I had actually planned on having this out last week, but you know how it goes, sometimes you just can't figure out what is wrong with a chapter, or what it is missing, so you have to hold off posting.

Also, I went back to beginning to give a better warning, but I will also put it here. This story is 'M' for a reason. It will be dark and horrible. There is torture and rape and talk/ memories about past abuse and rape, it will not be explicit but it will be there. Most a lot of creepy touching. Not in this chapter though. This is one of the nicer chapters, take it how you will.

+++"We've been getting reports of an assassin using a bow."

Coulson paused. "Well that's certainly a way to stand out."

"Find him," Fury ordered, passing over a folder.

"Elimination?" Coulson asked, taking the paperwork.

"Or recruitment. Not sure yet. Depends on what you discover."

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"Clinton Barton," Coulson said, keeping his gun trained on the assassin while he stepped onto the roof.

"Creepy Suit," Barton countered, gun not wavering. He kept his dislocated shoulder back, to be unnoticed, and, with only a half moon out that night, it might have been, if Coulson hadn't been there to see it pop out when Barton caught himself on the fire escape.

"We should talk," Coulson tried, casually, not frowning at the growing bruise on the archer's lower jaw. The man had not been having a good night. It was obvious that Barton's employer had not told him it was an open hit, and not an assured job.

"We're talking," Barton said, stiffly, adjusting his grip on the gun when it began to droop.

"Privately."

Barton blinked, slowly, seeming tired. "I'd ask you to my place, but that's moving a little fast for me."

Neither lowered their guns.

"My place then?"

Barton's brows rose. "Still too fast."

"Not fast enough."

"Excuse me?" Barton asked, the blink taking a whole second this time.

"The sedative," Coulson clarified, "it's taken too long to work through your adrenaline. I'll need to talk to R&D about that."

"Wha…" Barton's voice slurred; he looked down. Sticking out of his dislocated shoulder was a dart. "Son of a…" He tried to aim his gun but Coulson was already to him, stopping the movement and quickly disarming him, catching him when his knees gave way.

"It's alright Barton, I've got you."

The archer was too gone to answer, but his eyes, Coulson winced at the raw fear.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he reassured, before the grey eyes closed.

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"Fix your archer Coulson," Fury said, entering the office.

"Sir?"

"Do you know how many complaints I've gotten about him? Of course you do because as his S.O. they would come to you first, so don't act surprised that I'm here."

"I'm not, Sir, but I'm already doing everything I can with him. It's simply going to take time."

Fury narrowed his eye. "What's going to take time?"

"Trust," Coulson said, simply.

"He's got a long way to prove-"

"His trust in us, Sir."

Fury paused. "You know that's not how this works, Coulson."

Phil nodded. "It going to have to be this time. You've read his file, he's loyal. Surprisingly loyal, since it's never paid off for him in the past. We get his loyalty and we'll have it until we screw up."

Fury's brow raised. "Until we screw up?"

"Unless we screw up, he'll be loyal to his last breath, Sir."

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"Clint."

Coulson could hear the horror in Stark's voice. Before he could call for a report, Stark was yelling, screaming 'no' over and over. Everyone tried to get his attention but Coulson wasn't sure he can hear them.

The next few moments were a lifetime. None of the others could get to Stark until the signal was found. Coulson tried to take the command van around the battle zone but only managed to arrive just after the rest of the team.

The first thing he saw was Hulk splashing around in the river. It might have been an amusing sight, if Natasha wasn't running along the same river, searching the water, her movements raw, having none of her normal control. There was a trail of suit pieces and blood leading from the bridge to where Thor and Steve were trying to hold Tony back from the river; and he was completely Tony, not a shred of his Stark personality showing through as he yelled Clint's name.

Before Phil realized it, he was running to the bridge, yelling into his radio, "We need medics and a water search and rescue team to the High Bridge at the Harlem River, now!"

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He had been in Europe when he had gotten the call from Fury. 'Barton's alive' was not anywhere near what he was expecting to hear.

Barton's alive.

Clint was alive.

And trying to kill his team.

The elevator flew upward, not giving Coulson much time to prepare himself. JARVIS had informed him that Stark and Dr. Banner were expecting him on the common floor. He could read between the lines; he wasn't allowed to see Clint yet. Good. That meant the team was protecting him.

