Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom

Pairing - TonyClint

Word Count - 913

The Nature Of The Job

Tony couldn't settle to anything. He was fidgeting, his fingers tapping restlessly against his leg, and he knew he was annoying them all. He couldn't help it. Natasha seemed to be the only one who understood.

She sat beside him, occasionally squeezing his wrist in comfort. He appreciated her, he really did, but hers wasn't the touch he craved.

Clint had been missing for four days. He hadn't checked in with S.H.I.E.L.D at his designated time, and nobody had heard anything from him. Natasha had already asked to be sent out to find him, but Fury and Coulson were so far holding them off.

Tony would give it another day. Just one more, before he said to hell with it and went out to find Clint himself. It already felt wrong, leaving one of their own out there without backup, and Tony didn't like it.

This, right here, was why Tony didn't like teams.

Teams were a liability because they made you care. They made you love them, and that made you unable to think things through clearly. It added emotions to an already fraught job.

"Sir, Agent Barton has arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D," JARVIS intoned suddenly. "He appears to be in fair health, only minor injuries detected."

Tony didn't think he'd ever been so relieved in his life. "Thanks, J," he murmured, sharing a look with Natasha.

"You'd think they'd have given us a courtesy call that he's back, wouldn't you?" Tony said, shaking his head. "Assholes."

"They probably knew you had JARVIS watching," Natasha replied with a small smirk. "They know what you're like, now, Tony."

Tony rolled his eyes.

Steve, Bucky, Sam and Bruce all seemed to relax a little into their seats, and it was only then that Tony noticed they'd been tense too. He supposed, now that they knew Clint was in fact fine, it was easier to see past his own fear.

Of course, none of them, again with the probably exception of Natasha, knew that to Tony, Clint was much more than a teammate. They hadn't gone out of their way to hide their relationship, but they also hadn't announced it.

Neither of them were the kinds of men to buy into PDA, so nobody had noticed anything different between them. Tony thought that it was because as tight knit as the team were, cuddling on the couch or leaning all over one another to watch a movie wasn't exactly outside of the norm for them all.

Tony's impatience remained as they waited for Clint to come home. He fiddled on his tablet, his focus a little better now that he knew Clint was okay. He heard the lift ding and then footsteps.

Natasha was out of her seat and berating Clint before she'd even reached him, hitting his arm when he stretched them out for a hug. Tony snorted at her.

The others welcomed him back, asked if he was okay. Bruce even asked if he wanted anything to eat. Tony kept his attention on his tablet.

He knew that if he let himself get swept up in Clint's return in front of the others, he was likely to embarrass himself.

Clint slumped down on the sofa beside him. "I'm back," he announced.

Tony chuckled at the redundancy of the statement. "I can see that. What do you want me to do, dress in drag and dance the hula?"

Clint barked out a laugh. "Yes. That's exactly what I want you to do."

"Asshole," Tony muttered, his tone entirely too fond. "Now that we all know you're still amongst the living, I'm heading to the lab. See you later, Legolas."

…

Tony rubbed his eyes tiredly. He hadn't slept much over the past few days, worry eating him up and keeping him awake. He was exhausted, but he had work to catch up on that he hadn't done.

He'd made some headway on it though, and decided it was definitely time to try and get some sleep. He stepped into the elevator wearily and instructed JARVIS to take him to the penthouse.

He didn't expect to step into his bedroom to find Clint lounging on the bed, wearing one of Tony's charcoal grey jumpers and his boxers, his hands behind his head.

"Can I assist you with something?" Tony asked, raising his eyebrow.

Clint smirked. "Ohhh, that's an open question if ever I heard one. Get in bed, Tones."

Tony rolled his eyes but left for the bathroom, quickly cleaning himself up and changing into a clean shirt and sweatpants.

When he returned to the bedroom, Clint had burrowed himself under the quilt and had JARVIS dim the lights. Tony climbed into his own side of the bed, and immediately, Clint had his hand on Tony's arm, tugging him closer.

Tony sank into the contact, shifting until he was lying with his head on Clint's chest.

"You're not allowed to do shit like this," he muttered. "I have a heart condition, Clint! You can't stress me out this way!"

Clint just pulled him closer. "I'm sorry. I really am. I came back as soon as I could."

He didn't promise he wouldn't do it again, because neither of them could assure that. They both worked in dangerous jobs, and the nature of that job meant that they couldn't promise to always come home at the end of the day.

"I missed you," Tony admitted.

Clint pressed a kiss to his temple. "I missed you too, honey."

Written for;

Disney; D4. "What do you want me to do, dress in drag and dance the hula?"

Angel's Arcade: Midna - Assist / Charcoal grey / Hitting someone/something

365 - 28. Courtesy.

1000 - 929. Relieved.