Clint and the Scapegoat
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After toweling off and rebandaging his wounded shoulder, Clint huffed. He was done waiting. Being a bystander for Sesshomaru's game of 'red light, green smash' with the Hulk was a good diversion and all, but now he was fed up.
While Clint wanted to see what Fancy Pants had in store for Bruce, he also didn't have a death wish. Well, maybe he did because he went down there anyway.
Tony didn't come down to watch the Demon Lord get whipped around by the Hulk, much to the surprise of Clint. Though he probably was monitoring via Jarvis. Chicken.
"Banner. What do you think of your form?" Sesshomaru inquired, he stood about twenty-five feet from Bruce looking apathetic as ever. Clint monitored them on top of a partially melted crate tower; he did not need to hulked into Clint-jam.
"Um, well. It's pretty terrible. When the other guy ta-" Sesshomaru put up a clawed finger.
"You and your form are one." Sesshomaru corrected and he saw Bruce get a little edgy.
"No, he is the result of an experiment gone wrong. He's not me. He kills people, he destroyed Harlem, killed people, and almost killed Nat on the helicarrier." Bruce raked a hand through his hair and Clint second guessed his decision to watch this. He still thought it was for the best he didn't bring his bow; he didn't want to appear as a threat.
"How do you hope to control what you do not accept?" Sesshomaru remained relaxed, but his piercing stare lanced through Bruce.
'Can't say Fancy Pants doesn't have a point there. But how could he think they are the same people?' Clint asked himself as Bruce started to pace a bit.
"Accept?! You think I haven't accepted that this is me now? I have. My life is upended, I have to constantly be on the move, monitored by SHIELD. I'm seen as a constant threat. I'm a danger to innocents and I have to tip toe just to buy groceries. Trust me, I accept it, so spare me your judgments." Bruce's breath was labored now, Sesshomaru remained composed and haughty.
"You accept the consequences. Not the form." Fancy Pants corrected with a hint of arrogance.
"You're making it really, really hard for me to keep my composure. Is this really what you...had in mind?!" Bruce began to writhe and Clint then thought his fate may just be between two slices of wonder bread.
'Super idea you had Clint. Let's go watch the Demon Lord purposely piss off the Hulk. What could possibly go wrong?' Clint patted himself down for any weapon and came up wanting.
Sesshomaru didn't respond, instead looked down at his nails like he just had them done.
"How...dare you look down on me? You couldn't possibly know what it is like to transform into something you have no control over! Something everyone fears, hates, and rejects!" Bruce began to change to a shade of green only found in the 1980's and Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed into razors.
'Oh sure, yeah, be purposely condescending. Sounds like a sound teaching technique. Trial by fire worked for Joan of Arc just fine.' Clint put a hand over his mouth, tense.
"I know... knew of someone who without a certain item would transform into something not unlike you." Sesshomaru stepped forward with an alligator booted foot, looking like he was about to strut down a runway, not about to get pasted by the Hulk
Bruce, not quite the Hulk, paused.
"He had no hope to control his transformation nor form. His bloodlust would go unquenched until he was destroyed." Sesshomaru took another step forward, closing the gap. Clint had a feeling whoever Fancy Pants was talking about was someone close to him, his voice changed slightly.
'Unquenchable bloodlust is what I look for in friends too.' Clint smirked to himself.
"I would not have approved of this training if you were he. Do not wallow in your pathetic self-pity." Sesshomaru squared his shoulders and unleashed a wave of youki at the Hulk.
'My obituary will read: excellent archer, expert hunter, survived by people wondering 'just what the hell were you thinking? This is what I do waiting for Loki to come back? Really?' Clint fought the survivalist urge in him bolt, it would just attract the Hulk's attention. Clint watched the next few seconds like one would a train wreck.
Bruce shielded himself from the youki blast and his clothes shredded as his deafening roar echoed in the large storage room. His body stretched, grew, and bulked green. He wrenched his tree trunk neck to the ceiling, his boulder thick head rolling to the sides.
The Hulk eyed the archer and changed course.
'Well this life was nice while it lasted. Still never got to see Tony's reaction to all those Robert Downey Jr movies I Tivo'd. I never go to rub that purple deer stuff in Loki's face. Someone else will have to if he gets back. When. When he gets back.' Clint's lungs constricted in panic knowing his exit was blocked by the Hulk. A cigar may have been poetic here.
The Hulk rampaged forward, arms flinging wildly. Sesshomaru darted so quickly to intercept the Hulk he left an afterimage. Fancy Pants barely evaded the Hulk grabbing his long hair to kite him away from Clint's crate tower.
'I'm officially a damsel in distress. First Tony picks me up like he would Pepper, then this. I should probably just give my man-card to Nat permanently.' Clint slowly and purposefully moved to the edge of the crate.
The Hulk crashed and tumbled after Sesshomaru and he in return would send out tiny sparks of Youki at him. If Clint didn't know any better, and he really didn't, he would say Fancy Pants had done this before.
'My name is Fancy Pants, my hobbies include decapitation, ribbon dancing, and taunting beings with out of control bloodlust. Serious replies only.' Clint slipped down one crate by one sneakily, ready to escape when noticed the deafening roars had dampened.
Clint chanced a peek.
'I can't believe it worked.' Clint was floored. The Hulk, now simply looked down at Sesshomaru. While Fancy Pants stood poised with his chin up in victory, his chest heaved from exertion. Sesshomaru must be beat. He did just blow up an alien death ship and successfully avoided getting even touched by the Hulk. Not even Thor or Loki had been that lucky against the green guy.
Clint stepped out from behind the crate tower. He hadn't seen Bruce so calm in Hulk form, not even during the battle three years ago.
"Smug Demon." Hulk grunted and Sesshomaru's eyes flashed bright.
"Heed my words Banner, the next time you attempt to grab this Sesshomaru's person I will not hold back." Sesshomaru tossed his hair back and flounced out of the room, leaving a recovering Bruce and a stunned Clint.
"Bruce. If you and Thor group hug Fancy Pants in front of Fury and I'll put that photo of Tony dressed in his kimono online." Clint offered and gave a thumbs up when the Hulk chuckled.
Maybe he'd put the photo up anyway out of boredom.
If this Heimdall guy was so good at seeing stuff why weren't Loki, Nat, Thor, and squirt back yet?
'Did Asgard actually something to Loki? Was Nat Ok? I can't stall Fury for much longer. No matter what I say, neither Fury, Coulson nor Hill believe me when I say I can't contact her. It's par for the course they don't believe a word I say, but now Fury really believes that the Sesshomaru he met before wasn't the real one. They're probably bringing my severance package to Stark tower with a bow on it.' Clint grumbled, putting on his worn out jeans.
'Loki better get his leather clad ass back so I can kick it for the trouble.' Clint checked his phone for the time, ignoring Fury's twenty-seven missed calls: 17:38.
"Lord Sesshomaru! Objective complete! Their all-seeing sentry showed us the ships! I also have a picture for you!" Rin's voice rang like a bell. Clint heard her rushed, padded steps through the common room and the abrupt skidding stop.
She probably ran right into Fancy Pants' legs for a hug. Big, bad, Demon Lord daddy must have missed squirt too if he let her do that.
Clint didn't uncoil from his tense unease. Why did he only hear Rin?
"Rin missed you, Lord Sesshomaru! Rogers told me you killed a Chitauri! Who's Chopper Dave? Why are the humans calling you Mr. Nirvana? Will these humans hunt you like the others in our time? Was the ship bigger than Ah-Un?" Rin cheerily chirped about a mile a minute. Clint chuckled to himself, that was definitely too many questions for their favorite 'question allergic' Demon.
"Rin." He simply said. He was caught off guard by Rin's question about people hunting Fancy Pants down. Clint knew he was one of the best hunters, but they couldn't pay him enough to hunt down Sesshomaru, even before he liked the guy. Did people back then actually think they could?
