Second last one, folks!
Hope you enjoy! :)
REVIEWS;
Niom Lamboise; Possibly :P Wouldn't be a Clint Whump fic without it now, would it? Just not really shown, but yeah. :P Glad you're enjoying it :)
poetrygirl22; Not greedy at all! But, second last chapter, so hope you're ok with that! I'll be honest, wasn't expecting anyone to pick up on the little concussion comment but I'm so glad you did! I thought it was just a Clint thing to do! :P Glad you're enjoying it :)
AleuStark; See, if I do post two of them, it'll just confuse me :P It's already confusing me, cause this is technically half way through my next fic if that makes sense, so adding an alternative ending will just confuse my poor mind even more! So, I'm winging it! There were only tiny differences anyway! Glad you enjoyed the last chapter, hopefully you'll like the rest! :)
AllenFredrickson; YES, YOU READ RIGHT, ALLEN-FRICKING-FREDRICKSON! My god I love you guys so much sometimes it hurts! You have just made my day, man! I'm actually crying just because of the name! Thank you for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying it, but man thank you for actually accepting and enabling my weirdness!
Every time I've logged in today to write, and looked at that comment, I let out the weirdest squeal, so; I DEDICATE THIS CHAPTER TO ALLEN FREDRICKSON!
Disclaimer; ... Clint; Eh.. She's gone. Muttered something along the lines of going to kill some people for having to write this the billionth time. So, yeah, she doesn't own us, like any of us, she may kill you if you remind her of it!
"Can we not just rush in? We know he's there."
"Cap's right this time, kid." Stark replied quietly, remaining flush against the tent wall so he wouldn't be seen. Kate was by his side, and when she signed to speak in private, he knocked their comms off. Now he knew why, she wanted to go against Steve's plan.
Can't say he blames her. If he didn't think Steve was right this time, then he'd have already blasted his way into the tent and would be bringing Clint to safety right about now. But no, they had to make sure they wouldn't make things worse.
When Tony and Natasha made their way out of the jet, Kate and Rogers had been waiting for them. Steve didn't look all too happy, and even with super serum healing there was a nice red mark on his chin. One would safely assume the hot headed Hawkeye Junior (though they're not allowed call her that to her face so shh!) gave him a nice clock against the jaw for not letting them go save her mentor. It was no surprise when Steve's plan then involved Tony with her rather than with Natasha!
They had to wait though. They had to make sure that the two men inside the tent were far enough away from Clint to not kill him at the slightest hint of a rescue mission. If that were to happen, then this whole thing would be for nothing.
He was convinced all the way down the hill that none of it mattered anyway, that Clint was already long dead and the two circus acts were long gone and halfway to Canada by now.
But Jarvis put his mind at ease with one scan of the tent, showing that Clint's vitals were struggling, but were still there.
What's more, he was talking. He couldn't hear much, Clint's voice was really low, from no energy or no aids Tony couldn't really tell right now, but the other voices were quite noticeable.
When he knew the archer was still alive, he carefully cut a hole in the tent fabric, two actually, because Kate shoved him out of the way to peek in when he cut in the first hole.
So now the two of them were watching as Tony's favourite two acts lowered Hawkeye down to his knees.
They barely left his side, barely gave the Avengers any time to get in and get their team mate out.
"I can't anymore." Kate growled, and finally Tony agreed with her! He didn't know what they were doing, but Swordsman was approaching Clint and taking his arm so he knew it couldn't be good. He noticed from the corner of his eyes that mini Hawkeye was doing exactly what he's seen Senior Hawkeye do a billion times before; she was nocking an arrow and getting ready to bolt from her position.
He smirked to himself behind his mask.
Looks like he passed his recklessness onto you aswell..
He had to grab the kids arm though, not to stop her, he couldn't do that anymore, but so she could confirm what he just saw.
"Yeah.." She replied his unasked question, her voice low, and no doubt her eyes wide as she watched what was unfolding.
Clint, on death door, was holding his own.
The guy was moving so fluidly, so expertly, that with his back to them it was near impossible to tell he was even hurt.
It was like he hadn't missed a beat. So easily jumping to his feet, even off his feet, and using the chain that was confining him for so long as a weapon instead. He was choking the life out of Duquense, and Stark couldn't seem to find any sympathy for the guy.
