Holy crap, another week already! Wow. Been busy lately. Trying to work on the next story. But, son is crying so... Here is chapter 4!

Age: 6

Clint's legs just wouldn't stop shaking as he stared at the old Victorian mansion that was to become his new home. It wasn't that it looked scary for any reason. Nor did the many children who were hanging out the various windows to get a good look at the two new boys. Clint just felt frightened. Almost as if he could sense his doom in the mansion. Barney, who was still recovering from his injuries from the crash, was calmly sitting in his wheelchair. He was always used to changing situations. Clint never was. Taking a nervous glance over to his brother, Clint wondered what Barney was thinking. The older Barton's eyes were wandering over the other kids as if he was deeming them well enough to lead. Considering he used to be the 'boss' man of their neighborhood before, it was no surprise to Clint.

Old Man Winters, a ratty looking old man that seemed to be barely able care for himself never mind the many children in his care, stood with the female agent that had been put in control of the Barton boy's case. He kept nodding his head at every word she said. Though it looked like he was paying attention to her, the agent almost felt as if her words were going in one ear and out the other. Little did she know how true that was. Knowing that most kids the Barton boys ages get adopted first, she wasn't too concerned with Old Man Winters paying attention to her. Neither boy paid any attention to what they were talking about. As of this point they had heard it all before.

Just before the female agent was about to bid them a good-bye, Barney looked over at his little brother. He was disappointed to see the boy shaking like a leaf. Through their lives, Barney and their father had tried to instill bravery in the small boy, but Clint seemed to either ignore it or just couldn't care less. Slowly, the older Barton leaned over and grabbed Clint's shaking hand. Clint looked over and saw his brother gazing back at him. In the friendly looking brown eyes, Clint couldn't see disappointment, or even anger. All the young boy saw was brotherly love and caring. He'd never know how wrong he was.

"Don't worry. I'm gonna protect you. I'll keep you safe. I ain't gonna leave you," Barney told his younger sibling, knowing those empty promises would calm his brother. Clint nodded, believing those words with all he was worth. Even though he had heard his mother once telling him those same things until his father beat her, Clint still believed Barney. Cause Barney was different. Barney meant it. His mother... Their mother changed. Barney hasn't and wouldn't. Clint knew he could trust Barney. His older brother had never steered him wrong before.

Old Man Winters had set up the orphanage in such a way that the two boys actually couldn't be in the same room together. They were just about one year apart from being in the same room. Barney argued with Winters about how the two boys were still in shock and needed to be close together. Winters ignored Barney and grabbed his wheelchair before wheeling the boy away. Barney screamed and raged the entire time, crying out to Clint to follow. But the young boy didn't move. Clint could only watch in shock as he stood at the door to his new bedroom. Slowly the door closed and Clint allowed it as he listened to the fading screams of his brother.

He would end up sharing the room with ten other kids. All ages varying between ages 5 and 7. It also didn't seem to matter the gender because Clint's soon to be new bunk mate was one of three girls in the room. Many of the kids just stared at Clint after the huge scene his brother had caused. No one really wanted to mess with the younger brother of someone like that. So, slowly, Clint entered and walked over to the nearest empty bunk. He dropped his stuff on it and faced the rest of the room, as if daring them to comment on what just happened. Once he did that, the whole room seemed to come alive and everyone went off into their own groups, ignoring Clint.

At first, no one bothered him. Hell, no one even tried talking to him. Not even the girl he shared a bunk with. Clint really didn't mind that. He was certain that someone would come for him soon. His mother had always talked about asking a sister of hers for help before his father began beating her. So that meant he had an aunt out there somewhere. She'd come for him.

"Why didn't she?" Bruce interrupted. Clint paused before sighing. He hated his father and the law so much for this part. If only there had been some loophole... Not that it would have matter, just looking for the loophole took Clint the same amount of years he spent in the orphanage. And it wouldn't have been possible without S.H.I.E.L.D resources.

"My father hated her family. Despised my aunt real bad. So, in his will, he wrote that none of them would ever be able to take Barney and me. Hell, they weren't even allowed to come see us and if we went to see them, they had to call the cops on us. At the time, no one argued with the words of a dead man. Not that it mattered. Once, Barney and I escaped the place, my aunt wanted nothing to do with either of us," Clint muttered. Bruce sighed. He had no idea that Clint's life was so rough. And to think, he still didn't even know all of it. Then again, most of the Avengers had rough lives. That's part of what drew them together. Bruce shuddered, wondering why that was the thing that brought them together. Why couldn't it have been something more simple?

