14 Aug 22 - Where In The World Was Clint Barton - Option 40: Down On The Farm
Title: Where In The World Was Clint Barton - Option 40: Down On The Farm
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Avengers (MCU)
Rating: Suitable for people over 13
Word Count: 1371
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of the Avengers belong to Marvel, etc. All are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Note: Not feeling super-great tonight, so this one is a little - meh. Sorry about that. Hopefully some extra sleep will do wonders.
Summary: A call from Laura brings Clint home. A call from his parents brings Riley home. A call from Riley brings Willow and Buffy.
Down On The Farm
By Beriaearwen
Clint and Nat were in an office they sometimes used as a pre-mission conference room since it had no monitoring, was fairly large and had a window and a white board when Clint’s phone went off.
Pulling out the device, he looked at the display. “It’s Laura,” he informed, quickly answering the phone. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked. She knew he was going to be ‘busy with work’ and wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t an emergency.
“I know you’ve got something going on, but there are some weird things going on around here and I think it could use your attention.”
“Weird how?”
“Some people disappearing, others not behaving normally and the sheriff is just smiling and making up the oddest excuses. Town hall isn’t responsive and… well, I’m worries. Your parents are coming by to pick up the kids soon.”
“What about school?”
“Attendance is down enough that they closed down for a few weeks.
Clint’s eyes met Nat’s and she nodded, understanding that he would be going home. She would have to stay and take care of their assignment on the Lemurian Star. “I’ll let my boss know and head out,” he assured. “Love you.”
”Love you too”, she assured before hanging up.
“This shouldn’t take too long,” Nat stated. “Want me to come by when it’s done?”
A smile appeared on Clint’s face. He really appreciated her offer and had never doubted that she would. “I’ll check it out and let you know,” he assured. Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he headed for the door. “Now to tell Fury.”
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Clint rolled slowly down Main Street, trying to see what was different. For the most part things looked normal, but every now and then, he’d see someone who just seemed off - smiling too wide or avoiding the sun, greeting each other with entirely unnatural looking stiff hugs. Had he not had his training and a head’s up from his wife, he could see how people might not realize something odd was happening.
He reached the end of Main Street and turned toward the roads that would lead him home. He would talk with Laura and make a plan.
That night he was back in town, this time unobtrusively slipping through the shadows and looking for the signs he’d seen earlier and the people Laura had told him weren’t themselves.
It was as he was approaching the back of town hall that a subtle movement in the shadows caught his attention. He immediately zeroed in on it and identified another man, one with some training and skill. Fading deeper into the shadows himself, he waited patiently for the other to show himself.
The longer it took the more impressed Hawkeye became. It took a high level of training to try and beat him like this.
His time waiting wasn’t completely wasted. The rear window of the conference room was open and there were voices that would filter out every now and then. Some were too quiet to be more than murmurs, but others were loud enough that words and phrases would come through loud and clear. What he was hearing didn’t make a lot of sense to him, but at least he knew that planting a bug or two there would assist him.
It was only after the sound of people leaving reached him that the other man finally stepped from the shadows and looked in his direction, though, given he was looking slightly to Hawkeye’s left told him the other man didn’t know exactly where he was.
“Major Riley Finn, DRI,” he introduced softly. “I recognize you from the news. My parents called me home to investigate, I’m assuming that’s why you’re here. If you would like to work together…?” His voice trailed off.
Hawkeye didn’t think about it too long. He didn’t know all the details on the DRI, but what he had heard said they were good, not easily manipulated, highly trained and efficient. It was also rumored they had other connections that the government may or may not approve of and were used to dealing with the unusual. Stepping forward, he saw Major Finn startle when he appeared somewhere other than where the Major was looking. “How long have you been investigating?”
“Just got in two days ago. My wife and I have gathered some intel so far and what we have is… confusing to say the least. We’re pretty sure that whatever is going on, it falls under our mandate and there may be more than one interested party working together or for their own coinciding goals.”
Taking that information in, he asked, “Do you have somewhere we can talk?”
“Sure,” Riley agreed, “Follow me.”
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Three weeks, multiple adventures, the town being more or less cut off from the rest of the world and more odd things than Clint cared to think on, he found himself chained to a wall in a basement cell next to Riley.
Speaking of his partner in crime, who was far too closed lipped about what he actually did other than “Handle non-alien unusual”, he felt the man was way too calm about their situation.
