Authors Note: Huge thanks to all those who have added to their favs or following and to everyone who reviewed last chapter - DucksFan1510, Macrissa, Lollypops101, Hope06, sammygirl1963, Sandy-wmd, DBhawkguy30.
The drive to the nearest diner was made in silence, it wasn't uncomfortable. Nick had managed to pull some strings and get Coulson on an earlier flight. His agent was due to arrive home by dinner time. He hadn't told Barton, it was going to be a surprise.
Pulling into the parking space, Nick turned off the ignition and glanced over at the teen. Barton was lost in a daze, almost jumping out of his seat when Fury squeezed his arm.
Wide blue eyes met the director's good eye. "Sorry," Clint mumbled, unhooked his seat belt.
Nick watched as the kid started rebuilding his internal walls, hiding his fears, his uncertainties behind a blank expression. It hurt the director deep down, knowing it had been a while since the teen had done that with him. He could sympathise with how Phil felt in the beginning, his constant prodding to get the teen to open up.
"You alright?" he asked.
Clint didn't even try to fake an, 'I'm fine'. He simply shrugged his shoulders and leaned his head back against the seat, closing his eyes and blowing out a shaky breath. Barton struggled to control his erratic emotions. He'd been thinking about the conversation he and Phil had numerous times about the man's work and that he'd sometimes need to go away. Clint understood this, he really did. Though there were times when he wished he could be selfish and ask Phil not to go, not to leave him behind. Clint didn't think he'd be able to handle Phil walking away from him, by choice or not.
Nick wrapped his arm around the boy and pulled him close. He wished he could take away the kid's fear of losing the people he loved, that he could promise nothing bad would ever happen, but the director had never lied to Clint, and he wasn't about to start now. The only thing he could promise was to do everything in his power to keep the bad stuff from happening, because that's exactly what he did, and would continue to do for as long as was humanly possible.
The teen pulled away first, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "Sorry." Clint wouldn't meet the director's gaze.
Nick reached out and gripped the boy's chin, turning his head to face him. "Don't ever apologise Clint, you have every right to worry. There's nothing wrong with that."
"Really?" Barton questioned with an arched brow.
Fury nodded. "Clint, Phil loves you. He's your dad, it comes with the title that he will worry no matter what you do. Right now you're worried something might happen to him, and he's worrying that something will happen to you because he's not here." He patted the kid's cheek gently. "It's one of those never ending circles. The man freaks out while you're in SHIELD, especially when you injure yourself trying out a new move and land yourself in medical."
Barton chuckled at the memory. He'd been taught a new defensive move by Agent Simmons, though before he could implement it in his routine, the teen hadn't moved quickly enough and ended up with a dislocated shoulder. Simmons apologised profusely, Clint assuring him that it wasn't his fault. Phil wasn't so easily persuaded and had shot the trainer a glare that would have rivalled one of Nick Fury's. No one got on the wrong side of Agent Coulson when he was in papa bear mode, not if they wanted to live.
"Thanks Nick." Clint gave the older man a small grin before getting out of the car.
Fury followed after the teen, locking the car behind him. Walking side by side into the family owned diner, one Nick had been to numerous times in the past. This place did the best pancakes he'd ever tasted; he just hoped Clint liked it. The kid's eyes lit up in delight when a waitress walked past with a tower of the delicious pancakes, which told him all he needed to know. He gave himself an imaginary pat on the back, giving the young waitress showing them to their seats a pleased grin.
"Nick, it's been a while." A young dark haired woman commented. "What can I get you boys?"
Fury nodded in greeting. "Hello Anna, two of the usual please."
Anna beamed. "Of course, and coffee?" she asked, knowing that the man would nod before he actually did. The guy was a coffee fiend. She turned to Clint. "And what can I get you?"
Barton scanned the menu quickly but had already decided what he would have. It was what he always got from the diner he and Phil frequented. "A chocolate milkshake, thanks."
