Clint's First Week at Shield, 2:

So, Chapter 2 of Clint's first week at Shield, I'd really recommend going to read Chapter One first. Also I reference a few older one shots, and I've noted their title in italics and brackets beside where they are first mentioned. (Half a reminder to myself, half so you can go find those if you so wish).

Three weeks, it had been three weeks, and all he had done was talk to Doctor Charles. His team of guards escorted him to the counselling room in the morning, and escorted him back to his ‘room’ at night. Although room was barely accurate at all, it was a mix of glass walls and iron bars. He had his own bathroom, though, which had actual walls up to just above his waist. So he got some semblance of privacy there.

He hadn’t even gotten to see much of Iris, she would join him for dinner in his cell - sorry, room, but other than that she seemed to be rushing around like a mad woman. They hadn’t even got a chance to talk privately, let alone anything else.

It was starting to drive him crazy.

“He wants me to talk about the circus.” He didn’t even greet Iris as she walked into his room with two trays of food, pacing around the room as she took ‘her’ spot on the bed, leaning back against the glass with a sigh.

“I’ll trade you, you go deal with all this council bull, and I’ll go hang out with Doctor Charles.” She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before crossing her legs. “Who knew the entire management team would turn on you if you adopt an assassin.” He knew she was kidding, she knew exactly what she was getting herself into when she brought him back, and she was more than willing to do it, but not without complaining.

“What did they have you doing today?” He sat down beside her, accepting the tray of food. It was laden with vegetables, chips, and three burger options.

“Sorry, I didn’t know what you wanted, so I got one of each.” Iris explained herself, “And they’ve got me working as a handler, overseeing baby agents and easy missions, as well as doing Fathers and Dads paperwork. They are also making me note down every single interaction with you in my free time as well.” She opened one eye to look at him, knowing he would catch on to what she was talking about.

“So that mission where we were at a ball?” She smiled at the memory, his boss had been an idiot, but it had been an amazing date nonetheless. (Don’t forget you promised to love me.)

“I’m trying to figure out how to explain that hotel catch up.” He nearly groaned at the image that flittered into his head, trying very hard not to turn and kiss her then and there. He had no idea how to explain it either, not in a way that would be acceptable for her fathers to read. (If I’m going to hell I might as well enjoy it).

“Maybe just skip that one?” He suggested, moving one hand to squeeze her leg where he was sure the guards wouldn’t see.

“I’ll figure something out. Did you want me to come with you when you talk about the circus?” He paused, thinking about it, if anything it would be a chance to snatch a moment alone with her, but at the same time he wasn’t too sure if he wanted her to know everything about that time.

“Yes.” He decided, he didn’t want to be alone if he had to go through all of that again. “Please.” He added, he knew she would probably agree, but he wanted to ask nicely anyway.

“Of course babe, I’ll cancel my plans for tomorrow, tell Papa to do his own paperwork. I’ll meet you here for breakfast? Or do you want to go to the canteen?” Iris frowned, glancing around his cell, “We can go to the canteen for breakfast I think.”

“Am I allowed to go anywhere that’s not Dr. Charles’ office or here?” Clint asked, no one had let him go anywhere else yet. He was more than curious, but he was behaving himself, trying to do whatever he had to do to earn Shield’s trust.

“I mean, you aren’t not allowed to go? It’s one of those better to ask forgiveness than permission things.” Iris responded, “We’ve been given orders not to let you leave the building, and there are some areas that are off-limits, but they are off-limits to most people so... I think everyone is too scared to let you wander freely, but I’m not.” She shrugged, reaching out to grab his hand.

“I have no plans for this evening if you want to go exploring. I have access to all areas but like two, but I can get into those if we really want.”

“Are you healed enough yet?” He wanted to go to the gym, to spar and exercise, stretch his muscles more than he had been able to do in his room. Iris looked at him confused, wondering what he meant. “Your leg, is it better?”

“Oh, yeah, healed ages ago, sorry I’d forgotten.” He was confused, it had only just been three weeks since she broke it, how could it have healed ages ago? “Eat up Hawk, then we can go exploring and burn off some of that energy.” She winked at him, before picking up her own burger.

The guards looked panicked when Clint stepped out of his room behind Iris, with no handcuffs or chains on.

“You guys can stand down, I’ve got this.” All five of them shared a look, they’d been instructed to stay with the assassin, and picked because Iris would not scare them off easily.

