They both seemed cut from similar cloth when it came to things. It was honestly no surprise to most people in SHIELD that Clint was loyal to Coulson. When he had first began working there, most of the time Clint ended up following after Phil. Even when he was supposed to be training with other junior agents. Back then, to him, he was above training with the other junior agents. Now it was the same, but now he could harass them all he wanted too. The one person he harassed with a light-hearted thing in his mind was Phil. Even on his worst days. Clint considered Coulson more like a friend then his boss. More like someone that would affected him profoundly. He didn't have many mentors in his life. He didn't have many people in his life. Clint had been one of those children who were tossed into the system and forgotten. Comically, he'd joined the circus
( ... )
"Clint..." Phil hadn't planned to rebuild his collection. It had been sentimental and he hadn't thought that a new set would mean as much. He was wrong. This set, it just meant something different. Phil couldn't remember ever having a friend do something like this for him. It was too much. He smiled down at the box and placed it on Clint's dresser before turning to him
( ... )
Clint didn't even feel like he had to say it at all when Phil told him he didn't have to do that for him. Yes, he did. The archer was probably just as angry at the usage of the trading cards as Phil was when he found out. Clint didn't know...he wasn't there when Fury told him. He didn't exactly see the point in having them be a martyr as well. If Phil had truly been dead, Clint would have wanted to keep the cards in mint condition somewhere in his room. The ruined cards were, however, given back to Phil once he came back to the fold. He paused for a moment before shrugging as he watched his handler walk towards the bed. "Yeah, I did." He took in a deep breath as he scooted over on the bed to make some room for Phil to lay down. "I know they're not the same as before. I tried to get as close as the old set as before..." He didn't want to point out he was a complete loser when it came to making sure they were also in the same state as the others. He was sure Clint would notice somewhere down the line
( ... )
Phil wrapped an arm loosely around Clint's shoulder, hand brushing through his hair. He'd just hit Clint in the head with his gun. The least he could do was be comforting in the aftermath. Not that he didn't want to be here, because he did. There were few things he wanted more than to just lie here with Clint and pretend that there was something more to it. If he closed his eyes, he could pretend that Clint really wanted him here and not just because of the trust between them, but because he was the person Clint most wanted in his bed for any reason
( ... )
The archer seemed to relax... instantaneously. In his mind, the moment was perfect. Clint knew that Phil wasn't exactly there because he wanted to be there -- out of some other emotion other than concern for his agent. It made his heart sink a little at the thought this was never going to be anything more than a boss-employee sort of relationship. Sure, their personal lives were heavily interwoven with each other. Clint relied way too heavily on the fact that he knew Coulson was always there. From the beginning of his career to (hopefully) the end. He couldn't deal with the announcement of Phil's death, but he was sure he could deal with Fury having to tell Phil he had been killed on some mission. Jumping off some impossibly high building or something equally as stupid. He didn't want that to be the case in any matter. But he knew Coulson would probably handle it all better than he had. Phil wouldn't shut himself off from the world and become some recluse that only went on missions and trained until it felt as though his
( ... )
It was Phil's job to send Clint, to send all of his agents, really, into dangerous situations. He had to do his job in a somewhat detached manner when it came to things like that. He had to put the greater good above any one agent and that was difficult. Out of the field, though, the idea of losing Clint was entirely unbearable. He tried not to think about it at all most of the time. He didn't want to accept the fact that Clint could die and that he could be the one who had sent him out there
( ... )
Clint didn't know. The life-or-death situations he got himself in were merely just reprimanded and he flashed Phil a cocky grin saying he always knew he would walk away alive. Even when he honestly didn't. The archer would have just told Coulson it was all part of the job. Just like he told himself it was all part of the job when Coulson died. But in the end, it was complete and utter bullshit. Clint didn't want to know that Coulson would beat himself over being the one who could possibly send him to his death. That he had been wrecked over the short amount of time that he was missing the last couple of days. He didn't want to think of the missed meals and the lack of sleep on his handler's part because he would have sworn to himself never to miss another drop by in his office ever again. Or phone call when he was bored enough at the range to give the man a head's up that he was stopping by. Email chain letter that he forwarded to Phil because he knew it would make him twitch a little
( ... )
Phil would always do everything in his power to make sure that his agents came back alive. He didn't want to admit that he was compromised, but if he had to choose between Clint and someone else, Clint would win out every time. He would feel guilt, but it would be easier than anything he would feel after sending Clint to his death. That just wasn't an option. He would sooner sacrifice himself than let Clint die if he had the option. The missed meals and sleep were nothing compared to how he would have been if he'd gotten confirmation that Clint was dead. The idea that he could never get another call or stupid email from the man made everything seem bleak.
