Chapter 1
Clint made sure that his master, John Garret, was paying attention as he dumped the leftover food into the trash. Clint wasn’t allowed to have the scraps from customers or any at the end of night. Garret made a big deal of taking them down to the local elderly care facility. Clint got ‘slave bars, which were ill tasting, cheaply made but managed to contain the necessary calories and nutrients for a working slave. He’d tried to steal some food, but any and all unaccounted for food was tacked on to Clint’s debt.
Technically he wasn’t a slave, but an indentured servant. The bars were for his benefit, because they didn’t add as much to a debt. A debt that Clint doubted he would ever actually repay, because he was working in a coffee shop. Other people were able to get jobs that actually got them out of their debt. Clint hated the whole damn system, because he’d earned most of his debt being in an orphanage.
The doorbell rang and Clint almost smiled as the lovely red head entered. She was becoming a regular as she seemed to be using the place for various dates. This morning, she was with an older gentleman, slightly balding, and dressed in a suit. They got their coffee and took a seat, giving Clint a smile as she passed by. Sometimes, she’d chat quietly with him when his duties took him near the table she was at after her date had left. She was one of the few people that treated him like a person, like he might actually get out of this debt.
Clint went back to work sweeping, pausing when he heard the shop phone ring. Garrett answered it. He growled into the phone, catching Clint’s attention, before ducking into the back. Clint watched him go, eyes darting to the actual workers in the shop. Sure enough, Grant snuck a muffin out of the display and took a bite, grinning when he saw Clint watching. Jackass, Clint thought to himself.
The bell rang and a couple of uniformed officers stepped inside. Clint backed away as their posture seemed anything, but relaxed. There was some yelling in the back, multiple voices, which ended when Garrett reentered the room with his hands handcuffed behind his back.
“What’s going on here?” Grant asked, stepping up to try to protect his beloved mentor.
“Mr. Garrett is under arrest for violating Article 19 Section 9 Clause 99.9 of the Debt Code.” The Officer stated.
“What?” Skye asked. "I need my job here! I’ll be…“
"Ma'am, the place has already been sold to begin repaying Mr. Garrett’s debt,” another officer stepped in.
“When will we meet him?” Grant asked, sliding closer to Skye.
“I’m right here actually,” the gentleman that had been with Natasha stood up.
“Agent Coulson?” the first officer asked.
Coulson smiled. “Not an agent anymore.”
“You…” Garrett growled at Coulson.
Coulson looked unimpressed. "You did this to yourself, gambling with Tony Stark.“
"You’re supposed to be my friend!”
“I warned you!”
“You couldn’t smooth it over! You’re friends with Stark!”
“Maybe, we would have,” the redhead said. "If you weren’t using the back of the store for other illegal activities. You’re going to have a price of a criminal trial added to your debt.“
It took a few more minutes, before Garrett was pulled out, yelling and screaming. By then the shop had emptied out of everyone, but the workers, Coulson, and the redhead.
"Right, well, now that’s done,” Coulson stated. “I’m Phil Coulson. Garrett’s possessions were given to Mr. Stark to pay off his debt. Mr. Stark decided to gift this place to me as a retirement present. This is my colleague Natasha Romanov, she’ll be helping with the transfer.”
Is this everyone that usually works here?“
"Jemma and Fitz aren’t here, they work afternoons and then there’s a couple others that work at night,” Skye said.
“Right, well, it’s likely those fellows will be arrested, so we’ll need to find new overnight workers,” Coulson stated. “You are…?”
“Skye, well, Daisy Johnson, but I go by Skye.”
“Grant Ward.”
Coulson’s eyes drifted over to Clint.
“CFB 70-22-10-8.”
“His name is Clint,” Natasha said. "It’s on the paperwork.“
Coulson smiled. "Right.”
“He’s not trustworthy,” Grant said. "He sneaks food all the time.“
Coulson looked at Ward, before looking at Natasha. "Does he?”
