Aaaaaaaand...here's some Tony!whump

"Sir, I recommend-"

"No, Jarvis!" He snapped at the AI. He sucked in a few deep breaths and then rubbed his forehead, groaning quietly. "I'm fine..." Slowly, the pain was subsiding, but he kept a hand pressed to his eyes as images continued to flash across his mind.

Someone was calling his name, but it wasn't in the room. It was from his head. He swallowed thickly and tried to decide to keep pushing off the memories or just let them take him. He didn't want to do either, but its not like he had a choice. That wasn't all. He always had someone there to snap him out of it, to bring him back to reality. If he was alone, how long would he remain inside his head?

"Jarvis...if I do pass out..." he breathed deeply. "And I don't wake up in 5 minutes...get Clint, okay?"

"Of course, sir," Jarvis replied.

Tony didn't say anything else before his eyes slid shut again and he was no longer in the gallery, but lost in a fuzzy memory of some sort.

Clint was in the kitchen when his heard his name.

"Mr. Barton."

He nearly jumped out of his skin and the handful of potato chips that he'd just shoved into his face spewed out from his mouth a little bit. "What?!" He snapped. Jesus. One would think he'd be used to this AI around here, but it did still freak him out when it would speak directly to him sometimes.

"I apologize for the interruption, but Master Stark requires your assistance in the gallery."

Clint swallowed the rest of his chips and sighed. He'd /just/ woken up from a much needed sleep. "What? Why does Tony need my help?"

"Mr. Stark collapsed and informed me to call you if he did not wake within 5 minutes." The AI replied.

"What?!" Clint exclaimed, jumping up. "Get Bruce, Jarvis!"

"I'm sorry, sir. Mr. Stark directly told me only you. If its a consolation, his vitals are erratic but stable."

Clint swore under his breath and ran to the gallery. He opened the door and saw Tony curled into himself and shuddering. "What the hell...Tony!"

Shit.

That's what kept repeating to himself as the memory grew intense. He was flying in the suit, above the ruins of New York. /Loki attack/ his mind registered.

He was holding something. Knowing how this story goes, it was the nuke. He could only watch as he came across the portal.

"That's a one way trip," Steve's voice echoed through the speakers.

And then he was in space, he was trying to call Pepper, and then he saw flames as the nuke he was holding blew up a...spaceship.

He realized he couldn't breathe. He wasn't breathing. He opened his mouth to suck in air, but there wasn't any. So his eyes closed and he felt himself falling.

I died. How did I come back?

The next thing he saw was himself on the ground. A few of the others surrounded him, staring, until he suddenly jolted awake just as the Hulk screamed in his face. Then he was rambling something about... what was that, someone kissing him? Shawarma? Everything was getting fuzzy now and hard to decipher...

Ow... ow...

"Tony!" Clint dropped to his knees beside the billionaire, eyes wide as he shook him. "Come on, man, wake up or something!" He wasn't quite sure what to do so he leaned back and glanced around. "Jarvis, what the fuck am I supposed to do? I dunno how to help with whatever this is!"

"As recorded in my systems, Mr. Stark is reliving an intense memory. Over the past few days upon his reported accident, there's been-"

Clint cut off the AI as Tony continued to roll around, his breathing labored. "Just tell me how to snap him out of it!"

"No specific treatment is available. However, physical contact and talking to him has worked best." Jarvis reported.

Clint rolled Tony over and placed his hands on his arms to keep him from thrashing. "Okay, buddy, you better help me out here. Wake up!"

Tony wasn't falling anymore. He was just floating. It was dark and there was no more memories to look at. He panicked; there was no way out. He needed to get out. Out, out, OUT!

"Come on, buddy, come back..."

That sounded like Clint. Had Jarvis gotten him? That meant he'd been out for over 5 minutes. Great.

He suddenly found the strength to open his eyes and he inhaled sharply, Clint's face above him.

