I don't have a beta reader, so I like all form of review positive and constructive criticism. Enjoy :D Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers
Reassemble
"Welcome to todays interview with New York's savior, the only one after the Avengers fell apart, please welcome with me world's greatest marksman 'Hawkeye'! Hawkeye, how did your life changed after the Avengers left you in the middle of the battle on your own?"
FLASHBACK
"...Tony you're a jerk! Did you even listen to what I've told you just ten seconds ago? No, of course not! I'm the leader of the Avengers and as long as you're an Avenger you have to do what I tell you!"
"I'm a free man, I don't have to do anything! I have rights! So fu** off!"
"The Avengers aren't a superhero assemble, they are a bunch of selfish, arrogant children with self hating issues! It's under my proud to be the leader of something like that! After we formed our 'team' New York got attacked six times and it's nearly destroyed! I've got enough, I'll leave, see you in hell!" With that Cap left the Avengers.
"Is he gone now, forever?" Clint asked quietly.
"I really hope so! Fu**ing coward, left us just before the fight! Avengers, I'll take the lead and I say we fight, so go! I said GO!" Tony shouted angry.
Clint did as he was told, so did the others, but as they found no way to destroy the robots, who attacked and they didn't find their HQ, Hulk was the first to run away, soon followed by the Black Widow.
At that Clint was shocked, because his long time partner run away. Nat never run away. She never left him if she had a chance. Not even the time in Mumbai.
He was drugged with a deadly poison and thrown in a river. The plane exploded and she had the chance to escape. She was shot in three places, in pain and bleeding out quickly, but instead of going back to SHIELD or a hospital, she fought and dived after him. She really got him, pulled them out of the river and carried him all the way to SHIELD. Nat had risked her life more than once for Clint and now she left him.
But he decided to stay, to fight for Earth till his death, but when Thor disappeared in lightning and Iron Man flew away on full speed, he got a bit afraid. And as the building under him exploded and sent him straight into the big lake, he thought he would die at any moment.
Suddenly he saw a glass building on the ground of the lake and recognized it as the robot HQ. He took his SHIELD-gun and aimed, under water, of course. After he shot the building imploded and pulled him deeper into the lake. The glass cut into his skin and he nearly drowned, until he got a hold of some plastic, that took him over the surface again.
FLASHBACK END
"My life changed that way, that I have no family anymore. I'm in battles everyday. I have no time to recover. I don't sleep more than 10 minutes a time and I eat – huh, sounds strange, but I only eat really, when I'm here for interviews."
"How do you keep yourself alive?"
"I'm a master assassin, it's my job to stay alive, but the only thing, that keeps me from – from suicide is the thought, that so many bad people would enjoy that or people I once loved – I do love wouldn't care and I don't want to do these people a favor."
"I want to thank you in the name of entire New York for protecting our home and please don't stop, we need a savior and 'the Avengers' had proven, that they aren't nearly as good as you."
"Thank you."
The cameras went out and the interview ended. Clint got up and wanted to leave. "I really meant what I said, Mr. Barton." the reporter said. "Me too." He responded with a sad smile.
STARK TOWER
"Did you saw the recent interview of him?" Pepper asked.
"Yes, I did and I think we should assemble the Avengers again. Four months are a long time for a silly fight between Cap and me and the team – Clint had to suffer. We can't let the kid destroy himself." Tony said. Pepper smiled. "I'll get the others and you think about an apology!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" Tony said playful.
BRUCE CALL
"Hey Bruce, this is Pepper."
"Oh, hi Pepper, what's up?"
"It's about Clint, did you already heard about him?"
"No, oh god, is he hurt! I've been living in Calcutta for the past four months!"
"Bruce, calm down. Clint is alright. But – no... no he isn't, he is hurting, Bruce. Would you please come back, we'll reunite the Avengers."
"..."
"Bruce, you there?"
"Of course I am."
"So, are you in?"
"I'm waiting for this call for the past four months now, of course I am, can you sent me a jet or something?"
"Already waiting for you at the airport."
THOR CALL
"Jane Foster?"