“Agent Iris, our orders are clear.” Iris only shrugged in response,

“Alrighty then, Barton, where are we headed?” Looks of fear and shock crossed all their faces as Iris stepped back and let Clint look around, free to go wherever he wanted.

“This way.” Clint decided, taking a step towards a corridor he had never been allowed down, he paused to offer Iris a hand, which she accepted, taking great care not to entangle their fingers.

~~~

Iris and Clint were laughing, seated side by side with their legs dangling off the top of the roof. Iris hadn’t been surprised that he had found his way up here almost immediately, taking a seat on the edge to breathe in the fresh air and look around. He was mildly surprised to see that the entire building was surrounded by fields and various training facilities, before fading out into a huge forest that spread all the way to the horizon no matter which way he looked. They were clearly protective of their privacy and had brought him to a place where he couldn’t easily escape if he did turn on them.

The five guards were hanging back, not willing to go near the edge should they fall, or worse be thrown off of the building. It was the most privacy that Clint and Iris had had since their stolen moment in the waiting room of Dr Charles’ office. The guards were out of hearing range, so they could actually talk freely.

“Okay, how about, I got a tip that you were in nearby, and I came to try and get you, but because I was injured you overpowered me and got away.” They were still trying to come up with ways to explain their hotel meetup, so many years ago.

“What was wrong with you?” He asked, glancing behind them to the guards before taking her hand and entangling their fingers in her lap. “You were so weak, were you even allowed out in the field?”

“Yes and No, I wasn’t cleared for active missions, but I was allowed to check on tips and do surveillance. I just really wanted to see you that day, so once I confirmed the tip I told them you weren’t there, and I was going to look around before headed back. Came straight up.” She answered, leaning so her head was on his shoulder. “Before that, I had been tortured, they caught me snooping through some files my cover shouldn’t have known existed, decided that I must be a spy, rather than just a lost person who ended up in the wrong place. Dad sent in a team when I missed three check in’s in a row. Standard procedure for undercover agents. You can miss one or two if something comes up and you couldn’t warn your handler, but three they get worried at.” Clint felt his anger grow once more, she was his, how dare anyone lay a hand on her.

“Hey, Barton, it’s part of the job, I know what I signed up for.” She grabbed his face, looking into his eyes. “I know it upsets you, but I’m okay, I promise.” He wanted to kiss her, but he knew he couldn’t with the eyes that were on them.

“I just want to protect you.” He whispered, resting his head in her hand and kissing her palm, taking what he could.

“And I you.” She smiled back at him, “but we’re in a certain line of work, so we will need to learn to let things outside of our control happen.” He nodded, knowing that they both knew what they were getting into, they were strong enough to deal with it.

They looked back out at the horizon, sitting in comfortable silence as the sun started to set.

“What are we going to do about us?” Iris eventually broke the silence, looking at him rather than the view. “Like, we need to figure out how we’re going to be and act when we aren’t alone. Dad and Papa are very suspicious.”

“I was thinking that if we are really close from day one, and tell everyone that we aren’t in a relationship, eventually they will accept that this is just how we act with each other. How close we are. It gives us the opportunity to be together in public without giving anything away.” Clint answered, explaining why he had been acting how he had since his arrival.

“I think that's a smart idea.” Iris nodded her head, she was enjoying this closeness with her lover, even if she couldn’t be public about her feelings for him.

“I didn’t realise it would be this hard, being this close to you all the time and unable to kiss you.” Iris laughed at his quiet admission.

“I know, normally we see each other for brief moments and make the most of them. Now we see each other all the time but can’t act on it.” She agreed,

“We will adjust.” He rested his head on hers, “and it will be worth it.” He knew it would, already he was enjoying all the time he got to spend with her, the new things they were learning about each other. The questions he could now get answers too.

“Give it time, once we’re both out of trouble we can steal many many more moments.” She knew that would be true when he was free to roam and had his own room. When the guards that followed him were gone she would be able to steal a lot of kisses.

“I’m looking forward to it.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, both wishing it could be so much more than that. “Alright, let's get out of here before the bugs start to eat you.” He let her go, standing and offering her a hand up.

