None of the Avengers were really sure what to do about the sudden appearance of Barney Barton, Clint’s brother, at the Avenger’s tower. Clint hadn’t seen his brother in years since Barney had decided the criminal side of life appealed more to him than being a vigilante. When the elder archer/swordsman had shown up, Clint hadn’t even been home. He was off in Mexico with Thor on a mission to take down a drug and human trafficking ring. The Mission required stealth and it had been decided by someone –Steve or Fury probably- that the Nordic god needed to learn stealth.
So when Barney showed up two days into Clint and Thor’s mission, all the other Avengers were present. It was a chilly morning in New York, with Steve off in the kitchen making breakfast, Nat on the couch curled up with a cup of hot black coffee, and Tony and Bruce working in the lab downstairs.
Bruce had been great for pushing Tony into a healthy sleep schedule, plus Steve had been wearing out the ironman in more ways than one.
“Nat, wanna go get Tony and Bruce? I’m almost done in here.” The captain called out from the Kitchen, earning a slight glare from Natasha who was loath to move from her comfortable warm spot on the couch.
“Yeah sure.” She called back, leaving her mug on the coffee table.
As she walked into the elevator to go down to the Lab levels, Jarvis’s voce came over the intercom.
“Ms. Romanova, a guest is waiting on the Entry floor in the lobby.”
“So have Stark’s staff deal with him.”
“I would as is protocol but he is armed and is claiming to use his weapon to get into Level 15.”
A bit of fear came into the Black Widow.
Level 15 was Clint’s, sure the Archer wasn’t even her but whoever was down there obviously didn’t know that. The guy could be anyone, someone Clint had pissed off at SHIELD, before SHIELD, or from when he was under Loki’s control.
The redhead let out a sigh, she had been having such a good morning. Readjusting her hoodie- well it was Clint’s- she told the AI to go down to the first floor. She’d deal with the guest herself.
When the elevator reached the first floor, she was about to step out when the AI stopped her.
“Ms. Romanova, I’m sure being armed yourself would be considered a good idea.” Next to the control panel on the front of the elevator, a square sized panel popped out of the wood paneling revealing two guns and two extra magazines.
God, she loved Stark.
Picking up the guns and sliding the extra magazines into her pockets, she told Jarvis to remind her to thank Stark.
“Of course, Ma’am and please be careful.”
Nat liked Jarvis, he was pretty human for an AI.
Striding out of the elevator, she made her way to the Lobby, using the Shadows and walls as her allies. She wanted to see the guest before he saw her.
Black Widow saw the man sitting on one of the white couches by the indoor fountain Stark thought would be a great idea to put in. He was tall, a little shorter then Thor. He had dirty blonde hair that reminded her too much of Clint’s. He had a cross bow balanced on his knee, an arrow already notched and ready. Despite not being a archer, to Clint’s displeasure, she had a slight distaste for crossbows. It came more from Clint’s bias then her own opinion. It was too much like a medieval gun for Hawkeye.
Quietly going up to the man, she placed one of her guns to his head, unknowingly earning a smile from the man.
“Oh little Brother, you shouldn’t have.”
What?
In a second, they were a fury of limbs, his crossbow being left on the couch. Natasha was easily able to keep up with the man, though she couldn’t place where he had been taught. He wasn’t bad but he wasn’t as good as she or Clint.
“What are you doing here?” The redhead asked after flipping over the man and pressing her foot to his neck. She had gotten him onto his back and was not enjoying the look he was currently giving her.
“Oh you are way too good for my brother.”
That’s when it clicked in her head, the hair, the bow, the moves. It all reminded her of Clint, a lot more annoying and gung-ho masculine but Clint nonetheless.
This was Clint’s Brother. Oh shit.
“You’re Barney.”
“At your service.”
She was about to respond when a voice behind her caught her attention.
“Nat? What’s going on?” The remaining avengers were behind her, ready to go. Steve with his shield, Tony with his hand-phasers and Bruce… well the ceiling was high enough for the hulk to come in.
