Chapter 10 - Avengers Don't Do Things By Halves

Clint stood silently in his room, staring at the doorway. Rhodes was currently the one watching him. Well, not actually watching him. He had his phone out and was doing something. Something that Clint wished he could be doing too. God, why did he say those things before? How could Bucky think that Clint thought this was the better option? He was so fricken bored! At least in cryo he'd be asleep. And hiding in bed, he had the option of entertainment or even sleeping. Right now, he was just locked in place. Almost like a statue. He could almost feel himself gathering dust.

"Still hasn't moved?" Scott's voice loudly called from the hall. Rhodes perked up and looked off in a way that Clint couldn't see. He growled to himself when Rhodes wandered away. God, he couldn't even 'spy' on anyone. Maybe he could get Bucky to just order him to lay down in bed. That'd be okay, right? Better than standing here, staring out into the hallway. If only he had faced the window. He'd have been able to watch all of Wakanda. Nothing happened in the fucking doorway of his room.

"Have you gotten close to him?" Bucky's voice slipped into the room. Clint was able to feel himself frown. What did getting close to him matter?

"No, why?" Rhodes replied as he, Scott, and Bucky rounded the corner to come into the room. Clint's eyes immediately focused on Bucky.

"I don't know," Bucky huffed, looking at the archer with angered sympathy. If he could, Clint would roll his eyes. "I... I don't want to force him but I want to talk to him."

"Just, tell him to be his normal self," Scott suggested. Bucky snorted, shaking his head just slightly.

"The happier one I met in Germany or the one we had been dealing with before Hydra got him?" Bucky countered. Scott opened his mouth to reply before stopping. He then sighed.

"I see your point," the man mumbled.

"Can't you just make it that he forgets the command words or something?" Rhodes wondered. Bucky shook his head.

"He'd still be under control. We need a way to completely get him out but... If he doesn't want the help, we'd be doing more harm than good," Bucky told them. Clint growled in his head. He wanted help! He wanted help so damn bad. Scott groaned, tossing his hands into the air.

"WHY CAN'T THIS BE EASY!?" he basically shouted.

"Cause then this wouldn't be the Avengers," Sam's voice replied as the man entered the room. Scott, Rhodes and Bucky all turned to look at him. Clint's eyes twitched to Sam before looking back at Bucky. "We always deal with tough shit like this."

"For once, can't we just, not?" Rhodes grumbled. Sam looked to Bucky.

"No ideas?" the man questioned. Bucky shook his head.

"Everything I keep think is just gonna be me forcing him to do something," Bucky responded. Sam sighed and looked to Clint. There was a pause before Clint was understanding what was about to happen. He tried to stop himself from narrowing his eyes but it didn't work.

"We might just have to."

"Whoa! Are you saying make him respond to us?" Scott inquired loudly. Clint tried to blink once but he couldn't make his body move. Sam took a deep breath.

"I don't know what I'm saying. We could order him to talk to us. Answer our questions. I don't know. We... We just need to be able to communicate with him outside of yes and no," Sam retorted. Bucky looked back at Clint with a deep frown. Should he just get it over with? Make Clint talk to them? This time, Clint could feel himself narrow his eyes into a small glare. Mentally he screamed.

"God, Clint. We wanna try and help," Bucky moaned. Clint blinked twice and he wasn't fully sure if it was him or the control. Yeah, he was bored. But he was also done. At least like this he wasn't a danger. Well... Possibly not a danger. He listened well to Bucky, would he listen to other Hydra agents? Are there still agents in Wakanda? In aggravation, Bucky toss his hands into the air and turned his back on the archer. "Just as fucking stubborn as Stevie!"

That made Clint visibly wince. Sam and Rhodes, the only two watching Clint, traded looks. That was it! It wasn't Rhodes that Clint had been closest too, it was Bucky! The archer had gone into the past and spent years with Steve, Bucky and the Howling Commandos at his side.

"Bucky," Sam started. The soldier faced him with a half-hearted growl but paused when he noticed Sam's eyes were still on Clint. He frowned, looking to Clint himself. "If Steve was in your situation and you in Clint, what would Steve do?"