"Sorry Lord Sesshomaru. Rin didn't like the Distant Realm, Odin got so angry! He atta— " Rin was cut off by a trouncing lumbering which could only belong to Thor. He just showered, and was going to shave, but curiosity got the better of him and he left to see what was going on.
"Son of Taisho! Captain Rogers has informed me you have successfully defended Midgard and joined Midgard's ranks as an Avenger! We must celebrate such victories!" Thor's 'football coach' voice projected so clearly Clint could have sworn he was in the bathroom with him.
He stepped out into the common room to see Thor awkwardly open his arms for a hug well within Fancy Pants' personal space bubble. Clint couldn't wait to see this.
Sesshomaru cracked his knuckles and Clint swore his hair was standing higher than usual. Thor would have better luck trying to pet a feral cat.
"This Sesshomaru did not join your human consort. Do not touch my person, Storm God." Sesshomaru all but hissed. Poor Thor, unrequited love is so bittersweet. From behind Sesshomaru, Clint motioned for Thor to try to hug him anyway, his deal with Bruce might come true!
"Tis but warriors' revelry! No need for such a cool reception my friend, as I have said before I have no plans to court you!" Thor explained, raising his arms again and Clint laughed. Hard.
If he had been drinking water he would've choked.
"I don't think Uncle Loki would like it if that happened Lord Sesshomaru." Rin said and Sesshomaru's ears raised. Clint then realized that Fancy Pants wasn't there for that particular admission. Avengers' HQ was beginning to feel like a terrible reality show.
"Plans? So, you've thought about it, big guy?" Clint tormented the both of them and the temperature plummeted in the room by a few degrees. Clint heard an approach from behind him, from the gait it had to be Tony.
"Plans? Nice to see half of the 'scamtastic four' are already down here." Tony stood next to Clint arms crossed, eyeing Sesshomaru.
"Our buddy Thor here was telling Fancy Pants here that he has no plans to date him, that he'd settle for just a warriors' hug. I'm not sure if I buy it since everyone wants a piece of Fancy Pants today." Clint grinned, knowing Tony loved a good innuendo joke. Thor crossed arms down, skin flushed. Sesshomaru sliced his eyes back to Clint lethally.
To Clint's surprise Tony didn't say anything, he just crossed his arms and studied Thor like one of his equations.
Ok, awkward and weird.
"I think it's about time we taught Weather Vane how to Skype Dr Foster. It's easier than the microwave." Tony finally said; Thor brightened. Rin hopped up and down giggling to herself, for the life of Clint he didn't know what was so funny.
Saving Clint from more awkwardness, a poof of green smoke plumed in the middle of room. Loki. He stood regally if not a little pale. Clint drank him in: his gelled black hair, his alert green eyes, busy fingers, long legs.
Clint relaxed instantaneously; he was here. It was about damn time.
"Stark Tower has doors you know." Clint couldn't help himself, he was in an infinitely better mood. Loki came back in one piece, and by what he suspected, Nat was up on the roof talking with Steve. Now Fury would believe him with Nat to back him up, no one else in SHIELD would.
"Some entrances require immediacy, Clint." Loki quirked his lips up cryptically and Clint wasn't sure what to make of that. Clint never could quite understand how when Loki said his name, it sounded more like a spell than a word, like he tasted the syllable instead of just saying it.
"Loki, your metallic stench offends me. Rin go play, I will speak with you later." Sesshomaru announced and Loki rolled his eyes. Metallic? Loki never smelled that way.
"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru! I'm going to go show Jaken what I learned in the Distant Realm! I fought Storm God's friend and Natasha called me her protégé!" Rin smiled brightly and scampered off while Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. Natasha made Rin her protégé? He had known Natasha a long time, and she had sworn to him she wasn't going to train anyone as young as her.
Though, Rin wasn't your typical eight-year-old.
"Yes, brother what did you say to cause Allfather to strike you?" Thor asked, bewildered and Clint put the pieces together. Clint wanted to kick himself in the ass now. He was Hawkeye, he should have seen the clean gash in his armor, the sheen of blood on the black leather. He could tell that the stab wound was just a hair below his heart. Did his father seriously go for a fatal shot? Sesshomaru's usually overdone paranoia was justified this time.
"Wait, his own father stabs him and you're asking what he did to deserve it? Are you serious?!" Clint tensed up again with a sudden flash of rage. Sesshomaru told him about how ruthless Odin could be, but Clint thought Loki would have Thor as back up. Now Clint wasn't so sure.
Thor straightened as if struck by his own lightning and Loki slowly turned to Clint, face blanked out, almost vulnerable.
"I wish to know what caused Allfather's ire, and Loki has been known to provoke it." Thor struggled with his words and Clint didn't care. If Loki and Odin really got into it again, whose side would Thor choose? Was Thor really that loyal to his senile old man?
Sesshomaru must think that Thor would sit by and let Odin kill Loki. And Sesshomaru was right, Odin almost killed Loki. He almost died in Asgard. Loki almost didn't come back to him. Clint's blood circulation sped up and stress levels spiked at the thought Thor would simply watch Loki die.
"And father of the year award goes to… " Tony started next to Clint, thankful for back up.
"That warlord is not my father." Loki corrected wearily. Clint didn't like the exhausted expression on Loki's face at all. If he wasn't going to be angry at Thor's nonsense, then he would.
After all, he was known as the guy who was counted on to act.
"Thor, Loki risked everything to go back to the place that imprisoned him in the equivalent of a CIA blacksite, gets almost fatally stabbed by your dad, and you blame him for it?" Clint's voice peaked high in disbelief. Thor was an all around great guy. He's someone you'd call to get your cat out of a tree or get you medicine from the store if you were sick and just blamed his own brother for getting stabbed. By his own father!
'Sure, Loki had done some things in the past warranting a good kick in the ass. Loki will continue do things a swift kick in the ass but for Thor to say this is crap is over the line. Loki had gone through so much, and the guy who he was raised beside thought he deserved more abuse. Is this how it was with Loki growing up? Did he become a difficult, unreasonable, slightly unhinged prankster because that's all he could do? It's not like a prince can run away and join the circus. Not that I ran…' Clint reached out to Loki again, he wanted to notice him just like the time he broke down during the strategy meeting.
He couldn't imagine growing up believing either of his brothers, Nate or Jake, deserving something like that. Ever. He backed both of them up against their father's drunken outbursts, and Nate saved him more than a few times from getting bottled. Thor apparently didn't even visit him when he was imprisoned in their own house for three years and Clint made it out to Iowa State Penitentiary five times for the few months Jake was locked up. Just how much help did Loki get from Thor when they were growing up?
Clint finally caught Loki's green eyes, unreadable but his whole posture was thrown back in surprise. Why would Loki be surprised he was standing up for him?
"Son of Taisho, surely you know the ways of All—" Thor started and Sesshomaru moved so quickly even Loki was surprised.
In a flash, he squared up to Thor. Though a shade shorter than Thor, Sesshomaru rose tall, every inch of him intimidating.
"Do not assume you know anything about me, when you know so little of your own kin. Where do your loyalties lie Storm God?" Sesshomaru's placid voice even made Clint's hair stand on end. Thor's eyes widened in shock then darkened in defensiveness. He white knuckled Mjolnir and Tony took a step forward.
Clint couldn't decide if seeing Fancy Pants fight Thor would be worth it. He leaned towards no.
Sesshomaru slowly turned his back on Thor and elegantly exited the room, pausing slightly to shift his glance to Tony who went to follow without any hesitation.
"Can you not be pissy, for like two seconds?" Tony complained on his way out.
"Brother I… " Thor began, softer, and Loki just shot a bolt of green magic at his feet. Thor didn't react at the warped, singed floor. Tony was going to throw a fit.
