The first thing Clint became aware of was...
"O holy night, the stars are brightly shinning. It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!" a voice sang elegantly. It was soft enough that the song wasn't bothering him or blocking out the sounds of the beeping medical equipment that was still hooked up to him. But last Clint knew, it had been maybe mid-May, early June. Christmas music normally didn't get played that early. Well, maybe June as a precursor to the 'Christmas in July' specials on TV. He struggled to open his eyes even as he tried to remember what happened that landed him in medical. The last thing he remembered clearly was training in the tower alone, with Tony.
But something didn't feel right. Clint had been in various medical wings and hospitals in his life and none of the beds felt this comfortable. In fact, this bed rather reminded him of the bed in his room at the tower. A hesitant sniff didn't come back with the antiseptic, sterile, and overall illness that normal seemed to perpetually be in a hospital. Instead he got hints of peppermint, cinnamon, gingerbread, something akin to pumpkin pie and pine? Smells that immediately reminded Clint of the few Christmas parties and events that he ever attended. His eyes snapped open faster than he thought possible and he slowly looked about.
Amazingly enough he had guessed right; he wasn't in medical. Somehow, he was placed in his bedroom at Avengers Tower. But this didn't look like how he last left his bedroom. It now looked like some holiday elf had barfed all over the room. To his far left, in the corner by the window, was a medium sized Christmas tree dressed with ornaments that Clint had seen the year before and knew belonged to the other Avengers. Garland stretched across every bit of the ceiling. Three wreaths adorned the three doorways that littered Clint's room: one door to the main room, one to the bathroom and one to his closet. Shifting to sit up more, Clint noticed a couch had been drug in and basically took over the rest of the space below the window and beside the tree. All remaining floor space seemed to be overtaken by Christmas presents carefully wrapped in different decorative paper. On top of his bureau the pictures had been moved to make room for what looked to be a mostly half eaten meal.
"What the hell?" Clint muttered; his voice cracking and straining from disuse. He glanced down and quickly noted that he was naked under the covers on his bed and so he gathered up one of the loose sheets to wrap around his lower half. Slowly, methodically and with practiced ease, Clint removed the various medical hook-ups that covered his upper half. One such piece being removed set off an alarm that had Clint clutching his head until it suddenly silenced a few seconds later.
"Agent Barton, please refrain from removing any more medical equipment. The others have been informed of your waking and are hurrying to arrive," JARVIS called out once the noise stopped. Clint stilled before looking about again. This was the first time since before joining S.H.I.E.L.D that he had ever woken alone after apparently a traumatic injury. A quick scan of his body though showed no new scars that normally appeared after a stay in medical. Nothing felt hurt and there was no hanging bag of liquid that poured meds into him. So, why was he here?
"What happened?" Clint croaked out. JARVIS didn't reply as the AI was busy telling the others what Clint was doing and receiving orders from Bruce to not discuss what happened. The fact that Clint had woken partway through their meal was the reason why none of them were currently there. "JARVIS? What happened? Was I shot? Is everyone else okay?"
"Everyone is fine. You were the only one affected," JARVIS finally answered, having gotten permission from Bruce to at least say that much. Clint frowned as suddenly he got a flash of being six years old and watching TV with Tony and Pepper talking business over his head. Shocked, he shook his head before spotting a stuffed bear that had taken residence on the pillow beside him. Clint's frown deepened as he reached for the bear.
"Stevie?" Clint questioned. He remembered a toy like this from his early years. It didn't actually stay with him very long but no matter when he found it, it always looked in new condition. Even after almost 30 years, that much hadn't really changed. Frowning at the bear, he looked it over once again. Its outfit was rather closely designed like Tony's Iron Man suit. But how could someone have known that design when he was a baby and Tony was barely in Elementary school? Then there was a memory flash of being at a Build-A-Bear and watching Tony go step by step in building the actual bear he was holding. Clint tossed the bear to the end of the bed in shock just as the others arrived. He didn't even get a second to speak.
"Oh, poor Stevie," Tony moaned before retrieving the bear. Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head. Clint's mind flashed again to when Steve first saw the bear. Shaking his head, Clint curled up slightly, holding his head. Bruce frowned, concerned as he moved to check on the equipment that was still attached to the archer. Natasha and Pepper traded a look before shifting further into the room to give Thor the ability to enter as well.
"Clint, how are you feeling? Anything off or feeling strange?" Bruce asked. Clint looked up at him in confusion. What the hell happened to him? Bruce frowned. That wasn't the look he was expecting. "Is everything alright?"
"What happened?" Clint countered, feeling suddenly defensive. Bruce paused, unsure what to say. Clint glanced over the others. Steve looked to the Christmas tree with a forlorn look of sadness. Tony gripped tightly onto the stuffed bear before pulling Pepper into a hug. Pepper gently placed a hand over her stomach which was showing signs of an impending baby. Natasha stared straight at him but Clint could tell that she wasn't focusing on him. She was instead holding back and trying to act like she wasn't there. Then there was Thor. Last Clint remembered, the thunderer had stated he had business at home in Asgard and would not return for quite some time.
