Chapter 1
Steve’s POV:
“Come on,” Tony whined as he dramatically tugged at his hair, “We’ve been at this for hours.”
“We only have a few more files,” Bruce told him, “Let’s just bunker down and get through them.”
“Ugh,” he groaned, “I hate it here.”
“My friend,” Thor started as he clasped his hand on Tony’s shoulder, “Don’t you want to find our new teammate?”
“At this point, I don’t care who it is. Why can’t Phil or Fury pick who we get?” he asked.
“It’s to promote team bonding for us. We decide who the new team is. We know what we need for our team to become better,” I explained as I gestured to the last few files in front of me, “Just have to find them.”
“Fine,” he sighed, “Who’s next?”
“Hank Ezra,” I read as I opened the file and his file appeared on the page.
“No,” Nat said, quick and stern.
“Why not?” Bruce asked, “His file looks good.”
“What it doesn’t tell you is his last two partners mysteriously died while out in the field with him,” she explained, “No investigations. Not enough stipulations.”
“Okay,” I said as I closed the file and grabbed the next one.
“Please,” Tony pleaded as he crossed his fingers.
“Clinton Barton,” I read.
“Hmm,” Nat hummed as a small smile graced her face.
“You know him?” Bruce asked.
“Read on,” she said, not wanting to inflict our opinion anymore.
“Born in Le Mars, Iowa. 24 years old. Parents Edith and Harold Barton. Has an older brother named Barney who is 29 years old. Grew up poor, Harold was an alcoholic and abusive towards Edith and the boys. At 6 years old, Harold once beat Clint so bad he lost most of his hearing and now wears hearing aids,” I started, cleared my throat to take a second before continuing, “When Clint was 8, his family was involved in a car accident where both parents died. Both boys were put into the system. Went from foster home to foster home. They ran away and joined the circus.”
“The circus!” Tony interrupted, “Really?”
“Let him finish,” Bruce sighed.
“Joined the circus and he started as a flyer boy. Tried to get people to come. A man named Trickster showed him how to use a bow and arrow.”
“Bow and arrow?” Tony asked, “Does he think he’s Robin Hood?”
“Tony,” Nat warned.
“Okay, okay,” he said quickly, putting his hands up in the surrender position.
“Clint then became part of the act and was called The Amazing Hawkeye. Filled the seats with his act, must’ve been quite a show. Was in the circus until they started committing crimes so he left. Was on the streets for a while until the law caught up with him and eventually Phil found him,” I said, “Wow. This kid has been through more than most people have in their lifetime.”
“He sounds interesting,” Tony said.
“Says hear that he doesn’t like authority figures. He’s mouthed off to his commanding officer multiple times. Pulling pranks on almost everybody at Shield,” I added, “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Like I said,” Tony chuckled as he rubbed his hands together, already scheming, “Interesting.”
“He’s just a kid Steve,” Bruce said as he gestured to his picture on the screen, “Clearly he’s been through hell and back. Maybe he just needs a good team to support him. A family. A real family.”
“I agree with Bruce,” Thor chimed in, “He needs love.”
“I don’t know,” I sighed as I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Nat, you said you know him. How?” Bruce asked.
“He was sent to kill me but he made a different call. I owe my life to him,” she answered, “I’ve worked with him on a handful of missions and he’s good.”
“I say we vote,” Tony said, “All in favor of adding this mysterious robin hood prankster to our lovely, dysfunctional family, raise your hand.”
Everyone’s hand shot up immediately, but we agreed that we needed it to be unanimous. We do need another person on our team, but I don’t like the disobedient side of him. I don’t want him going rogue under my command. However, I haven’t been the best listener either. This kid needs someone to take him under his wing. If the team is all willing to do that for him, how could I say no?
“Yes!” Tony yelled as my hand went up, “I knew you’d come through!”