Phil loved his job, though. He couldn't imagine doing anything else. That didn't make Clint any less of a highlight--maybe the highlight. His time spent with Clint was some of the most important and memorable time he had. Even through all the worrying and the yelling, no one made Phil smile the way Clint did. No one. Sometimes Clint did thoughtful things that he tried to
( ... )
Clint could honestly remember being recruited by Coulson; thinking both "This guy's a yuppie" and "I think I might have a new best friend". All in the same stream of thought. Not that he said anything about it. He joined with a non-committal look in his eyes, saying he'd quit whenever he wanted too. It'd been years since then. Clint hadn't quit yet. SHIELD had a way of hooking it's claws in a person and burying deep inside them. But that wasn't all of it. Phil also had a way of showing up right before any sort of meltdown or anything like that and Clint just sort of rolled with it. He went with the fact that if had ever been given the chance to not go in and see Phil sitting at his desk or standing near the door of the range; SHIELD would lose it's main factor for keeping him around and alive
( ... )
On meeting Clint, all Phil remembered thinking was that he knew the man would be trouble. There was no doubt about that. As he'd grown on Phil, he'd only proven to be more trouble than Phil had ever imagined. When Clint wasn't doing everything that he wasn't supposed to, he was doing everything so right that it made Phil want to grab him and kiss him. For a long time, he's thought Clint really might quit some day, but he knew better now. SHIELD wouldn't be quite right without him. Phil wouldn't leave. He'd probably never leave SHIELD, but it would still feel empty without Clint
( ... )
Clint was trouble. That was for sure. He'd been sneaking around in the air ducts the second week he had been taken on by SHIELD when his faith in the man who would be his handler for the long haul of his career in SHIELD. When he over heard Fury talking about him and how he treated the agents who were assigned to get him on his feet. He talked back. He lashed out. Fury was on Team Barton, but not if he kept up his behavior. Coulson didn't seem fazed by it, he just had a look of amusement in his eyes. Maybe because for that week, Clint had successfully risen his blood pressure to the point where it hadn't been before. Or maybe because Clint wasn't as bad a fit in SHIELD as everyone thought he was going to be. It wasn't until Fury had exited that room that Clint knew he was going to like working for Phil, since his handler's eyes shifted towards the grate in the air ducts. Acknowledging Clint's presence and ordering him to come down
( ... )
Of course, Phil remembered that day. That was the day he'd realized that Clint might just be the good kind of trouble. He could be the kind of trouble that accomplished impossible things and took the missions that no one else could hope to do. Fury hadn't even seen Clint. Hell, Phil barely had. He was impressed. He never stopped being impressed and he never questioned what Clint was capable of. If a human being could do it and Clint was reasonably physically able to do it, Phil knew that Clint would do it and do it well
( ... )
Being on Phil's wave-length had become second nature to him. It was also the reason, he was sure, why Fury hadn't reassigned him or passed him off. Maybe even started taking on agents of his own even if he had been there for several years, aiding in the training of many agents when it came to field combat or training to fly. It was because when Clint wasn't around Phil, he just didn't feel like he performed as well. He performed exceptionally during the fight against the Chitauri and on several different missions. He just came back to base a little off. He'd hurt himself in some stupid way or he'd feel like his aim was an inch off target. When he was on missions with Phil, they continued conversations from miles apart over their comms. They didn't even need to be in the same area to know what the other was doing when they were in a work-state of mind. Even to Clint it was a little weird. But he liked the weird little talent he had. It made for one thing to become clear...Fury wouldn't pull them apart
( ... )
What Clint didn't know was that more than a few times early on, Fury had tried to have Clint work with other handlers. Phil refused it, citing reasons that ranged from the fact that they had the highest success rate together to the fact that Clint just wouldn't listen to most people. Eventually, Fury stopped trying to separate them at all. Phil didn't trust other handlers with Clint and he didn't trust Clint to trust the other handlers. His trust in Phil had been hard-won and Phil knew that. Clint would never even try as much with another handler. If being his handler kept Clint alive, Phil would gladly always do it
( ... )
That was one thing Clint was not aware of. Phil's battle to keep him as his agent rather than allowing him to go off to work with another handler and gaining some ease in his life. It would have been easier for the man, in the early years, if he had just given Clint to another handler. But then again, most handlers would have passed him off when they had the chance. It wasn't something that Clint would have looked forward to but the largest act of betrayal would have come if Phil had done it. He hadn't trusted anyone in the world as much as he trusted Coulson. When the world continuously passed him off because he was too difficult to handle. Phil had kept him with him. There was the idle threat that if he had the chance he would find Clint a new handler. But he was sure, one time, when Clint had taken the threaten all too serious the threats stopped shortly thereafter. It wasn't that he wouldn't have left SHIELD if he had gotten a new handler, it was that he probably would perform with a bigger death wish then he had before
( ... )
At first, it had been about giving Clint something consistent. Phil could see that Clint needed that more than anything and he wanted to give him as stable a groundwork as SHIELD could offer. After that, it was more about the way they worked together, the fact that their success rate was so high and that he knew Clint wouldn't do as well if he was given to another handler. Then it had become selfish. He wanted Clint around. Even if the other reasons weren't there, he would have fought to keep him because he liked working with him and he liked being with him
( ... )
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Phil loved his job, though. He couldn't imagine doing anything else. That didn't make Clint any less of a highlight--maybe the highlight. His time spent with Clint was some of the most important and memorable time he had. Even through all the worrying and the yelling, no one made Phil smile the way Clint did. No one. Sometimes Clint did thoughtful things that he tried to ( ... )
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