"It gives me great pleasure to see you awake again," Thor declared, taking over the conversation when it seemed no one else would. Clint gave the thunderer a puzzled look as Natasha smacked the god's arm. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. Pepper and Tony turned to glare at him. Steve shook his head as Bruce quickly checked over the few monitors that Clint had unhooked. Slowly, he began re-adding them back. Clint didn't even notice. His attention was currently focused on Thor.
"How long have I been out?" Clint cried, looking everyone over as he tried to visually demand an answer. Bruce turned and glared at Thor, making the god wince and mouth an apology. But still, no one answered. In fact, now no one was even looking at him anymore. Clint grunted as he shifted to get a better look at them all. Bruce moved to push him back down but Clint smacked his hand away with a growl. "How long have I been in medical?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Natasha questioned instead. Clint leaned back, surprised at her question. Thinking about it, his mind flashed through images of years past before settling on training with Tony. None of that made sense to him. Slowly, he glanced at Tony before looking back at Natasha.
"Clearly and that makes sense? Training with Tony," Clint replied. Tony cussed and walked toward the door. He didn't make it out before Pepper grabbed his arm to stop him. As Clint looked around, he was surprised to see that everyone was rather upset with this news. What happened to him? "Did something happen? Were we attacked?"
"Clint, you trained with Tony in the last week of May. It's Christmas Eve," Natasha clarified. Clint stared at her. He had been hoping that Tony was just pulling a prank on him by decorating him room like this. It couldn't actually be true. But as he looked about, Clint could see the others silently agreeing. Were they all in on the genius's joke or... Was it actually true?
"Is this a joke?" Clint muttered, silently praying for someone to laugh and cry 'got ya'.
"I'm sorry," Bruce whispered. Not the words the archer had wanted to hear. Clint looked down at the bed. It had looked like he had been in here for a while and there were signs of equipment that Clint had seen on other agents when they've been knocked out for longer than three days. Equipment that, surprisingly enough barely ever got used on him. He had never needed to stay in a bed for longer than a week.
"Have I been unconscious this whole time?" Clint asked. Everyone shook their heads before shouting over themselves that that wasn't what happened. His mind suddenly flashed to being four years old and being tortured by some woman before Tony burst in with the Iron Man suit and rescued him. Clint came out of the memory to Bruce questioning his wellbeing. The archer waved it off. "I'm good... I'm good."
"Are you sure?" Bruce doubted. Clint focused on Bruce. Normally the doctor didn't pressure him. Usually, Bruce would accept his words and back down but now Bruce was staring at him, challenging him. Again, Clint's mind flashed with him as a four year old, telling Bruce about how his father beat him. The archer frowned and looked to the bed again.
"Was... Was I a kid?" Clint mumbled, trying to make sense of his extremely jumbled memories. Bruce widened his eyes in surprise. He hadn't thought that Clint would remember any of his experiences. Especially with the archer saying that he could only remember back to training with Tony. But could he have been unintentionally lying to them?
"What do you remember? And I mean everything, even the things that don't make sense right now. I want to know everything," Bruce pretty much demanded. Clint grunted in shock. Could his random memories actually be what happened to him? Was he actually turned into a kid and seemingly live a second life here with the Avengers? Clint glanced over the others, wondering if they would be more willing to tell him the truth if he told them about his new memories. They looked back at him, almost slightly hopeful. He sighed.
"Bits and pieces... More seems to be coming back as we sit here," Clint grumbled. No one spoke after that, waiting to see what Clint would say. When nothing seemed to be happening, Pepper moved to the left side of Clint's bed and sat down on the edge. Her moving caused Steve to sit down on the couch and Thor to shift over and join him. Natasha placed herself on the footboard of Clint's bed while Tony and Bruce continued to stand by the medical equipment. Clint glanced over at the CEO and was shocked to get a flash of Pepper rocking him to sleep while humming some random song before being placed in a crib and drifting off to sleep. "It's weird. I know what I was doing or had done at those times but... I still have the memories of being here... With you guys."
"Is it giving you any headaches, remembering any of this?" Bruce wondered, remembering what Clint had said when they were in the Baxter Building. Clint shook his head no, allowing the doc to sigh in relief. That was something he feared that Clint would suffer with for the rest of his life. "Well that's good. When you were four, you mentioned that remembering both sides gave you headaches. I was worried about brain damage."
"I think I remember that," Clint grunted, his mind flashing to visiting the Fantastic Four while dressed in costume. His eyes widened before looking up at the doctor. "You gave me the cure right after Halloween!"
"Yes," Bruce said, even though Clint wasn't actually questioning it. Suddenly the archer looked horrified. Nearly two months? No wonder why everyone had been worried about him. And no wonder about the extra medical equipment needed on him.
"I've been out of it since then?" Clint probed. Everyone nodded. Clint raised his free hand to rub it through his hair. If he had known that he'd be out for that long, he might not have taken the cure. But then he ran into the possibility of dying. It was a lose/lose situation. "Jesus..."
