beenunmade | (no subject)

(no subject)

Loyalty.

It was one of the many words that echoed in his mind. Usually it was loyalty to SHIELD. Loyalty to the Avengers. To Natasha. To Phil. He really only had simple loves in his life and things that could be easily pinpointed if someone were to look in the right direction. Even if he wasn't the type to wear his heart on his sleeve. But it was clear in his eyes and the way he carried himself around the others that this wasn't a temporary place for him. He intended to stay and he intended be (somewhat of) a team player. He wasn't chosen for his good looks, after all. Even if he did say so on something of a daily basis. It was all in jest.

He wasn't really in a jesting mood now. Loki hadn't exactly sent him on a mission. There wasn't a failure to utilize the specialist because, to Clint, Loki hardly failed. Acting on his own accord wasn't something Clint did. Acting in the best interest of ensuring Loki, ensuring that they gained some part of an upper hand was. SHIELD was still in shambles in his mind. The helicarrier was a good month or two from being passenger ready and most SHIELD agents had been forced to head for the solid ground of headquarters. Those surviving at least. The unfamiliar faces of new recruits littered the hallway. Out of necessity. There hadn't been a rush on getting more bodies -- the recruits that had been flagged previously but never seen the light of day were just finally getting their time to shine because SHIELD had lost so many. And Clint? When he wasn't usually running around terrorizing the junior agents or pushing the buttons of those that he knew -- he was either with the Avengers, in Medical, or on the range.

Today it wasn't any of those. His clouded blue eyes were shrouded by the sunglasses he hid behind almost daily. Somewhere along the way he had discovered that people found him slightly enigmatic when he was wearing them. After a visit to dictionary dot com; Clint had reasoned it was a good thing in his eyes. Now it was a benefit. He walked with purpose -- the technology he carried wasn't very astounding if somewhere were to compare it to the like that Stark carried. A single drive to save the documents he wanted so he could disappear undetected and offer what he found to Loki. Nothing extravagant. Just something simple. A show of his loyalty and obedience. Clint turned on his heels, around a corner and if someone paid attention it was almost as if he had disappeared. In reality, he had gone up the air ducts that he knew so well. Stealth was, after all, Clint Barton's forte as he moved above everyone before stopping above a room that housed a majority of the personnel files. One singular guard was easily knocked out and dragged off into a corner as Clint bound and gagged him before walking over to the computer interface.

Easy. The man slid his sunglasses to the top of his head as he brought up the files he needed, beginning the tedious upload onto the storage device before taking a step back. With part one in process, part two could begin. One storage device to house the information. Another to plop a virus in the middle of SHIELD's files. It wasn't Clint's typical approach. His approach would be blowing things up. But to do things covertly, without alerting SHIELD to his presence -- it required more espionage than Clint was accustomed too. Once the upload was finished, he just deposited the second part before sliding back on his shades once more before stepping into the hallway, pocketing the device and tossing the other in the hallway trash before starting to walk away.

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Phil had never gotten into this game for the glory. He'd joined the army to pay for college and he'd started government work because he had the right skill set and he wanted to help people. Media attention or not, he was proud of his job and happy with it. Moreso, he was proud of the Avengers. People needed heroes to believe in in the same way that Phil had believed in Captain America. He was glad that they'd gotten the spotlight. They were all extraordinary. They had saved Manhattan. Hell, they had saved the world. Phil was just happy to have been part of it, even in the background.

As for another handler for Clint, no other handler exactly wanted to work with him. He had a reputation for being difficult and Phil had a reputation for being Phil. It worked out nicely in Phil's favor. Most people who worked for SHIELD long enough knew that there was a lot more muscle under the suit than anyone expected and they found that out by watching him do something unexpected and somewhat crazy. Phil was reserved and friendly, but he was also a capable fighter and notoriously dangerous when he was pissed off.

He looked down at Clint, hand going back to petting his back. "Good to know that wasn't brought on by head trauma. I might have been insulted." He would have been hurt. It would honestly have torn him apart. Whatever this was, it was a terrible idea. He was being selfish, but he'd rather have a terrible idea than have Clint not return any of his feelings. He'd kissed Phil. That had to mean something.

He let himself smile. "I've wanted to do that for a while, too." If Clint could put himself out there, Phil could, too, even if it was only a little bit. He wasn't throwing everything out there, but he could give what he got.

Clint liked the crazy, secretly muscular side of Coulson as embarrassing as that sounded. Agents of SHIELD were usually much like Coulson...people didn't know the majority about them until they revealed it in the last five seconds of the game when everyone was afraid to rely on the guy who seemed like a pencil pusher. When it was the first time around with Coulson? Clint knew there was more than meets the eye with the unassuming man who had showed up at the circus. Even if he didn't outwardly say it during that first meeting, Clint was sure the man had known all about him even after offering him a job. It was just the look in his eyes that told him there was much more to Clint than being some guy who performed for a screaming crowd day in and day out.

