Barton sighed and shook his head. Just once couldn't things be that easy? The Hulk had the majority of the enemy on the run, but Jäger had managed to find some friends and now had the four Avengers surrounded. Steve subtly passed Clint's bow over to him.

"On three, you guys move towards that building to the left; it'll offer the most protection. I'll take out the guys on the right with an explosive arrow," whispered Clint. The others gave varying small gestures indicating they understood the plan. Clint hooked his hand around the strap of his quiver that Rogers had strapped on his back to keep it safe when the archer served as decoy. On three, Barton pulled it off, snapped open his bow and loosed the arrow while his team made for cover.

The explosion rocked the nearby building burying several of the Hydra agents. Iron Man managed to take out a group on the left as Captain America helped Thor move to cover. Clint took shelter behind a dumpster as the Hydra agents opened fire. He kept Stark covered and was slowly thinning the herd when SHIELD showed up.

"Better late than never," mumbled Hawkeye as he lined up his next shot to take out a sniper aiming for one of the newly arrived SHIELD agents. He wondered if the backup actually helped or if they just created more targets for Hydra to hit, but they did manage to get the small meager resistance to flee; unfortunately, Jäger was among them.

Agent Marks walked triumphantly around the corner with one of Hydra's Lieutenants in restraints. "Well done Agent," praised Zalle as she walked on the scene.

"Seriously?!" shouted Stark as he dropped to the ground beside Barton. "I don't recall him being there for the torture, the rescuing and the saving the day… the torture!"

"Agent Marks has just captured a person of interest for SHIELD. We've been waiting to get our hands on an agent from this division for months and now we have one. I do look forward to your reports which will be on my desk in the next forty-eight hours." She turned on her heels and briskly escorted Marks and their prize to a waiting vehicle.

"Did we seriously just get out shined by someone who was tardy to the party?" asked Tony as he waved his hands around in outrage.

"Let's just go home," huffed Clint.

Rogers barged into Fury's office, ignoring the protests from Hill. The Director silently waved her off as Steve approached his desk. Once the office door was closed, Steve launched into his tirade.

"I'm done with the games. We lay our lives on the line time and time again for the world, and yeah I know we messed up, but enough! The team is made up of extremely unorthodox people, but their hearts are in the right place. We may not get it right every time, but we try and when we do mess it up you know we'll stop at nothing to make it right. We work damn hard and this team doesn't deserve the crap Agent Zalle is heaping on us. We saved the world; you'd think it would count for something. I want my god damn team back sir; all of them! Barton's reinstated to the team and bring Romanoff back."

Fury glared at the man towering over his desk. Captain America's jaw was set, his shoulders square and nothing short of a world-ending disaster was going to move him from that spot. In his ever calm voice, he replied, "what took you so long Captain?"

"Excuse me?"

"I thought I'd see one of you in here the second Zalle hit Stark Tower. I was even shocked that you let her kick Barton off the team."

"You told us to play nice, that our performance was going to determine the future of the team," challenged Rogers.

"When have any of you ever listened to orders?" countered the Director.

"Do you realize what you put us through? How Zalle treated Banner, what she did to Barton?"

"He needed that." Steve screwed his face up in disbelief. "I've known that boy for a long time and he needed this. I didn't plan the Hydra attack but it worked to my advantage. Barton needed to prove to himself that he could do it, that he wanted it. That drive had been missing since New Mexico. If he continued to go through the motions like he has been the last year, he was going to get himself killed, and I can't allow that to happen pointlessly. As for the rest of you, you seem to rally rather well when you have a common enemy, be it Loki, Hydra or a pain-in-the-ass handler."

"She's gone then?"

Fury nodded.

"Marks is out of here!"

"I have no use for spineless agents."

"Barton's back on the team."

"Probably wouldn't have taken off by himself if he wasn't whole heartedly on your team."

Steve nodded, feeling the knot in his stomach start to unravel. "Romanoff?"

"No. She asked for the assignment and it needs to be seen through. When that's complete, I'll leave the decision in her hands."

"Alright," agreed Steve.

Fury smiled when his guest left his office. Despite the unforeseen challenges of the last few days, things worked out rather well. Hydra had suffered a major setback. SHIELD had learned of possible projects designed to target the Avengers and exploit weakness, Barton was getting back on track, and Captain America had just lived up to his title.

Clint was perched on the couch trying to watch TV despite Tony's constant attempts to get the archer to acknowledge him. The billionaire had resorted to hovering a foot from Barton's face.

"Do you have a death wish Tony?" asked Bruce as he surveyed the scene he was walking in on. It was mostly a joke, but recent events had shined a very bright light on exactly what their teammates skill set was and what he was willing to do. It was a reminder of just how dangerous each Avenger was; an unspoken pact had been established that they would bury the truth along with their personal demons, doing their best to forget certain aspects of the last few months. It was a fine line between humor and horror they tried to walk around each other in an attempt to restore the somewhat comfortable rapport they had once shared.

"Nah, Natasha is the violent one that jumps straight to dismemberment. Clint's cold, calculated, quiet revenge. I'll have about a week before he kills me." Tony smiled maintaining his proximity to Barton.

"Alright then," Banner said as he collected the book he was after and left his friends to whatever it was Tony was trying to do.

"Are you going to spill or what bird boy? You said it was a long story and since we're on leave for the moment nothing is going to interrupt you so…."

Clint remained a stone wall glaring at the TV.

"Thor said whatever was going on between you and Jäger was rather heated and personal…"

"Thor wasn't really in a position to be aware of what was going on. It's not important Tony, so let it go. I know a lot of people, you're never going to know about all of them," snapped the archer, never looking at his teammate.

"I don't want to know about all of them; I want to know about this one. He seems kind of intense and rather focused on you. Now as a concerned teammate, is this going to come back and bite you in the ass later?"

"Most things usually do Stark. It's done, you can just forget about it," explained Barton as he shut off the TV and headed to the door.

"You want to talk about it?" asked Stark, going for a more earnest approach. He could tell that it was simmering just below the surface; that Clint needed to share his burden, but was either too proud or afraid to ask for help.

"I really don't. Just leave it alone," replied Clint as he left the room.

"Can't do that Barton," said Tony to the now empty room. He diligently began sifting through the files he had hacked from SHIELD, looking for some answers. He'd figure it out, with or without Clint's help. The team was almost back together and he was going to make sure it stayed that way.

The End.

Thank-you to everyone who read this story.

Endless thanks to anyone reviewed this story and let me know that people are still reading and enjoying. It means a lot.

Many thanks to B for the terrific beta job.

The next story will be Pound of Flesh in which some of the mystery about Jager will be revealed as well as how Barton came to SHIELD. This story is a bit darker, so please read the warnings and message me if you have any questions.

For all the Natasha fans, she didn't make an appearance in this story and unfortunately she won't be in the next one either. I promise she will be in the one after that entitled Behind the Eight Ball. Natasha's mission goes south and needs to be rescued. In the face of certain disaster she has to come to terms with her own feelings and fears and pray for a miracle before she loses it all.