"What the fuck, Tony? What was that?!"

He blinked a few times as he stared up at the other man. "Uh..." he mumbled. Christ, his head was still pounding and he felt dizzy. Very dizzy.

"Tony?"

Finally, he managed to sit up, very, very slowly. "What's it look like?" he snapped, a hand covering his eyes.

Clint sighed sharply. "No need to bite my head off, Stark. Just trying to help you."

Tony scrambled to his feet, head throbbing furiously. He shrugged off Clint's supporting hand. "Thanks, but I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." Clint gripped his arm. "Tony, stop this!"

"What? I fell."

Clint laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, right."

Tony sighed. "Really, Clint. I'm okay now."

"Then why are you shaking like that?" Clint countered, his eyebrows raised as he looked Tony over. "Hmm?"

Tony glanced down to see that he was indeed trembling. Oh. "I'm fine," he insisted and shook his head, before heading for the door. "Now I'm just gonna-"

"No," Suddenly Clint was reaching out to stop the other man. "Talk to me, Tony."

"Look, you don't-"

"Tony!" Clint snapped, shaking his head. "You're remembering, aren't you? That little episode was a flashback or whatever, huh?"

Tony stared for a moment, his brow furrowed as if debating on if he should really tell Clint or not. Barton wasn't exactly known for keeping his mouth shut about things. Actually, if his messed up memories didn't fail him, Clint had ratted him out on a more times to count.

Clint sighed and gripped Tony's shoulder. "Just...please."

Tony opened his mouth, closed it, and slumped against the wall , sliding to the floor, defeated. "Yeah. I'm remembering things."

Clint inhaled sharply and sat on the floor next to Tony. "How much?"

He shrugged. "Not much, really. Just flashes usually, but sometimes I remember bigger things, longer things and that happens."

"What did you just remember, then?" Clint asked.

"The end of the Loki attack, when I flew the nuke into the portal." Tony was relieved to finally talk about it. Now he could get details.

Clint gave a small nod at that. "Right, then you fell back to earth and woke up, then everyone said yay and we went for shawarma," he stated.

"Right, that."

"But you've been remembering other stuff, haven't you? Things about…" Clint paused, before letting out a small sigh, "well, things about you and Steve?" His eyebrows rose in question.

Tony didn't look at him. "I remember a lot about Steve."

"...And?"

"And I don't know. I don't know!" he exclaimed. "I feel like I should be loving him or...something. He's a good guy, I can see why I fell for him, but...its different now. He told me we didn't get along before a mission or whatever. Actually, correction. I watched some of the mission in my head so that's how I know... So I don't know if I should hate him, or start over, or just leave this whole mess entirely."

Clint said sternly, "I'll make damn sure you don't leave. If you do, I'll find you."

The billionaire studied him for a second, blinking, before smiling a little. "Thanks, I guess."

Clint let Tony fall into silence, and he clenched his fists. Now what? Tell Steve? Bruce? He figured someone other than him should know, because goddammit this was not his kind of thing. He was about as skillful with people as Fury, and that was saying something because Fury is just not a people person. "Are you-"

"No, no one else can know."

"They pretty much already know, Tony!"

"Look, if they know about how these memories are affecting me, with the episodes and the fucking feelings, which by the way I'm not so sure about, they will never give me some space. Steve will have Bruce test me, ask me questions, and I really don't want to do that. I need to figure this out on my own. C'mon, Clint, help me. Lead them on. Stall them, whatever you have to do to keep them completely oblivious about the details." Tony pleaded. Clint regarded Tony carefully.

"Do you promise to make sure I'm around at least when you have the damn seizures?"

"Its not a seizure, Barton, its-"

"Stop talking. I won't understand anyway."

"See, this is why I like you."

"Of course you like me. It's because I'm fucking awesome."

"Funny, I thought you were fucking Natasha."

