The Avengers x Y/N Barton

Pt. 1

After getting your umpteenth doctorate, this time in nuclear physics and engineering, SHIELD gave you an opportunity to participate in research of the Tesseract that had a potential to become new source of renewable energy.

Thrilled to bits, you started to work with one of the most accredited astrophysicist in the world, Dr. Erik Selvig. Your calculations were always accurate and he appreciated your input and enthusiasm.

Your brother's assignment as surveillance agent in the facility was a cherry on top. He even volunteered to train you after you applied as a candidate for the field job.

Everything was going smoothly except your training sessions. Clint was unnecessarily tough on you and never missed an opportunity to insinuate your incapacity in his line of business despite the fact that you were great at combat. His conduct planted a seed of doubt in your mind.

----

"Again."

"Clint, I need a break," you pant heavily, body sore, heart pounding against your chest almost audibly.

"Again!" His voice echoes in the gym walls.

Frustrated but resoluted to not give him the pleasure of being right about you not being good enough to pass the field exam, you attack while his back is turned to you.

Almost like he knows what's going to happen, he turns on his heel and knocks you to the ground. The force of landing on your back robs you of your breath. Gasping for air, you feel coppery taste in your mouth.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" You catch breath again and wipe your nose and lips with the back of your hand, blood marking your skin red.

"If you can't take a simple punch, better hide in your precious laboratory," he spits mercilessly. "And a word of advice – don't yell while attacking."

You pinch your fingers couple times to mimic talking. "Word of advice," you mock him, fed up with his attitude.

"If you don't take it seriously, we're done, Y/N."

"Is this some kind of sibling rivalry? You're to teach me, not to bully me. For fuck's sake, you're aggressive!"

"And you are useless!" He knows this will be the last straw for you. He also knows you'll hate him for it, but if it keeps you safe, he's willing to accept it.

Your frustration swells dramatically and a tear rolls out of your eye. "You're right. We're done."

----

It's been almost a month since you stopped talking to your brother and sent a formal resignation from your candidacy. The words You're useless were resounding in your head and affected you exactly the way Clint intended. You hadn't received Fury's answer yet, so you suppressed your feelings and focused on the experiments you and Erik were running in the meantime.

Everything looked promising until one day the Cube activated on its own. The unexpected situation required Fury's immediate presence.

"What's going on here?"

"The Tesseract is misbehaving, sir," you enlighten him about the glitch.

"Where's agent Barton?" Fury's words are directed to Erik, almost as if he knows you cut Clint off.

"The Hawk?" Erik scoffs, surprised that this is even a question. "Up in his nest, as usual."

Clint's called to come down to report the situation from the surveillance perspective.

"It's spiking again!" You catch their attention and bring them to the Cube. Waves of blue light cast highlights on your faces.

Unexpectedly, the Cube strikes a beacon on the other side of your workplace. Shaking floor and loud rumbling makes you step back, Clint instinctively hides you behind his figure.

Looking over your shoulder, you see Erik frantically examining charts on the monitors in front of him. You can tell from his bewildered expression, he's taken aback too.

The energy crackling that surges from the Cube splits the space in half. An explosion goes off and floors you all.

"Stay near me." You feel Clint's weight covering your body. Slowly, he releases you and with a short, intense look urges you to brace yourself for facing the threat.

You nod acceptingly, carefully move your hand to the gun in the pocket of your white lab coat and click the safety.

"Sir, please put down the spear," Fury demands, gaze glued on tall, black-haired silhouette standing where the split was opened.

Feeling a warning prickle on the back of your neck, you push Clint away just in time the unknown man shoots a strike of energy from his ornamented staff in your direction.

You fall down and join the crossfire started by the guards. Firing all the bullets from the magazine, you hit the man's torso without a single miss. With no effect. Clutching on railing to help yourself get back on your feet, you spot Clint also slowly getting up.

Suddenly, your arm is grasped and your body turned to the lunatic, his spear's getting closer to your chest.

With a forceful bump into your side, Clint takes your place The spear is now jabbing his sternum. The always-present sparkle in his eyes is replaced with unnaturally blank stare.

Stealthily, you make a leap behind Fury who's carrying on a conversation with the menace, now with Clint on his side. You transfer the Cube from the stabilizer to a suitcase, buckling yourself up for the events to come.

"I am Loki, of Asgard," the man finally introduces himself, "and I am burdened with glorious purpose." Talking about futility of freedom, he taps the spear onto Erik. Doctor's expression picks up the same hollow features as Clint's. Their personalities are reduced to Loki's puppets.

Magnitude of the situation hits you like a truck. Surveying the place, you spot deep cracks in the ceiling, created by Loki's unstable gate.

Coming closer to Fury, you whisper "Pharaoh." Not overly fond of dying, you know this is the best option as to how to keep the Tesseract from falling into Loki's hands.

"Sir, Director Fury and doctor Barton are stalling. This place about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. They mean to bury us," Clint reports his observation.

"Like the pharaohs of old," Fury confirms your plan.

"He's right, the portal's collapsing in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical," Erik reads the graphs predicting upcoming explosion.

"Well, then," Loki puppeteers Clint, whose gaze meets yours when he cocks his gun and sends a couple of bullets into your rib cage.

By a shift of the steel suitcase, you create a barrier between you and the deadly cartridge, succeeding in saving your life.

Few other bullets penetrate Fury's shoulder.

Clint grabs the case out of your hold and takes an escape hatch.

Without hesitation, you start pressing on Fury's wound. "Hill! Do you copy? Barton has turned!" You promptly contact Maria through radio, as well as the infirmary.

"You're gonna be okay, the doctors are ready," you comfort groaning Director while dragging him to a helicopter.

Watching the facility being razed to the ground with a devastating explosion, you fight an internal battle between feeling guilty about wishing your brother to make it out, and knowing it would be better if he didn't get out of there at all.