i wonder how the world sees us, an avengers fanfic

I wonder how the world sees us

Author: donutsandcoffee
Word Count: 5,906
Fandom: The Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
Pairing(s): Tony Stark x Clint Barton, past Tony Stark x Pepper Potts and past Clint Barton x Natasha Romanov
Summary: This is how everyone else will see it: Clint and Tony don't so much happen as other people don't happen. (Or, Clint and Tony, as friends, as best friends, as warriors, as lovers- and, most importantly, as themselves, even in the eyes of others.)

Warnings: brief discussion of suicide

Disclaimer: all hail Joss Whedon.

A/n: /word/ means there's strikethrough through that particular word(s). Also, always screws up formatting :

-X-

I wonder how the world sees us;
rich beyond compare, powerful without equal,
a spoiled drunk, 15-year-old waving a gun in their face.

This is how everyone else will see it:

Clint and Tony don't so much happen as other people don't happen.

Natasha and Clint fell through long before Budapest, while Tony and Pepper end when Tony almost dies for the billion-and-first time. Clint and Coulson circle each other for long, pushing and pulling but never truly embracing, and Tony and Steve, well—there has never been a sadder, funnier, and more ridiculous love story when two people are in an unrequited crush with one another at the same time.

No one dares to say anything, of course, but there's a company-wide betting pool that has reached a legendary status. Sitwell is the one running it (his money's on Clint and Bruce, if you're wondering), and practically everyone in SHIELD has a say. Coulson and Hawkeye are totally sleeping together, one group says, and another shakes their head, sighing as they argue, obviously long-overdue rebound with Black Widow.Some say, have you heard about Tony Stark and Dr. Banner, and others chuckle dismissively, please. You can see Stark and Cap's unresolved sexual tension from a mile away. No group has yet to be proven right, and it's one of those things that drive the SHIELD office rivalry, along with the Monday morning limited free coffee and Friday's Stall 3's Lunch Special.

Only one guy puts his money on Tony and Clint, and he bets quite a sum on it. Everyone thinks he is stupid.

Einstein was once thought to be stupid, too. We all know how the story went.

-X-

This is how Pepper Potts sees it:

She is rooted to her seat as the live footage of yet another fight to save the world between the Avengers and the villain-of-the-week is shown on the screen. Her hands unwittingly grip the armchairs too tightly as the camera zooms in to Iron Man, right when he is hit by a much larger robot that seems to come straight from a Transformers movie. He staggers backwards and—as if trying to tell the world that he's learned nothing from his experience—takes a risky turn and is pummeled by the giant robot to the ground. Somewhere at the back of Pepper's mind, her brain registers, Tony, don't, and I've told you not to, and, this is not the first time this happens, and before she knows it, she ends everything with Tony.

It is a bright Sunday night and Tony seems like he would rather have his arc reactor taken out from his chest (which, in hindsight, is an ironic analogy).

"Why," Tony asks, and her heart breaks from that one simple syllable. She doesn't cry, though, because crying means regret and she doesn't ,shouldn't regret a single thing; this is for the best, for her, for Tony.

"You don't understand, Tony, you're—" You're all I have is unspoken, I can't have you break my heart again, she doesn't say. Instead, she says, "I can't see you die."

Tony opens his mouth, and then closes it again. There's nothing to say. Their relationship can't continue as long as Tony keeps being reckless, and no matter how much he promises Tony will continue to be reckless because he just is.

Tony nods and walks away from her.

Pepper doesn't see him for the next few weeks, busying herself as the CEO of the Stark Industry. She does keep tabs on Tony, though, and she's heard about the man's coping mechanism: his sparring sessions and nights out with—out of all people—Clint Barton. She's always known the two men would get along—they're too alike not to—but she never expected that Clint would go this far to help Tony.

She channels some fund into the SHIELD's R&D's bow and arrow department as a silent act of gratitude. She can't be more grateful that Clint is accompanying Tony when she can't, when she shouldn't.

