A/N As promised, here is my new story. Enjoy! :)
Thanks to Maralexa for Beta(ing) this.
Thanks also to my best friend MarvelAndDCWriter who was my one-man cheerleading team and gave me the motivation to get this ready to post.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my copy of The Avengers on Blu-ray, my collection of Avengers Dr. Pepper cans, and a cardboard Walmart pizza box lid that has Iron Man on it. Yes, I pretty much keep anything that has The Avengers on it. If you think that is strange/obsessive then I am strange/obsessed. But if you think that is perfectly normal or even a little cool, then you are my new friend. :P
Chapter 1
The rock music that was blaring throughout the lab and rattling the glass doors abruptly cut off, causing Tony to look up from the project he was working on.
"Hey! Jarvis, where's my music?" Tony demanded.
"My apologies, sir, but you have received a summons. Director Fury wishes to see you on board the helicarrier as soon as possible. He has sent a quinjet to retrieve you."
"Tell him I'm busy," he said, returning his attention to his project.
"Director Fury has made it quite clear that this matter is non-negotiable. Apparently it is urgent and of the utmost importance."
Tony grumbled irritably under his breath.
"Fine. But I go my way. J, prepare the suit."
)()()(
"I have a mission for Stark," Fury said without preamble as Clint walked into the otherwise empty meeting room.
"Okay. And this applies to me how?" Clint asked, taking a seat.
"I need you to go with him," Fury said.
"Sure. Why?" Clint replied, only half-listening as he leaned back in his chair.
"Stark is going to need a friend on this one."
"A friend?" Clint asked, instantly alert as his alarms began to go off.
"This mission is a bit... sensitive," Fury hedged.
"Will you just spit it out? Uh… sir," Clint added as an afterthought.
Fury raised an eyebrow at Clint's outburst but didn't comment.
"This mission involves going to Afghanistan. Stark may need some moral support and the rest of the Avengers are on other assignments."
"Afghanistan! Why would you send him there? You know what that place means to him," Clint said, miraculously keeping the brunt of his anger out of his voice.
"I know, but this directly concerns him and we need his expertise. If it wasn't necessary I wouldn't even tell him about it. As it is, I don't have much of a choice, but I can at least send someone with him to help. This is purely optional for you, though. You don't have to accept."
Clint gave him a hard look. "Yes, I do."
Clint wasn't dumb enough to think for one second that Fury wasn't just manipulating and using Tony. But whether he was or not, Clint was going to make absolutely sure that someone was there to have the billionaire's back.
A second later, the doors opened and said billionaire, phone in hand, strolled into the room.
"So, Captain Barbossa, what did you want to see me about?" he asked, not even bothering to look up from whatever he was doing on his phone.
"I have an assignment for you," Fury said, holding a file out to him.
Tony looked at it and raised an eyebrow. "I don't like to be handed things."
Fury tossed the file on the table in front of Tony, who was still fiddling with his phone.
"You're going to Afghanistan," Fury stated.
Tony froze.
"I don't really have time for a trip out of the country. I have some projects I'm working on, and Pepper has some meetings she wants me to go to. I might be able to get to it sometime next year. Call my assistant. She'll put something on the books," Tony flippantly replied, still seemingly playing with his phone, but Clint could tell he was just using the phone as a way to keep his hands busy.
"We have intel that suggests that there may be Stark Industries weapons there," Fury said, cutting the billionaire's excuses off.
Tony's eyes snapped up to look at Fury. "Not possible. I destroyed them all."
"Can you be sure of that? One-hundred percent?" Fury asked.
Tony stared at the SHIELD director for a long moment before he set his phone down and opened the file. Inside, there were long-range surveillance photos of weapons and crates bearing the words "Stark Industries" on the side.
"Who?" he asked through clenched teeth as he stared at the photos.
"We're not sure of that. All we know is it's a small terrorist cell," Fury replied. "Look, Stark, I'm not going to force you to take this—"
"I'll do it," Tony said cutting him off. "It's my problem; I'll take care of it."
"And I'm coming with you," Clint said, speaking up for the first time since Tony entered, while forcing himself not to glare at the director. He had been right about the manipulation.
Tony finally looked up from the pictures. "That's not necessary, Feathers, but thanks anyway."