He took a breath, as the elevator stopped, and stepped off, onto the common floor.

Bruce was standing by the window, arms folded across his chest; he briefly glanced at Phil but then turned back to the window.

"Agent!" Stark called, from behind his bar, "Care for a drink?" If Coulson hadn't been listening for it, he wouldn't have heard the undercurrent of tension in Tony's normal flippant tone.

A drink. It was a test. The first of many, no doubt. He would need to tread carefully around the team, if they were this on edge around him, and make sure no one else came.

"Sure, I could use one, or two."

"Couldn't we all?" Tony mussed, grabbing the two glasses and walking down to Coulson. "So what brings you here, Agent?" he asked as he handed him a glass.

"We don't need to do this, Tony," Phil tried. "I'm here for Clint. I came as soon as I could."

A polite, strained smile was locked on Tony's face as he looked at Phil expectantly.

Phil sighed. "Fury called me in from Europe, I was still tying up the loose ends of Roger's last mission. I would have been here sooner but I was held up at SHIELD. They tried to update me on what was going on and I wanted to make sure Rogers was being taken care of."

He saw a flash of guilt in Tony's eyes. Right now the rest of team was at the Tower, while Steve was unconscious and alone in SHIELD medical.

"Is he…" Bruce began, walking over from the window. "Did something happen?"

"Steve is as well as he can be, still sedated," Phil assured. "There was misfiled paperwork. He was about to be transferred to the Helicarrier."

At their wary looks he continued. "Some SHIELD personnel can be surprising protective of a national icon; but that kind of transfer can only be done with my signature or with a teammate present to ride along." He smiled. "I made sure that clause was included in the paperwork that was needed for medical to treat all of you, post battle. Don't worry, I put Sitwell on watch, he's not going anywhere."

"Yes he is, he's coming here." Tony said.

"Tony-" Coulson started.

"He's just sedated now, right?" Tony asked, his voice sharp.

Phil nodded. "He needed some help at first, to stabilize, but then his system caught up and took care of the rest of the compound."

"Then he needs to be here with his team. He doesn't need to be at SHIELD."

"As soon as he wakes up and learns what's going on, he'll demand to come here anyway, just like Thor," Bruce reasoned.

"I'll set it up," Phil agreed, then sighed. "If you want to keep this within the team I'll understand, but… will you tell me anything about Clint?"

Tony frowned slightly at the meek tone. He was used to Agent being unassuming, but the last time Coulson had asked that, he had sounded far more in control.

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"Tell me about Clint," Coulson said, leading Tony down a path in Central Park.

"I'm pretty sure you know more about him than I do, Agent," Tony chuckled, trying not to show how nervous he was, already guessing what this was about. Romanoff had already said her part on the matter of Clint and his recently outed relationship; and by 'said her part' he meant she had flat out threatened him. He was pouring himself some coffee a few mornings ago when she had come into the kitchen to make some toast. Her voice had never risen above a pleasant morning hum but he had never been so intimidated by a butter knife in his life. He knew she could and would make good on everything she said she would do to him if he ever treated Clint like one of the "easy, fame seeking sluts" that he used to, what had she said? Hump and dump? She might have actually said that in more than one language. By the end, Tony was actually at a loss for words, holding his cooling coffee, feeling slightly off balance, mouth hanging open as she left with her toast.

"You might be surprised about that," Coulson said, "and I certainly have never known him as intimately as you currently do."

Tony gave Phil a suggestive smile, "Are you asking for the juicy details, Agent?"

"If I wanted to know those kind details, Tony, I wouldn't ask."

Tony looked surprised for a split second, then laughed, "Just when I think I've started to figure you out, Agent, 'WAM!" flat on my ass. You are wasted at SHIELD."

Coulson gave a small smile. "Tony…"

Tony sighed, losing some of his swagger, his voice uncommonly sincere, "What can I say, he's one of a kind. I could look the rest of my life and not find anyone as interesting as Clint. He keeps me on my toes. Gangs up with JARVIS against me. He told me where he was hiding his Hardy Boys books, and I'm sure if I wasn't snooping around his room he would have eventually told me about them anyway.

Phil paused, to process, then said, "You're being surprisingly candid about this, Tony."