Little does she know, Clint would be more than just a company.

-X-

This is how Nick Fury sees it:

Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division [S.H.I.E.L.D]
Form Type: D-56A, Post Mission Report, Success
Agent: Barton, Clint
Codename: Hawkeye
Location: Berlin, Germany
Date: May 4 – May 5, 2013

Went there. Some mutated lions. Kicked some ass. Alone. The rest did something else. I was awesome.

Went there. Some robots. Kicked some ass. I was awesome.

Iron Man helped. He was being kind of awesome, too.

Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division [S.H.I.E.L.D]
Form Type: D-56A, Post Mission Report, Success
Agent: Rogers, Steve
Codename: Captain America
Location: Basel, Switzerland
Date: June 23 – June 25, 2013

[A long, detailed account of the mission, with strategies used and possible improvements, followed by:]

Special Note(s): excellent tag-team by Iron Man and Hawkeye. Iron Man launched some missiles, which activated a self-defense mechanism of the robots that involved exposing its weak points. Hawkeye immediately shot them with his precision arrows, effectively dismantling the robots.

Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division [S.H.I.E.L.D]
Form Type: D-56A, Post Mission Report, Success
Agent: Coulson, Phil
Codename: -
Location: Johor Baru, Malaysia
Date: July 31, 2013

Possible Improvement(s): The mission could do without Iron Man and Hawkeye hogging the open com; back and forth banters and running commentaries, regardless of the degree of funniness, are inappropriate and unnecessary.

Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division [S.H.I.E.L.D]
Form Type: I-5, Tech Provision/Usage Request
Agent: Stark, Tony
Codename: Iron Man

Request(s): the usage of private com between Iron Man and Hawkeye. /and you guys know that I'd just totally make one if you guys don't allow us/

Reason(s): - better strategizing means
- prevent distraction for teammates
- /seriously it's none of your business/

Status: [PENDING]

Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division [S.H.I.E.L.D]
Form Type: D-56B, Post Mission Report, Failure
Agent: Coulson, Phil
Codename: -
Location: Gaza, Occupied Territories, Israel
Date: November 25, 2013

Injuries Details:

Hawkeye

Extracted from under the rubble of a burned building at exactly 11:53:13 p.m. Left shoulder dislocated, right eye swollen, apparent first and second-degree burns. Possible internal injuries, organ damage and fractured ribs.

S.H.I.E.L.D MEDICAL
Form Type: A-3, Admission
Agent: Barton, Clint
Codename: Hawkeye
Admission Time: November 26, 2013, 03:00:23 a.m.

Diagnosis:
- Fractured jaw
- Three broken ribs
- One broken finger, left hand
- Cracked skull
- Left shoulder dislocation
- First and second-degree burns [detailed image attached]
- Swollen eye, right hand side.

Status: [Operation]

Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division [S.H.I.E.L.D]
Form Type: D-56B, Post Mission Report, Failure
Agent: Stark, Tony
Codename: Iron Man
Location: Gaza, Occupied Territories, Israel
Date: November 25, 2013

/FUCK EVERYTHING./

S.H.I.E.L.D MEDICAL
Form Type: B-13, Request
Agent: Stark, Tony
Codename: Iron Man
Date: November 26, 2013

Request: Visitation

Details: Request to visit Room 561 of Agent Barton, Clint.

Status: [REJECTED]

S.H.I.E.L.D MEDICAL
Form Type: D-23, Trespassing
Date: November 28, 2013

Tony Stark was found sleeping in Room 561, on a chair at the side of Agent Clint Barton. Evidences suggest that Mr. Stark had been staying in the room for a couple of days, presumably since Agent Barton's admission. It's possible that Mr. Stark has overridden the security system such as the electronic door and CCTV cameras, and was hiding in the toilet every time SHIELD Medical's operatives entered the room.

Mr. Stark refused to move out from the room and had to be dragged out by force.

