Age: 16
"I had been Hawkeye for a few years now. Hell, I was headlining the main tent every night. I was the main draw to the carnival. Guess Barney got real jealous or somethin'. Don't really know. All I know is that he got into something that he shouldn't have. Swordsman was in on it too... I found out most of it from Carson talking to a new hire that arrived only a few weeks before..."
"Look, I don't care what you need the money for. I need it back," Carson snarled to the newest tagalong. Clint stopped walking toward the practice range he had set up the night before. He wasn't the only one who stopped either. Jacques Duquesne (Swordsman), Barney, Buck and a few other members of the troop created almost a half circle around the fighting duo. It wasn't strange to hear fighting but when Carson got involved, it meant things were serious. "NOW!"
"I told ya, I ain't got it!" the new kid snapped. Clint frowned at the boy. He was so new to the whole group that no one had taken the time to learn the boy's name. Then again, most people don't learn names until the new person had followed Carson's for over a year. Hell, Clint didn't even know if the boy had done any work for anyone yet. The new kid turned to walk away, thinking that was the end of the conversation. But before he got too far, Carson grabbed his arm, pulling the boy back. The boy looked outraged for a moment before he spotted Carson's angered face. Somehow, seeing that made the boy realize this was serious.
"Give me the freakin' money!" Carson demanded. The new kid began to look pissed all over again. Serious or not, the boy was stubborn. He ripped his arm out of Carson's grip and stood face to face to the old man. There was no way that he'd get pushed around here. That was why he left his own family. Carson's was different.
"I don't have your freakin' money!"
"It didn't go missin' till you showed up! So, you must'a taken it," Carson accused. The kid looked insulted. It wasn't too big a stretch to assume that this kid had stolen the money. But Clint was shocked to hear that it's been going on for weeks. His money had never been affected and he never really cared what the others got. But he had been noticing a few people getting rowdy these past couple of pay days. Must have meant that they got pay cuts. Carson used to always mention that he wasn't really making enough money. After paying the acts, filling the gas tanks in the numerous trucks and vans, paying the towns for the grounds they used, buying food and drinks and even the stuff for some of the stands... Carson had once mentioned to Clint that he used to still have enough money left over that he would save in a safe in his room. But lately, Carson hadn't seemed pleased. Must have been cause he either had to dip into those funds or he wasn't adding to it.
"I swear that I didn't take it! Search my shit, you won't even find a penny! I spend my paycheck on my own food and I don't eat none of yours!" the kid shouted at Carson. Carson frowned, not expecting that answer in the least. Hell, Clint was even surprised. Most people ate Carson's food so they could save their paychecks for better equipment, better clothes and other odds and ends. Jacques took that moment to step forward.
"Carson, why don't we give the kid the benefit of the doubt? No need to go through his menial belongings," Jacques calmly mentioned. Carson nodded, agreeing with the Swordsman. Though he had already made a huge spectacle over the situation, there was no need to make it worse. One thing Carson always tried to pride himself on was his view on privacy. Slowly, Carson leaned into the kid's face. Clint shook his head. Things were about to get much worse.
"Just know, if any more money is taken, you will be searched and kicked out," Carson softly threatened. The boy paled as he nodded. Already, Clint could see the ideas flowing through the kid's head. If he really didn't take the money then more money would be taken by the real thief and that person could frame the kid. But, if the kid did take it, Carson might be convinced into thinking that the kid took the previous money and was just stopping cause he almost got caught. More than likely, the safest thing for the kid to do would be run. Course that would make everyone think he's guilty anyway but at least he wouldn't be forced out. Shaking his head once again, Clint moved on. It wasn't his problem what happened now.
"So, what happened to the kid?" Tony asked, reentering the room, when Clint paused to take a breath. Steve went to reach for the genius in an attempt to stop him from ruining the moment that Natasha and Clint had started. But the billionaire's voice had already made both assassins turn to look at the door. Just past Tony and Steve, Thor and Bruce looked into the room. Seeing Clint staring at them, Bruce waved and Thor smiled. After a second, Clint shook his head and chuckled at the group.
