Chapter 9
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Clint has gotten a couple messages since he got his team home, since SHIELD fell and it turns out he may have been working for Hydra, and he knows where each one came from even if the numbers are different than they usually are. When he gets himself out of the way, he responds to each one and then gets ready to meet up with people. His first instinct is to go to Steve and Natasha right away but he knows that he needs to check in with someone else first.
It isn’t a difficult spot to find, the coordinates he was sent, and it doesn’t take Clint too long to get there. He sends a text as he walks in, knows better than to just walk in with out announcing his presence. He walks into the open space of the warehouse and just waits a few minutes and it doesn’t take long till he isn’t alone, someone walking down the stairs from the second floor. His arm is in a sling, Clint can see some bruising along his face, and there is just a little bit of a limp in his step but Nick Fury is still standing and Clint sometimes thinks nothing can take him down.
“Good to see you in one piece more or less, sir.”
The sir is habit by this point and Fury just gives a small nod as he moves closer to Clint.
“Can say the same for you, Barton.”
“I occasionally have good luck and this was one of those times. Managed to make it out ok but I guess I’m unemployed now.”
Clint says this and Fury has just a hint of apology on his face as he speaks again.
“If it makes you feel better, I’m unemployed and techniquely dead.”
“You planning on changing that last part any time soon?”
Clint asks but he thinks he may already know the answer. Fury shakes his head and then speaks.
“Not yet. I have some work to do that will be easier if I’m off the grid. Might need some help with that. You interested?”
It isn’t a surprising offer, not really, but it is one Clint isn’t sure he can take right now.
“I think I have some people I need to catch up with first, other things to see to. You ask anyone else yet?”
“Asked Rogers and Wilson, Rogers has something he needs to take care of, Wilson is following his lead. You haven’t met Wilson yet, have you?”
Clint shakes his head.
“No, but I have heard about him, heard he’s cute.”
Fury just gives Clint a long look before shrugging just a bit.
“Not sure about that but he handled himself well when everything went belly up, why I asked him to join up but he’s sticking with Rogers for now. You’ll probably meet him soon.”
Clint gives a nod and asks another question.
“You ask Nat?”
“I didn’t really ask her, talked to her about it. She’s not coming with me but she is keeping contact in case I need her. She has a bit to deal with, to figure out, and I’m going to give her a chance to do so. She deserves that.”
Fury says all of this and Clint agrees with it all. She showed her secrets to the world, showed all the red that covers her hands, burnt all the masks she had, and it is going to take her a while to adjust, to figure herself out now. Clint will be there for her, if she wants him there, and it is why he gives an answer to Fury now about his question earlier.
“She does. I can’t go with you but I’ll stay in touch, be back up when needed. I have others I need to be with right now.”
There is acceptance in Fury’s eyes, like he knew that this was always going to be Clint’s answer and he gives a little nod as he speaks.
“I figured you would have a few more priorities to deal with. If things get too complicated and you need a break, let me know, ok?”
“Will do.”
The conversation is almost over but not quite and Fury takes a step closer to him now, put his uninjured hand on Clint’s shoulder.
“ Just keep it in mind, things will probably get complicated for you. Do you know who Rogers is looking for?”
There is just a hint of concern in his voice and Clint gives a nod.
“Yep. Apparently, there is a resurgence in soldiers from the 40’s, they made them very durable back then.”
It is a joke, not a very good one, but sometimes Clint needs to joke a bit about things like this. It is still a bit crazy, the winter soldier is Bucky Barnes and Clint knows that Steve must be going through a hell of a lot right now. It is complicated situation and Clint isn’t even sure how complicated it is going to get but he isn’t going to walk away from Steve till Steve wants him to. Fury gives a hint of a smile, one that is a bit more exasperated than amused but for Fury it isn’t that bad of a look, and a squeeze on Clint’s shoulder before he moves his hand away.
“Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting yourself into. I’ll be in touch. Take care of yourself, Clint.”
He says this and Clint gives a little smile now.
“You do the same, Nick, and if you need me, call.”
He gives a salute as he says this and Fury rolls his eyes a bit but he does walk Clint towards the door now, gives him a bit of information about his plans, how Clint can get ahold of him if needed and when Clint leaves, he feels like they are leaving on good terms. It is good that Fury is going to be out there, fighting even if he doesn’t have the same resources that he used to, and Clint will help him when he can but right now, he needs to go see Steve and Nat and see what he needs to do for them.
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It is only a few hours after talking to Fury that Clint finds himself going to another address, one sent by Nat and it is somewhere he has never been to but it is different than the location that he met Fury at. It is in a residential area for one thing, a well maintained building, and the door he is looking for isn’t that hard to find. This is someone’s home, Clint can tell that much, and he has an idea of whose it might be and he reaches forward and knocks at the door. It doesn’t take long for the door to be opened, a man standing there and Clint says what his last message said to say.