S.H.I.E.L.D MEDICAL
Form Type: E-72, Unforeseen Circumstances
Date: December 19, 2013

Event(s): Verbal and physical fights between Tony Stark and Clint Barton in hallway of Wing 3, in front of Room 561 and 562.

Details(s): the reason of the dispute is yet to be clear, although it may have involved the two parties' latest mission and the resulting admission of Barton to the medical.

Transcript of a part of their conversation (as heard by several eyewitnesses) is as follows:

[Stark]: I don't give a flying fuck whether you can make a better shot if you were standing there; if it's a fucking burning building, you fucking run away from it—

[Barton]: Excuse me, genius, I saved your motherfucking life—

[Stark]: I didn't fucking ask for it, did I—

[Barton]: What do you want me to do—

[Stark]: Your life worth so much more than mine! [pause] You shouldn't have— I can't… I'm not worth saving.

[Barton]: Fuck you. Just—fuck you. What makes you think your life isn't worth saving—

After this exchange, Barton stood up from his wheelchair and punched Stark. The dispute dissolved into a physical fight.

Special Note(s): Hawkeye showed significant improvement regarding personal safety—reported positions and plans of attacks, did not go off the grid unless requested.

Excellent tag-team between Hawkeye and Iron Man.

Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division [S.H.I.E.L.D]
Form Type: I-66, Tech Provision by Stark Industries

Item(s): 23 new prototypes of arrows. Details are attached.

Status: [APPROVED]

-X-

This is how Phil Coulson sees it:

When he is assigned to babysit Clint Barton, it isn't the best day of his life; it isn't the worst, either, but it definitely could have been better. Barton ignores protocols and writes his reports half-assedly, and throughout the year he teaches Phil that there are at least five different kinds of headaches.

When he is assigned to babysit Tony Stark, Phil learns that there are seven more kinds.

He figures nothing can be worse.

(After getting stabbed in the chest by a god after provoking said god, you would've thought he had learned not to tempt fate.)

He should've known something was wrong when Clint walked past him in the hallway on his way to his office. Fun fact, Phil's office is right at a corner, and no one should be passing by him on that hallway unless the person was from his office.

Phil is in a hurry for a meeting with Director Fury and Lieutenant Maria Hill, though, so he figures he would check later, and decides to ignore Clint's wink.

Phil grabs his laptop in the office, gives his office a few seconds inspection—nothing out of ordinary in sight, at least—and immediately rushes to the meeting room. He's never late, and this perfect track record is something he never wants to tarnish.

He arrives five minutes early, and is in the middle of turning on his laptop when Fury and Hill enter the room.

BANG. BANG. BANG. BOOM. BOOM.

Suddenly, there are loud sounds of gunshots and bombs, as if they are suddenly teleported in the middle of a battlefield. Phil doesn't jump in surprise (because he's motherfucking Phil Coulson, damn it), but he very nearly does. Hill, on the other hand, does jump in surprise, stumbling to her side.

Director Fury is always a calm man with a plan. He's also a man with a gun.

So while Phil simply has a silent, mini-heart attack together with Maria Hill, Fury takes out his gun and pulls his trigger three times at the source of the noise.

Which happens to be Phil's laptop.

There's a moment of silence as Phil stares at his laptop, now sporting three new bullet holes.

"What the heck was that?" Fury finally says, voicing out everyone's thoughts.

"I'm not sure, sir," Phil says calmly, but inside he's mourning the lost of his favorite laptop, and listing down all the changes in data that he hasn't synchronized with SHIELD's main data bank, "I was simply turning on my laptop…"

And then, everything clicks into place, and he feels a new kind of headache strikes his head because: Clint Barton. And not just Clint, because Clint is absolute shit at any form of technology that doesn't involve 1) missions, or 2) entertainment. So this situation immediately points to one other specific person: Tony Stark.

He can't help the "Jesus" that slips from his lips, because, really: Clint Barton and Tony Stark are working together. As a group. As one. Collectively.

His life definitely does get worse.

