“Stark” Barney almost spat. Tony Holier-Than-Thou Stark had kept Barney locked up in the basement wing of stark tower for months after Barney had donated blood marrow for Clint. Starks name was on the building that collapsed on top of him before Norman Osborn resuscitated him. Stark was the evil maniacal brain that had captured him in the Dark Reality.
Barney had some ill will towards Stark. Though it had been lessened in the past recent weeks since putting an arrow through his counterparts brain.
Barney steeled himself, taking a deep breath. No, this wasn’t the time to let emotions rile up.
‘Remember Barn, the worlds ending. Be a professional. You got this.’ He thought to himself. He turned to The Agent,
“Alright.. I’m sure you’ve heard some about me, and the others have heard some about me too. An’ I won’t say who to believe, but ask that y'all have an open mind about me and know there’s two sides to every story.
“I came to help, to find my brother, and make allies. So, if you will….” Barney cracked a smile,
Melinda arched a brow at the reaction Barney gave to hearing Tony’s name. She knew the billionaire wasn’t popular with a lot of people, but she hadn’t expected Clint’s brother to harbor any ill will towards the man, at least not as much as his tone indicated.
“He’s not a bad guy. He’s made mistakes, but who hasn’t? None of us are innocent in this game.” It was a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless. Fighting to save the world meant making tough calls and decisions that ate away at innocence, even if you tried your best to always do the right thing. It wasn’t a black and white job, but rather a grey area where the line between good and bad was thin, and toed every day.
At Barney’s request that she keep an open mind about him, she simply shrugged. “I’m not in the habit of judging people based on what I’ve heard.” It was all part and parcel of not trusting easily. She kept everyone at a distance unless they proved worthy of her trust, and even then there were few people she would trust implicitly.
“Well the help will certainly be appreciated - there’s always plenty to do around the place,” she nodded, continuing to lead him back towards Haven.