“Barney Barton, wanna tell me where Clint is?” There were similar looks of shock on the boy’s faces.
None of the others knew about Clint’s brother, hell none of them knew about any of the Black Widow or Hawkeye’s past.
They were not aware of Clint’s past, his parent’s death or what his brother had been up to.
“Clint’s not here, you can come back later.” Steve suggested, the other avengers stepping up next to their team mates.
The man frowned at Steve, there was a look about him like he was about to lose his patience.
“See that’s not gonna work. Our mom’s not doing too well and she wants to see Clint before she kicks the bucket.”
Steve was about to say something when Nat gave a sharp shake of her head.
“Just give us a second.” The red head said, walking a few feet away from the archer.
“He’s lying.” The spy murmured softly, the four of them in a small circle.
“How do you know?” Bruce murmured, keeping an eye on the man.
“Clint’s parents are dead. “
“So why is he here? Does he want to hurt Clint?”
For that, she didn’t have an answer. “All I know is Clint hasn’t talked to his brother since he was a kid and Barney walked out on him. He left Clint to the streets.” She spoke that last sentence like the venom her namesake was infamous for. Which was something the others easily picked up on.
“Come on, now babe don’t keep me waiting.” Barney called to them, earning a glare from the widow. Her hand twitched, wishing for nothing more than turn around and shot the man in the face.
“Don’t.” Steve ordered, though looked just as angry as Nat. He was a man from the forties and in that time a woman is treated with respect.
“Let’s call Clint.” Tony suddenly suggested, his own phone already out.
Steve looked at the other two who shrugged in response. It would at least give them an idea of what to do, kick out the man from Avengers tower from the top floor, or welcome him with open arms. Natasha hoped it would be the former.
“Go on, then.” Natasha muttered, after a moment of staring from Tony.
“Alright then,” Tony muttered in reply, dialing Clint’s number and waiting. He didn’t expect the god of thunder to answer.
“Man of Iron, Clint cannot answer at the moment.”
Tony could distinctly hear the sounds of fighting in the background and a curse or two from Hawkeye.
“Yeah well, he is going to want to hear this.”
Thor didn’t respond for a moment, though there was the sound of his distinctive battle cry.
The ironman stood there for a moment, balancing back and forth on his feet.
“Hi Stark, sorry about that. What’s up?” For a second, Tony felt a distinct feeling of guilt. Going off what Nat said, he didn’t want to push this giant pile of bullshit on his friend.
Fuck. Sorry Clint.
“Your brother’s here.”
“What?”
Down south, the archer froze the grip on his bow tight enough to make his knuckles white.
“Are you sure it’s him? Because I swear to God if you’re kidding Stark-“
“Natasha believes him.”
Clint didn’t miss a beat “Kick him out, throw him off the roof. I don’t give a shit how you do it but get rid of him.”
With that, he hung up. Throwing the phone back to Thor, he started mechanically picking out his arrows from the dead. His mind had completely shut off, he was trying to think through this without his heart forcing in a panic attack.
He hadn’t seen Barney since he was 9 years old –he was 30 now. That’s 21 years. Barney hadn’t even stuck around for their parent’s funeral.
“Clint?” Thor asked, approaching him softly and quietly. Clint was like an animal backed into a corner, able to strike at any moment.
Clint didn’t respond, instead he finished up his task; picking up his arrows, cleaning them and returning them to his quiver. Thor watched him do this, still unsure of what had happened to push the archer into this state.
When he was done, and SHIELD on the way to clean up the mess, he told Thor they were going to go back to the hotel, clean up, then he’d explain what was going on.
The archer needed to get his blood off first before explain, his head was barely functioning.
“Has Loki left?” Thor asked, once they were back in the hotel and clean. The two had Civi clothes on and were going to use the Quinjet to fly back. Clint hated when Thor flew him anywhere.
