Chapter 8
Clint is once again seated in Phil’s office. He hasn’t decided if he hates being in the office or not yet, but what he is sure of is that he never wants to be alone with Maria, Nick, and Phil all together ever again.
“Clint, I know these things are extremely difficult and scary to discuss and I know you may even feel embarrassed by it all, but this isn’t anything you have to be embarrassed about. It’s up to you when and who you choose to discuss these events with, but we just want you to know all of us are always available to sit down with you,” Maria relays once again to the boy.
“It- it all happened a while ago, I’m fine,” Clint mumbles, sounding more like a broken record repeating the same sentence over and over again to the adults with each question they ask him.
“Honey, the bruises you had? Those weren’t fading. Those were still plenty visible, and by the looks of it painful. We know this couldn’t have been too long ago, and there’s nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn’t your fault,” Phil adds this time.
“Didn’t think it was my fault,” Clint says, this time with a glare though. “ ‘sides nothing happened.”
“Clint, can you please look me in the eye?” Nick states this time, the pure exhaustion not even attempting to mask itself. Clint remains stubborn for a couple moments before rolling his eyes as he looks up towards the bald man. “I talked to the local precinct today and my supervisor, and we’ve decided you’d be able to see your brother later this week-”
“Wait, really?!” Clint nearly shouts as he jumps up from his chair, eyes wide and small traces of smiling attempting to make his way onto his face.
“Yes, really, however, I now have some of my own concerns and I don’t know if I want that happening.”
“What?! No, you can’t tell me yes and then tell me no! That’s not fucking fair!”
“Clint, sit down, take a breath, and we’ll discuss this,” Phil jumps in because he could see the agitation coursing through the boy’s body but specifically his now fisted up hands. Clint glares at the man but regardless sits down. “Thank you, now Nick if you will.”
“As I was saying, I have some of my own concerns, but I think you could probably clear them up. I’m not gonna make you tell us everything that happened the two years you weren’t with the system, but I do need you to clear one thing up for me. Sound fair?”
Clint glares at the ground, legs kicking out at Phil’s desk before he sighs and nods his head.
“Is Trickshot your brother?” Nick ask.
“What?! No! No of course he’s not, Barnie would- he’d never! No he’d never! He looked out for me, he- he- he helped me!”
“Honey, we’re not trying to accuse your brother of anything,” Phil says, this time approaching the boy and gently holding onto his hands because he can’t be sure he won’t try to hit Nick. “You have to look at this through our point of view, okay? For two years, you disappeared. From one day to the next CPS didn’t know where you were or what you were doing; all they could tell was that you left with your brother. And now two years later, you were only found because your brother was found which gives us reason to believe you were with him throughout these two years. But that’s all we know. All we know is that for two years you and your brother were on your own.”
Clint’s glare slowly falls from his face and is replaced by a look that mixes understanding, fear, and something Phil doesn’t know how to label.
“Weren’t alone,” Clint mumbles as his fist begins to relax in Phil’s grip, his thumb vaguely running across Phil’s hand.
“Were you with people older than you boys?” Nick asks, now also crouched down in a position similar to Phil. Clint doesn’t speak, just nods his head. “Did they help you get out of Iowa?”
“Met ‘em in Ohio.”
“And were one of these them Trickshot?”
Clint sighs but nods his head.
“C-can I go? M’tired,” Clint mumbles, Phil and Maria both silently cooing at the boy because they can see the exhaustion on his face but also so much more.
“Can you tell us anything else about Trickshot? What he did was wrong and evil, and you deserve for him to not be able to do this to anyone ever again,” Maria asks but she’s met by pleading eyes.
“Wanna talk to Barnie,” Clint replies, voice louder than it had been in a while which allowed the three adults to realize this conversation was in fact over.
“Alright, honey, we’re done here. Based on your class schedule with Sam I think Wednesday might be the best day to visit? I’m letting you know now, though, that this will be monitored. It’s not cause we don’t trust you, it’s more a police station requirement than anything, alright?”
Clint once again nods his head before rushing out of the room, so as to not risk getting dragged in for more questions. Once the boy was out of the room and the door was shut, the three adults look at each other and can’t help but sigh because even though they’re glad to have some information on the boy’s past, it’s not nearly enough to scratch the surface.
“Do you think him talking to his brother will make him feel comfortable enough to talk to us? Should we maybe see if we can ask him about his time on the streets while he’s with his brother?” Maria ask the two men who are rubbing their faces in exhaustion while contemplating the events of the past day.
“I definitely think talking to him while he’s with his brother is a smart move. I have a meeting with the DA later today about potentially making a deal with Barnie if he helps us locate Trickshot and the rest of that crew. I don’t know why but I just have a feeling the crowd they were running with were a bit more dangerous than your run of the muck townies hopping in and out of cities. If we come up with anything I may be having a separate, private meeting with Barnie tomorrow,” Nick explains.
