Tony was finding it difficult to sleep with the knowledge that some nutjob potentially had full access to every mechanical object in the tower and was willing to use them. In fact, as soon as he lay down and JARVIS had automatically turned off all of the lights in the room and blocked the sunshine streaming irritatingly brightly through his window, he had realised that practically everything could be controlled by his AI. So instead of sleeping he had begun to write a mental list of all the things in the tower which could be controlled by JARVIS.
So far he had had difficulty thinking of anything which wasn't linked to his ever-present robot butler, even the fridge could be locked by JARVIS (he had installed the feature so he could pull a particularly ingenious prank on the team's unsuspecting archer, getting JARVIS to lock the door any time Clint tried to open it. The look on his face had been priceless; and he ate too much anyway, Tony was just looking out for his friend's wellbeing, really.)
Tony was rapidly beginning to believe that he had done too good a job of making the tower the most technologically advanced home in the world. There was nothing which couldn't be potentially turned against them should The Merchant decide he was bored and wanted to mess with them. He grimaced as he sat up, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
It all came back to JARVIS, the building could only be controlled through the AI. But the only options Tony could see were to either find out how this guy was controlling him or to turn JARVIS off completely so he couldn't be accessed through any of Tony's systems. Swinging himself out of bed with a sigh he finally accepted that sleep was not coming to him any time soon and instead settled for a hot shower, hoping to burn away some of the fog with was clouding his thoughts.
The shower helped a bit and Tony soon found himself sat at the end of his bed passing his phone from hand to hand. He could still see only one option which he could do anything about right now, as much as he wanted to avoid it if he could.
"J, would you be upset with me if I put you to sleep for a while?" He asked the air around him, knowing that the AI would answer.
"If it were for the safety of Sir and the other Avengers then I would understand the necessity. Is that your plan, Sir?" The voice would seem devoid of emotions to the casual listener but Tony could pick up subtle hints of concern in the AI's tone.
"I hope not, J. It's just a precaution." Tony chuckled dryly. "Wouldn't want you getting annoyed with me, would we?"
"Of course not, Sir. I understand."
"Good, glad we had this chat, J. Now if you'll excuse me there's someone I need to talk to about this whole mess before I do anything." He glanced at the phone in his hands, brows bunching together into a frown. "J, where are Mean Green, Itsy Bitsy and Captain Spangles?"
"Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff are currently in the gym; Doctor Banner is assisting with the search in the lab. He has made it so that you may not enter the lab for another six hours, presumably so you will have no choice but to rest." Tony smiled at Bruce's efforts to stop him from working, no matter how futile they may be.
"Ah, good. Send the bots to 'assist' him a bit, that'll serve him right for trying to keep me out of my own lab." He began to make his way back down to the kitchen, dialling speed dial 1 as he shut his door behind him.
The phone was picked up on the second ring, she must have already known something was going on; she usually lets it ring a few more times unless she knew it was urgent.
"Tony, what's going on? I got a text from Bruce saying to expect a call from you but he didn't explain anything." Pepper's voice filtered through the phone's speakers and instantly calmed Tony's overactive mind. Trust Bruce to call ahead, he knew him so well.
"It's a long story Pep, let me grab some coffee first and I'll tell you." She sighed in response which Tony took as an affirmative. "How's Asia?"
"It's good, I've almost wrapped up this deal in China and then hopefully I'll be off to Japan the day after tomorrow. I just want to get away from our contact here, he keeps staring at my hair and my lags and I can't decide which one bothers me more." Pepper sounded irritated.
"Well, you know how much I love your hair." His cheek earned him a tired laugh from Pepper as he made his way into the kitchen and set up the coffee machine just how he liked it.
"Shut up Tony. Now are you going to tell me what's going on or not?" Honestly Tony had to admit that he didn't really want to tell her, but it involved the company. If there were robots running around out there with Stark weaponry, no matter how secret, it would eventually get traced back to the company even if it was just because no one else out there could have made them. "Tony, we're partners in this- you have to tell me what's going on."