"It took three days for the serum to fully age you back. After that, the cure seemed to stabilize the whole thing. A week later, Bruce couldn't find any signs of the serum left in your system. Exactly how Reed explained it would work," Natasha informed the archer. Clint frowned. That explained for some of the time. But what happened for the rest of the time?
"We have no idea why you suddenly slipped into a coma. Everything seemed to be going fine. The monitors and JARVIS all said you were healthy and nothing was stopping you... You just didn't wake," Tony described, his voice going soft and distant. Clint glanced at the genius as his mind flashed with the various times that Tony had taken care of him. Over the course of this whole thing, they had gotten closer. Clint winced. Everything was different. Not wanting to dwell on it any longer and feeling the need for solitude, Clint glanced over to Bruce.
"Am I good to go?" the archer muttered. Bruce nodded, having been checking on Clint's bodily functions while they all talked. Clint was still healthy even after all that had happened. Slowly the two began unhooking everything again. Bruce frowned at Clint's rather rough treatment of equipment but didn't comment. Clint wasn't one to stay in medical for very long and after over two months, anyone would be itching to leave. Besides, JARVIS was monitoring Clint as well.
"Are you okay?" Natasha asked, feeling more comfortable and confidant with her partner back to normal. Clint nodded but didn't look at her. A hint that he was lying and didn't want to talk. She frowned and wished he would look at her. If she pressed him now, he'd close off even more. Honestly, Clint had gone through a lot and Bruce had asked none of them to push the archer in fear of his health. She sighed deeply.
"Kay, you're all set," Bruce called as he finished withdrawing the IV line from the back of Clint's hand. Clint nodded and sat up further before shifting toward the free side of the bed. As he moved, he made sure to bring the sheet along with him. Thankfully Pepper and Natasha still had the decency to look away as a just in case. Clint stopped at the edge of the bed, his head dangerously swimming as feeling rushed through every bit of his body. The rather long length of time he had been hooked to an IV also wasn't helping.
"We'll wait for you in the hall," Pepper declared, ushering everyone out but Bruce in her miscalculation of Clint's hesitation. Clint didn't even notice until he door closed and Bruce was suddenly kneeling on the ground in front of him.
"You'll tell me if you feel anything wrong, right?" Bruce asked. Clint nodded before gripping his head in his hands. Now he was fighting the urge to throw up. Bruce raised an eyebrow at the sight as he waited for Clint to explain what was currently bothering him. After a minute or so, Bruce realized that Clint had just agreed more than likely to shut him up. Well, Bruce wasn't going to take that lying down anymore. "Well?"
Clint looked over his fingers to stare at Bruce. His mind yet again flashed to a moment where he told Bruce that he wasn't usually honest with doctors. He cursed his young naive mind. Over the next month or so, everyone was going to be using that against him. Clint groaned.
"Just dizzy. Happens sometimes when I've been on an IV for over three days. Gets worse the longer I stay hooked up," Clint explained, groaning again as he tried to make his dizziness pass faster. Bruce frowned. He had gotten a hold of Clint's medical file a long time ago and he was certain it had been the full file but there was no mention of anything like this. None of the doctors at S.H.I.E.L.D had even said anything. Then again, normally Bruce never cared for injuries severe enough to be hooked to an IV for three days, but still. In fact, Clint usually broke out after two days unless he was unconscious.
"Are you allergic to something that I gave you?" Bruce questioned. Clint shook his head, much slower than he had before.
"Something about any type of liquid getting injected into my body for long periods of time. Docs explained it as my body just seems to suddenly deem it all a threat and attack it. Usually makes me sick and S.H.I.E.L.D only recently started stocking some type of mix that I can handle. Supposedly Fury made sure the tower stocked the same type," Clint replied. Bruce frowned as Clint suddenly chuckled at a distant memory. "Almost got killed once when I needed a blood transfusion and my body rejected it for some unknown reason. Got a major infection in my wound and all the areas they tried injecting the blood. In the end, the docs had to give me something that shut off my immune system long enough to receive the blood."
"That's highly dangerous. If someone came in during that time with a simple cold, you could get really sick," Bruce pointed out. Clint shrugged.
"Normally why S.H.I.E.L.D docs won't let me have visitors until after I've gotten all the blood I need and the immune blockers wear off. They've timed it down to the exact minute," Clint retorted. Bruce shook his head. As the team's current doctor, Bruce should have been informed of all these idiocrasies. But he wasn't in this case. It was aggravating that he didn't have all the info. After checking Clint over for the rest of the day, Bruce was going to have an angered conversation with Fury and the S.H.I.E.L.D doctors.
"I wish you said something sooner. None of this is in your medical file," Bruce said. Again, Clint shrugged. Didn't make a difference to him. If he needed to drugs, he needed the drugs. Nothing he could do about it. One of the main reasons he tried to avoid Medical like a plague. Thankfully his dizziness was finally disappearing.
