Work Text
January 2008
The next time Sam and Dean rolled into town, Clint handed each of them their brand new S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant badges.“No more FBI impersonations, all right?” he said to them with a smile. “You’re actual authorities, now. Oh, and Dean? This counts as a birthday present”Dean turned the laminated badge over in his hand.“Consultants?” he read and then looked at his older brother. “Not actual agents?”Clint shrugged.“S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t want to have to deal with all the shit that tends to happen around you guys.Sam pulled Clint off into the kitchen, away from any prying ears.“I’ve gotta tell you something,” he murmured, and Clint raised a single eyebrow.“’Kay…” he said slowly.“Y’know how Dean made his deal? When I, uh, died.” Sam swallowed, and continued at his oldest brothers nod. “Not too long after the Devil’s Gate was opened, this blonde chick started following us. She thinks she can get Dean out of his deal without me dropping dead.”Hope bubbled in Clint’s chest as he stared at his younger brother.“And?” he prompted, and Sam winced slightly.“There’s one small problem,” he confessed. “She’s a demon.”The eldest Winchester brother simply stared at him, waiting for a punch line. It didn’t come.“Sam!” he half-whispered, half-shouted. “Demons, Sam! It’s because of them that Mom and Dad are dead, as well as Adam’s mom!”Sam nodded, not meeting Clint’s eyes.Clint moaned and ran a hand over his face, feeling very tired.“You need to get rid of it, Sam. She’s lying about being able to help.”Sam frowned at him.“You don’t even know her!” he said. “She could be telling the truth!”Sometimes, the willful ignorance of his younger brother made Clint want to throttle him.“Listen, demons serve their own agenda. They never, ever, help Hunters without killing them in the end.”Sam scowled, but held his tongue, and the two of them returned to the living room, where Adam was telling Dean about something that had happened at school.“Go do your homework, squirt.” He said as Clint and Sam reentered the room. Adam folded his arms and glared at Dean.“I’m almost eighteen,” he complained. “I’m staying.”Dean looked to Clint, who shrugged.“Eh, he can stay. Why are you guys in town, anyway?”“Bela,” Dean answered, his expression sour. “We think we got a lead on her and the Colt. Wanted to know if you wanted in.”Clint considered for a moment, before shaking his head.“No. I’m still supposed to be looking into a stupid case involving a missing scientist.” He gave a grin. “They’re really pulling out the big guns now, they’ve been tracking the guy for a couple years.”“I want to come!” Adam said excitedly, his eyes wide. “Please. I’ve been training with Clint, and I have school off for another week, and-““Enough,” Dean cut him off. “If Clint says so, you can come.”Adam turned his puppy eyes on his oldest brother, who sighed.“Why the hell not?” he said. “What could possibly go wrong this time?” “Fuck.” Adam muttered to himself as he sat in the empty room in the sheriff’s station, waiting for Henriksen to come back. The man was probably under the assumption that he’d been kidnapped, or become a fanboy fanatic to the Winchester brothers.He heard the door open, and turned to watch the FBI agent he’d met nearly two years ago walk into the room, close the door, and sit down opposite the restrained teen.“Adam Milligan,” Victor Henriksen said slowly, looking the teen up and down. “You just seem to find trouble, don’t you?”Adam said nothing, staring at the table between him and the agent. Henriksen sighed.“You know, I want to believe that this is a coincidence, that you and the Winchester’s crossing paths isn’t a red flag. So. Are you following them? Interested in their work?”Still, nothing.“Did they kidnap you?” Adam grit his teeth, and the agent noticed his jaw clench. “Are you travelling with them against their will?” He leaned in closer to the boy. “They can’t hurt you anymore.”Adam glared at him. Screw this guy.“They wouldn’t hurt me,” he said matter-of-factly, “So don’t even think that.”Henriksen leaned back slightly in his chair, one eyebrow raised.“Brainwashing, too?” he mused, mostly to himself. To Adam, he said, “And why would you think that?”Adam leaned forward, his eyes blazing.“They don’t hurt their family.” He said, smirking at the surprised look on the FBI agent’s face. “Don’t believe me? Call our brother.” He rattled off Clint’s cell number, the personal one meant for only family.Henriksen left without saying another word, leaving Adam alone. He sighed.Fuck. “Yo,” Clint answered his phone, his eyes never leaving his paperwork.“Do you know an Adam Milligan?” The voice on the other end is blunt, straight to the point.“Shit,” Clint groans. “Is he in jail? Is this a bail call? I swear I’m gonna ground him till September.”There’s a slight pause before the man on the other end of the call speaks again.
