A/N: Hey guys, sorry I didn't update yesterday and sorry that I'm posting this update so late tonight but here it is. Thanks to my lovely reviewers! I really appreciate it!
Disclaimer: Own nothing
Before leaving the room, Phil took a minute to regain his composure. It wouldn't do anyone any good for him to be running around like a deranged lover trying to get anything done. It wouldn't work and it wouldn't do anything good for his blood pressure.
The first thing he did was go straight to Fury. Even though Phil was high up in the ranks at S.H.I.E.L.D., he wasn't able to do anything without the Director. He had an idea but he had to go to Fury first because that's just how it worked.
After a few minutes in the office, Phil was frustrated. "For the last time agent Coulson, we cannot call in the Avengers initiative just because agent Barton is missing. You are smart enough to know that you've been compromised." Phil was becoming desperate. "Director, he isn't just missing, he's been taken by Loki which makes this a very real threat to all of us."
Fury looked at Coulson with his one good eye. "Agent Coulson, we can't bring in the Avengers until we know for sure what Loki is planning. Unless this becomes a very real threat to the world, I am afraid that my hands are tied."
"Director, Loki is listed as one of the most dangerous threats to S.H.I.E.L.D. and this world. He is back and I'm sure that he is not here in order to do good. The Avengers are our only hope. We will call them together and get them on this case. While they are working on this mission, they will find Barton and defeat Loki…" Phil was interrupted by agent Maria Hill barging through the door. "Sir, the Tesseract is gone!"
Fury stood up, followed immediately by Phil. "Damnit!" They headed down to where the Tesseract was being held. When they reached the location, many, many floors down, they saw the room in a panic. There were dead guards laying on the floor and medics trying to help the wounded.
Fury and Phil followed agent Hill over to where the Tesseract had been located. "Hill, report," Fury commanded as he began to examine the evidence around where the Tesseract had been contained. "Sir, Erik Selvik is gone, four agents are dead, and six more are injured. And we found this." She handed Fury a single arrow with a note attached to it. Phil felt his heart drop at the sight of the arrow.
Pulling the note off the arrow, Phil took it and began to read, his hands shaking so badly he could hardly see the words on the page, his normally calm demeanor beginning to falter.
Greetings Son of Coul,
Did you truly believe that I was no longer a threat because I had been returned to Asgard?If that is what you believed then you are a fool. I have returned to Midgard to finish what I have begun and your little archer is integral in my plan. He is under my control and beyond your ability to save. He will come for you, and you will die. Midgard will fall to me.
The note wasn't signed but they all knew who it was from. Phil showed the note to Fury, shoving it into the Director's hands. "Do you still believe that there's no threat to the world? Do you still think that we shouldn't call in the Avengers?" Phil left before Fury could respond; marking the first time that agent Coulson had ever turned his back and walked out on one of his superiors.
Hill glanced at Fury, "Sir, what should we do now?" Fury read through the note before shoving it into his pocket. "Hill, go get me the council on the phone and then go get Coulson. I'll need him to help us round up the Avengers. We're going to war."
Fury used his one good eye to glare at the members of the council on the screen, "You do not seem to understand the danger that this very real threat poses to the world. The only way to stop it is to call in the Avengers."
"Director Fury, the Avengers are a group that has never been tested. You are acting much too quickly. We must gather more evidence that there is a threat before we send a group of unproven heroes off to stop a threat we don't even know is real."
Fury glared at the man that had just spoken, "We don't know that if the threat is real? Sir, I have four dead agents, six in critical condition, and am missing one of the smartest men in the world as well as the mysterious alien power source that only he even somewhat understands. Not to mention this "threat" that you aren't convinced of also has one of our top agents. Do you really think that this threat isn't real? This is Loki we're talking about, not some drug runner or terrorist group. Trust me, the threat is real."
The council looked to be considering for a moment, "Director, if you call in the Avengers Initiative, the fallout will be on your head." Fury nodded, "I know and I accept that consequence." The council members looked at each other, "Then we have no more to discuss." The screens clicked off and went black. Fury allowed himself a quick moment to appreciate the fact that he had won that discussion before heading off to round up the team.
The more Phil thought about the situation, the more he realized what he had to do. Phil knew that calling the Avengers together was the right call, he had always believed in the worth of the plan. The world needed super heroes, needed the binding force to bring them together; Phil had always known that. He'd been the one to suggest the Avengers Initiative, knowing that the world's greatest heroes would soon be needed. He hadn't realized the need would arise this soon.