"We don't share any blood, so I am certainly not your brother, you dumb oaf! To think I defended your intellect to Odin in the throne room! You don't you deserve any further praise from me. Thor, you are as tiresome and careless as you oblivious and naïve!" Loki's hackles raised and in a puff of green magic he vanished from the room. This reunion could have gone better.
For once, Clint understood one of Loki's tantrums. Loki needed someone to go calm him down, looks like it would be him. He didn't mind as much as he probably should have.
"Hawk's eye I fear I have made another misstep in understanding my brother. He called Rin his niece, so by custom he must see Son of Taisho as a brother, yet they share not any blood." Thor deflated in defeat. Clint felt for Thor despite himself. The guy clearly wanted to get closer with Loki and they couldn't be more different than night and day.
"Give him some space Thor, and just… try to get some perspective. Your father's shit stinks like the rest of ours." Clint shrugged, either Thor would get it, or he wouldn't. He didn't have the energy to explain family dynamics to him. Clint turned to go find an overly emotional Demi God on the verge of a shit throwing breakdown.
Clint paused in his steps only a moment before setting off to one of the only rooms he knew he'd find his pain of the ass in: training room.
Pushing open the door of the training room, Clint caught the smell the unmistakable scent of Christmas and more than a few drops of blood on the floor which caused Clint to clench his fist, but no Loki, he must have just missed him.
'Damn. Hopefully he is still in the tower somewhere…I need to help him get back to normal before Fury shows up. I don't want SHIELD to have any excuse to try to lock him up or attack him. I've had enough of people treating Loki like he is some cold-blooded psychopath. Yeah, sure he is a bit power hungry, revenge driven, and has elitist tendencies with a narcissism complex to rival Tony's…Ok, so he's complicated. We've all been there, and I am going to help him sort it out, someone has to.' Clint scratched the back of his head, knowing that Loki had to be in substorage room 3-b.
Loki then teleported in front him, causing him to jump out of his skin, and almost strike him.
"Whoa. A little warning next time! You can't just do that to a trained assassin." Clint tried to save face, studying a stern Loki. His brown eyes locked on his glowing green ones, sussing out that he enjoyed getting the drop on him.
'No, he is probably reveling in that he suckered me into look for him. Conniving diva. He definitely planned this. Loki only seems spontaneous.'
"Ah, but half the fun is seeing your reaction! Allow me to see your injury, Rogers advised me a Chitauri wounded you." Loki pointed to Clint's left shoulder, a bandage peeking out from under his purple t-shirt. Clint leaned away from him.
"My wound?! You. You want to look at my graze? You're the one bleeding everywhere Mr. Biohazard. Are you not even going to tell me what happened to you?" Clint pried and gestured to the blood spatter on the floor. He then pointed to the black armor, shiny from wet blood.
"It's nothing, and nothing of real note occurred. Now show me your shoulder." Loki snapped his fingers and the blood on the floor vanished as if Clint dreamt it. Clint rolled his eyes. Loki's avoidant tendencies just exacerbated his flair for the dramatic.
"Oh yeah, tell that to Tony whose floor you scorched, and your best friend who almost mauled Thor." Clint quirked a grin at Loki's darkening facial features. He didn't mind riling Loki up like this, he liked it. It made his day.
"I lack a certain tolerance towards Thor's folly, its fortunate Sho has more. What transpired is too complicated to explain to a mortal." Loki dramatically sighed, fingers tingling with magic. Clint took a step back in offense, Loki's head snapped up, frowning.
Oh, so that's how it was? So, he looked down on him. The whole 'an ant has no quarrel with a boot' thing again. Clint thought they has gotten past that. But no.
Clint fought a renewed anger. He marched across the room and threw on the music, he already had his playlist, Mischief Music, queued. He shrugged off his purple t-shirt on impulse and began to wrap his hands all the while feeling Loki's arctic sun gaze peel the skin off the back of his neck.
"First, you come back stabbed by Thor's crazy dad, then you houdini in front of me, then you treat me like a little kid. I might not have the nerdy science-smarts that Bruce and Tony have, but I think I not only can handle but deserve an explanation. Or at least a cool story. So, if I knock you down again, I get it." Clint shrugged his bad shoulder, it burned but he didn't care. He was done with Loki's crap.
"Erase Me" by Kid Cudi and Kanye West started up.
'I can't get away from you, no
I keep on ducking, keep on ducking you
Nothing helps
I can't stop missing you, yeah'
"Clint your strengths far exceed those of Stark and Banner. And I will not spar with you if you're inju… " Loki started then paused, mischief dancing in his eyes. "If I knock you down, do I get my own reward?" Loki tapped his fingertips together, eyebrows raised in anticipation.
"Sure, but don't get your hopes up." Clint took off his boots and an excitement ballooned in him that made an extra bounce in his step. He couldn't wait to give Loki a swift kick in the ass, but his chest raised at the compliment that he now, of course, couldn't address. He didn't get that many compliments now-a-days. It was nice especially coming from a God who didn't give them often.
"I have yet to lose a fight I did not plan on losing. I will be looking down on you in victory." Loki glamored on more appropriate sparring clothes and lost his shoes. Immediately his shirt stained red and Clint almost regretted the whole thing but Loki shifted his weight back and forth like a prowling jaguar.
Game on.
"Says the guy who was once a pink deer. How'd you win that one again?" Clint taunted and Loki's green magic sparked out, Clint smiled genuinely in victory as the playlist cycled to the next song: "No Church in the Wild" by Jay Z and Kanye West.
'Human beings in a mob
What's a mob to a king?
What's a king to a god?
What's a god to a non-believer?'
Loki's brow creased and he crossed the floor in a perfectly spaced sashay into a tight back roundhouse kick.
Clint threw up his right forearm, blocking the kick with minimal effort as he countered with his own high crescent kick.
Loki tilted his head to the side and dipped back avoiding the kick. Clint followed up by pivoting, twisting and snapping his right leg back as a side kick. Clint grinned widely as the bottom of his foot grazed Loki's green tank top.
Yeah, he missed this.
They fell into a natural, up-tempo fighting grace that Clint had yet to match with anyone he had sparred with. His and Nat's sparring was usually more no-nonsense and straightforward. This had more intensity, more energy, some chaos peppered in. Loki flowed out of his range and Clint ducked and twisted avoiding Loki's exquisite kicks.
Another Kanye song: "Champions"
'Look, I say a prayer for my enemies
They cannot slow down what's meant for me
Funny how they come around like I can't see through their secret identities'
Enticed, Loki aimed to grapple onto him, with a grace that Loki made look effortless. Clint secretly envied Loki's ability to make everything look so natural, like it just bloomed out of him. Clint slipped away to the side and rocketed a right hook at Loki's kidney, subconsciously avoiding hitting his chest. His knuckles scraped the ribbed green tank top and nothing more.
Clint blocked a left cross from Loki and grinned, enjoying himself. After all, he had been waiting way too long for this spar.
Clint then circled Loki and went for a takedown, grabbing the God from the side, Loki's smooth skin damp with sweat. However, Loki expertly placed a juke that swept his legs out from under him.
Shit.
Clint knew that the from the force of the backwards fall, and his arms still tangled from the takedown he attempted, he would either fall on his screwed-up shoulder, or worse a concussion. Damnit.
Clint hastily braced himself for an impact that would no doubt do some damage. In the split second before he hit the floor Loki impossibly flipped under him to come between him and the hardwood floor. Clint's head hit instead hit the flat, sinewy chest of a sweaty God of Mischief.
The resulting echo clamored through the training room.
"That was fun. Let's never do it again." Clint raised up, wrapping his head around what happened. Was Loki worried he'd get too hurt? He'd taken worse falls in the circus, and this was nothing compared to a SHIELD mission. Clint turned over to face Loki who was motionless against the floor.