“It was once.” She grumbled, accepting his help. “Spar?” His face lit up in a huge smile, nodding eagerly. “Alright, I’ll show you my favourite indoor training room. We have a few and everyone has their own preferences.” He kept his hand in hers as she led him off the roof and down to the very bottom floor of the building, his guards trailing behind, keeping him moving when he stopped to look at various things. Iris more than happy to give him the time to memorize the building layout in a way no one else was.

“I left my work out clothes upstairs.” Clint groaned when they reached the outside of the training room, Iris pausing outside the changing rooms.

“Oh, I didn’t think about that. We have lockers in the changing rooms of our preferred training rooms with our workout gear in them. You wouldn’t have one yet.”

“Excuse me, Agent Iris, Mr Barton, this is also my preferred training grounds, and I believe that Mr Barton and I are roughly the same size.” Iris eyed up the guard that spoke, before turning and doing the same to Clint, trying to figure out if it would work. He was right, they were about the same height and size, although their muscles were distributed differently.

“If that’s alright with both of you?” Iris nodded her agreement, slightly surprised that one of the guards was willing to help Barton.

“Yes please.” Clint also agreed with a smile, he needed this.

“Alright, I’ll go get changed and meet you on the other side.” Iris pressed a kiss to Clint’s cheek before walking into the female changing room.

“This way please Mr. Barton.” He followed the guard into the changing room. The first thing he saw was lockers filling up a large room, showers and bathrooms on the far wall. “I’m over here.” He followed the guard to a locker that was tucked away in a corner, looking away as he entered a code to open it. “So I have a few options, take a look through and see what will suit you.” Clint turned back to see a large number of clothes being pulled out of the locker and placed on the bench in the middle. He instantly spotted some athletic shorts and a tank top, taking them with a murmured thanks to the guard. “Bob Burke, please.”

Iris wasn’t there when he stepped out of the changing rooms, he searched for her, eyes scanning over all the gym and boxing equipment that was to his left. On his right was some weird sort of obstacle course and rock wall. Then, stretching out all the way in front of him was a number of training mats. A few were already occupied, those people stopping to look at him and the five men that were trailing him.

“Agent Iris and her sisters prefer the area in front of the glass window, all the way at the other end.” Bob Burke informed him, pointing out the way. Clint decided to go over there and start stretching, get ready to work out.

He stopped when Iris appeared, winding her way through the mats towards him. She was wearing what looked like leggings and a sports bra, but little else.

“Papa!” She rolled her eyes when she reached him, joining in the stretches without saying another word, clearly listening to something else. “Can I finish talking?” She stopped mid-stretch to put her hands on her hips. “Papa!” She winced, flinching away from her own right ear. “He’s been cooped up for three weeks, is he a prisoner or potential recruit?”

“You can’t say both. He hasn’t left his guards sight, but he needs to be able to train and keep fit, and get some fresh air. He’s only left my sight when he went to change, or would you have preferred I stayed with him and watched?” Iris winked at Clint as she argued with her father, knowing no one else could hear the other side of the conversation. “Bye Papa.” She reached up to her ear, pulling a hidden earpiece out and putting it into a container one of the guards suddenly had.

“Everything okay?” Clint asked, taking a step closer.

“Yeah, everyone is just freaking out that I took you out of your room and we went exploring, and now we’re in an exercise area. You’d think I’d given you a weapon and we were systematically taking Shield apart.” She rolled her eyes, silently telling him that they were overreacting out of fear, nothing that she couldn’t handle.

“Okay, shall we?” He stepped onto the mat, asking if she was ready. She smirked wickedly, following him onto the mat and settling herself into the right mindset, motioning for him to attack first.

~~

“That’s 2-3 to me.” Iris was smirking, taking deep breaths as she laid down on the mat beside him, both were drenched in sweat and breathing deeply, knowing that they were going to feel it in the morning.

“Keep going,” he rolled over, starting to get back up. He froze when he realised how many people were now in the room, and watching them both. “We have an audience.” He had been so wrapped up in the fight, determined to beat Iris that he hadn’t noticed anyone join them.