"No problem. I'll be back with your drinks in a jiffy."
Nick chuckled as the young woman darted back into the kitchen. It was one of the things he liked about eating here; the speedy service. Glancing over at his companion, he was pleased to see the kid looking a little more relaxed, his watchful eyes taking in everything going on in the small diner and seemed to be making a mental note of all the different dishes people were ordering as the waitresses walked past.
It didn't take long for Anna to return with their drinks, she set them down with a promise to bring their food as soon as it was ready. Nick thanked the young woman, turning back to the teen.
"So is there anything you want to do today?" Fury asked, seeing the kid's eyes light up with a list of possibilities. As quick as a flash the look was gone, replaced with an expression the director was beginning to hate seeing on the boy's face, guilt. Nick reached over and squeezed the boy's hand.
"What's wrong?"
Clint frowned, staring down at his hands. "I've already kept you from your work, don't you have to go in?" Barton didn't want to be a nuisance, keeping Nick from important tasks. The man was the director of a secret government agency for goodness sake.
The older man chuckled sadly. "I'm the director, Clint. I can do what I damn well please and I'm pretty sure I'm owed a few days off."
The youngster's eyes widened; was he really hearing Fury say he wanted to spend the day with him? Clint's face lit up with joy, making Nick laugh in amusement. The young hawk enjoyed spending time with the older man, he didn't get to do it very often. Usually just a couple of hours here and there if Phil or Molly were busy and even then more often than not he'd go to the training room to practice his combat skills. Now his god father was offering to spend the day with him, doing whatever he wanted to do. It must be his birthday. Grinning from ear to ear, he gave Nick a nod.
"Okay. So what will we do?" the teen asked.
Fury smirked. "I have something in mind." He almost laughed at the kid's expectant look. "It's a surprise."
Clint groaned sarcastically. "Fine."
Anna returned with their food, both plates filled with a tower of warm pancakes with syrup trickling down the sides. Barton licked his lips in anticipation. This was going to be good.
After finishing their breakfast, they left the diner and headed towards wherever it was the director had in mind for Clint's surprise. The teen fidgeted the entire way, asking the older man where they were going. Nick was used to keeping things close to his chest and had no problem keeping his mouth shut, even Barton's puppy dog eyes were no match for the Director of SHIELD. The youngster eventually huffed in annoyance, seeing he wasn't going to get anywhere, though Fury did notice the slight twitch of the boy's lips as he tried to conceal a smirk.
They travelled for almost an hour when Nick pulled on to an off road lane which took them deep into a forest. Clint eyed the older man warily, his eyebrow arched in question. "You aren't gonna try and off me are you Nick?"
Fury laughed, shaking his head at the absurdity of the kid's words. "Of course not. Phil would hunt me down, that man is scary when he wants to be."
Clint nodded in agreement, surprise lighting up his features when he spotted a sign up ahead, Delta Force Paintball. "You're taking me paintballing?" he asked in awe.
Nick grinned. "Yeah, we sometimes use this place for new agents in training, gets them ready before they go out in the field without worrying about actual injuries. We train them to be the best; this is their chance to use their tactical training to beat the rest. It's usually quite entertaining. This though, is just for fun." He turned to the teen, pleased to see genuine happiness shining in those expressive eyes.
Nick pulled up outside a small building, reaching over he squeezed Barton's shoulder. "Come on kid. Let's have some fun."
The teen followed Fury inside, where they were outfitted with the latest and top of the range equipment. The teen could barely contain his excitement, he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, a huge grin plastered on his face. Clint's eyes widened when he was handed the upgraded M-16 replica machine gun and a magazine holder with an additional four hundred paintballs to ensure he wouldn't run out during their battle.
Both suited up, they nodded to each other before heading out.