"Wouldn't really matter. Still need the crap," the archer answered before standing and heading over to his closet. Bruce frowned and trailed after Clint in case his dizziness came back to bother him. Opening the closet door, the duo froze and stared in shock at the huge selection of kids clothes. Apparently no one thought to remove the clothes and replace them with his adult clothes. Slowly, Clint started shifting through them all. Most of the clothes still had the tags on them and Clint could only hope that the receipts were kept as well. A lot of stores were gonna be upset when they had to return all this. "Wow."
"Pepper, Tony and Natasha went a bit overboard," Bruce chuckled, remembering the moment when Natasha came back with almost an entire store worth of baby clothing varying in size from newborn to 2T. Her argument was that Clint could age to any point and as Pepper had already bought from 3T to what looked to be medium kids' sizes, they were covered for everything. Clint could only nod as he sorted through. One of the girls must have organized his closet though because the clothes did seem to follow the sizing range. Right half was the small size and left was the larger.
"Better hope Pepper's kid is a boy otherwise we're gonna be visiting a lot of stores before the new year," Clint joked as he began scouring the clothes for a large or x-large shirt.
"You remember that?" Bruce wondered. Clint nodded as he found a shirt in the size he needed. He pulled it out before freezing. Bruce started laughing lightly. The shirt was an Iron Man tee shirt that Tony must have jokingly bought in their first outing and six year old Clint had allowed it to pass through. Clint shuddered and glanced back at the closet. This shirt had been the one closest to the wall, meaning nothing would be the same size or larger. Groaning, he began pulling off the tags and yanking it on as he wondered what happened to his clothes before all this happened. "You were only a baby when she told the rest of us."
"It was mentioned once or twice when I was four and her stomach is bigger now," Clint commented as he turned to his bureau to find boxers and pants. Thankfully those were still placed in the lowest drawer so it was much easier to retrieve. "You guys might not see it but there is a noticeable difference since I last saw her as an adult."
"Okay, well, if you need me, I'll be waiting with the others. Tell JARVIS to get us when you're ready," Bruce called before slipping out of the room. Clint paused as he realized that the others had left because the last time he was with them, he was four and had hesitated in dressing when Pepper and Natasha were present. As an adult, Clint didn't tend to care much who saw him naked but as he glanced about, it felt kind of nice getting dressed in private. He snorted before dropping the sheet and pulling on his boxers and pants.
Once dressed, he hesitated. He now had two choices. One, he could go out into the hall and talk with the others about what had happened or whatever they wanted. Or two, he could escape into the vents and hide from them until he felt more confident in his memories. As Clint debated these two ideas, a light knock came from his door. Surprised, Clint locked it. JARVIS must have let them know that he was dressed and contemplating. Sighing, Clint made his decision. When Natasha picked the lock a minute later, Clint was already gone.
After escaping his room, Clint needed to find a place where the others wouldn't find him. It was well known that he normally took solace on the rooftop or even the archery range. So those places were out of the question. But until his four year old self spilt the beans about the truck, only JARVIS and the archer himself had known about it. Clint could only hope that Bruce had forgotten about it or never told anyone else about it.
That's how Clint found himself underneath the cab of the truck. He was currently trying to unhook a rotted out fuel line. This truck had been bought soon after Clint had tracked it down. To be honest, this truck was the only thing that remained of his family. When he was younger, Clint always remembered a truck parked in the old barn even though they always drove the sedan that his father ended up crashing. Why he had wanted such a vivid memory of his past, Clint couldn't figure out. But now, it was nice to have something to do and tinker with. A swift kick to his shin made the archer pause.
"Go away," Clint grumbled, not caring who it was even though he was certain that it was Tony. For a moment, nothing happened but then a squeak of a wheel cart being moved made the archer sigh. Seconds later, Tony joined him under the truck. Clint grunted, trying to not just follow through with the desire to punch the genius.
"Hey, man," the genius greeted as he looked over the underside of the truck. It was so old that mostly everything was rotted away or rusted out. Basically everything had to be fixed. Clint had already done a lot in the engine but there was still a lot that had to be done below. "Wow. This thing needs to go to the junkyard."
"May not look as good as your classics but it ain't junk," Clint snarled, not wanting to get into the real reason why he had been working on it. Tony said nothing in response before reaching into a hidden spot of the truck bed that Clint hadn't seen. A pop sounded before the fuel line fell limp into Clint's hands. The archer growled before sliding out from under the truck and getting to his feet. Tony took an extra moment before following. Clint shouted at him before the genius could even stand. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Uh... I was thinking of helping you with your truck," Tony cautiously replied, unsure of what was getting Clint all angered. He had figured that this would be okay. In fact, Tony wasn't even going to mention anything of the past few months. All he wanted was to hang with Clint. But when the archer tossed the fuel line at Tony's feet, the genius realized this might not have been the best idea.
"I didn't ask for it, nor do I need it," Clint snapped, taking his anger and frustration out on the genius. This was why he wanted to stay hidden, why he didn't want to talk to anyone. Tony's eyes widened.