"Knock You Down" by Kanye West and Keri Hilson played.
'When I look at you my mind goes on a trip
And you came in... and knocked me on my face
Feels like I'm in a race
But I... already won first place.'
Loki didn't respond. What if he had actually hurt him? Clint did land on his chest and he didn't want to cause the God more grief. Really, at all. Clint just wanted Loki to leave him alone.
But why then… why did he taunt Loki? Why did he count the hours for Loki to be back here on Earth with the Avengers, Fancy Pants, and himself? Why did he follow him, not the other way around, to the training room? The same room he practiced his archery for a worst-case scenario where he'd storm Asgard with a pissed off Demon Lord.
He would have taken on Thor's brawny buddies with Fancy Pants to get him back. Even take on his all mighty, all abusive, father.
Clint was about to sit up and shake Loki when his center of gravity shifted and Clint's bare back slammed hard against the floor.
The reverberating thud knocked the wind out of him. He wheezed and sputtered, that dick!
Clint could tell from the warm pressure on his hips and groin that Loki straddled him. Clint stilled beneath him, a slight cold air of self-consciousness swept over him. Talk about close quarters.
"I win, my dear archer." Loki's voice lilted hazily in the air like smoke. He sounded breathless and genuinely happy. Something in Clint warmed that he managed to hear that tone of his tenor voice, rather than the usual anxious or sphinx-like undertone.
"Black Skinhead" by Kanye West blared though the speakers,
'Baby we livin' in the moment
I've been a menace for the longest
But I ain't finished, I'm devoted
And you know it, and you know it.'
Clint opened his brown eyes and above him, brimming with excitement, Loki smiled radiantly. His green eyes, now almost crescent shaped in glee, glittered, alive and eager. His black hair draped down, framing his high cheekbones, appled in delight.
He looked like his friends in the circus after they just landed a new technique, only better.
It took Clint aback a little, and he caught himself returning the smile. Loki's broad, unmasked smile lit up his whole face. Clint warmed up like a fireplace in a Minnesotan snowstorm.
He had to get a grip.
"Like hell. You had to have used magic to catch me. No magic, remember?" Clint regained his mind, he willed the tightening in his groin and the fog of his mind to clear. His groin only tingled like that when he was about to engage in a different kind of action. His body had to have instinctively reacted like that having the slim hipped God straddling him in a position he more intimately knew as reverse cow girl…cowboy?
He regretted taking off his shirt for the sparring, his rapidly cooling skin now stuck to the floor. And it exposed him to Loki's cat-like eyes more than he ever wanted.
Loki leaned down, his lean torso bending at his butterflied hips to close the gap between their lips to maybe seven inches. Loki's warm breath tickled his face. A warm hand supported some the God's weight on his uninjured shoulder, the other was right next to his head.
Clint swallowed and prepared.
"But I didn't use it to fight you, I used it to—" Clint's expertise wasn't in ground fights but he could show an MMA fighter a thing or two.
Or a certain God.
Clint bucked his hips up, hooked his legs around Loki's torso and slung him to the floor, reversing their positions. Something in Clint fired up. He won; he had Loki beneath him. Loki gasped up at him, vibrant green eyes wide in surprise. His usually tense and hard mouth broke open, slack and soft. The overhead lights shone down on Loki, highlighting him as if he laid on a stage.
Loki had a knack for attracting light and attention, just like the ringleader of a circus.
The last song on 'Mischief Music' queued up: "Heartless" by Kanye West.
'They say that they don't see what you see in me
You wait a couple of months, then you gonna see
You'll never find nobody better than me.'
"Again, I'm not a kid, I didn't need you to catch me, I've been banged up worse than this. Now, I want you tell me what happened to you in Asgard." Clint unconsciously rolled his shoulder, it did burn like a bitch. He shouldn't have been so careless. He heard the Chitauri, but another had simply snuck out from behind a tree and got lucky. He killed them both.
Loki's eyes refocused Clint's bandaged shoulder. Loki had a one-track mind alright, he could heal himself thank you very much. He didn't need anyone to take care of him.
"I got confirmation of The Mad Titan's fleet. They are a light year away which puts them at perhaps two weeks out. Now, allow me to treat your shoulder." Loki swerved the conversation back to where he wanted it and Clint instead bent down and pinned Loki's own shoulders to the floor. Clint's brown eyes honed in on Loki's green shirt that was now stained with more red than Clint would have liked.
"No. Stop acting like I can't take care of myself. It will heal. Tell me, why are you acting like Odin attacking you is no big deal? If that stab wound had been a centimeter higher it would have nicked your heart or your aorta. You would have bled out!" Clint insisted, voice louder than he wanted. It hurt him that Loki didn't see this as something to get angry about.
Loki erupted like a volcano over Fancy Pants leaving for a mini vacation for three days, but his reaction over Odin trying to murder him is listless like an autumn day.
"But it di—" Loki started and Clint gripped down harder on Loki's shoulders, his calloused hands sliding over their angled planes. He ran his tongue over his teeth as he ran his eyes over the well-defined chest and abs of the leaner man beneath him.
An earthquake of rage rumbled in Clint, so deep it quaked his lungs.
"Loki!" Clint yelled. He didn't yell a lot. Magma burned in his gut and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from grinding his teeth. Loki closed his mouth and turned away, not able to keep Clint's gaze.
"Sesshomaru told me Odin was, and I quote, 'capable of swift and lasting cruelty'. He was going to somehow storm Asgard and bring you back if Thor didn't. And you know what you, attention-addicted diva? I would have gone with him. So, don't spoon feed me your typical understated bullshit. I'm done with your riddles and 'don't look, but look' attitude. I won, I pinned you, now look me in the eyes and answer me!" Clint trembled with fading adrenaline. However, a thread of doubt wove through his words. Loki was a God. Clint suspected if he wanted, Loki could easily throw him off, but he hadn't.
Loki's green eyes turned, revealing disbelief and exasperation. He licked his lips making them glisten.
"Yggdrasil." Gesundheit? "Yggdrasil is the world tree, it is from which all our magic flows and connects all nine realms: Asgard, Jotunheim, Muspelheim, Alfheim, Vanaheim, Nidavellir, Svartalfheim, Niffleheim and your Midgard. Odin harnesses Yggdrasil's power through the Odinforce, and thus controls all magic. He controls the branches and roots of Yggdrasil, well, except one." Loki's lips twitched and quirked up in a satisfied grin.
"Odin attacked my niece and Romanoff while in the throne room. I managed to not only defend them, but suppress Gungnir, the spear of the Odinforce. Such a result should not have been possible, Gungnir should have easily overpowered me. Upon this, Odin let us seek out Heimdall, but wanted to test what had happened. He aimed to strike a lethal blow, to provoke Yggdrasil, and it worked. A branch of Yggdrasil rebelled against the other eight and defended me as a cedar tree, hampering and diverting Gungnir's blow. The branch of Midgard has chosen me as a divine vessel of its magic." Loki's eyes darted to Clint's chest and his long arm rose despite the hand on his shoulder and traced Clint's old chest tattoo.
Clint was speechless, so the whole explaining things to a mortal thing now made sense. Norse mythology wasn't high on the list of SHIELD operational procedures.
"'Nothing of note happened' my bow hand. Who could ever attack Squirt?" Clint released Loki's shoulders somewhat reluctantly, just now realizing he had been straddling the lanky, handsome God for what could be deemed a longer than necessary period of time.
He wasn't in a rush to move though.
"You are a fool if you were to go to Asgard with Sho to retrieve me if I hadn't returned with the others. The only thing that could have prevented my return would have been my death." Loki furrowed his brow, magic coiling in his hands as runes that sunk into Clint's nineteen-year old chest tattoo. It tickled and Clint fought a chuckle, but gave into a smile.
