Chapter 18
The Job
"CLINT FUCKING BARTON that is in no way funny" Tasha was furious "get to training I have some serious anger to work off"
'This could end badly' Clint thought "Tasha, Babe it was just a joke"
"Sweet talking wont help you Barton! I'm all for you and Phil, but not fucking infront of me! You know I love you, but that was fucked up and you know it" she stood on the training mat waiting for him to join her.
"Okay your right, now lets not break my bones. I would really like to stay out of the infirmary for at least a month" he smiled as he joined her, getting flipped on his back straight away
Phil's mind was somewhere else when JARVIS brought him back to the real world. "Director Fury is on the line sir"
"Okay JARVIS" Phil reluctantly said
"Agent Coulson, I need you in New Mexico with Thor!" Fury boomed
"Sir?" Phil was shocked by the request
"your jet is waiting, you will be briefed on the way, see you in a couple hours Agent" the line went dead.
Phil went into work mode grabbing his travel bag, calling Thor as he went to the training room, when he made it Clint was being flipped by Natatsha "Sorry Natasha can I steal your punch bag for a second" his face reddened as he flashed back to the last encounter.
Clint looked up at Phil from the mat "Punch bag? I'm letting her win!" Clint let a smile spread across his face "What's up lover boy" he said as he got up , noticing Phil's backpack "where are you going? I can be ready in 5 minutes, I can…" Phil placed a finger on Clint's lips cutting him off.
" I wont be gone long, but I have to go alone" he kissed Clint gently "Now go have fun 'letting Natasha win' " Phil smiled
"But..I..I..I just got you back, you can't leave me!" Clint's voice wobbled
"Agent Coulson your jet has arrived" JARVIS announced
Phil brought his forehead to Clint's so there eyes met "I love you baby", then turned to leave.
Clint stood there motionless, until Natasha touched his shoulder, "He's coming back, now stop sulking and get back to training" she knew this was the only way to keep him focused.
Phil jumped on the jet sitting next to Thor "Son of coul how are you!" Thor's voice boomed around the jet "How is the Hawk doing, better I hope, he is a valuable asset"
Phil held in his laugh 'Valuable ass more like' he thought, "I'm fine and so is Agent Barton" Phil smiled
"Why New Mexico?" Thor questioned
"Until my briefing arrives" he held up his Stark Pad "your guess is as good as mine"
The Stark pad made a noise "Agent Coulson your briefing has arrived shall I play it for you?" JARVIS enquired
"Yes Please" Phil responded as the screen came to life playing the brief in his headphones,
'This is what is known so far Agents: The Tesseract was taken by SHIELD to be studied, The brightest team was assembled, but we are missing our key scientist Eric Selvig' Eric's file came up on the screen ' Your job is to find him and bring him to our remote headquarters'
Phil sighed yet another babysitting job
Clint and Natasha were dripping with sweat when they decided to call it quits, "Agent Barton, Director Fury is on the line" JARVIS announced as Clint groaned as he stood up.
"This better be good news Director" he stated wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Agent Barton, i need you to report to security detail at SHIELD headquarters immediately" Clint sighed.
"Can I at least shower Sir? I just finished training" he looked over at Tasha who just shrugged
"30 mins Barton, bring all your gear" Fury said as he hung up.
"Well he's in a good mood" Clint said as he headed for the shower
"Maybe Phil will be there" Tasha smiled as she closed her bedroom door.
It took 25 minutes for Clint to have all his gear and be in his all black tactical SHIELD uniform, as he stood waiting for his jet bracing himself against the wind, he wished he had asked Fury about the job he was going into, like why did he need his guns and bow? He hated going in blind.
When the jet finally arrived, Clint sat down and was handed a folder with his job detail, it read:
SHIELD TOP SECRET
THE TESSERACT
This item is classified, for need to know only.
The Tesseract was found with Col. Steven Rogers (alias: Captain America) in the ice, SHIELD is assembling a team of scientists to study the 'Cosmic Cube' to help us create phase 2 (CLASSIFIED).
Agent Clint Barton your job is to run a security detail and keep watch over the 'Cosmic Cube' we need information relayed over secure connection to Director Nick Fury every 24 hours, The scientist you will be assigned to is Doctor Eric Selvig and his team of NASA scientists.
BE AWARE THIS IS A TOP SECRET MISSION, YOU ARE NOW ON A MEDIA BLACK OUT, THE FOLLOWING IS PROHIBITED AS PER USUAL SHIELD STANDARDS:
CELLPHONES
EMAILS
TEXTING
ANY SOCIAL NETWORKS
ALL JARVIS RELATED PRODUCTS
Clint sighed as he read his file and switched off his phone 'Great yet another babysitting job, and no way to tell Phil where he was' he thought
"Agent Barton we will be touching down in 10 minutes the Director asked that you be ready to work straight away" The co-pilot said. Clint stood up grabbing his leg holster from his bag and putting it in its pace, checking his weapon, his trusty bow was left in the bag, on security he usually just needed his heckler & koch P30, he smiled as he felt the cold metal, 'That gun had saved his life a few times' he thought as he put on his gloves as the back hatch opened.
"Agent Barton, good to see you walking again: Agent Dipllio smiled "This way please"
'Great Babysitting with this bitch!' Clint thought as he grabbed his bags. "So where is my assignment?" he asked, cutting straight to business, he didn't have time for small talk with this woman.
"Dr. Selvig is M.I.A in New Mexico at the moment, you will be keeping an eye on the cube until Thor and Agent Coulson bring him in" She pointed to the bunks "you can leave your bag here Agent"
"So now I'm here to baby-sit a cube, Great!" Clint said making the sarcasm obvious.
