Angel (A Clint Barton Love Story)

I hadn't cried in a long time before that day. Everything I'd been through, all the pain and hurt at being Half-Angel and Half-Human, none of that compared to the thought of Clint dying in a Hospital bed.

I stayed in the warehouse, curled up in a ball and sobbing silently. If only. If only I was a pure Angel, I could have healed Clint then and there, without a problem. And even if I hadn't been able to, with the kind of closeness I'd had with him recently, I'd have had a connection to him. I'd have been able to feel him in my mind.

As a child, I often heard my mother talk about a 'connection' with my father. She told me it was something special, that she had because she was an Angel. She told me it was something nobody could break. She told me it was a connection she gained because of how much she loved him. It was a connection that most Angels never experienced.

I wiped my nose on the sleeve of my uniform, staring at the concrete floor of the warehouse through bleary eyes. I wasn't in love with Clint. I hadn't known him long enough. I'd known him what... Four weeks? And two of those he'd acted like he'd hated me. I wasn't in love with Clint, and we didn't have a connection. We didn't have that 'golden thread' that my mother had described once.

I was confused though. Shouldn't I have felt something? Clint and I had slept together. Thinking about it, he'd been my first. Didn't that account for something? Didn't anything in this hybrid, mutant body feel something about that?

Apparently not.

That was when I started to scream. I screamed, past the roof, past the skies, in the vain hope that someone in Heaven could hear me.

"Don't you dare!" I roared, past angry, hurting tears, "Don't you dare let Clint Barton die, you bastards!"

I screamed until my throat was raw, and I could hardly breathe. I screamed until my head span and my legs turned to jelly. When I couldn't scream I collapsed into a heap, pounding the floor with my fist, internally cursing myself. I wasn't a Human. I wasn't an Angel. I was a pathetic, weak mix of the two. I was an accident. I was a mistake.

Angel-Human breeding was incredibly illegal in heaven. Usually punishable by death. Instead, my mother was exiled to live out her life here on Earth, and she was told that she would never be able to regain her position as a highly prestigious Angel. Me they never bothered about. They never expected me to live past my first year of infancy, let alone become an adult.

Nevertheless, whether I had surpassed Heaven's expectations or not, I was still weak. I was still a snivelling mess, reduced to sobbing uncontrollably on the floor of a warehouse in New York City. I was no Angel. I was pathetic.

I stayed there, wallowing in my self pity and self hatred, until Fury found me, several hours later. I didn't even notice him until he was only a few feet from me.

"Barton's going to pull through." He said softly, kneeling beside me. I slowly raised my head to look at him. His one good eye, which was usually stony and stern, was currently filled with the most empathy I'd ever seen on a Human. "He's awake, and asking for you."

"I can't do this, Fury." I croaked, my throat still hurting from my earlier outburst to the Heavens. "I can't protect people. Clint could have died."

"The same thing would have happened had it been you or any other Agent." He explained gently.

"That's my point. If I can't heal people, if I can't use Angel powers, then what separates me from any other Agent out there, other than my wings?"

He took a deep breath, before trying to explain.

"I believe that you are more of an Angel than you think, Kane. I believe that there's a part of you; a dormant part, that could save all of us. You just need the right push to get it out there."

"Clint nearly died, Fury, and I didn't do anything."

Fury shrugged, getting to his feet. "When the time is right, Kane. When the time is right, you're going to be able to pull out some serious Angel mojo crap on us. Trust me."

I stared at him uncertainly, and he held out a hand.

"Now do you wanna sit here and feel sorry for yourself for another five hours, or do you wanna go see Agent Barton, and help me save the world?"

I thought about it. He was right. I'd been able to do things like hear prayers when I was younger, so what was stopping me from doing it now? After a couple of moments deliberation, I took Fury's hand and stood up, feeling my wings unfurl and stretch.

"Which Hospital is Clint at?"

Notes