CHAPTER 7 - France
Surprisingly, Steve had saved them in the beginning of November, much earlier than Clint had always assumed. Guess he should have asked a bit about it. After that, Clint raked his brain, trying to remember how many battles the Howling Commandos went through. He could only think of maybe eleven battles. The first one he thought would be coming was sometime mid-December. So, it was a huge surprise when Steve led them to their first battle four days after the Commandos came into existence.
"Holy fuck!" Clint shouted as a cannon zoomed past him, nearly hitting his shoulder as he ducked down. He had gotten slightly separated from the rest of the Commandos and was rapidly running out of ammo. Something needed to change soon or he'd end up getting killed. Cursing under his breath, Clint put his gun away into his holder. A second later, Izril jumped to his hand. Hissing out the arrow spell, Clint lifted the bow and started shooting as fast as he could, mowing down enemies left and right.
"Clint!" a voice sounded through the haze. The archer turned to look to see Bucky was glancing at him while shooting. Once Bucky noticed that Clint had his eyes on him, he snapped a hand across his neck. Clint's eyes widened before he whispered the vanishing spell and dropped the bow. Just in time too considering Steve had joined the Sergeant. Sighing, Clint snatched his gun up again and rushed to their side.
"Running low on ammo," Clint reported which had Bucky grimace a bit. Wasn't good for him. The archer was lucky he had been 'alone,' otherwise he wouldn't have been able to use his bow. Steve dug into one of his uniform's pockets before tossing a clip over. Clint snatched it from the air, unloaded what was left in his clip before jamming the new one in place.
"Lets move," Steve ordered, heading off. Bucky followed first and as Clint moved, he found himself stopping at fallen comrades to search them quickly to get more clips and sometimes just their guns in general. Nearing the rest of the battalion, Clint broke off a bit from Steve and Bucky. As he did, he ended up near someone from another unit. The archer was there for a second before the guy stepped down on something and the ground exploded, tossing Clint into the air and off to the side, cracking his head against a tree and going black.
"We're lucky it isn't much more than some cuts and bruises," a voice filtered into Clint's mind as he struggled to waken himself. He knew that voice. How did he know that voice?
"Does not make sense. He had been nearly on top of it himself," another voice replied. Falsworth. The other voice had to have been Morita. Cautiously, Clint cracked his eyes open. The entire Howling Commandos group was hanging around where ever he was laying. It didn't really look like a medical tent or a hospital. So, where had they taken him?
"Welcome back," Bucky snarked as soon as he noticed Clint had opened his eyes. Clint gave a faux moan before actually moving to show he was fully awake. "Nearly lost you."
"I'm fine though, right?" the archer wondered, really not looking forward to the possibility of being sent State-side with no where to go. Even if that would get him away from all this shit.
"Relatively," Dugan retorted with a grim face. Clint frowned as he looked over the group. Dernier, Morita, Falsworth, and Steve all seemed highly worried. While Bucky, Dugan and Gabe just stared at him, curious.
"Are you experience any harsh pain?" Morita asked. Clint frowned as Dugan and Bucky snorted. The others turned to look at them.
"No, I'm hardly feeling any pain," Clint responded. Bucky intentionally leaned over and poked one of the deeper looking gashes. Clint turned and glared at him but forced himself not to wince. It was in that moment that he realized he didn't have a shirt on.
"You're such a liar, Barton," Bucky huffed. Clint quickly sat up, twisting away from Morita to better face Bucky and in turn Steve.
"I can handle myself," the archer growled.
"Yes, we have seen that," a voice called out into the tent. Everyone spun to look at the entrance, only to see Peggy was standing there, her arms crossed over her chest. "Was interesting to hear that you had gotten injured."
"Hardly the first time, ma'am," Clint snorted. Peggy smiled.
"I have heard," she joked. Clint, Dugan and Bucky chuckled.
"I feel as if we are missing something," Morita grumbled for the others.
"Agent Carter and her crew have been with the 107th for a while now," Gabe informed. Peggy nodded her head even as Steve looked over to his Sergeants and Corporal. None of the trio even dared to look over at the Captain.
"I feared the worse when I learned you had gotten tossed by a land mine," Peggy told Clint, ignoring the others for now. Clint frowned.
"I'm sorry, but... Why do you care so much about what happens to me?" Clint finally asked, sick and tired of all the subterfuge. Bucky spun and smacked Clint on the arm even as Dugan went and slapped the back of his head. Clint hardly protested their treatments while Morita prepared himself for Clint needing medical help. Even Steve shifted to give the archer a nasty look but Clint was just done.