Remembering the other two didn't have a view, positioned either side of the entrance to ambush, Stark turned his comms back on to let them know.
"Opening. One down, one distracted." He said sharply, taking Kate's arm to run around to the other side of the tent, to the opening.
"Repeat?" Rogers confused voice replied, and Stark rolled his eyes at it.
"One down. He's fighting." Kate confirmed for him, a hint of a laugh in her voice. Guess it was kind of funny! They were worried for the guy, here trying to rescue him, and it seemed Natasha was right all the way down the hill saying he never needs rescuing, he just needs distractions.
"You sound surprised." Natasha's amused voice came over the comms, just as they neared the other side of the large tent.
And, in all fairness, the pair of them were!
It was different for Natasha. She was used to this side of Barton, the Hawkeye side of Barton. The side that manages to take a hundred guys out with one arrow, the guy who can fight his way out of a compound with three injured men on his back. And, indeed, the kind that could save his own ass with arrows sticking from everywhere and probably all his blood out of his body. This wasn't Hawkeye the archer, this was Hawkeye the SHIELD agent.
Stark, and more than likely Kate, well they hadn't seen this side. While on Avengers missions, there really wasn't any need for that kind of Hawkeye. Strike Team Delta was a pair, so the situation was alot different. On Avengers missions, Hawkeye wasn't really Hawkeye. He was their sniper, their sharpshooter. He covered their asses and stayed away from the fight. Outside of that, and even in that, he was an overly cocky smart arse who takes great pride in annoying Stark and finding new ways to make the billionaire curse his name.
Who's to say which side of the archer is better?
...
The agent side.
Definitely.
Stark can say that with confidence.
So many brilliant inventions and prototypes destroyed during Barton's impromptu lab visits..
"Sir, agent Barton is down again."
Sometimes, even Jarvis' polite way of phrasing things, made Tony's blood run cold.
"How bad?" He asked quickly, sliding to a stop with Kate just by Steve and Natasha.
"It seems the archer has an arrow trained on Agent Barton and has him on his knees."
God, thought he was dead.. Phew!
"Got one chance, Steve." Tony said calmly, noticing that Kate and Natasha were getting their weapons ready, regardless of what order Rogers would give.
"Then let's light 'em up." Steve said with a smirk, grabbing his shield off his back and going to the entrance way, the other three on the team following suit.
He smirked behind his mask as the sight of Clint smirking at them, that son of a bitch was one cocky kid!
The four of them readied their weapons for the blow. He couldn't tell what Clint said to Trickshot, but the latter slowly turned to be met with four of the Avengers all aiming for his head.
Clint regarded them for a moment, just as Tony was about to fire away at the carnie.
"Kate.." Clint started, his voice sounding nice and strong now. Tony wondered if it was just a false energy. Of course it was, there was no way he should even be conscious right now! He gave a nod, but Tony couldn't see what he was nodding at. "If you please."
Tony looked to Kate to see a smirk spread across her face, and she tensed the bow string that little bit more. "Just remember who saved your ass, Hawkdude."
She let the arrow fly, and Tony was actually a little disappointed that it only hit Trickshots shoulder. The bastard deserved it so many other places, so many other places that would leave him in pain for years to come.
He doesn't deserve death.
He deserves worse.
None of them held their attention on him too long, because before the ass even had a chance to scream, Clint was flat out on his back.
"You two, get Chisholm. Natasha and I have Barton." Tony yelled to Kate and Steve, running over to Clint with Natasha by his side while he spoke.
I swear, Barton. If you die now..
He popped up his face mask and looked to Natasha with an eyebrow raised when a sound hit his ears, and her confusion mimicked his own.
Is he.. Laughing..?
Sure enough, when they slid to kneel down next to Barton, he was laughing away to himself. His eyes were glassy, glassier than before, which scared Tony. They were fixed on the roof, he was still bleeding, he looked freezing, though the way Natasha frowned when she touched his forehead told Tony he actually had a pretty bad fever.
"Stay awake for me, alright?" She said softly, her hand being placed gently on Clint's chest, right where that damn target was painted. "We got help on the way."
"We can move him." Tony said quickly, looking to Romanoff before back to Barton. He was panicking, he was self aware enough to tell that much. Things were finally calming down, adrenaline was leaving his system. He was getting tired, sore, he could feel himself slipping.
