I'z back! I can't believe it's Friday already! _ Started working on the story after this one already. Got one chapter done so far. Working on the second chapter. Baby Clint is dealing with me on the computer a lot better lately. Mostly cause I realized that I could put him in a stationary jumper and he'd just sit behind me jumping up and down. lol. He's finally beginning to shift off of formula, thank god. But we don't know if he is lactose intolerant like me or not. So, I may have to put up with a lot of vomiting. Who knows. Oh, but enough about Baby Clint and me. Here is the next chapter!
Age: 10
"I probably should start with how we got to the circus first," Clint said after Bruce twisted his legs to look at the damage and make sure nothing horrible was happening to them. The archer had taken some interest to watch what the doc was doing but when it hit him that he should be in immense pain, Clint felt it would be better to keep talking. Bruce said nothing, just kept on checking over all over Clint's injuries. It was almost as if both of them didn't want to know the truth. After a moment, Clint continued.
Barney and Clint ran away from the orphanage they had been stuck at since their parents died. It had been a little over four years since they first arrived. And it had taken that long to form a plan that sounded decent. Barney, who was now old enough to go into town and try to look for work, had seen numerous posters about the Carnival in town. Normally, he would ignore such a thing but he had been looking for a way to get away from the orphanage for a while now and this may be the best idea. Many people were talking about one of the acts, the Swordsman. Just from the sounds of what the people were saying, the man would be amazing to meet. But Barney wished for more than just that. Course, at this time, Clint didn't know about Barney's other motive. All Clint knew was that he had to get away from Waverly Home of Orphans and it's owner.
It took less than a few hours to get from the orphanage to the carnival. Most of that time, Clint could only remember Barney telling him all he had heard about Swordsman and the rest of it was demanding that he hurry up. When it finally felt to Clint like he would just drop where he stood, they were greeted to the sight of the Carnival. The two boys first spotted a large billowing sign that read Carson's Carnival of Traveling Wonders. Nearly fainting with joy, Clint felt an extra burst of adrenaline and looked around. Right away Clint was hooked. He loved the place. People from town wandered all around the area (thankfully none of them usually paid attention to the orphaned kids). Costumed employees shouted out in glee as they tried to attract the largest part of the crowd to their areas. Many stood behind stands or even stood on empty boxes that they used for platforms. But there was one voice that cried out the loudest. Even from the entrance, you could hear this voice shouting from the far back point of the carnival.
"You've heard the name! Maybe in passing! Maybe in a full conversation. But now you are here to watch! THE SWORDSMAN! Come see him perform feats of wonder! Let him surprise and amaze you! THE SWORDSMAN will make your coming here worth it! Him and his partner TRICKSHOT are the best at what they do! Don't believe it, come see for yourselves!" the voice shouted. Clint unconsciously followed his brother toward the loud voice. He had no clue what his brother had planned. Barney didn't even notice that his younger brother was following. In truth, Barney had already forgotten about his little brother.
The duo slipped past the man shouting at the crowd and entered into the big tent. Everyone was standing around a center ring that Barney and Clint moved closer and closer too. Inside the ring stood two men. One dressed in a tank top of dark maroon color and jeans. He held onto a bow with a quiver strapped to his back. The other was dressed in such a colorful and fanciful outfit that Clint could barely concentrate on him. He held onto a few throwing knifes and had a large saber attached to his belt and hung down below his hip. Barney was staring at that man like he was heaven on earth. Clint focused on the other man.
"Welcome one! Welcome all! I am the Swordsman!" the man with the saber cried to the crowd. A large cheer filled the tent. He then pointed to the man behind him who was beginning to grab an arrow and string it up. "And this is my partner, Trickshot!"
Again the crowd went wild. Trickshot aimed for a target, glanced at Swordsman and shot. It landed dead center. Another cheer. It took two more shots before Clint was convinced that that's what he wanted to do. He didn't want to be anything but an archer. He could care less about how he would make a living with that skill. He didn't care that there were going to be no jobs for him outside of what his life would turn into. His ten year-old mind saw Trickshot making impossible shots and Clint wanted to be better. No, he wanted to be the best.