“So we do.” She arched her back, looking at those behind her, before reaching a hand up, asking Clint to help her up, he eyed her hand wearily, he had fallen for that the first time he had downed her, thinking he was being polite and helping her up, when really she was planning to pull him down beside her and pin him. She sighed, giving up and getting up under her own power.

“IRIS COULSON-FURY!” Iris winced, turning to face her father, Director Nick Fury, he looked absolutely furious, his coat billowing out behind him as he set his hands on his hips.

“Bonjour Papa.” She greeted him with a smile,

“Don’t you ‘Bonjour Papa’ me, what have I told you about hanging up on me!” He scowled, his gaze drifted around the room, and everyone, even Clints guards scattered, leaving the room completely empty apart from Director Fury, Iris and Clint.

“You’d been saying the same thing for ten minutes, and Clint was waiting.” Clint could almost swear that he saw smoke come out of the Directors ears.

“This is important! We have to ensure the safety of every agent in this building, and part of that is knowing where he is!” Fury gestured to Clint, and the archer suddenly wanted to curl up and be anywhere else.

“I knew exactly where he was. With me.” Iris replied stubbornly, “He can’t stay locked in that pretend room forever.”

“We were going to give him more freedoms if he got psych clearance.”

“What, another half wall so fewer people can stare at him? He’s a human being father, someone who has surrendered to us and is doing everything you and the council have asked. There are basic human rights that you are denying him. It’s been three weeks, if he hasn’t proven his good intentions yet, then I doubt you’re ever going to trust him.”

“It’s been three weeks since you showed up with our most wanted target, who you have a personal relationship with that we had never heard of! You admitted that the only reason you didn’t catch him sooner was because you didn’t want to! You dragged it out until we were going to take it off of you and get someone else to do it! And now you expect us to just accept him!” Now Clint really didn’t want to be here, but Iris reaching out for his hand kept him from leaving.

“I expect you to treat him like a human being, like any other agent you recruit. I do not expect you to believe him nor trust him yet, but if you treat him like a prisoner that is what he will be. I’ve been keeping an eye out for cabin fever, making sure he doesn’t break from this cruel torture. If you want him as an asset, then you will do it my way.” She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back, giving her the silent reassurance she was asking for.

“Or what?”

“You will have two rogue assassins in your building.” Clint dropped her hand in shock, Director Fury also looked stunned at the implication she would leave Shield, her family, everything if they didn’t do as she asked.

“Ri, don’t.” His words were quiet. “I’m not worth it. I can handle this.” He wouldn’t let her lose everything for him, not like this.

“But you shouldn’t have to.” She replied to him, never lifting her eyes from her father.

“What do you want?” He sounded defeated, willing to give in to her demands.

“Basic access to the building, a gym, canteen, outside, and a room of his own. Freedom to travel between them all as he wishes. Everything else can stay the same, I understand the need for guards, and that everyone is on edge due to his presence. The procedure to clear him makes sense, all the test missions and house arrest and all of that can stay the same. Just don’t keep him trapped in a glass room where anyone can walk up and gawk at the famous Hawkeye, unable to go anywhere but the doctor’s office.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Please escort Mr Barton back to his cell, and warn me if you’re making any more trips anywhere.” If he noticed he called the glass room a cell he didn’t show it, waving his hand with a sigh.

“Breakfast at the canteen tomorrow, then I’m going to see Doctor Charles with him.” Fury nodded, before leaving the room. “Cameras,” Iris muttered to herself, turning around to hug Clint tightly. She suddenly looked just as exhausted as Director Fury had seemed, Clint wrapped his arms around her waist, supporting her.

“You’ve been fighting for a while.” He guessed, and she nodded, “over me?” Another nod in agreement.

“No one quite knows what to do, you’re the first, which also means you’re the test subject as we try to figure out what should be happening. But I couldn’t leave you in that glass box, you looked so miserable, being unable to walk around, train or get fresh air. I promised you better than this.”

“This is temporary, we both know that until they trust me, and I prove my loyalty. I will do whatever it is they ask of me, so I can be here with you.” Iris lifted her head, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, “what about the cameras?” He whispered, leaning slightly closer.

“I’ll hack them and erase the footage later,” Iris responded, tugging him down closer to her, he chuckled before pressing his lips against hers, finally getting the kiss he had wanted since earlier that evening.