"Clint, it isn't like that!" Tony called, coming to the wrong conclusion. Clint snorted and shook his head. "I just want to hang out!"
"We never hung out before," the archer pointed out, not even getting into Tony's apparent need to show off his genius. Tony winced, unsure of how to explain what was going through his head. He had just spent months taking care of Clint. Of watching over him like the archer was his own son. Just because Clint was now an adult again didn't mean that Tony still wasn't feeling the same things. He honestly was missing hanging out with the archer, talking about normal everyday things.
"Things are different now," Tony began to say. Clint laughed angrily, cutting the genius off. Tony had no idea what to do next.
"No, nothing's changed. I haven't changed. I'm still the same guy I was in May," Clint argued, forgetting that he wasn't really the only one involved in this. Tony looked sadly to the ground. He was giving in and was just going to take whatever abuse Clint wanted to deliver. "Just because I was a kid and you got a little attached doesn't mean anything between us changed right now."
"I thought we were both rather close," Tony whimpered, stressing the word 'both'. Clint shook his head as he chuckled at the genius.
"Tony, I was six and I had been abused by my father for so many years that anyone who gave me attention back then would be my best friend," Clint stated. Tony winced again, wishing now that he hadn't sought out the archer in the first place. It was too much to hear all this even though he was really beginning to think he deserved it. Clint shook his head. "I'm still a loner. That won't change. And right now, I want to be left alone."
"Okay... Sorry," Tony mumbled before quickly escaping the garage. As he passed the archer, Clint noticed something streaking down Tony's face. Something the archer though he'd never see on the genius. But Tony was crying... Suddenly Clint realized what was happening.
While he himself was trying to deal with and get over the fact that his friends took care of him at various ages, the others now had to deal with their once close relationship to the archer. Groaning, Clint understood now that he fucked up, royally. He wasn't even sure if there would be any hope in fixing this for any of them. All he wanted was to just go back to normal but... In the past few months everyone had created a new relationship with him. One that they'd be trying to nurture even though Clint was now an adult. By saying those things to Tony, Clint had fucked everything up. A sudden clapping made Clint turn around. Natasha stood at the door to the stairs.
"Did you?" Clint asked, not wanting to finish the sentence. Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"Hear everything? Pretty much. I came down as soon as you told Tony that nothing changed," Natasha replied. Clint groaned before moving to lean against his truck. Natasha shifted deeper into the garage. Even if Clint wanted to be alone, she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "What caused all that?"
"I was pissed and took it out on him," Clint grunted. Natasha stared blankly. A sign that she wanted him to explain more and wouldn't leave or speak until he did. Clint rolled his eyes while sighing deeply. "I didn't want to deal with the whole 'kid again' experience. Just being with Tony reminded me too much about it. And Tony pretty much seemed like he was gonna ask. So I pushed him away before he could."
"No, you threw him further than the Hulk could toss him. I'd be surprised if he ever spoke to you again," Natasha mentioned, putting everything into perspective. Clint 'thunked' his head against the truck as he moaned. Natasha chuckled at him, not feeling bad at all for the position that he trapped himself in. "So what are you going to do?"
"Nothing?" Clint pleaded. Natasha's eyes narrowed. Clint glanced at her before whining. "Nat!"
"Clint. Tony and Pepper dealt with this whole thing for a month on their own before the rest of us got involved. They got really close with you," Natasha explained. Clint stared at the ground, trying his best not to think about what she was saying but memories flashed through his mind.
"I remember," he mumbled, trying not to think about it.
"This whole time that you were in a coma, Tony only left your side when we forced him to go upstairs to eat or shower. He stayed in your room, on that couch. And that was with him even knowing that you might wake up and forget everything that happened," Natasha mentioned. Clint nodded, not sure what to say after those statements. Natasha didn't add anything else and after a minute, Clint looked at her. She was distantly staring out at the garage, letting the words sink into Clint's head on their own. He elbowed her side to get her attention.
"What about you?" he muttered. His memory of the events included her at sometimes but not a frequently as some of the others. Natasha shrugged, not really sure she wanted to get into the reasoning she had in avoiding him. He frowned and nudged her again, getting her to look at him. "Something wrong?"
"I kinda shut you out after seeing your six-year old self look to Pepper for comfort over me," Natasha admitted. Clint raised an eyebrow, trying to think back on what she was talking about. When he remembered, he cringed. At the time, Clint had thought he said or did something that pissed her off and she hated him. Knowing the real reason was actually worse. She shrugged again and sighed. "We're close as adults. Like siblings almost. I thought that would transition over."
"I had no idea who you were," Clint argued. Natasha nodded. That was what Steve had said as well. She heard all the explanations before, she didn't need it now.
"That's what everyone told me. But I felt like I couldn't do anything right, so I tried to stay away from you."
"You weren't the only one avoiding it all," Clint muttered. Natasha snorted, she had assumed as much whenever she watched over him. Course, Clint may not have realized that someone had been watching over him. "I was a little afraid of you guys when I was six. It was nice to be left alone even though it got boring quickly."
