#flashbackfriday remembering all the cool #monkey stuff at #monkeyjoescoffee @trulykingston #fezwearing #monkeyclock 🐵☕️ (at Monkey Joe Roasting Company)
@fezwearingjellybananas submitted: The world was in uproar. People petitioning for the Sokovia Accords, people petitioning against, Avengers fighting over them, everything was going wrong.
Things were simpler when Captain America was dead, aliens were just science fiction, and the World Security Council kept Ross in line. Back when it was Clint and the gang at SHIELD. Nick, Melinda, Phil, and Jasper. Maria and Nat when they joined too. But that had all gone to pot, Nat was backing up Stark, Phil was still pretending to be dead, Melinda was with him, the two of them were chasing enhanced people. Jasper still hadn’t recovered from going undercover at HYDRA, spilling everything he knew to Cap, then being thrown in front of a moving truck. Nick was who knew where, and even if Ross knew he was alive, he’d be kept firmly out of the loop. Maria was looking for him, trying to get Ross to compromise, to not make everything public, but he knew she’d been Nick’s protégé, his dislike for him fell onto her too.
Clint would quite happily have stayed out of it at home. Laura would have made them talk about it over a pot or six of coffee. He didn’t mind being accountable for things he’d actually done wrong. Part of it was Ross’s vendetta against Banner, most likely, trying to get him legally responsible for everything the Hulk had ever done. Banner was wisely keeping his head down, wherever he was.
The problem wasn’t the accountability for Clint, the problem was they wanted his life public. His SHIELD files already were, ever since it fell, but his whole life? He couldn’t do that. He had a family to protect. His secret identity was never about him. It was only them.
Maria was trying to get SHIELD back in charge, put it as internal affairs, complicated legal stuff Clint didn’t exactly understand. The fact superpowered individuals kept popping up didn’t exactly help, even if most weren’t Avengers.
Personally, he would have preferred to stay retired. Spend some time with his kids. With his wife. Maybe get a dog. A cow or three. Actually get this farm up and running. That would have been nice. Laura would have liked that.
Instead he was currently in a bar.
Someone sat next to him.
“Barton.”
“Save it, Rhodes, you made your choice, I made mine. I’m not going to fight you. Not here.”
“I’m not here to fight.”
“To persuade me to change my mind?”
“Put all that aside. Have you heard of Trickshot?”
“One word or two?”
“He only said it aloud, probably one? Does that matter?”
“Trust me, it matters. Who told you that name?”
“Crossbones, or that’s what he’s going by.”
“Brock Rumlow. HYDRA. Ex SHIELD Strike team. He was at the Triskelion, he’d be all for destroying the Avengers. And no one’s talking, so it’s the perfect time for him to strike. We ran into some of his HYDRA buddies a few days back. There’s something going on.”
“I was hoping you could shed some light on that.”
“I’m not HYDRA, Rhodes, sorry to dissapoint, I don’t have a clue what they’re planning.”
“Didn’t think you were. He said to tell you Trickshot, that you’d know what he meant.”
“It’s a threat. He’s threatening me.”
“It’s do with your past.”
“Trick Shot, two words, he trained me. Also dragged me down a dark path. Tried to kill me once. But along Nick Fury, dragged me out the gutter, gave me a second chance. He ended up in FBI custody, trained one of their agents to be Trickshot, one word.”
“Twisted their mind?”
“Actually no, we got along pretty well most of the time, put aside our differences. Until he died. He, um, he was a good man. I wasn’t fast enough, I didn’t pull him out of their in time.”
“You were friends.”
“No, Rhodes, we weren’t friends. There was a point we hated each other. There was also a point we couldn’t live without each other. But we were never friends.”
“If he’s dead, Rumlow could be trying to get you out the way.”
“I used to think like that too. Then a billionaire started flying around in a suit of armour and a hammer no one could lift fell out of the sky. The dead aren’t staying dead for long, I wouldn’t be surprised if Peggy Carter walked around that corner right now. I’ll be on the lookout. And if I hear anything about who Rumlow’s working for, I’ll let you know. I trust this conversation never happened?”
“It’s not sharing that got us into this situation in the first place, Barton.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
“I’ll keep your past off the record. Probably counts as fraternising with the enemy.”
“Thanks.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“You too.”
Rhodes headed towards the door.
“Oh, and Barton?”
“Yeah?”
“If he wasn’t your friend, then who was he?”
“Who says he was anything?”
“You don’t talk about acquaintances like that.”
