A/N: First of all… I'm so sorry that this isn't one of the poll options! But this story wanted to be born NOW and I was powerless against it. I really hope that you won't mind!

Before getting to the actual story… GOOOOOSH! Thank you a MILLION times for all your incredible reviews. You guys are amazing! (HUGS) I'm enjoying typing this collection immensely so it's a joy to notice that this has gained friends.

ADDITIONAL DISCLAIMER: Thank you so much, 'Mission Impossible 3', for the idea that inspired this chapter! (bows humbly)

TONYXPEPPER IN THIS ONE, HINTS OF THE BARTON FAMILY.

Awkay, before I've scared off you all… Let's go! I REALLY hope that you'll enjoy the ride, although this wasn't a part of the poll.

AH, AND SO NO ONE GETS CONFUSED…! Clint has all his limbs in this one. THIS TAKES PLACE AFTER 'AoU'.

A Little Headache

Tony Stark didn't sleep often. When he did he slept like the dead. Sometimes Pepper joked that even an explosion wouldn't rouse him. Which was why he was surprised when his eyes flew open in the dark of the night, his mind on full alert and already listening carefully, even if he had no idea what woke him.

There were no blaring alarms. Or screams, which appeared far too often in his nightmares. Hard as he tried he couldn't catch anything threatening, only Pepper's calm breathing beside him. Then, finally fully and properly awake, he heard the shuffling steps. The recognition that soon dawned was both a relief and unsettling.

Those steps definitely belonged to Clint and the archer was either incredibly exhausted or injured.

Carefully making sure that Pepper's rest wasn't disturbed Tony pressed a feather light kiss to her cheek, earning a very sleepy appreciate hum, then climbed reluctantly out of the bed. Of course he knew that Clint probably wanted to lick his wounds in solitude. But the guy had been absent for over two weeks. So sue Tony for being a little… concerned. Because he wasn't actually worried, of course he wasn't.

No matter how tired Clint was, no matter how badly the Hawk was aching, there was one place and one place alone where the archer headed whenever the man returned to the Tower from a mission. And indeed, Clint could be located to the kitchen area. By the time Tony got there his friend was preparing a mug of tea the stench of which made the billionaire shudder. "You sure you're not cooking up a biological weapon there, Feathers?" he quipped.

Clint shivered, caught off guard, which was a sure sign of the toll the mission must've taken on him. "Pepper's recipe", the archer revealed, his voice a little quieter and hoarser than usual. Tony's head was quick to diagnose either recent strangulation or a headache. Neither option felt very promising. "It tastes horrible but works miracles on headaches."

Diagnosis number two confirmed, then. For once in his life Tony wasn't proud of having been right. He frowned. "You had your head bashed in again, didn't you?" He shook his head disapprovingly, even if the other's back was turned towards him. "I've told you to stop doing that. Show Dr. Stark, yeah?" He rolled his eyes when his friend stiffened instead of obeying. "Look, I've seen you have a bullet dug from your arse and watched you vomiting. It can't be…" Clint turned, cutting him short. "… that bad." Tony winced. "Ouch!"

Clint gave him a dry look. Well, as much a man with one side of his head having been transformed into a bruise could. "Yeah, exactly. Ouch."

It wasn't just the bruise. One of Clint's eyes, which was in the middle of the disaster area, looked weird. It was bloodshot and the Hawk's pupils were uneven. "Please tell me that you weren't stupid enough to sneak away without letting an actual medical professional check up on you."

Clint rolled his good eye. "This mission was already a paperwork nightmare and I wanted to get away as quickly as possible. Besides, it's just a concussion. I'll live."

Tony stared for a few seconds. His friend definitely didn't seem very 'living' at the moment. "No offense, buddy. But have you looked into a mirror recently?"

One corner of Clint's lips twitched, a smile desiring to make an appearance. "Honestly, I've been avoiding mirrors. But I know that it looks nasty so I didn't go to the Farm yet."

Smart move, in Tony's opinion. The kids would've been terrified. And Laura would've given Clint's already aching skull a good, well deserved smack.

Those thoughts vanished when he noticed that Clint was practically swaying on his feet. "I know you have a hero complex, Birdie, but soon you're gonna fall flat on your face and I think you've got enough bruises there already. Sit down. I'll bring you the tea."

Clint obeyed without a word, which alone was very alarming. Tony delivered his friend the clearly much longed drink and gave the man a few moments before speaking, mindful to keep his tone low. "What was the mission about, anyway? It wasn't one of Fury's, I've pestered him enough to know for sure."

"Nope, it wasn't", Clint affirmed around a sip of tea and the wince that followed.

"And that's all you're gonna tell me, isn't it?"

"I'd have to kill you if I told you more."

