Author's Note: And here's another one… Part four in the Why series. Sequel to Why Doctor Poole Gave Agent Barton an Extra Check Up. Takes place several weeks after its predecessor. Hasn't quite turned out as it did in my head but hopefully you approve.

Chronological order of Why series (at time of posting):

Why Clint Has Never Tried It On With Natasha

Why Tony Should Not Interfere With Clint's Love Life

Why Doctor Poole Gave Agent Barton An Extra Check Up

Why Natasha Is Allowed To Interfere With Clint's Love Life

Disclaimer: Don't have anything to do with Marvel and their wonderful play-land of creations … sigh…

Why Natasha Is Allowed To Interfere With Clint's Love Life

Natasha's eyebrow arched as Clint's cell phone bleeped. Glancing up from her magazine subtly she watched as the archer opened the message, a smile pulling on his lips as he read and replied. Quickly the female returned her attention back to the article she was reading, biting her lip to prevent herself from commenting. She knew fine well by her friends reaction that the message was from his new doctor friend. The doctor friend who (thanks to a little bit of help from JARVIS) Natasha knew was rota'd on night shift that night. The doctor friend who Clint insisted he was having just sex with. They messaged a lot for two guys having just sex…

As much as she wanted to comment the female knew better. Clint had already had a bit of a freak out (although again Natasha knew better than to draw attention to it and/or call it that in front of Clint) following his first time with Cayden. The doctor had invited Clint out for drinks and after Cayden finally admitted being attracted to him, the two had ended up back at the doctor's nearby apartment. Upon Cayden admitting that he would like to continue to see Clint in some way however the archer had panicked. He had Insisted to Natasha that it had been a one night thing and that he was not attracted to the other man other than an initial physical spark he set about avoiding him. Of course that had been relatively easily fixed…

Now though Natasha was just waiting for freak out number two. It was inevitable. Clint could insist it was just sex all he wanted but the little messages Cayden sent from work, the movies he had started downloading for the two to watch, the fact he had cooked recently just before Clint had arrived (and cooked enough for two conveniently) clearly showed that the doctor considered their relationship to be more than just sex. And Natasha knew Clint well enough to know that it meant more to him to.

She also knew him well enough to know he would not easily admit it.

x-x-x

A quiet whine escaped Cayden's lips as he felt the bed dip beside him, although he would deny it if anyone called him on it.

"Five more minutes…" he murmured, burying his head into the bare shoulder next to him, trailing his mouth up towards the neck. A quiet chuckle reverberated against his lips.

"You got five more minutes half an hour ago," Clint pointed out. Cayden pouted slightly as he rolled closer to the other man, fingers trailing lightly over the faint line on his chest that still lingered from their first meeting. His brow furrowed faintly as he thought back to earlier that evening, to the way the archer had laughed at the movie the two had watched as they had eaten their take-away, to the way he had sprawled across Cayden's lap when the doctor had returned with fresh popcorn, to the way Clint had grabbed his hand as they had…

"You know… you could just stay?" he said softly, flinching slightly at the sharp inhale of the archer that followed.

"I have an early start," Clint replied calmly, despite the flicker of panic on his face. Cayden licked his lips anxiously.

"Clint, I was in the Navy and I'm now a doctor," he shrugged the shoulder he was not lying on. "I am not scared of being woken up early."

"Still…" Clint pulled away, rolling out of the other man's loose hold and standing up, picking up his clothes as he did so. Cayden suppressed a sigh, pursing his lips behind the archer's back as a brief silence fell.

"I'm working the next three nights," the doctor rolled in the other direction from Clint, grabbing a pair of discarded jeans and throwing them on as the archer dressed properly. "Are you free on Monday?"

"Eh… yeah… I think so…" Clint shrugged, grabbing the last of his belongings from the chair in the corner where he had dumped them earlier. "I'll let you know."

"Ok," Cayden forced a smile as with a small wave the archer all but fled the apartment. Tilting his head back he sighed heavily, running his hands through his hair, fingers tightening in the dark strands. That had not gone quite how he had been expecting. Why did he say anything? "Idiot."

x-x-x

Natasha's eyes narrowed as she watched Clint make his way around the gym equipment. She had given up on the equipment herself several minutes before, taking up residence on the yoga mat instead. She let the archer continue for a couple more minutes before finally speaking up.

"What did he do?"

Clint paused – so briefly no one but Natasha would have noticed – before continuing to pummel the punching bag.

