Bad Aim Chapter 2

By: Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to The Avengers, Marvel and Disney do, so please don't sue. Rated T for adult language, situations, and violence. Thank you so much to the people who read and review.

A.I.M. Headquarters

Paul "Fixer" Ebersol led Clint through the various departments. "Robotics is on the 1st floor. Computers are on the 2nd. Viruses are on the 3rd floor. Bacteria are on the 4th. Gamma Radiation is on the 5th…you want to avoid that one if you can."

Clint asked, "Which floor has the cafeteria?"

"It's with Bacteria. That way we only had to build one freezer."

"Are you serious?"

"No. I'm just screwing with the new guy. The cafeteria is on the top floor, along with the CEO. I'll introduce you to her. She's really…um…she's really…great!"

The elevator door opened with a muted beep. Fixer rapped on an imposing steel door. It swung inwards.

Fixer said, "Clint Barton, this is Dr. Monica Rappaccini, our Chief Executive Officer."

Monica stood up from her burnished metal desk. She had flowing black hair, so shiny it gleamed. Her complexion was a rich Mediterranean caramel shade. She looked surprisingly young for a CEO, but her hands gave away that she was nearing middle-age. Her fingernails were sharpened to blood red points.

He offered his hand to shake, but instead she grabbed his shoulders and air-kissed him on both of his cheeks. He could smell a grapefruit cologne or perfume on her neck, with something chemical underneath, as if she smelled like her own laboratory and was trying to cover the scent.

"Welcome Mr. Barton." she said, with an Italian lilt to her voice.

Clint wondered how long it would be before she asked if he could introduce her to Tony Stark.

He thanked her and surveyed the room. She had a Bachelor's degree from the Sorbonne in Paris and a PhD. in biochemistry from the University of Padua in Italy. The most prominent accolade on her walls was a nomination for the Nobel Prize in Science.

Green and yellow permeated the room, with a few dashes of crimson flowers and abstract paintings.

She said, "I just have a few quick questions for you. Your educational credentials were blank on your application. Where did you attend college?"

Clint tried not to squirm in his seat. Formal education was a sore point with him.

"I didn't. I never went," he said.

"Where did you graduate high school?"

"I had to drop out. I've trained with various militaries and with SHIELD for over a decade though."

He didn't feel comfortable explaining to this woman why he was forced to drop out.

She frowned down her nose at him. "We take education very seriously here. The Director of Security job description clearly states college is a requirement."

Fixer interjected, "Barton already quit his career with SHIELD to come work for us, and he volunteered for a dangerous eye surgery experiment. I don't have a degree either and you made an exception for me."

Her eyes shot daggers at Fixer as she said, "Once is an exception. Twice is setting a precedent. Do you know even know what a precedent is, Mr. Barton?"

A vein throbbed in Clint's forehead. He had his moments when he clashed with his old boss Nick Fury, but Fury was never condescending to him.

Clint said, "Yeah, I know what a precedent is. It's Latin for instances that may be used as an example in dealing with following similar instances. I'm autodidactic, which is Latin for self-taught. I may not have a fancy degree, but I have plenty of common sense and life experiences. And I did save the world as an Avenger. You're welcome for that."

Fixer grinned until Monica frowned at him.

"And another thing," Clint grabbed a pen from her desk and flung it through a rose in a vase 30 feet away from them. It split the rose in half.

He finished, "I have very, very, good aim."

He held his breath waiting for Monica's response. He didn't want to lose this job on his first day.

She asked, "When you were with SHIELD, did you have a license to kill?"

"Yes."

"Did that license to kill transfer with you?"

"Technically, no. But I can legally shoot in self-defense."

"Well, anything can be self-defense, from a certain point of view. Are you willing to share A.I.M.'s point of view?"

Clint hesitated, realizing what he was agreeing to. He'd killed plenty of mercenaries before, in cases that clearly weren't self-defense. His ego flared and wouldn't let him lose a job on the first day.

"I'll do whatever it takes, ma'am."

Her lips melted from a frown, to neutral, to the curve of a smile. "Very well then, Mr. Barton. I'll set a precedent with you. This job may seem simple on the surface, but it has a high mortality rate. You see, we deal in very powerful technology here. Of the world-changing kind. We've been having problems with break-ins. Not just petty thieves but high-end mercenaries. Your good aim may save your life, and my livelihood. It's been a pleasure meeting you."

She reached her hand out to shake this time, and he shook it. Her grip was firm and the look in her eyes was searching.

He turned to leave, but she said, "One more question."

He looked back at her.

She asked, "Could you put me in touch with Dr. Bruce Banner? I dated him in college and would love to catch up with him."

Clint was surprised. "I don't have any contact with him. Dr. Banner's whereabouts are classified."

She pouted. "That's too bad. I know someone who would love to meet him."

He left with Fixer. After the door was shut Clint said, "Thanks for sticking up for me back there."

"No problem. You seem like a good guy to have around."

"You get a finder's fee if I stay, don't you?"

"That too."

Stark Tower

When Tony was stressed out, he turned tone of two things: the bottle, or he went flying in his Iron Man suit. He looked at the suit, all gleaming red and gold and razor sharp technology. When he was in the sky, his problems seemed as distant as the ground beneath him.

He'd been turning to the bottle for far longer. It started when he got lonely from his parents ignoring him. He used to sneak drinks from his father's bar and replace them with water. Now he could afford his own beer company, although he preferred harder alcohol.

Tony wavered between flying and drinking. It was an incredibly bad idea to do both at the same time.

If he took the suit, his artificial intelligence JARVIS would be accessible, which meant he'd feel responsible for talking to "him" about the power glitches. A few shots of Chivas Regal could put off dealing with his problems just a little while longer.

He thought of what Pepper would want him to do: Grow up and deal with the issue. Tony sighed and walked to the platform that held his latest Iron Man updates. The machines screwed the exo-skeleton on to his body in mere moments.

The rockets in his feet activated and he flew out over Mid-Town Manhattan. It was daylight and the rush hour traffic was mostly gone, but the streets were still busy. New York was a city of walkers, subways, and cab rides, so it wasn't as gridlocked as his home in Malibu.

He said, "JARVIS, can you run a diagnostic test on the power outage?"

JARVIS replied, "I can run superficial preliminaries, but the engineers will have to do more extensive testing."

JARVIS spoke with a clipped British accent that made everything sound authoritative. Tony thought of the artificial intelligence as a friend, if that was possible.

Tony ordered, "Run preliminaries."

Lights flashed and charts moved across his viewing screen. He watched the numbers going up on the percentages completed.

He was so engrossed in the numbers he almost crashed into the Chrysler Building.

Tony said, "A little warning on my navigation."

"I'm sorry, sir. I thought you were paying attention."

"You know I have the attention span of a Cocker Spaniel on Red Bull."

"I'm not familiar with Cocker Spaniels. Or Bulls."

The percentage numbers reached 100%. Tony settled on top of the spire of the Empire State Building.

JARVIS said, "My preliminary scans reveal the power went out at five-hundred and thirty-nine Eastern Standard Time this morning. This continued for five minutes and thirty-two seconds."

"Was the cause internal or external?"

"Undetermined without further testing."

Tony contemplated the options. If the power went out on its own, that meant the ART was flawed. If someone or something else tried to tap into his building, then someone was trying to sabotage him. Neither was a good scenario.

Author's Note: I hope I'm capturing Tony's mindset and interaction with Jarvis. There'll be more action and less exposition in upcoming chapters.