Tony caved at her tone and let out a deep sigh, settling into one of the chairs in the empty kitchen with a fresh cup of coffee in front of him. "I know Pep, I just don't want you worrying about things which you have no control over."
"If it has anything to do with either the company or you then I need to know about it, Tony. I may not technically be your personal assistant anymore but we both know that I may as well be, and anyway, I care about you. I'd like to think that you'd share that sort of thing with me." Tony huffed, she was too good at persuading him to do things and after the palladium incident she really didn't like it when he kept important things from her.
"Okay, fine. But I hope you've got some free time because this may take a while…" Tony muttered, feeling tense about telling her something like this when he couldn't gauge her reaction by looking at her.
"It's fine, I've got an hour and a half cleared, just in case." Tony could hear her smirk and it made him relax a bit. What was he worrying about, this was Pepper! If there was anyone in the world he could confide in completely, it was her.
"If you say so." He settled himself more comfortably in his chair and began to recount the events of the last day or so. "So, the team got called out to stop these robots which were rampaging through some middle-of-nowhere town…"
It was a gross understatement to say that Clint was fond of high places. In fact he even would go so far as to say that being on the ground sometimes freaked him out a little.
Also, no one noticed you when you were up high.
Except Natasha, but he had decided long ago that she didn't count.
Clint's love of high places was how he ended up listening in on one half of Tony's conversation with Pepper. He was lying along one of the metal beams Tony had put in at his request (although not without plenty of moaning) when the inventor entered the room. He seemed busy so Clint didn't announce that he was there like he normally would have, instead content to wait for him to be finished on the phone.
His love of heights also turned out to be the reason that he saw something he'd never seen before- Tony losing his temper with Pepper.
Tony was sat with one hand cradling his head, the other holding his phone against his ear. He let out a loud sigh and Clint guessed that Pepper was telling him off for not sleeping last night. He'd heard from Natasha earlier that he had been sent to bed by Bruce this morning, but that had been less than two hours ago so sleep was obviously still eluding him.
"Pep- Pepper I- Pepper just- Ahhh!" He hit his forehead against the heel of his hand and Clint had to supress a laugh, Pepper was always thorough when it came to telling Tony off.
"Finally, are you done? I really need to talk this through with you." If Clint hadn't been behind Tony he would have been able to see the irritated tick in his eyebrow as he tried to get the woman to listen. Clint could, however, hear Pepper's angry voice from the phone's tiny speakers, the distance turning her heated words into what sounded more like an irate chipmunk.
"No, I'm not telling you what to do."
More muttered shouting.
"Well, I don't see why I couldn't anyway; I am still technically your boss." There was a moment of silence before Tony jumped to cover his arse. "I didn't mean that!"
Pepper's annoyed mutterings from the other end of the phone conversation were getting louder and Clint could imagine that Tony was getting a serious earful for that last comment.
"Pepper, all I'm saying is there are more important things than me getting eight hours sleep every night!" Tony's voice was rising and Clint watched him warily, he knew that Tony could be volatile when he was worn out.
"Yes, I'm saying there're more important things than me!" There was more muttering from the phone, quieter than last time. But Clint knew that quieter didn't always mean calmer, or any more reasonable, as was exhibited by Tony when his voice suddenly dropped to barely more than a harsh whisper. "Well if you feel that way then why are we even having this conversation?"
Tony's phone slammed down on the table, Clint guessed that the only reason the flimsy piece of tech survived was because it was Starktech and therefore nigh-on invincible. Clint considered keeping out of it and letting Tony work his issues out on his own but a muffled huff from his teammate stopped him from scurrying back to his hiding place in the vents.
The brown head of hair dropped back to rest on the high back of the chair Tony sat in, both hands pressed to his face as he rubbed at sleep-heavy eyes. He looked more tired than Clint had ever seen him before, and Clint had seen him after nearly five straight days in the lab. The personal nature of their current enemy was getting to him.