"It is not so much you as it is the three of you," Peggy replied pointing between Bucky, Dugan and Clint. Bucky and Dugan stilled. They seriously hadn't expected that.
"Why them?" Falsworth wondered. Peggy raised an eyebrow at the British-men.
"Have you not heard?" she started. The other Commandos shook their heads as Clint growled and got to his feet, intent on leaving. Bucky stood up beside him to stop the archer from being stupid. Dugan shifted in his seat to get closer to the duo. "Of all the units from the 107th, these three are the only ones that were kept together."
The trio traded looks, confused. There was no way that was right. Someone had to have stayed with their original members. Sadly, Clint could tell that Peggy was deadly serious. The trio had been together since they first met in the States and now here they all stood, Commandos.
"What do you mean?" Steve inquired. Peggy sighed.
"Barnes, Dugan and Barton have had their unit cut down to five or less people in the past. Any other unit that got that small tended to break up into other units. But, no one was willing to separate them."
"We aren't anything special," Bucky grumbled. Peggy rolled her eyes. "Just thought that the Colonel didn't do that."
"Oh? How do you think you got other men to join you? They all came from units that had gotten too small or lost their leader," Peggy informed. Clint casted his eyes down to the ground before frowning deeply.
"Is that why Dugan was still allowed to work underneath Bucky once he became a Sergeant?" the archer questioned. Peggy nodded. Dazed, Clint shook his head. "I have to go."
Without waiting for someone to comment, Clint swiftly slipped past Peggy and out of the tent. He continued on, hardly paying attention to his surroundings until he hit the edge of the camp. For a moment, he wanted to turn back and just wander the camp but then his hand started to 'itch.' He needed to go shoot. Decided, Clint slipped off into the woods the camp was set near. It took him only five minutes to find a place suitable for his needs. Once decided, Izril snapped out into his hand and as he lifted the bow to get ready for a shot, he whispered out the needed spell.
"Impressive work, though I didn't believe there were any bow and arrows in camp," a female voice said into the quiet of the area. Clint stilled. Seriously? He was found again? God, he was gonna have to seriously start paying attention. Then his mind registered it as a female voice. 'Dear god, don't let that be Carter!' Slowly, the archer turned and indeed it was Peggy standing in front of a nearby tree. Bucky was sulking behind her with a highly guilty look.
"I tried," the Sergeant mouthed. Clint tilted his head back so he could look at the heavens, even though his eyes were closed.
"Do you wish to tell me what is going on?" Peggy questioned.
"No," Clint replied, dropping his head back so he could look at her. Peggy rolled her eyes. "Look, can you just forget you ever saw this? Just, walk away."
"I can promise not to tell a soul if you tell me how," she bargained. Clint furrowed his brows. What the hell did she mean by that? Then he understood. If Clint didn't explain how he could do this, she'd tell someone else.
"Would you believe magic?" Bucky grumbled from behind her. Peggy had an eyebrow raise at that, her gaze never moving from Clint. The archer winced. This was the absolute worse thing that could ever happen to him. Slowly, she looked to the 'target' that Clint had been using. Then glanced down at the ground around him before her lips puckered.
"Any reason you are not using this skill on the battlefield?" Peggy countered. Clint blinked his eyes rapidly in surprise. Peggy didn't care about his magic? Wow, what the fuck was going on here? This had to be an alternate reality or something. Swallowing his fear, Clint forced himself to reply.
"I only recently learned how to do a lot of these spells. And I can't always guarantee yet that I'll be able to hold the spell while running. I've been using it whenever I was alone or when my unit was extremely low on ammo with no hope of getting replenished in time," Clint informed. Peggy smiled.
"Spells such as the bow?" Clint shook his head no.
"The bow itself is... I guess magical. Izril drops into a pocket dimension when I don't need her. The spell I cast is the one that creates the arrows. I can also make them vanish and..." here Clint hesitated, glancing over to Bucky with a guilty face again. Bucky pursed his lips and nodded. Might as well get it out in the open now. Even if Peggy had no idea he didn't have this same power as a teen in the future. "I can cast a protection spell."
