Concerns

Clint Barton/Hawkeye

It had been a while since the Avengers had a meeting on their own. No SHIELD/BRIDGE members, no big group of newbies, no bad guys. Just them.

Well, and Sam and Rhodey, but Sam lead one of the teams and Rhodey probably should have been an Avenger from the start, so they didn't count. Bucky would have come as well but he was currently training with Ruby on Natasha and Steve's behalf.

Clint leaned against a wall in the back of the room. They were all inside the rec floor, the same place he'd fought a food fight in oh so long ago. Steve sat at the head of a round table with the Avengers logo embossed on it.

Clint wasn't surehowSteve's spot was the head of a round table (wasn't the point of them being round that therewasno head of the table?) but it was. Starting from his left sat Natasha, Bruce, Thor, Rhodey, Tony, Sam, and right back to Steve.

"Clint, you sure you don't want to sit?" Steve asked politely.

"Nah, I'm good," Clint said. "I like a good view."

"Barton, I'm more than just a fresh piece of ass to stare at," Tony joked.

"Oh please, like your's is the ass I'd be staring at," Clint chuckled.

Tony blinked. "Wait, whose would…"

Clint looked at Steve. So did everyone else.

Steve coughed uncomfortably, Natasha and Sam grinning at him. "Okay. We have work to do guys."

"Right, enough about Cap's glutes," Tony said, sounding just slightly offended.

Captain America rolled his eyes. "Okay. Let's discuss what's been happening for the past few months."

Everyone hesitated. Clint hid a smile. Yeah, there had been… a lot. Seriously, a stupidly huge amount. Clint had a lot of trouble keeping things in perspective these days. SHIELD becoming BRIDGE, HYDRA, Rio, Graveyard survivors, Winter Guard… Really hard to be the guy with the bow and arrow. Used to be that being effective with a bow and arrow in a world of modern weapons was all he needed to feel special. Now he was getting jokes online about being the 'useless Avenger'.

Real easy comment to make from behind a screen.

"...Let's start with the most recent one," Steve said at last.

"Ugh," Tony and Thor said in unison.

"Yes, I know your opinions on the Winter Guard," Steve said with the patience of a saint.

"That Crimson Dynamo is a hack," Tony said.

"And Chernobog is a raging psychopath that once raised a wolf specifically so that it would only eat the eyeballs of depressed widowers," Thor added.

Clint, personally, had to hold back a sigh at that. Thor was bad enough with all his claims of being a god and being over a thousand years old. There was the fight against the aliens a little after that and the forming of the Avengers, finding out from Cap about HYDRA infiltrating SHIELD and a kid who could turn into aliens. Then, in Rio, Clint had ended up shooting arrows into literal demonic monsters, knights from 1600's Germany, and a troll. And now, they had someone claiming to be a Russian witch switching from a team that had a 'dark god' on it.

Yeah, he was feeling way in over his head. Hard to feel useful as an Avenger with all the aliens and superpowers running around, at least not without seriously upgrading the Hawkeye armor and gear.

While he mused on this, Steve was talking. "-so we now know that Russia is getting themselves ready for the eventuality they may need to kill us. Which means-"

"That I start figuring out how to hack the hack's armor so that I can make her hit herself over and over again," Tony said.

"That I raise an army of warriors and kill the Dark Lord Chernobog as his lands burn and his armies scream in pain," Thor said.

Steve sighed.

"It means we should take in as much information as we can and prepare," Clint said helpfully.

"Thanks, Clint," Steve said. The team leader looked around. "Now, I'm hopeful that it won't be necessary, but I can't ignore the idea that other governments might be making their own countermeasures. I'd rather focus on the real bad guys. But we can't leave the idea that we aren't just dealing with HYDRA. World governments are preparing counters for us. What do we do about that?"

"..." Rhodey rubbed his eyes, looking like he was having a moment of crisis. "Are we seriously worried about the possibility of our own governments coming after us?"