Meanwhile, Barney was focused on Swordsman. All the older Barton could think was that he could do the exact same things. He could throw knifes. He could fence. Barney wanted to be the next Swordsman. And he would do it, no matter what it cost him. Barney wasn't an older brother anymore. In his mind, he already was Swordsman's apprentice.
"Barney went to Carson after Swordsman finished his set. Didn't even say a word to me. Trickshot had his own little show after and admittedly, I barely even noticed that Barney left. He came back with Carson just as the show was ending. It was around then that I had noticed that Barney had vanished. When he pointed to me, I felt like he was trying to get me in trouble. Back at the orphanage, he hadn't been all that great so I could see him doing that. So, I almost ran... Wouldn't have gotten far," Clint said with a laugh thinking back on that day. Bruce frowned, stopping his check of Clint's pulse and reaction. Clint blinked in surprise at Bruce's voice.
"Why not?" he asked, backing away from the archer. Clint glanced over at him just as the light began to die. There was a long pause as he shuffled through his pants to find the next snap stick. Once he found it, he cracked it with a loud pop and tossed it in Bruce's general direction. Bruce watched as it landed on the ground before slowly picking it up. Briefly he wondered what made Clint carry all these things. Never mind where he was able to hide it all in his rather tight looking outfit. Yet again though he wondered if he wanted to know. How many dangerous situations made Clint this paranoid that he carried all this stuff?
"Trick was standing behind me. He actually had just taken a shot from right in front of me and had laughed at my large wide eyes," Clint muttered. Bruce smiled. "I had thought he had already moved away. But he had also seen Carson and my brother speaking."
"What was Carson like?" Clint paused, surprised that Bruce would ask such a thing. Shaking his head at the memories of Trickshot, Clint answered.
"Carson was a nice guy. He accepted Barney and me into the group with no issue. Not once did he ask if we had other family. If anyone would care if we disappeared. Hell, he didn't care, just glad that he had two more helpers," Clint answered.
The Barton boys ended up having to stay in the animal trailer that night. Carson promised that it wouldn't always be like that. But because they joined the carnival so late at night, he couldn't find room for them in other's tents. The next night the duo also spent in the animal trailer. And the night after that. No one wanted two newbies in their tents until the duo could prove their worth. So, Clint began caring for the animals. First cleaning their pens, then feeding them and watering them.
Barney waited until the whole carnival had to be taken down, almost a week later, so that the group could move on before he showed his use. He helped lift the heavy boxes and bags. His larger size helped him carry a lot of items and many of the smaller Carnival folk appreciated his work. But Barney became jealous when Clint climbed to the top of the large tents with the tightrope walker and trapeze sisters. As he angrily watched Clint helping to untie the big tent, Barney plotted his revenge.
It was no surprise that Clint was moved into a different tent that night. He had done so much work since he first showed up. Clint didn't even seemed bothered by the change. Heck, he even mentioned that he hadn't minded staying with the animals. That had produced a good laugh around the group for a while. Meanwhile, Barney was stuck with the animals, sulking and angry. It took until they hit the next town and Barney helped reset things up that he was shifted to the same tent as Clint but the damage was done.
Barney began beating Clint after that. At first he tried to keep it a secret but when the bearded lady walked in on Barney going at Clint, she just walked away. Clint had stared after her for a long while and whenever they passed each other around the Carnival, he would give her odd looks. But she never mentioned what she saw to anyone. That was when Barney began doing it more openly. Clint was almost always bruised or healing. As long as he could still work, no one really cared. So Barney just kept going. Every time Clint tried to ask a question, help his brother, and sometimes even when the younger Barton tried to help others, Barney would beat him senseless. It was like Barney didn't want Clint to be useful. Course it really didn't help that most of the other carnival employees felt that Clint was the better worker.
It took three weeks after the bearded lady first saw Clint being beaten before the Barton boys began staying in two different tents. Barney had gotten so mad at Clint that he had beaten him so badly that Clint was bedridden for two days. At first, Clint was hurt by this change in their places. He almost wondered if Barney was getting a different tent because he had done more work in those two days that Clint had been stuck in bed. No one corrected him on the subject but when he asked, the psychic told him it was for the best that they separate. And who was Clint to argue with a psychic? Neither Barton really seemed to care and after a few weeks went by, neither one seemed to notice. Not that it changed much. Just made it harder to Barney to go after Clint.
