Clint groaned as he slowly opened his eyes as the room slowly came back into focus. A blinding light stared back at him as his eyes adjusted to the small dark room.
"You are stronger than your reputation suggests Agent Barton, I'm impressed."
"Why thank you. I can't say the same for yourself though. Small broom closet with a rickety lampshade? I mean I know that the henchman's union probably doesn't pay that much, but I'm sure you can at least get yourself a working lamp…"
Clint braced himself for the inevitable blow as it struck the left side of his face. Well that one is definitely going to leave a mark. As he slowly lifted his head once more, he continued to slowly work the ropes tying his arms to the chair behind him, spitting out blood on the shoes of henchman one in front of him.
As the man in front of him growled, moving away from the agent in front of him, Clint examined the room more carefully. Does every villain seriously have a torture chamber in their basement? How cliché.
"Now now boys, that isn't the right way to treat our guest here is it?"
Ah finally, we've leveled up to the boss. Cold eyes glanced over him, slowly assessing the mark on his face and the blood on the ground.
Clint resisted the urge to shiver. Don't show any weakness Barton, they'll only use it against you.
"This is your last chance Agent Barton. Give me all the names and dates or you will wish that you were dead."
"It's definitely been a while but I swear I haven't seen Paul, Ringo and John in a long time. What was the last one's name again? I always seem to forget since everyone always chooses John or Paul as their favourite, but I really think Ringo is the underrated one…"
Henchman number two stepped forward, offering up a silenced pistol. Black gloved hands took the gun, pointing it directly at Clint's forehead.
"Any last words?"
Clint stared directly into the barrel of the gun and grinned.
"Next time you get to be the damsel in distress."
A shot rang out as Natasha spun, shooting henchman number two between the eyes. Before henchman number one could even reach for his gun, Natasha's arm shot out, knocking the henchman out cold.
As Clint untied himself from the ropes, Natasha grabbed the pistol from the unconscious henchman, handing it to Clint as he stood up. Clint checked and re-loaded as Natasha checked the hallway.
"You were the one who insisted in breaking in through the vents."
"Yeah well, how was I supposed to know that the villain of the week would actually put lasers and alarms in them."
They methodically worked their way down the hallway and back up the stairs, as they made their way through the mansion, stepping over bodies as they went.
Natasha checked the hallway before throwing a canister. They waited until they head the telltale signs of bodies slumping to the ground and the smoke to clear before continuing. "Don't you remember Budapest?"
"I thought that we agreed to never, ever mention Budapest again."
As they made their way into the study, Natasha quickly moved to remove the ornate painting off the wall to reveal the safe behind it. She placed a small silver device over the combination wheel. It whirred softly as it slowly turned, opening the safe with a click.
"Remind me to ask Toni for one of those when we get back."
Natasha raised an eyebrow at him as she pulled a small black briefcase from the safe, pocketing the device as she closed it.
"You aren't even going to be allowed anywhere near the workshop, much less any gadgets, with what you did to that."
Clint winced as he looked at wires that stuck out of his shoe. It wasn't even recognizable anymore, the remains of what used to be a frequency jammer stared back at Clint tauntingly, as he mournfully tucked it into his jacket pocket.
Well fuck, Toni is going to kill me.
"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU BARTON."
"Well, at least it's in one piece…."
"WITH DUCT TAPE. YOU WRAPPED IT TOGETHER WITH DUCT TAPE."
Clint only just managed to hold back a grin as Toni waved her arms around in the air, furiously yelling. SHIELD's weapon's quartermaster was protective of her tech, and she wasn't afraid to let every agent know it. The two SHIELD junior scientists that had just walked into the workshop slowly backed out and ran while Bruce looked on in amusement in the background.
That jerk.
Okay, to be fair this time it wasn't entirely his fault that the jammer got smashed. The mission actually started out pretty smoothly. Natasha was able to infiltrate the party and let him, Steve and Bucky in through the back entrance.
He had even managed to disable the alarms in the vents - who actually keeps guard dogs in the actual safe?
"…it took me a good week to get the calibration right on that thing…"
Clint winced as he focused back on Toni. Gorgeous. She had obviously been working in the workshop for a long time, grease stains were smudged all over her jumpsuit. Her hair was sticking up in all directions, but all Clint could think about was running his fingers through it-
"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?"
Clint put on his most winsome smile, "Well you see…"
Toni sighed as she closed her eyes, fingers running through her hair. "No, never mind. I don't want to know what happened to my poor, poor baby."
"If it's any consolation, I saw Clint actually fall out of a vent this time. He really didn't mean to break it."
Clint glared as Natasha breezed into the workshop, two cups of steaming coffee in hand. She handed one off to Bruce, still silently watching everything with amusement, while Toni's eyes widened. Natasha chuckled as Toni cradled the cup to her lovingly and took a long, satisfied gulp.
"This is why you are my favourite Tasha."
Natasha's eyes softened slightly. If Clint hadn't known her for years, and had the amazing skills that he had, being the super awesome agent he was, he probably wouldn't have noticed.
In a life or death situation, Clint knew that his partner would have his back in a heartbeat. He and Natasha have been working together seamlessly for years, and could easily communicate without saying a word. In all other things concerning Toni Stark however….
Clint almost did a double take when he saw Natasha's lips actually twitch upwards into a small grin.
Toni was chattering gleefully as she demonstrated a pretty new garrotte that doubled as a necklace, no doubt personalized specifically for the Black Widow.
"There's no way that Natasha will say no to anything that Toni wants for at least a good week. The garrotte even has a biometric scanner."
Bruce put down his mug as he turned to face Clint, eyes examining him knowingly. Clint quickly turned away to examine the jar of florescent gel that he picked up, a glowing green in the light.