It turned out there were, in fact, three factions, all of whom had mind or behavior controlling abilities working together. The three factions explained why it was so hard to figure out the motivation. Still, he needed to ask, “Why are you so calm? They’re going to be back to torture us any minute.”
Riley smiled wider. “Sam’s still free and has probably already called backup.”
“I thought your team was on leave and scattered across the country,” Hawkeye pointed out, hoping to get additional information from him on his non-government connections so he could do a thread evaluation for SHIELD.
“They are. It’s not our team that she’s contacting. These are some old friends who insisted we keep in touch.”
A moment later, the sound of fighting filtered into their cell and Riley’s smile grew.
“We were only captured a few hours ago. How did your friends get here so fast? Are they local?” Clint asked.
“Nah. But they have some swift transport,” Riley replied, his smile and tone having a sly edge to it.
Clint realized the other man had known exactly what he was doing and had played along. It made his already high opinion of the other man inch up a bit more.
Before he could think too much more on it, the cell door slammed open and former international terrorist Buffy Summers walked in, a sword dripping gore in one hand.
“Honestly Riley, after this you should take Sam on a real vacation,” she scolded pulling the keys out of a pocket and unlocking Riley first. “I don’t know how she puts up with you sometimes.”
“As if you’re one to talk,” he teased back. “When was the last time you took a vacation and had nothing happen?”
She just leveled a look at him. “Vacation? Me?”
“You’re worse than I am,” he scolded as she passed him the keys so he could free Hawkeye.
Clint noticed that she not only kept her distance, but also kept an eye on him, acknowledging him as a threat.
“Well, I did actually have a vacation planned, but then SHIELD imploded and -”
“What?” Clint interrupted, his voice demanding.
She turned to more fully face him. “You didn’t hear?”
“We’ve been really busy and most communication to the area from the outside world has been cut off for a while,” Riley explained.
“Huh. Well, it appears Captain America and the Black Widow discovered that Hydra had completely infiltrated all levels of SHIELD and burned the whole thing down. Released a ton of information as well. The computer brigade are sorting through what we were able to gather,”
Clint felt himself pale.
Buffy’s eyes narrowed at him as she studied him for a few minutes. “My friends were able to send out worms that will track down the personnel folders and remove the family information,” she stated, nodding once to herself when she saw Clint instantly relax. “I’ll see what we can do about your information as well,” she offered.
A sigh of relief escaped him. “Thank you,” was all he could say.
End.
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Avengers (MCU)
Rating: Suitable for people over 13
Word Count: 1371
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of the Avengers belong to Marvel, etc. All are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Note: Not feeling super-great tonight, so this one is a little - meh. Sorry about that. Hopefully some extra sleep will do wonders.
Summary: A call from Laura brings Clint home. A call from his parents brings Riley home. A call from Riley brings Willow and Buffy.
Down On The Farm
By Beriaearwen
Clint and Nat were in an office they sometimes used as a pre-mission conference room since it had no monitoring, was fairly large and had a window and a white board when Clint’s phone went off.
Pulling out the device, he looked at the display. “It’s Laura,” he informed, quickly answering the phone. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked. She knew he was going to be ‘busy with work’ and wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t an emergency.
“I know you’ve got something going on, but there are some weird things going on around here and I think it could use your attention.”
“Weird how?”
“Some people disappearing, others not behaving normally and the sheriff is just smiling and making up the oddest excuses. Town hall isn’t responsive and… well, I’m worries. Your parents are coming by to pick up the kids soon.”
“What about school?”
“Attendance is down enough that they closed down for a few weeks.
Clint’s eyes met Nat’s and she nodded, understanding that he would be going home. She would have to stay and take care of their assignment on the Lemurian Star. “I’ll let my boss know and head out,” he assured. “Love you.”
”Love you too”, she assured before hanging up.
“This shouldn’t take too long,” Nat stated. “Want me to come by when it’s done?”
A smile appeared on Clint’s face. He really appreciated her offer and had never doubted that she would. “I’ll check it out and let you know,” he assured. Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he headed for the door. “Now to tell Fury.”
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Clint rolled slowly down Main Street, trying to see what was different. For the most part things looked normal, but every now and then, he’d see someone who just seemed off - smiling too wide or avoiding the sun, greeting each other with entirely unnatural looking stiff hugs. Had he not had his training and a head’s up from his wife, he could see how people might not realize something odd was happening.
He reached the end of Main Street and turned toward the roads that would lead him home. He would talk with Laura and make a plan.
That night he was back in town, this time unobtrusively slipping through the shadows and looking for the signs he’d seen earlier and the people Laura had told him weren’t themselves.
