When Two Worlds Collide

### Clint Barton, Laura Stone, Natasha Romanoff

When living 2 separate lives, the most important thing is that they never meet. Up until now, Clint Barton had been doing pretty well at it.

When he was first recruited by Shield, being an agent became his whole life. Not having any family left, he chose to put all of his energy/ attention into becoming one of Shield’s top agents. Hawkeye - world renowned assassin.

Clint soon found out that once he got to the top, there was nowhere left to go, and it was lonely up there. Everyone else who was at the same level as him had also gotten there by not foolishly trusting others.

Clint’s solution - buy a farm. He found a small rundown farm in an isolated community where he knew no one and no one knew him.Well, he didn’t know them persay, but he had done extensive background checks on every single individual in a 1 hour radius of the place.

With the help of Nicholas Fury, director of Shield, a man who trusted even less than Clint, they basically eliminated the community from existence. Ashcroft county no longer existed to the outside world, and Clint’s new identity came to life.

Ashcroft county was a tight-knit community that did not trust strangers, which Clint was used to and honestly preferred. When they saw that the young city man had bought the old Jensen farm with the intention of fixing the place up, they cautiously welcomed him.

Clint quickly learned that fixing up a run-down house and barn took a lot more effort than he had originally anticipated. He was too proud to ask for help, besides he was more comfortable on his own, he didn’t have to be on guard for as many potential threats. Despite his protests, the town’s people lent a hand. It was a new experience for him to be around people who trusted and depended on each other. Clint couldn’t remember the last time he had …

While the town’s people might have grown to trust Clint and accept his story that he was here to escape the busy day-to-day of citylife, returning periodically for work, CLint was still wary of them. It was so ingrained in him to never let his guard down, he wasn’t sure he even could anymore. Even after several months, in the small, quiet community, it still felt like an undercover operation.

All that changed the night he fell in love. Laura Stone was the daughter of a cattle rancher. The Stones had pitched in when he was doing renovations, and he had seen Laura around a number of times when he had gone into town for groceries. He had even talked to her before, but this was different.

Clint wasn’t sure why he had even come to the community barbeque. While he liked the town people, he was also well aware of the dangers of getting too involved. He was standing off to the side when Laura came over to offer him some blueberry pie. Despite Clint not being a big fan of blueberries, he accepted the pie, and the two struck up a conversation that ended with her promising to bring some blueberry jam.

The rest is history, as they say.

Whenever Laura asked about Clint’s work or his past, or anything about him really, he managed to steer the conversation in a different direction and Laura accepted that he was starting over.

By the time Clint realized he had fallen in love, it was too late for him to change things. Other agents, spies, and assassins had families out a life outside of work, it wasn’t unheard of, but he had never attempted it before. After a talk with Fury, assuring that his life, Laura, and anyone else who might join their family one day no longer existed. He grad a knife any other threats (or even allies)

His lives stayed separate for almost two years. He continued to be a skilled and sought-after agent in one life, while being a young farmer, recently engaged in his other. A knock on the door one night changed everything.

“Who’s coming over at this hour,” Clint grumbled as he paused the movie he and Laura were watching. Laura laughed, but Clint’s .. was up, but none of his many alarms had been tripped. Probably just a neighbour.

“Might be Mrs Jennings on a baking spree again,” Laura .. “I’ve got it,”

“Hello?” The surprise and question in her voice caused Clint to come to full alert. He grabbed the knife hidden under the coffee table, and silently approached the doorway. He heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the young red head leaning against the door frame.

“Clint, you never told me just how gorgeous she is,” the woman said, nodding at Laura. Laura, in turn, looked at Clint in shock.

“You know her?”

Clint ignored Laura’s question, not sure how he was going to explain this one. Everything had been going so well. Too well, in fact.

Addressing the woman in the doorway, he asked,

“How’d you find this place? I specifically remember not giving you my address.” Despite his annoyance, he was slightly glad to see her.

The young woman raised an eyebrow, “And you thought that would stop me?,” focusing on Laura, she added, “Nice to meet you, I’m Nat, and I’ve heard lots about you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Laura responded automatically, but the look she gave Clint told him he’d have lots of explaining to do. But first, Clint had to deal with Natasha.

Since recruiting her to Shield, or rather giving her a choice between death or joining, the two had become excellent partners. In fact, it wasn’t long before all their non solo missions were with each other. Strike Team: Delta.

Natasha knew he had a place off the grid, but had never asked for more details. Similarly, Clint didn’t ask about Natasha’s safe houses. Their lives outside of each mission did not after the other.

It must be quite a problem for her to risk coming here. On top of all that, she still hadn’t moved from her position of leaning against the doorframe, or as Clint now saw, letting the door frame support her weight.