A/N: not much to say tonight. Oh, if you are looking for some original stories, check out WinterQuill on Writer Cafe.- she's me:)
Bagel Thursday
PeechTao
Chapter 4
"Clint, we're here." Natasha said, pulling into the underground driveway just outside Jerusalem. She flicked her head over to her sleeping companion to see he had yet to stir. He must have been exhausted having slept the entire way. She reached over and touched his arm, causing him to shoot up in his seat on instant alert. Behind him Tony laughed.
"I said we're here." She repeated.
"Oh, I didn't realize we got here already." Clint commented. He rubbed his eyes and tucked his feet back onto the floorboards.
"I thought you were dead." Tony said. "I did make the comment that dead bodies should ride outside the car, but no one took it as a seriously as I would have."
"Pass security already?" Clint asked.
"Twice." Natasha replied. "Tony gave them a fuss. He was bored."
Clint smiled. "Big surprise."
"Is it my fault they didn't ask me for an ID? What kind of security check point is that?" Stark interjected.
"Tony, I don't think you ever need an ID. Your face is just so—" Steve tried for a word on the tip of his tongue.
"Memorable? Talented? Huggable? Sexy?"
"Annoying." Natasha supplied. They pulled into a parking slot and one by one everyone unfolded from the car.
"So when can we get a ride out of this place?" Steve asked. "Barton, planning on flying us out for a nice weekend after all that hard work?"
Before Clint had a chance to respond, the elevator door opened to the far left of the underground parking lot. Bruce Banner stood waiting to collect them. He waved a hello and held the doors. When everyone was on, they headed up to the debriefing room.
"Well, everyone's walking." Bruce mentioned. "Came down expecting at least one of you on their backs."
"I would have told you when I texted." Stark replied. "Oh, but I forgot Captain Flagpole."
"It wasn't bad." Steve said before Banner pounced on him. "Clint patched me up, mostly healed already."
"Oh Clint's doing my job now?"
The elevator doors opened and they walked out into the small hallway. At the end meeting room waited with its door open. A holographic rendition of Director Fury hovered in the center display. Save the sheen of green and blue hues that made him up, it was as if the director himself was standing there waiting for them. His hands were on his hips, exposing the berretta strapped to his leg. If anyone thought he looked happy, then they didn't know him very well.
"Cause enough of a bang there, team?" He asked. "Looks like you had so much fun, I should have shown up with a box of TNT and started the after party myself."
Tony instantly pointed a finger at Clint. "I was unconscious, he blew the place up."
Clint whipped his head around at him. "What?"
"Tony, you were the first one to throw a rocket at them." Steve said.
"And they sent an RPG back, and look where that leads." Tony turned back to the hologram. "See, violence just leads to more violence, I've been saying that for years. Not my fault you didn't listen."
Clint was looking frantically between them, trying to catch up on what he was being blamed for.
"Stark—"
"You look striking in blue by the way." Tony added.
"We were supposed to find the outpost and paint it for bomb drop." Steve said. "So we had to blow a few things up beforehand, still got the job done."
"Yeah, and we almost died. That counts for like, ten bonus points." Tony said.
"I didn't blow anything up." Natasha commented, shrugging.
"Suck up!"
The director's hands went out to stop the little infighting. "All right! Stop squawking like a couple of love birds before I decide to leave you there and send out a tweet that the Avengers are hanging around outside Jerusalem. I bet you'd love a little attention like that, Stark." Tony had to think about that just long enough for Fury to go on without interruption. "I had a jet landing on the Gaza airstrip in three hours, but given the heat of that little show, you've been reduced to commercial flights instead. I'll fax the boarding passes when Hill finishes getting the best deal online. And if you were about to ask whether or not I'm reserving you a Business seat, then don't press your luck." Fury cut the transmission and they were left in the dark of the quiet meeting room.
"Do you think that because his name is Fury he feels destined to live up to it?" Tony asked. "And I brought a credit card, so I am totally upgrading."
CLINT
While pretending to sleep for the first twenty minutes of the journey was easy, maintaining the rouse was boarding on torture. Clint had no idea what was happening round him, he didn't dare open his eyes should Natasha catch him in the act, and the desire to kick Tony's teeth in was nearing the breaking point. Clint did his best to go slack, but his resolve was breaking down by the minute. He had no concept of time. He had no idea where he was, he couldn't see, and he couldn't hear anything either. This had started out as a great idea to keep him from having to get caught up in a conversation he couldn't lip-read himself through, now it was agony.
