"So we have your blood from before and your blood now," Jemma listed as if Clint cared even more. He sat still in the chair off in the corner of the lab glaring at Grant, his apparent guard for all the tests. Not that Clint needed it at this point. He had come here willingly after an explanation was given and he hadn't tried to escape. They were still only around an hour into the tests that the duo had prepared and so far, in Clint's opinion, not much had been done. Apparently they liked taking samples and then testing them right away. Almost like they had looked him up and found he didn't like sitting for long periods of time with nothing to do. On missions it was a different feeling that came over him when he sat there and did nothing. But times like this, he got bored and fast.
"And no difference," Clint commented as Jemma started the analysis with the computers. She gave him a sarcastic look that showed she wasn't impressed with his attitude. Clint just rolled his eyes and wondered how she'd act in this situation. Would she be calm or just as sarcastically pissed off as he was? A moment later, the computer beeped, done with the analysis. One look at Jemma's face told Clint all he needed to know. Like all the tests that had been done so far, there was absolutely no difference. "So, what's next?"
"EEG," Leo called, coming in with a handful of wires. Clint's eyes narrowed at them as he tried to mentally place what an EEG was and what it did. As Leo began setting the wires up to prep the EEG, Clint realized what the machine was for and didn't fight as Leo put the electrodes into place. There was no way in hell he'd stay calm if Leo or Jemma decided more painful methods required a chance.
"What are you planning if something comes back strange?" Grant wondered, sounding morbidly pleased with all this. Leo shrugged his shoulders even as he continued working away. Jemma paused in her typing up in Clint's file to look at the other agent. Clint glared at the man, wondering when Coulson was going to burst in screaming Hydra.
"That's not up to us. We just do the tests," Jemma informed. Grant frowned.
"They're scientists, not agents," Clint clarified for Grant. Jemma and Leo looked to Clint surprised before they saw the sarcastic look on his face. Leo grunted while Jemma smiled and shook her head. Grant still looked a little confused which just made Clint shake his head and silently chuckle to himself. He was going to be as annoying as possible. Jemma apparently didn't mind as long as it wasn't directed at her per say, but Leo and Grant looked like they wouldn't last much longer.
"Oi! Stay still!" Leo cried, messing up a few of the electrodes at the archer's sudden movements. Clint chuckled louder this time, waiting for a moment when Leo was about to touch his head before finally nodding in agreement. Leo gave an angry shout that was actually even funnier. Clint snorted. "Stay still!"
"I will, I will," Clint promised with another laugh. Leo pressed an electrode a bit harder into Clint's head in revenge. Clint smirked but otherwise didn't react. Grant shook his head at the archer. Clint's smirk grew. "What? Can't take a joke?"
"Joke? I didn't hear anything funny," Grant replied. Clint laughed while Grant scowled at him. "How is any of this funny?"
"Oh, it's not," Clint admitted. Leo hesitated in his movements for a moment before placing the last few electrodes. It was as if he suddenly realized he was baiting a trained and highly dangerous assassin. Clint's smirk grew just slightly but no one around him noticed. "I need to joke about it, otherwise I'd probably have attacked them and ran or killed myself."
"Well, then... Make as many jokes as you'd like," Jemma nervously commented. Clint chuckled as Leo walked over to his section of the lab to get the study ready.
"Trust me, I plan too," Clint joked. Jemma nodded before sighing.
"I'd like to ask a few questions from your past," she said. Clint frowned.
"Why?" he asked as Leo started the EEG test without telling anyone. Jemma nervously began ringing her hands.
"Well, to see what has changed," she mentioned. Clint scoffed.
"I already went through everything. Not much changed with me. It's more what changed with the people around me," he argued, sounding angrier than before. His eyes darkened slightly as he tried to reign in his fears over what they might hear. While he had looked quickly at his background in this reality, he hadn't been thorough and like his reality, a lot was blacklisted. Jemma traded a look with Leo who simply shrugged. It was part of their tests. "Trust me, I've been looking it all up whenever I got the chance."
"I understand but..." Jemma started.
"We need it for these tests," Leo finished. Clint's eyes darkened even more but thankfully he was saved from having to reply when Wanda, Pietro and Coulson stepped into the room.
