Lads, my head hurts today! Busy busy day, exam tomorrow but I'm too sick to study and it just sucks man! Not a happy camper! But; Onto the third!
Thanks again for the love folks, much appreciated! Let me know if something's wrong with it too, that always helps me out too and I ain't moany about bad reviews!
REVIEWERS!
AleuStark; Oh you're going to love this circus, man! Great bit of fun was had there by our archer! (- Not good at sarcasm..) Glad you're enjoying it so far! :)
Xin0Lan; You'll love some of my other stories coming up then! Clint has a pretty damn good backstory man that just has to be explored and written about and I just love it and yeah! Glad you're enjoying it :)
Niom Lamboise; Thanks for the review man! Glad you're liking it!
rings of purity; Glad you like it, but you have to wait to find out! I don't give spoilers, man!
Disclaimer; *Points to Chapter 2.. And Chapter 1.. And the other, what, 4 Avengers stories written!* Ok legal people? Ok. Good.
It wasn't too.. Horrible.
Like, he thought it would be alot worse!
Hear about kids running away to circuses back in the day, not so much these days, but it was always said to be some crazy mad place that no kid should ever think about running away to.
Didn't smell too bad.
Smelled better than Barton's apartment, at least.
Tony had Jarvis run as much of a background check on Clint as possible. Even though SHIELD files were leaked by Natasha all that time ago, there wasn't an awful lot on the archer. Took Tony a while to remember that he said something about Fury helping hide things from his file, like Laura and the kids.
But he read the file before, himself Steve and Thor got in a lot of trouble one day for peeking at it! So he knew the name of the circus Clint was brought up in was in there somewhere.
Sure enough, Jarvis did find it, and found out they were set up about 40 minutes away, outside of Elizabeth NJ.
Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders.
He grinned a little at the sign high above the entrance to the field, turning with his back to it so he could take a picture.
He'd have to send it to Pepper when he got better cell reception!
He really hated how he looked in it, but oh well! He shaved off the beard, had some scruffed up jeans and a hoodie on, looked way too normal. But he didn't want anyone knowing Tony Stark was hanging around a circus! Imagine the press!
"Not opened yet." He jumped at the gruff voice coming from behind him, turning to see a pretty terrifying man. Easily six and a half foot tall, but didn't look it because he was built up too. The face looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Probably some picture he saw in Clint's file. "Come back in three hours."
"Eh, no." Tony said with a shake of his head, smiling at the man then when he got over the little bit of shock from being approached. "I was wondering if I could join!"
The guy raised an eyebrow, causing Stark to raise one back as he looked the billionaire up and down.
Geez. Didn't think it would be that bad a request!
"Sure." He shrugged after a while, offering Tony his hand to shake. "Need a new shit shoveller. Names Swordsman. My show's over in tent three every half hour. You are?"
Oh shit.. Name..
"Eh.. Steve." Tony grinned, shaking the mans hand. He had some grip! Muscles weren't lying so! "Steve Potts."
"Welcome aboard, Steve." He nodded, he didn't strike Tony as much of a smiling man. He grabbed Tony's bag from his hands without even asking. "Animals are down back. Shovel should be by them. I'll put this in caravan 9. Sharing with the other two newbies."
He walked off without another word, obviously to wherever he was off to in the first place.
Tony raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked towards the back of the area. He thought 'Shit shoveller' was just a term for new guy..
Did he actually expect Tony to shovel up animal shit..?
He groaned to himself and scratched the back of his neck for a moment, making the move then to head to the back of the camp site.
He was gonna kill Barton..
Ok, if this is what the kid had to do when he first joined, then damn he deserves so many apologies..
There was no shortage of animals in this place. Usual tigers and lions, some elephants, snakes and the lot, and Tony could have sworn he saw an ostrich run past him at one point!
No shortage of animals means no shortage of animal shit..
Means there's no shortage of work Tony has to do in this area..
And man he hated it!
Two hours here and he was still shovelling into a little wheelbarrow he had to push around! Any bit of shit someone would see, he'd be ordered to clean.
The grins on their faces told him they were loving this way too much..
"What d'ya say, girl?" He sighed to a horse, patting her neck for a moment as he took a break. "Reckon I should just give up and admit the kid was right?"
The horse paid no attention, just simply chewed on a bit of hay, ignoring the billionaire completely.
"First day's always the roughest. We gotta break you noobs in." Tony jumped at the voice, it was chuckling, softly spoken. He looked from the stable he was in to the one next to it, raising an eyebrow at the person in there.
He could have laughed at the get up, but then he remembered it was the circus and this sort of stuff was to be expected! Skin tight purple sleeveless vest, purple pants, and a mask covering his head and eyes.
Honestly, looked like the mission gear Barton would use!
"See who lasts the day then figure out a place for them." He continued on, too busy brushing one of the horses to look at Tony though. "Broke one last week by making him clean the portloos. Man, he lasted maybe a half hour at most!"