"A protection spell?" she countered. Clint nodded. "Have you done this on all you unit members?" Clint again nodded. "Then how-"
"He just said he recently learned how to do these things. There isn't always a guarantee that he could do it and hold it to keep all of us completely safe. It could be a mistake in the spell, loss of concentration, the guys getting too far away from him before returning to his side, maybe even a proximity limit. But we don't know and can't ask his teacher," Bucky defended. Peggy glanced quickly at Bucky before refocusing on Clint.
"Why have you not asked?"
"My teacher is gone," Clint evaded. Peggy sighed, looking down.
"I apologize," she replied. Clint said nothing. Sighing again, Peggy turned her gaze back up to Clint. "I should mention that Captain Rogers is looking for you as well. It will not be long before he looks here."
With that, she turned on her heel and walked off. Cussing, Clint quickly casted the vanishing spell while dropping Izril back to the pocket dimension. Bucky moved to get near Clint in order to press a hand onto the archer's shoulder. Clint tensed for a moment before relaxing once again. Before either could speak, they heard a bit of crashing from the woods. Both of them jerked to attention, snapping their colts out from their holsters. And that was how Steve found himself when he burst out into the clearing. His friends, aiming guns at him.
"Woah there!" the Captain cried.
"Damn it Stevie," Bucky hissed. "You seriously need to learn stealth."
"Are you okay?" Steve asked the archer, ignoring his best friend. Clint snorted before nodding. Yeah, he was doing a bit better now. Nothing else could make a difference to how he felt anymore. He was just becoming numb. Steve nodded. "I hate to do this but... We gotta go back to our tent and rest. We're shipping out early tomorrow."
Mid December, Clint found himself with the Commandos in France. Strasbourg, or something like that. Steve stormed the building first, leaving the others to trail after him. Clint purposely trailed in the back, making sure to watch over their behind. Firing away as they entered, they found the place was filled with a bit more opposition then they had planned for. Steve didn't care, just plowed on. Clint gritted his teeth. It took all of his mental power to remember that the Commandos survive, hardly get hurt during any of these upcoming battles. But then again. He wasn't a real Commando. He could actually die.
"Barton, go set up charges down the west end," Steve ordered, hitting a Hydra agent over the head. Clint nodded, twisting to head away from the Captain. Dugan followed after him, acting as back up. While Clint appreciated the help, he could handle setting the charge by himself.
"Didn't hear him tell you to come," Clint snarked after a bit. The few small skirmishes that they had gone through, Clint had noticed that Dugan, Gabe or Bucky had been right by his side. Dugan was the one seen more often. The Sergeant chuckled.
"I ain't leaving you out of my sight," the man replied. Clint rolled his eyes but didn't fight it. Let Dugan do whatever he wanted. Dernier had happily made the bombs that they were currently setting and for half a moment Clint wondered how safe they were. Then he had to remind himself, they all survived... Well, the Commandos all survived. Maybe it was going to be nice having Dugan nearby if it meant his own safety. Then Clint remembered refusing all those guys from joining their group based on the groups 'survival' rates.
"You know, staying with me doesn't increase your chance of survival," Clint joked, moving a bit faster the plant all the bombs that had been handed to him. Dugan frowned, not that Clint saw. It did increase the archer's own chance of survival but he wasn't going to tell Dugan that. As they went, Hydra agents came out to the hall and tried fighting the duo. But Clint was easily able to kill them all, Dugan attempted to catch any of the others but ended up mostly just protecting their behind.
"Seemed to work for me pretty well so far," Dugan laughed. Clint snorted.
"Oh fuck off," the archer lightheartedly stated. Dugan chuckled. Clint rolled his eyes again but had to seriously admit, he was kinda grateful that the man was kinda 'stalking' him at this point. Dugan pretty much attached himself to the archer now that Bucky was getting attached to Steve once again. No one else on the team but Dugan, Bucky and Gabe knew what Clint could do and the archer really wanted to keep it that way. In fact, Clint even had noticed that Gabe and Dernier had also gotten close to him. Though, Clint doubted Dernier actually was doing it on purpose. He figured the French man was just sticking close to the 'only' person who could speak his language.
"HAIL HY-" a voice cried from in front of them. Clint shot the guy. Dugan smiled.
"Hail shit," the archer grumbled. This time Dugan cracked up. Clint shook his head, looking to the man. "You should keep it down before the whol-"
An explosion rocked through the facility. Both men froze. Was that close? No. That had been the other side of the place. Clint looked to Dugan who had a small smirk on his face. The archer rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what the man was thinking. He pushed on rather than commenting on it.
