Howdy. I abandoned this account for two years. I have nothing else to say for myself.
I'd like to apologize in advance for some of the language in this. Nothing too bad, but Clint and Tony both have a potty mouth so it was bound to happen. I was inspired to write this when I saw this picture of Clint and Steve that went like this: "You just punched out a lion!" "Not too different than a horse." "You've punched out a horse!?" And I just had to do it lol. I think it might be from the comics so this won't anywhere near match that. But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!
Disclaimer: It's been two years, and despite my attempts at ownership, I have failed yet again.
"I can not believe you actually made me do this." Steve drawled out. A hint of a Brooklyn accent made itself known through his disgust. Clint barked out a laugh; bits of graham cracker flying out into the night air and into the fire in front of them from the s'more in his mouth.
"You're America's Golden Boy, you're suppose to love nature. Besides, weren't you in the boy scouts?" Clint spoke, melted marshmallow and all still in his mouth, and Steve grimaced at the sight.
"That was back in my teenage years. And I almost died from the pollen," Clint merely grinned at the statement.
"Yeah, well," He began, licking off the goo on his fingers. "You got the serum now. Nothing's holdin' you back from enjoying this lovely night." Steve simply sighed, leaning forward on the log to capture more of the heat radiating from the fire.
"'Least the view's nice," He commented, and Clint had to agree with him there.
"At least Stark isn't here," He pointed out and Steve huffed out a laugh. It was supposed to be a weekend camping trip with all of the Avengers. Clint's idea, of course. Nothing quite like nature to help them all bond.
But Natasha wasn't interested. Thor had business to attend to in Asgard and Bruce well, he wasn't a nature lover. Didn't want to take the chance of The Other Guy showing up. And Tony, well.
Tony was an ass.
Faked being sick.
And then there was Steve.
Poor, innocent, too-nice-to-say-no, Steve.
And that's how they'd ended up deep in the forested heart of Montana.
"I still don't know why you brought that along," Clint said suddenly as he pointed towards the log opposite of him where the light of the fire was reflecting off of a certain metallic disk. Steve shrugged.
"Better safe than sorry," He said softly, a boyish grin on his face and Clint rolled his eyes.
"Always the Man With a Plan," He muttered, reaching back into the marshmallow bag for more sugar. Popping one in his mouth, he started to stand. "I'm gonna' hit the hay now; we got a big day ahead of us tomorrow," Clint pointed out, even though they'd only be fishing.
"Yeah, a big day of trying to not let you tip over the boat again." Steve deadpanned as Clint began walking away.
"That was one time, man!" He yelled back as he climbed into the tent, hearing faint chuckling as he did so. No need to relive that mission they'd both gone on undercover. He didn't bother zipping up the tent before he crawled into his sleeping bag, knowing Steve would hopefully head to bed soon.
He sat back up on his elbows, glancing out to the fire and seeing Steve. "Hey, Cap," He called out, watching as Steve turned around. "Don't forget to put out the fire this time." He smirked as Steve rolled his eyes and turned back away.
"Go to sleep, Clint." He settled back under the covers, raising two fingers to his forehead.
"Aye, aye, Captain."
Clint woke up to a faint chirping and rubbed his eyes with a wince.
Hawkeye waking up to the sound of birds chirping.
Thank God Stark wasn't here.
He glanced around the small tent, noticing Steve was gone. Momentary panic fluttered in his brain but then he remembered what an early riser Steve was, and it currently looked like late morning. Getting up, he also noticed his need to relieve himself.
Stepping out of the tent he looked around but found nothing out of the ordinary; save for one missing super-soldier.
Sure that Steve was most likely fine, Clint headed out into the woods to take care of his needs, twigs snapping quietly as he went along the path. Birds chirped cheerily and the bright sun reflected off of the foliage around him. Clint nearly rolled his eyes.
While he was definitely one to appreciate the little things -in this business, you had to-, this just felt almost like something out of those Hallmark movies Pepper was always watching.
A couple minutes later, he headed back to their campsite, whistling a cheery tune. He hoped Steve would be back from whatever the heck he was doing so they could start breakfast and head out to the lake. The sooner the better, given the look of the clouds abo-
Snap!
Clint froze.
His breath hitched in his throat, cutting him off mid-whistle as he cautiously looked around. He spotted some rustling off to his left, and suddenly wished he had his bow and arrows. Glancing to the side, he noticed some bears cubs scratching about in the leaves and sighed in relief.
He could deal with that.
And then, he heard the grunt. Tensing once more, already on high-alert, he turned his head around and his heart sank.
There stood, on all fours, a great big Mama Bear.
She was pawing at the ground, eyes focused solely on threat that stood between her and her cubs. Him.
He jerked around, breath hitching in his chest this time as he forgot how to breathe. Panic flooded through his veins as his head jerked up to meet her eyes. And suddenly, he wasn't in the middle of the woods camping.
Suddenly, he was back in the middle of a circus. All eyes on him as he stared down a Grizzly. People cheered and laughed at the little boy in the arena. He was no longer an archer nor a trained assassin turned superhero.