~~~

“So you can hack?” Clint asked, his hand entangled in hers as they walked back to his room alone.

“It’s one of my favourite things, working with software, being at Shield means you’re surrounded by the best, so they taught me a lot, I just kept up. So all my missions are either Undercover or technology related. Vaile mainly does assassinations, and Tierre does anything science related, she’s mostly into chemistry and biology, tends to go after those making biological or chemical weapons. I mean, we all know enough to swap and do the others preference, but they tend to be the best at it.” Iris responded, explaining more about her identical sisters.

“Will I be the same? Have a focus in one particular area?” Iris paused, thinking,

“You might be more of an all-rounder, maybe an assault edge. I wouldn’t be surprised if they put you on protection details, undercover ops, and assassination missions.” She answered, “I mean, they can assign anyone to anywhere and to do anything, there isn’t really set roles or mission types that they give to specific people. Although there are a few people who specialise in certain things. They tend to go on who is available, but us triplets used to swap and pretend to be the other if we really wanted a mission, so father and dad decided to prioritize giving us our specialities.” Clint suddenly pulled her into a side corridor, hand going over her mouth to keep her quiet.

He was shocked when he saw another Iris walk up the corridor, seemingly looking for someone. He assumed it was them that she was hunting down, a knife in her hand.

“Vaile!” Iris flew out of his arms, ambushing the other woman in a hug. The other woman was forced to remove the knife, hugging her sister back with the other arm. “Is Tierre back too? I thought you’d both be a few more weeks.”

“Not yet, she’s overseeing the cleanup, will be on a flight home straight after though, I heard you’d finally brought in your archer. “ Iris turned to motion Clint forward, out of where he had hidden when he thought someone was sneaking up to attack them. “Pleasure to finally meet you Hawkeye.” Vaile offered the non knifed hand for Clint to shake, and he accepted.

“This is crazy, I knew you were identical triplets but-”

“Totally different seeing it in person?” Clint nodded silently, he had believed Iris all that time ago when she had told him about her sisters, but it was crazy to actually see one of them up close. See two of them standing side by side. This was going to get confusing if he couldn’t learn to tell them apart. “There are differences, don’t worry.’ Iris laughed at him, coping her sisters pose exactly.

“Papa and dad can’t even tell us apart, so you’re fine.” The one he thought wasn’t Iris sounded exactly like her as she spoke.

“Especially when we do this.” The two girls spun around each other like they were two cups in the game that they just to do in the circus, trying to confuse people. He frowned when they stopped, standing exactly the same way as each other, with matching grins.

“Who's who?” They chorused, Clint took a minute, looking over each girl carefully, trying to find something, anything that would allow him to tell them apart. Let him figure out which was his lover and which was her sister.

“Iris, Vaile.” He smirked at the shocked look that crossed their faces, watching as they turned to share a look.

“Fluke, turn around, we’ll try again.” Clint did as he was asked, turning his back to the girls so they could shuffle themselves around. He got the same reaction when he turned back and identified each girl correctly.

“How!?” Iris and Vaile demanded as he successfully told them apart every single one of the five times they tried it.

“I can’t tell you.” He shrugged, instantly knowing it would be a secret that he took to the grave, something he could never say out loud, in case Iris overheard.

“Are we-” Vaile and Iris looked over each other, they were both wearing their Shield uniform, so it wasn’t their clothes, they both had their hair up in a high bun, and Vaile had put the knife away.

“I can’t see anything!” Vaile muttered frustratedly, “apart from father getting impatient. I have a debrief.” Vaile nodded to him, before walking off.

“So Vaile is the one with supernatural vision?” He checked, wrapping an arm around Iris’ waist.

“Yup, not all the time though, only when she’s really focussing, or really out of it. Sometimes she just tunes out and her eyes go blank, then she’s back.” Iris leant into him, “don’t worry, we have an understanding that we don’t spy on each other unless we have to for a mission, get permission, or they go missing on a mission and we’ve hit three missed check ins. So she’ll have no idea about us.” Iris tilted her head as if she was listening to something.

“What is it?” He asked, as her face grew concerned, a mix of shock and horror.

“I have to go, remember the way back to your room?” She didn’t wait for his agreement, breaking out into a fast sprint after her sister, hands pulling a small box out of her pocket as she did so- her earbud again.

He considered heading back up to the roof, stealing a few moments of alone time, but he reconsidered just as quickly, he needed to be good for a while until they trusted him, and for now, that meant going back to the glass cell they called his room.

