Thanks for the reviews, made my day! Warning for...mention of homosexuality? It's not explicit(or true for that matter...you'll know what I mean when you read it) or anything so unless you have a big problem with the concept itself, you should be fine.
Steve winced as Clint viciously poked at his cereal yet again. He had already ground it to a fine powder, and it looked like he was attempting to crush it into microscopic particles now. He wondered if a comment about not playing with food would be well received. Of all the avengers, Steve actually found Clint the hardest to get a grasp on. He knew that the guy has an impressive military record, and was recruited by SHIELD because of it.
At the beginning, Steve was surprised that the archer had been willing to follow Steve's leadership. After all, if his time in the capsule was discounted ( and Steve thought it should be, it wasn't as if he had been doing anything useful for those seventy years), Clint was over a decade older than him and had been a soldier a lot longer. But the archer had easily accepted his assigned role in the team, without any resentment or posturing. Steve had realized that the man liked being in the background, doing his work quietly and efficiently and resented public attention with a vengeance.
"Please stop," Tony snapped at Clint from the other side of the table.
Clint looked at him defiantly for a few seconds, and then sighed and put the spoon down.
"What's got your panties in a twist, anyway?" Tony asked, downing the rest of his coffee.
"Fury wants me to do a press conference," Clint said sullenly.
"So? Just stand in the background and glare at the reporters like you normally do."
"A solo press conference."
"Why?"
"Fury wants to keep us in the news, and after the first fifty or so interviews with you and Captain America, people are bored."
"Bored by me? Impossible." Tony smirks, "So why not Natasha? Or Bruce?"
"There aren't any reporters willing to be in the same room as Natasha, not after the incident with the knives last month. And since Bruce isn't employed by SHIELD, Fury can't force him."
"Right. I can see why this is a problem, you don't come across as the most charismatic person on camera. Or anywhere, really."
"I can't help it that my resting face scares people." Clints pointed out, picking up the spoon again. Steve gently twisted it out of his grasp and slid it to the other side of the table.
"No, your resting face makes you look like a pug. During press conferences you look well, still like a pug, but more like an evil psychotic pug."
Steve wondered if it was possible that Tony had somehow been born without any sense of self preservation. Steve could spot at least five objects in Clint's immediate vicinity that would make a very effective projectile. He intervened before Clint could launch one.
"When is the press conference?"
"Today, couple of hours from now."
"I'll come with you, if you want" Steve said.
"I'd like nothing better, Cap. But Fury specified I'd have to be alone."
"Don't worry about it. Fury wants to keep us in the news? He'll get what he wants."
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Steve stepped out onto the stage with Clint, and is slightly amused when he hears a few sighs from the audience. He wasn't surprised really. When Clint talked about him giving fifty interviews in the last three months, he had only been exaggerating slightly.
"Captain," One of the braver reporters called out. "We weren't expecting you." The 'please leave' was left unspoken.
"Yes, I am aware that Hawkeye was supposed to be talking to you today. However, I feel that I cannot hold back the truth about myself any longer. I am afraid if I don't say it now, I may not find the courage again."
Most of the reporters look intrigued, and Clint nods at him gratefully as he slinks off the stage.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx
Steve is at the gym when Tony finally catches up to him and dumps a dozen newspapers over his head.
"You are secretly in love with me? All the antagonism you show towards me is born out of suppressed feelings? What the hell, dude?"
"Sorry, I couldn't think of anything else. On the bright side, the media is definitely not bored with us anymore."
Tony sighed, "You are totally explaining this to Pepper."