"We gonna blow once we set?" Dugan wondered. Clint nodded, putting up the bomb with a smile. For the fuck of it, Clint turned and ran. Dugan took a moment before he shouted and followed after the archer. After a good distance away from the bomb, Clint turned back and laughed at Dugan. The man let out a growl before trying to pick up his pace. As soon as they arrived where they had ditched Steve, Clint turned and pressed the detonation button. Another explosion rocked the facility. A moment later, Steve came running toward them. He didn't look panicked or anything, just like he wanted to leave as soon as possible. "Cap?"
"Move!" Steve demanded. Without questioning it, Clint rushed after the man. Dugan followed a moment behind and then there was an explosion much closer than any other before. Clint looked ahead of them and through the still open doors. The rest of the team were already waiting for the trio outside. Sighing in relief, Clint glanced back at Dugan. The man was trailing behind a bit but not too bad. They reached the others as a few more explosions rocked the area. Dernier was surprisingly good with his bombs. The bombs' destruction of the surrounding area was really good but when angled just the right way, the explosions only hit toward that way, so standing by the open door, they were rather safe.
"You boys are so slow," Morita called out. Clint huffed remembering Pietro briefly. Damn speedster always made fun of how 'slow' he was. Course now, he missed the kid. Fuck Morita.
"Maybe Rogers just wanted you closer to the exit, in case you fell," the archer retorted. There was a twitter of laughter even as Morita flipped him off. A moment later there was a crack of a gun. Steve twisted and noted a Hydra agent falling off some remains of a nearby building. The Captain whirled to look at Bucky, hidden over a ridge, and nodded his head. Clint mentally snarled at himself. He should have noticed that before Bucky did. Even if Bucky had a higher vantage point then him.
"Guys, let's just finish checking the place out," Steve ordered with a roll of his eyes.
"Sir, yes, sir," the whole group mocked. Steve grunted in exasperation but didn't respond. None of them could stop themselves for giving him shit. Including Bucky and Clint. They tended to be the worst culprits and a lot of times, they teamed up on him. Almost felt like being home and working with the Avengers. Except it had typically been Tony and Clint teaming up on Steve. Only after the 'Hero Civil War,' did it change to Bucky and Clint teaming up on Steve, with the help of some of the other Bartons.
Clint twisted and headed off to check on the rest of the town. Dugan started to follow him but Clint just turned and glared at him. This time there was no reason for the other Sergeant to follow him. The man just smiled, apparently not caring. Clint snorted before heading off, slipping between two buildings. Dugan of course followed. After a few more turns around the place, Clint stopped and looked at Dugan.
"You gonna check to make sure there ain't any more?" the archer hissed getting a little peeved now. Searching the area would go a lot faster if Dugan looked on his own. In all the time Clint spent with Dugan, the Commando hadn't acted like this. What was the point of him stalking Clint? It made no sense. Actually, it was getting to the point today where Clint was almost ready to shoot Dugan in the leg to keep him away. Dugan shrugged.
"Checking to make sure nothin' sneaks up behind you," Dugan replied as if that was the most common thing in the world. Which, to be honest, it was. Just hadn't been how Dugan had rolled before. Clint rolled his eyes and headed off again. At least he had a decent enough excuse to make Clint not actually harm the guy. Dugan still followed behind. Ten minutes later, Clint felt safe to say that the town was empty now. He turned back to the meeting point. Dugan happily trailed after him. They arrived at the point before anyone. Steve came up next.
"Anyone?" he asked.
"None," Dugan reported as Clint gave him a sidelong look. Steve nodded. A moment later, Bucky came down from the hill that led into the town.
"Haven't seen any other movement outside of our team," Bucky said before looking to Clint and Dugan with a small smile. Clint sneakily flipped the other sniper off. Since finding out Clint had been a sniper and was better than him, Bucky kept putting them in 'competition' at every battle. Steve smirked.
"Alright, we'll get out of here when everyone comes back," Steve stated. The trio with him nodded. With that, Clint started looking around. It was true that they hadn't seen anyone, but the archer was going to stay on watch. He slipped up once, he wasn't gonna do it again. Even if the Commandos make it through the war. Soon after Steve's declaration, Gabe and Dernier came back. Falsworth was next. Morita was last. Clint focused on him.
"Jeez, could you be any slower?" the archer joked. Morita stopped for a moment, looking over the rest of the group before sarcastically laughing. Clint smirked. Revenge was sweet.
"Alright, enough guys. Lets just head back to camp," Steve ordered, even if his smile betrayed him.
