Chapter Three:

Roy Harper, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Hawkeye meets the cocky redheaded boy in Vietnam. It isn't until the mission is nearly complete, the illegal weapons dealing exposed, that he learns the kid works as a S.H.I.E.L.D. undercover agent.

"I don't know what to think about children being S.H.I.E.L.D. agents," Hawkeye mentions to the boy as they trail the last of the fleeing dealers through their hidden compound.

"I don't need you to protect me," Agent Harper says through ground teeth. "I know what I am doing."

Clint smirks and draws his bow. He quickly pulls the string taunt and releases an arrow. Agent Harper swings around in time to watch as the henchman drops to the floor with a taser arrow shocking him, a perfect bullseye directly over his heart.

The teenager squints his eyes dangerously. "That," he motions to the downed man, "doesn't change anything."

Hawkeye smiles. "Well, it did keep you alive, but what is that in the grand scheme of things?"

Agent Harper looks the older man hard in the eyes. "It means that I fight another day and that's all that matters."

Clint catches the dangerous glint in the boy's expression. There is a blunt ferocity, a willing determination and, most disturbingly, a wild desperation. This Agent Harper, this kid, would martyr himself for a mission in the blink of an eye. His short life would be wasted on making Nick Fury appear at his funeral momentarily to pass out the medal before he quickly forgets that the kid even existed.

Clint sighs deeply. "It's not polite to stare, kid."

"Don't call me a kid, old man."

Clint's stomach relaxes as the kid's deathwish shifts into disapproval. If it means the kid will learn to prioritize his life differently, Clint can work with this. He's okay with playing the bad guy in order to loosen Agent Harper up.

"Sure thing, kid," Hawkeye drags the henchman over to the hand scanner on the locked door, "but then I'm going to have to come up with a new name for you."

Roy scowls. "I'm not a lost puppy."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Roy declares resolutely as he makes his way into the compound without waiting for Hawkeye to follow.

"Well that rules out Fido..." Clint sends a barrage of arrows at a rolling robot drone. It dodges easily so Roy jumps onto its back and rides it like a bull.

As Clint steps over the dismembered pieces of the robot, he whistles. "I'm impressed, kid." He hooks up to the main hub and types furiously while Roy watches his back.

"I said don't call me-'

"Bullseye," Clint interrupts.

"What?"

Hawkeye doesn't look up from typing as he responds.

"Everyone always asks me why I'm an archer called Hawkeye instead of Bullseye."

"Well?" The redhead grows impatient quickly. "Are you going to tell me why?"

"The name Hawkeye has nothing to do with archery. It's hawkeye like the quartz stone."

"And why would you name yourself after a rock?" Roy asks dubiously.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing, Tigereye."

"What? Don't call me-"

"Tigereye, duck!" Clint shouts as a heavy hanger door is ripped off its hinges and flung towards them.

The computer bay ignites into sparks and Clint curses as he removes his steaming jumpdrive.

They fight back to back as the approaching drones attempt to over power them. As Tigereye downs another robot, he turns to his partner and smirks, the argument forgotten.

They escape the base in a blaze of flame and smoke.

Fury isn't pleased when Hawkeye barges into his private office with a scowl on his face.

"And who do I owe for the pleasure of this visit?" Fury asks as he folds his hands behind his back.

"I'm here for the kid," Agent Barton replies.

Fury's interest is piqued by the poorly masked indignation in Hawkeye's voice.

"What kid?"

Hawkeye loses all pretense of control at this response. "The kid, Fury!" He tosses down a dossier on Roy Harper and breathes heavily while Director Fury thumbs it over.

"Agent Harper? He is almost seventeen now. He's trained better than some life long masters," Fury points a leaf of paper within the file, "as you can read here. Also, he's never complained to me yet. He wants to be a part of S.H.E.I.L.D. and he has the skills to back it up. If you want him out, you should have said something back when the kid was fourteen and still a novice. I might have agreed with you then."

"Is that what you've been telling him all these years? I can see why he thinks he's ready with you building him up that way." Hawkeye pulls off his mask and looks Fury in the eyes clear of all pretenses. "He doesn't understand the dangers. He's good, he's damn good, but I can't let you keep this up."

Fury drops the entwined hands behind his back. He places a twitching finger atop the edge of his desk and leans into it. "Who works here isn't your call," Fury reminds him icily.

"The first thing, Fury, the very first thing I learned about Roy is to never call the kid a kid." Clint takes a quick step forward towards the desk. Fury stays unflinching. "Do you know why that is?"

"Because he's seventeen and not a kid anymore, Agent Barton."

"No," Clint takes another step forward, "because he's been told by people like you that he must waste his childhood on growing up too soon. He's been convinced that unless he fights he worthless."

Fury waits until Agent Barton wisely takes a step backwards. "Hawkeye, I might be able to understand where you are coming from, but it's too late. He's been on the job for too long now. His work is his whole life. You can't take that away from him."

Director Fury sweeps the collection of papers back into its folder. He offers the dossier back to Hawkeye.

"No," Clint says, "you can't just give up on him. Certainly not when you're the ones that have used him like this."

