Clint had been on a mission when it all went down in D.C. with Steve and Nat and that Sam guy and the Winter Soldier. When Steve and Nat finally returned to Avengers tower, dragging Sam along with them, Clint saw a huge difference in Steve. He was at once happier and sadder, and he looked more determined than ever.
Clint perched on the countertop in the kitchen while Steve and Sam - who'd become an honorary member of the Avengers - talked about how they were to get the Winter Soldier back. "Well, now that SHIELD no longer exists, I'm out of a job," he said, "so let me know if there's anything I can do to help." Steve thanked him and Clint went back to eating his bagel.
For months Clint passed along to Steve any whispers he heard, but not much progress was made because they didn't know where to start and Bucky - the Winter Soldier - whoever was more than experienced at hiding his tracks. It seemed unfathomable that they should fail, but somehow they weren't succeeding.
And then, about six months after the events in D.C., he just showed up. They were sitting the living room, just talking, when JARVIS casually said, "Captain Rogers, you have company downstairs." Steve looked bewildered, and JARVIS added, "I believe it's Sergeant Barnes."
Everyone froze. It was almost comical, really. No one knew what was going to happen now, but every single one of them felt that Bucky's arrival was a catalyst, that everything was going to change now.
Clint later laughed with Natasha about Steve's reaction. The man in question bounded to his feet and sprinted straight past the elevator doors and into the stairwell, where he jumped downstairs a flight at a time. Reaching the bottom, Steve cautiously pushed open the door, suddenly afraid of what he might find.
Bucky stood in the middle of the Avengers Tower lobby, fully armed, but mostly managing to appear awkward as he looked from person to person. The whole lobby was frozen, staring at the ex-assassin standing in their midst.
Then Bucky's eyes found Steve standing near the entrance to the stairwell and he noticeably relaxed. "Steve?" he asked.
Steve's face broke into a huge grin. "Bucky?"
Bucky suddenly started walking quickly toward Steve, prompting everyone else in the lobby to jump in fright and shock, but neither Bucky nor Steve seemed to notice. When Bucky finally reached his friend, he dropped to his knees at his feet, pressing his head against Steve's hipbone. "I'm so sorry," he choked out, each word sounding harsh and guttural.
Steve knelt beside the ex-assassin and pulled him into a hug. "Not your fault, Bucky," and Bucky sobbed tearlessly into Steve's chest for a few moments. Steve slowly pulled Bucky to his feet and over to the elevator, wanting to get him out of the prying eyes of the somewhat-public as soon as possible. They took the elevator all the way back up to the Avengers' common floor, and Steve gently guided Bucky out of the elevator. "Introductions now or later?" he asked quietly.
"Now, please," Bucky said after hesitating a moment.
"Okay," said Steve, "This is Natasha, the Black Widow, Clint, also known as Hawkeye, Sam, the Falcon, Bruce, who sometimes transforms into the Hulk, and Tony, resident billionaire and Iron Man. Our last teammate, Thor, is currently off-world, but I'll introduce you when he comes around. Finally, the lovely lady over there is Pepper, Tony's girlfriend and CEO of his company. There are a few others that you might see around, but as they don't live here, we'll have to wait until next they are here for me to be able to introduce you to them. And, of course, you know me, Steve Rogers, Captain America."
Bucky just nodded, looking mildly overwhelmed.
"You look tired," said Natasha, "maybe you should take a nap before being given the grand tour."
Bucky looked at her again for a second and squinted. "I know you," he said.
Natasha nodded. "You do. You know me as Natalia. I'm ex-KGB and you helped train me in the Red Room. You also shot me about 20 years back."
Bucky blinked. "I...missed?" he asked.
"Only barely," she answered. "It wasn't me you were aiming for. I was assigned protection detail on a nuclear engineer. He was your target. You shot him through me, barely missed. They didn't send you after him again, though, so maybe they thought you'd succeeded."
Bucky blinked a few more times, still staring at her in shock.
"Well, as long as we're doing life stories," Clint butted in, "My mom died when I was real little, and dad was abusive to me and my brother, so we ran off to join the circus, I learned how to shoot a bow and arrow, became a mercenary for a bit and then got recruited by SHIELD, got assigned to take down Nat, decided to bring her in instead, became partners with her, then the Director of SHIELD, Nick Fury, started putting together the Avengers Initiative in case we'd ever have a serious threat to fight against, and last year, Thor's brother, Loki, got tortured, went off his rocker, and decided to use an alien army to try and take over the earth, using me as a pawn in the process by possessing me, causing me to fight with him, against my teammates, and tried to make me kill Nat, and then we ultimately defeated him, and before we were even done with cleaning up we found out SHIELD was actually HYDRA, which wasn't fun for either Nat or I, or a few of our close friends, so basically, I know what mind-control is like, what being forced to kill people is like, what being forced to fight for the other side is like, and if you ever want to talk about any of that, I'm your guy."
Bucky stared at him for a few moments, his mind processing the mass of information Clint had dumped on him before - "I always wondered why we were sharing life stories."
Bucky and Clint stared at each other and then Clint took a few quick steps forward and pressed his head into Bucky's chest, wrapping his arms around the ex-assassin. "I'm so sorry," he gasped out, arms tightening briefly. He could only imagine what sort of horrors Bucky had seen; Natasha almost never talked about her life, but some of the snippets she'd let slip had given him nightmares for weeks.
Bucky's arms slowly wrapped around Clint's back. "It is I that should be apologizing," he said quietly.
"You weren't you. It wasn't you. You were just following orders. You couldn't've disobeyed. I don't blame you," Clint instantly defended him.
Bucky sighed in relief, a little bit of the burden of the lives he'd taken slipping off his shoulders at the knowledge that his soulmate didn't blame him. He tucked his head into Clint's neck.
Bruce, Tony, Pepper, and Sam left quietly, giving the two some privacy. Natasha stayed, being protective of Clint, and Steve was in shock, so he just sank into the couch next to her. "What?" he managed.
Natasha snorted. "Please, Rogers, it's obvious. They're soulmates."
"I never thought I'd meet my soulmate," Bucky said suddenly. "I'd killed people even when I was still Bucky Barnes and not the Winter Soldier, and I thought I was damned then. Now, I'm...I'm...you should run from me, from the monster I am."
Clint pressed himself tighter against the taller man. "Why the hell would I do that?" he asked, his voice rough. "You're my soulmate. I deserve happiness with you."
Bucky choked out a sob. "Please just know you can leave," he begged.
"I know," Clint said, voice calm again, "but I won't."
Natasha cleared her throat, prompting Bucky's body to automatically tense and step between her and Clint.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "You don't have to worry about me hurting him. He's my best friend. If you hurt him, though, I will kill you," she said, then she turned and walked from the room, throwing, "Later, lovebirds," over her shoulder.
"Well, guess that means you can either stay on my floor or Clint's," Steve said, chuckling. "Just ask JARVIS if you want to see me, but I'll leave you two alone." He walked off after Natasha.
Bucky decided to stay with Clint. While it wouldn't have been appropriate last he remembered, he figured Steve's endorsement meant that it was okay in this time. After all, Steve had always been very rule-abiding, whether that rule was law or moral. Of course, he figured floor meant the physical floor, not that each member of the team had a whole level of the building to themselves. How silly of him.
It was rough, for a few months. Bucky had bad days, Clint had bad days, the whole tower had bad days. Neither Clint nor Bucky made mention of the other set of words they carried.