"Ah, come on Stevie, let the guys have a little bit of fun," Bucky laughed. Steve rolled his eyes but they all did head off to the way that the camp was waiting. Dugan sidled himself up near Clint and the archer groaned, looking to Bucky for help. Bucky just chuckled and shook his head. He wasn't gonna help. Groaning, Clint looked to Gabe but the man had Dernier already trailing after him like a lost little lamb. Gabe was the 'only' one who could speak with the French-man. Knowing he wasn't gonna get help there, Clint looked back to Bucky who was pointedly having a conversation with Steve. Clint knew that Dugan was likely doing this because of their long time friendship. Or maybe cause he knew about Clint's magical talents and figured even if Steve was good enough to protect all of them, Dugan was gonna make sure he still stayed with Clint's magic. Hell, maybe Dugan was just doing this now to tick him off. Either way, Clint wasn't comfortable with it.
The entire walk back to the camp, Dugan stayed beside the archer. Clint slipped through the group, trying to lose the man but Dugan was determined and no one was willing to help Clint. After a little bit, Clint glanced to Bucky and smiled. Bucky frowned before Clint ran at him and planting his feet, bending and launching himself, he jumped up and over the guy, twisting a bit in the air to land right in front of Steve. Both men jerked to a stop in surprise. Behind them the other Commandos paused as well.
"Holy hell, Barton," Falsworth cried. "You raised in a circus?"
"Yup," the archer admitted before doing a few back flips away from the group. Bucky laughed, rushing after Clint in an attempt to keep up. In all the time they had been together, Clint never really opened up about himself. Clint kept flipping, using the momentum to get further and further away. After that, everyone but Steve raced to catch up. They got a good distance away before Steve rushed past them all with a laugh. Clint stopped flipping. "That ain't cool, man!"
Growling, he booked it as well. In the future, Clint was actually able to keep up with Steve for a good amount of distance. But keeping up is much different than trying to catch up. Behind the duo, everyone else let out a cry of surprise. Steve slowed for a moment, allowing Clint to catch up. If Clint had paid better attention, he had started catching up to Steve before the Captain slowed down. They ran in tandem for a bit. After maybe a few minutes (longer than Clint normally lasted), Clint finally started to slow, breathing deeply. While Clint could run long distances normally, following Steve's speed always tired him out faster. Steve just laughed, not even winded or bothered by their distance and pace.
"Fuck you," the archer growled between breaths but the duo stopped regardless. Clint leaned against a nearby tree even as Steve stood in the middle of the path, chuckling. Even tired and breathless, Clint couldn't stop the gigantic smile that appeared on his face. It was so good hanging out with Steve again.
"Don't try and race me," the Captain retorted. Clint flipped him off with a heavy breath. Jesus... And yet Steve never stopped asking Clint to ask him for a god-damn morning run. Fuck him. Just as Clint caught his breath again, the others showed up. They weren't running. Steve laughed at them all.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh it up you ex-asthmatic!" Bucky snorted. This got Clint to laugh as well as Steve. The whole company at this point knew that Steve used to be much smaller, weaker and sickly then he currently was and thankfully, none of them gave a rat's ass.
"You're just jealous," Steve tossed back. Bucky rolled his eyes.
"Go screw yourself, punk," the Sergeant called. The whole group laughed at this.
"Je paierais pour les voir se battre," Dernier told the group, not even caring that typically only Gabe could translate him. But Clint finally was feeling bad for the guy. He could speak French just as well as Gabe. And most of the group already knew he spoke German. (I'd pay to see them fight.)
"Je vais prendre le pari que j'avais battu Steve," Clint replied with a snort. The whole group paused just staring at him. Clint nearly questioned it before just sighing. There was a lot of things that the Commandos didn't know about him. (I'm going to take the bet that I beat Steve.)
"You can fucking speak French?" Gabe snapped. Clint shrugged, glancing at Dernier who thankfully didn't look upset. All the man did was smile happily at the archer. Nodding a thanks, Clint answered.
"No one asked."
"We have no way to send you to Belgium before the end of the month," Major Morris informed. Steve nodded, looking quickly to Bucky and Clint who had been called in to the meeting as well. Clint couldn't tell why he was brought in rather than Dugan. Dugan was of higher rank than him. It made no sense what-so-ever. But Steve insisted it be him.
"We need to get a move on before they decide to move bases," Steve replied. Major Morris nodded.