"Are you not?" Natasha said calmly. "I hate to break it to you but governments killing their own people happens all the time."

Rhodey opened his mouth to say something, maybe a rebuttal. Then his mouth snapped closed. He let out a little sad sigh and closed his eyes. "I'm not doubting the idea. I'm not naive. I'm just saying that I'd rather hope that, as long as we keep staying on the straight and narrow, as long as we focus on the mission, the smart ones will see that we aren't something to be afraid of."

"We aren't under the control of any nation," Tony said. "That's going to be enough for some people. I mean, I'm as American as anyone who isn't currently wearing the flag," Steve smiled at that. "But I know a few senators who don't like the fact that I didn't put every soldier in a suit the second I made the Iron Man armor," Tony spoke fast, as though he was trying to get ahead of anyone. "Now granted, I love the idea of good soldiers getting armored up. But more suits out in the world means more assholes who can get them or reverse engineer them."

"You don't have to justify it to us, Tony," Rhodey said in the voice of a man who had heard an argument multiple times. "In the end, you guys are right. We need to prepare for the eventuality we might end up fighting… I mean, what do we even call them? Government heroes? Sponsored heroes?"

"Well, if all goes well, magic girl is going to stick around," Tony said. "By the way, is she for real Thor? You said Wanda wasn't really magic, right?"

Thor frowned thoughtfully. "...Maybe. I would have to speak with her directly, but the footage I have seen of the lass does resemble spells I once saw my… my mother practice. I can try and contact my father again, maybe see if this is really magic or not."

"Well, great, gives me time to prove it for myself," Tony said. "Ask if I can run some tests on her powers, see what makes them tick."

"If you wanted to do that, you shouldn't have started off with such a bad first impression," Natasha noted.

Clint smirked. "So you did the Harry Potter thing?"

"Yeah, ofcourseI did," Tony rolled his eyes. "She's a magical witch, I'd have to be insanenotto do the joke."

"What is… Harry Potter?" Thor asked curiously.

Tony's eyes lit up. But before he could say anything, Steve interrupted. "As long as we have some knowledge on this, I'm happy. I do remember some old legends when I was in the war. Maybe worth looking into," he said with some disquiet in his voice. "We also have to talk about team make-ups. I think we should be ready for smaller groups."

Sam leaned forward, drawing the attention of the others. "I've been speaking with Maria about it," Clint hid another smile at the familiar way he said Maria Hill's name. "We both agree that making smaller team units to deal with more threats is a good idea. We don't want to spread ourselves too thin, of course, but it makes sense to cover as much ground as we can. Plus, some of us can fulfill multiple roles, and we can all start working with BRIDGE guys to fill in any gaps."

"Is that really a good idea?" Rhodey asked. "I mean, we were just talking about people gunning for us, should we be splitting up like a bunch of morons in a horror movie? Because it usually doesn't end well for you and me, Sam."

Sam chuckled but quickly became serious again. "There are a lot more bad guys than there are heroes right now. We have quality, sure, but we need to start covering more ground. Besides, we can't start grouping up just because we're scared. After all, we're saving people. That's the real goal we have to focus on."

Rhodey nodded slowly. "...Then we have to plan it out. Make sure we can account for everything. What sort of teams were you thinking?"

"Dial once told me, 'One Riot, One Avenger'," Sam said. "Said he heard it somewhere. I'm not saying we do anything like that since I'm notthatconfident. But groups of three to five would be good."

"As long as I don't get teamed up with a newbie," Tony said with a shrug. "What about X? He says he wants in on the Avengers."

Steve crossed his arms thoughtfully. "I personally don't mind the idea. X has always acted in our best interests. He's a good person."

"For someone born out of the mind of a Nazi and an alien mad-engineer," Tony said wryly.

"You don't want him on the team?" Natasha asked.

"I do," Tony sighed. "But you know we get enough flack for having Point Blank on the team."

Thor frowned. "Truly?"

