"Clint, you coming?" Nat's head popped out of the balcony door. She was beaming in the way that only action movies ever caused. A smile both genuine and haunted. Like she was both happy and fighting back the nightmares. It was a smile that Clint had seen all too often on his own face staring back at him in the mirror.

"Duh!" He flew inside, trying to hit her with one of his wings as he flew past, but she ducked out of the way.

"Don't test me, bird boy." she smirked and Clint had to repress a shiver, remembering, yeah, she could kill him without batting an eye.

"You know you love me." Clint circled, settling down onto her shoulder and letting her carrying him back into the living room.

"For now."

;;;

They settled into their normal spots on the sofa, cuddling like they always did. They'd had to adjust somewhat the last few weeks, but they still managed to make it work, despite the sudden increase in feathers and talons. Every so often Nat would have to shift or his talons would accidentally dig into her if there was an anxious moment in a movie and she would flick him upside the head lightly. But usually they would just sit, Clint curled on Nat's lap, as she occasionally stroked her fingers through his feathers.

It was peaceful and normal and comforting. It felt like home.

"Doctor Banner?" Both Clint and Bruce jumped, having been too enthralled in the movie to hear someone come into the room.

"A little warning next time, Coulson." Barton quipped, not needing to take his eyes off the screen to know he was right. He should have been able to know by the footsteps rather than having to rely on the voice.

"You're just getting sloppy, Barton."

"Maybe if someone would actually let me out of the damn house and practice." Clint mumbled, but Coulson seemed to have stopped paying attention to him.

"I could really use your professional advice on a matter, Doctor. If you don't mind?"

Coulson's voice was so flat and professional that, really, how was that not an invitation for Clint to be an ass? "You realize he's not that sort of Doc, right? He's not gonna be able to help with that rash."

"You are not nearly as amusing as you think you are."

Clint just winked as Bruce stood up and followed Coulson out of the room. Bruce muttered a quick "Don't bother pausing it. I've seen it a dozen times." to Nat as he passed. She just nodded once and told Jarvis to continue the movie. Clint only took a second to wonder what it was that Coulson wanted to talk to Bruce about before he got sucked back into the movie.

~;~

Phil stopped in the kitchen, far enough away that any conversation would be drowned out by the muffled sounds of swears and explosions emanating from the living room. Banner stopped a few feet away, leaning back against a counter. Phil felt a small glimmer of satisfaction as he saw how at ease the man seemed. He'd never been happy with SHIELD's role in forcing Banner to go on the run and it was always nice to be reminded that not all mistakes were irreparable.

"You wanted my advice on something?" Banner asked after a second of silence.

Phil nodded. "I did."

"I'm assuming it has to do with why you gave Tony a black eye." Phil noted the faint anger hidden behind the bland tone.

"Partially. Though, that was simply the catalyst. This is much larger than that particular conversation."

"So I take it this all comes back to Clint? What, are you restricting him even further?" This time Banner didn't bother hiding his emotions. He leveled a glare at Phil hard enough to make him shift uncomfortably.

"I realize I may have been a little- "

"Insane" Banner supplied when Phil hesitated.

"I was going to say protective, but yes, insane works too." Phil sighed before forcing onward. "I messed up, okay. I know that."

Banner's face split into a grin. "Glad you can acknowledge it. Does that mean you're going to finally give him a break and tell him about the 15 minute thing?"

Phil hesitated. Telling Barton was part of the plan... eventually. But that was not a conversation that he was looking forward to having and he may have left that part of his plan relatively unplanned. Luckily, he was saved from having to explain any of that by the sudden - and loud - appearance of Stark carrying a squawking metal bird.

Both Banner and Phil grimaced at the racket. "Can't you turn that thing off?" Phil shouted.

Tony shook his head. "I've tried. Damn circuit is faulty."

"Give it here." Banner held out a hand and Stark dutifully passed over the shrieking hunk of metal. Which Banner promptly smashed the head of against the counter behind him. The metal bird gave a final little whine before going silent. Banner handed it back to Stark who stared at Banner as if he'd just smashed his ice cream cone to the ground.

"What the hell was that for?"

"You wanted it to stop making noise, I did that." Banner shrugged. "What is it anyway?"

"It was the prototype of something I was creating. At Coulson's request." He nodded to where Phil was standing. "Part 1 of his: Fix the Shit I Fucked Up With Barton plan."

Phil raised an eyebrow. "That I fucked up? Because you are so innocent in this."

"More than you."

"Really? Are we forgetting who said he was more useful as a bird?"

"Okay. Hold it." Banner stepped in between them, stopping the argument before it could really get started. "Confused scientist here. Mind starting this from the beginning?"