Clint paused, tilting his head for a moment as he smirked. "Yeah, well," he said. That was just like the old Tony- well, the before Tony- to make a joke like that. It was kind of weird. Refreshing, though.

"I'm serious, though," Tony went on to say after a moment. "Don't tell anyone else. Mkay?"

Jesus, this was going to be hard. Clint Barton didn't keep secrets. Sure, maybe classified info he could keep his mouth shut about (for the most part, anyway), but keeping quiet when it came to secrets amongst the team just was not his forte. "Fine…" he finally sighed. "I'll try my best. But at least let me help you when you have those little episodes."

To that, Tony nodded. "Alright. I'll have Jarvis tell you whenever it happens."

"Good."

Clint stood up and offered a hand to Tony, who accepted it and hauled himself up unsteadily. He swayed, and Clint kept a hand on his shoulder. "You look like shit. What's wrong?"

"Dizzy."

"That happen every time?"

"Yeah," Tony said breathlessly, and he began walking forward from the gallery. "I should work in my lab, work up some data..."

"Or sleep," Clint suggested, crossing his arms.

"Don't start nagging me too, Barton," Tony rolled his eyes as he continued out of the gallery.

"I'm just saying that after an episode like that, rest would be good. Especially if you're dizzy," Clint followed him out, his arms still crossed over his chest. He'd expected for Tony to be difficult like this, but it didn't make it any less annoying. "Come on."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

Clint followed Tony out of the gallery, still bantering. Thor was looking at them strangely.

"Friend Barton and Stark?"

"Hey big guy," Tony greeted. "Haven't seen you in a while. How goes it?"

Thor smiled widely, and clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Quite well, if you don't include our last mission."

"Oh...yeah. The nuclear mix-up." Tony nodded. "Talk to Fury about it?"

"Indeed. He is not happy. With Friend Rogers or you." Thor informed him. "Friend Stark-"

"Me? Why me?"

"Your injury is merely a misfortune on his part. Not too worry. Though you may want to avoid Lady Natasha, for she's upset about your antics of your consumption of alcohol and medicine. Also-"

"Well. I'm fucked."

"Friend Stark, do you still have Pop-Tarts here?" Thor cut in. When Tony just looked at him in confusion, Thor matched his expression before it dawned on him. "Your memory! I apologize."

"Thor likes Pop-Tarts," Clint told Tony, and then focused on Thor. "Same place as always, bud."

"Thank you. This will be a most glorious snack!" Thor boomed before he walked away, heading to find the Pop-Tarts.

Tony just shook his head slightly. God who likes Pop-Tarts... he thought in bewilderment and then turned around himself. "Well I'm gonna head to the-"

"-Bedroom," Clint cut in as he placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. He then turned the man around to steer him down the hallway. "Because right now you need to sleep. Got it?"

He tried to careen himself out of Clint's path but he didn't relent. He scowled. "Hey, c'mon. I'm not tired, I've been sleeping a lot, you know!"

"I don't care." Clint retorted as he pushed him inside Steve and Tony's floor. "Sleep or I will make you."

Tony released himself from Clint and smoothed his shirt. "Fine, fine! God, you're annoying. Now leave."

Clint scoffed and waved a hand. "See you."

"Yeah.." Tony muttered, "See you."

Clint paused to look back at Tony, his expression stern. "You'd better really sleep. 'Cuz if you don't and you try to go work in the lab, Jarvis is gonna tell me. Right, Jarvis?"

"Precisely, Mr. Barton," the AI chirped.

A satisfied smirk spread across his lips. "Now go rest, sleeping beauty," he said before he walked away, hearing the billionaire mutter something of Jarvis being an unfaithful piece of tech.

Gah, Clint is hard to characterize sometimes. Sorry for no Steve in this chapter, but he'll be in it next chapter, I promise. I have this headcanon where Tony takes a quick liking to Clint, too, and not just Bruce. Ah well. Anyway, I hope you're liking.

Please review!