Authors Note: Once again huge thanks to all those who reviewed - Lollypops101, DBhawkguy30. Qweb, Sandy-wmd, kimbee and sammygirl1963. You're kind words make my day.

I will be posting another one shot soon called On All Hallows Eve and am currently working on Clint's seventeenth birthday! (winks at kimbee)

Thanks!

Barton waited patiently outside the school gates for Tommy to appear. He hadn't had any texts or missed calls so he was hoping that was a good sign. When the bell finally rang signalling the end of the school day Clint felt his lips quirk and shook his head slightly, silently thanking Phil that he didn't have to put up with that annoying sound every day. He probably wouldn't mind getting to spend time with kids his own age, but he was certain with everything that he'd been through that he wouldn't last long stuck in a classroom for hours on end. He'd grown used to having Molly teaching him, he trusted her and he loved being able to go to the training room when he needed to let off some steam.

Crowds of kids suddenly appeared at the gates, some of them running as if their life depended on escaping the confines of the school and some sauntering casually, talking and joking with their friends.

Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, the teen pulled it out and glanced at the message. It was from Tommy, telling him he was on his way out. Clint smirked, sliding the phone back into his jeans pockets and folded his arms across his chest.

"Hi."

Clint turned to the sound of the voice and was surprised to see a group of four girls all staring at him. The one he assumed had spoken stepped forward, a shy smile brightening up her features as she tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "Are you waiting for someone?" she asked politely, ignoring her friends as they whispered behind her.

"My little cousin." Barton felt his cheeks flush while they continued to stare at him, it was slightly unnerving. He had no idea how to make it stop.

"Oh. I'm Lucy." She thrust her hand out toward him, clearly expecting him to return the gesture.

Frowning at the girl before him, he figured he should be polite. "I'm Clint. It's nice to meet you Lucy." He grasped her hand gently, giving it a small squeeze before letting go.

This time it was Lucy's turn to blush. Her friends giggled behind her, making her turn and give them a scolding glare.

Clint couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. Was this girl seriously hitting on him? Before he could say another word, a familiar voice rang out behind him.

"Clint! You ready to go?" Tommy ran over to his cousin, stopping in his tracks when he noticed there was an audience. "Oh, hey Lucy."

Lucy's eyes widened as she stared at the two boys, her gaze flicking between them. "Hey. Is Clint your cousin?"

"Yeah." The smaller boy beamed, his shoulder nudging against Barton's side. It was clear that Tommy knew what was going on. He'd seen that same dazed expression on the girls who decided their day was better spent ogling the boys on the football team. "He's single too."

"Tommy!" snapped Clint.

The younger boy just grinned, clearly enjoying the teen's embarrassment.

With a nervous glance at the group of flirtatious teenagers, Clint decided it was time to high tail it out of there. He gripped Tommy's arm, pulling him along behind him. "Come on bud, time to go home."

Tommy gave a half-hearted wave over his shoulder as he was dragged away from the girls, his cousin only releasing him once he deemed them to be far enough away. The smaller boy took a moment to fix his jacket then had to jog to catch up to Clint's longer strides. "I think they like you." He held back the urge to laugh at the faint blush still tinting his cousin's cheeks. It wasn't right to tease him when the older boy had come all the way out here to help him.

"Yeah, yeah." Barton suddenly gripped Tommy in a playful headlock and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"No!" the small blonde cried. "Don't mess the doo, Clint!" he warned, trying to fix his dishevelled hair before anyone noticed.

The teen shook his head, smirking when he realised that he'd passed on that particular pet peeve to his younger cousin, unintentionally of course. He thought now might be the best time to change the subject. "So did anything happen today after I left? Did he say anything to you?"

"Nope. Hardly seen him at all, which was good. A few of my friends were asking about you, they thought what you did was cool." He grasped Clint's sleeve to get his attention and when the older boy turned to face him, Tommy gave him a look filled with love and adoration. "Thank you Clint, for coming with me, for sticking up for me. I'm still not sure what I did to deserve a cousin like you."

Barton stared at the smaller boy in shock. If anything, Clint was the lucky one to have become part of such a loving and supportive family. He didn't need to say anything for Tommy to know just how those words had affected him, he could feel the burning of tears threatening to fall but managed to blink them away. Now wasn't the time for a chick flick moment. Instead he reached down and picked up Tommy's school bag which was currently being dragged behind the smaller boy. He settled the bag on to his own shoulder, a little surprised at how heavy the bag was and now understood the reason for it being dragged.

Giving Tommy a warm smile, he held out his fist for the small boy to bump his own against it. It was their thing. When words weren't forthcoming, the simple gesture was enough to show the love and friendship that had blossomed between the two boys.

Walking side by side, Clint couldn't contain the warmth that flowed through his chest as he listened to Tommy fill the rest of their journey with his endless chatter. Maybe, just maybe everything would be okay.

Hellllooooo…..wake up or I kill you! Helllloooo…..wake up or I kill you!

Clint groaned and pulled his pillow over his head, trying to block out the sound that had woken him from a particularly nice dream. As his brain finally registered whose ring tone it was he threw the pillow aside and swung his legs out of bed, scrubbing a hand through his already messy hair and stifled a yawn while grabbing the cell from his side dresser and swiping his finger across the screen to answer.

"Yeah?" he croaked, then quickly coughed hoping to clear what sounded like a frog crawling up his throat.

"Wow. You sound awful, did I wake you?" came the amused voice of his younger cousin.

Clint glared at the screen, wondering if Tommy could feel his irritation. Scrubbing a hand over his face, the teen finally answered, "What's up Tommy?"