"What?"

Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Doctor McSmirky. I know he's not rota'd on for duty tonight so why you not round there for a bootie call?"

Clint's shoulder shrugged slightly as he continued punching.

"How do you know he's not working?"

The female sitting on the mat gave up all pretence of exercise and returned an incredulous look to the archer.

"Let me guess then," she replied, ignoring the other agent's question as she stood up and slowly started to wander toward him. "He tried to cook you dinner again?" no response. "He tried to get you to watch a movie before bonking your brains out?" again no response. Natasha's lips pursed knowingly. "He tried to get you to stay overnight?" and there was the quick pause in the punching. Ah. Natasha inhaled deeply, rolling her eyes to the roof briefly before returning her attention to Clint, shaking her head behind the archers back. "You mean the hot doctor who makes you laugh and you've been having regular amazing sex with – your word – wants you to stay the night after the amazing sex?" her tone was clearly mocking as she continued. "The hot doctor who works for SHIELD and therefore already knows what you do for a living? The hot ex-Navy SEAL who has probably taken part in more than one questionable mission himself over the years? The hot ex-Navy SEAL who has sniper training and would give you a run for your money in evading medical treatment?"

Clint's shoulders tensed slightly – again chances are no one else but Natasha would have noticed.

"Your point?"

Natasha let out a soft groan.

And slapped Clint in the back of the head.

"Good night Clint," she smiled sweetly in return to the scowl the archer turned toward her, the punching bag finally ignored. Without waiting for a reply she turned on her heel and started to head toward the door, hearing Clint grumble behind her as the rhythmic sound of punching restarted. She knew Clint better than to say anything further.

x-x-x

Clint looked down at his cell phone late that evening, pursing his lips slightly as he tapped his fingers against the side of his cell. Cayden's message filled the small screen – a simple Hey Clint, how's it going? The archer finally let out a frustrated sigh and tossed the phone away onto the couch next to him, snatching up the remote instead and focusing on the television.

x-x-x

Cayden let out a heavy sigh as once again he glanced down at his cell phone and once again he found nothing had changed. No little envelope had popped up on the little screen. Not that he had really expected one to. Any attempts to call Clint had gone unanswered since that night and his first text message, inviting the archer over to the apartment, had been met with a simple sorry busy. Subsequent messages had simply gone unanswered. Like this one.

x-x-x

"Just take it easy for a couple of days and you'll be good as new," Cayden offered the young agent in front of him a reassuring smile before turning quickly back to his desk, picking up a small bottle of pills. "If you need them pop one of these every four hours. If anything doesn't feel right come back."

The agent gave a small nod.

"Thanks doctor," he said, making his way slowly from the room with a slight limp. Cayden tilted his head back, closing his eyes briefly and letting out a tired sigh. Rubbing his hands over his face he inhaled deeply and made his way out into the corridor, quickly making his way to the examination rooms down the corridor and checking on his colleagues. A SHIELD mission carried out the night before had not quite gone to plan. No one was seriously injured thankfully but there was a lot of walking wounded to be taken care of.

Finding his colleagues had everything under control and believing that all patients were now seen to Cayden made his way down the hall to the administration room and handed the assistant his stack of files with a hopeful smile.

"Is that everyone seen to now?"

The female in front of him returned an apologetic smile.

"I'm afraid not," she turned and laid the files down, picking up a single file from her desk. "One more turned up about half an hour ago. She asked for you personally."

Cayden frowned slightly as he took the file, flicking it open to the front page. His eyebrow arched slightly.

"Of course she did," he flipped the folder shut again and offered a composed smile to the administrative assistant. "Thank you."

Turning swiftly the doctor made his way down to the marked examination room, one he had previously thought empty, knocking quickly before entering the room.

"Agent Romanov," he greeted the female sitting perched on the examination table with a small nod, letting the door shut behind him. "How can I help?"

The female gave the doctor a quick look up and down before holding her arm out limply, her lips quirking ever so slightly.

"My arm's sore."

Cayden's eyebrow arched as he dropped the file onto the desk.

"Your arm is sore?" he asked dubiously although he mentally kicked himself for the unprofessional response. He did however hold his ground, returning an even gaze to Natasha's until she dropped her arm with a smirk.

"Fine. I figured it was about time I came along and gave you some advice."

"Advice?" Cayden could not help but sigh quietly. "You do realise we have dozens of agents in for treatment right?"