"Maybe if you actually shut up for two seconds, Clint could tell us the rest," Natasha snarled at the billionaire. Tony snorted at her before shrugging Steve off of him. Proudly and boldly, he walked into the room and headed back to his previous spot. Clint snickered at the sight before nodding his head toward the questioning stare of a super soldier. Taking that as an invitation to return to their positions from before, Steve, Bruce and Thor reentered the room. "When are we moving him?"
"Fury has to prep a jet for us. So in about another hour or so," Steve answered before Tony could speak. Natasha then turned to Bruce who responded by lifting an orange folder. Tony jumped to his feet and rushed over to stand beside the doc. In his eagerness, the genius reached for the folder. Smartly, Bruce shifted it away and looked over at Clint. The archer didn't say anything, just watched. Figuring that meant that Clint could care less, Bruce shifted it back within reach.
"Don't you dare," Natasha snapped at the billionaire. Tony froze, his hand just lightly brushing the top of the folder that Clint assumed was his medical file. Knowing it was better not to piss off the red headed assassin, Bruce moved the folder further away from Tony. While still watching Tony, Natasha spoke to Clint. "Continue please."
"Sure," Clint sarcastically replied. Natasha snapped her head back to glare at the archer. He gave her a light smile. She was beginning to see the signs that he was tired of this. He was tired of sharing. It wasn't going to last much longer. Natasha couldn't help but be saddened by this. It was good of Clint to share.
Later that day, Clint, still set up at the range, heard laughter from the woods behind him. None of the other members of the troop usually ventured this far from the circus grounds outside of Buck, Jacques, Barney and himself. Slowly, Clint lowered his bow and listened for more sounds to try and place who may be out there. A moment later, he heard voices to his left. The way to the circus was to his right and the voices were getting softer, so whoever it was, was moving away from him and the circus. For a few seconds, Clint thought to leave whoever it was alone but then he remembered that someone was stealing from Carson. Now Clint would normally let this whole idea drop but if Carson wasn't making enough money, he'd start canceling acts. Clint didn't want his act canceled. Figuring he wouldn't hurt anyone by spying on whoever it was, he started to head over to the woods.
"Where are you going, boy?" Buck shouted just as Clint reached the woods edge. Clint stopped in his tracks and turned to face the older archer. Normally Buck never came out to Clint's practices. Heck, Clint could barely remember the last time he saw Buck coming to watch him. "You still got more training to do!"
"Sorry, I just thought-" Clint began, forgetting that Buck never cared what he was thinking.
"Thinking? I don't care what you think! You shouldn't even be thinking at all! Just shootin'. Unless," Buck paused. Clint frowned wondering what Buck was going to say next. The older archer's eyes darkened. "Maybe you're the one stealin' from Carson."
"No, sir! I wouldn't!" Clint loudly declared. Buck's eyes narrowed as he glared at the teen. Clint puffed out his chest, daring Buck to accuse him again. After a moment, Buck laughed to himself.
"Yeah, you ain't smart enough to cover your tracks like this sneaky thief," Buck laughed to himself. Clint nodded, agreeing with Buck even though he didn't like what the man was saying. But as Clint thought about it he wondered. Did Buck know who the thief was? Did Carson confide in the older archer? Was Buck actually the thief and he was trying to cast suspicion elsewhere? No... Buck couldn't be the thief. He was too dependent on Carson's. Buck was an avid gambler and tended to lose his paycheck long before he even earned it. There was no way the old archer would jeopardize losing his paycheck. "Back to training!"
Clint wasn't allowed a millisecond to think for the remainder of the day. Buck worked him through past show routines, random ideas that floated through his head and whatever else Buck wanted to do. Clint was almost certain that Buck wanted him to drop dead by the end of the show that night. Thankfully, Buck allowed a reprieve long enough for Clint to rest and recover for the show. In that time, Clint didn't think about the thief cause he pretty much dropped where he stood and slept.
