Warnings: Nothing I can really think of.

Clint hates this. His teammates are all catering to Loki, tripping over themselves to see to his needs. Loki needs food. Loki must have clothes. Loki has to be encouraged to come out of his room more – yes, Tasha finally accomplished that problem and now Clint has to avoid certain rooms at certain times of the day, otherwise he'll bump into Loki and Tasha says they're both not ready for that yet.

Loki, Loki, Loki. Always Loki.

And what about this damage caused by the Chitauri attack? Stark's pitched in with the repair costs, which are estimated in the millions, but still... What about the lives lost? So many families are burying their loved ones. And what about the annoyance of being dubbed babysitters by Fury? Cause evidently no one else is qualified to watch Loki. He might freak out and attack some citizen or off himself or something.

But does any of this matter to the others? Nope. Nothin. Nada. Doesn't even blip on their radars. They all turned a blind eye to Loki's misdeeds. He needs our help, is what Tasha says on that first day in the carrier. He's innocent, Clint, is what Laura says when he catches a chance to video chat her on a secure link.

And the stupid fact is, they're right.

Loki does need their help – 'cause, let's be honest, who in their right mind would want to take care of someone with that much PTSD? The guy can't even pee without getting all weepy and snotty. And Clint doesn't even want to go into the whole 'you can eat from the fridge' thing. Loki still refuses to do that one. Tasha's working on it though. She's determined and Clint knows what a determined Natasha's like in full mode. Loki doesn't stand a chance, though he's holding out pretty well.

Plus, Loki is innocent. There's more than enough proof of that. Way too much, in fact. Clint made himself – okay, Tasha made him, but that's beside the point – anyhow, Clint watched all the videos of Tasha and Banner interacting with Loki. He read all the medical reports. He even hacked into SHIELD and watched a few of the 'nightmare' vids.

And Clint hates that the most. Hates that he can't really be angry with Loki anymore. That is really wasn't Loki's fault. That Loki does deserve this help he's getting. Hates it as much as he hates his Dad for drinking and his brother for abandoning him. Slots it right in there with the circus and his mercenary years.

Clint hasn't felt this much anger in a long time and he doesn't know what to do with it all. He can't put it on Loki – he's not that much of a jerk – but he wants to. He really, really wants to. 'Cause, hitting those bags in the gym and crawling through the vents and helping clean the city up just isn't cutting it.

So what if Thanos made Loki do it?

Thanos isn't the face Clint remembers making him kill his teammates. Nope, that honor goes to Loki. It's that sharp grin Clint sees in his dreams. It's that snide voice that coolly tells him to rip Tasha's lungs out. It's that blue stone reaching out to snatch his mind away and make him Loki's puppet that haunts him all day.

It's Loki, always Loki, and Clint isn't even allowed to go see the guy. He doesn't want to beat him…okay, maybe he does a little…a lot…okay, he wants to deck the guy! But he knows he won't. He's better than that (least, he hopes so). He just wants to get Mind Control Loki out and replace him with Innocent Loki. He needs to. Has to. Otherwise, he'll never be able to get over this.

But Tasha says Loki's not ready for it. That the alien will sense his anger and probably try and jump out a window or something equally stupid (but understandable). And she's right.

But that doesn't mean I have to like it.

No, Clint doesn't, but he knows Tasha reads these things well, so he'll follow her lead on this one. That's why he's sneaking into the kitchen at 2am. Last night was another 'let's get Loki to come out and eat and move around' attempt. It failed, as always. And Tasha pushed, as always. And Banner stepped in and took Loki back to his room to calm down, as always. Tasha has roped the physicist in on her plans. Says she needs someone to be the opposite end of her assertiveness.

Course Banner protested about Hulk, but, like before, when Tasha wants something, Tasha gets it. And she'd wanted Banner's help, ergo the man caved and gave it.

Not that it wasn't a bad choice. Out of all of them, Banner is the calmest (Hulk aside). Stark would be too invasive and Clint still hates Loki. Plus, Thor is with Daddy Odin. So that leaves Banner. Phil might've been a possibility, but the agent is still getting over his surgery – yet another thing that angers Clint.

So, Banner, according to Jarvis, has settled Loki down. Tasha has apologized for trying to help Loki. And Clint's stomach has steered him to the kitchen. Food must be eaten while Loki is safely tucked away in his little room.

Is it any wonder that Clint feels like a prisoner? Like the bad guy here?

Clint yanks the fridge door open and grabs a bagel and beer.

Why doesn't Loki have to wait until Clint's done eating and lounging around?

I mean, it's not like I was mind controlled and forced to kill people.

Clint's conscience pricks him for that as he bits into his bagel, but he stubbornly holds onto the thought. He has the right to be ticked off here. Sure, Tasha's tried talking with him about "it". Laura's soothed as best she can from across a laptop screen. But the fact is, Tasha can't help Loki and Clint – and right now, Loki's been deemed the top priority – and Laura's miles away and Clint won't be seeing her anytime soon – it's just not safe yet.

And Phil's not on his top game, so Clint refuses to burden him with his worries and whining.

So, that just leaves Clint's on his own.

But that's okay. Clint takes a sips of his Corona beer. He's used to it. He's lived most of his life on his own, so he knows how to survive. Knows what to do so no one will bother him or anything.

But that's not what you want, a tiny voice, which sounds a lot like Laura, says.

Shut up! He snarls to it, taking another swing of his beer. What do you know?

You thought your days of running alone were done. You trust these people to have your back.

Clint snorts. Yeah, and look where that got me.

But Clint knows they'd help if he asked. Phil keeps sending him 'looks' and Tasha's been…touchy feely lately – which means she sits close to him and pats his shoulder whenever she passes by him. Clint knows if he told them he needed help, they'd jump. But…but he can't. Not yet. He needs….he doesn't know what he needs, but it's not them.

He needs Laura and the kids.

He needs to face Loki, the real Loki.

He needs resolution.

But he can't get that yet, so there's no point in going to Tasha or Phil. Not yet. He ignores the tiny voice that sounds like Laura that tells him he's lying to himself, that he's hurting himself, and chugs the last of his beer. He's fine. He doesn't need them, even if he does. He just has to avoid Loki until Tasha says the alien's ready and then he can face this head on.

Just….

Not yet.

So, I know everyone's all antsy to see Clint face Loki, but I feel both are just not ready for that yet. Loki's still too fragile and Clint's...well, you read the chapter, does he look able to see Loki right now? Anyhow, I will eventually get those two to meet and forgive and stuff, just not yet.

Up next, I think it'll be Phil's turn. Or maybe Thor again. Not sure yet. Let me know what you think.