Rock music was pumping out of the speakers that were in the two bedroom apartment as the lone young adult resident of said apartment, was frustrated as he tried to figure out what was the first thing he should finish.
Hunter Barton threw a knife at the wall in sheer frustration and he groaned, before he walked into the spare room that he had set up as a gym.
Hunter lay down on the bench and he was gripping the barbell in both of his hands as he looked up at the weights. Hunter began to lift and the music was blasting all around him as he was continuing to lift.
"What do you want, Carter?" Hunter asked as he continued to lift, despite the teenager that was standing in the doorway and Carter sighed.
"Do you need a spotter?" Carter asked and Hunter grunted, before he was putting the barbell back up into the rack and a moment later, Hunter was swiftly sitting up and he glanced over at him. "You are a really hard guy to find, you know that?" Carter asked as he sat down gingerly in the chair that was in the corner of the room.
"Yeah." Hunter said bluntly as he was looking over at Carter, who was watching him silently. "Speaking of finding... How in the hell did you manage to even find me on your own, anyways?" Hunter was asking as Carter sighed.
"It is really complicated, Hunt. But you are just going to have to come with me." Carter said as Hunter narrowed his eyes. "Look, you know that I don't screw around with an important situation like this." Carter stated.
"What are you not telling me?" Hunter finally asked after Carter had finished his mini-speech and Carter sighed heavily, and he looked down at the floor. "Carter." He said.
"Your father and Tana... They have both been compromised." Carter admitted and Hunter stared at him for a moment with his mouth wide open, before he slammed it shut and Carter watched him. "Hunt, I'm sorry." Carter whispered as he watched the older guy getting up.
Hunter pulled off his shirt and he was bundling it up quickly, tossing it into the corner and quickly now, he was grabbing another one out of the closet. "So, where are we meeting the others?" Hunter was back to the emotionless, and then, almost a robotic version of himself.
The one that Carter hated to see. "Wait for a second. Hunter, would you just hang on for a second?" Carter asked as he was resting one of his hands on the other guy's arm and Hunter looked at the hand.
"I know that you're just trying to help me Carter, but I really don't have time for a big therapy session." Hunter muttered as he brushed Carter's hand off and he pulled the new t-shirt on over his head.
Before Carter turned him around and Hunter's eyes narrowed at him. "Where are we meeting?" Hunter asked again, getting impatient and Carter was silently watching him.
"We're meeting at Stark Tower." Carter relented the information, knowing that he had no real reason to keep it from him and Hunter nodded. "Are you really going to be okay?" Carter asked quietly as then, swiftly now, Hunter was grabbing his weapons.
"I can compartmentalize my emotions Carter, I'm not an emotional guy." Hunter pointed out and Carter caught him by the arm again, and Hunter was quickly picking up his bag. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Hunter asked as he turned to look at Carter, who pushed him back against the wall and Carter's eyes narrowed.
"Are you so scared of your own emotions that you refuse to admit that you have them inside of you?" Carter asked and Hunter was staring at him, before he dropped the bag onto the floor in front of him.
In the span of maybe half a second, Hunter was spinning them around and then a short second later, Carter's back hit the wall and Hunter's hand was against his chest to keep him there.
"I'm not fucking scared of my own damn feelings, Carter. I just know how to put them aside for the greater good." Hunter said and briefly, his eyes flicked down to Carter's shaking hands for a moment, before he let go of him and Hunter picked up his bag again. "Come on, let's go." Hunter said and he was walking away.
Carter followed Hunter swiftly and the older guy was locking up, after checking to make sure that he had cash and a few of his passports with him.
Carter had his suit ready for his own transportation and Hunter held out the bag full of weapons to Carter, who held it easily with the suit. "I will meet you at Stark Tower?" Carter asked and Hunter nodded slightly, before he was swiftly driving off in a crappy-looking Hyundai.
Hunter got out of the car at the airport and to his surprise, he was escorted around all of the security and he sighed at the sight of a familiar face. "Coulson." He greeted his fellow SHIELD agent calmly and without any fuss.
"Your dad taught you well, Hunt. You really were hard to find, we honestly just needed Carter with Stark Tech, used Stark Tech to find you." Phil Coulson admitted and Hunter was shaking his head at the words. "Come on Eagle, we're headed to Stark Tower." He said and Hunter nodded, before they were getting into the SHIELD jet and the pilots flew them out to the city.
Hunter put his headphones in as he closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall and he felt the familiar thumping rhythm of the rock music as he was trying to get some rest at least even if sleep wouldn't be coming for a while yet.
Hunter woke up to Coulson shaking his shoulder hard and Hunter loudly was grumbling under his breath, before he was opening his eyes. "You shouldn't have let me fall asleep." Hunter stated as Coulson held out a hand to him and Hunter accepted it, Coulson was yanking him up onto his feet.
"You needed the sleep apparently." Coulson pointed out to Hunter and the very tired sharpshooter was rubbing at his eyes, before they were getting off of the plane and Carter was already waiting. "How did you know where we would land?" Coulson asked as Carter's helmet came off of his face and Carter lifted his shoulders in a shrug.
"Deductive reasoning." Carter replied as he was giving a big cup of coffee to Hunter along with his bag of gear and Hunter took a massive gulp of the coffee as soon as he got it. Hunter, his bag went over his shoulder as they walked over to the vehicle.
"I'll meet you guys there?" Carter asked and both of them nodded, before Carter's helmet was closing over his face and he was flying up into the air.
Coulson looked over at Hunter and Hunter rolled his eyes. "If you say anything..." Hunter threatened with his tone of voice and flashing eyes with anger. Coulson was raising his hands in surrender and Hunter leaned back against his seat, drinking his coffee as he was just trying to stay awake.
"You weren't ever meant to be dragged into this mess, Hunter. But since both your sister and your dad have been taken and compromised by Loki, so we had to call you in." Coulson murmured and Hunter glanced at him.
"So, I'm the last resort." Hunter muttered and Coulson sighed, having not meant it that way at all. "You can just say it, Coulson. I'm not the one that everybody wants around." Hunter said and Coulson sighed.
"You are a really good guy, Hunter. But you have definitely also made it perfectly clear now that your priorities don't align entirely with SHIELD, not like your dad and your twin." Phil said and Hunter put his earbuds in again, silently staring out of the window as Phil drove. "All right then."
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¹ Strength of the Mind || Marvel Cinematic Universe
Fanfiction"Not all strength is visible when you look at somebody, just like not all scars are visible. Your brain, Tony, is just about as strong as anybody else's strength." --- --- --- --- When Tony Stark disappears from the last known location that anybody...