"All of whom are either treated already or are being treated," Natasha replied pointedly. Cayden pursed his lips slightly, leaning back against his desk and looking at Natasha expectantly.

"Fine," he shrugged, crossing his arms.

"Point number one," Natasha smiled sweetly. "Clint Barton is like a brother to me and he tells me everything – whether he wants to or not."

Cayden inhaled sharply but returned an even nod to the female's not-so-veiled threat.

"Don't worry, I won't upset him again," the doctor could not help the faint sigh that escaped his lips and although his expression remained largely neutral the agent sitting across the room noticed the disappointment in his eyes. "I pushed him too far – I get that," one shoulder shrugged slightly. "I'll back off."

Natasha's eyebrow quirked ever so slightly as Cayden dropped his gaze although the gesture was so faint that he likely would not of noticed it even if he had been looking up.

"I read you file," Natasha continued in a much lighter tone, expression neutral as Cayden looked back up with a frown. "It makes for impressive reading, Commander Poole."

Cayden pursed his lips.

"Doctor Poole now," he sighed wistfully. Natasha too pursed her lips slightly, studying the doctor subtly.

"You signed up for the Navy straight from school and other than medical leave – which by all accounts had to be physically or pharmaceutically enforced – and a week off to go home to attend your grandfather's funeral you did not really take any leave."

Cayden shrugged absently.

"I enjoyed my work."

Natasha smirked.

"And then you started studying for your MD while you were still recuperating from your knee injury and God knows how busy you would have been studying and then doing placements," the agent paused briefly. "Between that and the fact that don't ask don't tell was in full effect for your entire Naval career it must have been difficult for you to develop any sort of relationship," her eyebrow arched as the doctor bristled defensively. "I'm willing to bet you never had time for anything other than flings."

Cayden scowled slightly.

"What's your point?"

"Is Clint the first guy you've tried to have a proper, serious relationship with?" Natasha let out a quiet little chuckle as Cayden's scowl deepened, his silence answer enough. "And you chose Clint Barton to try that with?"

"Look, like I said, I'll back off," Cayden grumbled. Natasha huffed out a sigh.

"Which brings me to piece of advice number two," the agent waited until the doctor looked up at her before continuing simply. "Clint Barton is an idiot."

Cayden blinked. And blinked again.

"What?"

Natasha laughed, swinging her legs back and forth.

"You didn't do anything wrong. You've actually been a perfect gentleman – any normal guy would probably have moved in with you by now," she offered a sympathetic smile to the confused expression the doctor wore. "Clint likes you – that's your problem. He doesn't trust easily. He found it hard enough trusting the rest of the team and bonding with them – having someone else in his life to care about will be freaking the Hell out of him," she let out a weary sigh. "Unfortunately he's the type who'd rather push you away and hurt a little bit now than let you in and hurt a lot later," she rolled her eyes and waved a hand dismissively. "Do you remember how you flirted with him during all his appointments and he didn't seem to take any notice?" the female tilted her head as Cayden arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, he's blind as a bat to people hitting on him and Stark has a better gaydar than Clint. Hell Cap has a better gaydar than Clint," Natasha smirked. "And then you managed to get him into bed and you made it quite clear that you wanted to continue to see him but he disappeared off the face of the earth for a few weeks?"

Cayden rubbed the back of his neck uneasily.

"He really does tell you everything eh?"

"Everything," Natasha confirmed. "And you remember that you finally ran into him again at that Stark fundraiser for veterans that Pepper Potts invited you to speak at? The one that she dragged Clint along to cause everyone else was too busy to accompany her but then she spent all her time off mingling and Clint was on his own? Wearing a suit that made his ass look positively edible?"

Cayden's frown slowly started to fade as his lips curled upwards.

"Why am I getting the feeling that that wasn't all a coincidence?"

Natasha smiled innocently.

"Well there is no way he would have been able to pick that suit by himself," she commented. "Sometimes Clint just needs a push in the right direction," her smile pulled into pursed lips. "Of course you have to be careful not to push too hard or you can do more damage than good," the agent rolled her eyes. "He's a stubborn-ass son of a bitch," Natasha smirked and hopped down off the examination table and made her way over to the doctor, standing just in front of him but there was nothing threatening about her demeanour, in fact her smile returned. "Just give him time. He'll come round. You're just going to have to be patient with him I'm afraid," Natasha chuckled. "I'm gonna guess that's not usually a strong point of yours?"