He wasn't panicking for himself though, he was panicking for Clint. Because if this is how he felt, he could only begin to imagine how bad Barton felt right about now.
"His injuries are just the wounds. Nothing broken, we can move him, we can get him out faster and to the jet before the medics get here, and.."
"Tony." He looked from Barton's face to Natasha, her voice was stern but her eyes seemed soft. How was she so calm!? "Breathe."
"We gotta get him out." He whispered frantically, suddenly feeling too trapped in his armour. He shook his head and hit the button to release the armour, the suit obediently moving away from it's owner. He fell then, so he was on his knees, a hand going to grab at his chest.
Dammit Tony, not the time to have a panic attack! I thought we got over this!
"Kate! Get Stark." He heard Natasha shout, but Tony's eyes were too focused on Barton to care about anything else. Natasha was working on him, she had taken a little medical kit from the pouch on her belt and was injecting something into his neck. But he had stopped laughing, his eyes weren't opening as quickly anymore. Stark was losing him. He was losing Clint and there was nothing he could do but watch.
A pair of hands on his shoulders drew his attention away from the dying man, infront of him was the kid, his apprentice, Kate. She stared him down for a moment, slowly grounding him back to the task at hand, even without uttering a word.
How many times has she done this? Did Clint have panic attacks? Is that how she knows how to control them so easily? Why did he have them? Was it because of the circus or something else?
Dammit, why do you know so little about the guy who's dying for you!?
"We'll get some pizza, ok?" She said quietly, her eyes never leaving his, even when he tried look back to Clint. Especially when he tried look back to Clint. "He loves pizza. It's his favourite, besides cheese burgers."
Why was she talking about this right now? It doesn't help things! It can't help! Natasha was still working frantically, now trying to stop the bleeding coming from her partner, coming from her boyfriend.
Dammit, you just killed her boyfriend.. And the kids, they're coming over at the weekend and their dad won't be there.. Tony, you fucked up! You fucked up so much it's not even funny!
"We'll patch him up." Kate said a little louder, obviously sensing the panic rise in Tony because her hands were gripping him a little firmer. "We'll patch him up, we'll get him washed up, and we'll all relax with some pizza and some stories about how much of an idiot he was on old missions."
That actually sounds nice..
Whatever method this was, whatever trick they figured out in the years of dealing with panic attacks, it was working. His breathing was calming, and all that was going through his mind was what the recipe for that pizza base Pepper makes is. It was in the kitchen somewhere, in one of her little recipe boxes.
"I can make one." He whispered to her, his body feeling ten times heavier all of a sudden. "Pepper can, at least.."
"That sounds great, we'll help her while Clint relaxes on the sofa. We'll put a movie on, make a night of it." Kate said with a smile, and he nodded, letting his whole body sag into the relaxed state it wanted to be in.
"You did good, Tony." He looked to Natasha when she spoke, she was smiling, but not at him. She was too busy watching as her hands tied off a bandage around Clint. "You got us to Clint. You saved him."
You saved him..
You actually did it, you idiot..
He let that thought stay in his mind as darkness took him. He saved Clint.
He saved Clint. But, Clint had saved him.
Dammit. Clint saved you..
You owe the kid more than just a pizza..
The next time he woke, he could recognise the place without opening his eyes. There was that hum he always told Pepper he was going to fix but just never got around to it. It was just a speaker above the bed, one that allowed Jarvis speak to them. One night when he kicked a shoe off a little too enthusiastically, it hit the black disk and it's been making that noise ever since.
I'll fix that today.. It is pretty annoying.
What day is it? Might have gone a little too hard on the drink last night if that isn't even coming to mind..
Oh well. Usual tasks anyway.. Breakfast with Pepper, get the board meetings out of the way, train with Cap, check in with Widow, make sure my lab hasn't been destroyed by..
Barton..
His eyes shot open at that thought, body instantly jumping out of the covers he was under. He didn't care what state he was in, sure the place has seen him in alot worse than just some boxers. His head was thumping, but right now, he just had to make sure the archer was ok. He had to go find Clint.
Last he saw, he really wasn't ok.
Last he saw, the kid was pretty much dead on that damn tent floor.
"Sir, I advise you to go back to bed. You're running a fever and-"
"J, who's here?" He quickly cut the AI off, his throat a little dry though so it came out raspy. He just ran from his room and down the hallways of the tower, knowing if people were here they'd be in the common area.