However, as much as he would love to stick around and see the team come together, he knew that he had other more important things to do. He had to find the archer and he had to do it fast. For the first time in his whole life, Phil Coulson was forgetting about S.H.I.E.L.D. and going rouge. Clint would be so proud of him. He only hoped that Fury would be able to understand and that he wouldn't be in too much trouble when he came back and if he came back in a box, he hoped he'd still be able to be buried with some amount of dignity.
Phil walked out of the base in a way that he hoped was a dignified manner and hopped on a quinjet back to headquarters. He had some things he needed to gather before he could head off to find Clint. Plus he also had to figure out where Loki might be holding his archer.
All the way back to headquarters, Phil racked his brain for places that the god might be. He was wondering if being in Clint's brain meant that the god knew everything that Clint had stored in there; all of his memories and fears and hopes and dreams and thoughts would fall prey to Loki's devices. Loki had an unending supply of material to use to torture Clint and the longer Phil waited, the more the archer would have to endure. Phil had no idea how much Clint could take; the man was strong but everyone had a limit. The agent just hoped that he'd be able to save Clint before his was met, or worse, forced beyond.
Clint blinked his eyes as he began to regain consciousness. It might have been easier for his eyes to focus if the ringing in his ears would stop. When he finally managed to focus on his surroundings, the archer was surprised to find that he was somewhere he knew. How could he not remember this place? This was where he had first realized his feelings for Phil. However, Clint had no idea how he'd managed to get back here.
He heard a chuckle from the doorway and turned to see the slender form of Loki in the shadows. Clint watched with a cool gaze as the god glided towards him, gripping the archer's chin when he was in front of him. "I was wondering when you would awaken, my little archer. You see, I have not yet been able to properly thank you for all that you have done for me. Without you, I would have never been able to properly execute my plan. I must thank you for bringing us back in time. I was surprised that a Midguardian, especially one as simple minded as yourself, would think to turn back time. Had I realized how important son of Coul was to you, I may have had greater success on my first try. I shall have my chance soon again though, do not fear. I shall not lose again."
Clint spat in the god's face and smirked when Loki lifted him from the ground and slammed him into the concrete wall, "You will soon learn respect, man of arrows. You will learn respect as I take pleasure in crushing your little son of Coul for the second time. However, man of arrows, I will not be the one ending his life this time, as that honor shall fall to you when the time comes."
Clint glared at the god, "You're truly as crazy as they say if you think I'd ever lay a hand on Phil. I don't care how fucked up this past, future, whatever it is, has gotten, nothing you could do to me would make me hurt Phil." Loki smirked as he pressed his hand into Clint's arm where he had forced him to cut in order to write his message. Clint tried to appear unfazed as Loki clenched his hand around his arm and reopened the cut, ripping a large piece of skin from his arm and grinning in satisfaction at the way the archer tried to keep from crying out as his skin was torn from his body, leaving his arm a bloody mess. Loki smirked, "Man of arrows, I would hate to see your pathetic body succumb to a wound such as this, so I shall aid you." Clint was struggling to focus on what Loki was saying as he struggled to stop the bleeding, his fingers pressing into exposed blood vessels in an attempt to close them. However, he was brought back to awareness as a white hot pain seared through his body. The pain was like nothing he had ever felt before and he was forced to bite down on his lip to keep from crying out.
The force of the pain coursed through him like liquid fire, setting all of his nerve endings alight. Then, as quickly as the pain had come, it was over, leaving a trail of fire coursing through his body. He looked over at Loki and saw that the god was holding actual fire in his hand, the flame glowing green with his magic. He then looked down at his arm to see that the wound was sealed, the skin around glowing an angry red and the smell of burning flesh flooding his already overloaded senses. Loki had cauterized his wound.
The god just laughed and left, calling out to the archer behind him, "Remember, man of arrows, I have knowledge of everything that you most fear. I shall not lose in this future, man of arrows. The Avengers shall lose." And then Clint was alone with his pain. He vaguely wondered why Loki had released his hold on his mind in this past. The first time around, Clint never remembered having any time where Loki relaxed the hold. Why had Loki done it this time?
Clint looked around the underground bunker that he remembered so well. This place had been a S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house before, that one time he and Phil were here. Clint had many good memories of that mission despite the mission itself being an overall failure. That had been one of Clint's fondest memories.
That was one of the very first missions that he and Phil had had together as asset and handler. Clint had been passed around from handler to handler and had caused them all so much trouble that the big boss himself had finally decided that he needed to take the archer on himself. That was how Phil became Clint's handler (and Natasha's too, but that was a different story).
