Say My Name
Strawberry Waltz A/N: Hey guys, this is another wonderful collaboration between me and the lovely Lou-deadfroggy. Its from our "Barton and Banner" Universe so you might want to check out our other stories.
Barton and Banner Walk Into A Bar (my profile)
Barton and Banner Go To Alaska (her profile)
… …
They were backup on this mission, but the kind of backup that needed to be ready at a moment's notice.
Clint was a little sad that he was put on Hulk duty. He liked action. Hell, Hulk liked action too. When Banner had transformed it was clear to the whole team Hulk was unsure why he couldn't smash anything.
It was sort of cute – a confused Hulk. His big green face all wrinkled up. Head tilted ever so slightly to the side in question.
Freaking adorable.
So here Clint was, babysitting a big green giant, trying not to get smashed in the meantime. At least it was well established that the Hulk favored the archer (and the tin can also called Iron Man) out of the group.
Which ultimately was the reason Clint was on the sidelines in the dark with a rage monster at his side.
The trees were thick enough that Hulk was blended in rather well, and the rock/cliff Clint was perched on made for a nice gap between him and the green giant.
"Sorry, big guy, you'll have something to smash soon." Clint reassured Hulk lightly, legs dangling over the edge of the ledge overlooking the Hulk and the compound in the distance the Avengers were in the process of taking down. "I hope." Clint added under his breath.
… …
Hulk looked at Clint, not sure why he couldn't smash something. He wanted to smash something. That was what he had come to do, right? That was what Hulk did when Banner wasn't around. Hulk looked at the stone Clint was sitting on. Would Clint mind if he smashed that?
Hulk told Clint he was bored by pounding his fist into the ground and leaving a large dent. He wanted to smash something. He couldn't smash Clint because Clint was nice. Clint was nice to Banner and Clint was nice to Hulk. Clint didn't make a lot of noise either; Hulk didn't like it when people made noise at him. Hulk was going to smash the people who made loud scream noise at him. Tony made noise but he made quick noise, not scream noise. Banner liked Tony's noise and made the same noise back.
Hulk had done some thinking now and he was still bored. He hit the ground again but it didn't smash in a very satisfying way.
"Smash!" he told Clint in case he hadn't got the message. If Hulk didn't smash something soon he would fall asleep and then he would be Banner again and not able to smash anything at all. Hulk really wanted to smash something.
… …
Clint nearly fell when Hulk smashed his fist into the ground, causing a mini earthquake. His heart stumbled for a minute and his eyes moved from the compound to his green teammate.
"Hulk." He groaned. Clint was very aware the big guy wanted to smash something, but by smashing the ground he was risking giving away the operation.
"Hawkeye, what the heck is going on?" Steve's voice sounded over the comm.
"Hulk wants to smash." Clint responded easily, and then looked at his green companion. "I'll distract him."
"See that you do, another tremor like that will raise suspicion." Steve scolded.
Glaring in the general direction of the Captain, Clint sighed and shifted his attention back to the Hulk.
"I'm sorry big guy; the Cap says you have to wait." Clint tried to explain to the creature. Then a thought occurred to Barton. "Do you know who that is? Captain America's real name?"
Not long ago Clint learned that the Hulk knew his name. During a rather nasty vacation in Alaska.
… …
Hulk cocked his head as Clint spoke to him. He wanted to know if Hulk knew a name.
"Clint," Hulk said and pointed a finger at him and beaming proudly. Hulk knew Clint's name, he had tried to get him to wake up when roaring hadn't worked. Hulk had tried very hard to learn Clint's name and say it like Banner did. He could say Tony's name too, if Clint wanted him to. Hulk tried to think of all the names he could say.
"Tony." He thought a bit harder. "Bet-ty."
Hulk wanted to make Clint pleased so he tried to say Banner's name. Clint liked Banner.
"Ban-er." There was something else, one more name Hulk could say.
"Mom."
… …
Clint's smile grew as the big bad Hulk started listing off the names he knew. A bit of pride swelled within him when the big guy picked his name first.
His heart nearly exploded with swelling emotion when Hulk said 'mom.'
