The Eye

XXVI

Barton

"Is he asleep yet?" I whispered to Nat.

Her head popped up and she glared at me. I took that as a no, and lay carefully back down. Once my head hit the pillow, my vision of her was blocked. The blockade? Agent Jackson, blissfully unaware of his surroundings.

This was all Stark's fault. Once we were all well, and Agent Jackson was down to one boot, he thought it appropriate to party. So we all went to a bar, and Stark somehow managed to get Agent Jackson drunk without him noticing.

Some of it might've been Loki's fault too. Agent Jackson might've thought he was hazy because he was drunk on Loki. I laughed internally at that, although not as internally as I thought. A swift kick to my shin from Nat shut me up for the time being.

A small whimper escaped Agent Jackson's lips. I frowned, not as blissful as I thought. Actually, blissful is not what I expect. Not after the incident from tonight, never mind the rest of crap he's gone through.

Especially this party. Not just with anyone, but most of SHIELD's agents. So we were surrounded by friends and enemies alike, of course in the work aspect. Yeah, lots of enemies for Agent Jackson.

Although I wasn't surprised. There's bound to be hate for an agent of his age, especially one as good as him. Yeah Nat and I witnessed some agents who weren't fans of the young Agent, and took advantage of his drunk state.

Unfortunately for him, and us, these agents were barely the same level as us, so the two of us against fifteen or so of them with about the same skill level... it wasn't a good idea. We tried, but we were a little tipsy turvy ourselves.

We managed to drag Agent Jackson back to the tower, clean him up, and get him into the bed. There weren't nice people out there, and sometimes the world has to prove it. Agent Jackson asked us not to leave him while he slept, but I had to go to the bathroom.

I was waiting until he was asleep, but Natasha still didn't let me leave. Not very kind of her, but I think she'd rather see me suffer than the boy next to us. I started drifting asleep, the memories of the night taking ahold.

Natasha and I were held against the wall. Immobile in our woozy state. Agent Jackson lay on the ground, his eyes unfocused. There were four Agents each holding Nat and I back.

About ten were standing around Agent Jackson. There was no leader, but they all had the same idea in their minds. One held his hand out to Agent Jackson who stared at it. Slowly the agent reached towards the hand.

The limbs locked, and Agent Jackson was pulled to his feet unsteadily. Then suddenly, the one who pulled him to his feet stepped forward and punched Agent Jackson hard in the face.

The young man stumbled back and tripped over his boot. Since he was surrounded in a circle, Agent Jackson fell into another Agent. That person pulled him to his feet and pushed him harshly away from him.

Agent Jackson was continually pushed around like a soccer ball surrounded by walls. He kept bouncing around the group, twisting and turning. Agent Jackson cried out in pain when the leg that filled the boot was twisted at an odd angle as he fell.

He almost hit the ground, but was once again pulled to his feet, foot and twisted ankle in a boot. The Agent turned when someone behind him advanced, but was too slow. He was caught in the chest and knocked onto his back.

The circle of Agents closed in on the young Agent kicking and punching whatever they could. I slammed my foot down on the distracted Agents around me, causing one to let go.