"I don't dispute that. Just, I have no conceivable way to get you there," Major Morris explained.
"You can't spare a Jeep?" Clint wondered, figuring that would have been Steve's next question. Major Morris turned and glared at the archer. Clint winced, looking to Steve and Bucky for help. Neither of them spoke. With a sigh, the archer hung his head. Whelp, he was never going to make a suggestion or ask a question again. Military life was totally different than S.H.I.E.L.D. And no one was like Fury, willing to take his brand of stupid.
"We have no vehicles to spare, hardly any rations, and certainly not enough ammo to safely get you to Bastogne," Major Morris corrected, without taking his eyes off of Clint. Bucky's eyes twitched toward Clint but he refused to speak. "We will not be getting supplies for another week."
"Can't we ask Stark?" Bucky asked. Major Morris sighed.
"Stark left a while ago," Major Morris answered, his voice beginning to slip into anger. Steve glanced at Bucky and Clint with a gaze that basically said to cut it out. Clint rolled his eyes. Bucky frowned but said nothing. They both knew that Steve would have been asking the same questions if they weren't here. "I promise, once we get supplies, I will be able to send you out."
"Thank you, sir. That's all we ask," Steve graciously stated. Major Morris nodded, dismissing them. Clint was first out of the tent. Bucky slipped out next with Steve hot on his tail. They got maybe ten to fifteen feet from Major Morris's tent before Steve reached out and snatched both men's arms. "What the hell?"
"What? We ain't allowed to ask questions?" Bucky snipped. Steve growled but Clint could see something gleaming in the Captain's eyes.
"That wasn't asking questions, that was going against him," the Captain hissed, not sounding as angry as he looked or was acting. Clint scoffed, unsure what to think of Steve's behavior.
"You would have asked the same thing if we hadn't done it for you. Don't give me that," Clint snapped. Steve turned to him and he looked like he was going to argue but then he sighed, looked back at Morris's tent and then sagged in defeat.
"You're right. I'm sorry," Steve admitted, much softer than before. Clint felt his eyebrow raise in surprise. He never expected Steve to admit that the archer was right. Bucky snorted.
"You're such a stupid punk," Bucky muttered with a shake of his head. Steve looked to him with a weary smile. "Us asking saves you from getting in trouble with Major Morris."
"I know... Just," Steve whispered, turning briefly to look at Major Morris's tent once again. This time someone was standing at the edge, looking at them. After a moment, he walked further away. Bucky and Clint trailed after, curious. When Steve deemed he was far enough away, the Captain stopped and turned back to the duo. "Gotta make it seem like I'm disciplining you."
Clint laughed, shaking his head. Yeah, this was totally the Steve he knew. Bucky even chuckled at the Captain. They headed off to go find everyone else. A nearby town was still in good enough shape to have a hotel that was open and offered rooms to various members of the army. Somehow, the Howling Commandos had gotten three rooms. Gabe and Dernier decided to share a room. Dugan, much to his consternation, was made to share with Morita and Falsworth. That left Steve, Bucky and Clint to share a room as well.
"Thank you for not making me share with Dugan," Clint cried as he headed into the room that he was sharing with Steve and Bucky. Bucky laughed. Outside of Dugan himself, Bucky loved riding Clint about the fact that the other Sergeant was 'stalking' him.
"What's wrong with Dugan?" the Sergeant asked. They had all gotten along so well before. And even though it was obvious that Clint was trying to escape the man now, no one questioned it.
"I can't get him to leave me alone," Clint complained, actually sounding more like a whine than anything. Bucky laughed. While it was true, that Dugan wouldn't leave the archer alone, Clint had no idea that Bucky had asked both Dugan and Gabe to help keep watch on him. And with Gabe having to stay more with Dernier, that left Dugan. Bucky wanted it that way so that if Clint was alone with Dugan, Gabe or himself, then the archer could use Izril.
"Why did he take such a liking to you?" Steve wondered. Bucky and Clint paused, looking to each other before they looked back to Steve.
"The three of us have been together since the beginning. Guess he figures Clint needs protection seeing as I'm with you now," Bucky mentioned. Clint went and punched Bucky in the arm. Bucky cackled, dodging the archer as Clint tried to chase him down. Steve laughed at their antics but didn't interfere.