Back after the whole Loki disaster Bruce had told Clint about his mother and how they had been very close. It seemed like all the people who meant something to the Hulk were on the list. It felt good to be a part of it, but there were others that should be added.
"What about the redheaded girl, Black Widow? Can you say Natasha?" Clint asked curiously. Nat and the Hulk hadn't exactly gotten off on the right foot, but their relationship was getting better. He no longer growled at her for no reason.
Thor was another story. Thor and the Hulk were forever punching buddies.
The Captain wasn't exactly one to have a conversation with the big guy; mostly he just gave out orders. Shockingly Hulk obeyed them. Though Clint had no idea why. Maybe Hulk just liked smashing.
… …
Hulk growled quietly when Clint spoke too fast. Hulk didn't like it when Clint made fast noises. He was talking about someone else, someone Hulk knew. Red. Hulk knew Red. Hulk remembered trying to smash Red because Banner was angry with Red. Hulk liked Red; she was tiny but smashed things. He didn't try to smash Red anymore.
"Red?" Hulk asked. That was what Clint meant, he was sure. Clint and Red smashed together. Clint and Red were a small team inside the big team. Hulk thought about the team. Tony, Clint and Red were in the team. Banner was also in the team and so was Hulk. Hulk liked being in the team because the team didn't make scream noises at him or try to hurt him. Hulk decided that he wanted to know the names of everyone in the team so he could wake them up like he woke Clint up in the cold.
There were two more people in the team. Hulk liked to smash them because they got back up. It was fun smashing things that got back up because Hulk knew that they didn't mind being smashed so much. Hulk wouldn't smash Red because he didn't think she would get back up. Hulk thought that Clint wouldn't like it if he smashed Red.
"Clint Red," he said firmly. Clint and Red were one thing in his mind.
… …
Clint blinked when Hulk growled, then nearly did a face palm. This wasn't like talking to a very educated Bruce Banner. This was like talking to a disgruntled kindergartener.
He smiled again when Hulk said Red. That must be what he thought of Natasha as. It was a good nickname, he'd tried it once. Got punched in the nose for the effort.
"Yeah, Red. Red is Na-ta-sha." Clint spoke slowly, hoping the big guy would understand. He smiled brightly, waiting for the big guy to react. Hopefully not by smashing something.
… …
Hulk stared at Clint, confused. Why did Red have two names? She wasn't like Tony who was sometimes Tony and sometimes Iron. She was always Red. Still, if Clint wanted him to call her something else then Hulk would try. Red had a very hard name to say though.
"Na-at-a," Hulk said. He didn't like long words. Clint was a short word and only took one move to say. Tony, Betty and Banner took two moves to say. Hulk liked his own name because it only took one move to say. Red's name was too hard to say. He didn't understand why he couldn't call her Red because that was what she was.
"Na-at-a Red. Red," Hulk repeated. He would call her Red even if Clint wanted him to say something else because Hulk wanted to smash things not spend time saying Red's name.
… …
"Mm," Clint frowned thoughtfully. "Well, that's close." He praised Hulk. "How about you just call her 'Nat' okay?" The archer suggested nicely. "Red, Nat." He repeated so the big guy would understand.
He smiled brightly, feeling good about his success. Natasha would flip if the Hulk called her Nat randomly. He grinned brighter. "Okay, how about Thor?" Clint considered for a moment what Hulk would call the god. "Thunder man. Thor." Clint tried.
… …
Hulk knew Thor. Hulk smashed Thor but Thor got back up. Hulk laughed when he smashed Thor and didn't smash him very hard.
"Thor," he said. He had said it right like he had said Clint's name right. Hulk was pleased with himself. He was worried though. Now he had lots of names to remember and he didn't want to forget them.
"Clint, Tony, Bet-ty, Thor, Red Nat, Ban-ner, Mom," he reeled off and clapped his massive hands together proudly. He had remembered them all. Hulk still felt like there was someone missing though. Someone who told Hulk where to smash.
… …
Hulk just had one more name to learn. If Clint wasn't afraid of the big guy accidentally breaking his arm, he'd teach Hulk how to high five.