Clint relaxed under the smooth, ivory white fingers that feathered intricate strokes on his rough skin. He knew his scarred skin and old, blown out tattoo must not be that interesting…Wait, his tattoo, it was a pair of antlers. The whole deer joke came full circle.
"Avenger, remember?" Clint said quirking an eyebrow. The tattoo was as a memorial to Nate, they both loved to bow hunt. Between the antlers were his brother's initials and the years 1979-1997. It wasn't a well-done tattoo, and by now probably too old to touch up.
Loki let loose a whip crack of laughter, eyes crinkling at the corners. Clint knew Loki probably thought they wouldn't stand a chance against Asgard, but he had fought against worse odds.
"I mean not to condescend you, ever, Clint. Yet, your wound may not heal correctly, a magical residue resides there. It was also my ignorance that allowed this attack to take place, now let me to attend to it." Loki insisted, lips thinning, meaning he meant business. Clint's light brown eyes hardened.
"Loki, this isn't your fault, and you're still bleeding! If you can't heal yours, you can't heal mine." Clint used his knees as leverage and finally stood up, feet on either side of Loki's sharp hipbones. He bent down offering him a hand up, the action mirroring a similar one a few days ago.
"Is that a challenge Clint?" Loki practically purred and Clint rolled his eyes. Everything was a damn game to him and it threw him off.
'Why do I always feel so off kilter around him? I say I'm not a kid but here I was literally pinning him to the floor of the training room.' Clint thought, halfway exasperated. Loki finally grabbed his hand, his slender smooth one in his wide calloused one and self consciousness washed over him once more. He didn't know why what Loki thought of his his beaten, worn, scarred-over body mattered, but it just did. Clint didn't like it.
Loki stood up, more gracefully than he did and set his hand on Clint's injured shoulder.
"It's an earnest request, Loki." Clint set his jaw, refusing to wince. Loki's magic reacted to the injury like static. Clint looked at his shoulder out of the corner of his eye, then back to Loki. They were close, real close. Clint could see individual hairs in his dark expressive eyebrows, the lines in his full bottom lip, the contours of his high cheekbones, his faint, barely there laugh lines and a line in between his eyebrows probably from glaring at Thor so much. He smelled the Christmas of his magic, he saw tiny flecks of blue in his green eyes. A blue that looked oddly familiar.
"I can remove its magic traces. Be still, Clint." Loki murmured the command, but it sounded too loud being that they were so close. Clint's body betrayed him, his groin tingled warm and tight just like when Loki straddled him earlier. That was not supposed to happen now.
'I cannot be attract… no. It's just because of our workout, his hyper-focused attention, and Christmas smelling magic is messing with me. Why did I want him to come home so soon?! I didn't think this through.' Clint swallowed a knot in his throat. Loki wasn't going to let this go. Instead of doing the hunting, he was being hunted. This was what Loki wanted the whole time and he fell for his trap like a moron.
Loki gingerly removed the bandage, revealing his blistered shoulder, sticky with pus and old blood.
"As if you're giving me much choice, drama queen." Clint grumbled, and Loki grinned softly in victory. This was supposed to be awkward, he was standing in the middle of the training room, shirtless with Loki who he had just finished straddling. Yet, even though he wanted to feel awkward, the situation itself felt vaguely right, natural.
Natural to have Loki's deft hands on him, standing than a foot away from him, focusing on Clint like a moth to a flame.
"I've been called worse." Loki waggled an eyebrow as he twitched his straight nose at the, bloody, blistered skin. Loki's mouth draw-stringed into a tight frown. Hovering silently, his hand blossomed green magic over the burn that seeped into the wound. The skin began to knit together and the blisters faded.
Clint's eyes widened, all the pain and tightness lifted from his shoulder like a bad dream. It would certainly save him a few days' recovery time; he could even get another spar in with Loki without having to worry it getting hit. Clint watched as, true to Loki's word, a faint wisp of blue smoke filtered out of the wound and was eradicated by Loki's green magic. Damn, Loki was right, there was some creepy, blue magic in him.
A small circle of green runes circled above his shoulder turned clockwise, lowering onto his shoulder and disappearing into his skin. A warm, familiar sensation hummed through his bones. Maybe, just maybe, getting help every now and then would be alright. Even from a God of Mischief.
"Oh. Ok, so you weren't making the magic stuff up. Thanks." Clint flexed his shoulder as it healed and he and Loki locked eyes. Loki's pupils constricted, offended and his nostrils flared.
'Damn, I didn't mean that. I don't want Loki to have another fit and overreact because he took something the wrong way again. I swear Loki weighs every word before he says it. While I don't lack a filter like Tony 'you can always count on me to pleasure myself' Stark and just say whatever, I can't compete with improv-master Loki.' Clint had to set the record straight.
"Don't look at me like that. I didn't think you were making it up. I am used to, well literally shrugging off these sorts of injuries. I know you wouldn't lie to me about something like this." Clint's gut iced over in unexpected guilt because he really did trust him.
He trusted the God of Lies, like this won't backfire somehow.
Loki's eyes danced and an arrogant smile returned, filling out his still flushed cheeks. Clint exhaled, the icy feeling melting and a lightning bolt of fire zigzagged down from his groin. They were still standing so close, and Loki's hand was still warmly cupping his shoulder and Clint was losing his mind.
Clint swore Loki read his mind like an old book because he swept the distance between them closed like curtains on a tent. Perfectly smooth skin slipped past his worn, stubble growing cheek to his ear. He should have shaved.
Their chests weren't touching, but Clint could feel the heat from Loki's on his skin regardless. Clint lost his mind in the Christmas scent, heavy on Loki's neck. The sweaty, curling strands of his dark hair tickled his nose and Clint knew his breath had to be as heavy and humid in Loki's delicate ear as Loki's was into his own battered one.
Loki's left hand strolled up his arm and left goosebumps in its wake.
"You're welcome Clint. I'll always be at your service, and you know I'm not keen on servitude." Loki's breathy voice fogged his mind as his soft lips and the tip of his sharp nose grazed the shell of his ear.
Not on any sniper mission, not during any neuro-exam, did Clint stand so still. Just like a deer in crosshairs, he froze.
Then time stopped.
Loki's lips pressed, unfurled, and released his temple. He heard the quiet smack of his lips, and shivered at the barest graze of teeth and dart of wet tongue against his skin.
Clint's heart stopped in his chest, dead like a deer shot through.
Was…that a kiss? Did that make him sound like some school-yard preteen? Clint was no prude, he had plenty of one night stands, in fact that's what he mostly had. But, that made his dick twitch. It made flurries course through his blood stream.
His face had to be three different shades of red.
Loki kissed him…what was he supposed to do about it? Loki was probably just messing with him. Loki was probably just trying to get in his head, Loki sure wasn't trying to get in his bed!
'I mean, this is Loki, God of Mischief. There is no way he seriously just kissed me out of anything but 'Hey let's mess with the archer, per usual!' But, this is going too far. He has got to stop this…whatever it is. Battle of wits I can do, battle of…whatever this was, was crossed the line. He has some nerve.' Clint pushed Loki away from him, eyes aflame. He wasn't about to let Loki make a fool out of him like this. This wasn't just some game.
Clint steeled himself to belt Loki across the face, fair play be damned. Loki slinked backwards and Clint's anger dampened.
Loki didn't look how Clint wanted him to look, at all. There was no smirk, no mirth, no eyebrows slanted down in challenge.
Loki's green eyes were wide with pupils as small as pinpricks. His lips parted as if he had just mouthed the phrase 'oh no'. Even the flush on his cheeks had drained out.
So, he didn't know what it was either.
Clint raised a finger and took a few steps back. Loki hid behind a bemused expression even Clint could tell was fake.
"I'm going to go—"
"I must be off—"
"Ok."