"Director Fury believes you're the best man for the job, he even had us set up your precious nest" Agent Dipillo was starting to show anger at his lack of caring. She pointed to the room where scientists were busying themselves, "Good luck Agent Barton, lets not fuck this one up" she said as she walked away.
Clint felt his hand go to his weapon, the desire to kill that bitch was all to real. He took a deep breath in and walked into the room, surveying it so he would know what he was looking at. He climbed up into his nest, crouching down he got straight into his job.
Thor was busy with Jane trying to find the Doctor, When Phil saw this as his opportunity to check in with Clint, he dialed his number…Voicemail, his phone was switched off, Phil automatically dialed Natasha.
"If your calling to find your man, I am not your messaging service Phil" Tasha was clearly annoyed by the disruption " But Fury called him on a case" and with that she hung up.
'Strange' Phil thought 'I should have been informed'
"Son of coul! Jane has Erik on the phone! Lets get him to the base" Thor boomed as he walked up to Phil, he lowered his tone "Any chance I could stay here with Ms. Foster, Phil?" he asked
Phil just smiled "Sure big guy just keep in contact incase we need you" He watched Thor go back to Jane as tell her the good news. He said his goodbyes as he went to get Selvig.
"Agent Barton report" Clint's com boomed in his ear, he got up from his perch and slid down the rope, and walked over to the doorway.
"You should be happy to know Agent Coulson has Dr. Selvig and will be here in 30 minutes" Dipilio stated "Perhaps we can get you doing some real work" she smirked as she watched Clint's hand drop to his weapon "holding a grudge are we agent? You wouldn't are give up all this to kill me" she leaned in "you are to weak to give up Phil"
This woman knew all of the right buttons to push with Clint, he unlatched his gun, he knew he wouldn't use it but he enjoyed watching the Agent step back. "Darling I know how to kill and make it look like an accident" he said as he slid the latch back on his gun and walked away
"COWARD" she yelled after him, and turned to leave.
Phil and Erik touched down at the headquarters "I didn't even know SHIELD was looking for me, sorry they dragged you away, are you still with that cellists?" Erik genuinely felt bad.
"Just doing my job Erik, and no she moved, I found someone closer to home" Phil smiled, a part of him was hoping Clint would be here and the other part was happy that he was getting to catch up with Selvig.
They were escorted into Selvig's lab where technicians were already prepping for the arrival. "Agent Coulson you look tired" his heart skipped a beat as he recognized his lovers voice over the com and he started scouring the skyline.
Selvig was already getting into his work when Phil saw Hawkeye's nest, he wanted to run up there and cuddle his man, when he saw him walking towards the doctor.
"Dr. Selvig, I'm Agent Barton, I have been assigned to this project as security detail, if you need anything ill be in my nest" he stuck out his hand to the doctor
Erik shook his hand and let out a laugh "you have a nest? Phil where do you pick up these agents!"
"I'm also known as Hawkeye sir, best marksman alive, I see better from a distance" he looked over at Phil and smiled
"Dr. Selvig, Agent Barton is our best agent for the job" Phil smiled.
"Whatever Phil as long as I can work in peace, and you will have to tell me more about this lady closer to home later" he asked as he started working on the new project.
Clint couldn't help but laugh "he's a beam of joy, and what's this about a lady close to home?" he said to Phil.
Phil just turned towards Clint "Why didn't you call to tell me you had been assigned to security detail"
Clint's face dropped "Are you really upset! You were on a mission, And I'm not the one keeping secrets" he touched Phil's arm.
"Can we go to the nest and talk about this" Phil said as he watched Clint smile, having Phil go into his nest was a dream for him.
Clint grabbed Phil's hand practically dragging him onto the structure before putting it high in the sky , once they were in place Clint put his arm around Phil's waist and pulled him close lightly kissing his cheek.
"I was really hopping you were here" Phil said "But I really don't like finding out your on a mission from your team mates, not just from a professional point of view babe but as your boyfriend, and Erik just assumed I was talking about a woman" Phil pulled Clint into a kiss " I don't want to see you in hospital again"
"Babe! I have to work! This isn't even dangerous; My biggest threat is electrocution" he smiled as Phil wrinkled his face.
Phil went to argue when their coms came to life "Agent Coulson, please report to my office" Fury barked as Phil headed for the controls to the nest he turned to Clint "back to work Agent" he smiled as he left. Clint made sure to take his time watching his lover leave, his perfect ass in his pressed suit paints 'DAMN' Clint thought.
When Phil finally reached Fury's office he could tell the man was stressed, he was starting to wear away the carpet from all the pacing. "Sir?" Phil said as he heard Nick clear his throat.
"I see Thor stayed with Jane, Does he know we have the tesseract?" Fury asked
"I don't believe so sir, my briefing was for my eyes only" he cleared his throat "Why would we not want a Norse god on our side?" Phil felt uneasy as he asked Fury for the truth.
"Well Phil, the cosmic cube happens to be from the relms of Thor, we are studying it so we can be prepared for any threats from his world" Fury continued to pace "And of course Agent, this is all Classified, even for your Hawk!"
Phil hated how Fury went so easily from friend to boss, 'his Hawk' he thought, 'Did Fury really think that he would tell his partner classified information'
"Yes, sir I understand" Phil finally responded
Fury handed Phil the emergency evacuation information for the headquarters "Study it Agent, Just in case, your dismissed" Fury said
"Yes Sir" Phil headed for the door 'what are we dealing with here!' he thought as he closed the door.