Again, Clint visibly winced at the Captain's name. Bucky's eyebrows furrowed, ignoring Clint's movement. What would Steve do? Slowly, he looked to Clint. "I... I think he'd order me to talk. But, I don't know for sure."

For a third time Clint winced. Now Bucky raised an eyebrow and traded a look with Sam. Was he the only one seeing this? Sam just had his head tilted in confusion. And they weren't the only ones.

"Is... Does he not like talking about Steve?" Rhodes wondered. Clint's eyes flicked to the air-man even though there was another wince. Scott tilted his head a bit.

"Tony," he called. Clint's wince was much bigger this time. "Huh. Natasha."

Clint could feel his body let out an audible growl and he closed his eyes. But then Clint paused. He closed his eyes. He closed his eyes. With that revelation, he opened his eyes again and focused on Scott harder. Figure it out! Please, figure it out!

"Steve Rogers," Bucky called. Clint's gaze flicked to him with a wince. "Tony Stark." This time a small smile started forming on his face. "Natasha Romanoff." A shudder ran through Clint's body but that was it. Oh good, he wasn't fully out. Bucky looked to the others. What else should he do?

"Bruce Banner," Sam added. Clint's hands twitched. "Thor... uh..."

"Odinson," Rhodes finished. Clint let out a deep breath but he could still tell he wasn't fully out of the control. Please figure out the last bit. Please! The group went silent, trading looks. Then Bucky looked at the archer.

"Clint Barton?" he wondered. It was as if the strings were cut and Clint collapsed onto the ground with a gasp as if he hadn't been breathing the whole time. Bucky and Sam rushed to check on the archer. Other than being on the floor, Clint seemed to be okay. It was proven when the archer gave a delirious laugh.

"You fucking kidding me?" Clint laughed, feeling tears come to his eyes. He was free. But he still seriously didn't want to be. This time Bucky laughed. Even Sam cracked a smile. Rhodes and Scott gave off a sigh of relief. "Why the hell would Rumlow chose those as the shut off code?"

"I have no idea, but at least it worked," Bucky said as Clint leaned back to sit on his ass. Bucky and Sam backed off a bit, knowing now that Clint was okay.

"Speaking of working, why didn't you want us to save you?" Scott asked. Clint winced and shook his head. How was he going to explain? His gaze flicked to Bucky in a pained sense. It made the soldier frown. For a moment, he was confused but then an idea came to him.

"You wanted us too, didn't you?" Bucky whispered, his eyes widening a bit. Clint nodded. Mentally Bucky cursed himself. He should have known better. "Jesus."

"Rumlow must have known that if I could listen to you that you'd try to help. I actually wanted you to stop the thing. But, my body wouldn't let me agree to anything you guys were gonna try," Clint grumbled. Rhodes cussed and rubbed a hand over his face and head before turning to pace around the entrance. Clint shook his head and got to his feet, Bucky and Sam quick to follow. "It... It reminded me of being under Loki... Just, with less blue."

"That sucks man," Sam grunted. Clint nodded. It really did.

"But, hey! At least now Wanda can get rid of the words!" Scott told them in a hopeful voice. The other let out a stress relieving laugh.

"I don't understand it," Wanda growled, her red magic flicking around Clint's head. The archer held his eyes tight, focusing on his spell. With all her poking and prodding, his concentration wasn't the best. Especially after having been mind wiped and then 'locked inside himself.' "This is nothing like what I saw in Bucky's head."

"Maybe because it hadn't been over seventy years?" Sam wondered. Wanda huffed, pulling her magic back. Once it was gone, Clint opened his eyes.

"I don't get it. From what Rumlow read off in the book, they only gave Bucky the commands once, maybe twice. They didn't do it during each memory wipe," Clint told them. Bucky shuddered. Having heard the archer mention what happened to him while captured, Bucky kept getting flashbacks to when he was first caught. Like Clint, he had gone unconscious while getting wiped and then woke up with the words. He had no idea how many times it had been done. Neither did Clint.