After the show, Clint normally helped cleaned up the grounds. But tonight he was too tired. He needed rest if he was going to be of any use the next day when the whole place packed up and left. Mostly all the clean up was in front of the main tent and the rest of the front grounds. So it was no surprise that the sleeping tents were always set up behind the main tent. That meant that Clint wouldn't see anybody as he headed toward him now single tent. He set it up on the far end of the grounds. Pretty much falling asleep as he walked, Clint almost missed the familiar sounds of his brother speaking.
"We taking it all tonight?" Barney loudly whispered without fear of someone listening in but trying to keep quiet nonetheless. Clint froze at the sound, his tired mind slowly filtering the meaning of the words. Barney was usually in bed by the time the end of the show came around. The older Barton never wanted to work. Still had issues at time with keeping up on his tasks. "That old idiot thinks it's the new kind. I heard he already took off."
"Did you see it or just hear it from someone?" countered another familiar voice. Clint's eyes widened in surprise when he realized it was Jacques. But then his mind focused on what they were talking about. He couldn't think of it. Slowly, his mind reminded him of Carson yelling at the newest follower. Did the kid really take off?
"I... uh..." Barney stuttered. There was a loud crack of skin meeting skin. Clint recognized it as a slap across the face. He winced in sympathy for his brother. Jacques had beaten him before. All those long days training with a sword actually produced a lot of muscle on the old man. And the many years without the old Barton father had made Barney's skin loose and weak.
"I told you to watch the kid!" Jacques snarled. Clint shuddered at the dark and evil tone of voice that Jacques used. There was another loud crack followed by a thud and soft 'oof'. Clint figured that meant that Jacques hit Barney hard enough to make him fall to the ground. For a moment, Clint wanted to rush in and beat the crap out of Jacques but he'd need Barney's help. And history proved that Barney only helped himself nowadays. Clint just figured he'd be better of listening.
"He supposedly left before you told me!" Barney argued. Clint winced, knowing that it was never smart to argue with Jacques. Judging by the loud thuds and grunts and cries of pain, Jacques was teaching Barney just that. "STOP! PLEASE!"
"This won't work if that stupid kid is still here!" Jacques nearly screamed. Somewhere nearby a noise sounded, almost like a box shifting due to too much pressure. Clint glanced around. He was standing in a wide open area. His tired mind never told him before that it would be smart to hide from the conversation. It took him less than a second to dodge behind the nearest tent to hide. As he turned back, Jacques peeked out and glanced around. Seeing nothing out of place, the old man moved back. Clint tensely waited a minute and was glad he did when Jacques quickly looked out again. The old swordsman still saw nothing and so he nodded in a pleased way before retreating back to his conversation with Barney. Slowly, Clint slunk over to where Jacques kept peeking out and listened in.
"I looked everywhere, sir. But that kid is gone! Even his side of the tent is bare," Barney begged. Clint grimaced, beginning to finally understand what was going on. It was never the new kid that was stealing from Carson. Barney and Jacques were.
"He better be or I'll put all the blame on you," Jacques snarled. Barney whimpered. Clint frowned, wondering what he should do. Should he tell Carson that both Jacques and Barney was involved or just Jacques? But Jacques wouldn't keep quiet about Barney. Clint sighed, wishing that Barney never got himself involved in this type of thing. He was about to turn around and go find Carson when someone spoke.
"Lookie who's here," a familiar voice softly said from behind Clint. The archer jumped, spinning around to see Buck standing over him. Before Clint could explain himself, Buck grabbed the front of Clint's outfit and lifted the teen up off the ground. With two large steps, Buck entered into Barney's and Jacques's secret meeting.
"Buck!" Jacques nearly shouted. Spotting the teen in Buck's hand, Jacques's eyes narrowed in anger. Buck smirked and tossed the young archer down onto the ground in front of his brother and the old swordsman. Clint landed with a huff and smartly froze, his eyes focusing on the shocked look on Barney's face. The younger Barton tried to see if he'd get any help from the older one but Barney just seemed stunned.
