SHIELD was a quiet building, the silence only punctured when there was an emergency… or when there was a new piece of gossip making its way up the grapevine.

Coulson was ignoring this gossip however, focusing on his paperwork.

And then there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Four of the junior agents slowly made their way inside, straightening up instantly when Coulson glanced at them.

"I assume you four have a good reason for loitering outside my office for half an hour before having the courage to knock. You should really get into the habit of knocking immediately…. Looks good on a confidence evaluation."

Silence.

"If you don't have any questions, then you'll need to leave. I don't have time for idle chit-chat."

The junior agents all glanced at one another, before a confident brunette woman stepped forwards. "I'm sure you've heard the recent rumours sir… we were merely wondering if there was any truth to them?"

Ah the rumours… that the notorious thief and assassin, Hawkeye, was nothing but a circus brat…. All because of a few posters that had been posted around the city, advertising a famous archer who 'never misses'.

The reason for the rumours, were that the image of the archer, was highly similar to blurred photos and footage they had managed to capture of Hawkeye.

"The rumour regarding Hawkeye and the local circus is a possible angle we are investigating…. One that is above your security, which means that is all you are going to hear."

The junior agents all glanced at one another, frowns on their faces and questions clearly still on their minds…. But they were obedient, so they simply saluted and let Phil excuse them, waiting until the door closed before continuing on with their gossip.

Once he was sure the agents were out of earshot, he reached into his drawer and pulled out a rather thin file with CLASSIFIED stamped across the top. Opening it up, he focused on the photo inside, frowning at the blurred quality of it.

If he ever met this man on the street, he wouldn't recognise him from this photo.

Pushing the photo to one side, he then turned his attention to the scraps of information they'd collected over the course of the investigation… which was barely anything.

There was one thing that caught his attention though.

ACTIVE: Approximately fifteen years.

This was slightly disturbing… even with the blurriness of the photos and video footage, it was clear that the mysterious Hawkeye wasn't very old, in fact, he couldn't have been more than thirty.

Was it possible that Hawkeye was not a completely willing participant in all of this?

He needed to speak to Nick.

…

"You have got to be kidding me."

Phil resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Nick glared at him, "Just listen to m- "

"- You think you can just walk in here and claim Hawkeye, the number one assassin on our 'got to catch' board, might not be willing? That we might be able to rehabilitate him?!"

"If the man is unwilling, then I think he'd be a good asset to the Avengers…. Expert marksman with the skills to infiltrate some of the most secure buildings in the world. Natasha will love him."

"Widow is still fuming over the fact that I pulled her off the mission to capture the Hawk…. But she would have needed another three months to capture him, and we didn't have that time."

"Sir…" Phil took a deep breath, "… all our sources put Hawkeye as being young when he started, younger than sixteen. With the level of skill there, then there's no way he was working alone… and if that's the case, we have to wonder whether or not he was pressured into it!"

"You make it sound so black and white Cheese… "Nick frowned, "… Kids can be bad eggs too. He might be loving this."

"At least let me find that out for myself Sir."

There was a brief moment of silence, before Nick sighed wearily and nodded. "Alright… but if this all goes tits up, then it's on you."

"Understood Sir."

…..

Clint yawned as the sun peeked up over the nearby buildings, shining through the cloth of the tents, causing the colours to dance over his thin blanket. Listening to the sounds of the rest of the circus slowly waking up, he quickly grabbed some sweatpants and rushed to the nearby oak tree, clambering up the branches eagerly.

Up in the top branches, safely covered by leaves for shelter, lay a tiny nest, with a small white bird inside. Upon seeing Clint, the bird chirped happily.

"Good morning…" Clint whispered, "… will today be the day? Are you ready to fly?"

The bird didn't look very eager, or so Clint thought, "You sure?" he asked, "It's a good day to try."

Gently lifting the bird into his hands, wrapping his legs around the trunk of the tree, Clint held his hands and the bird over the ground far below. "If I picked a day to fly, this would be it. We're doing the Festival of Fools today, with the jugglers, and music and dancing!"

Whilst he was describing the different activities, he started to lightly bounce his hands up and down, encouraging the bird to flap its wings and fly. Once it was continuously flapping and up in the air, Clint moved his hands out from under it and grinned.

After a few seconds, he quickly placed his hands back under the bird and caught it as it stopped flying, just as a flock of birds flew past. As they did, the small bird chirped again, almost following the flock with his head.