"Hey, what's up with them?" Dugan questioned a moment later as Bucky and Clint ran past his room. Steve just shook his head. By the time he got to his shared room, Bucky and Clint were wrestling on the floor, this time about the claw foot tub. One of them had already started filling it, so Steve went over to check the depth and the temperature. It was warm, not hot but warm. Warmer than anything they had had since coming out here. Steve turned back to the duo who had yet to stop fighting. With a smile, Steve watched the water line increase till it got high enough then turned off the flow. After one final look, Steve stripped off his clothes and got inside. They'd realize it sooner or later.
"HA!" Clint cried as he finally pinned Bucky down. Then both of them looked up to see Steve already in the tub. Steve just gave them a happy wave, watching as Bucky bucked Clint off of him. "Aww... Steve... No."
"Aww, Steve, yes," Steve replied, intentionally relaxing into the water. Bucky snorted, heading over to check how big the tub was. Not enough for either man to join Steve. Bucky huffed.
"I miss when you were small," the Sergeant grumbled before heading over to one of the two beds. Steve cackled even as Clint huffed himself and headed to the other bed. That was when all three of them noted there was only two beds. And even worse, two twin size beds. None of them could share.
"Aww, beds, no," Clint mumbled, looking to see if there was any way to salvage a third bed.
"I stole the tub, so I'll sleep on the floor," Steve offered, sitting up a bit to stare at the other two. Bucky shook his head as Clint grimaced.
"Nah, Stevie, I'll take the floor," Bucky argued. Clint rolled his eyes.
"I'm of lowest rank here. Fuck you both, I'm on the floor," Clint snapped, getting up to grab his bag and set it off by the far wall, underneath the window. Even while laying down, he'd be able to have sight lines to most of the room. He then began to futz around with his pack, back to the other two in an attempt to ignore whatever argument they might be trying to have with him. It took maybe a minute before Clint felt the bag could be comfortable enough to lay on it. He was about to try it out when wet arms wrapped around him, pulling him up with a yelp. It took only a few seconds before Clint realized, Steve was about to dump him, fully clothed, into the tub. "No! NO! STEVE!"
SPLASH
"Fuck you," Clint hissed when he popped back up. His legs had been out of the tub so mostly it was his head and chest that had gotten dunked. Steve and Bucky stood there laughing at him. Clint turned to glare at them before realizing, Steve was still stark nude. With a flush, he turned away. There was no way in hell he'd ever be able to face Steve again if he saw him in the future after seeing what was going on downstairs.
In the end, Clint got his way. Not really a good thing considering he was sleeping on the floor, but hey. He couldn't complain. Bucky and Steve were at least nice enough to strip off some of the blankets to act as a buffer from the floor, but it was almost worse than laying in a tent. Hell, the floor was almost as equally bad to the time they had gotten to the camp that made everyone but Bucky and Dugan sleep on a cot and that was saying something since Clint slept on some damn pointy rocks. As he drifted off, Clint wondered if Major Morris would be fine with him stealing a cot from camp to put in the room. Or, maybe he should just stick with camp. Leave the rest of the Commandos to the hotel.
The morning found Clint and Morita sore as all heck. Apparently Dugan and Falsworth had won the beds in his room. While Morita made sure to complain and 'beg' Steve to make one of them switch off for the night, Clint made sure not to say a word. There was no way he'd let Bucky or Steve sleep on the floor. But after accidentally loudly cracking his back, Bucky and Steve looked to him with guilty eyes.
"No," Clint told them decisively, knowing what they were both thinking. The rest of the Commandos stopped talking and looked to the trio. It took only a moment before Morita realized Clint had gotten the shit end of the stick with him. But, Clint seemed more angry over the idea of switching than he was. Thankfully, he was smart enough not to say anything.
"If Morita can switch up with his roommates, we should as well," Steve suggested. Clint shook his head, determined to not let either man sleep on the floor. He was used to this. Used to... Wait... They might be used to it as well. Fuck it, Clint still wasn't going to let either of them lose their beds.
"No," he repeated.
"Barton," Bucky warned. Clint crossed his arms, showing that he was digging his feet into the dirt. Dugan groaned, rolling his eyes. Gabe even gave a small wince. When Clint set his mind on something, there was no breaking it. Didn't help that Bucky was much the same way and the group was quickly learning that Steve was just as stubborn.
"Fine. Hell to the fucking no," the archer stated. There was a twitter of laughter from the other men. Everyone enjoyed when the trio butted heads which happened more often than not. They were all stubborn. Something Clint usually wasn't with Future Steve but at this point, he totally didn't want to deal with a lot of Steve's orders (off the battlefield).