"Great job, big guy!" Clint cheered happily. "You nearly have them all. Just one more." He held up his pointer finger and then did his best Captain America impression as he points towards Hulk. He couldn't say 'smash' because there was no doubt in his mind Hulk would just start destroying things. "Who points at you? Captain America."
Clint took a second, relaxing back in his natural stance for a second before he stiffened up again and looked at Hulk. "Steve." Clint slouched again, wondering if that was easy enough, or if he needed to go with Cap, instead.
… …
Hulk looked at Clint and decided that he had been smashed in the head at one point. Clint was doing very strange things. Hulk didn't understand why Clint was pointing at him like Star did. Star pointed at Hulk and told him to go and smash. Hulk thought that maybe Clint wanted him to go and smash now.
"Hulk smash?" he asked curiously. Hulk wanted to smash something and he would like Clint a lot more if he let him go and do just that. Maybe Star had told Clint he could go and smash. Star was usually in charge and told them what to smash. Hulk grinned. He was going to smash things now.
… …
"No!" Clint nearly fell off his rock in effort to show the Hulk not to smash. Okay, pretending to be Cap probably wasn't the best idea. "No smash, not yet."
When Hulk didn't immediately destroy something Barton heaved a sigh of relief. Okay, how could he get Hulk to understand? Settling back down on his perch Clint thought to himself carefully.
"Steve." Clint said suddenly. Looking at the big guy. "You know, the annoying guy that tells you to do things. Steve." He said it slow enough, but he wasn't sure if his green companion would understand.
… …
Hulk sighed and sat back down. Clint didn't want him to smash yet. Hulk wanted to smash but he wanted to get all the names right first. Then he would smash and he would be better at smashing because he wouldn't smash the wrong people.
Hulk frowned. Star told him what to do. Maybe Clint meant him.
"Star?" he asked. "Star smash." Star smashed but Star made sure that no one got smashed who was not going to hurt him. Star was good but not very good at smashing. Hulk was good at smashing but he didn't look for tiny people. Hulk looked for friends only, he smashed everyone else.
Maybe Star would let him smash. Star had told him to smash before. Hulk liked Star because Star let him smash.
… …
Clint couldn't help it, he laughed. Star, that was perfect! "I love it!" He told Hulk, realizing the big guy might not appreciate Clint laughing, he might take it the wrong way. Still grinning broadly Clint gave Hulk the thumbs up. "Star. Yes. Star is St-e-v-e." Clint slowly pronounced the rather short name.
… …
"Steve," Hulk said. At least Star had an easy other name unlike Red. Now that he knew all the names Hulk got up to go and smash.
"Hulk smash," he told Clint in a matter-of-fact way. Just then Clint's talk box went off and Steve's voice said something.
"Steve, Hulk smash?" Hulk asked loudly. He really wanted Steve to say yes and let him go and smash things.
… …
"Was that the Hulk?" Steve asked in Clint's ear just as Hulk spoke his name. "Did - Did he just say my name?"
Clint chuckled. "Yeah Cap, he wants to smash. Is it alright for him to go smash now?"
There was a short pause before Steve responded. "Yes."
"Okay!" Clint announced, standing. Resuming his best Captain America impression, the archer pointed at Hulk and mocked Steve. "Hulk, smash!" And then he pointed in the general direction of the compound.
"Clint, how does Hulk know my name?" Steve inquired carefully; as if he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.
Clint jumped off his ledge and landed gracefully on a tree branch not far down. "Well, I had to keep him entertained somehow." Clint smiled over the line.
… …
Hulk roared and ran towards the things Clint had said to smash. It felt good to be running and smashing. He reached the place where he had to smash things and grinned at Steve as he passed him.
Red Nat was smashing things too and Hulk knew that Clint would be there soon to help her. Thor was in the sky smashing things with Tony as Iron. Hulk was happy he was smashing things with them all now that he knew all the names.
"Smash!" And that was what he did.
… …
Lou-Deadfroggy A/N: Please just take a minute to laugh at the expression on Natasha's face when Hulk randomly calls her Nat. It took me a bit more than a minute to recover from that.
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