"So what did you guys do? How long did it take for you guys to get trained?" Bruce asked when Clint went silent. Clint laughed at the eagerness in Bruce's voice. For a few seconds, Bruce pouted in a way that reminded Clint of Tony. That just made the archer laugh harder until there was a twinge of pain that made him gasp in shock. Bruce rushed over but Clint waved him off and smiled.
"It wasn't until I was 11 then I got picked to be trained," Clint answered. Bruce sighed, amazed at how much had happened to Clint in his young life. It was then that Bruce realized he didn't even know how old Clint was. He looked to be the same age as Natasha... Or, well, what she looked to be, considering she admitted to being only a few years younger than Steve. Unaware of Bruce's current train of thought, Clint went back to his story. "In the mean time, Carson was changing up the rules..."
"We've got some slackers," Carson called out to the whole carnival one morning at breakfast. He had actually been the first one up that morning and had cooked. It was a rare treat when Carson cooked considering he was actually trained as a chef. And he had access to foods that the rest of the folk couldn't get too. So everyone was out in the make shift cafeteria enjoying the meal.
Everyone stilled at his loud declaration. Even Clint and Barney. They hadn't ever been around when something like this happened but both boys were smart enough now to follow what everyone else did. No one wanted to be punished for something they didn't understand. Carson stood from his seat and showed his now empty plate. Clint looked down at his. It still had more than half of his meal. Glancing down his table, he noticed that so did everyone else's, including Barney. It was extremely likely that the leader of the carnival had planned this. Clint could only believe this as fact considering everyone wasn't done with their meal.
Carson walked over to one of the three clowns that traveled with the group. In the past week, Clint had noticed that this particular clown had been passing off most of his chores to other members of the troop. And he had been going out getting smashing drunk in town. The three clowns stiffened, unsure what Carson had planned. He snatched away the man's plate without a single warning.
"Hey!" the clown cried, the only sound in the whole area at this point, but silenced when Carson leveled a glare. The clown looked back down at the table before him, almost miserable in his now missing plat. Knowing that the clown wasn't looking but everyone else was, Carson dumped the remaining food to the ground. Clint's mouth dropped open. One big thing he learned in his first week, was to never waist any food cause who knew when you were next going to eat.
Carson moved on, carrying the plate with him. By the time he was done, five more people were missing their plates. No one tried arguing with the owner. They just watched him work. But he wasn't done. Clint and Barney, who happened to be sitting together so that Barney could steal more of Clint's food, could only watch in horror as Carson walked over to them. The whole gathering was silent as they wondered which of the two boys were going to lose their meals.
Carson quickly scooped up both plates. Without a word to either boy, he promptly dumped Barney's plate onto the ground and added it to his collection. But Clint's plate, he carried away, still filled with his meal. Carson stopped at his seat and looked back at the frozen Barton boys. With one finger he signaled to Clint to go over. Slowly, the young Barton did. Once he was before Carson, Carson pushed him into his seat, smiled, and moved on to stand at the entrance to the whole area. Glancing back, Clint could see from Barney that he was going to pay for this whole thing later.
"You all, who have had you plates dumped on the ground, have not done enough work. We're losing money and I think it's all your faults. So because of that, I'm gonna save money by not feeding you. Now I know that most of you have been holding onto your paychecks. Use them wisely. No one will be getting a pay increase this month. Unless we lose some mouths," Carson called, looking over to Barney with an upset gaze. Barney held his head high as if he understood what Carson was getting at. Clint still had no idea what deal Barney struck with Carson to stay. But he assumed it was just generally being useful, which apparently Barney wasn't being. "Those of you who lost your plates, you have one week to prove that you are useful. If not, I continue to keep your plates. If I end up holding onto your plates for two weeks, you're gonna get left behind. So you better change your attitudes right quick."
Barney went to Clint later that night. He had a determined look on his face. Clint, who had never been afraid of his brother before, was terrified. Automatically he curled into a ball and wished that he could go back to the orphanage. At least Old Man Winters promised that it'd be quick. Barney could take hours beating him. And what hurt even more about it all is that Clint knew it was his brother beating him. Not some stranger like it had been at the orphanage. The beating seemed to last forever but only lasted around fifteen minutes. When it was over both boys were breathing heavily.
