Author's Note: I'm trying to pick up the pace with these since the deadline for the challenge is coming up quick on the 31st and I'm a little behind with my pacing. So please excuse me if I start summarizing the setup and conclusions of these in order to get through them a little faster! That way I can focus more on the whump!

Day 20
Toto, I Have A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore
Lost | Field Medicine | Medieval

It was supposed to be a routine mission. But really, when did that ever work out? Tony and Clint were sent out to do some reconnaissance at a potential Hydra location. Everything had gone fine, they had gathered the information that they needed and had left before anyone even knew they had been there.

Or so they had thought.

They were flying over the Atlantic Ocean with no land in sight when the alarms in the Quinjet suddenly started wailing as the jet started to dip out of the sky. It soon became painfully clear that the jet had been found and tampered with, and there was no fixing it before they fell out of the sky. It was a miracle that Clint was able to point them toward a small speck of land in the middle of the vast, empty ocean. He took the jet down in the water near the island, knowing that a water landing was better than a solid ground landing… but the crash was still brutal. At the last second, the engine on the left side completely failed, sending the jet careening to the left and hitting the water so hard that the metal dented in far enough to shove Clint's pilot seat out of place.

Clint had pulled the emergency hatch on top of the jet so they could escape before the craft sunk into the water… but as he began to move he cried out in pain, his entire left side on fire. He barely made it out of the jet and into the water, at which point Tony had to get an arm around him and pull him through the water to the nearby island, dragging him up onto the shore.

Tony leaned over Clint, his hands hovering over him, panic barely contained behind his wide-eyed gaze. "What's hurt?"

Clint took in a shuddering breath. "My shoulder," he said, hating the way his voice shook. His entire body was in pain, but he could clearly tell that his shoulder was the worst of it.

"What can I do?" Tony asked urgently.

"Hopefully it's only dislocated," Clint said. "You gotta check for broken bones and then you gotta set it for me."

Tony bit his lip as his eyes moved to his injured shoulder. "I've never set a dislocated shoulder before," he admitted.

At this, Clint cracked a pained smile. "There's a first time for everything."

Tony rolled his eyes. "That's not as comforting as you might think," he muttered sarcastically.

He reached out with both hands and with his first and second fingers he found where Clint's collar bone began at the base of his neck. Using firm pressure, he walked his fingers up the bone, testing for any unnatural movement. The closer he got to Clint's shoulder, the more the pain pulsated up and down his arm and up through this chest. Clint gritted his teeth and did his best to deal with the pain silently, but couldn't help a few moans escaping his throat. Tony's eyes darted toward him, but for once seemed like he couldn't think of anything to say.

Once he finished checking Clint's collar bone, he moved down to his hand. He started down at Clint's wrist, feeling each bone carefully. For a minute it was almost a relaxing feeling. But again, the closer he got to Clint's shoulder, the more the pain worsened. By the time he made it up past Clint's elbow, Clint could barely take it anymore. He cried out as his muscles spasmed painfully and Tony immediately stopped at the noise.

"Keep going," Clint snapped a little more intensely than he had meant to. He just wanted to get it over with.

"Then stop screaming," Tony snapped back, though there was a grim tension in his voice.

A strained bark of a laugh escaped Clint's throat. "I was not screaming. It was a very manly yell."

Tony shook his head. "Whatever you say," he said as he started to check Clint's bicep again, this time noticeably going more carefully. Still, Clint had to squeeze his eyes shut and clench his jaw to keep from crying out again.

"Nothing feels broken," Tony finally informed him. Clint opened his eyes and saw that he was now sitting back on his heels, looking down at him unsurely. "But it's pretty swollen up by the shoulder so it's hard to tell. Plus there could be ligament or tendon damage or something. Without x-rays or MRIs it might not be safe to reset your shoulder."

Clint sighed heavily. "Do you happen to have either of those machines on you?" Tony shook his head. "Then we have to do it this way."

"But—"

"Look, we have no idea if or when help is going to get here," Clint interrupted. "Until then, we're on our own. And I'm not gonna last long in here with only one working arm."

Tony sighed in defeat. "You're right," he admitted. "Okay. What do I do?"

"Bend my arm up at the elbow," Clint instructed as calmly as he could. He waited for Tony to do as he was told. "Okay, now hold the elbow with both hands and rotate it out away from my torso."

"Like this?" he asked as he carefully moved his elbow away from his body.

Suddenly, intense pain shot up through his arm. "Stopstopstop!" he gasped.

Tony immediately froze, looking down at him with wide eyes. "What'd I do wrong?"

Clint had to pause in an attempt to catch his breath, all his muscles tensing painfully. "My fault," he panted. He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to concentrate. "I tensed up. Move it back." Tony carefully did as he was told and Clint focused on taking deep breaths and trying to relax his muscles. Then he laughed lightly to diffuse the tension in the air. "This is supposed to be the easy part."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Great," he said sarcastically. Then he paused as realization dawned on him. "Wait, supposed to be? You have done this before, haven't you?"

Clint flashed him a guilty smile. "Well, I know the theory behind it…" he hedged.

"You've never even done this before?" Tony demanded angrily.

"I dislocated my shoulder once before, but I was unconscious when Phil set it for me," he admitted. "He sedated me so it would be easier to do." He paused, thoughtful. "If we can't pop it back in this way you may have to knock me unconscious to do it."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Don't tempt me, Legolas," he warned, clearly straining to keep his tone light.

Clint took one more deep breath. "Okay. Let's try again."

"You sure?" Tony asked skeptically.

Clint tried to nod, but even that was enough to send waves of pain though his body. "Yes," he said flatly.

"Okay," Tony said, sounding determined. "Take some deep breaths and we'll go again on the count of three. One… two… three."

Clint did his best to relax his muscles as Tony slowly and carefully shifted his dislocated joint. There was some dull pain as it moved, but thankfully nothing as bad as last time. Even so, Clint let his head fall to the side away from his injury, not wanting to witness the unnatural motions they were about to put his joint through.

"Still with me?" Tony asked, worry creeping into his tone.

"Yeah, still here," Clint confirmed. His voice seemed to drag out of his throat. Exhaustion was clearly catching up with him. He took another deep breath as he fought for focus. "Move it a little further, it should be perpendicular to my body."

"Like this?" Tony asked, shifting his arm a bit further.

Clint clamped down on a groan. "Yeah," he said without looking, hoping he was right. He inhaled for a few long seconds before quickly exhaling. "Okay. You're gonna rotate my arm up over my head, keeping my elbow bent. While you're rotating, put some steady pressure outwards away from my body. Once my arm is up over my head, it should pop back into the socket."

"Should?" Tony said, raising an eyebrow.

"If you feel resistance, stop and try again from a slightly different angle," Clint went on. "Don't force it or you could start breaking bones."

"So, no pressure," Tony said. "Great." Clint heard Tony take a deep breath. "Okay. Ready?"

"I am if you are," Clint said, trying to keep the tension out of his voice. He knew he needed to relax his muscles in order for this to work, but that was easier said than done.

Clint gasped as his muscles spasmed. He let out a strange humming noise as he tried to stifle a cry of pain. Tony paused, shifted a little bit and then moved again, pulling outward steadily…

POP!

Clint let out a relieved sigh as the joint returned to socket with an audible pop, the pain immediately dulling as the strain was finally taken off his shoulder.

"Thanks," Clint breathed.

"No problem," Tony said, leaning back and wiping a hand over his brow. "Now, never make me do that ever again."