"So, I hear the WSC called an order above my head," Coulson announced into the room. Jemma and Leo jumped away from their computers to turn to the agent with guilty looks. Clint twitched an eyebrow but otherwise didn't move as per his promise to Leo earlier. Grant turned around to look at the man with a smug look.
"Yes, sir. The WSC wants Agent Barton investigated before we continue rushing all about the world for him," Grant stated, almost sounding like he was quoting from memory. Coulson frowned at the man before looking to Clint with a curious look. Clint could tell the man was impressed that the archer hadn't tried to run for it yet and was actually sitting there. Indeed, before the Avengers, Clint wouldn't have taken any of this crap, even if the WSC had ordered it. But after the Avengers, Clint wanted to prove he was worthy of his team. That meant actually following more orders, no matter how stupid it sounded.
"Well, how long are these tests going to take?" Coulson wondered, focusing his gaze on Jemma and Leo.
"Uh, not much longer, sir," Jemma lied. Coulson nodded knowing that the female was frightened of him right now. He'd make it up to her later but for now it worked to the man's advantage.
"Good. Agent Barton is needed on the Quinjet."
Coulson's interruption certainly made things progress much faster. Jemma asked a few basic questions that, like when he was first recruited for S.H.I.E.L.D, Clint skirted around. Leo watched over the EEG as he did so before asking Clint to try to nap. When the archer argued that he couldn't, Jemma noted that his file did state he had a hard time sleeping around strangers. So, Leo agreed that his test was done and began unhooking everything. Jemma mentioned a few other tests that would need to be done but couldn't be done just yet. They needed to build the equipment or wait for a part or something. Either way, Clint was released maybe a half hour after Coulson's visit. Grant seemed most upset by this but wasn't allowed to argue.
"Clint!" Wanda cried when Clint exited the lab and headed to the Quinjet, his hand running through his gel and slick hair. She rushed out the back and grabbed the archer in a hug. Pietro was fast behind her but didn't join the hug. Clint stood there for a moment, surprised, before gently hugging Wanda back. "I was so worried! That man, he has so many nasty ideas!"
"Hey, hey. It's okay. I'm fine. Ward didn't touch me," Clint soothed, rubbing a hand up and down Wanda's back. Mentally he was shocked that she became so attached to him so quickly. In the other reality, they still had a tense relationship. Wanda nodded into Clint's chest before slowly backing out of the hug. He let go as Coulson came out of the Quinjet.
"I assume considering you stole Lola, that you're trained to fly one of these," the agent questioned. Clint nodded, confused. "Wanda told me about Ward. It's best if you leave."
"I've been trying to ditch you since the beginning," Clint nearly hissed at his handler. Coulson winced. He had to admit that was true. Clint had separated himself from the team and then even stolen Lola. Coulson had assumed it was because of what happened to him in the other reality but after speaking with Wanda, he now knew that anyone could be Hyrda. Even one of the best S.H.I.E.L.D agents and Clint may not know.
"I admit that I was simply worried about you," Coulson said, glossing over his other reason for watching the archer. Clint shook his head. Rationally he knew that it wasn't just that but Clint really didn't want to think about the fact that Coulson and Fury didn't trust that he knew best. "I know you can handle yourself but... I've never had to deal with a situation like this and I guess I just wanted to keep you close. I thought that would be best."
"But Ward being Hydra changed that?" Clint countered, challenging Coulson to admit the truth. That Fury and he wanted to know that this other reality really was best for everyone. Coulson nodded.
"Yes."
"I don't know every Hydra agent. In fact, the Avengers rarely deal with them. And when we do, they're either wearing masks or I don't recognize them from S.H.I.E.L.D," Clint reiterated. Coulson sighed, feeling rather embarrassed for having assumed otherwise. Clint shook his head knowing what was on Coulson's mind. "I probably would have assumed it as well."
"I'm sorry that I did. If you take off now, I think it will be better on you," Coulson mumbled, nodding his head to the Quinjet once again. Clint grunted an agreement . "I'll try to distract Ward. Send him and whoever he may be reporting too off on the wrong track."
"It won't last. He's smart," Wanda warned. Coulson nodded. "He'll figure it out and try and get you in trouble."