Cayden too could not help but let out a quiet laugh.

"It's not a virtue I'm known for," he agreed. Natasha smiled, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"You're from a small town in the south originally? Mama's a teacher and Daddy's a preacher, correct?"

Cayden's lips curled up wryly.

"Yeah, that's right."

"So… when did you come out?"

The doctor scoffed, head shaking.

"I was nineteen – almost twenty – when I admitted it to myself," he confessed, exhaling heavily. "Told Mom and Dad the day doctors told me I'd never walk again," Cayden's jaw clenched involuntarily. "Mom kept saying it was a blessing in disguise. That it was God's way of telling me to come home, to settle down and have a family," he let out a dry laugh. "I kinda snapped."

"How did she take it?"

Another scoff escaped Cayden's lips.

"Well one of the first things she asks when I call her is if I've found myself a girlfriend yet so…" Cayden's brow furrowed. "Why am I telling you this?"

Natasha smiled sweetly.

"You proved the doctors wrong at least," she commented lightly. Sure enough the tension from Cayden's shoulders eased a little.

"Yeah… I knew I'd never be able to serve with the SEALS again but…" the doctor cast a quick glance down at his damaged knee, safely obscured behind the fabric of his trousers.

"I believe your doctors called you determined."

"Ha! They called me a stubborn motherfucker and sedated me frequently 'cause I kept overdoing it," Cayden chuckled. Natasha too let out a quick laugh.

"Well stubborn motherfucker will be a useful quality if you want to date Clint Barton," she smiled, resting a hand gently on the doctor's arm. "I'll point him in the right direction where I can," she said quietly. "But I'm afraid the rest is gonna be down to you. Give him space but don't let him run away," the agent allowed one last smile as Cayden nodded before taking a step backwards, back straightening as she stretched her injured arm out to the side. "Well thanks doc. That feels much better. I guess I'll see you around."

Cayden could only nod as the female breezed out of the room. For a moment he just stood, staring at the doorway. Agent Romanov's first comments had most definitely been a warning but thereafter had sounded very much like she was giving her blessing – encouragement even. A sharp buzz from the desk focussed the doctor's attention back on the room.

"Doctor Poole," he answered the phone, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Hi Doctor. Now you're finished with Agent Romanov can you please go and see Doctor Pine? He needs a second opinion."

Cayden breathed out quietly through his nose, relieved of the distraction.

"I'm on my way."

x-x-x

Cayden rolled his shoulders tiredly as he slumped down onto the bed in his SHIELD base quarters that night. He was working the next day so there was no point going all the way back to his own apartment – all he wanted was to relax for an hour or so and then catch up on some much needed sleep…

But first he should really call his mother. It had been a while since he had last done so and no doubt she was going to chew his ear off for it but the longer he left it the worse it was going to get. With a weary sigh he rolled back off the bed and dug around in his rucksack for his cell phone. Crawling back onto the bed he unlocked the phone, but as he scrolled down his contacts toward his mother's number he paused as he passed Clint's number. Thinking back to his earlier conversation with Natasha he replayed her words in his head. Give him space but don't let him run away. Tapping his fingers against the side of the phone Cayden worried his bottom lip for a moment before highlighting Clint's number and selecting the text messaging option.

Hey Clint. Hope SHIELD isn't working you as hard as they're working me. I finish tomorrow evening for a few days, if you're not doing anything maybe you can come round to the apartment and keep me company?

Hitting the send button before he could change his mind he let out a tired sigh and locked his phone, letting it fall onto the bed beside him. He'd call his mother another night…

x-x-x

It was mid-evening when Cayden finally locked his car and made his way towards the stairwell that would lead up to his apartment from the underground car park. Pulling his cell phone from his pocket he sighed wearily as he found that he still had received no reply from Clint. Looked like he would be having another night alone with the television and medical journals. Shoving his phone back into his pocket he climbed the last few steps and rounded the corner into his hallway.

And stopped.

"Hey," Clint offered a sheepish smile from where he sat against the wall just outside Cayden's door. The doctor blinked in surprise before his lips started to curl into a small smile.

"Hey," he replied quietly, making his way forward slowly. Clint clambered to his feet, grabbing up the pizza boxes that had been by his side.

"I figured you wouldn't have eaten yet but it didn't occur to me that you probably wouldn't finish on time so these will be cold by now."

Cayden looked down at the pizzas with an arched eyebrow as he stepped forward and unlocked his door.