Tony looked uncomfortable, and obviously annoyed that he was, "I don't want you thinking that I'm just using him; that I'll get bored and drop him. Your opinion is important, because if anyone could talk him out of this, it would be you, Coulson."

Phil tried not to focus on the fact that Tony had actually used his name. "You think so?"

"You weren't in the Tower those months before we were clued in about you being alive. He was doing a good impression of a zombie. He wasn't sleeping, wouldn't really talk to anyone; but when he did, it was always about how 'Coulson had a broken hand and still got more paperwork done in one day then the rest of SHIELD worldwide', and we 'would avoid highlighters too if we had seen what Coulson could do with one' and 'Coulson wouldn't have let that happen', 'Coulson took us to this karaoke bar once', and I wouldn't have believed that story if Romanoff hadn't shown me some hilarious pictures. I honestly held off making a move for so long because I thought he was in love with you."

Coulson started, like someone had slapped him.

Tony went on, "But then nothing ever happened, so if he was never in love with you, you were BFFs on a legendary level because I'm pretty sure he thinks you're the answer to life, the universe and everything."

Tony stopped and turned around when he realized Coulson wasn't next to him anymore.

Phil was back a few steps, eyes closed, looking pained.

"Agent?"

Coulson opened his eyes, looking to Tony, "I lost the right to call him my friend when I didn't seek him out after I woke up, for believing he knew I was alive, yet hadn't come to see me. I thought the reaction was normal for him, and I was probably right, but that just made the lie easier to buy."

"And yet you're still working for them," Tony pointed out.

"They made a bad call with Clint. Fury understood that."

"So it was Fury who made the call?"

"Ultimately, yes."

"But he had some persuading."

"The Council was not convinced of Clint's loyalty, and ordered Fury to block him out for a time."

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"This was handled badly, Nick."

"I did what I had to, Coulson. Things are not easy right now. We may have been able to effectively shut the Council up about most things pertaining to the Avengers, that doesn't mean I can override them on everything."

"And you chose to give in with Barton."

Fury gave an annoyed huff, "Can you work him passed this or not?"

Coulson considered it for a moment. "If I needed to, probably not, but since he still trusts and is loyal to SHIELD…"

This should have been good news, yet Fury's frown deepened. "Is he?"

"Yes. It's himself he no longer trusts. This whole situation merely confirmed that idea to him."

88888888

Tony shook his head ruefully.

Coulson went on, "Even before this Clint never considered me his friend."

Tony looked at him, confused.

"I have considered him my friend for many years, so I have taken what he is able to give in return."

"That doesn't make sense, not with the way he talked about you, still talks about you. And I've got proof, Romanoff has those pictures."

"That was after hours."

"Yeah, friends hang out after work."

Coulson shook his head.

"No?" Tony began to look troubled. "Clint and Romanoff?"

"Closer than friends."

Tony paused. "The team?"

"The team," Coulson began, a small smile forming, "has done something that I have been unable to since Clint was brought in. You are his friends. He calls you his friends and he would do any for you."

Tony shook his head. "He would do anything for you, Agent."

Coulson's smile was sad. "I know."

"You're his friend too."

"I was his friend," he acknowledged, "But he never realized it. I was too close too fast. He never even realized he had already let me in. I brought him into SHIELD, I know you read about that. Tranqued him and said I wouldn't hurt him while he was out. Later on I realized that I had done something that not many people in his life had done before; I had kept my word. He started letting me in before he realized it and before he wanted to. But by bringing him in he immediately put me in a position of authority in his mind." Phil paused. "How has your experience been with people who have any kind of authority over you, Tony?"

Tony frowned.

"If I may?" Coulson offered.

A little wary, Tony nodded for him to continue.

"Your father wasn't much of a father to you, one of your caregivers, when you were a child, betrayed your trust, and then a father figure exploited and lied to you before trying to kill you."

Straightforward as always. Tony thought about the nanny who had aided in an attempted kidnapping when he was seven. "That's a pretty simplistic version of things."

"If I went into more detail you wouldn't seem to have so much in common with Clint."