Clint and Coulson chuckled at that. While it seemed like such a simple thing, when dealing with Nick Fury, neither one tended to get into too much trouble. Normally just some boring missions for a few months or training the newbies. Nothing as bad as some others, like reassignments to Antarctica and going over the records from the deep space probes. Wanda gave them a confused look before she got the thoughts from their minds and blushed deeply. It paid being friends with the boss. Well, more like family then friends.
"You know, I hear that there is a poor gentleman possibly stuck in some ice," Coulson hinted. Clint paled slightly. He should have known that Coulson would go after Steve. Coulson seemed to know what was on Clint's mind. "You may not want him on your team in fixing this, but I can't leave him there."
"Be careful... In my world, Peggy was still alive," Clint warned, having briefly looked up the Howling Commandos before finally deciding it might be best to leave Steve in the ice. Coulson frowned wondering what that had to do with anything before the name fully struck him. His mouth formed an 'oh' shape but he didn't speak. Clint nodded, knowing that Coulson knew what he meant. Steve would literally waking up to a world alone. Never mind alone, but that was actually wrong. "I'm not trying to stop you, but I just wanted to warn you."
"Thanks," Coulson replied. Clint gave the man an encouraging smile before boarding the Quinjet. He was partly surprised to see everything he had packed from the Helicarrier was already stowed away. There was even some extra items for the twins. Wanda and Pietro came on board a few moments after Clint. Apparently they wanted to warn Coulson about Grant one last time. He wasn't going to argue with that. Hydra was dangerous and if Grant was Hydra and reporting to someone back at base or on the Helicarrier, Coulson needed to warn Fury.
With Coulson's blessing on their disappearance, Clint was pleased that no one seemed to notice them leaving. Or at least as of right now it seemed that way. May turned the Bus toward Greenland once Clint slipped past her on his own way to New York. Pietro quickly explored the entire Quinjet before settling with a bag of chips in the back. Wanda placed herself in the passenger seat beside Clint. Knowing they should talk, Clint placed the jet on autopilot.
"No one can tell we left except Coulson and the pilot," Wanda said as soon as he turned to her. Clint smirked, somehow not surprised that that was what Wanda thought he'd ask. And while it was comforting to know, he had already assumed as much.
"May. Her name is Melinda May," he told her. Wanda nodded, not that she needed the information anymore but it was nice to know her name. She now had a name to put with the resonance of the woman's mind. For a while the duo sat in silence. But Wanda could tell that Clint was tense and wanted to ask her something. She was trying to be nice and not pry. Something she had read from Clint's mind before. He had asked the other her to nicely not mess with his mind. His experience with Loki deterred him from ever truly allowing Wanda's powers around him.
"Are you okay?" she finally asked. Clint sighed.
"Honestly, I don't know if I should be doing this anymore," he mumbled. "At first, I just wanted to fix this to get my family and friends back but... In some ways, this world might be better for most of them."
"Not your family," she pointed out. Clint winced. She had a point and he couldn't forget that. He sighed deeply.
"Maybe it is... Laura... She always worried about me and had to care for all of them alone. Coop... Cooper had to help... I doubt he had a normal childhood. And Lila. She had nightmares cause of me all the time..." Clint listed. Wanda sighed.
"And Nate?" she wondered, drawing the name from her memory of his mind. Clint shuddered, knowing how Wanda got that information. Wanda felt bad but she needed him to see how important this was. Things were going to get much harder. The more people he tried to involve in this, the more it would hurt. "Clint, I've seen your world. The Avengers are needed, I promise."
"But the Avengers were also dangerous," he muttered. Wanda frowned. "We tried to do our best but... We couldn't stop collateral damage. A... A lot of people died."
"Happens in every battle," Wanda explained. Clint snorted.
"Yeah, but there is always some higher power to blame. Kind-a hard to actually blame the heroes who defended you for also accidentally killing some in their effort to help. At least we tried to help. Most governments would have left people to their own devices," Clint alleged. Wanda nodded. "Hell, some of the villains only came out of the woodwork because of us. If the Avengers didn't exist..."