"But then you got even younger," Natasha added when Clint paused. The archer chuckled and nodded. She glanced over at him. "Why did you run away from us?"
"Hmm?" Clint wondered, trying to remember what time she was talking about. He had 'run' away a few times. Natasha raised her eyebrow.
"That first day, after the OCFS worker left," Natasha reiterated. Clint mouthed 'oh.'
"Tony was freaking out and I was getting a little freaked. Bruce mentioned before that when I was crying, Hulk had gotten rather protective of me and tried to come help. Figured that was good. Sides, Steve was drawing me rather than watching over me and I couldn't see you. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Once I got in the vents well... I kinda got stuck," Clint mentioned, going soft by the end. Natasha laughed.
In the many years that they have worked together, Clint had only gotten 'stuck' in vents twice. The first time, Clint had been in the vents when the mark blew up the building. In the collapse, the vent crunched down on the archer, trapping him in the protective metal. The second time it happened, intel had claimed the vents were large enough to fit a person. Well, Clint got about half-way through before his quiver got trapped. He couldn't back up as he hadn't known he was trapped until the quiver had broken through the metal plating and he'd lose everything inside it.
"Stuck?" Natasha questioned. Clint groaned but nodded.
"Well, I slipped down a floor when I underestimated the distance. Once down, I realized my body was too small and weak to get back up. I had no way to get back to you guys so, I went down further. I knew Pepper was in her office, so I angled myself there."
"We were terrified that we had killed you," Natasha said, still laughing. Clint snorted, he had assumed as much once JARVIS talked to Pepper and when they reappeared.
"I enjoyed the prunes," Clint joked. Natasha groaned. "Got everyone sick and the perfect revenge after everyone changed me at least once."
"The smell was so revolting!" Natasha cried. Clint laughed. "And how can you not know you're allergic to peaches?"
"Never had one," Clint retorted. Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Made up for everything when you spoke," Natasha chuckled out. Clint shook his head.
"God, I had gotten so sick and tired of signing everything. It had to be done," Clint argued. Natasha chuckled some more. Clint glanced over to her. "I can't really remember. Did Hill and Fury babysit me for a day?"
"During the remnants of prunes," she added. Clint groaned before smacking his head on the truck again. Natasha snorted.
"Did everyone change me?"
"Pretty much."
"God. I'm never gonna be able to look at you all again!" Natasha laughed again before patting the archer's shoulder.
"At least Pepper was the only one who did bath time," Natasha pointed out. Clint flushed. That was something he could do without. Any memory of the nightly baths that the CEO had performed. Sadly, he pretty much remembered each night. He looked over at her but before he could speak, Natasha stopped him. "Hey, you were close with her and I wasn't going to argue."
"Doesn't mean the memory won't scar me now," Clint grumbled. The two drifted off into a comfortable silence. Natasha didn't want to disturb the archer and Clint was rather lost in his memories. Though most memories of him being a baby had long since vanished, the memories of the month he spent with the Avengers was clear in his head. So clear that a few times when he tried to remember his mother's face, he saw Pepper's or Natasha's instead.
After a few minutes of this, Clint mentally slapped himself in anger. Talking to Natasha about what had happened to him actually made him feel better. Made him understand her own point of view and helped him deal with his. He hadn't thought it would work but apparently he was wrong. Course even after realizing this, Clint began to feel bad again. He had been so mean to Tony before. And all the guy was trying to do was chat.
"Something up?" Natasha asked. Clint groaned.
"I should go find Tony."
"He went to your old playroom," Natasha called as the archer pushed away from the truck and started to head off. He paused at her words.
"My... Playroom?" Clint chorused, turning to face her. She chuckled before pushing off the truck as well. He had a vague memory of a playroom but not where it was placed right now. Before, it used to just be the living room of his current apartment.
"The room across from yours. Tony took everything out of your room a few hours ago and moved it there. He plans on keeping it as a playroom for his kid, seeing as it's already up to OCFS standards," Natasha explained, being blatantly vague on the whereabouts. Clint didn't even notice.
"Where is the baby gonna sleep?"
"For now? In Tony's and Pepper's room. They think the baby will be there until it can sleep through the night. It also gives time for Tony to renovate wherever he thinks the baby will be," Natasha replied. Clint nodded. Neither had moved. "You're stalling. Hurry up and go apologize."
Clint grimaced but nodded again. With a deep sigh, he set off. He figured that Natasha was following after him, but she had other plans. By the time he reached the elevator, Clint realized Natasha wasn't following him. He turned just in time to see the spy start up one of the four motorcycles and drive off. Laughing lightly at the irony of it all, Clint boarded the elevator. It went up to the floor that the gym was on before stopping. Clint looked up to see the doors open, showing a waiting Steve.
"Oh!" Steve greeted in surprise at seeing the archer. Clint nodded a hello before moving aside to allow the soldier to join him. Steve smiled before slowly entering. Before the doors close, he glanced over. "What floor you going to?"