"Hi Jane, this is Pepper, is Thor there?"
"Hi Pep, yes he is. I'll get him."
"Thanks."
"You're going to do something about Clint?"
"Yes, have you seen the recent interview?"
"I did, but Thor didn't, ah here he is, bye Pep."
"Bye Jane. Hey Thor, this is Pepper."
"Hello Pepper, how are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks, but Clint – he is hurting, we-"
"What, why?!"
"I'll show you, come over, we reassemble the Avengers."
"Finally. I am on my way!"
NATASHA CALL
"да?"
"Uh, hi Natasha? This is Pepper."
"Oh, hi, what's up?"
"It's about Clint, did you-"
"What's with Clint?! Is he injured?! Shall I come over?! How is he?!"
"Calm down, Nat, he is OK. Maybe some minor injuries but it isn't that bad. But have you seen an interview with him?"
"No, what interview? I'm in Russia!"
"About being New York's only savior. He's hurting. Bad."
"..."
"We're going to assemble the Avengers again, to help Clint. It all happened because of a stupid fight and we want to apologize. You in?"
"...of course, for Clint."
"And for our strange kind of family."
"Sure... So... meet you at Stark Tower. When?"
"ASAP."
STEVE CALL
"Hello?"
"Hi Steve, this is Pepper. How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks. What about you?"
"I'm good."
"Look, this stupid fight with Tony. I think it's time to apologize, maybe we could meet?"
"That's why I call. Tony is the same opinion as you and we want to reassemble the Avengers."
"Oh... Good... I hoped that. Are the others in?"
"Yes, they are, you come over?"
"Of course."
"And Steve... have you seen the interviews?"
"I don't even have a TV, what interviews?"
"With Clint. He is hurting, he has to protect New York on his own. We have to help him recover and apologize to him. We've left him in the middle of the battle."
"Oh god. I totally forgot about him. He must have gotten hurt when I left. I didn't meant to hurt him. Oh god!"
"He was sad. More than that. He felt kind of... abandoned. But not just from you from all of us. We're going to fix that. First we solve our problems and then we help Clint."
"I'll be there in no time."
HAWK NEST
He swirled around and kicked out but couldn't prevent the swords cutting in his skin. If he hadn't lost his west it would be no problem but once he took it of, to be able to breathe better after he nearly suffocated, and then it was gone. Fu**. With only a shirt protecting him, knives cut him and bullets nearly killed him. If his reflexes wouldn't be that good, because he was on a constant adrenalin high, he would be dead.
Only not when he was relaxing awake. In the sleep, nightmares were haunting him and at the day the nightmares became real.
Suddenly a sharp pain shot from is shoulder through his whole body and his vision blurred. His shoulder was warm from blood but no bone broke. So he gathered himself and kicked the asses of these moth****ckers. After an hour fight he succeeded and headed back to his – well, no better description – to his nest.
The cuts hurt and bleeded. It was hot and cold at the same time. He was running a fever, he knew that. The fever was there the last four months. Just after he got on land again, after destroying the robot HQ, he laid on the ground, catching breath and the cuts of the glass got infected.
Finally his knees gave out under him and he fell to the floor. He cursed himself for being so weak and got up again. After a felt endless walk through the dark alley, he finally reached a bigger street but decided against calling a cab, because every cab driver would either drive him straight to a hospital or wouldn't even let him in. So he walked. Slowly. After half an hour he reached the bridge he 'lived' on top of.
A flat wouldn't make sense. He had to be central, to get faster to the places he is needed. He had to get up in the middle of the night. He doesn't want neighbours, who are scared when he was bleeding and maybe call the police. He also had no money. But most of all he needed a hidden place, because he hadn't made friends in the mast four months. It was easy to get on top of it. For him. And Nat. He could even make it without his shoulder and a (high) fever. So he was up in no time. He felt sick and exhausted from blood loss but now he should eat.
He knew that he had to eat. He hadn't eaten in three days now, but he would have to get down again and buy something and he had no money anymore. So he would have to steal, like in his childhood or ask 'fans' for money or food and that was humiliating. But stealing is illegal and dangerous and he didn't likes it. He hated thieves, who stole from good, honest people.