A chuckle was heard through the phone, then a man's voice in the back ground. Was that Paul?

Barton had been receiving endless calls over the last few days since leaving his Aunt Trisha's. The younger boy seemed to be making up for not speaking with Clint for almost two weeks and was fitting all that wasted time into the space of two days. Not that the teen minded, he would listen and give advice where he could, knowing that Tommy was freaking out about what to say to his dad and scared that the older man would follow in the footsteps of the smaller boy's nightmares and leave him on his own.

"Hang on Clint." There was the sound of scuffling then a deep voice reverberated in the teen's ear. "Clint, it's Paul."

Barton couldn't help his lips quirking upward at the sound of his Uncle's voice. The pilot really was a man of few words. "Hey Uncle Paul. How're you doing?"

"I'm good." There was a slight pause, and Clint thought he heard a deep sigh escape the older man just as the sound of a door was shut. "Listen kid, I just wanted to say thank you, for everything you've done. I should've noticed something was wrong. I mean, when is Tommy ever quiet?"

Clint laughed, head nodding in agreement even though he knew Paul couldn't see him. "Yeah, but at least you know when something is wrong and you don't need to thank me, Uncle Paul, he's family and I would've done the same for any one of you."

"Yeah, I know you would Clint." There was a stretch of silence before Paul spoke again, his rough tone softened by the gratitude he was feeling. "Tommy said you were going to show him some defence moves?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Well, you still can if you want, but I'm going to start taking him to karate lessons any time I'm home. Something we can do together, you know?"

Barton grinned, the idea was a good one and would help Tommy with both defending himself and bonding with his absentee father. "That's a great idea. Maybe he can show me some moves."

It was Paul's turn to laugh and Clint couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself. It had been his idea after all.

"Well, thanks again kid. I'll put you back on with Tommy. He's probably outside dancing about like a loon, bursting to speak to you."

"Okay, put the little monster back on the phone." Just before his Uncle handed the cell over, Clint added. "I'm glad everything worked out Uncle Paul."

"Me too Clint, me too."

More scuffling sounds, then a childish 'da-ad' was heard before Tommy once again had his phone. "Hey Clint."

"Hey bud," he greeted for the second time.

"So….did he tell you?" Tommy asked, his excitement bursting through the ear piece.

"Yeah, karate? That's cool."

"It was your idea, remember?" The younger boy exclaimed.

"I know, I'm just glad he agreed. So you alright?" Clint asked, knowing how hard this had all been on Tommy.

"I'm good. Thanks Clint, you really are awesome and with your birthday coming up, I've decided to make you something. I hope you'll like it."

"I know I will, Tommy. Talk later bud."

"Okay, bye Clint."

Barton flopped back onto his bed with a beaming smile splitting his face. He was happy that his cousin and uncle were attempting to fix this gaping hole which had formed between them. Clint was certain that Paul hadn't meant for it things to get so bad. He'd seen the older man with Tommy on the few times they'd visited and saw the bond they had shared, but somewhere along the line that bond had been neglected and begun to unravel. It left Tommy a sad, quiet shell and one that Clint hoped never to see again, it wasn't natural. His younger cousin was so full of life, always laughing, talking your ear off and had the kindest heart the archer had ever seen. If anyone deserved to be happy it was Tommy.

"Clint, you up? Breakfast is ready." Phil voice carried upstairs, a hint of playfulness in his tone. "I made you pancakes in the shape of arrows."

Barton arched an eyebrow, was he serious? Now he knew he had to get up. Grabbing a clean pair of jeans and his thin grey t-shirt, he changed quickly and rushed downstairs. Stopping at the kitchen counter he couldn't help the laugh that escaped him at Phil's attempt at making arrow shapes out of his pancakes.

Phil chuckled as he stared at his son, spatula still in his hand. "Didn't even have time to fix your hair, hmmm?"

Barton raised a hand to his head, his eye widening in surprise. Even though he couldn't see it, his hair was sticking up wildly and from the expression on Phil's face it was hysterical.

"I'll fix it once I've eaten," he responded with a half-hearted glare.

The agent slid the bottle of syrup across the counter, not surprised in the least when Clint caught it effortlessly. Emptying an unholy amount of syrup onto the stack of sweet goodness, the older man still wasn't sure how the teen's teeth hadn't fallen out yet. Phil knew he should probably make more of an effort to bring some healthy foods to the kid's pallet but really didn't want to suffer another debate on the pro and cons of eating fruit at breakfast. Coulson was sure his boy could convince a vegetarian that vegetables were bad if he wanted to.

"Thanks dad."

Phil met his son's gaze and almost took a step back at the rush of emotions displayed on the teen's features. The one that stood out the most was the most commonly aimed at the agent, and one he would never tire of seeing; love and affection. After everything that had happened over the past few days, Phil was pretty sure that the 'thanks' he was receiving was for much more than the demolished plate of pancakes.

Giving Clint a soft knowing smile, he took the empty plate and placed it in the sink to be washed. He heard the tell-tale scraping sound of the chair being pushed back from the breakfast table and watched as the teen disappeared upstairs. 'Probably to fix his hair,' he thought with a chuckle.

As Phil scrubbed the plate clean, he thought about his brother in law and nephew and couldn't imagine ever letting the bond he had with Clint to crumble; he'd spent far too much time and energy in getting them to where they were now, in fact it seemed their connection was only getting stronger.

In the beginning when they had first met and the agent had quickly been taken in by the hurt, scared, broken little boy, he'd made a promise to himself that he would never let the kid know anything but love and safety, something he'd obviously been without for many years. It was a promise and one he intended to keep for as long as he lived.

No one was going to make him break that promise.

The End.