"That joke just gets funnier every time." Tony noted with a degree of alarm that Clint seemed to have paled even further during their brief talk. It could've been just the growing exhaustion but with the archer's usual luck… "Seriously, though… I'd love to have someone from the med team to check that head of yours. Because you seem to be in enough pain to suggest that your skull's splitting in half. And your eye looks funny."

Those words made Clint freeze, the mug halfway on its way to the man's lips. The Hawk's good eye widened slightly. Whatever little color there'd been to accompany the rapidly darkening bruising vanished entirely.

Tony's stomach knotted. All of a sudden he was feeling very, very cold. "Clint?" So what if he sounded scared? He was allowed to! "That's it, I'm calling a doctor!" Bruce was sadly still absent, still missing and who knows where. But he knew a great number of medical professionals.

Clint gulped hard and for a moment the billionaire worried that his friend would throw up. The quiet voice that eventually came was eerily calm. The archer refused to look at him. "Don't call anyone. Just… I need you to take me to the med area and give my head a scan. Put on your suit, just in case."

Clint remembered falling asleep just before the final showdown of the mission. Which was bizarre because he never, ever fell asleep while a mission was nearing its end. It now occurred to him that he'd most likely been drugged. He woke up to a phone call that led him directly to the agent he'd been tailing – and to the said agent's current enemies, which explained the bruises. He'd been out cold for six hours. That was more than enough time…

"What the hell is that?"

Tony's voice brought Clint violently back to the present time. He tensed up, then turned his head slowly and reluctantly to see exactly what he'd been dreading to discover. There, in the middle of a scan from his brain…

Clint's heart quite possibly skipped a couple of beats. It was hard to tell when his mind seemed to have shut down entirely. "That's a bomb." Hollow and numb. None of it was registering properly just yet.

Tony, who was thankfully dressed in his armor, stood absolutely still for two seconds. Then began to dash towards a phone. "I'm just… I'm not even gonna ask how it got there." Rambling on a panic mode. Not good. "I'll… I'll call Dr…"

"Don't!" Clint regretted raising his voice instantly when it felt like a chainsaw had collided with his head. That thing buried inside… Any moment now… "Didn't I tell you… Don't call anyone. Try to remove it… and it blows up." He licked his lips, finding them as well as his mouth oddly dry. "I've seen how these things are handled. There's only one way."

To both their surprise Tony actually stopped. Perhaps hoping for an easy miracle solution. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

Clint turned his head and stared at the unnaturally white ceiling above him. His head and heart were both pounding. "You've got a defibrillator here, right? Give me a shock. The current will fry the bomb."

"What?" Tony's shout quite nearly blew up his brain. "Clint, you're asking me to do something that'll stop your heart! You can't be seriously…!"

"I am." Clint turned his head again, relieved that he didn't actually have to see his friend's face from the mask. He tapped his own head with two fingers, even the gentle contact bringing a nasty flare. "This, right here… It goes off and my brain's toast. The other option… It's a chance."

Despite the suit he could see how Tony's shoulders slumped when the weight of the inevitable crashed on them. "Fine, you idiot. I'll fry you up. But on two conditions." The inventor took a deep, shuddering breath. "One, Natasha never finds out."

Clint nodded eagerly. Even if it made him want to throw up. "Probably a good idea", he agreed. "She'd kill us both." A poor shot at humor but with how heavy the air around and between them had become it felt like he had to at least try.

Tony either didn't notice or just wasn't in the mood. Possibly both. "And you… You come back. Your hear?" It sounded like the Iron Man's voice broke somewhere along the way but it was probably a trick of the archer's imagination.

Still… Clint could practically feel the waves of distress radiating from his friend. He nodded because it was the only comfort he could offer. "I promise", he murmured. Of course he couldn't really promise that. But he'd definitely try with absolutely all his might. Because… Well, he couldn't have Tony drag him back to kill him again, now could he?

For obvious reasons neither of them was in the mood for talking while they finished the preparations hurriedly. On the absolutely last possible moment Tony looked at him once more, reluctance written all over his posture. "Are you absolutely sure that this is the only way? I mean…"

Clint gave his friend a look that he hoped spoke everything necessary. This is the only way. Just do it. I trust you. He didn't trust easily but he did trust Tony and wanted the man to know it. Especially if this whole fiasco turned pear shaped.

"Okay… Okay…" Tony swallowed several times, then braced himself visibly. "On three, yeah?" They looked at each other, both disconcertedly serious. "One… Two…"

The current rushed through Clint like a white hot flame, wiping away everything.

This was all just a nasty nightmare, right? Because none of this felt real to Tony. Or maybe it was more of him not wanting to believe that this was real.

