istillbelieveinheroes | Problems: From Rookies to Babies.

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Problems: From Rookies to Babies.

They were on a mission in Canada. Nothing too bad about this one it seemed. Or so it was meant to be pretty easy. There was word of a device being set up there by some unknown group, that was putting off strange readings. For one, they had no intil on the group, for another they had no idea what kind of device. Both things they needed to know about. Why? Because it’s SHIELD and they need to know everything.

It wasn’t top priority however. A training mission, really. Scout and Scoot as Coulson would call it. Since the events in New York, (and, you know, living and all) Fury had been placing him on smaller training missions, when he wasn’t keeping an eye on the Avengers. He had been officially moved to the ‘Ambassador to the Avengers’ as Sitwell laughed.

The point being? This was a simple training mission that won't stay so simple. Because of the need for eyes from a distance, Clint was pulled along as well, which suited Coulson fine, really, and it might have suited Barton fine as well.

But as I said, the mission was simple that didn’t stay simple. One of their rookie Agents got himself into a spot of trouble, captured by a dart to the neck and dragged inside. Another Agent followed him in, tracking. Phil knew she was a good tracker, but he didn’t like the next problem that followed.

Communications ceased to function once the Agent’s stepped inside the small base set inside the hill side. Great.

“Barton. Lost Meyers. Lost Hutchinson. Do you have eyes on Jackson?” Their third rookie who was with them.

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Phil chuckles and spared the man, reaching out to pick up the bundle again and tucking her in close. He made soft shhhing sounds and rocked a moment, the child doing what she did before. She relaxed. It barely took a minute. Her fists relaxed and she stopped fussing so hard, sniffling form crying.

"You should really like him. He saved you, you know." He chided the child, then looked to Clint with a slightly exasperated look. "You alright?"

The trunk closed on the car. "Everything's loaded, Agent Coulson. Do you need an escort to base?" Phil gave Clint a look that said 'do you think we need help?' before smiling at the kid again. "We should be alright. Agent Barton knows where we are going. Continue work here and get this secured. Report in to Agent Sitwell with any findings."

Clint rolled his eyes a little at the question. "Yeah, fine," he said, heading for the car, opening the door to the back so they could get to the car seat.

Phil grinned at that, peeking at the baby and following. A soft humming of Hey Jude now coming from his lips as he looked her over. The child was nearly sleeping again.

With access to the cat sear, he took a moment to settle her in. The sooner they get back to a base the better, right? To Clint he asked "Hey, Jude?" As in 'you were really singing that?'

Clint arches an eyebrow like, 'Yeah, and?'

"I didn't think Hit Me with Your Best Shot would have the same effect," he says, getting into the driver's seat.

He chuckled, closing the door and making sure she didn't wake up. He moved to the passanger seat and got in. "I like the song. Just didn't realize you could sing." He was teasing now as he added. "You never sing for me." A smirk, glancing back to the baby.

He was tired. Both physical and mental. Mostly mental. Any little bit of teasing helped him hide what he was really feeling. They lost an Agent and that was on him. He'd take the blame for that even if it wasn't his fault. He should have trained them better. Lost an Agent and another is undergoing some weird change.

Now there is a baby he stupidly volunteered to take care of. He was trying, very hard to keep himself... lighthearted. Trying very hard. Thus Clint might be the only one who would, or could notice that.

Clint noticed, and it was that realization as much as anything that had him teasing back. "You never ask. You want me to serenade you, sir?"

He flashed Coulson a quick grin before starting up the engine to head back to the base. They could both use a little downtime after this one, he figured.

He gave a soft chuckle the the comment, smiling as he slide into his seat a bit more. "Perhaps someday." He might actually like it; after all he'd always liked the sound of Clint's voice.

As they started, he could hear the child fussing again, but not crying yet. He frowned, peeking back at her. "Never seen a little thing so angry before." Her fists were balled up once again.

Clint glanced into the rearview mirror to look back at her.

"Makes you wonder what they were doing to her," he said, his voice low and a little dark. He shouldn't be shocked anymore at what SHIELD's enemies got up to, but every once in a while, he still was.

He turned in his seat, just a bit. They placed her so it was easy for him to reach her, so he reached back and ran a finger over one of her fists, a soft shhing sound again as he slide his finger between the closed fingers. Such a grip.

"I can't even imagine. How long have they had her? Why did they have her? It doesn't surprise me anymore..." but the words 'it makes me angry' were left unsaid. He leaned back, wiggling his finger in the grip the girl had on it.

"I want to get back and look in on the data we're pulling from that place."

He nodded, eyes flicking to where the baby's fingers curled around Phil's finger, his expression softening a little. "I'm sure they can send the files to the base," he says with a faint smile.

