A/N Thanks for your reviews and support.
dogman999: thanks for your review, my friend. I'm staying as safe as I can I hope you are too!
Fury's POV
How it was so difficult to find one person in the helicarrier he would never understand. With his security systems, it should be easy to find Clint in the base. Should be was the key term in that because it wasnt.
Nick had taken to counting the number of times he had seen Clint on the cameras in a week. The number should not have surprised him given the other's past but it did. It was only when the young man was with Romanov, Coulson, or eating did he appear on cameras. For safety reasons, there weren't any cameras in the rooms except for security cells. Even so, he should at least be able to see when the kid leaves.
Does he? No. Never. Not a single god damn time. How the hell was the kid pulling it off?
Tapping his fingers on his desk he considered the options. There were very few ways to get around the ship unseen. Almost all of them he knew of because he utilized them. The way the kid did it didnt make any sense. Even he couldn't get past all the cameras without tampering with them. Clint wasnt doing that it was the first thing he checked. So there had to be something he was missing. It was just a matter of finding it.
A scuffing sound above him caught his attention. Not pausing in his tapping he glanced up slightly. It was barely more than a tilt of his head nothing that would have given away that he heard. What he saw answered the questions. It was only the pants leg of someone moving through the vents but there was one person in the entire helicarrier that could fit.
Clint Barton was crawling around in his air vents. That certainly explained how the kid was getting around. Was he going to stop the kid? Absolutely not. It was inventive and he didnt wants to push Clint any further away than he already had. Maybe leaving some food up there would bring about goodwill. He wouldn't get his hopes up. The kid could hold one hell of a grudge.
Well then he will leave it up to Phil to address it should it become an issue. Knowing Clint it would never get that far but better to let his agent handle it if it did.
Clint's POV
Finally, he was allowed to start training with Coulson. His wounds were almost completely healed now. The knock-on his door came when he was just coming out of the air vents. Clint had been spending his nights in the vents and only coming out to eat or meet with Coulson or Panov.
Clint had dropped down into his room before brushing his hand down his clothes. Then he opened the door to find the brown-haired man waiting for him.
Coulson said, "You've been cleared for training. Are you ready or do you want to wait until later?"
Clint grinned as he replied, "Nope I'm ready to go now."
Coulson nodded and motioned for him to follow. Clint did as he was bid closing his door behind him. Then he followed the man to training rooms. The trip was made in silence until they reached the room.
Coulson said as he pulled off his jacket and tie, "First we will test your hand to hand combat skill. Then we will test your skills with a knife. I have already seen your skills with a bow and gun first hand. With that, I was able to get you approved for unsupervised practice. Know that you have the same restrictions as Romanov. More than three hours in here and I'll be notified."
So all he had to do was go through the air vents and avoid the doors. Perfect. It would be just like the rest of the helicarrier. The only exception was the topside where he actually had to use the door. His key card thankfully would allow him access for fresh air at least that would be the excuse for a normal person. For him, though it was for the feeling of being up high. No one else wanted to be out topside when they were in the air.
Clint moved towards the mats without giving the handler a reply. The man was cold and standoffish towards the other agents. When he was around Clint or Natasha he seemed to warm somewhat. More so with Nat than himself but it was noticeable that he at least seemed to like Clint.
Clint's own feelings were mixed about the agent. He owed Coulson a life debt for what he did at the compound. Without the agent, he would have died without regrets. Now he had to do his damndest to make to repay his debt. That didnt mean he trusted Coulson. Though now that he had time to think about it he understood why the man did what he did. Like Clint when he was in Medusa, Coulson was following orders.
Orders were orders in this world he knew that. Clint disobeyed orders more often than not as was expected from a Medusan. Unlike for others, it was not out of spite but out of thoughtfully executed plans. With the exception of the time, Gordon had been kidnapped. No one touched what he considered family and lived to tell the tale.
Once they both stood on the mat Coulson said, "We go until someone taps out. Use anything at your disposal to beat me and don't hold back. I won't."
The agent had barely finished speaking when Clint made his move. He feinted right and went to strike the man with a left hook. It was blocked easily by the agent.
Clint bounced up onto the balls of his feet and began testing the man's defense. Jab, jab, hook, kick to the abdomen. Each movement was blocked with ease of a well-trained fighter. Much to Clint's frustration, the man didn't strike back. Instead, he allowed Clint to fight to his heart's content.
He went through every dirty trick and fighting style in his arsenal. Just like with his previous attempts everything was blocked. As he tired though that was when Coulson made his move.
He went straight for a leg sweep on Clint's bad leg still weak from his injury. As such his leg gave out from under him. Followed by hands on his shoulders pinning him to the mat. Blue-grey eyes clashed against hazel.
Coulson began, "Not bad. A little slow and need some refinement but I can help you with that. Your leg needs to be strengthened back up as well. Let's go again."
With that Coulson stood and held out a hand to him. There was the briefest moment of hesitation. Clint took it and was pulled to his feet and they began again.