(The next day will be known as the Great Prank Day of SHIELD that everyone except Clint and Tony refuse to talk about. It involves leather gloves, cats, Clint's favorite crossbow and top hats; but most importantly, the event marks the day when everyone realizes that, like it or not, Clint Barton and Tony Stark now work together as a team.

The following day, Phil Coulson takes his first leave after 32 years working for SHIELD and buys the first ticket to Portland. He deserves it.)

-X-

This is how Thor Odinson sees it:

There are a lot of them. These robots may not be as big as the ones they usually fight, but they are fast, and even though Thor is pretty sure his lightning can deal a significant damage to them, the lightning must first, you know, hit them.

The robots look more like what his Mirgardian friends called 'cars', except smaller. They barely make any sounds as they turn, evading everyone's attacks and launching small exploding projectiles that are harmless in small amount, but potentially harmful at this rate. Even Hulk starts to slow down, which is never a good sign.

Everyone fails to land a hit on them. Everyone, except Iron Man and Hawkeye.

It's not that surprising, once he thinks about it. Hawkeye always lives up to his codename and reputation that he never misses, and Iron Man has the help of that electronic thing they call 'computer' and 'JARVIS' (which, Tony has assured, isn't actually a man trapped inside the suit and/or the walls of Stark Tower).

So after a few good minutes, everyone begins to realize that they should leave the fight to the two men. Natasha's first ("Hawkeye, I'm going to sit this one out"), followed by Steve ("Everyone except Iron Man and Hawkeye, step aside"), and soon they are at considerable distance from the scene of the fight, observing closely just in case anything gets out of hand.

"You're okay with that, Hawkeye, Iron Man?" Steve talks to the open com.

Even though he's meters away, Thor can practically see Tony's smirk as he says, "oh, ye of little faith."

And Thor can't take his eyes off what happens next:

Tony flies low, facing one side, and Clint hooks the arm that's holding onto his bow on Tony's left leg, facing the other side. The archer tugs once, as if testing his grip on the Iron Man's suit, and when he's done he looks up at Tony.

"You ready?"

"When you are," Clint says, and without any further warning, Iron Man flies upwards, carrying the archer with him.

After that, the sound is deafening. Tony starts shooting all forms of projectiles available in his suit, while Clint starts using his exploding arrows, now that he's feet away from the explosion. One by one the robots explode around them as Tony revolves slowly, making sure he doesn't miss any of the robots, and Clint keeps guarding his back, making sure to cover Tony's blind side as best as he can. This goes on for what seems like an eternity, and more, and then it's reduced to sporadic shots, and then everything is silent.

Seemingly satisfied, Tony laughs, locking his other ankle around Clint's lower back. Clint looks up, equally smug expression on his face, and Tony laughs even louder and doesn't let go, and doesn't go down.

And Thor has never seen more glorious warriors, hanging over the battlefield with the sun shining on them and victory on their faces, and as the sun sets, Tony doesn't let go, and they watch each other, and Clint doesn't let go, either.

-X-

This is how Steve Rogers sees it:

He cares about Tony a lot.

Don't get him wrong; he cares about all the Avengers, of course, but if he has to be honest, he cares about Tony a little bit more. He can even go so far as to say that he cares about Tony as much as he cares (he cared, stop thinking about them in present tense) about Peggy and Bucky, and it surprisingly has little to do with the fact that Tony is Howard's son.

Knowing Tony, though, the feeling is unlikely to be mutual.

So Steve tries his best not to act on it, and when he fails at that (he blushes too easily, for a start) he tries not to be obvious about it. And if someone realizes that he purposely puts Tony at the safest position in every mission and always makes sure that Tony never has to go near the fight unless it's really, really necessary, no one dares to point them out yet.

Tony isn't socially inclined, but he is not socially backward, either.

Tony catches on when they are having an impromptu spar in the gym, Tony's close combat skill still amateur at best and Steve pulling his punches.