'OK, I'll just close my eyes for a second, I won't sleep, just close my eyes, while I rest, for one minute.' Famous last words. As soon as he closed his eyes he fell asleep. The blood streaming out of his shoulder.
STARK TOWER
The Avengers, except for Steve, already arrived at Stark Tower. They've apologized and were talking friendly but the bad mood hang in the room like thick fog. They were all worried about Clint.
Finally Bruce spoke out what they all were thinking. "So Tony, um, what interview was Pepper talking about?"
"Uhm, it's an interview with Clint, where he talked about-" At this moment Steve entered the room. All were greeting and hugging him and were happy to see him again. All except Tony.
When Steve's gaze fell on Tony, his smile faded and they moved closer, until they nearly touched. They stared at each other for a minute. The other Avengers didn't dare to make a sound or move. After some minutes, Steve suddenly smiled, Tony directly joined in and they embraced. The whole speech Tony thought up was gone but there weren't words needed to be said. It was all good, by the glimpses they've exchanged.
"So, what was about the kid?"
"Uh, yeah, the interview. It's... they... he... maybe you better just watch by yourself, come on."
NATASHA POV
I've got a strange feeling in my gut. I think the others feel quite similar.
So we all settle on the sofa in our usual spots. Tony, Thor and Bruce sit on the sofa with Tony on the left, Bruce in the middle and Thor on the right. On a chair (an unpleasant chair) sits Steve, but we all think he'll relax soon and get uncomfortable on it, so we keep another armchair in one guest room. Pepper sits on the armchair ready to escape a 'fight' between us, if necessary. I sit on the floor in front of the couch, leaned against Tony's legs, just bearing Tony's hyperactivity to be near Clint and don't get crushed by Thor's excitement.
But Clint isn't there. He always sits leaned against Bruce's legs, that are keeping him sitting, even when he falls asleep. I'm looking up at Bruce and our eyes meet for a second. He gives me a half-smile and I know he feels too, that the weight at his legs and my shoulder is missing.
Tony started the TV and keeps me from getting deeper into thoughts and worrying. The interview starts and the feeling in my gut turns directly into pain, physically and mentally as soon as the camera shows Clint. He is pale and sweaty, like he is running a fever and many, MANY, parts of his body he tries not to move.
But that is something 'normal' people can't see. Long time just I can see it. And Coulson. But the winces from above tell me, that the others see it too.
"Welcome to todays interview with New York's savior..."
When the interview ended I'm in tears. I don't care if the others see me weak. They know Clint is my only weakness, because he is my best friend, but they are family, they don't care if I get weak. Also, their eyes don't stay dry too, but not as bad.
GENERAL POV
"Oh God! Oh God! We're killing him! Oh God!"
"Bruce, calm down."
"I am calm!" Bruce began to look a little bit green and he clenched his fists. Everyone was frightened but stayed collected to the surface, to calm Bruce down. It helped, Bruce relaxed and his aura calmed everyone else down, too. A bit.
"So, what are we going to do?" Thor asked.
"We're going to speak to him. Apologize." Steve said.
"OK, how?" Natasha looked concerned. "If he doesn't want to be reachable, then he isn't.
"Right. I already tried to find him, but without success." Tony said sad.
"Uh, guys?" Bruce asked. "What about calling him on his phone. He doesn't likes it, when he might miss an emergency by don't answering his phone." All looked at Tony, expecting him to snap out, because he, of course did the most obvious thing. But when he turned into a bright red and pulled out his STARK-Phone, the jaws of the other Avengers dropped.
The phone rang. Once. Twice. It rang a minute but they didn't dare to hang up. Finally after two minutes Clint answered the phone. "Hello?" He sounded tired and his voice was very raspy, like he was ill. But he was on the phone.
HAWK NEST
The Swordsman was haunting him. He cried out but no sound came out. Faces appeared, faces he didn't recognize but they told him, with the voices of his father, his brother and the people of the orphanage and the circus, that he was worthless. And there was this ringing, this incredible annoying ringing. But it was also a kind of string, that pulled him away from the voices and Swordsman.