There were so many questions he wanted the answers to. Exactly what happened? Was he fixable? Was this temporary? Was he going to just wake up one morning and be fine? Overwhelming his senses the likelihood of him being well and dandy by noon time was a nonexistent pipe dream. He could hope for the best, but actually getting the news that he would not be deaf for the remainder of his natural life was unlikely. But Clint did need that news. He had to have someone else's opinion on this that wasn't going to leave a paper trail, or alert any of the SHIELD higher ups. Tony was a likely choice. He had enough money to buy out any private doctor he wanted but was SHIELD monitoring those off shore accounts? Most likely. Steve had no experience in the medical field beside battlefield triage. So when things boiled down Clint had only one option, and that was Banner. Did he trust himself enough to tell the others about it? Maybe at some point. Until he knew himself the full scale of what was happening to him, Clint didn't want to worry them.
He sat, he stewed, and he thought. He probed the few noises filtering through his mind. One was a dull thump. The blood pulsing behind his ears. The other was a small ring, high pitched but not overwhelming. He'd experienced a bout of tinnitus after the New York attack and this sounded similar to that. He wondered if this would stay with him like a bad memory for the next few weeks or if it would be there forever.
They arrived at the underground garage just outside the city's edge of Jerusalem. It was already dark, few stars dotted out from beneath haze of clouds setting in from the north. Parts of Clint mind had begun shutting down after so long of pretending to be fast asleep. When someone reached out and grabbed his arm, he couldn't help the sudden reaction. His face turned directly to Natasha, a look of concern on it. Her lips moved fast, her face half turned away at the end, making him miss most of what she said. This was going to be a pain in the neck trying to lip read when everyone kept looking away from him. But what could he do? If he planned to keep the disability a secret he was just going to have to adapt. He decided that trying to whisper was probably his best recourse for actual speech. Without knowing the volume his voice was coming out as it was easier to pretend to whisper and hope his voice was somewhere between low and normal.
Banner was on the elevator already. Clint never realized what a relief it would be just to see the doctor until that moment. He almost kissed him! Meeting with Fury. Hologram instead of video which made lip reading, again, nearly impossible. Tony might have been excited about all his new teckie projects, but this one in particular had Clint thinking terrible thoughts about his friend. The meeting ended. Tony, most likely complaining. Head thrown back. Laughing. Steve's mouth moving, head turned away. Natasha hidden behind her hair, and Clint, leaning against the table, having no idea at all what was going on. He had to get out of that room immediately before he lost his mind.
"Don't know about you, but I'm filthy, dehydrated, and hungry. I'm going to go shower in the sink and find a snickers." Clint nodded toward Banner. "Show me around?"
Banner shrugged and led the way. No one else seemed to follow. After reaching the elevator again, Banner tapped the button for another floor. Clint had to turn in place a few times to be sure they hadn't any extra passengers, and then he took his opportunity. He pulled the emergency stop button on the elevator. He could tell Banner was shocked, saying something, but he didn't know what it was.
"Bruce, look. I need to tell you something important. SHIELD can't know. This is elevator shouldn't be bugged. I know, I've been here often enough. Oh, and I lied about that."
"What is ghsjebrb." Bruce was speaking to fast to follow, but Clint cut him off.
"Bruce, you've got to listen to me, all right? You cannot tell SHIELD, you cannot tell the others. Understand? Not until I know what's going on. Ok?"
"Clint, what are you talking about?"
"I'm deaf."
Bruce cocked his head to one side. He blinked. Then he began shaking his head. "No, no come on. You're just trying to- Did Tony put you up to this?"
Clint grabbed the doctor by the shoulders. He looked him dead in the eyes. "Bruce, I ate a sonic arrow to deafen my ears. We were going to die. Tony and Steve do not know. You are not going to tell them. Do you understand me?"
Suddenly a little light flickered through Bruce's eyes. "Oh my God."
Clint nodded.
"Oh my God, Clint are you... are you really?"
"Yes."
Bruce took in a large breath weighing how the new hit him. He released the elevator button and the machine began to move. He turned to Clint again.
"You can read lips?"
"When I'm looking at them."
"Ok." Clint watched Bruce's mind tumble around the news. He was smart, a science guy but more than that he was Bruce Banner. Bruce knew exctly what this meant to Clint and the agent's station in life. Bruce had experience hiding things. He was almost as much of an expert in espionage as Natasha. He'd traveled the globe, gone undetected in enemy territory, and survived some of the most impressive attempts on any one man's life. The more Clint watched Bruces mind work, the more he came to understand how good of a decision he made by recruiting the doctor in on his little secret. after a minute of thought, Bruce was ready with his newly hatched plan.
"We're going to go to the fourth floor. Get you cleaned up. I'm going to take a quick look at you in the bathroom. We'll lock the door just in case anyone walks in. Stay close to me. When someone starts talking to you, I'll give you a signal. Natasha," Banner tapped Clint's right hand. "Tony." he tapped the left hand. "Steve." their left shoes touched. "We won't worry about the others for now. Thor's still away."
"Left, Tony, left Steve, right Natasha." Clint repeated.