"Why can't things be simple?" Rhodes hissed under his breath. Scott and Hope hummed in agreement. T'Challa stepped forward.

"Perhaps we need to go on the offense and get a hold of this book," the king mentioned. Bucky and Clint shuddered. They weren't sure how close they wanted to get to that book. Especially cause it was pretty much guaranteed that it'd be near a Chair.

"Maybe we should," Sam agreed. Wanda nodded her head as well. Scott and Hope did soon after. Rhodes finished it and when everyone turned to look at Clint and Bucky, the duo just stared at them. "Well?"

"You seriously want the two of us," Clint started, pointing to Bucky and himself. "Near not only the damn book, but likely near a Chair as well?"

"Well..." Sam answered before hesitating. "When you put it that way."

"I don't care if you guys go for the book right now or not. We have to stop Hydra somehow. This whole thing started not to get the Assets. It was cause they wanted our blood," Bucky informed. Sam sighed.

"Actually..." Wanda moaned. Bucky and Clint frowned. "Apparently Hydra released that information as a trap."

"What?" the two super soldiers cried. Sam winced. It was his fault really.

"Well... They may have done some experiments and stuff but, T'Challa and Shuri found out, it wasn't a recent thing. And the notes I got were changed so Clint's blood was actually Steve's blood," Sam grunted. Bucky placed a hand on his face. Last time he'd trust Sam with information gathering.

"And the photos?" Clint wondered. They had had photos of his family.

"Those were real. Hydra had apparently tracked all the Avengers after S.H.I.E.L.D fell," Sam explained. Clint frowned.

"The farm wasn't listed under-"

"Director Fury bought the house under a cover name," T'Challa replied. Clint looked to the sky. Why hadn't he thought of that part? While it wasn't listed for Clint, someone had needed to buy it. And of course, Fury would have to keep track of him getting it and then reselling it to someone who pretty much went off grid afterwards. "The name was released when S.H.I.E.L.D fell."

"God damn it. I should have known better," the archer hissed to himself.

"How did you get the information anyway?" Rhodes questioned. Sam winced.

"Don't tell me. You got it from a Hydra base? Just laying around all nice and neat like this?" Clint bemoaned. Even Bucky had the sense to look aggrieved. Course, he was also the stupid idiot who had forgotten to ask that before. Clint looked to Bucky. "And where were you?"

"He was on the other side of the world chasing down a different lead," Sam defended. Bucky sighed.

"I still should have checked," the Sergeant apologized, staring at Clint. The archer huffed before sighing.

"It might have been for the best though," he admitted.

"Why is that?" Hope inquired. Clint shrugged.

"After nine months no contact with anyone, Hydra would have sooner or later seen it as a perfect time to get me. They'd have done everything needed to make me their... Asset. Then without you guys knowing about me, Hydra could have used me to get Buck," Clint stated as if it was obvious. Which, technically, it was true. But, no one would have thought of it that way. Fate had basically saved them. Everyone shuddered at that idea. It was bad enough that Clint had the trigger words now. And that Hydra could track his serum.

"Clint, this-" Bucky tried but stopped unsure what to say next. None of this was right. It was a cluster fuck of issues with no win on either side. What was done was done and that was it.

In the end it was decided that the group would go for the book. Bucky and Clint would of course stay in Wakanda under protection. It sucked cause honestly, Bucky wanted to go. Clint had no intention now that he had trigger words. And he could finally, officially see why Bucky was always so afraid of getting triggered.

"I can't believe they used my old ones," Bucky grumbled when Clint explained why he kept getting upset when someone said any of the words. Clint hummed.

"Figured they just wanted it to be easy when they ordered both of us around," Clint mumbled, glaring at the person who last said 'longing' while they walked through the Wakandan streets. Not that that person noticed, but it was the principal of the thing. Bucky huffed.

"I don't think they did it with those other five," he mentioned. Clint shrugged. He wasn't going to really think about what Rumlow was doing. Hell, it was likely the guy thought that those words would be the only ones that worked. And considering the other five were deemed 'failures,' maybe he was right. "I don't know."