He breathed hard. The ringing wasn't disappeared. What was it? Was he dead and in hell and the ringing was some kind of torture? Oh, or it was maybe his phone? Ah, phone! He answered it. "Hello?"
"Clint! Hi, this is Tony. And the others. We've fixed our problems and we wanted to reassemble the Avengers and apologize to you. But, why don't you come over? Please." Clint was surprised by how soft Tony's voice got. Should he go? He wasn't really mad anymore. He even understood them a bit, they just fled from a deadly situation with no way out, or so it seemed. They expected him to follow, they didn't think he would take that foolish risks and they didn't want to hurt him, they want to apologize, to help him. That sounds nice, doesn't it? They love him and he loves them, so reassemble, that's the thing he wished for the past four months. But does he really want to be with the Avengers again? Isn't the attention he's getting as New York's only savior better than being part of a team? Isn't his life much better now? No! What was he thinking!? Must come from the blood loss. Of course he wanted his family back! "I'll come over."
"Good! Thank you."
With that he made sure his shoulder was OK, it wasn't, but what should he do? Then he packed his things (his bow and quiver) and made his way to Stark Tower on steady feet, because he was on adrenalin again.
LINE BREAK
He stood in front of the Stark Tower, took a last breath and walked in, with a smile on his lips. He walked into the elevator and pushed a button. The doors closed and the elevator moved upstairs.
"Hello, Mr. Barton. It's good to see you again." JARVIS voice spoke.
Clint smiled at the greeting. "Thank you, JARVIS. Nice to hear your voice again."
"Thank you, Mr. Barton." The AI responded. Finally the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
He stepped outside and was greeted by five pairs of eyes meeting his. They all looked, like they were happy to see him again, but scared to make any wrong move. He smiled and hold out his arms waiting and with that Nat pulled him into a warm embrace, soon followed by the other Avengers.
With more time around his team, it felt for Clint, like the weight would be taken of his shoulders. After some minutes Steve began to speak: "Clint, we've been childish with our silly fight and we are so sorry that you had to suffer because of it. You've done very well, protecting New York on your own and we've hurt you pretty bad, so we would understand if you don't want to want to join again, but without you the Avengers won't exist." The others nodded their agreement and Clint was proud, that his team hold so much on him.
"Of course I want to join again. I understand you all. It's OK now, we're together again and you've apologized. I'm not mad anymore."
"Thank you." Tony said quietly and smiled at Clint.
"Clint, come on, medical!" Bruce said concerned and Clint rolled his eyes, but let himself be guided to the medical and let Bruce stitch him up.
While Bruce examined him, Clint fell asleep again. The other Avengers entered the lab, that was turned into the medical long time ago.
"How is he?" Nat asked. Bruce turned to her.
"He's running a fever because of the many open wounds, that didn't got cleaned. He has some bullet wounds but the bullets were already cut out. His left shoulder is dislocated. His blood pressure is low. His right wrist and left ankle are sprained. Two ribs are broken, some cracked. His nose is broken, so is his jaw. His left knee was dislocated and had no time to heal and he is all over with cuts and bruises. But he had worse. No injury is that serious and I don't think he is in severe pain. What worries me is, that he lost much weight. He hasn't eaten properly, maybe you could cook something?"
"I'll cook, Nat, you help me cutting?" Pepper asked and Nat nodded.
"Guys, you with us. Let Bruce finish and Clint rest a bit." Natasha said.
They left, Clint cracked an eye open and Bruce smiled.
"You all are worried about me."
"Of course!"
"It's annoying, Bruce." Clint said, played annoyed.
"Get over it, Clint." Bruce responded and mad Clint laugh.
When they returned Pepper had cooked some food and they all ate it in front of the TV, all secretly worried about Clint, but all happy to see him regain some colour in his face.
At the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, they were all fallen asleep. Steve on his chair, Pepper on the armchair, Thor, Bruce and Tony on the sofa and Nat and Clint leaned against each other on the floor, Clint kept sitting by Bruce's legs.