"Why don't you just ask her out to dinner?"
The jar slipped from his grasp as Clint fumbled with it before setting it back onto the counter. Clint pointedly ignored the glares he could feel from across the room, but Bruce could tell that the tips of his ears were a bright red.
"I don't know what you are talking about."
Bruce snorted. "There is no other person in the world that would be stupid enough to break one of the gadgets that she makes, much less every single one just to get the chance to talk to her."
"I don't know what you are talking about."
Bruce pointed out a small pen on the table in front of them. Originally, it was a handy pen that discreetly held the same voltage as a powerful stun gun. It lay on the table clearly snapped in half.
"There is no way you 'accidentally' broke that by falling on it."
"Okay, I may like watching Toni when she goes on her rants…"
"That is the biggest understatement of the year."
"But that's it! That's our thing! I snark, she snarks. I break her things, she tries to light my hair on fire. Rinse, recycle and repeat."
Bruce looked like he was about to say something, but suddenly straightened and grinned. Clint raised an eyebrow, but Bruce shook his head, eyes focused behind Clint's shoulder. Curious, Clint gave in and turned around to look.
Agent Bucky Barnes was seated at Toni's station, smiling up at Toni as she gently examined his metal arm. She chattered away excitedly, telling him all about her newest upgrades for his arms as Bucky listened, eyes warm. It had been a few months since Bucky was rescued from the Hydra base, and only a few weeks with the new arm that Toni made for him.
In that time, it was a surprise to everyone that Bucky and Toni became fast friends. It eventually became common for SHIELD agents to find Bucky hanging out in the workshop, playing with the bots as Toni worked. They help ground each other, Steve admitted to Clint as they sparred in the training room one day. Both of them are in their heads too much sometimes, and they are able to pull the other one out of that dark space when needed.
How he somehow got invited to the exclusive Toni and Natasha brunches, I'll never know, Clint sulked to himself. Not even Steve was able to get an invite to the coveted affair…
Toni was still waving her arms and a screwdriver in the air when Bucky caught Clint watching from across the room.
That bastard.
Bucky, stared directly into Clint's eyes, smirking as he leaned in closer to Toni. They were too far to hear, but Bucky's Brooklyn drawl was inescapable as Toni lit up and burst into laughter. Bucky leaned in, whispering something in her ear as she turned a bright red.
A dark anger filled Clint's stomach as he watched, fists clenching. Steve and Bucky already stole the SHIELD pool championship. There is no way in HELL Clint was going to let him take this too.
Clint stomped over to the giggling pair, gently holding onto Toni's shoulder as he walked in front of her. Clint grasped her cheeks gently, but firmly, with both hands.
Toni blinked as she stared up at him, "What are you doing Barton?"
"You and me always make a great team together, but I think that we could be something more."
Toni's jaw dropped as her cheeks turned an even brighter red, "W-w-what are you saying Barton? Is this some sort of joke?"
Clint's eyes softened as he brushed a hair out of her eyes. "I'm saying that I like you, and I've liked you for a while now and couldn't figure out how to ask you out. You know I'm not that clumsy right?"
Toni eyes widened. "What?"
Bucky snorted beside them, "He's like the boy on the playground who pulls on his crush's hair because he doesn't know how to talk to her."
Clint glared over at Bucky before nervously glancing back at Toni. "I'm sorry that I've been stupid, but apparently when it comes to you I can't think straight. Will you go out on a date with me?"
Toni blinked, examining Clint's face carefully. She nodded slowly. "Alright, fine. One date and we'll go from there."
Clint grin split his face as he smiled back at Toni.
"But, break another one of my things on purpose, and you'll regret having me upgrade your bow Legolas."
"Deal."
"Finally."
Clint turned to look at Bucky in surprise. Instead of anger or jealousy, Clint was surprised to see that Bucky was gleefully leering at them.
Both Toni and Clint startled, as Bucky gave a whoop of joy, running out into the hallway.
"I WON THE POOL! HE FINALLY GREW A SPINE AND ASKED HER OUT! PAY UP BITCHES!"
Groans could be heard from across the hallway. Bucky wandered back into the room, holding a pile of cash, Steve following him glumly. Clint and Toni just stared Steve shuffled in guilty.
Steve looked at them smiled, "I'm so happy for the both of you-"
"He's just sulking that he lost the bet by a day" Bucky cut off cheerfully, dividing his stack in half and handing it over to Toni.
Both Clint and Steve head swivelled, staring at Toni, jaws dropped open.
Toni looked back at them and smirked, "What? If I'm a part of this pool, I figured that I should at least make some money out of it."
She fanned herself with the stack of money, grinning "Besides, at least this way we won't have to pay for our date."
Clint cackled maniacally, "I love the way you think. Coffee?"
Toni laughed as she grasped Clint's arm, waving to Steve and Bucky as they wandered to the coffee machine.
2 weeks before
"You're kidding!"
Bucky and Toni howled with laughter, as Natasha calmly sipped her mimosa. Other people glanced over at the trio, but quickly looked away as Natasha met their stares on directly.
" So during your mission in Budapest, you and Clint kissed but it was the worse thing ever?"
Natasha nodded, raising an eyebrow, daring them to continue laughing. "We tried it out, but…it was pretty awful. We agreed never to do it again and have remained friends ever since."
She looked carefully at Toni, "I know what I'm saying when I say that I'm certain that he really does like you Toni. The only reason I told you this story is so you know you have nothing to worry about."
Toni suddenly found her waffles the most interesting thing in the world. Bucky wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Don't worry doll, I've got the perfect plan to get you and Robin Hood the date and win the betting pool…"
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this short Ironhawk one-shot! I may write more in this verse if I'm inspired, but for now this one is done. Let me know what you think!