Clint couldn't help but smile, "Go on…" he urged, "… no-one wants to stay here forever."

Almost immediately, the bird flew after the flock, leaving Clint alone in the tree.

"And here I thought he'd never leave."

Clint chuckled glancing down at Hugo, one of the clowns of the circus…. And a master of disguise. Useful for their stealthier… missions.

"Don't stay out here too long… I think Trickshot and the Swordsman were looking for you. To go over the plan and everything."

"Right…. Yeah."

At the downtrodden look on Clint's face, Hugo sighed. "It's a big city out there… it's not too late for you, you know."

"It kinda is you know."

"It is for me and the others… but you're a smart kid. You've still got a chance to make something of yourself."

Silence.

"Take it from me Clint, life's not a spectator sport. If watching's all you're going to do, then you're going to watch your life go by without you!"

"… Trickshot will kill me if I try and leave."

Hugo winced, "When he says you're forbidden from ever leaving the circus, except in a coffin… does he really mean that?"

Clint's expression said it all.

"You know… there are a lot of government agencies that will take you in. You just sneak out- "

"- Nooooooo- "

"- you find one of these agencies and you ask them for help!"

"And then what? Hide away for the rest of my life?"

"Clint… nobody wants to stay here forever."

Clint thought to himself for a few moments, before a smile crept across his face, "Alright, I'll go… I'll get cleaned up and I'll quickly sneak out and- "

"- and you do what?"

Clint winced, turning to face the Swordsman, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Sounds like an interesting conversation." The man sneered, "Care to share… Hugo?"

Hugo hung his head, shaking and shuffling backwards.

"That's what I thought… don't think I won't be speaking to the Ringmaster about this."

With Hugo gone, the Swordsman turned his attention back to Clint. "You should be practicing for the show today…. You know how we don't tolerate lateness around here." His hand then darted out, and within seconds, Clint was pinned on the ground.

"You really think you can just leave Clint?" The Swordsman hissed into his ear, "Really?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Not wanting to wrench Clint's shoulder completely out of its' joint, the Swordsman backed off, sneering down at the body on the ground. "This is your sanctuary Clint… you will do well to remember this. Now… go to practice."

…

Tony groaned as he was dragged through the streets. "A circus Stevie? Really? Of all the things to do in New York, you want to go to a circus?"

"Agent Coulson suggested it to me." Steve stated eagerly, gesturing at the man walking beside him, "I used to love the circus before the war. Me and Bucky would- "He cut himself off, a sad look flashing across his face, before the 'media' smile appeared again, "- Anyway, it's just this one time, and then I promise, I won't ever drag you out to one again."

He then glanced around and frowned, "I can't believe they've changed everything though."

"Funny what 70 years will do…" Tony muttered, before gesturing eagerly at a 'test your strength' machine, "… win me a teddy?"

"No Tony… No."

…

Balance on a tight-rope that was 30 feet in the air, flip off it and hit all targets indicated to him by the Ringmaster and trust that he would be caught.

This was not a day to piss off the trapeze artists.

"The crowd holds its breath as the amazing Hawkeye carefully makes his way out to the middle of the rope, without the promise of a safety net."

Yes, at the moment, he was attached to a harness, but during the big act, one wrong move and he was a messy splat on the floor.

Taking a deep breath, he prepared to make the shot…. Only to have a knife fly past his face, narrowly avoiding hitting his nose. With a yelp, he wobbled ferociously and fell off the rope, the harness catching him as he hung in the air, the breath leaving him in one fell woosh.

"We're thinking about adding knives to the act." The Swordman called out from down below, "Adds a little danger to the programme."

Beside the older man, Trickshot sniggered up at him.

"O-Okay." Clint tried not to sound too scared… it gave them ammunition after all, "Sounds good! Although, I think that- "

"- Thinking?" The pair burst out laughing once again, with the Swordsman shaking his head, "Not exactly your strong point, is it…. No, it's ours. And where would you be without us?"

"…. On the streets."

"Precisely. And it's a cruel, cruel world- "

"- for someone like me."

Trickshot and the Swordsman glanced at one another, before nodding in agreement.

"Get changed." Trickshot ordered, "And stick to the plan, or there will be consequences… am I understood?"

"Yes boss."

"Good boy."