His guards were shocked when he walked back on his own, offering a greeting before shutting himself into his room, headed towards the shower, wondering if Iris would be back for breakfast tomorrow.

~~~~

“Coffee?” Clint jumped, shifting to see Iris sitting on the foot of his bed, his hand instinctively went for the weapon that he used to keep under his pillow. “I’m early, I know, but if I didn’t come here I would have gone to sleep and missed this appointment with Dr Chalres, and I promised I would be there.” Clint glared at the slightly bouncing woman, wondering how much coffee she had had. It was fairly obvious that she hadn’t slept since he last saw her.

“What happened?” He forced himself to sit up and accept the offered hot drink.

“Tierre called for urgent back up, one of the people working on the clean up triggered a trap that had been missed in the sweep, trapping everyone in a room and slowly sucking all the oxygen out of it. Tierre noticed that when the oxygen reached a certain level it would trigger a reaction of some of the elements they hadn’t boxed up yet, a gas that would knock them unconscious, and would just need the slightest spark to ignite. We dealt with it, no problems.” She shrugged, but he could see that the whole thing had upset her slightly. Despite what she said yesterday, her siblings in danger clearly pulled at something within her.

“So everyone is okay?” He wanted to confirm, that trap sounded deadly,

“I mean, they’re in quarantine for a while, just to make sure nothing else was released at the same time. The medical bay is keeping an eye on them, but no one has died yet. Father has launched an investigation into how that trap was missed. Dad’s worried, he slept in a chair opposite quarantine last night, so he could be close to Tierre. Vaile and I took over clean up, triple checked for any more traps, and now it's all done, so I’m here.” Iris was speaking faster than normal, trying to sound calm and nonchalant.

“If you need to sleep you can, I’ll be okay.” She shook her head.

“Bit late for that mister, you don’t want to know how much caffeine I’ve ingested. I promised I would be there with you.” She looked around at the glass walls and the guards who had their backs to them, some semblance of privacy.

“What time is it?” He rolled over to look at the clock that hung outside his room, groaning. It was 6am, way too early to be awake.

“I got back at 4.30, Maria convinced me to let you sleep in.” Iris smiled, hiding it behind a sip of coffee. “She is getting an actual room set up for you, she’s going to put you near me, so you can pop over if you ever need to, should be ready after lunch. We’ll have to personalise it for you a bit later, when I’m allowed to take you off base and we can do some shopping.” She kept talking, and he started to wonder if it was her talking keeping her awake, rather than the coffee.

“Well thanks for letting me sleep a while longer.” She pouted at his sarcasm, but let him get away with it.

“I can go away again.” She suggested, reaching over to pluck the coffee from his hands. He glared at her, hugging the cup protectively to his chest.

“Mine.” She laughed at him, before pausing, listening to something again.

“Alright then sleepy head. I’ve got to bounce for a bit, Tierre is calling me. How long do you need to be ready for breakfast?”

“Gimme 30?” Iris nodded, disappearing just as fast as she had arrived.

~

Iris was fast asleep, crashing after all the caffeine and the long night. But Clint didn’t mind, her head was in his lap, and he was running his fingers through her hair, distracting himself as he spoke to his therapist about the circus, and everything that had happened to him while he was there.

“Do you love her?” Clint was thrown off by the question that appeared out of nowhere, Doctor Charles motioning to the woman sleeping on him. It had nothing to do with his time at the circus, he hadn’t even known she existed back then. “Clint?”

He had no idea how to answer, he had never had a serious relationship before, his parents weren’t exactly a shining example of what love looked like, even Barney had abandoned him. He wasn’t sure he knew what love felt like. As for Iris? He knew he liked her, that he felt safe around her, and that he would do anything to protect her, but was that love? Or was that just them? Maybe he could love her, with time, when he could earn her admiration, be the right man for her.

“Barton?” He looked down when Iris stirred, looking up at him with those brilliant golden eyes. “You went quiet, is everything alright?” His hands had stilled in her hair, probably what woke her up.

“Yeah, just-” He looked up to the doctor, wondering if Iris knew what he had asked him.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to answer.” Doctor Charles offered him a soft smile, it seemed he got the answer he wanted just from Clint’s silence. “Do you want to take a walk? Get some fresh air? We can continue in a while, I know this is hard for you.” The older man stood, stretching,

“That sounds nice, yeah?” Iris was still looking up at Clint, asking him what he wanted to do.

“Yeah.” He agreed, watching her stand, and accepting her offered hand up.

“Take as much time as you need.” Doctor Charles held the door open, the sign that we were free to go.

