Chapter Text
"A kid?" Clint let his hands fall from the ready position they had previously been in when the occupant of the heavily guarded room turned out to be a small boy who couldn't be older than 9, huddled in a pile of rags, violently shivering. He looked terrified half out of his mind and was bruised almost beyond recognition.
"Hulk won't smash baby," Hulk sounded distressed as he rejected Clint's earlier directions to 'smash anything that moves.'
"Yeah don't do that please."
Hulk nodded and began to turn a lighter shade of green, shrinking slightly.
"Wait- hang around a sec, " Clint grimaced and took a step closer to the shivering boy "we don't know easily we'll be able to get out of here." Hulk nodded and went outside to stand guard, aware that he wasn't the best man for the job when it came to the gentler stuff.
Clint signed as Hulk left and then put a soft smile on his face.
"Hey, my name is Clint," he slowly approached the boy setting his bow and quiver down in favor of not frightening the poor child more than he clearly already was. "What's yours?" The archer came to a stop a few paces away from the boy's cot, and sat down with his legs folded, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible.
Despite his efforts, a vehement expression of distrust overtook the boy's face and his body language shut down. The shaking stopped immediately and he set his shoulders, suddenly looking years older than he possibly could have. Small fists balled at the thin blanket covering his lower half.
"Well, if you don't want to talk to me, that's okay. I'm good at talking to myself. It would be easier if I knew who you were, though." The boy remained unresponsive so Clint continued. "See the thing is that you can't stay here. The people who were in this base before, the ones who probably gave you those bruises? They're not here anymore and I think I can bring you to a place where you would be much more comfortable. What do you say to that?"
The boy stared straight at the wall, completely unreadable. This unnerved Clint a bit to see such discipline on someone so young.
"Right so, I'm gonna come a little bit closer so I can check you out okay? I have a friend who is a doctor who can come out if he needs to." Really, it probably wasn't a good idea to bring Bruce out, given how emotional he gets when confronted with obvious signs of abuse, especially in children. But Clint was at a loss. The impossibly small boy was so visibly injured but refused to talk to him. If necessary, Clint could forcefully bring him back to SHIELD, but he was extremely reluctant to do so and risk traumatizing the child any further.
Clint scooted close enough that he could reach out and touch the boy if he wanted. Instead, he just rested his hands on the edge of the cot and fiddled with the frayed edge of the blanket. "Look, I'm gonna be honest with you, kid," he started. That seemed to get the child's attention, and he looked up, staring at Clint with wide but deeply wounded brown eyes. "I don't really have a choice. I have to bring you with me otherwise my boss will be on my ass knowing I left a kid alone in the middle of Afghanistan. But you seem like a pretty reasonable kid. Do you think you could make it easy for me to at least find your parents once we get back?" The kid looked confused at the mention of parents but Clint breezed past it. "Trust me kid, you will be in the most capable and safest hands in the United States if you help me out. We'll make sure they can't hurt you anymore."
The kid looked wary but turned towards Clint and seemed to be more open to suggestion. He frowned then and then gestured to his throat before pointing to his mouth again and shaking his head. The kid was mute!
"You're mute?" A nod from the kid confirmed it. "Well, let me tell you a little secret if you promise not to tell anyone. I'm actually mostly deaf in both of my ears. I use hearing aids to help me hear, but I had to get really good at reading lips and speaking in sign language. Do you know sign language?"
He shook his head and Clint sighed. "Well, you can still understand what I'm saying. Can you walk?" At another shake of his head, Clint sighed again. "You're pretty banged up, aren't you kid? Regardless, we gotta get you outta here, so I'm gonna bring my friend Hulk in here now okay? I can't carry you on my own but he can. Now, he's a pretty big guy and he's an uncomfortable shade of green but he's a friendly so there shouldn't be very many problems. Is that alright with you?" At the kid's agreement Clint called Hulk in and they made their way back to the quinjet they arrived in.