"They still would and then no one would be able to stop them once they finally do appear," Wanda guessed but she sounded so certain that Clint couldn't help but believe her. "Hydra is still here. And from my Captain America history, Hydra existed before Steve Rogers ever became Captain America."
"Point," Clint chuckled. Wanda smiled. She was glad that Clint could see what she meant. No matter how much most things differed in this reality, there was still a lot that was the same. Apparently most of the changes seem to revolve around the Avengers. But Wanda wondered if maybe more had changed that Clint didn't know about because he didn't know those other people. Maybe, people had been affected and all she needed now was proof.
"So, who are we going to be recruiting first?" Wanda muttered after she realized there had been a few minutes of silence. Clint exhaled a deep breath that sounded loud enough to almost be considered a moan. Wanda smirked. She could tell, even without her powers, that the archer had no real plans on what to do. In fact, most of what he had done so far was just moving forward. He had no idea what to do or how to fix this issue. Hell, it was almost as if he hoped he could recruit the one person who did know.
"Uh... I guess we could go for Spiderman?" Clint questioned. Wanda looked to the archer even as he mind thought about what she had learned about the man... Wait, boy... She raised an eyebrow.
"Is there a reason you keep recruiting mostly teens?" she wondered. Clint paled suddenly. The idea shocked him so bad that Wanda could feel it even though she wasn't actively trying to. She winced even as Clint shook his head to get over it.
"Okay... Uh. I could go for that 'Devil of Hell's Kitchen' dude," Clint suggested as if that was a better choice. In fact, he had wanted to get both on his team. But the more he thought about adding people to his team to fix this, the more he wondered what he'd be fixing. Would these people have better lives as well. In the back of the Quinjet, Pietro finally got bored of looking around. He turned to see Wanda glance at Clint with a small smile. While he had been busy exploring, he had been paying attention to the conversation in the back of his mind. Replaying it in his mind, the speedster had to scoff. He rushed up behind the duo's seats.
"How bout you come up with a real plan, old man?" Pietro suddenly demanded. Clint sighed deeply enough to be considered a groan before reaching across the dash to hit the autopilot. Pausing to make sure it was set to send the jet over New York airspace, the archer then turned his seat to look at the twins. Wanda was already facing him and Pietro was half standing, half leaning against her seat to stare at Clint as well.
"Honestly... I have no idea what I'm doing," the archer admitted as if it wasn't noticeable. Wanda traded a look with her brother that Pietro didn't catch. If he had, then his next words would not have been said.
"Pretty obvious," the speedster laughed. Clint winced, having expected something like this before. "I mean. You came and got us and it was really noticeable that if we said 'no' that you had no way to convince us to help you. Really, you got lucky."
"Lucky?" Clint muttered before unbuckling his seat belt and standing. Pietro also stood up. Wanda grabbed his hand to stop him from doing something stupid. "Lucky that my whole family was just murdered cause someone fucked with the world? Lucky that my few friends are either dead or don't know me cause they haven't gone through the most horrible events of their lives that turned them into the people I know? Lucky to find out that two people whom I thought were dead now exist and I'm going to be killing one of them all over again to go back to a world that I'm starting to question as better?"
"Uh..." Pietro stuttered, glancing over to Wanda. She was shaking her head and so he couldn't get any clues from her as to what to say now. "Yeah?" the speedster guessed, sounding so confused and disheartened that Clint almost felt bad for yelling at him. The archer frowned before deeply exhaling. Pietro knew he messed up. "Look, I know that none of this is easy but... Wanda did-"
"Pietro," Clint interrupted, turning away from the twins. Pietro paused. "I don't care."
With that, Clint headed into the back of the Quinjet. Pietro gapped for a moment, wondering what exactly he had said wrong. Wanda shook her head again. No matter how much she or even Pietro could tell Clint that his reality was better, the archer will continue to question his decision. She knew there was only so much she could do here but once the reality was shifted back, Clint would be on his own, still second guessing his decision. The worst part was she knew why... Who made them in charge of this choice? Who were they to say certain events needed to happen? That certain people need or didn't need to die? While the people that knew of Clint's situation agreed that he was right, what about everyone else? What would they think if they ever learned the truth?