Electricity traveled through Clint, making the archer jolt in a way that'd haunt Tony's nightmares until his dying day. Then… Nothing. Not even a twitch. No heartbeat. Even though the billionaire had known to expect as much it didn't make actually facing the fact any easier. Now…. Now he'd have to bring his friend back.

The suit was abandoned in a single breath, since the bomb clearly wasn't the problem anymore. Ignoring the bruises left by Clint's latest mission and the new marks he was bound to cause Tony kept pressing hard. Counted out loud in a feeble, almost childish tone that might've amused him under different circumstances.

One round of thirty compressions. No reaction. Another. Still nothing. Tony's eyes blurred from tears but he barely noticed. There was irony he couldn't quite appreciate in the fact that his heart was hammering fast and loudly enough for two while his friend's remained utterly still under his furious struggles. "C'mon, you bastard…", he muttered. "You… You promised, remember? So fight it, damnit! Stop being stubborn and fight!"

During round four Tony was desperate enough to start blabbering threats. He swore that he'd find a sharp shooter who'd smash all Clint's records although he suspected that such a person was impossible to find. He threatened even the archer's bow and arrows. Nothing happened.

By then a tear ran down Tony's cheek. "So… So that's it, huh? You'll just… You'll leave us like this? You just… leave… Us… The world… Laura… The kids…" How about that, he got a reaction. Just a slight shudder. Feeble but real. Tony's eyes widened before he went on like a steamroller, pressing determinedly. "You promised to teach Coop archery, remember? And… And you know me. I'd never train properly without you pestering me! So stop this and come back, you asshole!"

Maybe it was his pleading tone or the insult. But all of a sudden Clint's whole body spasmed and the archer gasped like someone who'd been diving for several minutes. Dazed eyes darted around wildly. In a flash the man was already sitting up, finding the strength from who knows where, and struggled to get up, to get away.

It took Tony several seconds to become coherent enough to function. He wrapped his arms around his friend and held on, sealing them to an awkward hug. "Easy, easy…! Don't… Don't get up yet. Just breathe. You're okay, you're okay."

Slowly Clint's struggles died down, leaving the Hawk still and wheezing. Eventually words could be comprehended. "… genius my ass … don't know … how to count …"

Tony couldn't help it. All his self-control had flown to the wind. He broke into a fit of hysterical giggles that sounded almost like sobs. It felt almost better than anything he'd ever experienced to hear Clint join in, even if it was hoarsely and quietly.

They'd be just fine.

Tony gulped thickly. His heartbeat was starting to calm down now that he could feel Clint's. "Do me a favor?" The inventor gritted his teeth, pleased that his friend couldn't see his face. "Never, ever make me do this again."

"'kayh…", Clint wheezed.

They were both startled when steps burst into the room. Out of nowhere a small group of medical professionals materialized, slowly but determinedly. "Agent Barton, would you lay down please? We'll connect you to a heart monitor…"

Releasing his hold on his friend, losing the constant contact to the evidence of continued life, was harder than it should've been. When the professionals began to work on Clint Tony turned slowly to see a one more person at the doorway. Pepper gave him a tiny smile, immense relief in her suspiciously watery eyes. Before Tony registered that he was moving he was embracing her, tears she couldn't see and he didn't notice rolling down his cheeks. Pepper held back, gradually assuring him of what he was beginning to believe.

Everything would be okay.

When Clint began to wake up he groaned at the annoying beeping sound that assaulted his ears and still aching skull. A hospital…? No, it didn't smell right. And the bed was too comfortable…

The Tower… But what…? Oh yes, the bomb… His chest still hurt. Thankfully it felt like at least Tony hadn't succeeded in cracking a rib.

Tony brought him back and he had no idea how to even begin to return the favor.

"You're awake, aren't you?" It took a few seconds too long to recognize Pepper's voice. "I saw that twitch."

Slowly, ignoring the fact that it took most of his strength, Clint forced his eyes to open a crack. He grinned, most likely dopily, at the sight of Pepper's face. "Hey." Well, at least his voice was working a little better. He frowned. "Where's Tony?"

"In the bed next to yours." At the look on his face Pepper went on. "He's perfectly fine. But I wanted to make sure that you both got rest and this felt like the best option." She narrowed her eyes at him, although the worry and friendly affection on her face reduced the impact dramatically. "You scared him pretty badly, you know. Although he'd rather lose a limb than admit it."

Puzzle pieces clicked together. Clint winced. "You saw the whole thing, didn't you?"

"Most of it, through security footage. I'm not going to ask how you got a bomb into your head. Good thing you came to where you could be helped."

Clint sighed. He wished that he would've had the strength to rub his face with both hands but didn't quite manage to. "I'm sorry."