"Barton overheard a conversation between Stark and Rogers about how he was more useful in the field as a bird rather than an archer." Phil spouted off, trying to keep his voice level.

"You WHAT?" Banner rounded on Stark who flinched back. Phil quickly scanned Banner for any sign of green but the man was still in control.

"First off, I was arguing the pro-human side, thank you very much." Stark pulled himself up to his full height, trying to make himself more intimidating. Considering how short that full height was, Phil was unimpressed. "And I think one black eye is more than enough punishment for that."

"Still less than you deserved." Phil mumbled.

"Anyway!" Banner interrupted. "What does this have to do with the screaming metal bird?"

"I asked Stark to build it." Phil forced himself to keep his voice somewhat neutral. "A fleet of bird drones that can perform every function as Barton in his current form."

"Meaning Clint will have no reason to want to stay a bird." Banner nodded in understanding. "But why build them? I mean, it's not like Clint has any say in his bird-ness. He'll switch back, just like Steve did."

"That's what I said!" Stark exclaimed and both men rounded on Phil, both with a look on their face that said that they knew he was holding something back.

Phil sighed, debating internally whether or not he should tell them everything. In the end, he figured he might as well. He could use another perspective on this entire fucked up situation. "Barton made a deal with Loki."

The words had exactly the result he expected. Both men's jaws dropped and they gaped at him for a long minute as they processed what he'd said. Stark was the first one to speak (why was Phil not surprised). "How? When could he have possibly have met with Loki? He's been locked up in the Tower. Thanks to you."

"Loki came here."

"HE WHAT?!" Tony roared and Banner quickly shushed him. Phil's eyes darted to the hall that led out the the living room but, thankfully, the movie was still covering the noise. "Are you telling me that Loki, THE LOKI, Asgardian Pain in our Asses, God of Mischief, LOKI was in my fucking Tower?"

Rage was rolling off of Stark in waves and Phil couldn't blame him. He was still furious about it himself. But he held it back, because that was what he needed to do. He'd process it when he had a moment alone. Right now he needed to do whatever it took to fix everything he had ruined, which meant sticking to the plan. "Yes. Loki was here. Though, technically, he was never actually in the Tower. Just on a balcony."

"JARVIS!" Tony shouted at the ceiling. "How did that happen?"

"I do not know, sir." The AI responded, sounding genuinely concerned. "My sensors should have picked him up should he appear within a hundred yards of the Tower. He must have blocked them somehow. I'm running diagnostics now."

"I'm more worried about this deal Clint made?" Banner spoke before Tony could spout more anger at his AI.

"Basically. Loki gave Clint one week to make a decision. If he chooses, Loki will make it so that he remains a bird permanently."

Both men were stunned into silence. Phil could practically see the gears whirring inside their heads as they connected all of the dots and everything fell into place. In the end, it was Banner that broke the silence. He held up two fingers. "Two things. First, I'm going to help Tony with the birds, which I'm assuming was what you wanted my advice on in the first place." Phil nodded once before Banner continued. "Two. You really, really need to tell Clint about the 15 minutes and let up on your rules. Because all of the tinkering in the world isn't going to change the fact that, right now, you are the only thing keeping him from getting all of this flying crap out of his system."

Phil watched them both walk out of the room, already spouting forth a steady stream of techno-babble that he could never hope to understand. He knew Banner was right. Stark and Rogers' conversation may have been the final straw for Clint, but god knows, every other straw was entirely Phil's fault.

;;;

The living room was nearly silent when Phil walked in. The movie was in a quiet moment that Phil instantly recognized as being the lull before the final epic scene. Natasha and Clint were both watching it intently, though he was aware that both of them knew he was there.

"So, did Bruce give you some ointment for that rash?" Clint piped up after a minute.

Phil didn't bother resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Hilarious, Barton. I'm dying with laughter."

They fell into an easy silence, Phil standing behind the couch and all of them focused on the movie. None of them moved or spoke again until the credits were rolling. Phil turned to leave the room, needing to reassess how it would be best to approach Clint, when Natasha spoke up. "It's karaoke night tonight. You should join us."

He could tell by her tone that she was still somewhat furious about the fact that Phil still hadn't told Clint everything. And that she was hoping he would agree simply so that she could find a way of forcing him to talk to Clint.

Phil shook his head. "I can't. Work to do. Besides, I was under the impression that karaoke night is a team-building exercise."

Clint's head whipped around and Natasha simply raised an eyebrow at him, explaining. "That is exactly why it would be fine for you to come."