"Mine, I think," Clint muttered, unsure. His memory of the path to the playroom didn't match with the path he always took to his room. But Natasha had said it was across the hall. Figuring his memory was just off, Clint looked over to Steve. "I have to find Tony."
"About the blow up?" Steve wondered. Clint winced. JARVIS must have recorded it or something. The archer highly doubted that Tony would go around telling the others about what was said.
"How'd you hear about it?" Clint asked, making sure he was right.
"JARVIS warned us that you might not be... 'Visitor friendly'," Steve admitted. Clint chuckled at the words before mentally agreeing. That would be what it looked like to the AI. Clint certainly wasn't up to entertaining visitors. Even speaking with Natasha was an issue. If not for their long relationship, Clint might have snapped at her as well and never have gotten over what happened.
"Yeah," Clint agreed. The elevator stopped on his floor, the same floor that the playroom should be on. Halfway out the door, Clint turned back to Steve, leaving his body to block. "We okay?"
"What do you mean?" Steve asked. Clint pointed between them as if that answered the soldier's questions.
"We good. Nothing to talk about?" Clint inquired. Steve paused to think about what the archer was asking before smiling.
"Tomorrow, we can talk," Steve hinted. Clint frowned but before he could ask, Steve pushed him out of the way. The doors began closing. "Go talk to Tony."
Clint stood in the hall, rapidly blinking in shock as he watched the elevator doors close and take Steve away. He couldn't believe that had just happened. Captain America just shoved him out an elevator. Shaking it off, Clint turned to the rest of the hall. Slowly, he worked on finding his old playroom. As he grew closer to his room, he could hear the sounds of Tony swearing at something. Smiling, Clint walked faster.
"Mother fucker! Son of a bitch! STAY UP YOU STUPID FUCKING THING!" Tony screeched. The last statement was enunciated with a loud crash. Clint rushed ahead, worried about what he might see around the bend. As he passed the corner he paused as he spotted the genius tangled up in the hall with a baby gate strewn on top of him. A cursory glance allowed Clint to make sure that Tony was unhurt before cracking up laughing at the sight. Tony looked over in surprise at the sudden noise. He hadn't been expecting anyone. Seeing Clint, the genius froze before frowning at the archer.
"Need help?" Clint offered before the genius could question him. Tony glanced at the gate before nodding and backing up, waving a free hand at the object. Clint smirked and headed over. Slowly he lifted it and began to position it so that it would stand on its own and not interfere with closing the door. Tony frowned; the archer looked like he had done this before. "Watched my mom put these things up a thousand times. Barney and I kept knocking them over. We were too strong."
"Didn't think your family had the money," Tony softly replied, not really thinking about it. Clint nodded.
"We had money. We weren't rich but Dad didn't lose his job till after I was born. They had all this baby crap saved from Barney. Reusable diapers, gates, bottles, clothes... Everything was second hand."
"Was he violent before too?" Tony wondered, mostly to himself. Clint accidentally knocked over the gate in his surprise at the question. Tony winced, realizing what he had asked. "Sorry."
"No..." Clint answered. Tony frowned. Was Clint not accepting his apology or answering the question? Slowly, the archer went back to work on the gate. Clint shook his head and gave a soft smile. Tony relaxed. Something or someone had gotten to the archer before he came up here. "No, he wasn't really violent. He only got that way when drunk. Losing his job made him drink real bad."
Tony's eyes widened in horror. In all the time with Clint, he had never thought of that connection. It was no wonder that Clint didn't tend to drink all that much and whenever he did he tried to get black-out drunk. The genius wondered what Clint felt whenever he drank in his presence. Did the archer get flashbacks? Did he fear that Tony would attack him?
"I had... Had no idea," Tony whined, unsure what to really say. There was so much he could say but what would have the archer turning back on him, that he had no idea. Clint snorted before letting go of the gate. Amazingly, it stood on its own this time. Tony smirked.
"You wouldn't. No one reported any signs of abuse in the house. We weren't being investigated by anyone. All you'd be able to find on my family life was that I had a mother, father and brother. My parents died when I was six in a car crash. It wasn't even reported that my dad was so drunk that he was close to four times the legal limit. After that, I pretty much tended to vanish until S.H.I.E.L.D," Clint admitted. Tony looked to the ground as Clint got up and turned to face him. The archer sighed. "Look, I'm sorry."
"For what?" Tony called, looking up at Clint.
"For snapping at you earlier. I had no idea how to react to what happened and I was sort of pissed off and... Well, I took it out on you," Clint muttered. Tony sighed. After spending so long with Clint as a young kid, Tony could understand how a lot of this could be a problem.
"Clint, its fine. Natasha warned me against going to see you but..." Tony stopped and turned to look in at the playroom. There was stuff lying all over the floor. Clint glanced in and realized it was everything the genius had bought before. All the things he had used, played with or worn. Including Stevie. His gaze narrowed on the toy. Later, once Tony left, Clint would have to steal that back. "I spent almost an entire year caring for you as if you were my child. I wasn't that great at it in the beginning but... Near the end, I got so used to you being around me that I couldn't take another minute of not knowing if you were okay. So, I went down to check on you."