“I was told to tell you on your left.”
The text came from Nat but she said that it was Steve’s instruction and the man who has opened the door rolls his eyes a bit.
“Of course you were. You must be Clint Barton then. Sam Wilson, nice to meet you.”
The man gives a bit of a grin now as he holds a hand out for a shake and Natasha was right, he is cute. Clint takes his hand, gives it a shake and returns the sentiments.
“Nice to meet you as well. So you were expecting me.”
Sam gives a nod, gestures for Clint to follow him inside and he does so as Sam speaks.
“Yep, they told me that they got a hold of you, needed to talk to you before we got started. Probably should get at least a good night’s worth of sleep as well before we really get into it, been a bit of a weird week. “
“I bet it was, I would say the next few weeks would be less weird but that might end up being a lie.”
Clint says this and Sam just gives a little shrug and a smile.
“At least it shouldn’t be boring. And here we are.”
They are entering what looks like a living room and there at the table are Nat and Steve and the worry Clint wouldn’t admit to himself he had eases. It is one thing to know that they are ok and to finally see it with his own eyes and he tries not to be too mushy right now, just says the first thing that comes to mind.
“You both were a bit busy while I was gone, overthrowing SHIELD, government hearings, were you that bored?’
Nat is the one to get up first, comes over and gives little shrug as she moves close enough to brush her shoulder against his for just a moment.
“It seemed like a way to pass the time. How was your trip?”
Clint gives his own shrug now.
“Not that bad, my ride was late, had to find another. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
Natasha just gives him a little smile and a nod before moving just a bit so Steve can come over to him. He is expecting some form of physical contact but the way Steve pulls him close and brushes a kiss against his lips is a little bit more than he was expecting. Steve holds him tight right now and Clint just lets him.
“I was worried about things, so glad that you’re here.”
Steve says this and Clint doesn’t ask what he was worried about, knows that it could have been so many things and he just leans into Steve a little bit more now.
“Don’t worry, you’re stuck with me still.”
“Good.”
There is another kiss and it is good, nice to be here with Steve, Natasha near by and a moment passes before another voice speaks, breaking the moment just a bit.
“I’ll go get some food started, leave you three alone for a bit. Food might be good before we get a game plan going. “
Sam says this simply and starts to walk out of the living room, gesturing for them to stay there. Clint waits a few moments before turning to Natasha and speaking plainly.
“You’re right by the way.”
He gives a little nod to where Sam has walked off to so that she will know what he is referring to and she gives a little smile.
“I usually am. We should sit down, talk about a few things.”
She gestures to the couch and the three of them go there, Clint settling in the middle, Nat and Steve either side of him and it is good to be back with them. Steve has an arm around Clint’s shoulders and Nat curls next to him and Clint is the first one to speak.
“Sorry I couldn’t help out before.”
He says this and he means it . He’s sorry he wasn’t here to help them, sorry that SHIELD was dirty and he didn’t know and they just both give him a look for a moment and Nat brushes a kiss against his cheek.
“You didn’t know we would need you and you’re here now. “
He gives her a little smile now.
“I’m here but things are still a mess.”
He says this and he can feel Steve shift just a bit closer.
“They are. I need to find Bucky but you don’t have to go with me if you don’t want to. That goes for both of you.”
Steve says this and Nat leans over Clint just a bit to put a hand on Steve’s shoulder for just a moment as she speaks.
“Have to figure a few things out but I will help when I can, already told you that.”
Steve gives a little nod at her words and Natasha moves her hand off of his shoulder. Clint makes sure he is looking Steve straight in the eyes as he gives an answer to the unspoken question.
“I’m helping you to look for him, he needs to be found. Besides, Barnes was my favorite commando growing up. “
His answer gets him a quiet chuckle from Nat and a bit of a raised eyebrow from Steve.
“Bucky was your favorite?”
He asks and Clint gives a nod.
“No offence, you’re awesome and obviously I love you, but he’s a sniper, one of the best ever, he had to be my favorite. I’m going to help you find him.”
It is true, he always admired Barnes and he wants to help him, needs to help him. Some of it is for Steve but not all of it, some of it is just because Clint knows what it is like to have your brain twisted around and he needs to help Barnes.
“Thanks. “
Steve says it simply and Clint brushes a kiss against his cheek.
“You know he won’t be easy to find, we have looked for him before.”
Clint says this and Steve just gives a small nod.
“Natasha told me about that, about Odessa. “
Clint turns and looks at Nat now.
“You told him about that?”
There is another question under that one and Nat hears it and answers both.
