“I don’t know if you feel this way lately, but it was nice to not need sniper work on the way in,” Clint said to the only other loner on the roof. “Nice work on cleanup.”
Barnes’ lip twitched into a faint smile. “Could’ve made it out without anyone seeing but the scientist had more information out than I thought. Hydra’s secret caches get predictable. I wasn’t going to let someone else think that children should be soldiers.”
Clint nodded. “Problem with being the superhero squad,” he said. “If one of us dealt with a subdued captive… well, then there’s already talk about extrajudicial killing and extreme measures. People eventually forget that we didn’t invite the aliens and just remember we broke a few buildings.”
“I don’t remember much yet.” Barnes looked him over for several moments as if hunting for signs of a lie. “Aliens? Really aliens?”
“Really aliens,” Clint promised. “I’ll show you video if you want. I missed most of the leadup because a jerk alien mind-whammied me with a magic spear.” His therapist would also probably be downright pleased that Clint had managed to mention the incident to a stranger.
“How’d you get back in control?”
Clint shrugged. “Jerk alien sent me to kill Natasha. She hit me in the head really hard. I was okay enough to fly a jet after.”
Barnes flinched when AC/DC started blaring out from all of the artfully concealed speakers. Clint rolled his eyes.
“Tony’s on his way in,” Clint explained. “Come eat with the team? Nobody’s going to mind if you don’t say much. Matt actually didn’t say anything the first few weeks we knew him.”
“Romanova won’t mind?”
“If she minded, she wouldn’t have invited you on the jet.” Clint watched the small glimmer of red in the distance grow rapidly into a more recognizable form. “If Nat didn’t trust you to choose the right targets, she never would have accepted your help on the mission today. You know that Natasha used to be an assassin for the bad guys. It’s not easy to turn it all around but it’s better when you have people to help you.”
“Besides,” Clint said quietly under the wail of guitars and pounding bass, “Cap can’t chase you around the entire world if you don’t leave and it’s not often that you’re the third reformed Hydra-affiliate assassin in the same room.”
“Forty-eight hours to decide?”
“Forty-eight hours,” Clint agreed. He’d only needed six for Natasha. With the right angle, maybe someone could coax Barnes after twelve.
Fill: Situation Excellent 10c/12
Barnes’ lip twitched into a faint smile. “Could’ve made it out without anyone seeing but the scientist had more information out than I thought. Hydra’s secret caches get predictable. I wasn’t going to let someone else think that children should be soldiers.”
Clint nodded. “Problem with being the superhero squad,” he said. “If one of us dealt with a subdued captive… well, then there’s already talk about extrajudicial killing and extreme measures. People eventually forget that we didn’t invite the aliens and just remember we broke a few buildings.”
“I don’t remember much yet.” Barnes looked him over for several moments as if hunting for signs of a lie. “Aliens? Really aliens?”
“Really aliens,” Clint promised. “I’ll show you video if you want. I missed most of the leadup because a jerk alien mind-whammied me with a magic spear.” His therapist would also probably be downright pleased that Clint had managed to mention the incident to a stranger.
“How’d you get back in control?”
Clint shrugged. “Jerk alien sent me to kill Natasha. She hit me in the head really hard. I was okay enough to fly a jet after.”
Barnes flinched when AC/DC started blaring out from all of the artfully concealed speakers. Clint rolled his eyes.
“Tony’s on his way in,” Clint explained. “Come eat with the team? Nobody’s going to mind if you don’t say much. Matt actually didn’t say anything the first few weeks we knew him.”
“Romanova won’t mind?”
“If she minded, she wouldn’t have invited you on the jet.” Clint watched the small glimmer of red in the distance grow rapidly into a more recognizable form. “If Nat didn’t trust you to choose the right targets, she never would have accepted your help on the mission today. You know that Natasha used to be an assassin for the bad guys. It’s not easy to turn it all around but it’s better when you have people to help you.”
“Besides,” Clint said quietly under the wail of guitars and pounding bass, “Cap can’t chase you around the entire world if you don’t leave and it’s not often that you’re the third reformed Hydra-affiliate assassin in the same room.”
“Forty-eight hours to decide?”
“Forty-eight hours,” Clint agreed. He’d only needed six for Natasha. With the right angle, maybe someone could coax Barnes after twelve.