If possible, that made Clint feel even worse for the things he had said. Unknowingly he had attacked everything that Tony was fighting to get over in the first place. Clint just felt like a huge ass. Slowly, Tony looked over at the archer. He wanted to talk more about this but he was just so tired. And Clint just woke. It might be best if Clint just rested... Or so Tony believed.
"Look man, it's late," the genius began. Clint frowned before glancing at the far wall of the playroom. The clock that hung there read 11:48 pm. He hummed in surprise. As he had just woken only a few hours prior, it was surprising to realize the time. "We should head to bed and talk about this more in the morning. Okay?"
"Are we... Good?" Clint whispered, misconstruing Tony's words. Tony smiled. No matter how old Clint was, he was never self-confident.
"I'm good. Just... I mean, get used to me hanging about you for a few more days and then things will go back to normal," Tony joked. Clint smiled back and nodded. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow's Christmas and everyone is excited that you're awake for it."
"Christmas... Huh... Yeah, Nat did mention today was Christmas Eve, didn't she?" Clint asked himself. Tony patted the archer's back. "Damn... I missed Thanksgiving!"
"Yup," Tony replied before gently nudging the archer toward his room. Without protest, Clint began following the guidance.
"Was everyone here?"
"Pretty much. If it makes you feel better, we all ate in your room."
"No! Everyone saw me naked... As an adult!"
"Most of us had seen you naked as a baby so it didn't seem to matter that you were naked under the blankets. Besides, blame Bruce for that one. He said it would be pointless to dress you until you woke."
"Damn," Clint groaned as the duo arrived at his room. It took a second before Clint realized the tree and presents were now missing but the other decorations were still up. "The tree?"
"We figured that Christmas would be better celebrated in the living room. Some of the staff helped move everything," Tony said as he pushed Clint down onto the bed. Clint nodded before looking up at Tony.
"Is that whole thing finished?" the archer asked. Tony frowned, trying to think of what Clint meant before he realized. The living room was being torn apart after his allergic reaction to the cat in October. Clint had missed the 'opening' party in the middle of November. The genius nodded. "Awesome."
"Get some sleep," Tony ordered before tucking Clint under the sheets and kissing him on the forehead. Both men froze after that, unsure what to say or do. After a few minutes, Clint cleared his throat. Tony backed away quickly. "Sorry... Night."
Before Clint could respond, the genius was out the door. Clint smirked. Thinking back on the image of his father, Clint wasn't too surprised to see that the image was easily replaced with Tony's face. Sighing and leaning back in the bed, Clint realized he wasn't as upset with this change. It was rather nice not having to think of his abusive father but instead of the kind billionaire who swore that no one would take him away.
8121 words. Went long so that I could cover everything in this chapter. Was totally fun. Two more chapters remaining and then onto the sequel... Crap, I better get to writing more... I only have about 9 of those chapters done.
Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving (for those who celebrate it). My family has a 'Supernatural' themed dinner. We had a Turduckin which is a turkey stuffed with duck and chicken. We also had candied sweet potatoes with loads of marshmallows, some stuffing, bread, jellied cranberry sauce and two different Angel Food Cakes. One Angel food cake was covered in chocolate frosting and the other was made with strawberries and decided to fall apart on us after baking, lol. The first cake actually burned me as well. I was trying to flip it over as per the directions and it fell onto my chest, so I have a nice little comet looking blister there. Mostly healed, just waiting on the blisters to pop and see if it scars.
Everyone is doing fine. No sickness, no other injuries... Just fine. We all had a great holiday and now are starting to prepare for the next holiday.
Review Responses:
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Review Responses:
Niom Lamboise - Thanks!
sammygirl1963 - Yeah... Everyone is going to miss Little Clint. But they'll also be glad to have their Clint back. It's as tough for them as it is for us, knowing this story is closing up and we'll all be moving on, lol.
amy. d .fuller .9 - Tee hee, no headache cause as you read, woke up a little after the need for one. lol. When it comes to his feeling on the team and his value, I find that even in the comics or cartoons, whenever he starts to feel fine and complacent, something happens to make him remember his place or to remind him how 'weak' his is compared to the others. So, it's hard for him to stay in good spirits. Yup, sequel. I'm excited about it too. Been running into a small road block with it but I feel once it's posted and people are reviewing I'll move along better. Thank you for the kind words about my family and I hope you had a lovely holiday.
Wholockian99 (Guest) - I am fine with him having autism as well, believe me. I wanted to let all of you know in case I start falling behind on my writing. Believe me when I say that I more fear people thinking I am not fit to raise a child with autism over him actually having it. If he gets diagnosed with whatever the doctors deem he has, it might actually make life easier for us. Now we'll know why he is the way he is and be able to figure out little tricks to keep him as happy and healthy as possible. I love my son, no matter what happens to him I will always love him. Thank you for your kind words.
Phoenix Brooke - Thanks so much. I'll miss this story too. It was awesome to write and I had a lot of laughs. But the next one is just as fun.