21 Days [A Hawkeye/ Clint Barton fic] [HEAVY EDITING]

Liars and Killers

9 days.

17 hours.

21 minutes.

Doctor Lincoln Campbell was the first to arrive at Clint's observation room. He carried an IV kit and a medical ba with him, along with a bag of anesthetic solution. 

Hawkeye just stared at the kit as Lincoln carried it over to him, then sat it down beside him. "I thought I might as well try to shed some light on what's going to happen in forty-five minutes."

Clint looked up at him after giving the kit a good long look. "What if I don't want the operation?" he knew something as simple as asking wouldn't help. 

Lincoln smiled and shook his head. "Sorry. Director Fury already handled the paperwork." He picked up the small IV tube and uncapped the needle. "Ready?"

Clint straightened up. "W-wait. I need to see Laura before you start the damn drugs." The archer glanced at his friend, who was looking directly at him as she walked toward the door.

"I just got a text. Laura just arrived with one of Shield's agents." She stopped in front of the door and looked at the camera above it for a few seconds. The light next to the camera turned green, then the door slid into the wall. Once she was out of the room, the thick white door slid and locked shut again. 

Lincoln put the cap back on the needle and glanced at the Shield standard scrubs still on the bed. "I should probably let you change into those first."

Clint eyed the change of clothes, then nervously got out of bed, grabbed the clothes, then walked into the bathroom. He closed the door in a hurry, then turned the shower on to run as he attempted to plan an escape. Of course they had to assign him a doctor who could fry his insides with an electrical surge. The Avenger growled lowly to himself as he undressed and stepped into the shower and under the water. As he ran his fingers through his hair, he watched the old blood run down his body and onto the shower floor.

21 Days

Once he was out of the shower and into his Shield issued scrubs, Clint stared at his reflection in the mirror for a good long while. He picked his hearing aids up off the sink counter and adjusted them in his ears. Clint now heard Natasha, Laura, and Lincoln speaking about him. 

He sighed and walked out of the bathroom, now feeling sick to his stomach because of the unsettling nerves. Laura gasped and rushed over to him to hug him. Clint was tense for a moment before relaxing and gently hugging her back. "You're okay. Thank God you're okay..." She cried in relief. 

Clint eyed Lincoln and Natasha behind her, then looked down once Lincoln motioned him over to sit back down on the bed.

Directly after Laura let him go, Clint walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, feeling more uncomfortable with every second that passed by. "I don't suppose you've had a proper examination since your rescue? It' just a short pre-op exam. No big deal."

"You're just going to find more shit wrong with m...me!" Clint jolted when Lincoln pressed the freezing disc to his chest and back to take his vitals. "You could've warned me..."

Lincoln shrugged. "It's necessary, and you're lucky Jemma isn't doing it. She kinda doesn't trust you at the moment."

"It's not my fault that I don't want you guys cutting into me soon." Clint watched as Avenger teammate unwrap a thermometer to help Lincoln finish the exam earlier so Clint could talk to Laura. Clint bowed his head and shook it slowly before looking back up at her. "Please, Natasha...not this again..."