Chapter 14

AN - So yes I am actually alive and am very sorry about the delays in posting. I will try to make sure I post at least once a week for everyone. Thank you to everyone who gave their feedback last chapter, it is really appreciated :) Sadly I don't own any of the material, it all belongs to JK Rowling and Mavel :( I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

When Harry and Clint finally entered the gym it was silent. Unusual considering that most of the agents were currently at the base, and would therefore not be in an op. Meaning that they should be in the gym, however they were not. He was definately going to take advantage of that.

Smiling he and Clint headed off to the changing rooms, stripping down to just the trousers they were wearing the two men wrapped their hands in tape, quietly talking as they did so. When they had finished Clint made his way over to the mats while Harry made a quick detour to get a few bottles of water from the fridge.

Having collected the bottles from the fridge Harry placed them by the side of the mats before joining Clint on the floor as he began to stretch. The worked silently, going through the familiar motions of flexing and stretching each individual muscle, standing Harry continued stretching and warming up. Finally finished he turned to look at Clint who was waiting for him, raising an eye brow at the look Clint was giving, before shaking his head and motioning to the centre of the mat to begin.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I don't want to hurt you." Harry cautioned Clint, a slight mocking tone in his voice. Rolling his shoulders Harry prepared to begin, feet apart and his wrapped fists raised.

Clint laughed at the bait, Harry knew that he was a good fighter but it had been 10 years since they last sparred, Clint really had no clue how much he had improved, "Well don't take it easy on me just because I'm your old man." He smiled again before mirroring his son's position, they fell into silence, as each man assessed the other.

Slowly circling one another they looked for weaknesses, assessing each and every movement the other man made. Watching Clint closely Harry sent out a quick jab with his left hands, testing the waters. Drawing back Clint raised his hands slightly to protect his face before sending out a swift leg kick to force Harry to move. Harry took a step back, avoiding the kick Harry scowled at the man before smirking as he advanced, throwing another left handed jab that was immediately followed by a right hook. Clint saw the left jab coming and adequately blocked it but caught the right hook that smacked his head to the right. Shaking his head he cleared the fog that had clouded his vision for a moment before re-engaging Harry with a well-executed body tackle.

They continued like this for 10 minutes swapping punches and kicks in no urgency to end the fight, enjoying the relief of beating out issues between one another. However it was Harry that first landed a serious hit, with a round house kick straight to the diaphragm, pushing Clint back with a gasp as the wind left his lungs completely. Before Clint could comprehend what was happening Harry had rushed the man, sweeping him of his feet and again knocking what wind he had gathered right back out of him as he threw him back to the floor.

Bringing his hands up to cover his face from the attack that he knew was coming he was surprised when the attack never came. Lowering his hands he looked at Harry but the man only smiled, "Don't want to not give you any chance at defending yourself." He motioned to Clint for him to stand again and Clint gave a sigh as he stood.

"You young people - can't just beat the old man you have to obliterate him!" The tone in Clint's voice only made Harry laugh; mild irritation covered a slight hint of humor.

"Come on old man; don't give up on me now." Raising his hands again the two men continued the swapping of punches until Clint feigned left before executing a perfect hitch kick that flipped Harry onto his back, where he stayed. Clint advanced on the younger man and was about to help him up when Harry grabbed Clint's wrist and flipped him on top of himself and put the SHIELD agent in a choke hold muttering, "Tap out and I'll let go." But Clint didn't move only continuing to struggle.

After Harry had repeated himself and Clint was just beginning to lose consciousness when the older man gave a weak but noticeable wrap on Harry's forearm. Immediately the man released his hold and helped the older man up and toward a bench on the far side of the gym.

They sat and sipped the water for a few minutes, slowing down their heart rates and getting their breath back. It was Harry who spoke up first, "So tell me more about my youngest brother, I got a lot to catch up on."

"He's beyond inconsolable that he can't train to be an astronaut at preschool." He said giving Harry a knowing smile as he remembered a certain young boy who had proudly declared that when he was older he was going to be a dragon tamer.

Harry shook his head at the hint that Clint had dropped, "When are you going to let that go I was 8 years old for Christ sake!" The two men continued to reminisce and tell funny stories that had happened since they had seen one another.

"… and then we played 'Why Can't we be Friend's' over the intercom system and left it on a loop all 'cos this guy said that my buddy was too short to be a real soldier!" Clint left out a raucous laugh at the story, almost dropping the water bottle which had long since been empty. Harry and Clint then stood and walked over to the changing rooms and proceeded to get changed back into their clothes and carefully removed the bloodied tape from their hands.

Having finished changing Clint took out his phone and scrolled through a list, Harry sat next to him confused as to what the older man was doing. The older man hesitated slightly before selecting an option. Waiting, Harry watched as he held the phone to his ear, confused as to what he was doing. It only became apparent when Clint spoke,

"Hello." Clint smiled at the voice before replying.

"Hey Ren, how are you?"

"I'm good, missing you but good and the kids are fine by the way. So now you can tell me why you called." Clint smiled at the 'to the point' way she always had.

"Very well then, I have someone who you should talk to…" Holding out the phone to Harry he suddenly realized what the purpose of the phone call was.

Hesitating slightly Harry took the phone before replying "Hey mum, it's Harry…"