It was as he was approaching the back of town hall that a subtle movement in the shadows caught his attention. He immediately zeroed in on it and identified another man, one with some training and skill. Fading deeper into the shadows himself, he waited patiently for the other to show himself.
The longer it took the more impressed Hawkeye became. It took a high level of training to try and beat him like this.
His time waiting wasn’t completely wasted. The rear window of the conference room was open and there were voices that would filter out every now and then. Some were too quiet to be more than murmurs, but others were loud enough that words and phrases would come through loud and clear. What he was hearing didn’t make a lot of sense to him, but at least he knew that planting a bug or two there would assist him.
It was only after the sound of people leaving reached him that the other man finally stepped from the shadows and looked in his direction, though, given he was looking slightly to Hawkeye’s left told him the other man didn’t know exactly where he was.
“Major Riley Finn, DRI,” he introduced softly. “I recognize you from the news. My parents called me home to investigate, I’m assuming that’s why you’re here. If you would like to work together…?” His voice trailed off.
Hawkeye didn’t think about it too long. He didn’t know all the details on the DRI, but what he had heard said they were good, not easily manipulated, highly trained and efficient. It was also rumored they had other connections that the government may or may not approve of and were used to dealing with the unusual. Stepping forward, he saw Major Finn startle when he appeared somewhere other than where the Major was looking. “How long have you been investigating?”
“Just got in two days ago. My wife and I have gathered some intel so far and what we have is… confusing to say the least. We’re pretty sure that whatever is going on, it falls under our mandate and there may be more than one interested party working together or for their own coinciding goals.”
Taking that information in, he asked, “Do you have somewhere we can talk?”
“Sure,” Riley agreed, “Follow me.”
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Three weeks, multiple adventures, the town being more or less cut off from the rest of the world and more odd things than Clint cared to think on, he found himself chained to a wall in a basement cell next to Riley.
Speaking of his partner in crime, who was far too closed lipped about what he actually did other than “Handle non-alien unusual”, he felt the man was way too calm about their situation.
It turned out there were, in fact, three factions, all of whom had mind or behavior controlling abilities working together. The three factions explained why it was so hard to figure out the motivation. Still, he needed to ask, “Why are you so calm? They’re going to be back to torture us any minute.”
Riley smiled wider. “Sam’s still free and has probably already called backup.”
“I thought your team was on leave and scattered across the country,” Hawkeye pointed out, hoping to get additional information from him on his non-government connections so he could do a thread evaluation for SHIELD.
“They are. It’s not our team that she’s contacting. These are some old friends who insisted we keep in touch.”
A moment later, the sound of fighting filtered into their cell and Riley’s smile grew.
“We were only captured a few hours ago. How did your friends get here so fast? Are they local?” Clint asked.
“Nah. But they have some swift transport,” Riley replied, his smile and tone having a sly edge to it.
Clint realized the other man had known exactly what he was doing and had played along. It made his already high opinion of the other man inch up a bit more.
Before he could think too much more on it, the cell door slammed open and former international terrorist Buffy Summers walked in, a sword dripping gore in one hand.
“Honestly Riley, after this you should take Sam on a real vacation,” she scolded pulling the keys out of a pocket and unlocking Riley first. “I don’t know how she puts up with you sometimes.”
“As if you’re one to talk,” he teased back. “When was the last time you took a vacation and had nothing happen?”
She just leveled a look at him. “Vacation? Me?”
“You’re worse than I am,” he scolded as she passed him the keys so he could free Hawkeye.
Clint noticed that she not only kept her distance, but also kept an eye on him, acknowledging him as a threat.
“Well, I did actually have a vacation planned, but then SHIELD imploded and -”
“What?” Clint interrupted, his voice demanding.
She turned to more fully face him. “You didn’t hear?”
“We’ve been really busy and most communication to the area from the outside world has been cut off for a while,” Riley explained.
“Huh. Well, it appears Captain America and the Black Widow discovered that Hydra had completely infiltrated all levels of SHIELD and burned the whole thing down. Released a ton of information as well. The computer brigade are sorting through what we were able to gather,”
Clint felt himself pale.
Buffy’s eyes narrowed at him as she studied him for a few minutes. “My friends were able to send out worms that will track down the personnel folders and remove the family information,” she stated, nodding once to herself when she saw Clint instantly relax. “I’ll see what we can do about your information as well,” she offered.
A sigh of relief escaped him. “Thank you,” was all he could say.
End.