“No flies on you, Sherlock. Barney. His name was Barney. He was my brother. Keep both eyes open, Colonel, if Rumlow’s right, if Barney’s on their side? Stay well clear of him.”
“He’s dangerous.”
“No more than I am.”
“How dangerous are you?”
“Rhodes, pray you never have to find that out.”
~
An arrow flew, knocking Rhodey to the floor. Something flew over his head.
Barton extended his hand.
Rhodey grasped it, pulling himself up.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“I’m guessing that wasn’t you?”
“HYDRA. Only one. He’s gone.”
“You threatened me last time we parted.”
“Believe me, if I’d threatened you, you’d know about it.”
“So what was that?”
“Got to be cryptic sometimes, it’s part of the secret agent charm. Barney’s got skill. He doesn’t have my award winning personality. If he’s shooting at you, he’s not taking prisoners.”
“What do we do?”
“Don’t give him a reason to shoot at you.”
“Simple enough.”
“Something big is about to go down. If you need anything, Laura will help. She knows everything about me. It’s going to get weird. Just go with it.”
“That’s been my life since Tony got back.”
“I need to call Laura. Tell her what’s going on. I haven’t heard from her since this kicked off, it’s safer if I stay away a while, don’t bring them into it. Catch you later, Rhodes.”
~
“Honey, it’s me.”
“Agent Clint Barton.”
“Who are you? How did you get this phone?”
“I took it.”
“What have you done with her?”
The connection cut out.
~
The door was hanging off its hinges.
No answer as he called.
He froze at the door into the kitchen.
No.
No, they couldn’t. They weren’t. It was just a nightmare.
Her hair was matted as he lifted her head into his lap, stroking her cheek. He closed her eyes. He could imagine she was sleeping now.
“Honey? It’s me, I’m home. I’ve got you.”
She didn’t respond. Of course she didn’t. It was just her body.
A crack came from outside. He grabbed his bow.
The man smirked raising his hands.
“Going to take me to Captain America, Hawkeye?”
“How dare you touch her. How dare you touch them.”
“What are you going to do about it? You can’t kill me. I’ve surrendered. You wouldn’t kill someone who’s surrendered, would you, Hawkeye?”
Clint released.
The arrow sailed over the man’s head. Clint grabbed him, dragging him into the barn. He grabbed a rope, binding his hands, ignoring the yelp he gave.
“I knew you couldn’t do it, Hawkeye. You’re a coward.”
Clint punched him.
He looked down at his own hands. Her blood. Laura’s blood.
All because of him.
“Don’t move.”
~
The attic was dusty. They hardly ever went up there. A tent, dusty and faded, with a logo embroidered on it.
A lantern, shattered.
He and Laura had met in that tent. They’d had their first kiss in that tent.
She’d patched up his shoulder after Trick Shot in that tent.
Clint left it alone, heading for the locked chest at the end.
He opened it.
“I’d hoped I’d never see you again.”
~
A figure clad in black strode towards the barn, a sword swinging at his side, a mask covering his face. In his hand he twirled an arrow.
The man looked up with fear as he crouched in front of him and drew a knife.
“Who do you work for?”
“HYDRA.”
“I want a name. Who ordered their deaths?”
“Baron Zemo. He sent Trickshot, I was only here as a guard, I didn’t lay a finger on them, I swear.”
“Who did?”
“Trickshot, he said that it was his family, he was the one that should do it. Please, let me go.”
“Why?”
“To taunt you, I don’t know. Let me go.”
“Take a message to Zemo. You tell him to run, because he took everything from me. Including the one thing that gave me hope. The one thing that taught me mercy. You tell Baron Zemo that, and you tell him that if you he wants to play dirty, I can play dirty.”
“Hawkeye-”
“Hawkeye is dead. He died the minute he walked in that room. There is no more Hawkeye, no more Agent Clint Barton, only me.”
“Please.”
“Tell Zemo Ronin is coming for him.”
The knife slipped through the ropes, leaving a mark without breaking the skin. The HYDRA agent scrambled to his feet.
“I’ll tell him, I’ll tell him.”
“One more thing.”
“Anything.”
“You tell my brother I’m going to make him wish he stayed dead.”
~
Rhodey stepped out. A HYDRA agent was hanging upside down from a lamppost.
“I hear that’s the new kid’s calling card,” a voice said. Rhodey spun round, drawing a gun. “I’d put that away if I were you.” He drew his bow.
“You must be Trickshot.”