Tony could shrug off a battle with the best of them, but the idea of either the avengers as a whole or him personally being targeted put him on edge. Sure, he could hide behind theatrics and spectacle, and he had a certain love for dramatic speeches before a fight which had made him the team's go-to guy for flashy distractions. But Clint knew he hated the feeling of being targeted because, unlike the rest of the avengers, he was close to people who couldn't defend themselves should they be attacked by vengeful robots or insane mutants.
Clint could understand the feeling; after all it would be all too easy for someone to take down his non-god/super soldier/rage monster teammates if they were caught off guard. One hit to the head was all it would take. Especially Tony, always in the public eye and such a seemingly easy target without his armour. Natasha had long ago told him his fears for her were completely unnecessary as no one could catch her by surprise, the fact that he knew she was wrong from experience didn't calm his worry at all.
So Clint didn't slink back to his hidden little nest- instead he dropped to the ground silently and cleared his throat as way of announcing his presence.
Tony's head whipped around at the sound, his body tensing in response to the potential threat. When he saw it was only Clint he relaxed slightly, letting his lips quirk upwards, "How long have you been up there, Hawkass? You spying on me again?"
Clint chuckled as he leant against the end of the table, watching Tony carefully for his reaction. "I was up there before you got here, Ironbutt. Technically you barged in on me." He couldn't help but smirk at Tony's affronted expression.
They sat quietly for a moment as Tony took in the information, he glanced at the archer "So I guess you heard all of that then?"
Clint nodded "Yup."
"Damn…" The billionaire pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting against the exhaustion which was creeping up on him. "I didn't mean to blow up at her like that, I just…"
"Yeah, I get it. You've got a lot to deal with right now." Clint glanced at Tony as the silence descended again; watching the other man attempt to keep his eyes open, head drooping until it almost touched the table in front of him.
Sitting up with a start Tony reached for his phone only to have it snatched away by Clint.
"Give me back my phone, Feathers. I need to call her back!" He tried to pry the phone from Clint's hand but failed miserably against the archer's death-grip.
"No, what you need is to calm down and clear your head before you speak to her again. If I let you call her now then you'd just do exactly the same thing you did just now." He slipped the sleek piece of tech into his pocket and pointed in the direction of the sofa. "Go and relax for a minute, Stark. I'll get you some water and then maybe I'll think about giving you back your phone."
"But Cliiiint…" Tony dragged out his name for an irritatingly long time, just causing Clint to roll his eyes at him.
"Go, Tony." The billionaire slunk away to fall onto the sofa, the soft cushions welcoming him as he face-planted onto them. Clint chuckled at his friend before pulling a cold bottle of water from the fridge for Tony along with one for himself.
As he moved closer to his friend he couldn't help but smirk at him. He was asleep, face down on the sofa with a cushion clutched to his chest like a child's safety blanket. Shaking his head Clint settled himself into one of the available chairs and turned the TV on, making sure to set the volume as low as he could so he wouldn't wake his sleeping teammate.
"I hope you've got a picture of this, JARVIS. It'll make excellent blackmail material." He murmured to the AI, knowing he would be able to hear him no matter how quietly he spoke.
JARVIS replied just as quietly, "Of course Agent Barton. Shall I add it to the file?"
"That would be great JARVIS, thanks." Clint grinned, he liked nothing better than turning their resident eccentric's AI against him, in a friendly way of course, unlike this guy who'd been bothering Tony so much recently.
A buzz in his pocket alerted him to a new message and- after checking his own first- he slid Tony's paper-thin creation into his palm. A message from Pepper flashed up on the screen-
Are you okay? Please call me
P xxx
Clint looked at the message for a moment before making a decision, Tony needed the sleep more than Pepper needed to speak to him right this second (although the man in question may have disagreed) so he quickly pulled her number up on the screen and pressed call.
