Coulson POV
"You've made progress," Fury said as we watched Clint and another recruit spar.
"I promised him I'd try to bring his brother in instead of killing him," I replied, watching Nick out of the corner of my eye.
"And are you?"
"I promised the kid I would try. Seriously, I've just gotten his trust. I can't lose it yet."
I winced when Clint took a nasty blow to the side of his head. The other recruit threw another as Clint stumbled away. So far he hadn't even tried to attack the other guy. The recruit lashed a kick at Clint's head and I fought down a smirk when he blocked it, keeping the recruit's leg trapped against his side.
"Damn," Nick muttered when Clint punched the recruit across the face, "he can hit."
"Believe me, I know," I agreed, rubbing my jaw.
"Don't tell me that kid actually landed a hit on you."
"I set him off and wasn't expecting the punch."
"He is fast, I'll give you that," Nick agreed.
Clint threw another punch and I winced when the recruit flipped him to the floor. Clint squirmed out of the recruit's hold before he could get pinned. The match lasted a few more minutes with Clint taking several hard hits. I started forward when I noticed Clint was starting to get lost in his head, as he put it.
"Wait, I want to watch this," Nick said, catching my shoulder.
"Nick," I warned.
"That's an order, Phil."
I gritted my teeth but stayed where I was at. C'mon Clint, you can finish this guy. Wherever he was at in his head seemed to be making him more and more upset and angry. Clint lashed out quickly and I winced at the blow he received in return. Fight smart. Clint picked himself back up off the mat and studied the recruit warily.
"That all you got?" I heard Clint taunt.
"My brother punches harder than that," Clint continued, "Hell, even May punches harder than you."
"What the hell is he doing, Phil?" Nick demanded quietly.
"No idea," I replied tightly.
Clint said something else that I couldn't catch and it set off the recruit. Clint sidestepped the lunge the recruit made and brought his knee up into the recruit's face. I started forward when Clint got him in a chokehold.
"Barton! Enough!" I called.
His grip on the recruit tightened for a moment before he let go and danced backwards a few steps. He smirked over his shoulder at me as he pulled off the gloves.
"How'd I do?"
"I thought we made it clear last week that choking isn't allowed on sparring mats. Or at all. And were you taunting him?"
"I was playing to my strengths," Clint shrugged.
"Well playing-"
"Mr. Barton, a word please?" Fury called.
Clint frowned and glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. I waved him off and started over to talk to Garrett.
"Your kid's got quite a mouth on him, Phil."
"Was that Grant that he was just fighting?" I asked.
"Sure was. I thought you talked to that kid about choking people out?"
"Evidently he ignored me."
"Evidently so."
"I'll talk to him again. Is Grant alright?"
"Ward will be fine. He's had tougher people to fight with than your kid."
"He's not a kid."
"Seventeen is a kid by my standards. And pretty much everyone here agrees. See you at lunch. Sitwell's meeting up with us this time, so I hope you have someone to watch that kid."
"Lunch, and I'll find someone," I agreed.
I made my way back over to Fury and Clint.
"-finished training or whatever yet, sir," Clint was saying.
"It's a standard op. Long distance take out and an extraction. Nothing you haven't done on your own," Fury replied.
"Wait, what? Nick, you're not sending him out into the field yet," I interrupted.
"I want to, Agent Coulson."
"No, Nick, can I have a word with you?"
Fury raised an eyebrow but followed me off out of earshot.
"Relax, it's not a real op. Well, it is, but I've planned it all out."
"Yeah? And who's the target?" I asked.
"His brother."
"No. He's not-"
"I need to see how loyal he is to us and how loyal he is to him, Coulson."
"That's his brother," I hissed, "You can't ask Barton to kill him."
"I am asking."
"It's my choice if he's ready for the field yet," I reminded him.
"And I'm the director, so I overrule you, Phil."
"Nick, he's a kid!"
"No I'm not," Clint called.
"He's not even an agent yet. He's living on base. He's just now starting to trust me, Nick. You can't throw him into this and you certainly can't expect him to be able to kill him."
Fury studied me for a long moment before smirking slightly and walking off. I breathed a small sigh of relief and turned to face Clint as he came over.
"I'm gonna guess that I'm not going on an op?" He huffed.
"Not yet. Showers, now."
"Yes sir," he huffed, turning on his heel and stalking off towards the locker rooms.
"My office as soon as your done!" I called after him.
"I know!"
I rolled my eyes and left the gym. I needed to find May or Agent Blake to watch Clint while I went to lunch. You could leave him on his own. He's been behaving fairly well. No, just let someone know you're going off base for lunch today.
"Melinda," I greeted, leaning into her office.
"I'm not watching Barton for you."
"Mel-
"I have a class to teach today, Phil."
"Take him with you."
"Buy me some lunch while you're out."
"Deal."