"Rogers— Steve," Tony says in between pants, throwing a weak punch that Steve easily dodges.

This latest attempt at punching gives Steve an opening to hit Tony's side, but he doesn't. Instead, he says, "what?"

"Are you—" an uncoordinated swing, "—pulling—" another weak punch, "—your punches?"

Steve freezes at the question, and Tony stops moving, eyes wide in shock.

Steve doesn't—can't—meet Tony's eyes, so he stares at the arc reactor instead. It's glowing beneath Tony's white wife-beater, and Steve's eyes follow its fast rising and falling movement—Tony's stamina has a lot of room for improvement—as he mumbles, "I."

"I knew it," Tony grits his teeth, obviously insulted, "I knew you weren't serious. Why aren't you? No, wait, don't answer that, it's a rhetorical question—of course the Great Captain America should not waste his energy on one weak man—"

"No!" Steve immediately says, "no, I. I don't think you're weak at all. I just," I just don't want to hurt you, he doesn't say, but it hangs in the air anyways, in that space between them.

A humorless laugh escapes Tony's throat. "—I was so blind," he chokes, "should've realized ever since you asked me to keep watch around that—that monument thing? The one that looks like a constipated chicken, fuck art, that thing looks ugly as hell—anyways. Guarding constipated-looking chicken stone instead of shooting hostile aliens with a dozen poisonous horns? Is that—is that your idea of protecting me, Rogers?"

Steve doesn't know what to say. He contemplates making up some stupid excuses, but before he can come up with anything, Tony's expression just shuts down, and his voice devoid of any emotion as he spits out, "well, you know what, fuck you, Rogers, because don't you ever dare fucking pitying me—"

Surprisingly, when the target doesn't move, Tony gives a mean left hook.

(Steve actually faints. Because of surprise more than anything, but faints nonetheless.)

When he regains consciousness, he's lying down on one of the gigantic sofas in their common room, a bag of ice at his already-starting-to-heal swollen right eye and Natasha sitting at the other sofa.

It takes Steve a few seconds to phrase his question to make it sound less insulting. He settles with, "why are you… here?"

"Clint told me everything," she says, as if it explains everything.

One logic gap, though. "How did Clint know—"

"Here," Natasha stands up and gestures to the lift, "I'll show you something."

Despite his confusion, Steve keeps all his questions to himself and follows Natasha in silence. The lift goes all the way down to the basement, where the gym is, and even from afar he could hear the sounds of people sparring.

As they get closer, he can see that the people are Clint and Tony, and his stomach drops slightly at the sight; Tony is, for the lack of better words, getting beaten up. It's clear that Clint, trained on the street and later on by SHIELD, has the upper hand in close combat fights and, unlike Steve, Clint is not holding himself back at all. The archer kicks and punches with shocking agility, and all Tony can do is dodging, and even at that he's somewhat failing.

Steve believes this is the appropriate time to use the word 'getting owned.'

Clint gives an impressive uppercut, and Tony finally falls, bruised limbs sprawled on the mat. Steve's first instinct is to approach them, but he stops when—much to his surprise—Clint proceeds to lie down beside Tony, legs facing the other side of the mattress, their heads almost touching.

There's a moment of silence before Clint laughs out loud and declares, "Stark, you suck."

Tony taps Clint's head lightly, affectionately, and laughs, too. "Shut up. I can create a robot that can punch you into oblivion."

"You still suck," Clint replies and Tony taps his head again.

"And what was your job again? Oh, yeah, to make sure I don't suck, so on that basis, you also suck."

Clint makes a non-committal sound. "Tomorrow, same time?"

Tony turns his head to the side, possibly to hide his smile from Clint, but not so much from Steve. His eyes are clinking with laughter as he says, "yeah, sure."

And Steve gets it.