“God I’ve never wanted to hurt someone so bad before. Clint’s face when he showed us, he- he was so ashamed. As if he’s the one that did something wrong,” Phil sighs. “God this kid has gone through the ringer these past 24 hours.”
“Everything okay after I left yesterday?” Nick ask confused.
“No definitely not. Some mayhem broke out when we couldn’t find him for a bit, but he was just on the porch. His hearing aids still weren’t working the best so he couldn’t hear us yelling for him. Then we learned that his hygiene habits aren’t the best because he’s terrified to shower every night when he can’t hear who’s in the room with him and what they’re doing, so he tries to get in and out before he’s taken by surprise.”
“How do you plan to address the showering situation?”
“During group I was gonna see if people wouldn’t mind if Clint were allowed to use the private shower until he’s comfortable, or if not then we might move his shower time to being when the rest of the kids are in school. Don’t know how great that solution would be though because he’s gonna have to go to school eventually.”
“Well, good luck with that discussion, I’m gonna go before I’m dragged into it. Keep me posted.”
Phil and Maria wave the man off as they then work on a brainstorm of ideas on how to approach the shower situation with the rest of the house without embarrassing Clint, as well as figuring out other things they may need to adapt for the boy that he hasn’t spoken out on yet.
An hour after everything Phil finds Clint laid out on his bed doing what appears to be readings, except the book he has laid out definitely is not one of the ones Sam gave him. It’s too big and textbook like which immediately allows Phil to know it’s probably one of Bruce’s.
“Knock, knock,” Phil says as he enters into the doorframe of the room. “Mind if I come in?”
Clint shakes his head as he repositions himself so he’s sitting up instead of laying down. Phil enters with a smile, but at the same time can’t help but wonder was the position change out of respect or was it more of an internalized fear.
“Did Sam update your reading criteria? That’s a big book you’ve got there,” Phil says with a chuckle as he pulls the boy’s desk chair out to sit on it.
“M’books for reading homework were in the family room, but the door was closed so I couldn’t get ‘em. Sam says I just gotta read something other than my textbooks for an hour a day and Bruce mentioned I could look through his books.”
“And how are you liking Bruce’s books?”
“Not really sure I’m readin’ ‘em right. Don’t really get what they’re sayin’.”
“If we’re being honest here? I don’t really know what half of Bruce’s books say. Feel free to keep going through his books, but you can also look through the bookshelf in the garage.”
“Didn’t know there was a bookshelf there.”
“Have you gone into the garage yet?” Instead of speaking, Clint just shakes his head. “Hmm, maybe we can check it out tomorrow. You and Sam can go through the books and maybe set up a reading checklist. He used to do that with Bucky and when he finished five books he’d get a prize.”
“Like leaving the house?”
“Yeah maybe, since it would be with Sam you’d have to work out the rewards with him but I think an ice cream trip could be a reasonable excursion. Maybe going to the local library to pick out a book on your own?”
“More reading doesn’t sound like a reward,” Clint says with a pout as he closes the textbook in front of him.
“Maybe not right now, but I bet you’re gonna grow to love reading. You just seem the type,” Phil chuckles. “Now we’re having group in a couple minutes, you ready to come downstairs?”
At that question Clint becomes noticeably more nervous as he looks away from Phil’s eyes.
“You alright, Clint?” Phil asks with a frown.
“Don’t really wanna do group today,” Clint mumbles as he begins to play with a loose string on his comforter.
“I know today and the past 24 hours have been very emotional times and you might not want to talk about everything, but I think going to group will be really good for you. You don’t have to talk about it, but I think it’d be good for you to just sit in at the very least.”
Clint groans in annoyance as he falls back against his pillows, but eventually he gets up from the bed and begins to make his way downstairs and into the family room where most of the house was already settled in. Clint was going to take his typical seat on the ground, however, before he could, Tony extends one of the bean bag chairs he had been hoarding the past week out to the boy.
“So I attempted your sitting on the floor thing and it felt awful, take the bean bag before I change my mind,” Tony says when the boy doesn’t make moves for it.
Clint continues to look at him questionably, but regardless he grabs the seat to situate himself– internally smiling because sitting on the ground had been silently killing him.
Eventually the rest of the house members settle themselves in and Phil is beginning the meeting. Everyone goes around to say their highs and lows– Clint even deciding to share his again even if they were as simple as I got new hearing aids, but it meant I had to go to the doctor– before Phil begins to ask some questions about the day’s topic.
“Alright, so we’re a little over a month into the school year and– like years past– I’ve begun to notice we’re hitting that period where I begin to receive more notices from the school about some of us acting out or needing to be dismissed from class for causing disturbances. This is no ones fault, I think we just need to discuss some of our triggers and strategies we can implement in order to overcome them so that we don’t do anything that may get us into trouble,” Phil explains. “Now does anyone want to share something that triggers them into acting out in anger whether verbally, physically, or even towards themselves?”