"You're both idiots. But this still wasn't your fault." Pepper gave his hand a squeeze. "Now sleep. Tony will be fussing like mad when he finds out that you're awake."

Clint grinned although he probably should've been a little scared. His eyelids were already drooping. "Thanks."

Pepper said something as a response. Clint, however, was too far on his way to sleep to hear. He fell asleep, feeling safe under her watch.

Despite her fatigue Pepper smiled as she watched Clint's relaxed, albeit bruised face. Then, slowly, she turned her gaze to the room's other bed. Tony was still asleep as well, snoring softly, but the man's face appeared just a little more relaxed than before.

There were days when worrying over Tony and the rest of the Avengers threatened to drive Pepper insane but it was times like this when she realized that she wouldn't change a thing.

Content with that realization Pepper returned to reading. Humming softly and rubbing her stomach softly with one hand without noticing it. All was calm while she kept watch on the two men.

End of oneshot.

A/N: Awww! Clint's totally gonna be fine under THAT watch. Although Natasha may just beat him up when she finds out… (Because it's a 'when', not 'if'…) Am I the only one addicted to the idea of a mini-Stark…? (grins)

NOW, it's time to give the word to you! Was that any good at all? Back to drawing board? PLEASE, do let me know – and keep requests coming! Hearing from you guys makes my day.

COMING UP: (and yup, the vote's still on – I PROMISE that the fics that seem to be winning thus far will be published sooner than you could've guessed)

Our favorite Hawk is presumed dead. Little does the team know that he's still very much alive, in a cave that's filling with water…

A little half-friendly fight between Thor and Tony leads to Clint getting accidentally caught in between.

Clint's attacked in the most horrible kind of way. The injuries he receives are horrible. But physical recovery is only just the beginning…

A THREE PARTER reveals what happens when a seemingly harmless annual checkup leads to Clint receiving a life altering diagnosis…

PLUS…!

How will Clint react when he's subjected to drugs…?

And we'll see a unexpected, unfortunate Farm accident…

Awkay, I've got about a million things on my 'to do' list so I've gotta go. Until next time, my feathery friends! 'Hope I'll see you all there.

Take care!

Guest96: I'm so, so happy to hear that! Despite having been a Clintasha shipper I fell in love with the Barton-family INSTANTLY. The kids are just too cute! I'd LOVE to spend time at the Farm, too.

Oooooh, that's a MARVELOUS promp! (nods furiously) LOL, I know! Even breathing is borderline dangerous when it comes to Clint. (chuckles)

Massive thank yous for the review!

Sunny Sea: Don't worry even one bit! (hugs) I'm thrilled that you enjoyed the story so much. And oh yes, this collection will DEFINITELY continue for a long time. I absolutely adore Clint!

Huge thank yous for the review!

Guest (1): Awww, thanks! (blushes) Poor Clint, right? Thank gosh he has so much help!

Thanks for the vote – and the AWESOME prompt, which'll DEFINITELY be seen in this collection! I really hope that you'll keep enjoying the ride.

Huge thank yous for the review!

Me: YAY! I'm absolutely overjoyed that you liked it. OH, what a fantastic prompt! DEFINITELY befitting material for this collection.

Monumental thank yous for the review!

Guest (2): Heartbreaking it was. But I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it, anyway! Especially the Barton family because I LOVE them. You may not have to wait long, btw… 'Hope you'll keep enjoying the ride!

Ah, a crossover? Something I'm sort of working on already… (smirks and winks)

Colossal thank yous for the review!

Guest (3): I'm overjoyed that you've enjoyed these tales! We'll see what comes next… Oooh, and thank you for the juicy prompt!

Lots of thank yous for the review!

Guesty Guest: (grins) She sure did show up! (hugs) Now excuse me while I howl with laughter…

Don't worry, it's the same for me, too…! For some reason I seem to love typing and reading about my favorites suffering. Hmm, I wonder if I should talk about this to a shrink…

(Clint: YES!)

Awww! The Science Bros are AWESOME. Not as awesome as Clint, obviously, but still. I loved how they clicked instantly! (grins)

Superpower confirmed! (high fives)

(Ooooh! I actually have three guesses as to who that guy is. I'd love to hear – I promise to tell you honestly if I was right! Awww, don't apologize!)

Ya know… I don't think I've EVER encountered a fic where Clint loses a limb. I just couldn't resist the idea, cruel as it was. Oooh! Clint's going to have all his limbs in the future. ALTHOUGH, the idea you just gave me is SO JUICY that I'll definitely test-drive it sometime. (grins)

I'm THRILLED that you enjoyed the past couple of chapters so much! We'll see what troubles our Hawk flies into next. (grins) (A bad pun is badass.)

Gigantic thank yous for the review! Until we type again.