Despite the obvious difference in skill, Clint always treats Tony like an equal, never pulls his punches, never looks down on him. And Tony appreciates that, more than Steve realizes, because Tony may have a thousand-and-one issues but being weak is not one of them, never one of them. Clint notices this, possibly unwittingly, because Clint is the one most often subjected to condescension, being the only human surrounded by super soldier, god and mutants, and he can recognize indignation in Tony's eyes faster than anyone else can.

Steve can only give the two a small smile at the revelation.

Natasha chooses that very moment to offer him some kind of secret ailment for his swollen eye, and as they walk away, the gym is still filled with Tony and Clint's voices, Tony and Clint's laughter, echoing and ringing through the air.

-X-

This is how Natasha Romanov sees it:

All of Clint's friends will one way or another become hers, just like hers will become his; so Natasha got to know Tony Stark years ago as a figure, a target, a temporary employer and later on teammate,, but Natasha becomes Tony Stark's friend after all that.

The realization hits her as she swirls her glass of vodka, Tony and Clint arguing on who has the best pickup line. She catches herself smiling not only at Clint's cheesy pickup lines ("I may be the best marksman in the world but you hit me square in my heart" is one of them, and god knows why she used to date him), but also at Tony's persistence that 'Hi, I'm Tony Stark' is the most effective pickup line ever.

She's never one to react immediately on anything, so she merely ponders this revelation as she observes the pair, giggling at each other like a bunch of five-year-olds. Friends with Tony Stark, huh, she tests the idea and decides, could've been worse.

Coulson will be disappointed in her, though.

As the night goes on, Clint and Tony—unsurprisingly—end up having a competition on who can get the most numbers. It's past midnight now and Tony has gotten seven (five girls, two guys) while Clint has only gotten six (all girls).

The smug look on Tony's face immediately disappears when a man suddenly offers Clint a drink.

"Alfred," the man says, offering his hand.

Clint takes it. "Barton, Clint Barton." He waits a few seconds for the moment where recognition fills the other man's face, but the look never comes, so Clint repeats, "Clint Barton. Oh, god. You've seriously never heard of me?"

"Can't have everyone know you by name, buddy," Tony suddenly approaches them, his hand on Clint's shoulder almost possessively.

"Sorry, all of my friends say I live under a rock," the man—Alfred—shrugs, a light blush spreading on his cheeks and, yeah, okay, Natasha admits he's quite cute. But the show starts when Alfred turns to Tony and says the Three Words Tony Has Never Heard in His Life: "And you are?"

Clint coughs into his hand, a pathetic attempt at feigning laughter. Tony, on the other hand, makes the sound of a strangled cat and looks like someone has just stabbed him and twisted the knife. Multiple times.

"Tony Stark!" He almost shouts, indignant. "Head of Stark Industries, the Iron Man himself? You can't be serious, you've never heard of me before?"

"Can't have everyone know you by name, buddy," Clint grins, patting Tony's shoulder, "now if you please, I have some things I want to talk about with Alfred here."

He won't admit it, but Tony definitely stomps towards Natasha like a child whose toy has been taken away.

"Ignorant… uninformed… bastard," he grumbles, drinking his glass empty, and then orders another one.

The rest of the night spent with Clint talking to Alfred, occasionally laughing, and Tony stealing glances at them. The billionaire may have tried his best to hide it, but Tony isn't exactly the epitome of subtlety, and when Clint lets out a hearty laugh and Alfred's hand lands on Clint's lap, Tony looks visibly hurt.

Natasha pokes his arm.

Tony visibly jumps, and she can't blame him. They might be friends, but she can still kill him with a toothpick.

"When are you going to act on it?" She asks, because she's never the one to beat around the bush.

Tony, on the other hand, is the master of beating around the bush. Tony can beat around the bush and gets paid, so it's no surprise when the man raises his eyebrow and says, "act on what?"

She sighs. "Whatever," she takes a sip from her drink, "but remember, if you hurt him, I'm going to kill you."

Tony opens his mouth, but doesn't say anything. He closes it again, steals a glance at Clint, and something in his eyes soften. "I'd die before anything could."

