Chapter 5
Clint set his duffle onto his bunk with a sigh. It felt good to be back in New York. His Avengers phone had been left on the bedside table and the battery was dead. Plugging it in he started to unpack while he waited for it to charge enough for him to power it up.
Natasha had sent a coded message through Sitwell saying she would be waiting when he returned but he hadn’t heard anything else in the two weeks he’d spent running around several far flung desserts. He’d brought the small team he’d worked with back with only minimal scratches and all their targets taken down in half the original time table.
Over all it had been a good run even if he had been looked at with more hero worship then he was used to. After the utter hate that seemed to pour off most of the old helicarrier crew he’d been caught off guard by the agents who knew he was with the Avengers. Hell, one even asked for an autograph.
The whole situation was starting to feel too much like the last year or two he’d spent at the circus. He’d been the adored darling of the fans and Carson while the rest of the troop hated his guts and actively tried to sabotage his acts. The entire situation was tying his gut in knots.
Everything happening seemed to be determined to stress him out and bring up the bad parts of his past that he’d spent most of his life trying to forget. He was tired from the mission yet his body thrummed with energy. The more stressed he got the more his ability kicked in to pump his body full of energy that then had to be used.
Clint shoved the last of his newly cleaned clothes into his closet and powered up his phone while he checked his other two burner phones. One had a message from one of his old merc contacts. He would have to run that past Fury to see if he’d be allowed to start picking up missions outside of Shield again. His Avengers phone pinged softly announcing he had messages and voicemail.
You have 32 voice mails. Press one to play the first message.
Beep
“Hey, Clint. It’s Bruce. Natasha told the team that you’d been called out on a mission. I just wanted to offer when you get back…if you want to meditate with me in the mornings I’m normally in my rooms around six am until eight or so.”
Beep
“Hey, Clint. It’s Steve. Come find me when you get back so we can schedule some training scenarios with the team. I think your abilities could help out a lot.”
Beep
“Legolas, I’ve got some new composites I want you to take a look at when you get back to the tower. Figured we could see just what your powers can fry or not if you’re going to be using them in the tower. Also I may have retrofitted your rooms while you were out, let me know what you think.”
Beep
“Good afternoon, Agent Barton. Director Fury requested that you be allowed a room at the mansion if you need some space to decompress.” Professor Xavier said. “I have no problem with you visiting however if you’re looking for a more long term solution to stabilizing your abilities we may have to find a more remote location. Please let me know if you need my assistance.”
Beep
“Hey, Clint, it’s Bruce. Let us know when you get back. Steve’s been working with the team on changing up some of our normal battle plans and we need your input.”
Beep
The rest of the messages were the same, notes for him to contact the team to work on his abilities and how Tony was reworking his equipment to now be powered by Clint himself. Clint deleted each of the messages and connected his phone back to the charger. With a snarl he grabbed up his just emptied bag and started packing.
Grabbing up his phones and chargers he tossed everything in his bag after sending two short text messages. He needed to get his emotions back on lock down unless he wanted to destroy the base. All the team seemed to be able to do was piss him off right now and it wasn’t helping him get stabilized.
***
Send Ronin out or lose him. – CB
Director Fury glanced at the message on his phone with a frown. Hitting a button on his desk he asked his assistant to send Sitwell in ASAP. While he waited he started pulling the files that he saved for times like this.
“You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Agent Barton has requested to be sent out.”
“He just returned, sir. Generally we like to give our agents at least a few days of downtime.”
“Normally, I would agree with you but this time I have to override normal procedure. Send him out and keep him moving.” Fury said passing over the stack of folders.
“Sir, these missions…”
“Are exactly what Barton needs right now. He’ll burn through the first few so I suggest you set them up near each other so there’s minimal down time for travel.”
“How long do you want me to keep pushing? These kinds of missions will burn out the best agents, Barton…”
“Frankly, Sitwell, I’m waiting for Barton to crash and burn. If he makes it though that stack and comes back in one piece I’ll re-evaluate the situation but I’m hoping he’ll take out his issues on the targets instead of blowing through Shield like wet tissue paper. Run him hard, Agent. Dismissed.”
“Yes, sir.”