on writing happened. Next, Thor and Steve's kitchen adventures and Loki admits that hide and seek with Thor may have been the worst idea he's had in a while. As always critiques, comments, and kudos are very welcome!