Little Tsu: Next chap of my Avengers story. This chap was fresh in my mind so I jus' had ta get it typed up & posted before it went...poof.\o/

Enjoy.

Ch: 4

Damn it!

It had been a week since that day he found Alister unconscious in that crater. He should've known that this would happen eventually. He had been warned...There had been suspicions even that this was gonna happen! So why? Why hadn't he taken more precaution to prevent it?!

Rushing through the halls after Clint burst out of the opening elevator, he hastily entered in a code and the moment the doors opened to grant him access, he hurried into the massively expansive room. It was only then that he came to a sudden halt and panted lightly as his eyes held a very faint trace of panic while searching the room for the very creature that was supposed to have been under his watch constantly. He couldn't believe he had allowed himself to get careless. That had been sloppy on his part.

"Hey, Legolas. I don't believe I gave you security clearance to enter my sanctuary here."

Darting his narrowed gaze towards the direction of the voice, Clint spotted Tony Stark wiping his hands free of any oil or grime with a work cloth that he kept around his work shop. "Where is she Stark? I know Alister's here. Now where is she?" Taking a step forward, his fists clenched slightly as he tried to keep his cool and usually stoic feel about himself that he tended to have when around the others half the time.

"Hm...Alister...Alister...Ah. You mean Little Dragon? She's here...She's here. Perfectly safe even. Speaking of which, when exactly were any of your going to tell me that we got ourselves a new pet?" Of course. Leave it to Stark to act so calm, collected, and speaking in that usual slightly fast tone as if he was on a coffee kick. When he wasn't getting an answer, he finally rolled his eyes and pointed towards the back where a new suit that he was working on was standing. Right next to it, fiddling with some of the controls over the hologram computer screens in front of her, was none other than Alister. "Smart kid, she is. Didn't think she was technologically advanced, but boy was I wrong. She's got quite the mind. Mentioned that if I routed a mini flux capacitor into my suit, I could - in theory - travel back in time a short distance during a big battle if any of us were to get killed and prevent said murder...Theorically of course, but still rather genius actually once you think about it and could easily give us the advantage when we need it."

Clint just shook his head at this before finally walking passed Stark in a brisk fashion as he headed over towards where the small girl was. She didn't even seem to really notice he was there as she had her back to him and seemed engrossed in whatever it was she was testing out. Halting for a moment though, he glanced behind himself from over his shoulder and gave the genius a slightly irritated look. "Not that it's any of your business, but Alister's my responsibility and last thing I need is your influence on her Stark."

Tony blinked slightly in surprise before lifting a hand as he rested it over his heart; pretending to be insulted and hurt by those accusations. "Do you really think I'd be such a terrible influence on the kid? I'm hurt...Really."

Rolling his eyes at this, Clint faced the front again and walked over to the girl that was hard at work still. As he made it to her side, he rested a hand gently onto her shoulder, causing the spry girl to jump slightly in startlement before quickly turning her head to look up at him in surprise. He had really been about to scold her for wandering off without him and even worse, being around Tony Stark of all people, but when he saw the innocent, yet surprised expression in her widened molten gold eyes, all words that he had been about to say froze in his throat. Sighing softly to himself, Clint shook his head and actually mentally scolded himself for falling so easily for such an expression. Alister was the only one capable of getting under his skin and making him soft so easily, which was a shock due to only knowing her a mere week. "Why did you wander off like you did Alister? You nearly gave me a heart attack, you know that?" Of course he said this softly enough so that the King of Eavesdropping didn't overhear anything that he wasn't supposed to...

Which, quite frankly, was everything.

Alister still seemed surprised and startled by this, but now it was from the fact that she had actually worried the man. She honestly hadn't intended for such a thing. Eyes softening a bit as she glanced down and off to the side, she fidgeted slightly under the hand that was still on her delicate shoulder. "I...apologize...I had no idea that you would become concerned for me. It is just that you were so busy in the training room with your weapon, I had not wished to disturb your concentration."

"That doesn't explain why you were with Tony Stark of all people. He's not exactly role model material here and definately not the type to 'babysit' for lack of a better word."

"He saw me wandering around and noticed I was new...He dragged me back here to his lab so as to,...I suppose test,...how intelligent I was. I did not realize I was causing trouble by following Mr Stark here..."