“He was arrested along with Sam and Dean Winchester in Monument, Colorado. He told me… many things, including your phone number. Now tell me, who are you?”
“Fucking fuck. I’m gonna kill them. I’m gonna kill all their asses. I’m guessing he told you I’m his brother?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Well, kid is right. I’ll be there in, like, an hour. If you touch those boys, I’ll end you.”He ended the call, and stood, stretching. He tapped and Coulson’s shoulder on his way out.“My brothers are morons,” he said by way of explanation. “Help me bail them out.”Coulson rolled his eyes.“Well, we’re getting nowhere with the Banner case. I’ll send Romanoff to see if she can cover for us.” He stared at the badges, obvious fakes. Who had ever heard of such a phony agency as S.H.I.E.L.D.? Then again, the Winchesters had been known to use fairly transparent aliases before.It’d been almost an hour and a half since they’d brought in the brothers – and the kid, which made him think the Winchesters were running some kind of cult if that boy thought they were a ‘family’. Then again, there was always the possibility that they’d tracked down one of John’s bastards and indoctrinated him into the ‘family business’.The door to the station burst open, and a blond man dressed in black barged in, looking pissed off. A stunning woman in a black cat suit and a man who looked fairly average, but should probably not be underestimated followed. They held out a badge.“We’re with S.H.I.E.L.D., here to pick up some moron consultants.”The other man stared at Victor like he could see into his soul, and he felt a small shiver go up his spine. Either he was an agent, or he was a very, very dangerous criminal. He didn’t quite know which thought scared him more.He held up the two consultant badges with Dean and Sam’s faces on them.“They were caught breaking and entering, and have been evading the law for several years. Not to mention they’re murderers.” He said, and the blond glared at him.“They were set up,” he stated. “Not to mention, they have the authority to do whatever their current job entails. Breaking and entering included.”Something about the younger man was familiar to Victor, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He realized, with a start, that he looked fairly similar to Dean.“What’s your name?” he asked the man, an unsettled feeling sinking into his stomach.The man shot him an annoyed look.“Agent Clint Barton,” he snapped. “And I do outrank you, so take me to those reckless idiots now so I can kill them.”Barton. He remembered the case from the beginning of his career, over thirty years ago, the little boy who had lost his parents, and had been placed with John and Mary Winchester in 1975. He stared at him in shock. He could hardly believe that the sweet little boy he’d helped all those years ago had ended up in a family of psychopaths.“Clinton Francis Barton,” he said. “If I’d known then what I know now, I never would have let you go with John fucking Winchester.”Barton eyed him warily, and the older man next to him looked confused.“You knew him – before?”Victor nodded.“I was the officer on the scene the night his parents died.”The other man turned to Barton for confirmation, but the blond simply shrugged.“I dunno. I was four.” He turned his gaze towards Victor. “You really have no idea what you’re messing with, man. Let me grab my brothers so we can leave.”Henriksen frowned.“If you’re talking about that ‘monsters and demons’ shit John Winchester brainwashed you all with-““Don’t you dare talk about my father like that,” Barton growled. He opened his mouth to say more, but was cut off by another suited man, the FBI deputy director, entering the room. He cast Barton and his associate a curious look before handing a stack of paperwork to Victor.“What’s all this?” Victor asked, feeling slightly annoyed at the interruption.“What can I say?” The deputy director said with a small smile, glancing towards the hall leading down to the holding cells. “The FBI didn’t invent bureaucracy, we perfected it.” He gave a short nod to the paperwork in Henriksen’s hand.“You want me to do all this now?” He glanced towards Barton, who was watching the other FBI agent with narrowed eyes.“Sorry. Now, Victor.”