Hey guys and gals. I'm finally doing it. This is the second instalment of The Archer and the Demigod series, which I wasn't actually expecting would be so popular. No joke, Master of the Tides has 17,250 views/hits at the time of me writing this. I added it up.

Now, as some of you may know, I've struggled with my mental health a bit, but today is a day of celebration, because today, January 21st 2021, it has been 8 years since I last self-harmed. I have a cake with an 8 candle and everything.

Anyway, let's get on with the story. Thank you to all who've read, reviewed, commented, favourited, and all that jazz.

Please R&R/comment if you want.

Picture used is Ole Henrik Skjelstad, Guardians of the Lake.

T.C.

P.S. The face claim is the same as before, Emer Kenny, but I'll repost the photo on my tumblr. - same name as I write under or How About A Nice Family Dinner?

P.P.S. This is a series of one shots, so if there's anything you want to see, please let me know.

~oOo~

Clint had learned very early on that Tony liked to give everybody nicknames – Capsicle, Legolas, and Patchy the Pirate were just a few examples of that fact – but he was also used to it. Percy and Annabeth called each other Seaweed Brain and Wise Girl respectively, and there were plenty of other nicknames given at Camp Half-Blood.

He was currently sitting in a Shawarma shop with the other Avengers, or at least that is what Fury had called them, eating after a weird and trying couple days. After being kidnapped by a demigod wanting revenge, controlled by the Glow Stick of Destiny, doing things he'd never do in his right mind, and then fighting an army of aliens from outer space, Clint was really thinking of how his life had become this, and what was important to him.

Five years ago, almost to the day, Clint had met Percy. As sarcastic and reckless as she was, she had become one of the most important people in his life. It was her birthday today. They'd made plans to go see that new movie she was talking about and then swing by her mothers apartment to have dinner with her, Paul and Estelle. He wouldn't have to explain why he wasn't there though, right?

But the events of the past couple of days had made him realize something about the dark haired girl. She was more than just his friend. She was the most important person in the world. He couldn't wait for her to call him Legolas or Katniss, or receive an IM in the middle of the night just because she wanted to talk to him.

Why had it taken him this long to figure it out? Why, after he thought she'd died just before her fifteenth birthday when she caused Mount Saint Helen's to erupt, fought in two wars, gone missing for eight months, and fallen and trekked through Tartarus, had it not hit him sooner? He loved her. Loved how she laughed, how her eyes seemed to change colour depending on her mood, the fierceness in which she protected and defended her friends.

It was too late to do anything about it now though. After the Battle, debrief and going out for food, curfew would have hit, and he had no intention of getting on the bad side of the Harpies. He'd been chased by them before, and he was neverdoing it again. Once was enough to scare him shitless. It was something that Percy still took great pleasure in, before recounting the time she outran them with Annabeth and Tyson, before sneaking onto the Monster filled cruise ship – the Princess Andromeda – while following a fellow camper to blag their way onto her Quest.

Of course, he'd then go into details about one of his missions, where he 'barely escaped with his life,' only to have Percy quickly tell him about another Quest she'd been on, or something cool she'd done at school. Or her favourite 'I was kidnapped by a lunatic and fought him on a beach in Los Angeles.'

"You weren't kidnapped." He argued, "You went on a Quest and left a trail of destruction in your wake."

"Well, that's the story the news went with, so it must be true."

Natasha could see that he was distracted, fiddling with the corner of the paper his food came in. She would have thought that he was thinking about what he'd been made to do at the hands of Loki, had it not been for the far off look in his eyes. She tried to silently communicate with her best friend, but he was too deep in his thoughts, and she thought kicking him in the thigh, or even just kicking his chair, would bring unwanted attention. She'd have to wait until later.

And, just like she thought, he told her he'd just been thinking about everything that had gone on during the last few days. She could also tell that he was keeping something from her, but just figured he'd talk about it when he was ready. It could be days, weeks or months, but he would tell her eventually.

~oOo~

The next morning, Clint's awoke early. For his plan to work, he had to sneak out of Stark Tower before anybody woke up, and then make his way to Long Island Sound. And when you had a talking A.I. named J.A.R.V.I.S that recorded the comings and going's inside the Tower, and a Super Soldier who already seemed to be up, he had to figure out how to get out unnoticed.

Clint was expecting that to be the hard part, but it actually ended up being the easiest. Steve was in the gym, Bruce and Tony were in the Lab, and Thor and Natasha were still asleep. It was pretty easy for him to just walk out of the building.

He took a taxi to his destination, and the driver was pretty confused as to where Clint told him to stop, but he was getting paid. And there was no way in hell that the archer was going to call upon the Grey Ladies. He'd hitched a ride with them before, and it was another thing he'd added to his list of 'Things I'll Never Do Again,' deciding that he'd rather be chased by an angry pack of wolves through the woods.

But now was the time to take his thumb out his ass. As he walked up the hill to the Camp's entrance, he knew he couldn't chicken out or half-ass his declaration of love. He had to make this moment count. And just as he passed the boundary line, he knew what he was going to do.