He Didn't See That Coming.

8.0

Clint woke with a sigh, standing from the bed and looking at the time. It was nine twenty seven, and he knew his brother wasn't sleeping this late in the morning. Barney had always been an early bird. Life in the circus did that to him.

Clint padded down the hallways, hearing a frustrated groan and something crashing.

"You okay in here, big brother?" Clint knocked before opening the door.

Barney sat on the bed, muscleless legs folded underneath him. His bloodshot eyes complemented his red hair, which was tousled, sticking out at all angles. He had dried tracks of tears on his cheeks.

His wheelchair lay on it's side across the room, one wheel still spinning slightly.

"It's...it's been ten years." He looked up at Clint. "Ten fucking years."

"I know." Clint took out the purple hearing aides, letting a layer of loud silence wash over him. He turned the purple plastic over in his hands. "Ten years."

Barney sat powerlessly as sixteen year old Clint lay on the ground, screaming at the silence. He had his hands clamped over his useless ears, and he was yelling at the top of his lungs. The neighbors were used to it, sympathetic even.

Clint continued to scream, pounding on the floor and clawing at his ears.

"I can't hear!" He yelled, though it was just garbled sounds that blended together.

Tears streamed down his face and he cried, pulling at his ears.

Barney tried to ease out of the hospital chair to sit next to his brother, falling hard on the floor instead. He took Clint's head into his lap, stroking his hair. Clint continued to scream, sobbing.

"Shh, shh. You're okay. You're okay." He knew Clint couldn't hear him, but he didn't know what else to do.

Clint stopped yelling and looked up at his brother. He tried to sign that it was too loud, but he couldn't remember the movements.

"The quiet is too loud." He tried to say, but it came out more like 'he quit ssta laod'.

Barney just nodded, wiping Clint's tears. "It's going to be okay. We'll get through this."

Barney leaned against Clint.

'Do you remember,' Clint signed. 'The day I got my hearing aides? You and me, we cried like babies.'

Barney chuckled. 'Yeah.'

It was two years after the accident when they could finally afford hearing aides.

Clint sat on the stool, spinning it around while waiting for the doctor to get back.

'Stop that.' Barney signed.

'Fuck you.' Clint stuck his tongue out.

The doctor opened the door, and Barney got back in position to translate.

The doctor pulled out flesh colored aides, explaining what each part did and how to adjust volume and such. Finally she turned to him.

"Let's try them on, shall we?"

Clint nodded, a little excited.

The doctor placed them in his ears, pausing. "You ready?"

'Yes.' He signed.

There was a click in one ear, then a click in the other.

"Can you hear me, little brother?" Barney sat directly in front of him.