Clint remembered when Phil had come onto the archery range to find him.
"Barton, we have a mission. We leave now." Clint eyed his handler as he fired another shot off without looking, hitting the bull's-eye perfectly. "What kind of mission do we have, sir?" The archer released another arrow, once again hitting the bull's-eye. Phil just gave him a look before continuing, "We've received a tip that some drug runners have come in from Mexico. In order to avoid authorities, they set up a base in Death Valley and are running drugs into Las Vegas from there. We're leaving for Death Valley in thirty minutes and we need you on the quinjet now."
Phil turned on his heal and left, knowing full well that Clint would follow him. When Phil turned around again once he had gotten to the hanger, he saw the archer behind him, just like he knew he would be. Once you got to know him, Clint was fairly predictable.
Clint smiled at the memory; Phil was always the one that knew him best, better than Tasha and better than himself.
Once they had reached Las Vegas, Clint did his best to convince Phil to let him gamble but Phil had turned his agent gaze on the archer and that had ended that conversation. They were quickly loaded into black SUVs and driven the 148 miles into the middle of Death Valley.
When they got out of the car, Clint was already roasting. His uniform was black and tight, which made it easier to avoid being seen and easier to shoot, but damn it made it difficult to work in the heat. However, Phil looked as cool as a cucumber in his trademark suit. Upon closer examination, Clint noticed the sweat rolling down the other man's neck and decided that the agent was, in fact, a human.
Phil led him into the S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker behind a small group of rocks and underground. Luckily for Clint it was dark and cool in the concrete room. However, other than a small bed in the corner and a table with a computer, there was nothing in the room.
Later, Phil had allowed Clint to find a place among the rocks to crouch and wait for his target to appear while Phil waited on the comm, giving the archer orders and telling him to maintain radio silence. However, it had all gone to hell quickly once the target came into view. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s information hadn't mentioned the five bodyguards that the drug lord would have with him and the fact that they would all have guns and the fact that Clint would miss and hit the drug lord's wife who had just happened to be sitting next to him. That was the only mission that Clint had had to be pulled from for his own sake.
He had retreated to the safety of the bunker, beside himself that he had killed an innocent instead of the target he was supposed to kill. Clint didn't like that part of the memory as much but he did enjoy what had come afterwards.
"Barton, listen to me; you missed one time. It happens to everyone." Clint had been sitting in the corner, holding his head in his hands as Phil filled out the necessary paperwork. He had been completely silent since Phil had brought him back inside the bunker. The archer shivered and hugged his knees tighter to his body. Night in the desert brought extreme cold and the fact that he was sitting on a concrete floor next to a concrete wall wasn't helping much.
Phil walked over and put a gentle hand on the archer's shoulder, offering a small smile when the man turned to face him. The agent saw the pain in Clint's eyes and offered him a hand to help him up. He led Clint over to the bed and sat him down, covering him up with the single blanket before sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"Clint, listen to me, you didn't mean to kill that woman. It wasn't your fault." Clint knew that Phil had read his files, had seen what used to happen to him when he missed the shot, knew where the scars on his back had come from, what had happened to him in the circus. However, this was so much more than just missing a shot. Clint had killed an innocent woman and had missed his target all at once.
Phil placed a gentle hand on top of the archer's own calloused hand before removing his suit jacket and loosening his tie and climbing into bed. It was cold enough that Phil had spooned Clint. At least, Clint had convinced himself that that was the reason it had happened.
Once he was convinced that the agent was asleep, could feel the soft puffs of breath against his shoulder, Clint took the other man's hand in his own and interlaced their fingers before falling asleep.
Yes, Clint thought fondly, that was one of his most treasured memories. It was ironic that he had ended up in that same bunker, although the bed, table, and computer were no longer there. He wondered vaguely how Loki knew about this place. Clint froze at that thought. He knew why Loki knew about this place. Loki had not only taken control of his mind again but he was now taking what was contained in there, everything that Clint tried to keep private. Loki knew everything and Clint realized with fear, that he was now powerless. Not only could the god see his thoughts and memories, but the god now knew his fears, and Clint had many fears.
He only hoped to whatever God was up there that that didn't mean that Loki would use those fears against him. However, even Clint wasn't foolish enough to believe that. His only hope was Phil and maybe the Avengers.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Please remember to read and review! The rest of the team is coming in the next chapter. I hope that the flashback/memory thing that Clint had wasn't too confusing. If it was, I'm sorry!