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Clint walked purposefully down the hallway, completely ignoring the way his leg screamed. Every now and then a confused agent would send him a concerned glance, but he paid no attention to them. He had a much larger problem at hand.
Coming to the end he clung close to the corner and cocked his gun. Fully preparing for an attack, he calmed his breathing and risked a quick look.
Regretting it as volleys of paintballs were shot in his direction, he ran. The action only propelled him into Thor who was covered head to toe in Clint's bright purple paint. Whatever doubt he had of the man not being able to shoot was gone as Thor pointed the gun inches from his nose.
"Surrender now," he thundered, "or suffer the consequences."
Clint gulped but decided defeat was not as fun or flamboyant as trying to make a daring escape. "You underestimate me, mighty one," he retorted as he slowly put space between them.
"Is that so?" Thor questioned as he tried to close the space being created.
"Oh, yes," Clint said encouragingly. "See, while you may have size, I have little something S.H.I.E.L.D. likes to call stealth." With a smirk to his opponent he threw a paint grenade at Thor which exploded in his face, causing the perfect diversion. Clint seized the silver flag from Thor's belt while he struggled to rub the pain from his eyes. Taking one last look at his fallen enemy, Clint loosened the air vent and made his way up with ease.
Tony beamed as he saw his friend come falling from the ceiling tiles to the lab below, purple flag still on his belt, but this time joined with a friend.
"You got it!" he cheered.
Clint smiled through the dust on his face, making his teeth look unnaturally white, "Well, Thor has always been a bit slow and gullible."
Over to his left Banner laughed and joined in the embrace that Tony had started with Clint.
"But what about Steve," asked Banner as he broke apart the group hug, "wasn't he with you when your com-link broke?"
Clint's expression slowly turned to one of sorrow as he addressed his friends, "Sadly, the women got to him first. He…" Clint stifled a sob, adding fake tears for effect, "he didn't make it."
"No, he's right here."
The purple team turned to see their silver-coated team-mate, smiling like a dork in the door-way. "I apologize for my late entrance, Natasha held me up, but then JARVIS informed us that you guys won so she let me go for the sake of knighthood and something about freedom being adorable."
With a glance from Banner Tony's conspicuous giggle transpired into an awkward cough as he took a seat on one of the many spin chairs in the lab. "Well done, soldier." He said when had gathered himself up, "I hope there will be a time when we will need to depend on you again."
Steve saluted, and looked like he was about to say something, but was interrupted as JARVIS' cool voice came over the intercom, "Sirs, Miss Potts has informed me that she will have a victor's pie waiting upstairs."
Clint and Tony cheered while Steve and Bruce quietly made their way up the stairs. Steve, noticing that Tony wasn't following, turned to check on his friend. "Were you coming Stark?"
Tony looked up from where he was engrossed in one of his many tablets, and flashed him a smile, "I'll be up in a minute. Have to check something first."
Steve nodded and turned to Clint with a raised eyebrow, "What about you?"
Clint shrugged nonchalantly as he made his way back to Tony, "I'll stay down in case he needs help. Plus, I think you might be showering first, so it'll be a while before Pepper gets the pie started."
Steve looked down at his shirt thoughtfully as though noticing the silver paint for the first time, "Good point. See you both in a minute then."
With a nod from Clint, Steve made his way back upstairs, talking to Banner as he went.
With both of them gone Clint turned all his focus on Tony who had his shirt in a death grip. "You alight?"
Tony looked up from he sat at Clint's worried expression, "I'm fine."
Clint nodded, taking a seat beside him, "Your ribs again?"
Tony sat up but not without a sharp intake of breath, causing him to lean on himself again, "I'm sure it's fine," he ground out.
Clint nodded again, but pressed the issue, "Hey, if you ever want to talk about what happened…" At Tony's panicked face Clint backtracked, "you don't have to," he rushed, "but if you ever wanted to, the team and Pepper will always be here for you."
Tony smiled, "I'm grateful, really. Touched even. I may even start crying."
Clint playfully hit his shoulder before standing up and making his way towards the stairs, but not before turning around again, "Who knew something that was supposed to be fun could end in a three month stay at the hospital."
Tony laughed, "Nothing goes right for us Clint."
"Yea, but that's why we have each other."
"To be screwed up together?"
"Exactly."
With that he was gone, leaving Tony alone. "It was supposed to be fun," he thought to himself, before pushing himself off the chair. "Then again, everything begins that way," he mumbled.
Taking one last look at the tablet, he made his way to the elevator, thoughtfully playing with the ring in his pocket, "Pepper alone?" he asked JARVIS.
"It would seem so, sir."
He smiled. Then again, something things would always be fun.
Cheesy, I know.
Don't hate me: this is the end. It's finally done. I wanted to extend it but decided leaving you with plot-holes and mysteries was more fun. (and lazy on my part, so forgive me.)
All mistakes are mine. :)
I had so much fun writing this and appreciate everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited, I love you all! (special thanks to thisisnataliexd Hope I spelled that right...) I am working on other stories, Her Touch and His Every Breath. So check out those. ReadxReview, Love you all,
The Hawk