"Used him?" Fury raises the brow above his good eye. "Explain."

Clint grabs the dossier back from Fury and throws it open to a page. Fury looks down to Roy's psych evaluation from three years ago.

"Can you read what this says? 'Requires major guidance due to inability to handle his personal loss.' What does that mean to you?" Clint tosses the paper aside. "Just because he thinks fighting until he drops will make his father's death less painful doesn't mean it's true. Do you take every runaway that you find on your stoop and turn them into a solider?"

"Don't push your personal baggage onto this separate issue, Agent," Fury warns.

"That's not the point!"

"You had no where to go, you had potential, and you were willing. He's the same way," Fury protests. He stands tall.

"If he's the same way, Fury, then he needs help," Clint pleads, "I didn't deal with my issues without other people; you can't expect a kid to manage all by himself..."

Fury's lone eye glints with at a new solution. "I agree."

"What?" Hawkeye is weary of the other man's sudden change of heart.

"You must be punished for your insubordinate behavior today, Agent. In place of formal reprimands," Fury returns the psych report to Clint, "you will be in charge of solving Agent Harper's issue."

"I don't understand."

"You've got your self a protege, Barton. Have fun," Fury says as he gestures to the door, dismissing his subordinate.

Cling makes sure he has all his papers and, slowly, leaves. As far as punishments go, he's had worse.

Tigereye, formally known as 'the kid', shows up at his Clint place the next night.

"I can't believe you, Barton! My life is not your business. If you have a problem with me then say it to me directly," he yells while merely inches away from Clint's face.

Clint looks down to the box of things he's been digging through. He hands it off to Roy and makes his way into his office. Roy jangles the box of junk before setting it aside roughly.

"You can't just ignore me when I'm talking to you," Roy complains as he stalks after Clint. "Are you even listening at all?" He reaches the entry way of Clint's office and stops suddenly.

Piles of more boxes clutter the floor. Clint rummages through one with his back turned to Roy. "Yes, I'm listening."

"You have a funny way of showing it," Roy pokes a finger under the flaps of a box and glances inside, "What is all this junk?"

Clint shrugs. "Junk is junk. The problem is," Clint huffs as he lifts a heavy load, "this junk is all my junk."

"What...is somebody moving in or something?" Roy asks.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"If you have somewhere better to go." Clint, instead of mulling over his things, finally meets the teen's eyes.

Roy wants to yell again. He wants to complain that he's not a kid in need of a comfy home. The redhead tries to utter the words but can't.

He thinks of his one room, minimalistic, ramshackle apartment. His eyes float around from the assorted pictures and nicknacks that scatter every room of Clint's apartment. It looks like someone actually lives here. He can't say the same for his own place.

"As long as it keeps you off my back...and I don't want any stupid curfew or anything. You're not my father."

Clint smiles. "Sure, whatever you say, Roy. Besides, I'm not old enough to be your father," his smile shifts into a smirk, "so think of me as a brother."

Roy scowls. Roy, even though he doesn't like that depiction of their relationship, lets Hawkeye fill out his school registration form claiming as such.

He moves in by the end of day. Somehow, as soon as he moves into his new space, he starts wishing he had more junk.

Junk seems to make a place seem like home. Roy turns to Clint as he unpacks the last box.

"Hey, Clint?"

"Yup."

"I'm going to keep some of your junk."

The blonde agrees. "What's mine is yours."

Clint doesn't mind; he's always wanted a little brother.

Tigereye becomes Hawkeye's shadow. The redhead improves his archery to keep up with his new mentor. He doesn't talk about his past much and Hawkeye tries not to pry. The most Roy ever mentions is that he grew up on an Indian reservation. Clint already knows this from Roy's dossier, but pretends like he's happy with Roy's answer.

Widow thinks its cute that Hawkeye has a sidekick.

"Hawkeye," she says in her sultry voice, "I thought I was your partner and here you go and replace me with a kid."

"He's not a kid," Hawkeye says automatically.

"I'm not a kid." Tigereye's words overlap with Hawkeye's as they speak at the same time.

Black Widow smiles demurely at their faux pas.

"You two are adorable," she tells them with a small laugh.

The kid stops speaking to her for an hour after that. Hawkeye sighs when he realizes he's going to have to patch things up between them.

"Tigereye, you're being juvenile," Hawkeye says.

"I'm not a kid."

"Then prove it and act like an adult for once."

Roy glares daggers at him but complies. Tigereye knows that the mission is top priority; the three cannot work on the mission together unless Roy ends his silent treatment.

When Hawkeye is told to change partners randomly and isn't given a reason, he blames Black Widow. Clint knows that Tigereye has gotten on her nerves and changed their partnership dynamic. Still, Widow is his friend. He doesn't want to argue with her in public.

Tigereye looks for Clint to speak up and demand they stay together, but he doesn't.

Roy is beyond frustrated. Clint's priorities seem to place his old partner before his new 'little brother'.

Roy stops coming home; he takes on missions that purposely keep him away. Eventually, he doesn't come home at all and doesn't bother to find an excuse.