Instead, he was just a scared little kid, facing down one of the worst moments of his childhood. And he'd had quite a few of them.
His hand instinctively went to his side, feeling the raised skin where several scars lay. Bite sized scars. His throat went dry as she raised her head, following that action by standing up like a human.
She tiled her head and never had he felt more vulnerable than this moment. She huffed out a snort, eyes burning and he merely stood there; frozen. She began to charge and suddenly he knew; this was it.
This was how he was going to die.
It was his childhood all over again.
God, wasn't the world a cruel, ironic place?
He braced for the impact as best he could, when suddenly, two things happened.
He heard someone shout his name, followed immediately by a metallic clang.
The bear roared deafeningly as Captain America's shield bounced off her neck and Clint suddenly wished he could take back his quips about Steve bringing his shield along because thank God for the Man With a Plan.
Clint reacted immediately, relief that flooded over him suddenly replaced with utter horror as the animal turned towards where Steve stood.
"Cap, get out of there!" He shouted, but it was too late.
Steve was tackled to the ground with a loud oomph as he collided with the forest floor. A loud roar and growl reverberated through the otherwise suddenly quieted timber, followed by several grunts as Steve tried his best to free himself.
Clint didn't know what to do, still reeling with adrenaline and shock he called out Steve's name over and over as he hovered by helplessly. Dust filled the air as the struggle continued, and Clint searched helplessly for Steve's shield; unsure of where it landed after it hit the animal.
He was jerked back to reality, abruptly, with an agonizing scream erupted from the struggling body beneath the bear. Clint looked up just in time to see the creature pull it's paw back up; a mess of blood and Steve's shirt hanging off of it's claws. He gagged as the smell of blood filled the air around him, swallowing past the bile rising in his throat.
His desperation to find the shield grew even heavier as he was unsure whether or not Steve was even breathing anymore after that last blow.
The sun reflected off the silver star and never was Clint so grateful to see the cliche colored weapon in all of his life.
Grasping at it, he didn't hesitate before throwing it as hard as he could with a yell of fury when he spotted the limp, bleeding form. Steve had saved his life and damn it, if he wasn't going to do the same.
The blow was enough to knock her off and to the side, slightly dazed but not as stunned as Clint was. Running over to where Steve lay, he watched as Steve struggled to get onto his knees before reaching his full eyes.
And in wide eyed amazement, he stared as Steve drew his arm back; delivering a massive blow to the side of the animal's head, before all but collapsing onto his face.
That was enough to get Clint to continue running to his teammate's side but holy crap, Captain America just knocked out a friggin' bear. But said man was now also bleeding out onto the dirt floor of the forest after just saving Clint's life and that was a very, very sobering thought.
"Hey, hey, hey," He breathed, turning Steve onto his back to see his eyelids flutter. But that wasn't what made his heart drop. No, it was the four deep, long gashes on his chest bleeding out a crimson river. "You with me?" He questioned, and Steve merely blinked up at him.
"Cl'nt?" He mumbled, and Clint nodded.
"Yeah, pal, it's me. How about we get you outta' here before Mama Bear decides to come back for round two, yeah?" He asked though he left no room for discussion, as he hauled his friend to his feet; wincing at the groan that emitted from Steve's lips.
He immediately began half dragging, half carrying him back to the campsite; bending swiftly to hook the shield on his own wrist. "You with me?" He questioned again, glancing only briefly at the taller man that stumbled beside him. He didn't get an answer. "Hey!" He barked out and Steve jerked at the close ranged yell.
"Wha'?" He murmured and Clint partially wondered if he was just delirious from the pain, blood loss, or if the bear had hit something deeper.
"Stay with me, soldier," He commanded, quickening his pace. Steve didn't respond, so Clint tried a new approach. "Dude, I can't believe you punched out a grizzly bear," He stated, but didn't get an answer yet again. After a few moments, he heard a faint whisper.
"Not mu' diff'rent than a horse," He offered and Clint shook his head in bewilderment.
"You've punched out a horse?" He asked incredulously.
"'S a long story," He declared weakly and Clint shook his head. Relief momentarily filled him as they made it back to the campsite and he immediately led Steve to the logs by the ashes of what used to be a campfire.
"Stay here," He murmured, mostly to himself, as he helped Steve to the ground by the log; a pained grunt eliciting from his lips. He immediately ran into the tent, shield still on his arm, and grabbed his phone. He checked the reception bars and breathed out a sharp curse.
Immediately he pressed the silver button on the side of his cell phone, for once grateful that Stark had added an emergency feature to all of the Avengers' phones that required no cell service. Taken out of his thoughts by an all too close and an all too loud roar, Clint froze.
Oh God.
Not hesitating a moment more, he tucked the phone into his pants, grateful once more for the GPS located in the battery so Stark could find them, and yanked Steve up off of the ground. Barely suppressing a wince at the sound he made.
At least now he seemed to be more alert and more aware as the shock and initial pain wore off. Clint continued to haul him away from the campsite, twigs snapping and leaves rustling that all too well gave away their location.