Natasha presses her glass on her lips, contemplating the answer. She thinks of Tony, Tony and his myriads of issues, Tony and his self-esteem as low as Clint's, and says, "don't hurt yourself, either."

A small smile plays on his lips. "Nah," he says after a long pause, "he won't let me."

Natasha takes another sip. She has just thought, yeah, definitely passed the friendship test, and when Natasha Romanov considers Tony Stark to have passed her friendship test, yeah—she needs that drink. And more.

The things she would do for Clint.

-X-

This is how Bruce Banner sees it:

Tony talks about suicide, and then he doesn't.

Being Tony Stark, of course, he never actually, you know, talks about suicide, because Tony Stark is a man wrapped with layers of snide remarks and extravaganza, hoping that people would be too distracted by the spectacle to see the person he truly is.

Bruce Banner knows a thing or two about seeing past the spectacles.

Tony sometimes jokes about it—see, I told you I could make it, let's see if they're still going to talk about how useless I am, he would joke; but his eyes, layered with insecurities, would betray him. Other times, he mentions it in passing—maybe it's better if I'm not around, he says, right in between did anyone change the position of my favorite mug and hey, can you pass me that coffee bag.

And the thing is, Bruce understands. He understands what it feels to realize that you may probably have done more harm than good, that maybe the world would be a better place without you. But on the other hand, he doesn't, because Bruce's guilt is a product of his self-awareness, but Tony's self-esteem (or lack of it) is something his father has imposed on him.

It's one thing to think that you're useless, and another to have someone you care shoves it to your face.

So Bruce stays silent, ignores Tony's comments and yet keeps his eyes on the other man, just in case.

The change comes so gradually that Bruce doesn't really notice it.

It all dawns on him when Tony excuses himself one night to sleep, and his brain almost short-circuits because Jesus did Tony Stark just go to sleep on his own free will?

"Who are you?" He can't help saying, albeit good-naturedly.

Tony laughs, "just—Clint told me most of the times I look like a zombie, okay? And he says I should sleep more, and—well. Yeah."

It's not everyday you see Tony Stark run out of things to say.

But the most interesting variable here is, of course, Clint Barton. And now that Bruce thinks about it, Tony has been talking about Clint a lot these days, their conversations and plans, how Clint teaches Tony survival skills and how Tony needs to make this special arrow and armor for Clint—

Oh. He should've realized it earlier.

"All right, all right," he says, returning back to his chemicals, "good night."

"Good night, buddy," and with that, Tony is out of the lab.

Tony talked about suicide, and then he doesn't. He doesn't because for once, someone truly understands him, not like Steve, who views Howard Stark in a completely different light, not Bruce, who only gets a glimpse of what Tony truly feels; but Clint, whose father has done as much damage on him as Howard has on Tony.

Tony talked about suicide, and then he doesn't. He doesn't because Clint has given him a purpose in life, a reason for Tony to stay alive other than self-preservation instincts.

Tony talked about suicide, and then he doesn't.

Tony didn't talk about Clint Barton, and then he does.

-X-

Ultimately, collectively, this is how the Avengers sees it:

It's Friday evening, which means it's their unofficial movie night where somewhere along the line it's been decided that Clint is the one cooking, because one day they found out that Clint makes the meanest beef lasagna, and they team soon found out that Clint makes the meanest anything.

So when Tony enters the common room, Clint is tossing a lemon into the air, his eyes following its movements before catching it and driving his knife into the rind.

Tony smiles as he takes in the sight before calling out, "hey, Clint, don't you dare forget about the—"

"The extra chili, yeah, yeah," Clint says without looking up, "I still remember the incident—"

"Five months ago! That's some good memory you have there, I know we don't keep you around for nothing, well except for—"

"Can you please stop bringing that up? Oh, and speaking of, have you read—"

"That latest update? Yeah, really didn't expect that, I expected that thing—"

"That I told you, you know, and god, I—"

"Hey, it's fine, no one has expected it either, and it's not your fault, okay? And I'm not saying this just to make you better, okay, I'm not your therapist; from a completely objective point of view…"

Tony trails off as he realizes the whole room has gone silent and now everyone is staring at them with mouth agape. (Natasha doesn't gape, of course, but one of her eyebrow shoots up until it disappears into her hairline, and that's Natasha-equivalent of gaping.) He steals a glance at Clint, who looks as confused as he is, and stares back at the shocked team.