"Testing loyalty." Tony nodded, understanding why this stuff was done now. If someone lasted through this, then they'd last through whatever would be thrown their way!
"Commitment." The guy corrected, turning to smile at Tony. He was well built, though that may be just because Tony could see his arms. Around the same age as that Swordsman he met earlier. They must be the owners of this place, or at least oldest residents. "Carnival always comes first. Screw loyalty, you can hate everyone here, just once you don't forget to get the money in then it's fine."
"Mhm." Tony hummed, throwing the shovel down and pulling off his gloves so he could walk around to the man's stable. "What about you so? What's your money draw?"
He eyed Tony for a moment before grinning and shrugging. "Think I could show you rather than tell you. You seem to have the build for it and I need a new pupil."
"Other one go insane?" Tony asked curiously, scared that his act was something crazy now.
The guy didn't answer him though, he just motioned for Tony to follow with an oddly hardened face. The billionaire complied, anything's better than shovelling shit for the rest of the night!
"Didn't go insane. I just haven't been able to find one nearly as good as one of my former ones." He shrugged, he had been silent for about five minutes while they made their way through the fair, trying to weave their way through the crowd that was coming in for the evening of fun. "High expectations."
Tony's eyes went a little wide when he stepped into the tent after the new comer, this was just his luck!
Inside was an archery set up. A giant tent with targets at the end of the long way. On the opposite end sat a rack filled with bows and different quivers of arrows.
If this was where Barton studied, it was way too coincidental..
"Guess you're the resident Trickshot?" Tony asked after looking around, the guy had his mask down and was weighing out some bows.
Tony knew that from when Barton did the same. When Tony was messing around with him one day in training he asked Clint to teach him to shoot. He did the exact same thing this guy was doing, picking up a number of bows and moving them different ways. When he asked Clint that day what he was doing, he just smiled and replied with finding one to fit your scrawny frame.
"That's m'name alright." The guy laughed, eyeing Tony once more before nodding and finally deciding on a bow. He grabbed a quiver of arrows and approached the billionaire. "In this circus, everyone needs a craft. The only one without an apprentice right now though is me. So, you can learn archery and be the best, or shovel horse shit until someone passes their apprentice."
"Archery it is then!" Tony laughed, slinging the quiver over his back before taking the bow in his hands. He was meant to learn from Barton that day, but just when they were about to start he was called out on a mission. They never got around to it then. Stark was always too busy, and Clint took on that Kate kid to teach then.
"Thought as much." Trickshot laughed, moving to lean against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. "Not gonna be easy."
Those last words sounded too serious, and it kind of made Tony's stomach knot a little bit. Oddly threatening tone to him now.
He took a deep breath anyway and stepped up to the mark painted onto the floor. He had watch Clint do this a million times before. If that joker could do it, how hard could it be!?
He grabbed an arrow from the quiver and ran into his first obstacle; how they hell do you hold this thing?
He heard a chuckle after a minute of trying to neck the arrow, and he looked up to see his new teacher move away from the wall and grab a bow from the rack. He took the arrow from Tony and started setting it up.
"Hook in the line. Finger either side." He explained, necking the arrow slowly to show Tony.
"Draw back, keeping the draw arm dead straight." Again, he completed the task, drawing the string of the bow back as he raised it to head height. "Fingers by the mouth, helps direct it."
Tony nodded, watching in slight awe as it was explained. He never truly understood how technical it was. Barton made it look easy, he just drew back and set it flying right on target. This was first nature to him, and it gave Tony a new found respect for the guy.
"Back muscles tighten and lock. Slow your breathing. Relax your hand.. And.." The guy was so softly spoken, Tony was in a bit of a trance while he spoke. But he looked to the dummy when the arrow was sent flying, embedding itself dead centre of the target. "Let 'em fly."
Ok, practice so!
"Three chances to get it in the red or yellow zone." Trickshot said when he turned, his calm teaching voice suddenly gone.
Tony looked to the man with an eyebrow raised, wondering what happened after three chances.
He didn't think on it, he'd get it in one!
He was slow setting it up, trying his best to follow the directions to a T. And man oh man were these things difficult to draw! No wonder no one would take this thing up, needed some upper body to do this!
Clint had a dislocated shoulder.. And they pushed him to get back to training with the bow.. Man, he felt like such an ass and it was only the first day here!
He took aim, and fired, a smug smirk on his face that soon fell when the arrow went no where near that target.
"One." He heard from the side of the room, looking to see Trickshot leaning against the wall once again, his smile gone and replaced with an unimpressed frown.
Tony sighed and tried again, this time at least hitting the target. But that wasn't good enough for his mentor because a warning 'Two.' very quickly followed.
He really wanted to know what would happen after this shot.. It worried him enough to have his hands sweating, which just managed to make the whole thing more difficult!
He drew back once more and took aim, his heart sinking when the arrow just scraped the side of the dummy.
