"I can't believe this." Fury growled, watching as yet another clown was carried away on a stretcher, "It's the damn circus! How did you all get into trouble at the damn circus?!"

"Hey, it wasn't our fault- "

Taking advantage of Tony's protests, Phil slipped away from the main group and snuck into the main camp of the circus, sticking to the shadows as best he could. Thankfully, after the fight that had just happened, nobody was really paying attention to the random suit wandering around.

"Excuse me, Sir?"

Well, almost nobody.

Phil slowly turned around, to see a large clown standing behind him.

"Are you- "The clown cleared his throat, "- are you here for Clint?"

"Clint… Hawkeye?"

"Y-Yeah." Nervously, the clown glanced around, "Are you going to take him away from here? Far away?"

"If I can." Phil pulled the clown over to the shadows, to make sure that no-one could see them, "Can you tell me anything about him?"

"H-He was just a kid when he joined the circus… him and his brother. When Clint showed that he had exceptional aim, well, they just had to have him and now- "

"- And now they won't even think about letting him leave." Phil sighed, "I'm assuming they make him take part in their… extracurricular activities?"

The clown hesitated for a few moments, before nodding, not wanting to say it out loud.

"Thank you. Just show me where he is, and I'll save him."

"T-the ringmaster didn't like your interruption and he- "The clown cut himself off and shook his head, "- Clint usually goes to visit the horses after… after."

There were any number of punishments that the clown could be referring to and Phil didn't like the thought of any of them.

"It's like prison here for him." The clown whispered, "I think he'd probably prefer actual prison to be fair."

"… Thank you."

Following the clowns' directions, Coulson headed towards where the animals were kept, darting behind some piled up boxes as a loud voice rang out.

"- And don't make me tell you again!" The Swordmaster emerged from a tent, "Any more trouble from you, and we'll be dragging you behind us to the next city!"

As the man disappeared, Phil spotted Hawkeye limping out of the tent, wiping at a bloody nose and gingerly touching a nasty looking black eye. As Phil stepped into view, the archer yelped and tried to make a run for it.

"Wait!" Phil called out. "I just want to talk to you."

…

Clint knew he wasn't going to make it far, not after the vicious kicking he'd just received. But it didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

He just about managed to make it into his personal caravan before the suit appeared at the door, preventing it from closing.

"There you are." The man didn't seem to have broken a sweat, despite the warm weather and his outfit, "I thought I'd lost you."

"Yeah, well I have chores to do so- so it was nice to see you… again." Clint attempted to limp past the man to find another hiding spot to lick his wounds (possibly not metaphorically), only to have the man prevent him from leaving.

"My apologies, but I really want to speak to you first." The man sighed, eyeing the bruises on Clint's face, "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah."

"…. Your show was quite incredible you know. I've only ever seen that kind of skill in a notorious thief."

Clint rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah… just arrest me."

The man almost seemed to smile fondly at him, "Not yet. I prefer to know a little more about people before I arrest them like that on the spot. Why are you here with the way they treat you?"

Clint shrugged, "I… like the freedom. And what else could I do? I can barely read, these damn hearing aids give out every other week and I have zero social skills!"

"With eyes and acrobatic skills like yours, I can think of several organisations who would give their right arm and leg to hire you."

"From thief to assassin…. Great."

Coulson wanted to protest, only for Clint to wave him off. "I have work to do. The horses won't feed themselves apparently."

"I would like to see them."

"… Fine."

Coulson followed on behind, until they reached the stables. There, Clint went about his work, silently trying to ignore the suited man behind him.

"So, do they have any names?"

Clint resisted the urge to sigh, "Sophia and then Jeanne-Marie, Anne-Marie, Louise-Marie. They all had the same father, so we call them triplets."

"And that big one at the back?"

Clint glanced at the Shire Horse, "Maurice."

Phil smirked, "You don't think about how big horses are until you see one up close."

"I hope that wasn't an attempt at a dirty joke." Clint had to turn away to hold back his smirk though.

As a few more moments of silence passed, Clint sighed. "Come on… you want to see something better than a dumb horse?"

He led the man up to the top of the hill they were camped at the bottom of, just as the sun started to set. At the top, Phil whistled in amazement and shock, "Wow…" the oranges, reds and purples seemed to have been painted on the skyline, "… I bet Stark doesn't have a- " He cut himself off, quickly realising that yes, Stark did have a view like that, but he didn't really appreciate it, "- I could stay up here forever."

"I really don't think you'd fit in." Clint chuckled, "Know any good tricks?"

"I manage a bunch of superheroes who act like toddlers."

Clint chuckled, "With Stark, I imagine it was no easy task."

"Hmmm." Phil then turned to Clint, "You could come and meet him for yourself? Form your own opinion."

Clint instantly seemed to know what he was trying to do and rolled his eyes, prompting Phil to sigh wearily.

"Alright… how did you end up here then? In this circus?"

"Bad childhood. Then my brother took me here, realised I was better than him and abandoned me." Clint shrugged, "I was lucky they decided to keep me on. They could have left me in the next city."

They both knew why the circus had decided to keep the young Clint.

"You can't stay here." Clint eventually sighed, "If they find out you're here- " He cut himself off and winced, "- Well, it wouldn't be good."

"You have a way out?"

From what Phil saw, almost every way into the camp was now guarded, a little too heavily for a simple circus.

How had they never been under suspicion before?

"Yeah…. You don't mind heights, right?"

Phil frowned in confusion, only for his eyes to widen in realisation as Clint gestured up, where ropes linking the tents hung above them. He thought about it for a moment, before shaking his head, "No." He stated firmly, "There's an easier way."

"An easier- "Clint cut himself off when Phil tapped his watch, holding it up to his mouth.

"Stark. I need a pick-up… now."

Cutting off the call, Phil turned his attention back to Clint. "Come with me."

"W-what?"

"Leave… with me, come to SHIELD."

Clint shook his head frantically, "And end up on the wrong end of a sniper bullet? No thanks!"

"Fine, you should expect a visit from me in the future."

"Here? There's no way you'll just be able to sneak- "

"- I'll manage."

"I have to actually train you know. You don't become the world's greatest marksman by just lying around and doing nothing all day."

Phil stared at him for a few moments, before pulling something out of his inside pocket and handing it over to Clint, who frowned at the little card.

"This card will give you access to Stark Tower… in case you ever need help."

"I- "

There was a flash of light, as something shot overhead, landing next to them with a thud.

"Taxi for Agent?"

Phil turned to Clint, scanning him from head to toe, before nodding at him. "Consider my request." He asked, before allowing Stark to grab his hand and take off into the air, leaving Clint alone on that hill.

Clint glanced down at the card in his hands, before slipping it into an inside pocket, and heading back to camp.

Maybe one day.