Not all his missions were Avengers level threats. Sometimes it was just him and one or two others. It had been one of those missions. Himself, Natasha, and Isleif were in a minor HYDRA base. Just was supposed to be in and out, but of course nothing ever goes to plan for Clint.
They found a kid, no older than fourteen. Things escalated, there was fighting and running and a rushed exit.
They’d made it to medical, not without its struggles. The kid they found turned out to not like medical at all, it took a lot of trial and error to even let them do a physical exam on him and patch up injuries from the day. He was sitting in a corner on the floor carefully eyeing up anyone that got too close. Clint had lost a hearing aid, which made some parts a little more difficult. His audiologist was going to kill him. Maybe he needed to change from behind the ear to something more compact and secure.
Isleif and Natasha weren’t overly fond of medical either, not that he could blame either of them. Between their curiosities about Isleif and the involuntary medical procedures done to Natasha, they both had more than enough reason to dislike the poking and prodding. “He’s not gonna trust anybody if we move him to a safe house.” Partially observation and partially a question.
They couldn’t just send the boy off to the farm with Laura and her girlfriend, and she was the one Clint trusted the most. The only other alternative would be to have him stay with himself or Natasha... But would that work? And would that be allowed? They could just pull the Avengers card if anyone argued. “At least my place for tonight. You and Is too. Mac and cheese and decompressing.”

