Clint had a split lip, a bloody nose and he could already tell one of his eyes was turning black and blue. His arms were already bruising, as were his legs. His back was sore and his ribs were hurting but none of them were broken. All Clint could do was sob into the ground. Barney recovered first and kicked Clint once in the stomach to gain his attention. Slowly, Clint looked to his brother's eyes.
"You're gonna do my chores," Barney demanded. Clint's expression changed to confusion. "I'm too busy to do most of them. Hence why Carson thinks I'm slacking. I see you all the time. Looks like you got nothin' going on. That means you can cover for me. Just, don't get caught."
Clint gave his brother an odd look. The younger Barton never really had down time. He was always helping someone do something. It wasn't until show time, when no one had chores, that Clint was able to relax any. Thinking that Clint was giving him the odd look over the idea of him doing to chores, Barney got even more angry. He kicked the boy in the face before leaning down.
"You will do my chores. It's cause of me that we are here. And it's cause of me that they haven't booted your ass!" Barney claimed, making it seem like every statement was based in fact. Clint frowned, unsure if he believed his older brother. But why would Barney lie about something like this? Was Clint as useless as their father claimed? Where people only saying he was being helpful cause they felt bad for him? "Better keep me happy kid. Cause I can disown you and Carson would throw you back into Waverly Home for Orphans for Old Man Winters. And trust me, no one will protect you then."
With that, Barney walked away. Clint stayed on the floor for a good half hour before the lion tamer came by to check on why the boy hadn't feed and watered the animals. He didn't look at that surprised about Clint's condition. Just sighed and said he'd cover for Clint but only for today. If he had to again, he'd tell Carson. Clint was up and back to work an hour later. Even though everyone could tell he was in pain and suffering, no one else offered any help. Carson saw him later that day and just gave Clint a nod of his head. Almost a way of saying thanks for suffering for the group. Clint couldn't care less. All he knew was that his brother was threatening him and no one would help.
"At that time in my life I had never been more miserable. It wasn't until much later that I really learned what misery was," Clint mentioned. Bruce said nothing. There was a long pause. One in which both Bruce and Clint yawned. Bruce was tired because of his transformation and Clint was still dealing with the shock to his system. Slowly, the archer looked over to Bruce. "Hey man... I'm really tired."
"No. Why don't you tell me about your mom?" Bruce suggested. Clint shrugged, he could care less at this point. He just wanted to sleep.
"Not much to tell. She was always depressed. Barely took care of herself, never mind Barney and me. She would just sit back and watched as our father beat the living shit out of us. Then her and dad got killed." There was a minute pause as Bruce registered what Clint had told him. Snapping to attention, Bruce looked at Clint as if he was nuts. Who talked about their parents that way? Not even Bruce was that nonchalant about his father beating his mother to death.
"How?" Bruce asked. Clint groaned, really not wanting to remember that night too much. He and Barney had both been in the car when their father had crashed it. Clint couldn't remember much of the whole thing as he tried to block it out of his mind, but Bruce looked so insistent.
"I don't... Drunk driving. Dad killed her. I think... I think Barney and I were in the car too. Just remember going out that night for dinner and then blackness till I woke up in the hospital with some blond broad telling me that my parents were dead. Once Barney and I healed up, we were shipped off to Old Man Winters."
"You mentioned him a lot. What did he do to you and Barney?" Clint shook his head with a sarcastic laugh. He only wished that Bruce's statement could be true.
"Not Barney. Barney was too old. He was eight at the time... I was fi- No... My sixth birthday was the day we arrived at Waverly Home for Orphans," Clint began. Bruce sighed in relief. He had to keep the archer awake even if both of them wanted to sleep. It was too dangerous for Clint. Hell, it was dangerous if Bruce fell asleep cause then no one would be watching over the still bleeding archer.
And that is that. Yet again, thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows! Please keep them up!
Oh, have any of you read my other story "Valentine's Day"? If so, can you tell me in a review on either this story or that one if you want to see a sequel to it? I've been debating about doing one but my husband says it should be a stand alone. So, I'm leaving it up to you guys. A sequel or no sequel.
THANKS!