"I never blamed you in the first place," Phil says honestly. Now he has to look away. "This is going to sound awful but I was... kind of relieved when you showed up in security footage. I thought... I thought you died when the New Mexico base collapsed."

He's not particularly proud of this fact. It's selfish and cruel. It might have been easier on Clint if he had gone down with the base. Then he wouldn't have the guilt to live with.

Phil, though, he's not sure who he would have become in the emptiness of a world without Clint Barton. "And then Nat and I started planning how to get you back."