"Hey, I just wish we knew if I could get triggered in another language outside of freaking Russian," the archer retorted. Bucky nodded. He had never thought of that. In all the years he had been with Hydra, they had mostly only spoke to him in Russian or German.

"Well, at least we know how to get you out," Bucky huffed. Clint snorted as behind them someone complained about a rusted nail or something.

"Yeah, unless that was a fluke. I honestly doubt that Rumlow would have had the Avengers names as the shut off," Clint replied. Bucky shrugged.

"You sure you want seventeen?" someone asked a customer as the duo passed. Clint felt a shudder run through his body and he frowned. Bucky paused, looking to the archer.

"You okay?" he asked. Clint nodded but he was still frowning.

"Forget it, it's nothing," the archer decided. Bucky grunted, not really believing the archer when someone mentioned a particular view at 'daybreak' was amazing. Clint began to feel a distance 'something's wrong' type feeling but ignored it. "So, you think your shack is still out there?"

"It wasn't a shack," Bucky playfully snarled. Clint laughed. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my goats."

"Who needs a furnace now a days?" a voice wondered when Bucky and Clint walked on by. Clint frowned, looking over to the person. Wakandans didn't use furnaces. They had something else powering and heating their stuff. T'Challa and Shuri had tried to explain it to him but he could never understand what they were saying. Bucky paused, looking to the arguing couple that Clint was staring at.

"You sure you're okay?" Bucky inquired beginning to get concerned. Clint gave a half aborted nod when someone asked for nine of something behind them. Bucky's eyes narrowed when Clint shuddered again and shook his head. "We need to go."

"Yeah," Clint whispered. Bucky grabbed hold of Clint's arm and started dragging the archer away even as they passed someone else talking about some type of benign illness. This time Bucky winced and he looked at the archer. Clint's eyes were going a little glanced.

"Why didn't I get a homecoming?" Bucky cussed at the person, dragging Clint a bit faster. Judging by what was going on, Clint was only two words away from being triggered. Hydra was still in Wakanda.

"That one." Clint stumbled.

"Come on, we gotta go Clint," Bucky hissed. Clint hardly responded. They were on the edge of the city when the last words were stated.

"My son just needed this last freight car." Clint froze and Bucky nearly fell on his ass when the archer didn't stumble after him. Bucky spun to look at the archer. He was triggered.

"Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Thor Odinson, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton," Bucky quickly snapped out. Clint didn't move. Didn't even twitch. Shit, Clint was right, they had gotten lucky before. "Luchnik, follow!"

Bucky headed off, Clint right at his side as they ran off. Stupidly, Bucky headed off in the direction of his shack. The shack that he had requested to be far away from the other Wakandans in case something happened to him. It was also very close to the barrier. As they ran, Bucky reached for his kimoyo beads. He needed to at least contact Okoye or Shuri, or someone at the palace. The bead was just about to active when electricity arched up Bucky's body. He cried out in shock, falling to the ground. Clint stopped at his feet. Without Bucky moving, Clint couldn't follow. The archer screamed in his head. Why? They had just gotten him out of it!

"Luchnik, grab him and lets get out of here," someone demanded. Bucky tilted his head up a bit. It wasn't Rumlow. Someone else was standing there but Bucky had no idea who it was. Clint leaned down and pulled Bucky to his feet.

"Luch-" Bucky started when something slammed into the back of his head and the world went black.

I know. I'm late. Again. Hadn't slept at all Thursday night and slept through most of Friday. Then today I cleaned up my house, hence why this wasn't earlier.

Darius is good. Loving going around and playing 'KISS.' Mainly loves 'breaking his guitar.' I use the quotes as the guitar is an old Guitar Hero guitar that had a clip in the back that separated the neck from the base. He'd separate it and then fake slamming it down. To my consternation he only really knows a few lyrics to a few songs. But there are more songs that he only knows one lyric of. And I hear it... On repeat... FOR LONGER THAN THE ORIGINAL SONG! Baby Jason and Baby Aurora are also good. Jason is cruising around a bit now. Aurora... Well... She's like twelve days old so she ain't doing much of anything.