“Outside please.” I murmured to Iris, before she could ask me where I wanted to go. She nodded, opening the second door and leading him down a different corridor. None of his guards were at the door, which surprised him, but at the same time, they must take the time he spent with Doctor Charles to do other things.

He was lost in thought as Iris led him through the building, and let him take the lead when they reached the outside. He walked straight to the edge of the forest, and started walking around the edge of it.

“Wanna talk about it?” Iris nudged him slightly to get his attention.

“Not really, just some hard questions.” He replied, entangling his fingers in hers, normally he would go and get his bow, practise shooting as she sorted through his thoughts and calmed down, but he doubted they would let him do that. “Worse memories.” He squeezed his eyes shot as another one flashed past.

“Hey, it’s alright, you’re free of there now, and you’ll never have to go back.” she spoke softly to him until the memory passed, falling into step with him as he kept walking.

“Do you think I’m capable of loving someone?” Iris stopped moving, her hand falling out of his as he didn’t stop, not knowing if he wanted to hear the answer to his own question.

“Clint?” She jogged up behind him once she had shaken her shock, resting a hand on his arm to ask him to turn around.

“It’s just, every example I’ve had of love has been pretty messed up. I mean, my alcoholic father beat my mother, and us kids, that's a confusing introduction to love. Then my mentor tried to kill me, Barney abandoned me, and I’m an assassin for hire. Those things don’t add up to learning how to properly love. How to love the right way.” He kept speaking, slowly turning to face her. “Are the movies and books right? Is that how you love?”

“There is no right way to love Clint, it's different for each person, and each relationship. I do not love my Papa and my Dad the same way. My papa is a lot like me, we’re both stubborn, we love to fight, and push each other. Dad is a softer love, I go to him when I’m feeling down, or just want a good hug. I love my sisters in a way unique to each of them.” Iris kept her voice soft, hand resting on his cheek gently, her other hand resting on his chest.

“And romantic love? How is that supposed to feel?” He fought the desire to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her close.

“Like home, I presume. That’s what I’ve always believed at least, that love feels like coming home, it's where you feel safe and protected, when you can be yourself and not worry about them not accepting you. The first person you want to run to when you get news, good or bad, because you can’t wait to tell them. The person you first think about in the morning, and that takes over your last thought at night.” He felt there was more she wanted to say, but she refrained, letting him think over her words, if she was right, then he loved her. It was why he was here, because he wanted to be by her side, because she made him feel safe and wanted.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in for a searing kiss.

“I’m so lucky.” He whispered against her lips, stealing another kiss.

“I think I’m the lucky one.” Iris replied when they pulled apart to breathe, reaching up to run a hand through his hair as the other went around his neck. He chuckled, kissing her again. Maybe he couldn’t shoot his bow, but this was also calming, talking things out with Iris.

“Someone is coming.” Iris whispered, breaking the kiss and taking a few steps back, winking at him as he pouted. He shouldn’t be surprised that someone had come to interrupt them, but he didn’t have to like it either.

“Agent Iris.” An agent stopped just in front of her, breathing heavily “Mr Barton, sorry to interrupt, but Director Fury has asked me to bring you both to shooting range Delta immediately.” Iris frowned, before making the same face she did when she was listening in on something.

“We should-” He took Iris’ hand, motioning for the other agent to take the lead.

“Oh, this is exciting.” Iris started walking faster, pulling Clint along with her. The agent he had been following nodded his acknowledgement that Iris was taking over, peeling away to go back to his own tasks.

“Care to share?” He nudged her, wondering why they had been summoned back when Doctor Charles had told them to take their time.

“Nope, it's a surprise.” She replied, shaking her head.

“Well then tell me why you make the face, I know you don’t need to.” He prodded, he’d only seen her do it once outside of Shield, but she’d done it every time since arriving here.

“People leave me alone if I make the face, otherwise they try and have a conversation with me, or get my attention. It's a habit now.” She answered with a shrug, breaking into a smile as an outdoor range appeared. Clint recognised it as the one he could see outside Iris' preferred gym the day before.

“Is that?” he spotted the bag with his bow and arrows in it instantly, eyes drawn to it over everything else that was waiting at the head of the range.

“Yup,” he was instantly worried, why did they have his bow and arrows? He’d been forced to hand it over when they reached the evacuation zone, and Iris had promised she would keep it close to her and safe.

“Have they-” If they had touched it, he would hurt every single one of them.