He hadn't joined SHIELD to become of something bigger. He might have joined them to help people. But ultimately, he wanted to see the pencil pusher surprise him. He hadn't stopped doing it yet. Clint had decided that every time they were together, he learned something new. Something that was both thrilling and nearly shock worthy by how it seemed. The archer had been stuck to the man ever since. It helped when it came to people who attempted to see if he wanted to team up with them on certain missions. He didn't. He told them straight to their faces that he wasn't interested but ended up going when Coulson met up with him to tell him where they were going and where he wanted him. He was a simple guy. People could give orders, he wouldn't follow them unless he respected the person talking. Coulson gave orders, he followed them because...well, it was Coulson. Clint had done a lot of ridiculously stupid things in his life, Phil (or Tasha) usually saved him from those stupid decisions.

This, however, was not a stupid decision. Clint looked up at Phil, falling in love with the fact that this moment had finally happened. The world could have been burning and unless someone called and told them they were needed, Clint would have been fine with just letting it burn while he laid beside Phil. "I jump off buildings when it comes to head trauma. I think this is a step in a good direction." He laughed, fingers running up and down Phil's side where his hand rested. He really didn't know the extent of Phil's feelings. His handler might have just gone along with it because of the state Clint was in right now. Not because it was something that he wanted for himself.

That doubt was quickly pushed away when Phil smiled. "Oh yeah? Whew," he breathed an almost sigh of relief at that. The chuckle that filled the space between them was half because he was relieved and the other half...because he didn't know what else to do but express that he was in a good place right now. Considering where he was a couple hours ago. This was a good change. Dramatic change yes. But good just the same. "If this was only one-sided it could have gotten very awkward, very quick."

Phil had pretty much perfected the mild-mannered image before he'd even met Clint. Most people didn't pick up on anything. That Clint had only proved what Phil had known all along. Clint was special. He had an eye for things that most people didn't and in a lot of ways, Clint seemed fearless, even if Phil didn't believe for a second that any sane human being really was. It was that effortlessness that intimidated junior agents. Most of them could never touch Clint's skill level even by visibly exerting themselves. Clint just did things and he did them well.

He was well-aware of the fact that Clint didn't follow most people's orders consistently. He was the only one who could unfailingly get Clint to do something. Enough people knew that he was often called in just to issue orders to Clint so that he would follow them. It wasn't the greatest situation that SHIELD could ask for, but Phil was perfectly happy knowing that he could always have final say on where Clint went. If Clint wouldn't go without him, he'd always be brought in on Clint's orders and he was more than fine with that arrangement.

Bringing his hand up to brush through Clint's hair, he sighed. "You're not jumping off any buildings any time soon. I hope you know that." This was partially because Clint was going to need some extra recovery time and partially because Phil just wasn't going to let him do that. He wasn't risking Clint that much when he'd just gotten the man back. It wasn't an option.

"You're an idiot." How could Clint even think that it was one-sided? Phil smiled, leaning down to kiss Clint's forehead. "Get some rest. We can talk about this when I haven't just given you a mild concussion."

In Clint's opinion, he was fearless. But in truth, he wasn't.

Being a part of SHIELD just meant he also had a chance to fine tune his acting skills when it came to rushing into situations headfirst. The only thing that Clint visibly showed that what he feared was in the space of time when he thought he wouldn't be able to work with Coulson anymore. But that fear was extinguished when Phil came back to life. It also extinguished the fears of quite a fear SHIELD agents that had to deal with Clint during the time when Phil was still in recovery after his encounter with Loki. He was sure Phil got a couple of relieved individuals walking over to say 'Thank you for not being dead...we couldn't deal with Barton'. But Clint hoped they wouldn't cause Phil to worry that Clint would probably just as bad as Coulson if he were gone. Just with more of a dangerous streak involved in his mourning.

He seemed far more than pleased when Phil ran his hand through his hair. A smile crossing across his face as he seemed like he put some thought into it. "Nah, I'll hold back on that for a while. Not that I'll be given a chance anytime soon. Don't worry about it." Clint seemed more than happy with the idea of having some free time on his hands right now to not care that he regularly got stir crazy when he wasn't about to do anything else.

"You like it, boss." Clint could have thought it was one-sided because he was sure there were better choices for Coulson to choose from than an ex-carny who liked to use a bow and didn't finish school. His face heated up when Coulson kissed his forehead before laying his head back down on Phil's chest. "Sounds like a good plan, boss."

Phil wasn't really concerned with how the other agents might feel about Clint. Clint was his agent and he wasn't giving him up. If anyone was relieved that Phil had come back just so that they wouldn't have to take Clint, they were thankfully smart enough to not say it to Phil. Injured or not, Phil would have been cracking skulls over it. When Phil was in recovery, he had very few visitors, though. His being alive was on a need-to-know basis for a little while there and very few people needed to know outside of the medical staff. Even most of them had been in the dark.

"I have to worry about it. When you get bored, you make more work for me." Not that Phil really minded. Even when Clint was being difficult, it usually brought a smile to Phil's face. He let himself relax, leaning into Clint. They could worry about all of that later. Right now, he wanted to fall asleep next to Clint with the knowledge that the agent had just kissed him. There were no better choices than Clint. Clint was the one person who pulled his interest, consistently and without fail. There was nothing he wanted more than to lie here with him.

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