"I hate the outdoors," Steve muttered and Clint barked out a sharp laugh.
"Well, hey, I promise I'll never take you camping again," Clint offered with a grin. "And just think," He huffed, nearly tripping over a log that lied in their path. "You'll have one hell of a scar to brag to the team about." Now it was Steve's turn to breathe out a laugh. Another distant roar filled the air and Clint winced. "I think you pissed her off,"
"I wasn't the one about to get mauled," Steve threw back and Clint rolled his eyes.
"Says the guy who actually did get mauled." He muttered. And that's how they spent the next few minutes, running -though on Steve's part he mostly just stumbled- for their lives through the woods in the middle of Montana on what was supposed to be a weekend vacation.
But listening to the strained breathing coming from the man beside him, this was sure as hell not a vacation. A faint whir filled the air above him, before a loud thud echoed in front of them.
"I can't let you boys go anywhere by yourselves," Came the tinny voice of Tony Stark standing in front of him in the Iron Man suit and all it's glory. The voice was that of an amused disappointed parent, but with hidden notes of worry.
"Ha, ha, hilarious. Thought you were sick?"
"Turns out all I needed was a good night's rest and a bottle of scotch." Clint rolled his eyes. Ass. Tony flipped his face plate up and Clint could now see the actually creased lines of worry on his forehead. Ah, so a caring ass at that.
"Now I hate to break up this lovely little reunion, but Cap's clothes here are turning about as red as my uniform," Clint numbly looked down, now noticing just how much blood Steve had lost.
And he was silent now as well, and looking up, he realized Steve had passed out. He breathed out a curse. "What happened to you guys?" Just then a much louder -much closer- roar rumbled the earth around them and Clint uttered another swear word.
"Mama Bear happened. Now can we cut the chit chat and get the hell out of this place?" He growled, and this time Tony didn't have a snarky response. He flipped the face plate down and gather both Clint and Steve up under each arm.
Clint didn't even have a moment to prepare, before he was rocketed into the sky above away from the forest below.
Clint never wanted to see Montana again.
In fact, if he never ventured into that part of the country again, he'd be perfectly content.
For now, though, he just paced the hospital halls back and forth and back and forth and back and forth-
"Clint, sit down." Tony commanded suddenly from his position on one of the chairs, wearing civilian clothes. He'd changed once they got back. Clint hadn't. In fact, he was still wearing the same blood-drenched clothes as before.
Had gotten quite a few looks for that, including a concerned question from Tony who had thought it was Clint's. It wasn't. Clint merely offered a glare in response to Tony's statement now. "That wasn't a question, Barton."
"Screw you."
"I'm touched, but I don't swing for that team. Besides, you look like you're about to keel over any second," He stated and Clint glared at him once more, before grudgingly taking a seat. A few beats of silence went past, before Tony spoke again. "He'll be fine, you know. He didn't survive all those years in ice just to be taken out by a brown bear."
"Grizzly,"
"What?"
"Nothing," Clint murmured. Truth was, he figured Steve would be alright. But what if he wasn't?
Then Clint was just sitting here doing absolutely nothing about it.
He was on his feet and moving once more, and this time, no one said a word.
A laugh erupted from the couch next to him, and Clint glanced back just in time to see a head of blonde hair go back against the edge of the couch. Natasha sat next to Steve, legs curled up beside her and practically on Steve, as a smirk played on her lips from whatever she'd just told him.
Bruce sat in a nearby chair, and Tony and Clint stood in the kitchen, preparing the popcorn for their annual movie night.
Well, technically movie nights were supposed to be on Thursdays and today was Tuesday, but they had a pretty good excuse.
It was Steve's first day out of the hospital, and no one really wanted to leave his side, so what better way to not have to do that than a movie night? Clint moved into the living room of Stark Tower to plop down on the cushions next to Steve, just as his laughter was dying down.
"You telling jokes about me, Nat?"
"Not you. Tony," Bruce piped in and Tony placed a hand over his heart as he entered the room; placing a hand over his heart.
"I feel betrayed. That's it. I'm leaving. And to think, I slaved over this hot meal for you," Tony said and Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Shut it, Stark," She said, simply.
"Besides, it was more me than you." Clint added and watched as Tony feigned a wound to the chest.
"Argh. You see that? Your little comments are killing me. J.A.R.V.I.S? Make them keep their smart ass comments to themselves."
"I'm afraid that isn't a part of my system, sir." The A.I. responded and Tony rolled his eyes.
"Well, remind me to add that later,"
"Yes, sir." Clint frowned at the almost amused sounding robotic voice. He glanced to the side to see Natasha explaining the summary for the movie, and Steve lapping it up as he tried to understand it all. Clint absorbed the heat radiating off of Steve, and thanked God once more for this moment because it meant they'd survived.
And as the beginning credits for Star Wars rolled on, Clint grinned and leaned back on the way too soft couch.
They were so never going camping again.
Leave a review if you'd like ;) Always love getting those. xo xo