"Ms. Potts, Miss. Bishop and Captain Rogers are in the living area, sir." Jarvis replied after a pause, he was no doubt tattling on Tony to Pepper. He'd have to programme that part out of the system.. It was the same when he was sick or coming in drunk, because Pepper was the next of kin, the AI just assumed to tell her whenever he did something reckless.
When he skidded into the living area, the three around the large coffee table were already looking in his direction. Yep, Jarvis definitely told them. Pepper was on the large sofa with it's back to the doorway, so she was looking around at him with a soft smile. Cap was on the left on an armchair, and he could just see Kate peeking over the edge of the sofa arm. She was on the floor, no doubt re-stringing her bow. Clint did the same. Tony always offered him a work bench to do it, but he always sat on the floor.
"About time." Kate said with a grin, as Pepper stood to come around to him. "Clinty boy lost, like, all his blood and he still woke up a whole day before you!"
"Is he..?" He started, and the nod from Pepper as she came to his side and took his arm made muscles he didn't know were tense relax.
"He's fine." She smiled, bringing Stark over to sit on the sofa with her. Cap had left to go somewhere. He could hear running water from the other room, so he assumed Steve was getting him a drink. "Worried about you. We all were."
"Why?" He asked with an eyebrow raised, watching Pepper curiously. He was doing fine. A bit of a headache, but that's about it.
"You wouldn't wake." Kate answered from his feet, so he looked down to her. Sure enough, she was stringing a bow, but it looked like the one he designed for Barton, not for her. "Doc's all said there were no injuries, but you just wouldn't wake."
"Well, it was a long few days.." He sighed, giving Steve a nod of thanks when he was handed a glass of water.
"Long enough for a weeks sleep?" Steve asked with a teasing smile, and Tony had to shoot him a little glare.
"Oh, sorry, how rude of me! Please, tell me more, Mr. Lets crash a plane and sleep for seventy years!"
The three around him laughed, and he allowed himself smile a little and fall back against the couch cushions.
"He's ok then?" He asked softly when the laughter died down. He didn't want to appear worried, but he seriously was.
"He's doing fine. Sore, really sore, Natasha's having hell trying to keep him in bed." Pepper replied with a smile that honestly made his day so much better, her playing with his hair just added to it. "But he woke up yesterday in the infirmary downstairs. Natasha brought him to his room this morning. Can't hear a thing, which is killing him, but docs are happy, and he seems like Barton, so that's good."
"Kept escaping to see you yesterday." Steve added with a nod, grinning at the thought, Stark assumed. "Even injured as bad as he is, he has a mean left hook."
"I kept telling you not to hold him down." Kate laughed, pushing herself up onto the sofa to sit on the other side of Tony.
"Well we don't all know how to give whatever look it was you and Natasha gave him." Steve defended with a smile, holding his hands up defensively.
They kept talking about things that happened through the week, how Natasha had begged to be allowed interrogate Trickshot and Swordsman, and was granted the permission. How she said she wanted to wait for Stark and Barton to be there, just to make it that little bit sweeter for them. All the fall out, all the injuries the pair shared. He really didn't want to hear that they lost Barton for a while before the medical team got there, but he had to listen to it.
He didn't care really.
He just cared that the guy was awake, that he was fine, that he was still Barton, as scary as that sounded!
He just cared that his recklessness, his stupid stubbornness, didn't kill a team mate.
He just cared that he didn't have the blood of a friend forever on his hands.
Even though he knew he would be there for a while to come, it would at least eventually leave.
After he finished his water, he stood with a small grunt of pain. His muscles weren't happy after being unmoving for a week.
But it was fine. It was a good pain to him.
"Where're you going?" Pepper asked with a frown, her mother voice on.
He looked to her a smiled before then looking to Kate who just had an eyebrow raised in his direction.
He needed to make sure Clint knew how sorry he was for what happened.
He needed to make sure the archer didn't completely hate him.
He needed to start making up for the pain he caused Barton, both in and out of their captivity.
So, he offered Kate a hand up off the sofa, and she took it with a grin. She probably already had an idea of what he was going to do. Just like how he makes Pepper omelettes when she's mad, he had something to make incase Barton was mad.
"Won't be long. It's just.. I have a pizza to make."