"Nous pourrions toujours changer de chambre," Dernier called. Clint turned to look at him. (We could always change rooms)
"Vous voulez abandonner le lit," the archer retorted before Gabe could say a word. Dernier sat back with a small smile. Everyone could tell he was glad someone else could speak with him. Not that Gabe wasn't a bad guy, but only speaking to one person in a group of eight, kinda sucked. (You wanna give up the bed)
"Hey, I didn't agree to switch up beds with the floor!" Gabe snapped in English. They were lucky that Dernier had understood English, for the most part, as Gabe wasn't always able to translate things in time.
"Neither did I!" Dugan and Falsworth echoed. Morita growled at them.
"Fuck you both," the man snapped. Dugan shrugged his shoulders, uncaring.
"Dugan, you're on the floor tonight," Steve ordered, having noted the man's uncaring attitude toward a fellow unit member. Dugan's eyes widened.
"You can't-"
"The hell I can't. Morita gets your bed and you sleep on the floor. As for us, I'm taking the floor and Clint gets my bed."
"I already said, no!" Clint growled, shifting a bit to lean closer to the Captain. The other Commandos looked to Bucky in surprise. Bucky was frowning now. Why did Clint want the floor so fucking bad? Steve sighed, now setting his own feet down. Clint narrowed his eyes.
"As your Captain, I am ordering you to give up the floor and sleep in a god damn bed," Steve snarled. Clint moved to get in the guy's face, lifting himself halfway out of his chair. Steve wasn't going to win this one with him.
"I ain't gonna listen to this order, Captain," Clint called, making sure to make the Captain as disrespectful as possible. The room went quiet. This was the first time any of them had gotten into a real verbal scuffle with Steve. Most times Bucky and Clint only faked argued with Steve. For a moment, Clint wasn't sure what Steve was gonna do. In the future, Steve would just let out a frustrated cry and storm off to sulk, or beat up the villains of the week much harder than before. But right now, there was no way he could do either of those.
"You wanna repeat that," Steve threatened, getting up himself to move a bit closer. Clint's eyes narrowed even more. He wasn't going to back down. While Steve may be larger, stronger and a bit faster, Clint had handled himself well during training in the future, even if he was mostly certain that Steve held his strength back a bit.
"I ain't gonna listen," Clint replied. Steve grabbed the archer by his shirt collar, making the archer give a soft yelp of surprise, and then he proceeded to drag Clint out of the hotel. The Commandos behind them called out and chased after them as a feeling of shock flooded Clint's system. Okay, maybe a bad idea to piss Steve off. Once on the street, Steve let go of Clint, pushing him a bit away. Clint recovered quickly and looked back angrily at the Captain. In for a penny... "What? You wanna fight?"
"If that means you'll listen," Steve cried. Clint smirked, okay. Steve was going to take this seriously. They both knew what was going to happen after this. Steve had gotten battle training but didn't have very good solo fighting training. Course, Steve didn't know about all of Clint's training. Clint would totally be able to take him, super soldier serum or not.
"Fine, you win, I'll give up the floor. I win, you fucking drop it for the rest of the time we're here," Clint bargained.
How is everyone's quarantine going? Mine has actually been rather difficult. I constantly want to write but if it's not people all around talking to me and distracting me then it's me being so stupidly tired that I can't think! If this story had been earlier in the series that I have found myself writing, I probably update more often then a week. But, I can't. Need to make sure I stay ahead.
Darius has been enjoying tablet time like every day. Best way to keep him quiet and entertained while hubby is busy and I'm trying to write. Feel bad though, I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with him cause I wake up at like seven in the morning and he won't wake up until ten. Then, by like one I need to go nap and I tend to nap till like five, eat dinner and then go to bed for the night. Ugh. Course the one time I did decide I was going to force myself to stay awake at night, Darius very loudly and partially rude called 'You're still here?' Yeah. Wasn't a nice feeling.
Baby Jason ended up going to the hospital this week due to fever, vomiting, and overall not acting like himself. Ended up that he caught viral meningitis. Partly ironic for me as the story I am posting on Archive is the one where Clint is sick. With meningitis. Hmm... If this keeps happening, I wonder if it's possible for me to travel back in time? Lol.
If my French translations are wrong, I apologize. I understand that google translate is not very good with sticking to the proper way of saying things. But, I never learned French. I learned Spanish... And I can hardly remember a second of it, lol. Well, until next time!