Dammit, he was probably gonna give up teaching him now and send him back to shovelling horse shit!
"Sorry man, it's difficult to le.." A scream coming from his throat cut off his words, some electric current shooting from the hand he held the bow in right through his body. He fell to his knees and found the shock had made his hand cramp around the handle, meaning there was no escape.
"Y'see, we have a special teaching method here.." Trickshot started after what was probably 30 seconds of electrocution, Tony's vision a little blurry as he watched the man approach. "Our time is valuable. So, you either learn quick, or suffer."
"Man.. No wonder he hated it here.." Tony rasped out, trying to catch his breath and calm his shaking muscles.
"Excuse me?" Trickshot asked quietly, and Tony could hear the confusion in his voice. He looked up to the man and gave a lopsided smile.
"The one you trained before.. Your high expectation.." Tony started, and his vision was coming back clear enough to see the shock on the archers face. "No wonder he hated it here.."
"What do you know?" The man spat, standing then to move away.
"I know Clint has nightmares about this place.." He said calmly, Trickshot freezing in his retreat to his spot at the wall. "I know it's taboo to bring this place up when we talk with him.. I know he hates you guys more than anything.. I know that Hawkeye is a better man than any of us and if this is what he was put through when he was just a kid then man I'm buying him a drink later.."
"Clint Barton, you say.." The guy said quietly, turning to face Tony with a pretty damn terrifying smirk. "Oh, he was put through a lot worse than this, let me assure you.."
Tony raised an eyebrow and was about to ask how that was possible, but another, stronger jolt of electricity surged through his body. This one was too strong to even warrant a scream, it paralysed him completely, having him flat on his back and fighting off unconsciousness in seconds.
His eyes barely open, he could just make out the figure of Trickshot above him, his voice clear as day as consciousness slipped him.
"And, trust me.. He'll be put through it all again in no time.."
He jolted awake, hoping to god all of that was just a horrible dream.
But, when had he ever been so lucky?
He was in a different space, the last thing he remembered was being on his back in the archery room, Thor only knows how many volts of electricity racing through his body.
This was different though. This was a large space with seats all around, the main ring he guessed. He was sitting in the middle, arms tied behind his back and legs tied to the chair he was sitting on.
The place was dark, bar some spare lights around the roof giving the slightest of illumination.
Tony wasn't used to this sort of thing, not used to being tied up. Well, being tied to bed is a little different, but that's a story for another day!
But he wasn't a spy. Sure, Clint and Natasha probably found this second nature. Cap maybe aswell, he was taken a few times.
But this had Stark panicking a little. Being confined was not a good thing! Too many memories of being cooped up in a cave came with being confined against his will! He pulled at his bindings but they were solid, no give to them even a little bit.
He could hear his phone go off in his pocket, and he guessed it was Pepper. She'd be the only one looking right now, especially since the last message from him was just that picture of him at the entrance.
"Took us a while to figure you out." He heard being shouted, though the echo in the room made it come from all directions so he couldn't pin point where the person was. A look around had him spotting two figures in the seats. "But man, the great Tony Stark in my circus?"
Damn.. He thought he was being smart with his cover!
"Honour, really." Another voice said, and he'd know that as Trickshot. He doubted he'd ever forget that voice now! "And to say he was my student!"
"Bring great crowds to us." The other voice boomed, both jumping down from their position to approach.
The unknown one turned out to be the first face Tony saw here. Swordsman, sword on full show on his hip now!
"Sorry fellas." Tony started, his throat a little too dry for his liking. "My company doesn't handle ransoms. They'd much rather me gone, if I'm honest."
"Good thing we're not after money then, huh?" Trickshot grinned, kneeling down in front of the billionaire. "Looking for something much sweeter."
"Babes? Sorry, can't do that either. I'm a happily taken man and have no ties with oth-"
A punch to the jaw shut him up, his head snapping painfully to the side at the force of Trickshot's blow.
Damn, how did Natasha and Clint do this day in and day out!?
He was learning to respect those two an awful lot more today!
"Revenge, Stark." Swordsman said from behind the billionaire, and it put him off a little not being able to see someone with a giant weapon at his disposal.
"I don't think I fucked your circus up that bad.."
"Not on you." Trickshot sighed, patting Stark's cheek gently like he was kid.
"Who th..." He cut himself off this time, because he knew full well who.
The only one who would come looking for him.
The only one Stark knew had dealings with these two in the past.
He looked down when his phone sounded again, and his eyes went wide as he finally realised who's ringtone it was.
Dammit Clint..
Trickshot reached into Stark's pocket and pulled the phone out, grinning at the name on the screen before patting Tony's cheek again.
"Seriously love you, Tony! We'll buy you a drink after all of this is done!"
A bag was placed over his head and something struck the back of it before he could reply.
The world went black as he slipped away once more, and for once, he didn't care about himself.
He only cared about his team mate, the trouble his actions had gotten the kid into.
He feared what horrible things those minds were thinking of doing to him.