“They haven’t even opened the bag babe.” Iris reassured him, dropping his hand as they got closer. “It is a good thing, I promise.” He couldn’t help but feel nervous, there were a small number of people waiting for him. Doctor Charles, Director Fury, Deputy Director Maria, Agent Coulson, and Agent Vaile. Maria had a camera in her hand, it was pointed at the ground for now.

“You eavesdropped.” Vaile accused, spotting Iris’ excitedness.

“It was about Barton.” She defended herself, waving Clint forward towards everyone, taking a place beside Vaile. “I didn’t tell him.” Doctor Charles smiled, taking a step forward and offering Clint his hand. Clint took it nervously, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Congratulations Barton, you passed your psychological evaluation.” Clint looked towards Iris, wanting to confirm it wasn’t a weird hazing thing or a trick.

“So as we explained, on to the next part, we’re here to see how well you use a large number of weapons. Deputy Director Maria will be filming everything, and everyone here is armed, point those things anywhere that isn’t down range, and we will not hesitate to shoot.” Director Fury took over straight away, pointing to a table laden with various different weapons they wanted to test him on, his bow being one of them.

“Wait, how did I pass?”

“I was looking for a few things, that you were of sound mind, that you willingly made the choice to join Shield, and that your loyalty would be with us. You displayed all of those things over the last few weeks, today just confirmed it all. I still will be your doctor, and there are still some things I would like to discuss, but I am happy to pass your evaluation.” Charles explained softly, it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together, the Doctor had figured out that he would do anything for Iris, that he was loyal to her above all else, and as she one of Shields top agents, he was therefore loyal to Shield.

“Do you need a minute?” Iris stepped closer, resting her hand on Clint’s elbow, offering him comfort.

“No, I just wasn’t expecting this, not so soon.” He was honest with her, taking a deep breath.

“So now I get my weapons back?” He never felt truly alright without his bow, it would be good to get it back.

“Not quite, you can have them while you are supervised, and within the training grounds.” Iris interrupted Director Fury, keeping her voice gentle and calm. “There are a few free lockers you can store your bow and quiver in, or if you’d rather we can keep it in my room until you can take it back.” Iris knew how much his bow meant to him, making sure he had the choice to do what he felt was best.

“Can I?” He was itching to inspect it, check that everything was okay, but he knew better than to just grab it.

“Of course.” Director Fury picked up the bag and passed it over. Clint ignored the camera that was suddenly trained on him, to pull out his bow and inspect it. It looked exactly the same as when he had put it in there. It didn’t even look dusty, which he had half expected after being away from him for three weeks.

Next he pulled out his quiver, checking all the arrows were still in the right spots, just as sharp and tidy as ever. Once he was happy he put the quiver on his back, drawing an arrow and notching it, he took a few calming deep breaths, before he let go, watching the arrow hit the bullseye. It was perfect, exactly as he had left it.

Soon he fell into a rhythm, nearly forgetting about the people watching him, as he did the one thing that truly made him feel safe and relaxed. He only stopped when he reached back to grab another arrow only to find that they were all gone. He frowned, pulling the quiver off his back to check, he was sure there should have been more in there.

“Okay, I borrowed a few, but it’s for a good reason, I promise.” Iris was speaking the second he turned to her with a glare, instantly knowing where they were. Her hands up in the classic ‘I surrender’ position.

“What good reason?” He spoke through gritted teeth, his hand clenching around his bow.

“I took them to the R&D department, so they could make you more. Maybe make some more unique weapon heads, but we couldn’t do that without knowing the size, shape and weight of the ones you prefer. So I borrowed a few for testing in the lab. I was hoping they would have the first batch of new ones ready before you used it again, but-” She shrugged, watching him take a deep breath to calm himself. “I’ll ask next time, I just didn’t want to stress you out with more stuff. I’m sorry.” She stepped closer, wrapping her arms around his waist in an apology. He took another deep breath, before nodding and hugging her back.

“It’s a smart idea, and I should have considered it, but please ask me first next time.” Iris nodded, pulling out of the hug with a smile. “And I want to be the one to test any new arrows.” She laughed, nodding in agreement,

“I wouldn’t dream of letting anyone else do that.” He smiled, packing his bow and quiver back into the bag, waiting for permission to go get his arrows back. Maria accompanied him with the camera, getting a close up shot of all his arrows, all near the bullseye, but none touching the others.

He was just as careful to pack the arrows back into the bag, before passing it to Iris for safe keeping. He was ready for the next weapon test. It was time to prove he was good at this, that he would be an asset to shield.