"Thanks for what? Oh, you thought I was being generous and self-sacrificing? I thought you knew me better than that. I'm not going for you, I just don't have anything better to do," Clint said nonchalantly.
The truth was, there was no way Clint was letting his friend go on this mission alone, and by the look on Tony's face, he knew that. But rather than calling him on it or making some snarky comment, Tony simply nodded, and Clint would later swear that he saw gratitude shining in his friend's eyes.
)()()(
Sometime later, they arrived at the target area and Clint landed the quinjet about a mile from the target's location.
"All right, Clarence, time for you to earn your wings."
"You did not just make an It's a Wonderful Life reference," Clint said.
"I didn't? Hmm. I could have sworn I did," Tony replied, tapping his chin in thought.
"Oh, just shut up and get it over with," Clint huffed, turning his back to his teammate.
"Oh, come on Cupid, this is the fun part," Tony said hooking his arms under Clint's.
His thrusters ignited and he and Clint rose off the ground. Once they were about twenty feet in the air, Tony punched it, sending them rocketing toward the weapons site, Clint dangling from his arms.
"What part of this is fun?" Clint shouted as the ground rushed past beneath them.
The only reply he received was the sound of Tony's somewhat-maniacal laugh, which just supported Clint's theory that his teammate was completely and totally bonkers.
It was only about a minute later that Tony set them down behind a rock outcropping overlooking the small valley where the weapons were piled. For just a moment, Tony had to pause as memories assaulted him. A small valley…weapons piled up…it was just too similar to another area of Afghanistan. But it was not the time or place for a walk down memory lane, so he shook his head slightly and forced the thoughts from his mind. Unknown to him, Clint hadn't missed his reaction, but the archer kept it to himself.
"What do you have in mind? And don't say 'go down there and destroy the weapons' because I already know that part," Clint said.
"There's no one down there right now, but contrary to popular belief, I'm not stupid enough to think there's not anyone hiding around here somewhere. Now I know you'll probably say we need to go with the stealth approach: sneak down there, set the weapons to blow, and get out without anyone seeing us."
"Actually I was thinking we blow the weapons and see what happens," Clint said with a shrug and a smirk.
Tony stared at him in surprise a moment before recovering. "You know, I like the way you think, Legolas."
He fired his thrusters and flew closer to the pile of weapons, where he hovered several feet off the ground. He targeted the pile and fired his repulsors. The beams of energy hit the weapons, and a massive explosion rocked the area, sending Tony flying backward a few feet before he regained control and slowed his momentum.
Clint, on the other hand, ducked down behind the rock outcropping, hands clamped over his ears, as he rode out the explosion. It was just seconds after the fire and vibrations died down that shouts could be heard followed by gunfire and metal hitting metal. Clint peeked over his cover to see men with machine guns firing at Tony, while he fired back, taking out several men. Clint drew his bow and began picking off their attackers while at the same time radioing in to report to Coulson via the comm link in his ear.
"Hawkeye to Coulson."
"Coulson here. Go ahead, Hawkeye," Phil replied after a few seconds.
"We've destroyed the weapons, but we're taking fire," Clint said.
"Do you need back-up?" Phil asked.
"Not yet," Clint replied, loosing another arrow.
"I'll have agents standing by just in case. Keep me informed."
"Will do. Hawkeye out," Clint replied.
The fighting continued for ten more minutes before Tony and Clint finished off the last remaining terrorist. Once the last man was down and the gunfire had ceased, Clint stood from his hiding place and began to make his way down to where the weapons were, collecting arrows as he went. Tony met him at the edge of where the weapons had been stacked, and they surveyed the area, making sure that not one scrap of a single weapon was left intact.
"Well, I think it's safe to say we did some damage," Tony said as his helmet retracted into the suit.
"What gave you that idea? The burning rubble or the dead bodies?" Clint asked with a smirk.
"Actually Jarvis told me," he replied, causing Clint to chuckle.
"I'll let Phil know," Clint said, reaching for his comm. "Hawkeye to Coulson."
"I read you. Go ahead."
"Situation handled. Weapons have been destroyed, and unfriendlies have been neutralized," Clint reported.
"Good work. Report back to base."
"Will—"
Clint was cut off by a deafening explosion.