"If you're speaking too loud, I'll touch your elbow."
"Got it."
"Let's go."
The elevator door opened and they walked out together. The restroom was on the left side of the hall. Banner was laughing, he shoved Clint toward the door. They walked into the restroom and the door shut behind them. Banner pointed Clint toward the sink. Barton hoisted himself up like a kid at a doctor's appointment and sat there with his hands folded in his lap. Banner flicked the lock on the door and walked over. He turned Clint's head to one side and looked first into one canal, and then the other. Clint opened his mouth, revealing some minor abrasions against his tongue and cheeks. Bruce tilted his head, testing for dizziness, vertigo, or any other issues with the intricate workings of his inner ear. Having passed those, Bruce stood back.
"Clint, I can't see anything external. I need some gear to better diagnose what's going on. There's blood in your ear canals. Were they bleeding before?"
"Yeah, right after. I didn't know if it was from the attack or the arrow."
"Maybe both. Fact is I need instruments to know for sure. When we get back to the Tower I can fabricate some stuff from the lab. Give me by tomorrow morning. I should have some answers then. Do you hear anything? tinnitus?"
"A small ring, or buzz. Thumping."
"Ok. Did you understand anything Fury went over?"
"No."
Banner filled him in. They were going to leave once the tickets arrived. Tony was already working on getting his own upgraded seats. Besides that, there was nothing he missed.
"Any other questions for now?"
Clint got down from the sink, shaking his head. "No, I don't. Look, Bruce, I don't mean to drag you through all this, it's just... If Fury finds out about this, after New York, I just, I don't think-"
Bruce put a hand on his shoulder. Clint turned to look at him.
"It's fine. 'Sides, Tony always says I need a little excitement in my life. Haven't been on the run for a while, be nice to have a few secrets again."
Clint wasn't sure how he felt about that as an answer, but it was something at least. and he had help now. Bruce instructed him to laugh while exiting the restroom, something for the hidden security cameras to pick up if they happened to exist. The idea brought out another hidden signal. Bruce would tug Clint's finger if he was required to laugh. They made the turn up the left hall and headed for the snack machines. When they arrived, Tony was already there with something remotely digital and definitely home maid in his hand. Apparently it was rewiring the digital readout on the food machine which made everything free. Clint felt the tap on his left hand. He directed his attention to Tony and tried to read his fast-moving lip service. He got the gist of the conversation. Tony was smart, technology was stupid, and did Clint want a free snickers bar?
"Sure, but if you're giving me an option I'll take two. Need something for the flight." Clint replied when it seemed appropriate.
Tony extracted two from the machine and handed them over. Another tap from Bruce. Tony's face was turned away and Clint couldn't tell what he was saying, but at least he knew something was coming out of Stark. Clint decided to keep his inability to reply under wraps by stuffing his face with a candy bar. When Tony turned around, it was apparent the split second decision was a good one.
Tony smiled. "Glad I could save the day from your undernourishment. Plane in thirty, you coming or hanging here in desert land hoping for round two?"
Clint chewed, swallowed. "You kidding? After dragging Steve and you through the sand I've had enough for a few years."
Tony started down to the stairs with Clint and Banner following. If the plane left in half an hour, it gave them virtually no time to get to the airport, checked in, and onto the flight itself. Fury must have been just as upset as he looked.
Getting into the garage, they noticed Steve and Natasha were waiting in the car already. That left the sticky back seat for Clint, Tony, and Bruce to squeeze into. At least that meant Clint didn't have to ride with his eyes shut the whole time. Now that he had Bruce, keeping up on a conversation was going to be a little easier. Bruce took the window seat, Clint sat in the middle and Tony took the rest of the middle, his seat, and hung halfway out the window. He had his phone going nonstop between Pepper and he and peripheral conversation was relatively void. Natasha directed a few words back to Clint, which Banner helped him know how to respond to with a private text message to his phone. Afterward, Banner took his phone, switched the ringer to vibrate, and gave it back. Clint texted a thank you.
They arrived at the airport, late. Tony harped a fit. The plane had yet to actually take off, which meant they could technically still wheel it back to the gate in order that Tony Stark (and sure, why not the others?) could then board appropriately. While Steve may have objected to inconveniencing just about everyone on that flight except themselves, he wasn't about to be left behind in Jerusalem. And given the next flight had twelve hour layover, he was even more disinclined to protest Stark's eccentricity.
They waited, they boarded, and with Tony sitting high in the Business Class they were on their way home.
Hope you enjoyed! more to come soon! and after a little inspiration from Squirrel the Man, i've added an extra bit to the middle of this story where Clint is forced into a mission with a new agent when he returns to the Tower. the scene gets a little dark! So i may have to change the rating for that scene, but don't worry, nothing explicit, im just not that way.
-Please review!