Time to go

Meeting the family

Clint surveyed the large space where the carnies were gathered around a small fire , there were about twenty or twenty five people sitting cross legged on the ground talking idly to each other. Even though everyone seemed completely comfortable sitting and laughing together, Clint could pick out the different social groups easier than sorting screws from nails.

A group of petite girls sat daintily with their legs to their sides like regal princesses, most likely they were dancers or the pony riders, the ones that were supposed to wow the crowd with their beauty. Not their talents.

The next discernible group was a mix of lean, muscular men and women. The acrobats tumblers and aerialists. Each one looked different from the other, but all they shared the thick, muscular arms and legs that came from wrenching and throwing yourself from trapeze bar to bar each night.

The jugglers were easy to find. Two wiring, Korean looking boys sat off to the side fidgeting. Fidgeting was common in jugglers, they tended to feel uncomfortable not being able to move or juggle all the time.

Some other groups popped up in Clint's vision, strong men, clowns, sword fighters ,the animal care givers and tamers. There were more groups but Clint stopped picking them out when Zachary cleared his voice,

"Guys! Guys, this is Clint. He's going to be our new acrobat."

The group of carnies suddenly halted all conversation and stared at Clint.

He awkwardly half waved. "Hi."

Zachary plowed right through the silence, " Okay names!" He began pointing at random people. "Mangjol and Chang Yeon-Sow; jugglers. Clary, Isabelle, Dawn and Patricia are our wonderful trick riders. Liesel, Rowan, Percy and Jason are acrobats, you'll be working with them. That's Chance, Martha, Greg, Earl, Wendy, Sasha...."

Clint stopped paying attention after he introduced the acrobats. Liesel was pixyish and had a mess of dirty blonde curls as hair, she seemed like a live wire just laying on the road, just waiting for someone to get close enough. Rowan one the other hand had chocolate brown hair and a warm completion, she looked loving but still like she could hurt you in ways you never knew if you crossed her. The boys looked like they could be related, both Percy and Jason had mischievous crooked grins but the comparison stops there. Percy had black hair, which hung in his sea green eyes, while Jason had bleach blonde hair buzzed military grade short and stormy blue eyes. They all seemed nice enough, but Clint knew that appearances are deceiving. Each of the people around this fire could stab him in the back without blinking an eye.

"Clint..Clint? Do you have anything to say?" Zachary jarred Clint away from his thoughts.

Oh crap! Clint thought instantly feeling like one of the circus elephants, slow,fat and dumb. What am I going to say? What if they knew who I am from the avengers? What do I do?

Clint felt their eyes began to dig into him so he started talking.

"Um...my name is Clint and when I was young I was an acrobat for the circus." He couldn't think of much to say, a good deal of his life was either sad, sucky or classified. But he knew one thing, he wasn't going to tell him that he was a marksman. That would just spark thoughts.

The carnies were still staring at Clint, but now with a different look. A look of shock. Clearly they had never seen an old carnie come back.

One of the juggling twins was the first to find his voice.

"You were an acrobat ? What was your stage name?" He asked quietly.

Clint cussed under his breath. Every eye was watching him, he couldn't brush the question off. So he answered with the truth.

"Yeah I did a bit of everything. Trapeze, silk, ground, hoop trampoline, my name was Hawkeye."

And that was the truth. He was named Hawkeye. He was a shield agent, an avenger and a killer. But not anymore, he was just a carnie now.

The juggler's jaw dropped, along with all the others around the fire.

"You're the Hawkeye? No way! You are a legend!"

The entire ring of performers burst out into conversation and on of the jugglers, Mangjol he thought it was scooted over and patted the space next to him. Bottles of amber liquid were being passed from one performer to the next, each one taking a swig of the alcohol before sharing the wealth. Some of them looked a little past tipsy.

This was going to be an interesting conversation.