“Christo,” Barton said suddenly, and the agent’s eyes went pure black.Victor reeled back in shock, his eyes wide. What. The. Hell.“Hunter,” the – well, whatever it was – snarled. “I should have known.”Barton simply began chanting in what Henriksen recognized as Latin, and the creature writhed in pain before laughing.“Sorry, I’ve got to cut this short. It’s gonna be a long night, fellas!” it cackled, before exiting the man mouth in a stream of putrid black smoke.“Well,” Barton’s associate sighed. “This is more interesting than expected.”Clint grabbed a sharpie from the mousy little secretary’s desk, drawing devil’s traps over the door they had come in through.“It’s going to go for backup, probably,” he said. “Do you have any salt?”The young woman nodded, her eyes almost impossibly wide. She ran to a break room in the back and came back with a small saltshaker.Coulson looked at it dubiously, before taking it and spreading a line across a windowsill.“I don’t think this is going to be enough salt for all the windows and doorways,” he said, examining what was left in the shaker. “Do you have any road salt?”“Um,” she looked at him, still a little pale. “Yes? Yes, in the storage closet. I’ll go get some.”“Get all of it,” Clint told her. “We’re gonna need it.” He turned to Henriksen. “And can I please get my brothers? They’re not very useful behind bars.”The FBI Agent nodded.“Milligan’s in that room over there,” he said, pointing. “I’ll go get the other two.” “Clint?” Adam said, surprised to see his eldest brother barging in to the room. “I thought you would’ve sent Laura to come get us?”Clint wordlessly took out a small key and removed the handcuffs from the teenager’s wrists.“I need to chew Sam and Dean out for getting caught up with the Feds again, “ he explained. “Also, you better start putting your demon killing skills to use, we’re gonna need them tonight.”“Shit,” Adam groaned. He and his brother made their way towards the evidence room to grab the weapons and other things that the cops had taken when they’d been arrested. “Who’s dead?”“One of the FBI guys and a couple of cops, plus the meat puppet the demon was possessing.”Adam wrinkled his nose at the term ‘meat puppet’. “Does Henriksen...” He waved his hand absently, and Clint nodded.“Yeah, seeing black demon smoke spew from your bosses mouth is enough to make anyone believe in demons.”Coulson hurried into the room, the timid little secretary following behind him.“Everything’s all salted up,” he said. “And we used Sharpies to make some traps for them.”Clint turned to face him, a single eyebrow raised. “I don’t remember teaching you about those? Where’d you learn to do that?”“I literally saw you doing it five minutes ago, Barton. If you’re doing it, it’s probably effective.”“Huh.” “Winchesters.”Sam and Dean turned their heads towards Henriksen, who was walking briskly towards their holding cell.“Come to gloat some more?” Dean asked, his voice bitter. The older man shook his head, and unlocked the cell door upon reaching it.“I talked with your brother, and he exorcised a demon, so you guys aren’t too crazy after all,” he said hurriedly. “And there’s more coming, so we need you.”“Adam exorcised a demon? By himself?” Sam asked suspiciously as Henriksen handed them guns, two of their own.“Your other brother,” Victor said as the three of them hurried down the hall. “He and his colleague are here because I- why is there marker everywhere?”The secretary – Nancy – looked up from the floor in front of the desks where she’d been drawing a passable devil’s trap.“It, um, it traps the demons in them.” She said nervously. “He said it would work.” She pointed to Coulson, who gave a shrug and a nod.“Weren’t there more cops in here?” Victor asked them.“They’re getting more salt for the inside,” Coulson said, standing and offering a hand to Sam, then Dean. “Barton is having all of the windows and doors lined. It’s nice to meet you, by the way. Now that you’re not dead.”“Uh,” Sam said, “You too?”Clint came marching towards the group from an opposing hallway, Adam in tow. They both held large backs of road salt in their arms. Both had grim looks on their faces.“Demons are closing in, and fast,” Adam said, standing on a chair to add more salt to a high windowsill.