“That’s the one. This isn’t Spider-Man.”
“Who?”
“Only one man who’d do this. Ronin.”
“Let me guess, he’s no more dangerous that you?”
Trickshot had vanished.
~
“Ronin?”
“That’s what he said.”
“You’re sure he said Ronin?”
“Yeah. Nat, does that mean something?”
“There was a time I was sent to kill Ronin. He’s dangerous, he was a threat to the Red Room.”
“So why’d he still alive?”
“Because I couldn’t find him.”
“You couldn’t find him?”
“He’d stopped. There weren’t any reports of him. But no one claimed it, and if you kill someone like that, the entire underworld knows in a matter of days.”
“So you knew he was alive.”
“But it was like he’d never existed. There was nothing I could use to trace him, no one even knew where he was from.”
“But they must have heard him speak.”
“They had. But his accent was so flawless they all swore he was a native speaker of their language. He always wore his mask, no hair colour, no eye colour, nothing.”
“You know he was a man.”
“Most people assumed from his body shape, but there were some that said he was actually a she. I got different heights and everything.”
“So there were two.”
“That would be the logical conclusion.”
“Which one are we looking for?”
“Neither, you don’t go looking for Ronin, Rhodey, I am the Black Widow, the most feared assassin in the world, and I couldn’t find him.”
“So we bring him to us.”
“We can’t do this alone.”
“I’ll get Tony.”
“I don’t just mean Tony.”
“I might have met with Clint a couple of times.”
“You can get them here?”
“I’ll try.”
~
“Hey, man. Clint said you were coming.”
“We’re-”
“We’re good.”
“Where is Barton?”
“Said he owed his kids something. And Laura.”
“Protection. We need you to come in, Sam.”
“This won’t end it.”
“Not for that. HYDRA are using this to attack. They’re splitting us up. United we stand.”
“Divided we fall. What are they planning?”
“We don’t know. But they’ve got a man, Trickshot, potentially working for them. Crossbones, Rumlow, sent me to Clint to find out about him. I met Trickshot yesterday. Said there was a man, Ronin. Natasha said he’s an assassin, there’s been no sign of him for almost twenty years, and here he is. Something big is about to go down, last time I saw Barton he warned me things were going to get weird.”
“He does realise Captain America is fighting a man with a flying suit of armour, and we know an alien and a man who turns into a giant green Hulk?”
“Different kind of weird.”
“And he chooses now to stay low.”
“I think he’s staying low because of it.”
“Right. I’ll try, but I can’t make promises.”
“Thanks.”
“The Tower?”
“Good a place as any.”
~
“Nice of you to stop by.” Rhodey blasted the HYDRA agents out the way as Sam landed next to him.
“Can’t let you guys have all the fun.”
An arrow landed by his foot.
“Barton?”
“Not Hawkeye, he’s still with his family.”
“Trickshot.”
“Thought you said he doesn’t miss?”
“He doesn’t.”
“Looks like he just did.”
~
“I haven’t been in a room this cold since Clint and I had a mission in Alaska and the safe house had a hole in the room, no heating, and three walls.”
“What happened to that safe house?”
“Don’t look at me, Sam, we found it like that. He’s with Laura?”
“Dropped off the grid.”
“There’s no way to contact him?”
“None.”
“You’re sure?”
“He’s not answering his phone, I don’t know if you have a special spy thing the two of you do.”
“He’ll show up. Hi Sharon.”
“Hi Nat.”
“How’s your aunt?”
“A little better. She’s happy.”
“That’s good.”
“Fraternising with the enemy,” Rhodey said. Sam chuckled.
“I think we’re a team again. Just for a few days. Then we can go back to beating each other up.”
“We may have to alter those Accords slightly. Maybe just SHIELD.”
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have some kind of control. Just in case.”
“We should have done this sooner,” Natasha said. “We just solved everything.”
“If Ross agrees,” Sharon said.
“We’ll persuade him.”
“That is what Maria’s been trying to persuade him from the start.”
“We’ll sign a petition. HYDRA.”
“Ronin.”
“From the looks of it, Ronin is trying to take out HYDRA.”
“I say we find him and shake his hand.”
“He’s much, much worse than me, Barnes. That’s not how it works. We protect people.”
“He hasn’t killed anyone.”
“We still need to find him.”
~
“You think I would do that?”
“That’s Trickshot,” Rhodey said. “Your lead was right, Nat.”
“Who’s he with?”
“You really think I would?”
The other person was too quiet to hear.