"Grand."
Clint continued to step back as if the distance would save him from the turmoil in his mind.
In a poof of Christmas scented mist Loki disappeared, leaving a shirtless Clint, alone, in the middle of the training room.
He put a hand to his temple, tapping the small section still wet from Loki's quicksilver mouth. Why was this his life?! What exactly was he supposed to do now?
Nothing. He would do nothing.
"I've been looking for you! Fury is here, you coming Clint? Why are you shirtless?" Clint jumped again, hearing Steve behind him.
"Loki healed my shoulder because of course I managed to get cursed or something. I'll be right there." Clint tugged on the purple T-shirt again, cursing himself that Steve caught him shirtless and awkward. He first went to the bathroom to splash water on his face then made his way up to the main room.
Clint willed himself to act normal and sprawled on the black leather sofa awaiting what was sure to a Haley's comet event. Nat even had popcorn ready as she walked into the room. She lowered the bag to him then jerked it away right as he tried to get some.
"Too slow, you're losing your touch old man." Nat tossed some popcorn in her mouth. Oh, he wasn't losing his touch he was just losing his sanity.
"Hey, respect your elders then and pass me some. I'm ready for the Fury and Fancy Pants cage match." Clint jutted his chin and Nat passed him the bag. It was good to have her back.
'Yeah Clint, just your normal everyday business as usual. Your boss is coming by your genius billionaire friend's super hero hide out to question a Demon Lord. Totally normal.' Clint chomped a piece of popcorn then realized something.
'Whoa, since when did I consider Tony a friend? I mean, sure we did the Avengers thing for a bit, but that was more forced interaction. I never really thought of the guy as someone to hang out with. In fact, what about Thor, Steve, Bruce? Again, all nice dudes, well except when Bruce hulks out, but we don't really have much in common, except trusting each other to eat shwarma in peace...Wait. Trust. They trust me.' Clint, with expert accuracy, hit Bruce in the back of the head with a popcorn kernel.
Bruce turned and Clint looked away innocently.
"Double or nothing, Hill or Coulson gets off a shot at Glow Stick before Pretty Boy melts their guns." Nat stole back the popcorn. Clint made a face.
Nat was referencing their previous bet of Rin being able to win over the Allfather with arts and crafts. Clint said it would take nothing short of a macaroni necklace, but she did it with just a picture.
"You're on." Clint and Nat shook on it, taking a mental note he would have to ask her about why Odin attacked her in Asgard later. Hopefully, Steve would come back soon and claim the seat next to him and not Loki.
One, he didn't want to be in the possible crossfire. Two, well, two should be obvious.
'Ok. I've got to stop thinking about that kiss that wasn't. I have got to stop thinking about that dark haired, fair skinned God who flips a switch from breaking apart to lashing out in mere seconds.' Clint affirmed and immediately started thinking about hockey, hopefully his Blackhawks would win tonight.
'Yeah, think hockey, not Loki. Steve will sit down next to me here any second.' Clint adjusted himself on the sofa, trying to calm his antsy nerves. Not knowing where Loki was made Clint on edge, that either Loki was scheming something for him, or SHIELD was scheming something against Loki.
He never got a straight answer from the God about his feelings on what his father did, he had snaked his way out of it. A charging jolt darted deep his groin, remembering his smile when he strad—
No. Think of something else. Damnit.
Just then Jaken waddled into the room wearing a new Metallica T-shirt that actually fit with upscale headphones, and his demented staff. If the shirt fit it meant he didn't steal it from Tony, how did Jaken get a shirt like that?
It then dawned on Clint just how ridiculous his life had become.
'Yup, wondering where the buddy of a Demon Lord who can turn Washington DC into Washington B.C. and the Hulk into a chia pet, buys his clothes. What a normal life I lead…Chi chi chi chia!' Clint even sang the jingle in his head.
"Alright. Where is he? The real Demon because don't expect me to believe that the Demon Lord I met before was really him." Fury swept into the room flanked by Hill and Coulson like a bad action movie. Steve followed close behind, winded.
Good Steve is here now he ca—
Clint paled as Loki teleported next to him on the sofa, wearing his typical green shirt, chest apparently healed, and black leather pants. Loki waved his hand at Coulson and Hill languidly. Of course, he'd act like nothing happened between them. Wait, that was for best.
Hill and Coulson whipped out their Glock 17s. Loki simply reached a toned arm across Clint for the popcorn Nat held, popping some in his mouth. That prima donna just has to the center of attention, doesn't he?
"No, I suppose the cat, or rather dog is out of the bag." Loki winked at Fury. 'I just can't win a bet to save my life.' Clint groaned, spotting Coulson's itchy trigger finger.
"Hey Brooklyn 99, my tower isn't a isn't a shooting range, and Pepper likes that sofa." Tony entered the room from the kitchen with Pepper and Fancy Pants. Fancy Pants was decked out in designer jeans, a white silk button up shirt, top buttons unbuttoned, and his aviators on his head.
"You know your collar isn't popped." Clint taunted at Sesshomaru as Thor came into the room eating leftover fruit salad.
Sesshomaru popped his collar, either out of ignorance or spite, and Nat snickered at Clint.
"Hello friends! Man of Fury, perchance would you like to partake of this assorted diced fruit? 'tis good." Thor offered to Fury and Fury shot him a look that could have melted the plastic bowl it was in.
Two more nameless agents swept in, both pointing their guns at Loki, Clint wouldn't have been surprised if they had snipers on the building across the street.
Just then, Rin raced through the room, wearing her 'com-Rin-icator' and with two ice cream cones. Oh man, perfect timing squirt.
"Hello Mr Fury. I'm Rin! I heard Stark say you're angry over your lack of depth perception, so I hope this cheers you up! Polly and my Lord Sesshomaru say that you will like rocky road!" Rin beamed a smile that could have melted a glacier and handed Fury a melting ice cream cone. She then careened across the room and handed Bruce the other cone. Tony muttered the word 'traitor'.
"Hello Banner! Thank you so much for saving Jaken! Here is your cone, it's chocolate vanilla swirl! Lord Sesshomaru said you would like it because its two opposite things, vanilla and chocolate, but together as one flavor!" Rin smiled and handed him the cone.
"Thanks Rin, that's...symbolic." Banner accepted the ice cream cone and looked to Sesshomaru who showed no expression at all.
Rin, oblivious to the guns, skipped up to Loki and sat directly in his lap with no hesitation. Sesshomaru took a step forward, squaring himself to Fury. Jaken took his place besides Fancy Pants.
Now that Clint thought about it, Jaken and Fury sort of looked alike.
Nat turned her head to Hill cutting a 'really?' glance; Hill reluctantly dropped her Glock, along with the two other agents in response. Coulson didn't and Nat glowered sharply but didn't move.
"I assume the girl isn't a long lost daughter of yours Stark." Fury gestured to Tony and he backed up reflexively.
"No, Dum-e can barely handle fire duty, much less handle sibling rivalry. Rin is his adopted...ward, daughter, sidekick." Tony gestured to Sesshomaru. Fury's eye bulged.
"..." Sesshomaru did nothing but make eye contact with Fury.
"Uncle Loki are they all here to meet my Lord Sesshomaru?" Clint heard her whisper into Loki's ear. She brought a twinkle to Loki's eyes. Clint couldn't help but smile.
"Oh yes, they are all quite anxious to meet him." Loki's smile lit up his face devilishly and Hill snorted.
'The best agents of SHIELD brought to a grinding halt due to a little girl. A little girl who loves Loki of all people. Can't get better than that.' Clint thought wryly, Loki next to him who was working tangles out of Rin's hair with his magic.
'Gotta hand it to him, he is good with kids.' Clint looked back to Sesshomaru sizing up Agent Coulson, whose gun never left Loki.