“Not as far as I know.” Said God of Mischief had been living with the Avengers for the past few months, in attempt to build a healthy relationship with his ex-thrall. Clint hadn’t been open to it at first, now he counted the God as a close friend, trusting him almost as much as Tasha.
For a split second, he imagined Loki spinning spells on Barney, torturing and hurting him. If he asked, Loki would have done it. That’s why he couldn’t, no matter how much he would have liked it.
“Then what is troubling you Hawk?” Thor asked, watching the man grab a beer and pop open the lid.
He took a long gulp of it before sitting down on the bed, staring harshly at the floor like it was the source of all his problems.
“When I was a kid, my parents got into a car crash, they uh they didn’t make it. We didn’t have any extended family so my brother and I were going to be placed in foster care.”
The news of Clint’s brother and the tragedy suffered by Clint made Thor’s heart swell in guilt. His brother-in-arms had always had a troubled life, it hadn’t just begun with Loki’s control.
“I figured Barney and I were going to stay together, it was dumb but he was my brother. I shoulda realized that we were gonna be separated.” Clint took another sip of his beer, still looking at the ground.
“I just didn’t think Barney was going to completely run out on me. The bastard fucking left me, left his little brother alone in this cruel goddamn world and never looked back.”
Not even when Clint had spoken of Loki before their fixed relationship had the archer used such a harsh angry tone. It almost scared the God.
“What will you do?”
Finally Clint looked up, his eyes practically glowing with anger.
“Not a goddamn thing. Barney can go fuck himself for all I care. The avengers are my family. He’s probably only at the Tower for money or something since we’re famous or whatever.”
Thor couldn’t help but try to convince the blonde to try to fix his relationship with his elder brother.
“Clint, you should at least attempt to mend the severed relationship between your brothers. I did not believe Loki and me-.”
“Would you have left your brother? “Clint cut in.
“What? Never. I will always protect my family.”
“Alight then.” With that the archer picked up his bag and left the room. Thor waited a moment, still trying to figure out why Clint wouldn’t give his brother a chance, before following.
Back in New York, the remaining Avengers were prepared to do what Clint had asked.
“Well Barney, you see Clint doesn’t want to talk to you so-“Tony began
“Get out.” Nat ended, her gun up.
The man smirked, like this was all going the way he wanted it.
“That’s not gonna work for me. I’m gonna see my brother if he wants to see me or not.”
Preparing for a fight, the avengers kept their eyes on the archer. Instead of attacking, he went over to the couch to pick up his crossbow.
He glanced back at Black Widow, “See you later, babe. Like I said, you are way too good for my brother.”
Taking that as a cue, she shot at his knees.
Black Widow, the world’s greatest assassin did not miss. She shot to kill.
She has no idea how Barney Barton was able to get out of Avenger’s tower with both knees functioning.
Later when Clint and Thor returned to the tower, they found the Avengers circled around their meeting table.
Clint strode in, dropped Thor and his report on the mission and walked back out. He did not have the patience for one of Steve’s debriefings.
“Hawkeye.” Steve Called, sounding more like a friend then a captain.
“What?” He kept his back turned, he absolutely refused to show his teammates how shaken up he was with the return of his brother.
“Are you alright?”
The archer didn’t respond, he just kept walking. When he got up to his floor, the only thing he wanted to do was see Loki.
He wanted to be able to sit there and be held by the one person he had always felt comfortable with. Even when the God first appeared in Shield HQ sweaty and broken, Clint had felt something.
Loki understood him, and he knew Clint would be able to understand him with this horrible shit.
“Loki!” The blonde called as the elevator doors opened to a horrible site.
The entire penthouse was trashed, like Loki had had an entire mental breakdown or a nightmare.
“Loki!” He called out again, running through and taking out his bow.
There was the possibility it hadn’t just been Loki who had trashed his apartment. Well their apartment though no one knew that.
What Clint found filled his entire being with total fear.
Written on the wall in shining gold-red blood of the gods, was “Clint, come find me if you want your boytoy back –B.”
Shit.