Distracted in her own mind as she was, Wanda didn't sense the surge of magic in time. When she finally did sense it, it was too late to stop whatever was about to happen. Worse, she couldn't tell what the magic was supposed to do. It was strange, old and not fully supernatural. Almost like it belonged in the world. But right now, that magic was going to divide the twins from Clint.
"CLINT!" the witch shouted even as she got up from her seat, ready to either attack or protect. Pietro jerked around as if he could see what Wanda was sensing but right now it was only just beginning to show. Clint spun around in time to see a giant circle of gold and green appear before a man as tall as Tony with a rather similar looking appearance and a red cape stepped through. Clint's instincts hit before his mind could catch up to the fact that this man had just appeared on a moving jet, but that Clint also knew who he was.
The man caught Clint's spin kick easily. Almost as if someone had warned him that the archer would immediately attack. But apparently the man wasn't warned about the cohorts that would possibly be in Clint's company. As the man pushed Clint's leg back to the floor, a silver speedster slammed into him from behind. Pietro ended up shoving the man right into Clint's waiting fist and the man only had a second to magically shield himself from most of the strike before it landed.
"WAIT!" the man roared as he got back to his feet. Clint and Pietro were both already ready to attack again so the man threw his arms up that created magical barriers that stopped the duo from hitting him further and even really moving. Amazingly, Wanda didn't use her own magic to help. Instead, she stood by her seat, watching. That was the moment that Clint's mind finally caught up to his body. Slowly, he lowered his arms.
"Strange," the archer hissed. He really hated magic. It took him a while to get over Wanda's use of magic. And that was mostly because the girl agreed to never use it on Clint unless his life was in danger. The man (Stephen Strange) looked to the archer with a confused and surprised look.
"You know me?" he wondered, still not letting up his magic. Pietro glanced over to Wanda before also relaxing his stance. Clint nodded his head.
"Dr. Stephen Strange. World renowned surgeon till you crashed your car. Disappeared for a while before coming back under the title Sorcerer Supreme," Clint listed. Back in his reality, Steve had been having Clint go through recruitment files for other potential Avengers. Strange was considered until Clint realized that he'd be torturing the guy with Tony Stark. The two were already in a similar circle of friends so they knew each other before Strange became Sorcerer Supreme. Ultimately, Clint decided that Strange was recommended to ask for help every now and then but not to officially join the team at all.
"I'm actually only Sorcerer Supreme in training," Stephen corrected, releasing his magic. Clint stumbled a moment at the sudden lack of support from the magic. Pietro on the other hand, fell flat on his face. Wanda couldn't stop her chuckle of laughter in time which made Pietro send her an evil little glare as he got back up. Clint ignored them.
"'In training'?" Clint questioned. Stephen chuckled.
"The current Sorcerer Supreme has not... Passed," Stephen clarified. Clint frowned at this. His mind focusing on the reality shift. "Don't worry. I'm not here to stop you," Stephen soothed. Clint raised an eyebrow at this one which made Stephen chuckle more. "It was the Sorcerer Supreme who ordered me to come and help you."
"Help us? What makes you think we need it?" Pietro haughtily called as if he hadn't just fought with Clint about their current plans. Clint rolled his eyes at the boy before turning as if to smack him. Wanda beat him to it as Stephen shook his head.
"Excuse my brother. He sometimes speaks before he thinks," Wanda excused, speaking over Pietro's outraged cry. Stephen nodded.
"Sometimes?" Clint softly scoffed. Wanda snorted while Stephen smiled. Pietro gave the archer an affronted face but was smart enough to not do anything else.
"And I thought we were close," Pietro mocked. Well, while he couldn't do anything physical, that didn't stop Pietro from using his mouth. Clint shook his head and vowed to ignore the speedster till he found out Stephen's real reason for helping.
"So, the Sorcerer Supreme really sent you?" Clint asked, his voice skeptical. Stephen nodded, figuring that Clint was questioning the real reason for him being there. "Why? What's in it for you guys?"
"Balance," Stephen stated as if that was the only answer they needed. Clint frowned, wondering what the hell the Sorcerer meant by that. Stephen chuckled, figuring that Clint didn't understand. Most people that didn't know or understand magic wouldn't understand what he had meant. "This reality if out of balance with good and evil."
