Why hello there everyone. I know some of you were probably starting to doubt, but I am in fact still alive and kicking. I'm not going to bore you with the details of why I took the monstrosity of a break that I did, but on the bright side, it is over now and I'm back and writing again.
In that vein, I have good news, even better news, and then I have a little bit of bad news. This is going to be a little bit of a lengthy AN, but if you have interest in my other stories, it pertains to that.
Good news: I will be posting the first chapter of the new story in the Protective Reasoning universe exactly a week from today!
Better news: I already have the story, and a majority of its sequel completely written!
Bad news: The next story is not going to be Glass. That story has been completely scrapped as far as the Protective Reasoning universe goes. This is for a multitude of reasons, the major one being what I had planned (that had been a budding idea for a long time) didn't fit at all for the characters I'd established with my other stories. If I ever do post it, it will not be a part of my universe.
Anyway, more information for the new story coming at the end of this little one shot.
This is a short one, but I saw the trailer for 'Agents of SHIELD', and I just couldn't resist. Before everyone asks, as far as the Protective Reasoning universe goes, I'm pretty sure Phil's staying dead. Unless I can think of a really convincing, realistic reason to shove him back in.
At any rate, enjoy, review if you'd like, and keep an eye out for the new story a week from today.
"When he pitched this whole 'Avengers Initiative' thing at me, I'm not going to lie, I thought he was nuts." the archer told them lightly, an exasperated grin on his face. "Course, that was just after the whole thing in Tokyo, so it might have partially been the pain meds too, but it was a pretty out there idea. I'm sitting there recovering from a bullet wound and he's telling me he wants to put me on a team with Captain-freaking-America, a demi-god from another realm, Iron Man and my partner." Home Sweet Home Chapter 4
Clint idly tapped his fingers against the metal briefing room table in time with the song that was coming out of his head phones. His stomach still hurt like a bitch, getting shot always did, but he'd finally been released from the infirmary this morning. Because of that, he wasn't even going to complain that Phil had kept him waiting for the past twenty minutes in this dull, lifeless briefing room. He was curious about what his handler wanted to brief him on, seeing as he hadn't been cleared for active duty.
He looked around when the door opened behind him, sitting up quickly and gingerly easing his feet down so they weren't propped up on the edge of the table anymore, slipping his head phones out of his ears. Phil came around the table to sit across from him, placing a stack of files on the table in front of him.
"How are you feeling?" Phil asked, looking him over with barely muted concern in his eyes. He'd been getting Natasha settled on a mission in Nepal, and had just gotten back the day before. Aside from a quick visit to his infirmary room to inform him about this briefing, they hadn't seen each other in almost a week. Clint just grinned.
"Immeasurably better now that I've been released after two weeks in that hellish prison." he said lightly, making his handler sigh though the smallest of grins twitched at the corner of his mouth.
"Must you over-dramatize everything?"
"Come on, Phil, you know the answer to that one." his smirk widened cheekily before he sobered somewhat, turning serious. "What d'we got?"
"Nothing. We're raising your security clearance." Phil said, looking back down to the files in front of him. Clint, however, frowned and sat up straighter, eyes narrowed in confusion.
"What do you mean 'raising my security clearance'? I'm already Level 6, Phil, that's as high as it goes." the assassin pointed out. He'd been at Level 6 for years, with the type of targets he was given. Then, his eyes darkened as he read his handler's gaze. He knew that look. It was the 'I did it for your own good' look. He hated that look, because it meant Phil had lied to him about something.
"Clint," the older man started, tone placating, but Clint just scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and not softening his expression in the slightest.
"You promised not to keep me in the dark, Coulson." he said shortly, watching as his handler's eyes flashed at him.
"I haven't; not about anything pertaining to your missions. I wouldn't do that, Clint, it's not like that."
"Then what's it like?"
His handler gave a long sigh at the scathing note in his tone, but knew far better than to comment on it. Instead he just met the younger man's challenging gaze and moved to explain.
"Level 7 has a very specific focus point that doesn't pertain to anything you've ever done before." he said, holding the archer's gaze and watching the anger simmer in favor of very reluctant curiosity.
"What would that be? And why would you decide to change my clearance now?" he asked, tone still hard and short, and with none of the laid-back amusement that it had contained before.
"Because it's going to start pertaining to you." Coulson said matter of factly, grabbing the top file off the stack he had brought with him. "Remember what I mentioned to you about the Avengers' Initiative?"
"That it was scraped by the Council?" Clint asked sarcastically, instead just holding his hand out for the file, which was then passed to him.
"You know the Director. If he wants something, he's going to keep pushing for it. Especially seeing as it's starting to look like it's something we're going to need." Coulson pointed out, before falling silent to give his agent the time to look through the file.
Clint's eyes continually widened as he looked through the pages of the file, and the write ups on the people Fury wanted for this team. Tony Stark. The big crazy blonde he'd held an arrow on down in New Mexico, who was apparently an alien and a demi-god. Obviously he was supposed to be able to take that into stride as if it was nothing to be alarmed about. Dr. Bruce Banner aka the Hulk that'd helped lay waste to the entirety of Harlem. Also clearly just the guy that could be trusted without thought. The fourth page had him blinking in unmasked shock and looking up to Phil.