“HYDRA sent me too, but I would never. I swear to you. I would never do that to you.” He paused. “You shouldn’t. I lost it. I need to earn it back. But let this be the first step.”
Rhodey and Natasha burst it. Sam swooped behind them.
Trickshot smiled, hands tied behind him.
“Colonel, a pleasure to see you again.”
“Who were you talking to?”
Natasha swung, firing her pistol. A blur of black and gold darted out the door.
“I believe you just caught your first sight of Ronin. Not many people get out of that alive.”
“Good thing he already tied you up, it saves us a job.”
“Only my hands, I could get out if I wanted.”
“We need Clint,” Natasha said. “Rhodey?”
“He’s Clint’s brother.”
“If it helps, I know about Laura. I was the best man at his wedding. And we were both born on the farm.”
“Fine.”
~
Trickshot sat in Avengers Tower. Rhodey was keeping an eye on the cameras with Wanda.
The black and gold flashed in front and they put their plan into action.
Trickshot signed at him. Ronin backed away.
He almost looked scared.
Rhodey sounded the alarm and ran down, Wanda following.
“Drop the sword,” Natasha said, pointing her gun.
“I don’t think you want to do that.”
“Shut up, Trickshot.”
“I’m not here for you,” Ronin said, in perfect Russian. “I only want Zemo.”
He jumped out the window.
“We need to get to Zemo, before Ronin does,” Natasha said.
“How do we find him?”
“Jasper Sitwell.”
~
“No.”
“Jasper.”
“You want me to go back under so you can save the leader of HYDRA? No.”
“So you were SHIELD the whole time,” Sam said.
“Sorry about throwing you in front of a truck.”
“Don’t worry about it. No. Who’s going after him?”
“Ronin.”
“Okay, fine, I’ll do it.”
“That was easy,” Steve said. “Do you know who he is?”
“Who said Ronin was a he?”
“Trickshot?”
“Barney? Oh, that’s not good. Ronin isn’t one person. The first was Maya Lopez. Ronin is an entity born of revenge. A mask to hide behind so as not to tarnish another name. With the Accords, Ronin should die.”
“So who’s this Ronin?”
“I can’t answer that. I can tell you it’s not Maya. That’s all.”
“Where do we find her?”
“You don’t, you want to get to Zemo, arrest Zemo, and Ronin will come to you.”
~
“This was far too easy, it’s a trap.”
“Well assumed, Agent Romanoff.”
“You must be Baron Zemo. Did you know Ronin is after you?”
“He sent a warning.”
“Ronin doesn’t send warnings.”
“He is very angry with me.”
“That’s because you went too far.” Trickshot pushed to the front. “You went too far and you destroyed everything he had.”
“Barney, stop.”
Ronin appeared.
“Clint,” Natasha whispered.
“You killed her.”
“I didn’t, your brother did.”
“Your ordered this. You ordered the death of my wife, it’s your fault. My children were there. You killed them.”
“He did.”
“I spoke to Barney. You think I’m an idiot? He told me everything, he told me how they faked it, how they hid the kids, but they were there, I saw them. I had her in my arms! I held the dead body of my wife and that was all on you.”
“Clint.”
“I heard Clint Barton was dead,” Zemo said. Ronin strode towards him, sword in hand.
Trickshot shot it out of his hand.
“What are you doing?”
“This isn’t you.”
“This is why Maya gave me the suit.”
“But this isn’t you. She wouldn’t want this.”
“How am I supposed to know? She’s dead.”
“Clint. Listen to me. I haven’t always been the best brother. Heck, I’ve been a terrible brother. But I know you. I made you a promise, remember? I’d always protect you. I haven’t done a very good job of that. This is me protecting you. Don’t do this. Stay you.”
“He killed Laura.”
“Then let me do it. Let his blood be on my hands, baby brother. The world needs Hawkeye.”
“I need her.”
“Love you too, honey.”
“What is this?” Zemo asked.
“Just you figuring out it takes more than that to put one over on a Barton.” She pulled him into handcuffs. “And that you’re going to jail for a long time.” She punched him in the face. “And that’s for my children.”
“Who?” Trickshot asked.
“Ringmaster himself.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“Nick’s got them.”
“Good.”
“Honey?”
“You’re alive.”
“I’m alive, honey.”
“You’re alive.”
Clint collapsed into her. Tony and Steve took Zemo away.
“It’s okay, Clint. I tried to tell you, but you weren’t answering your phone.”