Tony blinked and immediately went over what Coulson had said. Father. Caregiver. Father figure. They hadn't been hurt in precisely the same ways, but by similar people. Clint's father, Tony and the others had already guessed, had been physically abusive. A caregiver, was probably after Clint parents had died and he and his brother were put into the system. Clint had told him that much. Tony wasn't sure he wanted to know how Clint's trust had been betrayed, anything he came up with made him sick. Father figure. Clint hadn't looked up to anyone while he was a merc so it would have been at the circus, while Clint was still a minor. And no. He definitely didn't want to think that someone Clint had trusted and admired had tried to kill him when he was still a kid. Clint never brought up why he left the circus, and anything Tony had looked up had said there had been an accident. Accident. Right.

"Who has authority over you now, Tony?"

"No one, if I can help it," Tony answered, honestly.

Coulson nodded. "Rogers, as team leader?"

"I like to think of it as a co leadership."

Coulson gave him a look.

"And, tactically, I'll defer to him," he allowed.

"You take orders from him."

Tony did not look happy with that. "Sometimes, sure, what's your point?" he snapped.

"I'm proud of you." Coulson said, simply.

It was Tony's turn to look surprised.

"You don't trust easily and allowing Steve to have that position in the field must have taken a lot of courage."

Tony's brain said the words should have sounded sarcastic or demeaning, going off of past experience, but they were sincere. He looked away, blinking. Damn, sneaky, bastard Agent.

Tony threw on a smile. "I've got everything in spades."

Coulson briefly smiled back, then frowned. "And if Steve had taken advantage of that and broke your trust?"

"Steve's a boy scout," Tony reluctantly muttered.

"But if he had," Coulson pushed, "It would have confirmed everything life had taught you to be true. You would have never been able to trust him again and that would have hurt you more than you would be willing to admit."

"That sounds a bit over the top."

"From what I understand, as a child you had quite an impressive Captain America collection, and still do, in storage."

"I knew it!" Tony yelled, pointing a finger at Coulson, "You were the one trying to get into my stuff! Couldn't be happy with those mint cards I gave you, had to see what else I had." He shook his head. "What would Captain America think?"

Coulson was only just able to keep a smile off his face, he quickly coughed to the side and went on. "That's what I did to Clint."

"No, Agent-"

"Thankfully, you and the rest of the team were there for him, but he can only trust so many more times and have it thrown back in his face, before he stops trying."

Tony frowned, "You don't think you're not giving him enough credit?"

"Tony, you hide your insecurities in such elaborate boxes that sometimes you even forget that they're there. Clint, he carries his on his shoulders. He may be strong, but you carry anything for long enough and it will become too heavy."

Coulson started walking back the way they came and Tony followed.

After a few minutes Coulson spoke up. "You're right, Tony, Clint would do anything for me… and I would do anything for him."

"I'll take care of him," Tony promised, "Whether this works out or not, I'll do everything I can not to hurt him."

Coulson nodded in appreciation, "Thank you."

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"How about you tell us about SHIELD first." Tony said, but now he was starting to feel like a dick. "What's their plan for this?"

"Director Fury and I talked about it, and we agreed that Natasha made the right call bringing Clint here. He attacked the Avengers, not SHIELD, so your team can choose to leave SHIELD out of this; especially since no one died and no one will be pressing charges. Clint's SHIELD contract ended a year ago and I'm in no rush to fix that, we'll put him on administrative leave and maybe even a sabbatical, he's do for one. I can tie this up in a nice little package but I don't know if that will be enough to stop the Council from trying something. Keeping Clint out of the loop at SHIELD was a way to appease them, so they would stop pushing for more extreme consequences for a situation he had no control over. This one-"

"Is not his fault either."

"It's not," Coulson agreed. "And we are all doing everything we can to make sure he is taken care of."

"Here," Tony clarified. "He's not going anywhere near SHIELD for the foreseeable future."

Coulson nodded, "That would be for the best."

Silence filled the room as Coulson looked between Tony and Bruce, expectantly.

Tony sighed, downing his glass quickly and motioned for Bruce to hand Coulson a folder. "You're going to want to sit down, Phil."

In case it caught anyone's interest, I am planning on writing a one shot about Tony finding about Clint's Hardy Boys book collection and the events that followed. It was going to a memory in the story, but got too big.

If anyone has any requests for memories or future happenings, the suggestion box will be open for the remainder of 'Lies'.