The phone only rang once before he heard a flustered "Tony?" on the other end.
"No, it's Clint, sorry to disappoint you." He heard a sigh from Pepper.
"Where's Tony, is he okay?" Clint could tell she was trying not to sound panicked, not that he could blame her- Tony was hardly stable when he hung up and she was half way around the world, completely incapable of reaching him.
"He's fine, just passed out on the couch." Clint muttered with a smirk. "I told him to calm down before he called you back and then he was just sort of gone…"
"You're sure he's okay?" The woman queried in his ear and Clint couldn't help but smile at the concern in her voice.
"Yeah, he's fine, just tired. He's got a lot of stuff to deal with right now."
"Was that a subtle hint that I should lay off him for a while, Clint? You know I'm just trying to stop him from working himself into the ground." Clint knew where she was coming from.
"I know, but he's stressed and you know how he gets." Clint sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes tiredly. "Since that guy hacked into JARVIS I think he's been thinking about shutting him down, at least for now."
"But if he does that then the whole security system in the tower will be shut down. Everything will have to be monitored manually; you'll need to get security guards in. The number of a company I trust is on Tony's phone under contacts." Pepper fell into assistant mode unnaturally quickly for a woman who was no longer a personal assistant.
"Got it, thanks Pepper." They were both silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. Pepper broke the silence first.
"Thank you, Clint."
"For what?" he asked with a small smile.
"For keeping an eye on him, I know he can be a handful sometimes…"
"Tell me about it…" Clint muttered jokingly. "Seriously Pepper, this is getting dangerously close to my maximum level of daily feelings so I'm gonna have to cut you off there."
Pepper chuckled through the phone, her voice calmer than when he had first called her. "Well, we wouldn't want that now, would we?"
Clint laughed at her question. "Okay, well I'll let you get back to whatever the hell it is you do when you leave us to babysit Tony."
"Okay, can you tell Tony to call me when he wakes up?"
"Will do, bye Pepper."
He waited until he heard her respond with a "Speak to you soon, Clint." before hanging up. He placed the phone down on the long coffee table which took up some of the space between his chair and Tony's substitute bed and glanced at his friend. Tony had turned onto his side, the cushion still held tightly under his chin and his brows pinched together slightly in a scrunched-up frown which Clint refused to admit was kind of adorable.
With a grunt he settled further back in his own chair, drawing his legs up beside him as he listened to the gentle background noise coming from the TV. He soon found himself drifting off into a light sleep. Eventually the only sound which filled the large room was the quiet breaths of the two sleeping teammates and the soft click of JARVIS turning off the TV.
A/N Chapter 3 and only one day later than I was planning on putting it up... well it's getting there I suppose :p Lots of Clint in this one and some Pepperony for the lovely StarkObsessed who's review made me giggle like a little kid for no discernible reason other than that I'm apparently very open to praise ) Don't worry if you're not a fan of Pepperony, it's not going to be a key point in the story, just something that'll be referred to every now and then. Next chapter should start to pick up a bit more in terms of story so look out for that (probably out some time around the 12th-ish)
Okay, review reply time (because I'm too lazy to reply using the button-thing... I should probably start doing that...)
LaNaturalBreezeOf-Books- Aww shucks, you'll make me blush :p I'm not really much of a reviser either, but I really wanted to get those exams done so I don't have to re-sit them... It's all done now though so yay! :D
StarkObsessed- Hee hee hee, every time I read that review it makes me giggle stupidly and I'm not sure why, thank you for the lovely review :)
Luiz4200- I certainly wouldn't complain if he was in Ironman 3, he seems like a pretty interesting character :)
Ooooh, guest reviewer, for some reason I always picture a ghost reading my fic when I get one of these, not completely sure why :P Well, if you're out there Mr/Miss Guest, thank you for the review :)
Awesome, see you soon guys *fistbump*