“I ditched it, can’t have anything that could be used to track me.”
“Let’s get you back in purple.”
“So you admit it’s not stupid?”
“You have one sleeve, make your mind up, do you want sleeves or not?”
Rhodey watched the two of them leave.
“Did you know about this?”
“He said the kids were there, that wasn’t me. But I strongly suspected she was all right.”
“Why?”
“Laura Barton is the only person to ever leave the Circus of Crime.”
“Clint-”
“Worked with them, he was never a member. Laura was sent to Carson’s to recruit him. They fell in love. He helped her get out. But it was mostly her. There was a woman he met once. Maya Lopez. Deaf, but an extraordinary ability to lip read better than anyone. Clint was the one who insisted he signed with her.”
“Clint knows sign language?”
“He knows three different sign languages, and he’s working on more. He was a kid when a blow to the head knocked his hearing out. He got it back. Never fully. He misses things, and if you’re standing behind him he might not catch it, or if there’s something covering his ears, when he gets a cold sometimes he gives up trying to hear and he gets this little pouty face, it’s adorable. That’s not the point.”
“What kind of accident leaves a kid deaf?”
“Wasn’t an accident. Anyway. Maya. He saved her life, and the Circus wanted Laura back, so she gave him the Ronin costume to get her. Said she didn’t need it anymore. Jasper told you Ronin is a name people pick up when they’re looking for revenge? Clint got into the Circus. And Laura got him back.”
“But there’s been other reports of Ronin,” Natasha said.
“But not Clint. He was always Hawkeye. She kept him Hawkeye, he’s got so much to be angry about, if not for Laura I sometimes wonder if his superhero origin story would have turned into his supervillain one.”
“He said you were no more dangerous than him.”
“Colonel, if Clint put his mind to it, he could take out every last one of you. But you’re his friends. He cares about you. This wasn’t about bringing Ronin back, this was him not bearing to be the same man who was married to her.”
“And you?”
“SHIELD and the FBI used to run ops, back in the day. Clint and I worked together a lot. Became proper brothers again. Then a building fell on me, and next thing I know, I’m stuck working for HYDRA, with the fear they’re in the organisation keeping my brother alive, and could easily tip the scales the other way. I passed messages onto Fury through Sitwell.”
“Yet he didn’t tell Clint you were alive.”
“I wanted to be the one to do it. And… I didn’t want him to see me as one of them. He’s my little brother.”
“But all’s well that ends well,” Natasha said. “If you hurt him like that again, I’ll put the Ronin costume on and come after you.”
“I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
Trickshot headed towards the door.
“We still need to sort these Accords out, we were in the middle of a Civil War.”
“I think Nick Fury may have sorted it,” Wanda said. “Just a feeling.”
~
They were celebrating the end and everyone being friends again by a party at the New Avengers Facility. Laura was seated in Clint’s lap, his arms firmly round her, both laughing. Rhodey smiled. At least they got a happy ending.
Sam’s friend, Scott Lang, Ant-Man, had a daughter. Cassie Lang. He’d managed to persuade his ex-wife she should be allowed to come along and she was currently getting along famously with Lila. Cooper was sticking to his dad, Rhodey wondered if he was nervous because of what happened or just shy. Nathaniel was asleep in a room they’d borrowed.
Sam and Nat were taking shots, that would probably end terribly. Tony was actually talking to Bucky, and going by the look on Steve’s face, it was about him. He’d head over there later, probably join in with the winding Steve up. Maria Hill was there, the two of them had had a long conversation about not really anything. That was nice.
The others all filtered in and out. Rhodey was introduced to Melinda May and found out Phil Coulson was alive, and they’d had some adventures to share. Clint seemed to know the scientists. Rhodey wondered if there was anyone in SHIELD he didn’t know.
Jane Foster and a few other scientists showed up too. It was going to be a good night.
“Hi.”
“Trickshot.”
“Barney Barton, Colonel.”
“James Rhodes.” He shook the offered hand. “What brings you here?”
“I wanted to thank you.”
“You could have just told us.”
“I could. But I didn’t know what you’d do. You were all fighting. But you put that aside and you helped Clint. Thank you.”
“So what are you doing?”
“Can’t exactly go back to the FBI, Nick’s offered me a place at SHIELD.”
“You could join the Avengers.”
“I think I’ll leaving superheroing to my brother. The lot of you, you make a good team.”
“Yeah. I guess we do.”
oh my god that was absolutely perfect and it broke my heart.