"Okay," Clint muttered as if that suddenly made more sense to him than 'balance'. Stephen smiled.
"Without this balance, the world will eventually crumble."
"So what, this world have too much good?" Pietro scoffed. "Don't see that as a bad thing."
"No," Wanda mumbled, understanding what Stephen was saying better than the others. It was how she kept trying to tell Clint that his reality was better. The world needed the Avengers. "This world has too much evil. Without the Avengers, there is no balance."
"Correct," the Sorcerer replied. "As horrible as many of their lives are in your reality, the worlds need them. They provide courage, discipline, and respect from other heroes in the present and future. Without them, the world shifts into the wrong direction and there is no one able to stop it," Stephen explained further. Clint frowned. "Your reality is not the only one with a version of the Avengers or a group like them. They exist in all different forms and even times."
"You have got to be shitting me," Clint cursed, dropping down into the nearest seat. "So, there's really no telling if I could go back to the right reality?"
"No. Your reality was... Altered into this creation. In actuality, we all didn't exist as you see us know until this reality was created. At that moment that the world shifted," Stephen replied, pointing to Wanda, Pietro and himself. Clint frowned.
"When you tripped on the stairs," Wanda supplied. Clint gave her and Stephen an odd look. "Somehow, you seem to sense the change and shifted your mind over."
"How?" Clint wondered, looking back to the floor before an image of Loki and his scepter flashed through his mind. A shudder ran up his back before he shook his head. "Wait, never mind. I don't want to know."
Stephen and Wanda traded a look. Did they tell Clint the truth? Risk his ire for a situation that may not come to pass? After a moment, they both mentally agreed that hopefully their counterparts would alert the archer to his situation before something bad happened. They only could hope that it would help in time.
"Okay, so we know when this happened. Anyone know how? And what we're gonna do to fix it?" Pietro asked in the silence of the jet. Clint shook his head and looked up to Pietro, his mind half trying to wrap around what Stephen was saying while the rest tried focusing back on his original mission. Wanda looked to her brother before back to Stephen. Stephen nodded.
"My master, the Sorcerer Supreme, has an idea. She wishes to speak to you about it in person though," Stephen suggested, turning to look at Clint. The archer shrugged. So far it was better than his plans of going around collecting other heroes in the hopes that someone might have an answer. It was at this point that the Quinjet decided to remind the group that they still had been flying into New York airspace. An alarm sounded that made everyone jump. Clint pushed past the group to get to the front. Wanda was right behind him as if she had an idea on how to help. "That doesn't sound good."
Clint shook his head in agreement. "We're under attack."
Wow… Just wow…. Totally late on posting and I'm sorry… I'm trying to do better but life gets in the way. Fridays are apparently the worst day for me to post… Might switch it to another day. Don't know when though.
Little Clint is not starting potty training, not my choice or his... My mother-in-law decided she had the right to do it cause I wasn't. Yeah, not to pleased with this idea. And then, today I get thrown to the wolves on trying to help Clint so needless to say, laundry is getting down as I type… Little Darius is upstairs mad at me cause he needs to nap but he feels he doesn't need too. His screams are echoing through the house… Hopefully he'll give in soon. I know he needs it and this is usually when he does nap. No idea why he isn't. Hopefully things will get easier. And for those who celebrate it Happy Thanksgiving!
FAVORITES: StarWarsandDisneylover (hee hee love this name), Hannah201
FOLLOWS: (pout…)
REVIEWS:
TheNaggingCube - Yeah, a lot can happen in one chapter and in others, nothing can happen. Hmm, those are some good questions. Just have to wait and see.
Sammygirl1963 - I almost feel like I might have made Pietro too protective of Clint but I'm glad you enjoyed him. Yeah, I hate that he had to die in the MCU. Stupid contracts. But that's where Fan Fiction comes into play. We can do whatever we want. If I wanted too, I could totally throw some Game of Thrones characters in here if I wanted to. Not saying I will but still, that's the power of Fan Fiction! Don't worry about late reviews. Apparently I'm gonna be late in posting as well. Hee hee. I did have some wonderful weekends, including going to Rhode Island Comic Con. Got to meet Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer) and Christopher Lloyd. Until next time!