And suddenly, Thor bursts in laughter. At that, Steve and Bruce start chuckling, and before they know it, everyone is laughing out loud, and even Natasha snickers; Tony and Clint just give them a confused look, but everyone gets it, they just do, and if Tony and Clint take longer time to get it, it's okay. They can wait.

-X-

And this is how everyone sees it:

Contrary to popular belief, SHIELD still celebrates major holidays.

So when it's the 4th of July, naturally, there is an office-wide celebration, complete with hotel reception and buffet. Other than the fact that the Avengers attend this event, and that everyone in attendance knows five different ways to kill someone with a mechanic pencil, it actually looks like a normal office party. This may come as a surprise to the new recruits.

However, the real surprise this year doesn't come until the evening; Bruce is trying his best to explain the nature of independence and 4th of July, and why England and USA are no longer at war today to a confused Thor, who actually doesn't care much about the reasons as long as he has the opportunity to party; Natasha is engaged in a light-hearted debate with Maria Hill and Phil Coulson on whether curtain or flour is the easiest to kill people with (don't ask); and Clint is teasing Steve by wishing him happy birthday for the umpteenth time today when Tony just walks up to him and kisses him.

The room falls silent before everyone realizes what's going on; and then, there's clapping and cheering. Steve blushes deep red, but Clint and Tony are too busy with their task at hand to care.

Arthur Jones has never been happier in his life. Ever since he became a SHIELD agent a year ago, his relationship with his girlfriend has been rocky, as the starting salary for SHIELD operatives are not as high as he's expected. He's always wanted to propose to her, but her parents wouldn't approve their relationship until he at least owns an apartment.

But now, with his winning money from the bet, he would have enough money to buy an apartment for them to live together, and he may even have some left to buy her the ring. All because his wild guess that Tony Stark would end up with Clint Barton, out of all people. Technically, he's indebted to them.

He knew he shouldn't have hated Tony Stark for catching him playing Galaga during his first day of work.

-X-

This is how Tony Stark sees it:

What they have is easy, uncomplicated. A little too simplified, a little too surreal, where they can do their best in protecting each other in the field instead of watching the other die, where Clint stops being reckless for the sake of Tony, where Tony does something stupid and Clint understands instead of tolerates. It's a little too perfect, a little too easy.

Tony can live with easy. Tony practically invented easy. And don't even get him started on perfection.

-X-

(This is how Clint Barton sees it:

Tony.

And Tony is all he needs to see because Tony is everything he needs; Tony who sees him like an equal, who sees him as if he is worth something, who makes him believe that he is worth something. So yeah, all he sees is Tony, and that's enough.

He should know, he's the greatest marksman in the world after all.)

-X-

A/n: hope you enjoyed it! Yes, Arthur Jones is the guy who played Galaga in the movie, we refer to it as Galaga Guy and I have extensive headcanon about him.

The prank on Phil is actually taken from a YouTube video, and yes, it's funny as hell in real life.

Also, I realized that Clint hanging onto Tony's leg = his back burnt by the fire from the repulsor-thingy that the Iron Man uses to propel himself after I wrote that scene, and come on, the scene looks quite cool, can we just suspend our disbelief for a little while? Yes? Good.

The part where Tony and Clint has the conversation-that-no-one-understands is inspired by HIMYM; it's one of the things that Marshall and Lily, a.k.a the perfect couple, do.

Title's coming from this random song I found on the internet called Long, Long Ago (I think). The song is quite obnoxious in my opinion, don't look it up, but those lines, god.