Grant nodded. “You can ask Skye.”
“Tell the truth Mr. Ward.” Natasha advanced on him.
Grant swallowed. “Clint is a thief.”
“I don’t need to, I saw you steal a muffin earlier,” Natasha replied. “I’ve seen you do it before and blame Clint.”
“Good bye Mr. Ward,” Coulson stated. “You may considered yourself fired.”
“What?!” Grant snarled.
“You’re fired, I won’t tolerate someone treating another person in such a way!” Coulson snapped.
“He’s a slave!”
“He’s a person! Leave. Now.”
Ward growled at him, before turning and stalking out. “You’ll regret this!”
“Doubtful,” Coulson muttered, once he was gone. He turned to look at Skye. "And do you have any feelings on this?“
Skye shook her head. "No problem.”
“Good,” Coulson said. “We’ll sit down and chat, just the two of us in a bit. For now, Clint.”
“Sir?”
“Come with me,” Coulson said, motioning for Clint to follow.
Clint glanced around, before trailing after him. He led Clint to Garrett’s office, only to close the door with a look of disgust. Clint refrained from smiling, Garrett’s office was a mess.
“Let’s try the dining room,” Coulson said.
Clint nodded and followed Coulson, who stopped to grab two pastries out of the display. Coulson nodded at Skye and Natasha, who had pulled on an apron.
Coulson led them to a small table in one of the back corners and took a seat. Clint gently slid into the seat across from him.
“So, Clint, you do have options,” Coulson said as he pushed one of the pastries toward him.
“Options?” Clint repeated, dubiously eying the pastry.
Coulson nodded. “You can eat that, I won’t be adding it to your debt.”
Clint glanced up to meet kind blue eyes. “Garrett would.”
“I’m not Garrett,” Coulson said. "Which is part of the reason you’re getting an option.“
Clint grabbed the pastry and took a bite out of it, holding it lose to his chest between bites.
"You have three options.”
Clint glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.
“Technically, your servitude belongs to Stark now and he can find you a place to work it off in his employ. That’s option one. The second option is he gave me said he was giving me everything of Garrett’s that has to do with this place, which if I said I wanted you to stay to work here, he’d hand your servitude over to me.”
Clint nodded. “Three?”
Coulson smiled. "If you’d prefer Stark could sell it off to someone else.“
Clint froze at that, because there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t be sold again and again, never quite able to do any work.
"Now, there’s benefits to each one. You know this place, but you could make more money working for Tony. You could start over with a third.”
“I don’t like that one.”
Coulson arched an eyebrow. "The third?“
Clint nodded.
"Understandable, never quite sure what you’ll get.” Coulson smiled. "I don’t need an answer now, but I would like one soon as it affects how many people I’m going to need to hire. Think about it, if you want I can arrange a tour and meeting with Tony. Would you like that?“
Clint shrugged.
"Think about it.” Coulson said, getting up.
Clint moved to follow, but Coulson waved him back down. "I’ll get you another pastry. I want you to eat that and then take over for Skye for a bit.“
"I’m not… I’m not supposed to work the machines or touch the money. Just clean up.”
“I need someone to make sure that Natasha doesn’t kill the first person that’s rude to her.”
“I can try.”
“Try and yell for me,” Coulson said, before slipping away to grab the pastry and bring it back. "I’ll be trying to make sense of the office. I’m going to guess, you weren’t allowed in there?“
"Only when it was super messy and he didn’t want to clean it up.”
Coulson nodded. "And he blamed you for the mess that he made?“
Clint blinked in surprise, but managed to nod.
"Right, well, that won’t be happening with me.”
Coulson patted him on the shoulder and left Clint to eat his pastry. Clint watched him go, unsure about everything that seemed to have happened. He glanced over at Natasha and Skye. Skye looked just as nervous as Clint did, but Natasha smiled at him.