"You should really make sure no one is around when making plans. This is too important to fuck up now," Buck commanded. Jacques snorted in disgust. He almost moved to beat the crap out of Buck but stopped himself. It would do him no good to get rid of the old archer now. Jacques still needed the other man.
"I checked," Jacques growled, growing defensive. "Must'a snuck by me."
"Sure," Buck sarcastically replied. Clint shifted to get a better view of Barney. His blue eyes gazing at his brother's face, trying to get an idea of what he should do. The older Barton looked away, hating the betrayed gaze of the younger sibling.
"Barney?" Clint whispered to his brother. He almost hoped that Barney wasn't actually involved. That this was some sort of mistake. Or, even better, Carson hired these three to find the real thief. But as Jacques lunged forward, kicking his leg out into Clint's side, Clint knew this was no mistake. And he was in serious trouble.
"Shut it!" Jacques demanded as Clint bounced away. The young boy curled up onto himself, trying to protect his vital organs. Though Barney hadn't been abused much these past years, Clint had gotten it from various sources. So he knew what to do to protect himself.
"Leave him. He's an idiot," Barney pleaded. Clint frowned into his arms. Barney sounded so desperate. Could he really be defending him? What was going on? "He ain't gonna do nothin'."
"Yeah, well. Even an idiot can get lucky, sometimes," Jacques mentioned, his statement not making much sense to the others. Not that it bothered Jacques any. Barney tensed, wondering what was going to happen to his baby brother. Never in all of his plans had he expected Clint to get involved and even then, Barney never thought that Clint would support Carson.
"What are you going to do?" Barney mumbled, keeping his gaze off of Clint. Jacques glanced at the older Barton. The Swordsman could see that the young man wouldn't be ready for what he had planned. But he needed Barney just as much as he needed Buck. A quick look at Buck, showed Jacques that the older archer had given up on Clint sometime ago.
"Go make sure no one else is around. We need to finish our plans in peace," Buck demanded, knowing what Jacques wanted to do. Jacques smirked, pleased that Buck was the one getting rid of the older kid. Barney had always trusted Buck, even Clint did. The young man hesitated long enough to look at Clint, feel guilty and then nod before taking off. Once he was gone, Jacques nodded to Buck. Buck assumed that Jacques wasn't pleased with what he had done. "We need him on our side."
"You're the thieves?" Clint questioned in a mix of astonishment, anger and betrayal. Jacques smugly looked to Buck. The old archer rolled his eyes. For a moment, Clint believed they were going to tell him that he was wrong. But then Jacques kicked him in the chest again. Gasping for breath, he looked up at the men he had admired. "Why?"
"Carson started cutting my pay after you took top slot," Jacques honestly answered, kicking the younger Barton again. "Can't afford it. So, I began skimming off the top. Just enough to cover my decrease."
"Why take more?" Clint mumbled, holding his chest tightly, knowing it was already beginning to bruise. Jacques laughed at the question. Clint figured that Buck's reason for all this was his various gambling debts. Glad that he didn't have to mention his real reason for stealing, Buck backed off. He really didn't want to tell Clint that it was his fault that Buck started stealing.
"Got greedy. Carson wasn't noticing. So, I figured a pay raise couldn't hurt," Jacques replied. Clint shook his head. Having never really felt the need for more, Clint couldn't understand the feeling of greed. In his past, Clint had been caught stealing. But what he had been stealing was actually a gift for Barney. Something that Clint would never have been able to afford.
"Why? Carson pays you! He feeds you!" Clint started describing. Jacques grabbed the teen's shirt collar and lifted him off the ground. A quick punch to the boy's nose had it spurting blood and silencing him.
"Wake up, boy! No one can be content staying in a place like this! Times change! I need more. And Carson can't give it to me," Jacques informed the teen. Clint shuddered, allowing his bleeding nose to drip down onto Jacques's boots.
"Then leave!" Clint cried, still not understanding how the world worked.
"We need money. Enough to get us by until we find a new place. Our current paychecks from Carson just isn't enough," Buck calmly pointed out. Clint frowned. "Trust me, this is our last time. We plan on leaving after this."