Clint could feel the excitement bubbling up inside him; this was going to be awesome. It was almost like he was getting to go on his own mission to take out a target, one who just happened to be the Director of SHIELD. It was the first time he'd be able to show off his talents out in the open. At home with Phil was different because no one could see into their back garden, and Clint usually only fired his bow at night if he'd had a nightmare. Otherwise he was almost always within SHIELD when using his favourite weapon, showing off his skills to the other agents. One or two of the snipers had asked the teen to show them how to fire the bow; they learned soon enough that it was trickier than it looked. It was a well established fact amongst SHIELD snipers that any and all records were set to be annihilated once Barton became a certified recruit and if his talent with a bow was anything to go by, any and all weapons placed in his hands would be elevated to a higher level of grace and accuracy.
Cradling the weapon close to his body, Clint moved silently into the trees. His eyes were constantly scanning the area for Nick who'd separated from him as soon as they were kitted out in the paintball gear. He was sure that the director was going to try and surprise him, but Barton was used to the trees, familiar with staying silent and hidden. Like a ghost he glided between the masses of trees, over the roots sticking up from the dirt and made his way toward one of the bigger tree trunks. He'd spotted the rope ladder which would make it easier for him to climb up higher, allowing him to look down on everything from up in the sky. He smirked as he thought about his love of heights, he'd always saw better from a distance.
Once Clint pulled himself up, he balanced on the thick branch with practised ease. Gripping his gun with both hands he took a moment to get a feel for the weapon, feeling the weight, wondering how accurate it would be and how far he could make a shot from. He felt a smirk tug at the corners of his lips as he waited for his target to appear, only one way to find out. The ex-carnie made his way easily along the thick branch, his eyes picking out the best vantage point where he could see any direction Fury might appear from. Once in position, the young archer gripped the weapon close and waited.
Nick moved silently through the trees, his one good eye focused on his search for the young archer. Keeping his senses attuned to anything out of the ordinary, the older man was thrilled that Clint wasn't going to make this easy for him.
The game was on.
Three hours later both Nick and Clint made their way back to the base camp, different coloured paints spattered over their chest and backs. The taller man wrapped his arm around the teen in celebration. It had taken the director almost an hour to find the boy, before it turned into what could only be described as an epic battle. The ex-carnie had used the trees as cover as he ran along the thickest branch before leaping to another tree, his hands gripping the thick branch tightly before bringing his legs up so he was hanging upside down, the gun was in his hand and aiming for Nick as the older man dove for cover. The director was never going to get used to seeing the youngster swinging acrobatically from trees while wielding a weapon, let alone managing to hit him in the chest at the same time. He was positive that Barton was going to be unstoppable, the kid wasn't called Hawkeye for no reason; the teen had the accuracy, the patience and determination to take down whoever he needed to. Nick was just glad this was a game, though he was sure in a few years' time that everyone would see what Clint Coulson-Barton was capable of. Fury had played dirty when he couldn't get a good shot at Barton and ended up throwing a paint grenade. The bomb had exploded, covering the tree in blue paint with only a few specks hitting the teen's shoulder in his attempt to get away.
"I take it you two had fun?" asked the attendant, taking the weapons from them.
"Yeah, we did. Thanks Brad." Nick shook the smaller man's hand, heading towards the building to change.
Clint followed behind, a beaming smile lighting up his face. "Yeah. That was awesome!"
The owner chuckled. "That's good. Any friend of Nick's is welcome here anytime."
Barton's eyes widened. "Thanks."
Once they were changed out of the black combat gear, they grabbed a couple of sodas before making their way back to the car. Both Clint and Nick were much more relaxed as they drove back to the director's house to wait for Phil's return. Barton couldn't stop grinning the whole way back, his hand gripping the small gold medal Brad had given him for winning the battle against the older man. The youngster wasn't entirely sure he was the one who won, but the look on Nick's face when he tried to argue that fact made him stop in his tracks. Fury had a look filled with pride aimed at the teen, which made Clint feel all warm inside and he decided against arguing who'd won. It was just for fun after all.