"You didn't notice that Norse religion has been on the rise since you showed up?" Clint asked.

"I did not," Thor frowned, looking as though he didn't know what to think of that.

Meanwhile, Steve rested back in his seat. "We have something else. Last night, in Hell's Kitchen, there was an attack. A group of assailants attacked a van carrying Hammertech weaponry, stealing some of it and firing RPGs in the middle of the street, destroying several buildings and killing four people, injuring many others," Steve said seriously.

"What the fuck?" Clint asked, feeling shocked. "Some lunatic used RPG's in the middle of New York City?"

"Yes," Steve said grimly. "Apparently, BRIDGE is investigating, since two Enhanced were reported to have driven the gang off."

"Do they need our aid?" Thor asked. He had a dark look on his face.

"Not yet, but they'll let us know," Steve said. "There's also the question of the van. Hammertech says the weapons had been stolen weeks ago, and they have no idea how they got to New York."

"Figures that even after he got arrested, Justin Hammer is still causing problems," Tony said. "Hey, you still have that party popper he gave you?" he asked Rhodey.

Rhodey rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, that never gets old."

"We'll let BRIDGE take that on," Steve said. "But I was hoping we could keep an eye on New York. I know that we have a responsibility to the whole world, but New York is our headquarters. We can't let people get hurt here… four people are dead," his eyes were hard. Clint felt his own match Steve's. "I want to make sure whoever did it doesn't get away with it."

Bruce suddenly spoke. Clint realized he'd been quiet the whole time. Not surprising, since Bruce wasn't the sort to just interrupt a meeting, but it was noticeable. "I also wanted to talk about something. Thor, you said you might have to go back home soon?"

They all looked over at Thor, who nodded. "Yes. My father will want to hear about all the things that have happened on Midgard. Ulik's return and disappearance are worrying, as is Chernobog joining a Midgardian team. I also wish to take Dial. I've been speaking with Heimdall. He worries about the implications of Sandrass."

"Dial's Asgardian form?" Natasha asked.

"Indeed," Thor said gravely. "Heimdall is worried about it. And that worries me."

"Wait, wait, wait," Bruce said, waving his hands with each 'wait'. "What do you mean? Isn't it just a new alien form? Why would it be a problem? I mean, you didn't seem to mind when he got Ulik's DNA."

"Ulik is not a god," Thor looked around. "I try not to make a big deal about it. But I am thousands of years old. I have the power to destroy cities and raze continents, given enough time," his voice seemed to deepen. Clint felt his heart clench just a bit. "That sort of power, it doesn't simply 'appear'. It can't be replicated. Asgardians of my strength are few and far between, with Sif and the Warriors Three being among the only ones from my generation. And yet, this Omnitrix has made another. I must discover if that will cause problems down the road."

"Sam," Steve asked, as though every word Thor had just said wasn't testing his world view the way it was for Clint. "You okay with that?"

"Sure," Sam leaned back in his seat and rubbed his chin. "We do need to reach out to Asgard anyway. Maria has been talking about making treaties with other planets. Might as well start with the one we have the best relationship with."

"She wants to make treaties," Bruce said thoughtfully. "Well, that would be a good reason to bring an ambassador along. Thor?"

"I'm sure I can accommodate at least one person," Thor rubbed his chin. "I'll have to ask my father first. If he disagrees, then Dial will have to suffice as Earth's ambassador."

"That's a terrifying prospect," Clint mumbled to himself.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess," Bruce sighed. "Oh, in the meantime, we got confirmation that the Graveyard survivors that are joining BRIDGE have been approved. They're starting training next week. A few have been interested in joining the Avengers."

"I saw," Steve smiled. "I'm more than willing to give them the chance. We should get some files and decide as a group?"

When no one seemed to mind the idea, Steve smiled a little wider. "Great! Anything else we should cover?"

Clint watched in silence as the next topic was brought up, thinking quietly to himself about how crazy his life had become.