"Did things ever get... Well... Was the orphanage okay?" Bruce asked, wondering if that was the right question. Clint laughed at the wording, which quickly turned into a coughing fit. It ended with both men staring at Clint's hand covered in a light sheen of blood. Clint looked over to Bruce. He could see the worry in the other man's eyes. Slowly, Clint waved his hand back and forth, as if telling Bruce to forget it.

"The others better find us soon," he muttered more to himself than to the doc. Clint was really beginning to feel like this might actually be the end. Bruce nodded, in complete agreement with the archer. Sighing, Clint relaxed into the wall. He almost wished that the others were here as well. If only to hear about what made him... Well, him. But then again, if they were, then Clint wouldn't have to be opening up like this. When Clint closed his eyes, Bruce gently touched his nearest arm until Clint reopened his eyes in curiosity. "Still here... But no... The orphanage was never okay. Almost right away, Barney broke his promise. I don't think he knew... But he did."

A month after first arriving at the orphanage, Clint began to notice three of the oldest kids in his room were beginning to stalk him. Few days later, Clint spotted some of the kids from Barney's room were also beginning to follow him. These kids were the leaders of the whole orphanage. And they took no shit from anyone. In his first few weeks, they had just sat back and let Barney and Clint get comfortable. But now, Clint knew Barney was beginning to show his own leadership skills. In desperation, Clint went up to Barney and asked for help.

"Have they done anything? Are they hurting you?" Barney asked, sounding really worried. He was still at least a week off from getting out of his wheelchair. And the older Barton knew that the damned wheelchair made him look weak, so no one was really starting to follow him yet. But there was talk that everyone would quickly switch to his side in a fight. Barney just needed more time to show his dominance. He didn't want Clint to ruin his chances. Clint looked down at the chair and wished that it had been him that had gotten ejected from the car and not his brother. The young boy wasn't good at stuff like this.

"No... But I... I don't like that their following me," Clint whined, sounding so much like the six year old he was. Barney scoffed, rolling his eyes at his brother. Did Clint really think that Barney could do anything right then? Though they lived in a mansion, the amount of room that the kids could go into was actually rather small. Many kids would walk the same paths to get to other places. Clint was just being paranoid.

"Maybe they were just going the same way as you? I can't help until they do something," Barney told his sibling. Clint nodded wishing that Barney would do something about it before it came to that point. Just like he had wished their mother to do the same thing. But it seemed that Barney would take after her and like Clint would learn later, also their father. If Clint wasn't so afraid of Old Man Winters, Clint would have gone to him. But there was just something about the man that made Clint stay away. It wasn't much longer that he'd regret his actions.

The next week, Clint spotted some of the kids that had been following him conversing with Barney. They were all laughing and seeming to have a good time. So, Clint figured maybe Barney was right or even that Barney was talking to them about the younger boy's fears. Though the mansion was big, not many of the rooms were allotted to the kids. Most, Old Man Winters had blocked off or even locked up. It wasn't until the next day that Clint figured out why those kids were becoming buddy/buddy with Barney. This was the day that Barney was brought to the hospital for a checkup and to see if he needed the wheelchair anymore.

"Yo! Brat!" one of the oldest kids called. Clint spun around and noticed Vick (short for Victor), a boy who was in charge of Barney's room, was following him. Behind him were six other kids. Two of which, Mickey and Brent, were part of his room. The other four, Clint didn't know. No one really had introduced themselves to him. He just learned their names by overhearing others kids speaking to them. he tended to hide out in random places and just listen to the other kids. So far, either none of them noticed or none of them seemed to mind. "Get over here."

"Why?" Clint asked, not moving from his spot. Vick and the others came closer. With each step they took closer the Clint, the angrier Vick looked to be getting. Instinct told Clint to run but he was slightly jealous that Barney was getting along with these kids better than he was, so he figured he might as well try to become friendly too. And why not get friendly with the kids that seemed to be getting along with his older brother. Never mind that he believed that Barney had spoken to them. But as he stared at Vick, Clint began to see the signs of anger that reminded him so much of his father. Gulping, Clint began to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

"I said, get over here," Vick snarled. Clint tensed in his spot but still didn't move. He almost feared that if he tired to step closer to Vick and the other boys, he turned tail and run. It was something he had always been good at when dealing with his father. Clint was always smaller and faster than the old man and he used that to his advantage all the time. The other boys stalked closer until Vick was standing in front of him, Mickey and one other boy stood on his left, Brent and another boy was on his right, while the last two moved behind him. Clint nervously glanced at all the boys before focusing on Vick. He already could tell what this was going to turn into and he really wished he had indeed run away.