The next time Hawkeye sees Roy, he's beat up. He runs through the report of the mission Tigereye was sent on and is amazed that they'd let a kid in on it.

Fury doesn't like the criticism. He tells Hawkeye to stick with Widow. "Black Widow is your real partner, Hawkeye. Your mission always comes first before any kid's hurt feelings," he insists before having Clint escorted from his office.

Hawkeye, to say the least, doesn't like what's going on.

"They're using him even more than before I tried to help him," he complains to Black Widow.

He wishes Roy was really his family so he could have some control over what Fury makes the kid do.

"You can't force him to be your brother," Natasha whispers as she squeezes his hand. She really wishes that she had treated the kid better.

Hawkeye never sees Tigereye again. Instead, he meets 'just Roy' one day as he's taking all this belongings out of their place.

Hawkeye tries to convince him to stay. Roy gives in for a month.

Then the misunderstanding with Black Widow happens. Hawkeye is labeled a double agent and runs.

Roy turns himself over. He can't stand beside his mentor now if he wants to stay inside. If he can't have a home, then he will have a mission. He will have a purpose.

Fury refuses to trust Tigereye with any fieldwork.

"You are a risk," he bellows.

Roy is desperate. "I'll do anything to show my worth."

"This isn't about how useful you are; it's about trust."

The teen runs his hands through his hair. "What? Do I have to plead fidelity like a medieval knight or something?"

Fury hands Roy a paper. The boy's eyes glaze over as he reads through the legal jargon.

"It would be a start," Fury proclaims.

Roy's will breaks as he thinks of his options: going back to his motel or returning home to Hawkeye's empty apartment.

As he signs the paper, he hands over his name and life. He hopes he's making the right decision.

Fury sends Tigereye only on suicide missions after Hawkeye's falling out with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tigereye throws his full weight into each one.

He picks his scabs and cleans his scars each night as he lives alone. He should have listened to the voice in his head, the one that sounded like his brother. He was being used. He made the wrong choice.

Roy wishes he was a better person so that he'd have the will to admit it.

He keeps fighting without knowing why.

Tigereye is sent on his first high priority mission at last. Admittedly, Hawkeye being cleared of all charges is what changes his type of mission, but Roy ignores this fact.

Roy doesn't know why he feels he needs to prove to S.H.I.E.L.D. that he is loyal to the mission first and everything and everyone else second, but he does. So he opens his file and reads the dossier. The Avengers are not authorized by S.H.I.E.L.D. as superhero teams are dangerous. That is the official government position.

Apparently, Harper must gain intelligence on a new team-up of two heroes: Knightwing and Yellowjacket.

These two heroes stay underground somehow. They never make appearances on the news and are never caught by a photographer. The vigilantes, unlike the others, just keep to themselves.

Knightwing wears a tech suit that looks like it is based on Stark tech while Yellowjacket has superpowers. He's fast and has enhanced healing.

Roy begrudgingly asked Hawkeye for help. He needed to know what Tony thought of this Knightwing.

"Tony has never heard of him until now. He's investigating that suit. Thanks for the tip off," Hawkeye had told Roy. He sighed. "I hope you come home."

So far Roy's only good lead on Knightwing and Yellowjacket is that they often protect from mutant hate crimes.

Tigereye heads to a mission house which is suspected to be frequented by mutants. S.H.I.E.L.D. has the area on alert for anti-mutant versus mutant fights breaking out. Roy spots the mission house easily. This building is easy to find, considering it is on fire.

Although smoke is everywhere, Tigereye makes out the form of an armored man.

As the figure approaches, Tigereye decides the man is too short and too thin. Knightwing is an armored teenager. The speedster is a teen too; he is all impulses and bad puns.

Roy knows now why he was assigned this mission instead of another deathwish.

It wasn't about trust, or skill, or anything. It was because Fury figured these kids would follow a kid quietly. Clint was right. After all these years, Roy Harper is just a tool to S.H.I.E.L.D. to be used as seen fit.

Tigereye enters the burning building and pulls off his comm. He crushes it under his foot. He decides he rather help these kids do what they are doing. He'd rather join their mission than continue his own.

Roy Harper the Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. ends and Roy Harper the vigilante begins.

He pulls a green skinned girl from beneath a wooden board and runs out of the building. The girl awakens and asks where she is.

Blinking, she asks another question. "Who are you?" She looks to her green hands. "Who am I?"

"I'm Roy," he says slowly. "You don't remember anything?" When she nods briefly, he frowns.

Knightwing and Yellowjacket motion for them to join with the rest of the survivors. Yellowjacket gives Tigereye a thumbs up and runs off. He blows water around the fire and it dies down rapidly.

"Do you know this girl?" Knightwing asks Roy about the girl he's holding.

Roy looks at her flame red hair that matches his own. "Yes, I know her. This is Megan," he says. "She's my sister." He squeezes the green hands she still stares at. "We need somewhere new to crash, huh sis?"

Megan nods again since she has no idea what to replace Roy's story with.

Roy is there to catch her as she pass out.

Next Chapter: Megan Blake, Teenage Runaway.