Clint was silent for a moment on this before finally sighing softly in defeat. Kneeling himself down onto one knee before the girl so that he was more her height and now looking up at her a little bit. With his hand that had been on her shoulder now gently grasping around her left elbow, he lifted his free hand to her face and gently coasted her head to turn so that her gaze locked with his deep blue ones. "Alister, listen. I'm not angry with you, alright? I was just worried that something happened to you and then when someone told me they saw you with Stark, to be perfectly blunt, I panicked." When he saw the still apologetic look in her gaze, he offered her a reassuring smile to let her know he meant it when he said he wasn't mad at her. "Just don't leave my side like that again without at least letting me know where you're going, ok? Otherwise, next time Stark decides to 'kidnap' you, I'll be using him as my next target practice dummy."

The last thing the archer said to her finally caused a smile to dance across her delicate features as she even actually let out a breathy little laugh. Closing her eyes gently as she kept the gentle smile up, her head leaned into his large hand as she nuzzled it gently. It had only been a mere week since meeting the man before her and even moreso, she was not even of the same species as he no matter how human she was able to look with her dragon features hidden and yet...Clint Barton had quickly become someone she dearly trusted and saw as her best friend. She honestly didn't know what she would do without him. Unfortunately, as those very thoughts crossed her mind, a sharp, emotional pain shot through her chest as she remembered the promise she was forced to keep. 'I can't...I can't possibly bring myself to betray Clint...'

"Alister? Hey, you ok?"

"Huh?"

"I said, are you ok? You're...You're crying..." Clint's brows knitted in concern. Just what was wrong with his little friend...? Alister had woken up from nightmares everynight and sometimes she cried, but he had no idea why. He could only guess that she was remembering the massacre of her entire kind...Before he could really dwell on the matter any further like he wanted to, a faint buzz sounded off in his ear piece, followed by a voice.

"Agent Barton, you're being sent out on a mission. Our satelites have been picking up some strange readings, but it's nothing like when Alister showed up via the Bifrost."

"So what do you think it is Coulson?"

"We're unsure at this point and we've failed to get any visuals of the possible cause. We have, however, tracked the readings to the Amazon Rainforest. More specifically, near Manaus."

"Roger that. Would you like me to inform Natasha or has she already been briefed on the situation?"

"She won't be joining you on this mission. Agent Romanof is needed on another mission with Steve Rogers. You'll be taking Alister with you."

"Uh...sir?"

"This will be a good test to see if she really is harmless Agent Barton and also where her loyalties lie."

"Understood sir. Barton out..." Cutting off communications, Clint closed his eyes gently as he sighed softly. He really wasn't sure about this idea. It wasn't at all that he was hesitant in trusting Alister on a mission; it was actually that he wasn't sure if she was ready yet. Slowly opening his eyes, he locked them back onto the small humanoid before him while still kneelt on the floor and saw that she had been watching and listening curiously. "I'm being sent out on a mission. S.H.I.E.L.D's satelites picked something up and I gotta go check it out. They...They want me to take you with me. I want you to know that you have every right to decline if you feel you're not up for it though Alister..."

Seeing the sudden concern and honesty in his gaze as he said this, Alister offered him a faint smile and grasped his hand gently into both of her own since that hand had released her cheek earlier. "I'll go...I wish to accompany you on this mission of yours and assist in any way that I can. I do not feel that I need to prove my pure intentions to this agency, but...I do not wish for you to ever doubt me in my loyalty towards you alone Clint. I will do my best to back you up."

He couldn't help it. Clint had been taken slightly by surprise in her words. Yes, his friend, Natasha was loyal and a very good friend and teammate, but...Well, that trust had taken a while to build up. The girl before him though was willing to do anything at all just to prove herself to him. Not to Director Fury, Agent Coulson, nor anyone else within the agentcy. Just him...Snapping out of his slight shock, Clint finally smiled a bit and nodded his head once before rising up to stand. "Alright then...Lets get you suited up and ready to go."

To. Be. Continued.

Little Tsu: Yeahhh...Kinda short I guess? Well, I was thinkin' of makin' it longer & pull this chap all the way into the mission, buuut I figured it'd be better if the mission began in the next chap...Though whether that chap will get put as a cliffy well,...heheheh...You'll jus' have ta wait & see. lol