'Loki did stab him in the back with a magic scepter after all, but just like with Rhodey, it's a risky shot with Rin in his lap. Not that Loki would let anything happen, he has that Christmas tree magic now.' Clint reassured himself with another handful of popcorn, but regretted it. The vicious vibes Coulson put out began to knot Clint's stomach.
"Alright, enough pleasantries. I am Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD and the Avengers, I'm sure 'Real Power' has told you about me." Nick Fury took a daring lick of his ice cream cone.
Fancy Pants remained completely uninterested.
"I don't like being fooled. That stunt where you got Loki to be you, I wasn't the biggest fan." Fury accused and took a step to close the distance between himself and Fancy Pants.
"..." Sesshomaru darted his eyes to Tony then Nat.
"Yeah, I figured it may not have been your idea. You can fool a lot of people, but you can't fool me. What I want to know is why you're here." Fury took a larger lick of his rocky road cone this time.
"..." Sesshomaru slowly rolled his gaze over to Loki, narrowing them slightly.
"As I figured. Agent Romanoff sent me your home movies of you and 'Real Power' on Stark Tower, and your crash course in medieval strategy to the Avengers. Your ballet with on the helipad was also informative." Fury shifted his weight and Clint saw Tony gesture wildly at Nat who just smiled and shrugged.
"..." Sesshomaru flicked his eyes back to Fury and raised his eyebrows.
Clint heard Tony whisper to Pepper if she thought Fancy Pants was going to say anything at all, she smiled and shrugged, clearly amused.
"Now, what I want to know is are you on the Avengers' side? Asgard's? Loki's? I saw your fight in Central Park courtesy of YouTube and you on the Statue of Liberty by a damn traffic copter, you aren't exactly someone I can ignore." Fury took another step closer.
"Aye, that Chopper Dave is an exceedingly intrepid patrolman!" Thor spoke up eating some cantaloupe and Loki face-palmed. Fury slowly turned to Thor, and slowly turned back.
"..." Sesshomaru leveled a neutral stare at Fury.
"Ok, on your own side. It's the answer I'd expect with someone the title of 'Demon Lord'. However, if I were to say...incapacitate your dance partner, Loki, over there, drug him up, and make him scream his mother's name, you'd have a problem with that, wouldn't you?" Fury threatened with a bold hypothetical and Thor moved. Steve jumped to restrain him. Clint internally swore, the last thing he wanted was for Fury to be stupid here. He'd quit SHIELD if they tried to torture Loki. He wouldn't let it happen even if that put him up against Nat. Clint's shoulders tensed and he sat up straighter, in case he had to be on his feet.
Clint noticed Rin understood exactly what Fury was implying because her face hardened and she turned to loop her arms around Loki's neck protectively.
'Rin is a cute kid, but she needs better barometer for 'could this person be the number one shooting target of the free world?' Clint saw a few hidden wisps of Loki's green magic smoke out in anger. Clint put his hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He rested his hand there, absorbing Loki's heat, it just seemed like the right thing to do. Loki turned his head to Clint, green eyes round in shock. Clint raised his eyebrows and mouthed 'chill out'.
"..." Sesshomaru tipped his head down slightly. So quickly Clint almost didn't catch it, Sesshomaru's hazard green whip lashed out past Fury, grappled around Coulson's Glock 17 and retracted it back.
Sesshomaru's toxin melted the muzzle of the handgun as he calmly walked back to Coulson and placed it back in his hand. Fancy Pants' lips curved up slightly as venomous as his whip. Clint pumped his fist in the air then laid out his hand, palm up at Nat.
Nat placed two fifties in Clint's hand and Clint crumpled them up in victory, catching her snort.
"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't like that too much. So, I'll cut a deal with you." Fury squared up, licking his ice cream cone again. Coulson put the ruined gun away, still studying Loki.
Sesshomaru clicked his talons and straightened.
"I can't afford to be dealing with you and another alien invasion, and you'd be a lot more useful on our side. I was going to offer to work for us, but you don't look like the type to work for anyone." Fury paused, using his ice cream cone as a pointer to the window. Sesshomaru lifted his chin haughtily.
"So, instead, if you agree to be a strategic consultant for the Avengers, and if 'Real Power' over there behaves, we will leave him be. When we win this war, which we will with both of your help, we will wipe the slate. Pending he doesn't try to cross me again." Fury glared a dark eye over to Loki who put on his best 'who me?!' face. Clint hid a smirk.
Fury then put out his hand and Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes.
Pause.
Sesshomaru shook Fury's hand, eyes never leaving Fury's one eye.
"Oh and, one more thing, Banner?" Fury asked, releasing Sesshomaru's pale hand.
"..." Sesshomaru quirked an eyebrow in Bruce's direction. Bruce waved mockingly at Fury as if to say 'I'm right here!'
"Gotcha. I think we will get along just fine. We will see you tomorrow at eleven for the news conference. Please don't wear that Nirvana T-shirt." Fury smirked and took another lick of his ice cream cone.
"..." Sesshomaru inclined his head slightly.
"Agent Hill, Agent Coulson, let's go, we have a council meeting, and a meeting with the UN, EU, NATO, and Xi Jinping of China." Fury turned and began to walk briskly out of the room.
"Sir. The Demon didn't even say anything. How can we trust him? And what did you mean by Banner?" Hill immediately questioned as they walked to the elevator. Coulson didn't look convinced either, his face masked.
"I concur with Agent Hill. I don't like the feel of either of them. I also think that neither of them are a good influence on Banner." Coulson agreed, voice stern. Clint raised his eyebrows at that, if only they saw what he saw in substorage room 3-b.
"He didn't need to say anything and something tells me that Demon is exactly what Dr. Banner needs. Besides he was right, I love rocky road. Did either of you know my favorite was rocky road?" Fury gestured to both Coulson and Hill and neither said anything.
"See? This is already working out." Fury answered, with all four confused agents stepping into the elevator.
Pause.
"Sho, training the Doctor's beast? How charitable." Loki smirked, leaning against Clint so their arms touched.
"This Sesshomaru repaid a debt." Sesshomaru said simply. Across the room, Bruce sighed.
"That conversation with Fury may have been the most impressive thing you've done yet, Pretty Boy." Nat actually clapped softly after eating more popcorn.
"One can safely say your first encounter with Fury went much better than mine." Loki praised and Rin wiggled in his lap and jumped off to stand by Fancy Pants.
"Figures the most successful conversation with Fury would be him just listening to his own voice." Clint leaned back on the sofa and he was rewarded Loki's sparkling laugh.
"Hey, Nat, we are going to have to discuss what you take and don't take from Jarvis and, uh you know, give to SHIELD." Tony crossed his arms, looking disapproving at Nat.
"I had proper authorization." Nat gave a thumbs up to Pepper.
"Phil deserved to know. I take at least twelve percent of the credit." Pepper winked at Tony who threw his hands in the air in defeat.
"Everyone is fired." Tony sighed dramatically.
"I am perplexed over why the Chitauri would send one of their ships to Earth far in advance of their own fleet. They blew an important tactical advantage of surprise. They would not have known I was here on Midgard to tip them off." Loki leaned forward, his unexpectedly broad shoulders flexing under his thin green shirt. Clint's senses rumbled with the desire to pin Loki down again.
"...they sensed me from the start. They knew my name and title. They sought me out for capture, for either being Loki or myself." Sesshomaru's smooth voice washed over the room and Loki, startled into confusion, sparked his green magic.
"They were trying to abduct you and you knew it from the start?! You know that makes what you did even more unacceptable." Steve shot up, agitated. Sesshomaru tilted his head to the side. Clint didn't like it either; he just wouldn't allow them to get to Loki, or anyone else he cared about.
"The Chitauri should not know you. My memories of you were that you were deceased. They also should have no means of tracking you or any reason they would suspect me as you…unless Tenseiga has been vocal like he was in New Mexico." Loki's dark, arched eyebrows shot up.