“Is everything else lined?” Clint asked, dropping his bag with a thud. “We don’t want any more black-eyed sons of bitches getting in.” He was answered by the sound of the large double doors opening.“Careful now, you’ll hurt my feelings.” A feminine voice said, and the small ragtag group turned, weapons pointed towards the entrance. “Hey, Sam. You gonna let me out?” She motioned with her foot towards the devil’s trap on the floor.“Ruby,” Sam said, half relieved and half annoyed. “What-““I’m here to help. Let me out.”Clint put his arm out, stopping Sam as he moved towards the demon. “Ruby. We finally meet.” He kept his gaze on her as he moved his hand towards his belt. “Why do you want to help us?”“I have my reasons.” He glared, and she glared back. “I’ll tell you, if you let me the fuck out.”Sam pushed his brother’s arm away from him, shooting him a look as he moved towards the trap. Using a knife handed to him from Adam - “We raided your car, bro,” – he scraped a small section of the sharpied outline away. “Usually we use paint,” he said, “But I guess marked works, too.”Ruby stretched herself, and walked briskly out of the trap, which was quickly re-completed by Nancy. “Does anyone have a breath mint? Some of the-““Talk. Now.” Clint interrupted, taking a small gun from a holster on his hip. She rolled her eyes.“Fine, fine. There are about thirty demons outside, at least. That’s so far.”Dean groaned.“Oh, good. Thirty. Thirty men, all gunning for us.”“I take it you know who sent them?” Clint asked her.Ruby shot a glance at Sam, who looked as if he would like to be anywhere other than in the room.“You didn’t tell Dean or Bozo here?” She motioned towards Clint. “You already told him everything else, it seems.”Sam avoided the gaze from Clint and Dean. Adam sighed, loudly.“Dammit, can’t we stop keeping stupid secrets in this family?”Ruby grinned. “I like him,” she said. “Well, although I am surprised, I guess that doesn’t really matter. There’s a big new up and comer. Real Pied Piper.”“Who is he?” Dean demanded.“And why in the fuck is he targeting us?” Clint followed.“Not a he,” Ruby replied. “Her. Her name is Lilith. And she’s not after all of you, just Sam. She really, really wants his intestines on a stick. ‘Cause she sees him as competition.”“You knew about this?” Clint asked Sam. “You certainly didn’t tell me that when you mentioned your little pet demon.”Sam didn’t answer. Dean rounded on him.“You talked to Clint, but not me? Well, gee, Sam. Is there anything else I should know?!”“Can this episode of Family Feud later? We need the Colt.” Ruby looked at them, expectantly. “Where’s the Colt?”“It was stolen,” Sam admitted.“ I’m sorry,” She started, “I must have blood in my ear. I thought I just heard you say that you were stupid enough to let the Colt get grabbed out of your thick, clumsy, idiotic hands. Fantastic. This is just peachy…“Ruby…”“Sam, maybe now is the time to shut up,” Adam said, elbowing his side.Ruby placed her hands on her hips, a sour look on her face. “Since I don’t see that there’s no other any option… There’s one other way I know how to get you out of here alive.” “Oh,” Coulson said. “That’s… good, then.”“What is it?” Dean asked, eyeing the demon suspiciously.“I know a spell. It’ll vaporize every demon in a one-mile radius. Myself included.”Clint couldn’t detect any outward emotion on the demon’s face, although it was likely that she had an agenda.Ruby continued, “So, you let the Colt out of your sight and now I have to die. So next time, be more careful. How’s that for a dying wish? ““What exactly needs to be done for this spell?” Clint asked her.“The spell is very specific. It needs someone of virtue.”Dean nodded at her, “I got virtue. I can help.” “Nice try,” Ruby laughed darkly. “You’re not a virgin.” “Nobody’s a virgin” Dean scoffed.She shot him a dark look before pointing a figure at Nancy, then Adam. “They are.”“Hey!” Adam protested, his cheeks flushed. Nancy looked away from the group.Dean, being Dean, babbled to the girl about her sexual status, as if it truly were something unheard of. She defended herself, but the Hunter kept going.Clint clapped a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back slightly. “Maybe you should stop bothering the girl. Everyone makes their own decisions, and doesn’t need your personal input.”