"What's up?" Clint muttered, trying to not sound as scared as he felt. He was going to play this off that he was as big and mean as his brother. Clint had to act like he feared nothing. He almost completely forgot that the whole place had seen him shaking outside of the home on his first day. Vick rolled his eyes, not amused with Clint's act of bravery. He knew the truth. Hell, in an act of 'trust', Barney had spilt the beans about Clint and his cowardice.

"Just wanted to ask some questions," Vick told the younger boy, sounding deadly calm. Clint nodded, wishing that there was some nice way out of this situation. If only Barney was here, he'd know what to do. But Clint couldn't act like Barney. He couldn't think like Barney. So, Clint just tried to play it off if he couldn't care less.

"Okay, shoot," Clint said with a gentle smile. Vick frowned, unsure what to make of the youngest Barton. Barney had been upfront with him. He had told Vick that once he got out of his wheelchair, Vick would no longer be in charge. Barney, though younger then Vick, was taller and larger so the threat was well placed. But Clint, at six years old, barely looked old enough to be called three. So Vick assumed he could threaten the youngest to get the oldest to stop. Course if Clint was as crazy as Barney, maybe Vick would want to back down.

"How did your bro break his legs?" Vick questioned, having already been told the truth by Old Man Winters. Barney had lied to Vick already and when the older kid called him on it, that was when Barney threatened him. Clint frowned. That was so not what he was expecting. Clint went to answer truthfully but something Barney once told him stuck in his head. 'The more badass you sound and look, the less people will bother you. That's why Dad is so tough.' Clint never believed Barney but he knew his brother was going to become leader here, so why make it harder on him?

"He jumped off a bridge into a raging river," Clint answered. Vick stared at Clint for a minute, trying to determine if the boy was seriously trying to pull off that blatant lie. It took a second before Vick noticed it. Clint's left eye twitched. Right away, Vick could tell that Clint was lying and he snarled in anger. If there was one thing he really hated, it was being lied to. Barney only got away with it because he was bigger than Vick. Clint... Clint was a lot smaller than Vick. And the younger boy was surrounded by kids loyal to Vick. Snarling, Vick raised his fist and the next thing Clint knew, he was on the ground. His left cheek sore and his head spinning. Vick leaned in close.

"Tell your brother that he should back off. Step down and learn his place. He'll never be the leader here," Vick growled. Clint frowned, unsure why Barney's saying hadn't worked. Was it because he himself wasn't as threatening as Barney? Or was it because he lied? Knowing he had to answer Vick, he looked up into the older boy's eyes. Still wanting to believe in his brother and stay in good graces, Clint took a deep breath.

"No," Clint groaned, trying to make it sound like a threatening growl. Vick kicked him in the guts. Almost right away, Clint just about threw up but he was used to this sort of thing. Clint knew how to act when he was getting beaten. He held it in at the last second and glared up at Vick.

"Tell your bro, to smarten up or you'll regret it," Vick said, his voice going deathly soft. Clint groaned, wishing he wasn't going to do what he was about to do. But Barney would take revenge. Clint knew that Barney would defend his younger brother.

"Tell him yourself," the boy snapped. That was the end of their conversation. Vick nodded to the other boys and they descended.

"Can't remember much after that for a while. Just pain and black. When I came too, I was still in the hallway. Old Man Winters was walking down the hall, his back to me. I knew he had seen me, but he just didn't care. When I could move again, I went to Barney," Clint told Bruce. After he finished speaking, Bruce suddenly stood. Clint stopped to stare at the doc rather than moving on. It took Bruce a minute before he noticed that Clint had gone silent. Snapping around to look at the archer, Bruce paused when he noticed Clint was staring at him. Bruce gave him a sheepish smile.

"Legs went numb," Bruce explained with a small laugh. Clint snorted in humor before groaning as pain laced through his body. Bruce shifted forward but Clint held up a hand to wave him off. "Well, I guess it's kind of good that you're feeling pain again."

"It's times like this that I kind of wish I had the super solider serum as well," Clint moaned. Bruce frowned. He was making it sound like more than just Steve and Bruce had it. Seeing Bruce's confusion, Clint smiled. "Guess she didn't mention that. Her longevity comes from a poor version of the super solider serum. The Red Room didn't want to make them stronger or smarter or anything... They just wanted them to stay younger for a longer time."

"When did you met Natasha?" Bruce wondered. Clint sighed, remembering back him being ordered to kill her. He wasn't really sure he wanted to go into this story just yet. But he needed to do something.

"Three weeks after my 21st birthday, Coulson came up to me with a mission... I was to go kill the Black Widow..."

Hope you all liked! Review, favorite and follow! Reviewing helps me get the next story out faster than six months! Lol.