"Captain America." he deadpanned, raising an eyebrow but expecting nothing else from his handler when he broke out into an excited grin.
"We found him in the ice. Alive. He's currently defrosting on base in New York." Coulson confirmed and Clint snorted turning his gaze back to the file with a smirk of his own.
"And I missed your fan girl moment when Fury told you." he sighed and shook his head in disappointment, grin widening as Phil snorted defensively.
"I did not have a 'fan girl moment' Barton."
"I would bet every dime I've ever made that you did." Clint pointed out, not deterred at all by the older man's denial. He /had/ seen the fan girl moment when he had completed his trading card collection. He couldn't remember ever laughing that hard before or since. He grinned at Coulson's huff before turning the page in the file again and completely freezing.
He was looking down at his own picture.
"You're not serious."
"I'm completely serious." Coulson had turned back to his stoic professionalism and was now watching him carefully. "Turn the page."
Clint did so, shaking his head slowly when the last work up in the file was Natasha's.
"We're lone-wolf assassins, Phil, not team players and certainly not superheroes." the archer pointed out, closing the file and sliding it forward.
"I wouldn't ask you to do something that you weren't capable of Clint." Coulson said patiently. "We don't even know for sure that it'll work, and to be honest, you're the first one we're completely reading in. Level 7 has purely to do with unnatural or alien entities and threats, and our response to those things." he nodded down to the file Clint had pushed away. "Fury thinks the Council will be a bit more accepting if we have some of our own people included. And let's be honest, you and Romanoff are both good enough to qualify."
"The Council hates me and they think we should have killed Nat when we had the chance." Clint pointed out dryly. "I don't think we are going to give them any peace of mind."
"They may not like you, but at the end of the day you're still SHIELD." Coulson said confidently, meeting Clint's gaze again. "I'm not going to push you into it, but I'd like you to consider it."
"Fine." Clint hedged, still not entirely convinced, before changing the subject and nodding to the rest of the files his handler had brought with him. "What're those?"
"Your homework." Coulson said lightly, picking up the top four and sliding them across the table to him. "Everything we know on your new team mates, aside from Natasha, who you already know more about than what's in her file anyway."
"Great." Clint leafed through them quickly, able to feel Coulson grin at his obvious lack of enthusiasm.
"And this last one is going to be one of your next assignments." Coulson said, picking up the final file and handing it to him. "A protection detail."
"For who?" Clint asked as he reached forward for the file, somewhat confused. Just by looking at his new 'team mates', they weren't anything he could protect better than they could protect themselves.
"Not who. What." Coulson said, watching as he flipped open the file. "It's called the tessaract. In the loosest terms, it's a glowing energy cube. You'll have to read up on it."
"When does this start?" Clint asked with a frown, scanning the first page of the file.
"Not for a month or two at least. You're not cleared for active duty, we're still trying to put together a team to study it, and we've still got some normal missions lined up for you that we want taken care of before settling you down with it." Coulson explained, twitching the ghost of a smile when Clint snorted.
"I'm going from assassinating war lords and arms dealers to babysitting alien technology." he sighed, shaking his head. "And it's going to last a while isn't it?"
"Probably." Coulson nodded with a slight air of apology.
"I'm not making any promises about how I'm going to end up entertaining myself." Clint warned, grinning when his handler shot a disapproving look at him, before shaking his head.
"You can look these over back in your quarters, you need to get some rest." Coulson pointed out, and Clint didn't protest – which said something significant about the pain he was still in – instead gathering up the files and slowly standing, ignoring the pull of pain from the slowly healing muscle in his stomach. "Welcome to Level 7, Agent Barton."
Clint snorted to that, unimpressed and still not completely over the fact that Coulson had lied to him.
"If it makes you any less angry at me, you're the first field agent to have this security clearance." Phil offered, holding the briefing room open for him to exit.
"When are you reading Natasha in?" he asked, looking back and pausing to wait for his handler as he closed the door behind them.
"As soon as she gets back from Nepal." the older man assured, and Clint nodded before grinning and lightly elbowing Coulson in the side.
"You know what would make me even less angry at you?" he questioned, but to his surprise, Coulson just clapped his shoulder and barely returned his grin instead of being exasperated.
"The pizza I put in your room on my wait to meet with you should still be warm when you get there."
"How do you do that?" Clint demanded, but Coulson just raised an eyebrow and turned to go down a different hallway. "I'm serious, Phil. You're going to tell me who you know and how you talk them into it."
"Get some rest, Clint." his handler called back to him over his shoulder, not at all responding to his comment.
And there we have it. Feel free to tell me what you think.
Now, I'm going to give you the summary for the new story. Which still doesn't have a title. So if you read the summary and a good title jumps out at you, please let me know. I am terrible at naming things.
For almost nine years, Clint Barton has considered himself part of SHIELD. Up until joining the Avengers, the agency was the closest thing to a home he had. On the other side of the coin, his team mates had grown into his family in ways that he never would have expected. So when SHIELD and his team are put at odds and he's forced to choose between following his orders or saving a man that has become his brother, what will he choose? And what will that decision cost him?
~Dogstar