“So, this spell,” Nancy said. “What can I do?” She smiled, happy to help.Ruby stalked towards her, reminding Clint of the big cats you see on Discovery Channel. “You can hold still ... while I cut your heart out of your chest.” “What?!” Several people exclaimed, and Clint stepped closer to the girl. “Not happening.”“Are you crazy?” Dean rounded on Ruby.“I’m offering a solution.” “You’re offering to kill somebody.”“And what do you think’s gonna happen to this girl when the demons get in?” She countered.“We’re gonna protect her. That’s what.” Henriksen said firmly from his seated position on top of a desk, as Nancy quietly tried to intervene with a small “Excuse me.”Ruby continued to argue against the Winchesters, Coulson, and Henriksen as the young woman continued to attempt to gain attention from the group. Finally, she loudly interrupted. “Would everybody please shut up?!” She had everyone’s attention on her, at last. “All the people out there… will it save them?”Ruby confirmed.There was a long pause before Nancy nodded at her.“I’ll do it.” Once again, the group loudly opposed her decision, and both Coulson and Clint gripped their firearms tighter.“You don’t need to do this.” Dean said firmly as Henriksen stood behind him.“All my friends are out there.”“We don't sacrifice people.” Henriksen said. “We do that, we’re no better than them.”Clint nodded in agreement. “Something that someone told me once, in the field. We don’t trade lives.”They began arguing again, and the demon roped Sam into the disagreement, as well. It took a while before Dean offered another solution.“I got a plan. I’m not saying it's a good one. I’m not even saying that it’ll work. But it sure as hell beats killing a virgin.” “Does it involve killing any humans?” Clint asked, arms crossed. Dean shook his head.“Okay, so, what’s the plan?” Sam questioned.Dean took a breath. “Open the doors, let them all in and we fight.” Ruby was fairly disgusted - “I’m disappointed.” - that they had decided to not kill a virgin that night. She had left, and they were on their own now.It took them some time to prepare everything, and Clint had a sinking feeling in his stomach that this may all be a waste. Although he didn’t want the poor girl to sacrifice herself – and he certainly would not allow Adam to do so – this still felt like it may not be enough. He wondered if Ruby’s plan actually would have worked. He was, however, glad that Dean had thought to supply everyone with anti-possession amulets.He was with Coulson, their guns filled with salt rounds and pointed at a door that led outside. They both also had a container filled with holy water at the ready. Adam, per his brothers orders, was with Nancy and one of the surviving cops, helping to trap the demons once they entered the station.“All set?” He could hear Dean call from the other end of the hallway.“Yes!” he called back, and Sam and Henriksen answered from somewhere else in the building.Coulson wiped salt away from the door with his foot.It began.He and Coulson began leading the demons down the hallway, towards the main office, shooting the salt rounds and flinging holy water as they went.He was soon backed into the room, joined by both Sam and Dean. The four men continued to shoot and splash holy water on the hellish army that had begun to gather closer towards them. When the flasks had emptied, they began to surround them.If all was going according to plan, Adam, Nancy, and whatever-his-name were salting everything back up. No demons should be able to escape.One of the demons that was part of the hoard surrounding them climbed over a desk, marching towards them. She stretched out an arm, sending all four of them flying before they slammed into the wall. Clint gasped in pain, and his ears were ringing. He wondered, briefly, if the others had completed their tasks.