Just want to clear up some possible confusion:
Chapter 13 - Clint was 8
Chapter 14 - Clint's now 9 years old
Chapter 15 - Still 9
Chapter 16 - 10
I'm not sure about how I want to do the ones after that, but I'll make that clear when writing it.

Unrelated but the title of this chapter came cause I was listening to Spotify and this song started playing. Cough cough AoS season 7 episode 7 Deke Squad...

The audience cheered wildly as Barney and Jacques pushed off stage to the back area. There they dropped their cheery smiles, mostly being for the show anyway. While stepping away, a dirty juggler bumped into them. Barney accidentally dropped the blade he was holding and dropped it onto the grass.

"Graceful," Steve muttered under his breath.

Clint repeated, "Graceful."

His smirk was met by an identical one by Jacques. The Swordsman had a very interesting smile, Natasha noticed. There were no teeth actually missing, but as crooked as they were, one got caught on his bottom lip. Barney turned red, almost matching the color of his hair.

"Shut it, smartass. That ain't gonna carry you very far in life," but then again, we won't get far in life by default. Barney finished the last part in his head. Although, Clint was pretty smart; he'd probably known all along.

Jacques playfully smacked Barney's shoulder.

Clint suddenly turned around and ran back. Barney and his mentor barely spared him a glance, just thinking that he was a weird ass kid. Which in a way, was a hundred percent accurate.

The real reason he'd went back was because Clint felt a little overwhelmed. There were just so many performers leaving with them, enclosing all the nearby exits. Clint didn't even know why he panicked; he'd never had this problem before. It just seemed to be a strange habit picked up randomly.

Maybe it was from hanging out with Jacques too much. Clint would always try and tell his brother how suspicious he was; but he insisted upon nothing being off about the Swordsman. It did nothing to suppress his nerves at the sight of Jacques holding a sharp knife within his range.

Barney just continued to spend his time with him. Days blended together. His skills drew more accurate and precise. He'd completely lost track of time. The kid didn't even remember his own brother's birthday:

September 7th.

That was today. And Barney hadn't even said the two most important words of the day. Clint usually only had two people tell him, happy birthday, including only one alive person.

Natasha realized now why Clint had always wished her a happy birthday. He'd always felt like it was important, even after she'd been in SHIELD for only a few months, being considered an enemy of the organization. The redheaded spy couldn't tear her eyes away from the newspaper littering the ground near her feet, and she stared at the numbers and letters projecting the date.

It was almost like Clint could hear her thoughts, as the scrawny boy bent over and grasped the paper between his small fingers. The ghost of a smile lit up his face and his hollow cheeks glowed a rose colored red.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUDDY!" The sudden yelling came from behind Clint, but he didn't even flinch. Instead, he whipped his head round until he finally located the source, which was definitely not his brother, but another friendly face whom he'd come to admire.

Annie's eyes glittered like a thousand stars. Just the happiness in them was enough time make Clint widen his eyes in shock and his jaw dropped. Somebody remembered before Barney had? That was... Odd.

"T- thanks...! But how? You- I mean... Remembered? When?" Clint's words barely formed a coherent sentence, but nothing could tarnish Annie's grin. Her teeth showed, and Clint saw the radiating whiteness.

"You told me awhile back, and I marked it down." She finished for him. Then, Annie directed Clint towards the big performing tent again.

The crowds were already starting to thin, mostly young kids dragging their parents to get cotton candy or more popcorn for the ride back home. There was still quite a lot of people there though. Whatever animals were used in the show tonight were also gone too, being taken back to their cages by their trainers.

"What are we doing here?" Clint asked in one breath.

Annie shrugged and grabbed his hand. Leading him over to the stage podium, she said, "It's big and open. And we've got a cake!"

"Really? But where, I- I don't see it?" Clint questioned, while his lips thinned into a frowny face.

Annie pointed at a poster on the wall. It was for the trapeze artist's act, and even had a picture of Annie, Eddie, and a few others. Also shown was the bars and rings and other accessories. Her finger was directly above Eddie. "Did you wonder where he was tonight?"

It dawned on Clint that he hadn't seen him all day. His mouth formed a small 'o' shape.

Clint also realized-- there were four people in the world who'd wish him a happy birthday, three alive. Maybe some care more than they let on.

"Everyone has a heart, ya just gotta look for it sometimes."

Clint sat down on the podium and kicked his legs back and forth. Annie was 'bout to take a seat next to him, before she remembered about the equipment she'd left above them. She'd only realized now from the image on the poster, seeing as it was nearly a perfect replica.

"Oi, Clint! I'll be right back; just need to go get something I left up there," She exclaimed.

But then, Clint got to his feet in a heartbeat and pushed past her. This is my chance, he told himself, to thank her properly! I have to go retrieve the stuff.

It was almost like Annie could read the running kid's mind, and she reached out for his arm. She caught him and they struggled momentarily, before he finally shrunk away. His small size was finally working as an advantage!

"Clint, no!"

"Clint, yes!" Clint traveled to the ladder and braced himself. He wasn't necessary afraid of heights, but the sound of being so high up didn't sit well inside his stomach. Especially when said ladder was a rickety, metal with rust crystalizing on the sides. Being at least a decade old and used every day, the bars were very fragile.

It was hard to climb even for Annie or Eddie, and they had more experience and balance.

He gulped and gave himself a pep talk, "Ookay, Clint. You're about to climb a tall very-much unstable ladder. On your birthday. In a circus tent. When there's only one other person around. No wait-- focus on the positives.

"Nine year olds are supposed to be brave, and nothing excludes you from that lot... Yeah?" Clint took a deep breath and put a foot forward to test the weight.

The ladder didn't move.

He put another foot up on the first bar and moved the first above it shakily onto the next. Only about twenty left to go, he thought.

Annie's voice echoed from somewhere behind him, but Clint wasn't listening anymore. His ears only picked up on the occasional creaking from the ladder.

"Cap," Tony started, "Bet you a hundred bucks right now that birdie can't fly."

Steve smirked. "He's not going to fall." Then he eyed Tony's raised eyebrow and added, "I'm 'bout to make some money."

Halfway there... Annie stopped shouting frantically a few numbers ago.

Her heart nearly stopped beating once when Clint had pulled his hand away sharply. Turns out it was just a spider, but still. Annie could only rest once the kid was safely at the top, with the platforms support-- which was about...

Now. Clint had successfully scaled the ladder somehow.

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