"What the- Tony look out!" Clint cried as a bolt of energy flashed out of nowhere.
Tony responded instinctively to Clint's warning and hit the ground just as the beam shot overhead, missing him by inches.
"Hawkeye! Barton, come in!" Coulson shouted over the comm, having heard the explosion and Clint's shout over the radio.
Clint was too busy ducking behind cover and trying to spot their attackers to respond.
"Tony! Do you have a fix on them?" Clint yelled through the comm.
"No. Jarvis can't detect any life forms. They must be masking themselves somehow," Tony answered, his helmet just sliding back into place as he narrowly avoided another hit.
"We need to find them. We're sitting ducks in this valley!" Clint cried.
"Iron Man! Hawkeye! What is going on?" Coulson yelled in Clint's and Tony's ears.
"We're under attack. Some kind of energy weapon. We can't get a fix on our attacker's location. Tony!" Clint cried as Tony took a hit and was sent sprawling to the ground.
"I'm okay," he said picking himself up off the ground and taking cover behind some rocks about ten yards to Clint's left, "But I think we could use some help here," Tony said, addressing Phil.
"Reinforcements are already on the way," Coulson replied from the base several miles away. "ETA three minutes. Just lay low until they get there."
Neither one of them got the chance to reply as another energy blast, this one from behind them, hit the rocks next to Clint.
"Clint, move!" Tony cried.
He didn't need to be told twice. He leapt to his feet and ran toward Tony, but he never made it. He was about halfway there when another massive explosion shook the air. Clint heard Tony scream and point behind him and the archer spun around just in time to glimpse a piece of debris flying straight for his head before everything went black.
)()()(
Tony watched in horror as Clint was struck in the head by some scrap of metal and slammed into the ground.
"Clint!" Tony screamed.
"Stark! What happened?" Phil cried.
"Clint took a hit to the head. He's down."
"Is he alive?" Phil asked.
"Jarvis?" Tony questioned.
"Agent Barton's vitals are strong and stable. He is, however, unconscious," the AI responded.
Tony was just about to make a mad dash for Clint when a man appeared from behind some rocks and pointed a weapon at Clint. The man reminded Tony of someone, but he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out who. He didn't have long to ponder it, anyway, as the man began to speak.
"Come on out, Iron Man, or your friend dies," the man said in slightly accented English.
"Don't do it, Tony," Phil said through the comm.
The man reached down, grabbed the back of Clint's shirt, and yanked the unconscious archer's upper body off the ground.
"Do not make the mistake of believing that I am bluffing. I will kill him," the man called out as he dug the barrel of the gun into Clint's temple.
"Tony—"
"Sorry Phil. I don't have a choice," Tony said as he stood up and moved out from behind the rocks.
"Very good," the man said patronizingly. "Now, remove the suit."
He hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do was take off his suit.
"Stark, just stall. Help is on the way."
The click of the man's weapon being cocked was loud enough that even Phil heard it through the comm.
"Sorry again, Phil. Jarvis, keep the comm lines open and remove the suit," he ordered.
"Yes, sir," Jarvis said, and Tony denied that he heard sadness in the AI's voice.
The suit disassembled and fell away from his body. Tony suddenly felt very alone and vulnerable but whether it was due to the loss of the suit or the loss of the lifeline that was his comm, he wasn't sure.
"What do you want?" he asked the man standing in front of him.
"Oh, it's very simple, Mr. Stark. I want you. You belong to me now."
Tony's heart began to pound. He was going to be taken captive again.
"And if you're planning on fighting back, then think again. Your friend here will be coming with us. One wrong move and he will be killed. If you cooperate, however, then he will live. Do you understand?"
Tony's chest constricted in fear, for himself and for Clint, and all he could do was nod.
"Good, now if you'll follow my men."
Two more men approached them. One of them grabbed Tony's arms and tied them behind his back. The other man grabbed Clint and threw the unconscious archer over his shoulder. Tony was then lead to a chopper that was hidden nearby and he and Clint were shoved inside. One of the men climbed in with them while the other man and their leader sat up front. The man in the back with them produced a hood and put it over Tony's head, blindfolding him.
Then the engine started, the chopper blades spun, and the helicopter lifted from the ground to take them to a place as yet unknown.
Let me know what you think! :)