“Henriksen, now!” Dean cried out.After a moment, a recording in Sam’s voice, began to play. “Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii...”A scream – Nancy’s – could be heard from outside. Clint struggled against the demon’s hold from where he had been pinned to the wall.Sam’s recording echoed throughout the building “Omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica, ergo, draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica, adjuramus te, cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque æternæ perditionìs venenum propinare vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciæ, hostis humanæ salutis, humiliare sub potenti manu dei...”As the exorcism continues to air over the loudspeakers, demons flail and scream. JENNA reaches up to cover her ears. SAM and DEAN are still pinned to the wall. Demons pound against the outside doors, trying to get out. Black smoke begins to pour from the demons’ mouths. The bodies of the possessed people fall to the ground as the smoke swirls around the ceiling.The recording continued, “Contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomini quem inferi tremunt ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, domine. exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica ergo, draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica, adjuramus te cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque æternæ perditionìs venenum propinare ut ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos!”There was an explosion of light, then everything became eerily still. Sam and Dean slid down the wall, and Clint helped them to their feet. Adam and Henriksen walked into the main office, with the older man chuckling slightly as he wiped blood from a cut on his lip. Those who had been possessed began to stir on the ground as the electricity flickered back to life.“My man,” Clint said tiredly, grinning at Henriksen. “What would you think about coming to work for us?” He jerked his thumb towards himself and Coulson, and the older FBI agent smiled. They parted, leaving the remaining law enforcement – which was really not much – and Nancy to sort with the mess that the night had left them with. Sam and Dean, after a brief farewell, headed out in the Impala with Adam. Per Clint’s request, they would drop him off with Laura, and the oldest brother hoped that they would avoid any further ‘excitement’ as they did so.He and Coulson were heading back to their mission, and Henriksen would be tagging along. He had accepted Clint’s half joking, half serious offer.“What did you tell your superiors?” Coulson asked the man as they exited the building. Henriksen had stepped away briefly to make a call.“Sam and Dean Winchester were in the chopper when it caught on fire. Nothing left. Can’t even identify them with dental records.” He said with a smirk. “They better not go public again, or I might lose all credibility. I also told them that I quit. This case was much to stressful.”Clint laughed as they reached the S.H.I.E.L.D. issued car. “I’m sure that they’ll appreciate it. Better than if you had said that they’re on the run. Again.”It wasn’t until a week later, after he had been temporarily dismissed from the investigation regarding a scientist and gamma radiation, that Clint heard what had happened.Shortly after they had left, the station had gone up in flames. There were no survivors.Ruby visited the farm shortly afterwards – how she got his location, he didn’t know, although she may have followed Sam and Dean as they dropped Adam off – and provided him with a hex bag.“For protection,” She explained as she stood on his porch, “so that Lilith doesn’t finish you off.”“What are you trying to gain by helping us?” Clint questioned, leaning against the doorframe and making no move to collect the bag from her. “Demons like chaos and killing and whatever else Lilith will bring.”“Well, I don’t agree with her goals, so I guess you’ll just have to trust me.” Ruby said, stubbornly. “After all, I did offer to die for your ungrateful ass.”“You did. But it doesn’t mean that you don’t want us all to get killed in the end.”She snorted. “Fine. Don’t trust me. Whatever. But I’m sure that the demons will love killing off your family, and Sam will take that so well.”He grabbed the bag from her hand. “Still. Anything you do that I don’t like, and you’ll end up dead.”“You don’t have the Colt.”“Not yet.”With one final glare from the demon, he closed the door.He picked up files that had been left on the coffee table, smirking at a picture of a young woman. It had been taken without her knowledge, so it appeared. A name was written underneath. He dialed a number on his phone.“I know where Bela is.”
End