Clint is surprised to hear Tony volunteer himself first followed by Natasha and Steve, but then he thinks back to last week and realizes two of the three were sent home for disrupting class or becoming violent at school. But still, Tony surprises him because– while they may not be close– as roommates Clint’s never gotten the vibe that Tony is aggressive.
“So, T, when people question or doubt you what’s your first instinct? How do you find yourself reacting the most?” Phil asks.
“Call them an idiot in words that they won’t understand so that I can show just how clearly stupid they are before attacking them at their lowest points. Like really hit them where it hurts,” Tony replies without even a blink of the eye. “I’m not big so verbal assaults are my powerhouse, short stuff.”
Clint finds himself scrunching his face up at the short stuff comment because was Tony calling Phil short? It wasn’t until he looked towards his roommate that the boy had been directing it towards him which causes him to scowl at the boy.
“Tony, uncalled for. Clint, deep breath,” Maria mediates as she takes one of Tony’s bean bags and settles in between the two boys.
“And what do these verbal assaults provide for you?” Phil continues after nodding his thanks towards Maria.
“They’re definitely a boost in confidence.”
“Okay and how do they typically end up affecting you?”
At this Tony becomes a little less cocky with his demeanor as he shrugs his shoulders before sighing.
“Well I guess recently I’ve been louder with my comments or had them directed at teachers, so I’m made to finish classes in the office which isn’t great.”
The conversation goes back and forth for a while, eventually switching to Natasha and Steve. Phil and Maria then begin to give suggestions for how to realize they’re falling into old habits and then take a new approach as to how they want to take on the incident.
As the meeting begins to wrap up Phil opens up the circle for people to speak freely. Typically this becomes a time when people petition what the weekly game night event will be or if they want to reserve the TV at a specific time. Occasionally– Clint’s noticed– people attempt to pose new house rules, however, that hasn’t been a super common entity which is why he’s more than shocked when Phil is the one to bring it up once everyone finishes adding their two cents.
“Alright, so guys I actually have a new house rule proposal I would like to discuss with you,” Phil says, which has people bringing their attention back to him with questioning looks. “I’m bringing this up because this is a proposal that doesn’t really affect everyone, however, it falls under the category of automatic implementation for how people interact with individual house members.”
Clint looks at Phil in horror as he realizes that he is the individual house member that wants a new rule added. He doesn’t understand what Phil is doing because they never discussed this. Sure he told him he’s scared of the showers but he never thought the man would have to bring it up to the whole house. Quickly he begins to shake his head at the man, however, he can’t grasp the man’s attention because Pepper is speaking up.
“Then why do we need to discuss it? Shouldn’t it just kinda be enacted?” Pepper asks in confusion.
“Well, it’s slightly more complicated,” Phil explains, finally looking at Clint where he realizes the boy is not enjoying this one bit. “I’m just going to go right out and explain. Clint, buddy, I know we didn’t discuss this but I told you it was something I was going to handle and I think this is the best way to do it.
“Would everyone be alright if Clint– even though this is typically a reward and he doesn’t have the points for it– uses the private bathroom as a more permanent option for showering purposes? His hearing aids are not waterproof which means he needs to take them out to shower, and he hasn’t felt safe or comfortable when doing so since moving in because he’s not sure when or if someone enters the room or attempts to speak to him.”
The or if someone tries to sneak up on him from behind to hurt him is silent but based on the faces in the room Phil can tell everyone got the message.
“I-I didn’t ask to use the private bathroom, I-I-I don’t deserve it. It’s okay I- I’ll suck it up,” Clint rushes out frantically.
“Clint, you’re missing the point, buddy, this isn’t something you have to suck up. It’s a reasonable fear and we don’t want you to not feel safe here. This is your home as of now,” Phil explains to the boy.
“N-no I can, uh, I can just-”
Before he can finish his sentence he’s cut off.
“I don’t care if he gets to use the private bathroom. Granted, I’m nowhere near and never have been near enough points to get to use the private bathroom,” Bucky says first while giving the boy the most subtle smile he could conjure up.
“Yeah I’m with Bucky, I don’t mind,” Steve adds.
“It does not bother me in the slightest,” Thor conquers.
“Ditto,” Tony and Bruce say simultaneously.
“I mean if we’re being honest me and Natasha already have private bathrooms because she showers at night and I shower in the morning,” Pepper points out. “It’s really just a reward for the boys if you think about it.”
Phil looks to Natasha to see her nodding her head in agreement before he turns back to Clint.
“See, bud, no one minds. Looks like we solved our issues,” Phil says with a smile before asking for a final call on things to be addressed.
When everyone is set that they’re done for the day the room empties, and for once Clint may feel just a little bit happy about having gone to group for the day.