"Except I'm your handler. I'm not a part of the team." The words more or less slipped out before Phil could censor them. They had way too much of his bitterness still laced in them and there was no way either Clint or Natasha would miss it.

There was a flash of blue and suddenly Clint was fluttering in front of Phil's face. "You are a part of this team." Phil couldn't quite read the tone of his voice through the translator nor could he figure out exactly what emotion was on his feathered face. Being so lost about what Clint was thinking wasn't something he was used to and it only served to emphasize everything that he'd lose if Clint stayed as a bird. "Just as much as any of us are." Clint continued.

"It's a lovely sentiment, Barton. But I've seen my job title. Nowhere on there does it say 'Avenger'." Phil spun and strode from the room. He needed to get away from that conversation before it got out of hand. He should have known Clint wouldn't let it drop that easily. He could hear the flapping of wings following him into the kitchen. Phil stopped where Banner had earlier, leaning back against the counter in an attempt to seem at ease.

Clint flew right into Phil's space, getting in his face. It was hard for Phil to focus on him when he was moving up and down slightly with each beat of his wings. "Coulson, do you really not realize that you're a part of this team."

"I'm not having this discussion with you, Barton." Phil kept his voice calm despite the storm he could feel bubbling inside him. Trust Barton to pick at the one thing that had always been a open wound. A spark of an idea hit Phil then. The perfect topic change that would be sure to distract Clint enough to let the team thing drop. "But now that I've got a moment, there was something I wanted to tell-"

"Can it Coulson!" Barton cut him off. "You don't get to side-step this. This isn't a joke and it certainly isn't something I'm going to let drop. This is serious. Do you not think of yourself as part of this team?"

Phil was battling internally; dozens of versions of himself vying for dominance. The Agent side of him noted the role reversal going on here. It also said Phil needed to regain control of this situation and remind Barton who the superior officer is. But another part of him, a sadly too-large part, was already too wound up from the entire cluster-fuck that this week was turning into. That this month was turning into. Hell, the cluster-fuck that was his everyday life now. And that part was winning out over everything else.

"I am not an Avenger, Barton." The Agent side was clinging desperately for control still. "My job is to monitor you all. To make sure that you do not harm yourselves and to make sure that you all maintain at least a somewhat healthy level of sleep to ensure that you are able to complete missions. My job" the anger and bitterness were forcing their way through and Phil had to grit his teeth against it. "is to deal with PR & HR & to file the thousand and one forms that you people go through. Do you realize that I've had to oversee the creation of no less than 70 new forms and regulations in the last year alone?" The anger was quickly eating away at what little remained of Phil's calm.

"But you're still-" Clint started.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Phil bellowed. "Don't you dare say that I'm still a part of this team. I have never been a part of the team. I was never meant to be. And if you honestly didn't realize that, then maybe I need to consider whether or not you have enough intelligence to still be in the field. Why do you think I'm the only one with my own full private quarters; my own kitchen, while the rest of you share. Why do you think my chair in the living room is positioned the way it is. Why do you think I'm always busy doing paperwork while you all have karaoke night? Why do you think I've never told you how -" Phil snapped his mouth shut, stopping the flow of words just soon enough to stop himself from admitting something that would have truly been impossible to take back.

Clint was just staring at Phil with what he guessed to be shock. "We - How - " Clint stuttered, looking for the right words. Only, Phil knew that there were no right words.

"It's fine, Barton. I made peace with my place in this organization a long time ago." Phil sidestepped, careful to squeeze past Clint without touching him, and headed for the hall to his room.

But apparently his outburst still wasn't enough to deter Clint. He heard a flutter of wings. "You're being stupid about this, Phil."

Phil spun around, accidentally spinning too fast and throwing himself off balance and he flung out an arm as he spun in order to balance himself against the far wall. Only his hand connected with something else first. Something small and soft and feathery that was knocked across the kitchen and into the fridge. Clint let out a squawk as he hit.

Every word that Phil had been about to say fled from his mind along with his anger. He could feel the blood drain from his face as he spotted the crumpled heap of blue lying awkwardly at the base of the fridge. He hesitated, not sure what he should do. As Clint shifted, moving to try and get up, Phil fled.

It had been an accident. He would never harm Clint on purpose. But what did intention matter now? He wouldn't be able to face Clint after this. Would never be able to forgive himself, let alone dare to ask forgiveness from Clint.

The second Phil got into his office he locked the door behind him and slumped to the ground. He let his head drop back against the door with a thunk. "Way to go, Phil." He muttered to himself. "Drive him to make deals with Loki because you're so concerned about his safety then you go and punch him into a fridge. Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant."