Chapter Text
Clint picked at his food with a slight frown stifling a yawn. He was exhausted, bruised, about two hours from total collapse and they were eating shawarma. The rest of the group looked about as bad; Rogers was even nodding off over his plate.
“We should get back to base, Phil’s going to want us to report in.” He said softly, glancing at Natasha with a wince as he dropped his feet back to the floor, “I’m probably going to spend the rest of the week in a CAT scan machine.”
“If they don’t just give you to the telepaths.” She offered standing and hauling him up by his elbow. “Fury will want a check in.”
“Wait, who’s Phil? You mean Agent?” Stark asked as he quickly signed a credit slip and handed it over, the amount making the shop owner gasp.
“Yeah, Phil Coulson, our handler.” Clint said with a shrug as he picked up his bow and quiver, Coulson had spent several weeks shadowing Stark with Natasha as his back up while Clint was on other ops.
“What, you didn’t hear?” Tony asked sounding shocked.
“Hear what?” Clint asked something making him hesitate, Stark rarely acted dead sober as he was now.
“Leave it, Stark.” Natasha snapped tugging at Clint to follow her out of the small store, the rest of the team scrambling after ignoring the look he shot her.
“No,” Tony said jogging after them, tugging Clint to a stop forcing him to twist out of her hold before he dislocated a shoulder, “No one told you he died during the attack on the carrier?”
“Phil died?” He repeated numbly as Natasha cursed in Russian.
“Dammit, Stark! I wanted him back on base first!” She grabbed Clint’s face making sure he was focused on her.
“You aren’t allowed to drop. That’s an order.” She snapped, voice hard and commanding. Clint nodded agreement without really noticing it, his mind still hung in a looped chant of “Phil’s dead.”
“Wait, he’s a Sub? Shield lets submissives go in to combat?” Tony asked cursing as he tripped over a piece of rubble, Natasha hurried them along all but dragging Clint with her, “Slow down, where are we going anyway?”
“You just told a Submissive that his Dominant died.” She snarled hauling Clint along a hair faster, “I need to get him to his emergency dominant before he drops.”
They got a few more blocks before Clint was shaking too badly to keep up the pace. Natasha cursed and pulled out a thin length of rope. She quickly bound his hands and looped a length up to his neck in a quick collar. Once the last knot was set he started to calm down a bit and she started them walking again.
“He likes to be tied?” Tony asked with a leer even as he started fiddling with his phone to see if he could get them a ride.
“Not my story, Stark.” She snapped cursing when Clint jerked to a stop, reaching for his neck.
“Leave it, Clint. Stark’s just being an ass.” She said trying to sooth him.
“He took my collar.” Clint said blinking as she tugged his hands back down, “I lost Phil’s collar, Nat. Loki made me take it off, said I could only have one master.”
“I’m sure Phil would have understood, Clint. I’ll get it back for you once we get to Fury’s office.”
“Who’s his emergency dominant?” Steve asked glancing back to make sure Thor and Bruce were coming.
“Director Fury.” Clint said with a small hysterical bark of laughter, he’d never understood why Phil had insisted on Fury as his emergency Dom.
A Quinjet sat in a wide square, the pilots unloading supplies to one side. Natasha stalked up the gangway and got Clint into a seat. The rest of the team followed, Tony muttering about getting Thor and Bruce back to his tower for some real clothes until they could decide what to do with Loki. Natasha turned and watched the pilot storm up the ramp.
“You need to exit the vehicle, this is a military operation.” He snapped glancing over the motley group with a frown.
“I need to commander your jet. We have to get to the Helicarrier, now.” Natasha said pulling out her badge.
“I can’t do that, we already have our orders.”
“Do you know who this man is?” she asked gesturing to Clint.
“A traitor.” He sneered eying the rope securing the submissive, Steve shifted like he wanted to correct him but Natasha stepped forward blocking him.
“He’s also Director Fury’s submissive.” She snapped getting in the guy’s face, “Do you really want to be the one to tell Fury that you kept his Sub from him while he was edging on a drop?”
“Fuck, buckle in” He snarled, gesturing to the seats, “I’m taking you and dropping you, I have a real mission to get back to.”
“Fine.”
The flight was fast and turbulence filled, the pilot keeping to his word and taking off as soon as the last person’s feet hit the landing pad. Natasha hauled Clint along trying to get him past the wreckage and medical crews before he saw too much. She checked in on her com and made sure Fury was in his office, they couldn’t do this in the open.
“Director Fury,” she said tugging Clint forward once the door shut behind them, “Your submissive is edging on a drop and needs care.”
Nick sighed and rubbed at his scarred brow for a moment before keying something in on his desk, a small low bed slid out of one wall and he gestured for her to get Clint settled. The others fidgeted as the archer was settled glancing around the spare office. A massive overlay of screens on one wall showed the devastation and destruction the fight had caused around the city and in the halls of the helicarrier.
“I would see my brother, Fury.” Thor rumbled, watching as the Director dug in his desk drawers, coming up with a bottle of water and a protein bar.
“Well, I want to see you, your brother, and the tesseract off this world as soon as possible. The World Security Council is calling for blood and I’d rather not start yet another interplanetary incident.” He said opening the bottle and kneeling gave it to Clint. “Drink, Barton.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Dr. Banner, Stark, I need you to work with Prince Thor on figuring out a way to get the bifrost active as soon as possible. You’re welcome to use the labs on base or at the tower but the tesseract stays here.” Nick said giving Stark a stern look that promised pain if he argued with him right now, the last thing a Sub headed towards a drop needed was people arguing around him.
“Fair enough;” Stark said with a nod leading the other two men out after a lingering look at Clint, “Come on gentlemen, let’s get to work.”
“Romanov, I need you working with Sitwell and Hill. We need as much alien tech as possible off the streets.” Fury said tugging at Clint’s gloves until he started to help take them off, “Rogers, you’re welcome to assist Agent Romanov if you’d like.”
“Always willing to help, sir;” Steve said slowly glancing between him and Clint, clearly not liking leaving the distressed submissive but not having a reason to intervene.
“Romanov, get him a generic Shield uniform for now. We don’t need more exposure of the Avengers.” He said helping Clint out of his armored vest before giving him some more water.
“Yes, sir.” She said tugging Steve out the door after her. Once the room was locked and secure he glanced back at Clint with a sigh.
“I don’t have time for a submissive right now, Barton.” He said replacing the bottle with an unwrapped protein bar.
“Sorry, sir.” Clint mumbled, starting to slowly eat at his prompting.
“I told Phil I was a bad choice for your emergency dominant but he insisted you needed the protection. He might have been right this time, the WSC is looking for a scapegoat. Even without Phil willing you to me I would have kept you out of their hands but I can’t take the time off to deal with you right now.”
He tugged the man forward and pressed his hands to the floor, stepping on the rope to keep him pinned. The hand around his throat made Clint freeze even as he felt the patch being smoothed in place. Fury released him with a curt order to stay down.
“No, Phil promised, no drugs, he promised.” Clint said shivering as he was pressed back into the thin bed.
“Sorry, son, but I don’t have time for a submissive right now. You’ll stay down and docile for a few days while I sort things out. You’re to eat and drink when food is offered, sleep eight hours a night, and keep yourself clean. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” Clint slurred shivering as the drugs forced him into subspace and kept him there.
Nick called for medical and got them to check out the agent. He kept working, only pausing to get a meal and a clean pair of scrubs brought in. He shoved Barton into the attached bathroom ordering him to shower and change. When he came out, hair still dripping Nick sat him back on the cot with a tray and an order to eat.
The next few days were hellish as Nick fought to keep his agency safe and repair the damage from the invasion. Luckily the damage to Barton was mostly exhaustion and dehydration. An IV for a day and a bunch of protein shakes kept him healthy while he tried to find a safe place for the submissive. The problem was no dominant he knew who would take him was powerful enough to keep him safe from the WSC and his other enemies, Barton wasn’t exactly loved after his years with Shield.
Barton had been brought to Shield when a raid on a small splinter cell mercenary group found the submissive drugged down and being used as a sniper by the group. Coulson was the one to take on the unruly agent, he got him detoxed and kept the man sane while he lashed out at any dominant that came near him for the first year of his contract with Shield. Eventually Coulson became his dominant and even though Phil wasn’t gay he cared for the other man as best he could while dating on the side.
Nick glanced over the drugged submissive with a sigh and called him over to kneel next to him. Phil would have his balls for drugging Barton but he had no time to sleep much less deal with an unstable submissive, he thought petting a hand absently through the younger man’s hair while he waited on his next meeting. The medical units had scanned Barton head to toe and run every test they could think of. It looked like he’d be suffering random drops for months once the drugs were out of his system thanks to Loki’s mind control. He needed the constant support of a dominant to keep him out of sub drop and Fury just couldn’t do that, not that he was liking his other options.
“Thank you for coming, Miss Potts, Mister Stark.” He said gesturing them to a chair when his secretary showed the couple in.
“I really didn’t think you were going to keep him, Fury.” Tony said with a mocking grin glancing at where Clint was crouched.
“That’s part of why I asked for this meeting.” Fury said, tapping Clint on one shoulder, “Barton, go back to your bed.”
“Yes, sir.” Clint slurred crawling back to the narrow cot next to the wall.
“You’re keeping him drugged?” Pepper asked her voice sharp with disapproval.
“For right now, yes.” Fury snapped, running a hand over his face, “I have no time to cater to an unstable submissive and the WSC wants Barton’s head on a plate since Loki and Thor are off planet.”
“Where exactly do we come in?” Tony asked glancing around the room like he was bored while he actually looked for hidden cameras, getting Jarvis to scan the room passively through the sensors in his glasses.
“I don’t have time to rehab a submissive and I can’t send him to just anyone with the enemies he’s got right now. I would like one of you to take his contract, preferably Stark.”
“You want us to take him?” Tony asked enjoying forcing Fury to spell it out.
“I know you both are as busy as I am but at the tower he’d be safe and you can assign someone to care for him if you have to. Once he comes out of the drugs he could act as a body guard for Miss Potts or even you, Stark.”
“You don’t want him working for Shield?” Tony asked shifting back in his seat with a smug grin, he loved getting one up on the other man even if it meant stealing one of his best agents.
“Not right now, I need to get him as much distance as I can from Shield and the WSC while he heals up. Once he’s recovered he could start running small missions on a contract basis but for now he’s grounded until he can show he won’t go into sub drop without warning.”
“Is that an issue, uncontrolled sub drop?” Pepper asked with a frown.
“Whatever Loki did messed with his head, he’s the only submissive that was effected and the dominants don’t seem to be having the same problems.” Fury said with a sigh, “He went straight into sub drop when we tried to ease off the drugs for some tests. The doctors think it will taper off but he’ll need constant support until it does, something I can’t give him.”
“Does he have to be drugged?” Pepper asked glancing over to where Clint was curled in the corner of his cot watching them with glazed eyes.
“No, but I’d suggest you leave him down for the first week.” Fury said setting a small box on the desk before them, “This is two months’ worth of patches. Each patch lasts between six to eight days depending on how active the submissive is. I’d recommend changing the patch on the morning of the sixth day.”
“Who was his previous dominant?” She asked.
“Agent Phil Coulson, I believe you’ve met before.”
“Yes, Phil was a friend.” Pepper said with a frown glancing at Tony before turning back to Fury with a determined expression, “We’ll take him.”
“Pepper,” Tony tried to interrupt.
“No, he was Phil’s submissive and he needs help. We’re busy but we can set Jarvis to watch for a drop and to alert one of us when he does drop. He can act as my body guard and help with security at the tower when I have to travel.”
“Do you know what the papers are going to say when they see I’ve taken a submissive?” Tony asked raising an eyebrow.
“Then say you contracted him for me.” Pepper said with a sigh, “They’re going to say you did anyway.”
“Why exactly is he wearing a collar if he doesn’t have a Dom, is it yours, Fury?” Tony asked as Pepper stood and went to sit down next to Clint on the cot.
“That was Phil’s collar, Miss Romanov returned it to Barton a few days ago.” Fury said trying not to remember the death glare the assassin had given him when she realized Barton was drugged.
“He can keep it.” Pepper said firmly rubbing at Clint’s shoulders gently, “as well as any other possessions you want to send to the tower.”
“I’ll have someone round up his things and send them on.”
“Good, would we be able to take him back now?”
“I have no issue with that but you will need to contract him to you as soon as possible.”
“I’ll have legal draw up the papers.” Pepper said standing and urging Clint up with her, “He can sign once he comes off the medication.”
“Barton, you are to follow the orders Miss Potts and Stark give you. They’re your new Doms, do you understand?” Fury asked catching the submissive’s eyes.
“Yes, sir.”