"Leaving? But... I don't understand," Clint whined. Unbeknownst to the trio, Barney returned to the tent. He opened the flap and paused at the sight before him. Clint bleeding in Jacques's hand, dangling off the ground. Jacques looking like he was about to beat Clint into a writhing mess and Buck just standing off to the side. Hearing the desperation in his brother's voice, Barney grimaced. He knew that this was going to go downhill as soon as Clint arrived.
"Carson's is going downhill, boy. It's over for guys like us. Buck and I are doing things now, before it gets too bad," Jacques growled. Clint frowned, tears beginning to form. Slowly, Clint was starting to see that the place he was just starting to call home, was about to fall apart. Nearly all the men he admired were planning on leaving without him. Clint just wished it came as a surprise but for some reason it didn't. "Now, the real question is, what are you going to do? Will you tell Carson? Or join us?"
Clint paused. Jacques was seriously asking him to help them steal money from Carson? Clint couldn't believe that the old swordsman could be that dense. There was no way that Clint would steal anything from Carson. The man had given Clint a life. A job. A home. No. He would never betray Carson, even if it meant his life. Slowly, Clint shook his head. Understanding right away, Jacques couldn't stop the smirk that spread across his face. He was going to have fun with this. Glancing at Buck to see if he was on board, Jacques noticed a sadness in the old archer's eyes. Shaking his head, Swordsman harshly kicked Clint across his face. The boy went flying backwards into a wooden box with a loud crash.
"I blacked out for a bit after that. When I came too, Jacques's fist slammed into my face and again, everything went dark. The next time I came too, Jacques was threatening Barney..."
"You listen to me, you punk nose brat! Shut that fuckin' kid up or we'll leave you to take the hit!" Jacques shouted at the older Barton. Barney winced, one of his eyes already beginning to darken and swell. Clint felt sore all over. Pain flared in his chest, which made him briefly wonder if his ribs were broken. One of his arms was twisted awkwardly around the box that he had been propped up against. Blood poured freely from his nose. Shifting, Clint's vision white-ed out. When it came back, Barney was standing over him with a gun. Jacques and Buck were missing.
"Barney?" Clint whimpered, figuring he could get his brother to stop easier now that the older men were gone. Barney's hand shook as he held the gun toward Clint's bruising face.
"No! No! You don't get to do that! You don't get to make me feel guilty!" Barney cried, his voice cracking in misery. Tears began to form in Clint's eyes as he realized that Barney may actually kill him. Barney noticed them and sobbed in pain. "I need to do this! Carson's has done nothing for me! You have done nothing for me!"
"Barney," Clint mumbled, wanting a minute to talk to his brother. Barney shook his head, his hand dropping minutely.
"YOU LEFT ME! YOU WENT AND BECAME A STAR! I... I was left cleaning up crap. I can't... Can't stand it here," Barney explained, his voice going soft. Clint moaned, shifting to move toward his brother. Barney sharply inhaled, his hand steadying as he pointed the gun solidly at Clint. His eyes hardened even as tears formed and slowly fell down both of their faces. "I can't have you ruin this."
"I woke up two days later. Carson found me dying, alone... Everyone joined their money together to help pay for my hospital fees and to keep the carnival going. But by the time I was released, Carson couldn't afford to keep us afloat. We disbanded, going our own ways," Clint muttered. He paused for a moment. "But, to this day, I wonder. Barney was a good shot. Almost as good as me. So... Why did he miss my heart?"
"What ever happened to Barney?" Tony whispered, almost as if he was afraid to speak. Clint shrugged. He never really cared to hear about the older Barton after that.
"Coulson told me he went MIA with the Army soon after he became my handler. I told Coulson then that Barney would never have joined up. He hated the Army. But Coulson was adamant. I told him to drop it and that was the last I heard about it," Clint told them. Before anyone else could speak more on the subject, Fury stepped into the room.
"The jet is ready."
Almost done. One chapter left. Until next time...