"It was Ryukotsusei's spirit from the underworld. Tenseiga has been quiet and obedient. He would dare not chatter to those base lifeforms." Sesshomaru, offended, cut his gaze to Loki.
"Swords. They're swords. You don't see me giving my bow names or saying it talks." Clint rolled his eyes and everyone looked at him, Fancy Pants raising an eyebrow.
"What, you don't want a magic bow, cupid?" Nat's blue eyes lit up, scheming. 'Ugh, please don't let that nickname catch on with Tony, or that be a jab at Loki and I.' Clint saw Loki's spine stiffen.
"Ryukotsusei...why would the Other know to conjure such a spirit? How would he have the means?" Loki murmured, eyes wide, mostly to himself.
"Does anyone else not like the timing of this attack? All the sudden the Chitauri come looking for Loki on Earth rather than Asgard where everyone besides us thought he was imprisoned?" Bruce chimed in, picking up a grape and chucking it at Clint, missing.
"And making the same mistake we all did, and that Fury suspected? Confusing Sailor Moon for Reindeer Games?" Tony finished, Clint caught Tony mouthing something inaudible to Fancy Pants.
Loki shot to his feet, his magic smoking black.
"How foolish you mortals can be!" Loki's cackle cracked like a slammed door and everyone jumped save Fancy Pants and Nat.
"Someone on Midgard has been talking to The Other! There is a traitor in your precious SHIELD! There is no other reason for them to think Sesshomaru as I. Why else would a long deceased Demon spirit be in their armada?! Not even Heimdall on Asgard knew of my shapeshifting ploy, and no one, save a scant few, thought I was off Asgard." Loki revealed and Clint's mouth went dry like he just ate sand.
"I had calculated their fleet at a vastly different position than they are currently. The traitor and The Other have been sharing secrets of my magic and your technology for years to account for such an advance in their course. And now whoever this traitor is has shared your Director's suspicion of Sesshomaru with the Other." Loki continued.
"If I were this traitor, I would have exaggerated the scepter's influence over Clint to provide a smokescreen to my own scheming and a most convenient blood sacrifice in case it all went awry." Loki concluded, chuckling, and Nat's blue eyes focused on a point on a wall like a sniper scope.
Clint's chest pitted. Loki was laughing at him, at how stupid he was.
"Fool me once, shame on you… fool me twice, shame on me. It's poetic that I'm still someone's puppet. I've been used for years as their fall guy, their damn scapegoat. I'm such a sucker." Clint whispered to himself and like granite, his muscles hardened and his blood chilled. How fucking funny. His entire life was now a punchline of a bad joke. Even Loki had just laughed.
How ironic. SHIELD suspected he was a traitor when there was an actual traitor in their organization. He had lost countless friendships, like Hill and Coulson. He had been passed over for countless missions and promotions all over the scepter. He was labeled a 'career cancer' and in turn worked twice as hard to try to turn it around. What was the saying? Work smarter not harder? Loki now thought he was some jackass idiot.
Clint bit his cheek so hard it drew blood.
'When I was in the circus, we all bonded and became a big dysfunctional family. We shed blood, sweat and tears for each other. I shed a lot more blood, sweat, and tears for SHIELD, and an even more dysfunctional family formed. This traitor took that from me, but it was my job to see something like this coming. I wasted three years of my life, and it cost me everything, and now it's going to cost us the whole damn planet.' Clint tongued the metallic cut in his mouth and his gut emptied out. He was going to be sick.
"Clint." Nat put the popcorn bowl on the sofa to assess Clint's mood.
"It's just as Sesshomaru said, first step for an invasion is to establish a spy network and get information on your enemy." Bruce chuckled to himself, looking a bit green.
"I will not allow the Chitauri to recapture my brother. We must root out these spies and bring them to justice! It is forbidden to abduct a Prince of Asgard!" Thor shouted and went to move next to a darkened Loki.
"Oh yeah, forbidden to abduct a Prince, but if that same Prince abducted a Demon Lord..." Tony said under his breath and Clint had had enough. He rocked his weight forward and stood up. He needed air.
He spent his life wanting to be useful, not used, but wasn't that a cute little tightrope walk?
"I'll start gathering intel. We don't know what surveillance means these Chitauri or the SHIELD agents have. They could have spied on us through Stark Tower's cameras, not only with agents." Nat supplied, Tony frowned in offense.
"Hey, uh, Natalie, before you start searching for possible holes in my security, focus on your own known issues. JARVIS has been set to maximum security, I would know if he was compromised. You and Clint need to know how far up the flagpole this goes." Tony crossed his arms. Nat stood to address Tony's ego and Clint found the necessary distraction to escape.
'SHIELD doesn't trust me, maybe they shouldn't. The Avengers must think I'm an idiot, I can't blame them. This wouldn't have happened to Nat. Even Loki mocks me. That stings.' Clint slipped out of the room, ignoring the bickering and objections coming from all sides. He crept out the roof access and leaned against the wall of Stark Tower, slowly sliding down its wall to a seated position against it.
Elbows on knees and head in his hands, Clint inhaled and exhaled, but the lead dense weight of mental exhaustion still crushed his head in. Maybe he should just give up and quit SHIELD.
"This doesn't suit you Clint." Loki's voice sounded dark and cold like a cave and Clint didn't bother looking up. What did Loki care? Why did he have to follow him out here anyway?
"Oh, yeah, what does? Humor me. I could use a good laugh because that's what my life has apparently turned into… everyone laughing at Hawkeye! Including you, not that I blame you. Hawkeye, the clown of the SHIELD circus! The traitor must be having a good laugh right now, thinking 'hey, let's use that chump Hawkeye for our frame job! No one takes him seriously anymore, no one believes a word he has to say. What a perfect fool for our fool-proof plan!'" Clint muttered, voice muffled into his chest, knowing Loki heard it anyway. Couldn't he just leave him alone?
His chest sloped and heaved forward in a bow of silent surrender. Not since 1997 did such a hollow pit of loneliness carve itself into his gut. Only terrible agents let this happen to them, only terrible uncles help a traitor destroy their planet. What if that Dragon-con succeeded in capturing Fancy Pants? Loki would have never forgiven him.
A shadow draping then slipping off him was the only indication Loki knelt down in front of him until green eyes burned a hole in his forehead.
He finally lifted his head up and his jaw went slack from the raw, icy malice that washed out Loki's face like a harsh florescent light.
"I was laughing at the traitor's impending oblivion." Sinister didn't come close to describing Loki just then. He loomed like a jungle-eyed specter from a Vietnam veteran's night terror. "I'd never mock your pain Clint." A knot loosened in Clint's throat, so Loki didn't think he was useless.
"It's a pain I know too well." Loki's black, sparkling magic surrounded him like a shroud.
It was true.
Loki was used as a scapegoat by The Other, but never did he think Loki was an idiot. Loki was a fugitive to Asgard and when he willingly went back and got stabbed Clint didn't blame him for not predicting it. Everything between them came full circle.
"Be merciless for what they did to you. Be my light of justice Clint, and I will be your shadow of vengeance." Loki whispered fiercely as he spread his black magic around them like a dark tent.
An answer died in Clint's swollen throat as Loki's hot mouth melted onto his own.
Ohh...thematically this might be my favorite chapter so far! I'm not usually such a fan of song lyrics, but they all just fit. Clint and Loki, everything about them just circles each other. Now SHIELD has a double agent(s), Clint has a not-so secret admirer, and Jaken has some new clothes.
Sorry for the length, but it had to be done.
Next chapter: Sesshomaru's perspective and it WILL BE MATURE RATED. THE RATING ON THIS STORY WILL GO UP.
Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter, it was a lot of work! you guys motivate me :)
-TL