"Well I didn't know there would be someone waiting on my doorstep for me since he never bothered to reply to my message," he replied lightly but pointedly, entering his apartment and holding the door open for the other man. Clint screwed up his face apologetically as he followed Cayden inside.

"I wasn't sure until that last minute I'd be free," he offered quietly and not very convincingly. Cayden arched an eyebrow but did not comment, instead taking the pizza from Clint and gesturing towards the lounge.

"I'll go stick these in the oven to reheat, how about you go pick a movie?"

"'Kay," Clint nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets as he turned and made his way towards the lounge. Cayden watched him retreat for a moment before turning back towards the kitchen, switching on the oven and laying the pizzas out on trays, smiling at the fact that Clint had managed to get his favourite kind. Figuring it would take a few minutes for the oven to reach temperature he made his way through to the other room, watching as Clint flicked through his DVD collection.

"So what you been up to?" the doctor asked, standing behind the sofa, leaning his arms on the back. Clint glanced up briefly and shrugged.

"Oh you know, SHIELD's been keeping me busy," he replied.

Both Cayden's eyebrows rose slightly. He knew fine that it was not SHIELD that had been keeping the archer busy. The doctor was informed every time any agent was sent on a mission. It was a quick, secure message delivered to a private server with the agent(s) codename and a numbered scale that indicated whether the mission was covert, an outright attack or anything in between. It helped to ensure that medical was adequately staffed and prepared should the worst happen. And apart from one quick, covert mission about ten days previous Clint had not been sent away. Cayden decided quickly not to call Clint on the matter though. It was a little white lie, a harmless on at that, designed to gloss over the real reason for the archer's prolonged silence. Even without Natasha's warning Cayden would probably have not bothered to draw attention to that – as he had admitted to the female he was pretty much new to all this himself, he was not going to start a fight if he could help it.

"Yeah – that place never stops," he said instead. Clint returned a meek smile, continuing to flick through the movies. Cayden watched for a moment longer before returning to the kitchen. When he came back he found Clint had put a disk in the player and was hovering near the sofa that best faced the television, remote controls in hand. Dropping the controllers onto the sofa the archer looked across at Cayden.

"Look, I just wanted to say sorry for being a jerk before," he rubbed the back of his neck uneasily, opening his mouth and shutting it again before continuing quietly. "I'm really not good at this sort of thing."

Cayden could not help his lips curling upwards slightly as he rounded the sofa to stand in front of the other man.

"Well that makes two of us," his smile widened a little at the dubious look that took over Clint's face. "I've never done this before Clint," he admitted. "I'm making this up as I go along."

"Really?" Clint frowned, shaking his head as Cayden nodded. "But… I mean you're… how can you not have…"

Cayden chuckled quietly as Clint's frown deepened.

"I come from a town where I would have been lynched for so much as looking at another man's ass. And then don't ask don't tell didn't help any," the doctor shrugged. "And I guess I just never met anyone I was that interested in."

Despite himself Clint's lips curled into a smile although he screwed up his nose to hide it.

"You do realise that there's at least half a dozen people at SHIELD who would happily date you right?" Clint crossed his arms uneasily. Cayden frowned slightly.

"Really?"

"Really. Natasha's overheard lots of people talking about you. Male and female," the archer dropped his gaze. "I'm sure they'd probably be a lot less… hassle."

Cayden's lips curled back up into a smile as he closed the distance between them but stopped just in front of the archer who to Cayden's relief did not take a step back.

"Well as discussed before the females are just plain shit outa luck," his smirk softened into a warm smile as he reached out and gently traced his fingers down Clint's arm. "Then again since a certain agent turned up in my exam room with a gap in his mighty fine chest from an Iron Man manoeuvre the guys haven't really stood much of a chance either."

Clint's arms uncrossed as Cayden reached out toward him, leaning forward as Cayden's arms snaked around his waist.

"You do know you've probably got something wrong with your head right?" he mumbled even as he slipped his hands onto Cayden's hips. Cayden let out another chuckle as he leant forward.

"I'll speak to my shrink about it," he murmured, brushing his lips over Clint's. "It'll make a nice change from her asking about my goddamn knee."

Clint laughed and Cayden had to bite back the urge to tell the archer how much he had missed him. Instead he met the other man half way as he leant forward, pulling him into a deep kiss that he hoped conveyed the sentiment.

And if the way Clint pulled him closer was anything to go by then the archer had missed him too.