“Told him about that, need to tell him a bit more now.”
Steve looks over at Natasha now, something in his expression but it isn’t really weariness or distrust, more of an understanding look, a curious look and Clint thinks that they may have worked out some of their problems now. Nat takes a breath, waits just a moment and then speaks, voice steady.
“It is in some of my files, not the ones that SHIED had but some of the red room ones, the ones I dug up but I don’t think you have had a chance to look over all of those yet. Clint already knows, told him a long time ago, but I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it would matter. Odessa wasn’t the first time I saw the soldier, the first time was years before that, when I was still training. “
Steve looks at her but he doesn’t say anything yet and Natasha keeps speaking, Clint holding her just a bit tighter.
“He taught me, it was only a couple of months and I was still young but he was kind to me, kinder than a lot of my teachers. He didn’t stay long and the next time I saw him he didn’t remember me. I never said much about it, he’s been broken many times, more than me, but I knew him once, want to help but it might not be as simple as you want it to be.”
Clint holds her close right now, brushes a kiss against her forehead. He hates when she refers to herself as broken but he knows not to argue with her about it, just offers support when he can. They are all a bit broken after all and Steve seems to get that as well, just leans in a bit, stretches an arm out and Nat lets him take her hand, lets him squeeze it for just a moment.
“Nothing’s simple, not anymore, but we will face that when we have to. We’ll figure it out.”
When Steve says it, he sounds so sure of it and it is easy to see why so many people have followed him before.
“We will, we should go over our resources soon. A lot of my covers have been burnt but there are still a few that may not have been burnt with SHIELD. What about you?”
Nat asks this, draws them both back to the matter at hand, and they go over a few things now, talk about who they can get ahold of, any safe places. It is just a brief discussion since a few minutes into it, Sam shows back up in the living room.
“If you guys are going over the game plan, we can do it with food now, just need to move to the kitchen.”
He says this simply, doesn’t comment on how close they are all sitting to each other but Clint knows he is paying attention to it. They will probably need to explain their various connections to him soon but right now they just all move to the kitchen, eat some food and discuss ideas of how to go about things. Sam doesn’t stay silent during the discussion, asks his own questions and puts in his own ideas and Clint can see that he is going to be good to have around even if he hasn’t really dealt with these sort of situations before. He’s also a pretty good host, offering towels up if they want to clean up, letting Clint know where the spare bedding is.
“You’re all welcome to stay the night, might be easier but I only have the one spare bed but there is plenty of floor and a couch if one of you want it. Up to you guys.”
He says this and Clint just gives a little nod as Nat is the one to speak.
“We’ll stay and we’ll make do. Thanks, Sam.”
Sam gives a little smile and has a bit of teasing in his voice now.
“No problem but one of you is getting us breakfast tomorrow, doughnuts and coffee preferably. Going to turn in now, think you guys know where stuff is. Try not to wake me up for a while, need some beauty sleep after the last few days.”
He says this as he heads to his own room and they all tell him good night and then go to the spare room. Nothing is really said as they all get into night clothes and before Clint can really ask if they are going to share the bed, Nat is leading both him and Steve over.
“It might be a tighter fit than Clint’s bed, but we can make it work for tonight.”
They don’t argure with her, just settle in the bed, Clint in the middle like before but it is a bit different this time, Nat throws her arm across him and lets it settle on Steve and Steve doesn’t move away from it.
“So you guys seem a bit more comfortable around each other now. “
He says is, needs to know just a bit and Steve answers his unspoken question.
“We have come to a bit of an understanding, trying to get to know each other a bit more. Not sure where it will lead yet.”
Clint has to smile at this and Nat rolls her eyes just a bit.
“You won’t have to pay match maker anymore, we are just going to see if there is anything here, besides you need both of us to keep you in line anyway, might as well team up.”
She gives the explanation and Clint just grins at it a bit more.
“Won’t argue if you guys want to team up. Hey, just let me know when you guys start kissing, might want to see that.”
It is a little teasing but he doesn’t quite expect the bit of embarrassment that covers Steve’s face for a moment.
“We’ve already kissed.”
He says it and Clint looks over at him with a bit of surprise and then at Nat who just shakes her head a bit.
“PDA distraction for Strike while they were looking for us. Doesn’t count.”
“Oh, you’re right that totally doesn’t count.”
Clint agrees with Nat and Steve looks like he might say something to disagree with it but before he can get words out, Nat is leaning over and brushing lips against his for a moment before pulling away. Steve looks surprised but not upset as Natasha gives a bit of a grin.
“Now we have kissed. No more tonight though, time for sleep.”
Her voice holds no room for argument and so neither of them say anything, just lay there and try to get some rest. They are all in one piece, all together and that is good enough for Clint right now.
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