"Yes. I'll be sure to get them as soon as I can." because he wanted to know what happened to his Agent too. He leaned back and wiggled the hand softly, the child stopping her fussing. The look on his face was flat, unschooled and tired. This mission had been for training and it went down hill fast, but if they hadn't stepped in when they did would she have been hurt?

Clint glanced over at him briefly as he drove, taking a hand from the wheel to touch Coulson's shoulder.

"It's not your fault."

He blinked, surprised by the touch, and turned to look from the child to Barton. He let himself relax around Clint more then others, thus the man tended to be able to see or read his feelings and thoughts as if he spoke them.

It still startled him sometimes.

He pushed a smile at the comment, trying to look okay. "It's fine. I'm just worried about the little bird." He said, arm still turned back and softly waving her fist around his finger. For Phil, it was his fault. Trainees come on these missions to learn. They can't learn if he leaves them dead.

Clint did see a lot, and he saw past that smile, but he didn't say anything about it. He knew that nothing he could say would convince Coulson he wasn't to blame, but he still wanted to say it. Just so Coulson knew that Clint didn't blame him. He pulled his hand back, nodding.

"She'll be fine. Babies are good like that. Resilient."

He was stubborn like that, Barton. He was grateful to hear it though, because it did help. A bit. For Phil, each time one of these missions mucked up and he lost Agents, personally, he always took care of things himself. Go home after long briefings. Shower until the hot water was gone. Stretch out on the floor and stare at the ceiling, convincing himself it was alright.

He didn't drink like he used to in the older days. That was a plus. After convincing himself things would be alright and that he needed to take care of things in the morning, he'd generally be reformed back into Agent Coulson and able to presses the situation, deal with Evals and continue on. It was a method that worked well for him.

For now? He couldn't go home. This was part of the first step. Just relax, suck it up, be Agent. Take care of the mess first. "Babies are resilient. Though this one has so much anger on her little face. Even when she looks like she's sleeping." Which she was doing now, head turned to the side, fist tight on Phil's finger and with an angry scrunched up face, she slept.

Clint kept watch on Coulson out of the corner of his eye as he drove, wishing there were more he could do. He'd seen Coulson like this so many times, and he knew by tomorrow the agent would be back to his usual self or as close as could be expected, but it didn't stop him wanting to do something now.

"SHIELD will find her a good family," he said quietly. "Eventually, she'll forget about it. She'll...be happy."

He generally put himself back together, on his own, almost all the time. Now shouldn't be any different. He can't help others if he lets himself fall apart each time. He frowned though, as Clint mentioned them finding her a good family.

"Maybe. Depends on what they did to her. Who's child she was even. If she starts glowing green and spitting fire she might end up elsewhere for a while." Oh, so he was a bit worried that she wasn't normal.

"Yeah, but either way, it'll be better."

Even if she did start glowing green and spitting fire, he was pretty confident SHIELD wasn't going to stick her in a lab somewhere and start running experiments. Not with Fury as director.

"True." It would be better. For some reason this one got to him. He'd make sure it would be better then poked and prodded. Poor dear.

"You ever thought of them? Having..." He tipped his head back to the bundle in the car seat.

Clint glanced at her in the rearview mirror again. Yeah, he'd thought about it. But what he'd thought was that he'd be the worst dad ever, and anyway, not like he actually could have a kid. Not with his life.

So he shook his head. "Not really."

Phil just gave a soft Mmm like hum of an answer, as if that were enough. It's what he figured the man would say. It just made sense, he supposed. Someone like Barton, always on the move. An assassin with morals. He wouldn't think about it, would he.

"I thought you'd say that."

Clint's eyes flicked over to Coulson and back to the road. He wanted to ask why Coulson said that, but he figured he probably didn't want to know.

"What about you, sir?"

He settled back in the seat again, a bit better, thought he kept his arm turned back, so his finger never left her hand. An awkward way to go, but it seemed to keep her calm.

"Mmm... sometime again. I suppose I thought about it. Get married, have kids, nice little house, serve the country, that kind of thing." He smiled over at Barton, a bit of a bitter smile. "But then I joined SHIELD."

"Yeah," Clint says, returning the smile with one of his own.

"Do you ever wish you didn't?" It's important to know. If Coulson ever left SHIELD, Clint would probably be right behind him.

Sometimes. Sometimes he wished he didn't. Then he might have had something normal. His parents would have been happier about that, wouldn't they? But he didn't take long before he said. "No. I think I'd do it over again, if given the choice." And after a short pause added, with a glance to Clint, but they a glance to the girl. "There would be too many people lost if I never joined. A few too many important people to lose if I had never joined." Clint being the big one, really.

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