Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: Okay so... chapter 6! I did my best with this chapter and I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations... Oh and I'm planning for the action to pick up in the next few chapters after this! Enjoy!
Chapter 6 – Escape.
Tony Stark tiptoed silently up to the door of Clint's room. Looking to his left and right, he scouted for guards, and upon seeing none, cracked open the door to the archer's room and popped his head in.
"Rise and shine, Katniss. Get your shit together. I'm busting you out!"
Clint sat up and looked at him, grinning.
"Natasha's going to kill you," Clint replied, his smile widening.
Tony scoffed. "Please, Barton. I can handle your girlfriend. Plus, I'm betting she wants you out of here too, eh?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Clint, who groaned in annoyance but stood up regardless, picking up the two handmade catapults. He was keeping those. Huffing slightly, he stuffed them into his backpack and pushed past Tony, clapping him on the back before sticking his head out into the corridor.
"So what's the plan?" Tony asked, looking innocently up at the assassin.
"You're the one breaking me out remember? Why am I coming up with the plan?" Clint whined, furrowing his eyebrows at his fellow Avenger. Tony just looked at him sheepishly and shrugged.
"I had Pepper hovering around me all morning. I didn't really have time to plan for this, buddy..." Clint chuckled at his friend and motioned for him to follow. Together, they snuck down the hallway to the door of main corridor. Pushing the door open, the two of them straightened up and began to walk with purpose. They figured if they looked confident, no one would question what they were doing.
Clint huffed slightly and looked down at his feet as he followed the billionaire towards the mess hall, which led to the nearest exit. Unfortunately for them, they had to pass right by director Fury's office to get there. Leaning forwards, Tony peeked in through the window, and assessed the situation. Fury was there with his back to the window, pacing. There was no way in hell he would see them – not if they ran fast, anyway. He whipped back round to face Clint and gave him the thumbs up, and the two of the bolted down the corridor, grinning like idiots.
Clint smiled to himself. Tony may be a prick, but he was a great guy to have around – especially when he freed you from the nightmare that was SHIELD medical. Refocusing, he followed his friend down the hallway to the entrance of the mess hall. Tony strode right in confidently, smacking the door wide open, only to be yanked back harshly by the collar of his Black Sabbath top as the incredulous archer noticed something he didn't.
"Tony! For god's sake Natasha's in there!" He whisper-shouted, pointing aggressively at the red-haired Russian who was now staring down at her coffee with intent. Clint banged his head against the wall, keeping hold of the careless billionaire's collar the whole while.
"Sorry, Barton-" Tony said, flashing him a cheeky smile. "-I thought you'd want a little confrontation – you know, to re-ignite the passion in your relationship." He finished, cracking up, wincing as the assassin promptly smacked him over the head.
"Hey-" Tony pouted, but lowered his pitch once he saw Clint's deathly glare. "God, you're more like Romanoff than I thought," he mumbled under his breath. "No seriously, Legolas. I had no idea she was in there. To be honest I kinda figured she'd be down in the gym doing what she usually does when she's mad – beating the shit out of some punch bag."
Clint narrowed his eyes at Tony suspiciously. "What?"
"You know Red. Always taking her anger out on inanimate objects whenever she gets frustrated. Unless I'm around of course. You know - I still haven't gotten that kink out of my neck! Those damned Russian spies are lethal." he trailed off, screwing up his face, disgruntled. Clint rolled his eyes and smirked.
"Bet you deserved it."
"Me? What on earth could I have done to deserve that kind of abuse?" he asked, innocently. Clint sighed, and peeked through the glass window in the door once more, keeping his eye on the Russian and ignoring the idiot stood beside him.
"Come on," he said, grabbing Tony and pushing him gently through the door. "I think we can sneak past."
"Sneak past Romanoff? Are you crazy?" his horror-struck expression morphed into one of mischief. "I was hoping you would say that."
Dropping down onto his knees and pulling Clint with him, he started off crawling behind the tables, dive rolling across open spaces, all the while humming the Mission Impossible theme. Clint groaned, but chuckled in spite of himself. Out of all the missions he'd ever done, this was by far the most dangerous. If Natasha caught him now, he was sure he would be walking sideways for the next two weeks.
Clint shuffled forwards, cursing when he stubbed his toe on the side of a cart full of cutlery, sending knives and forks flying. "Son of a fuck," he grimaced, rolling behind the cart and clutching at his foot, his eyes watering. He swore that that was more goddamn painful than getting shot in the knee.
"Mayday!" he hissed, scrunching his eyes shut. "I've been hit, I've been hit!"
Tony shuffled over to him and prodded him, not knowing what had just happened. "Oh shit, Barton. Don't you dare go all Loki-loco on me! Not nowwww," he whined, sticking out his lower lip.
"Shut up you idiot. I just stubbed my sodding toe, that's all," he grumbled, cradling his toe and sticking his head out and peeking around the cart to see if Natasha had noticed the kafuffle. The archer breathed a deep sigh of relief once he saw that his partner was still deep in thought, completely oblivious to what had just happened. Wow, he thought, this is a first.
Shaking his head in disbelief, he signalled to his fellow Avenger to keep moving. He wanted to get the hell out of this place. The longer they stayed, the more they risked getting caught. They slipped quietly between the tables holding their breath and puffing it out as soon as they reached the exit on the other side of the canteen. This door led to a stair well, which in turn, led to the 'roof' of the Heli-carrier. Clint paused.
"Hey, Tony..."
"Yes, Princess."
"How are we going to get off the Heli-carrier? In case you haven't noticed, we're in mid-air."
"Oh I nicked us a couple of broomsticks, I figured Harry Potter wouldn't mind if we borrowed them for a bit."
"Stark," Clint said warningly.
"God, Barton. Stop being such a pansy. Look I figured that I'd just put on the suit and sort of just... fly us down there."
Clint nodded. "Better get suited up then, Iron Man. We're gunna be at the top of these damn stairs in no time," he flashed Tony a cheeky grin before starting to bolt up the stairs, taking them two at a time. "I'll race you to the top!" he called out behind him, laughing when he heard Tony groan and start chasing after him.
Five minutes later, the two Avengers burst out of the door at the stop of the stairwell - panting heavily - and out onto the top of the Heli-carrier, Clint miles ahead of the genius. Taking in deep breaths, the archer smacked his hand down on Tony's shoulder. "I knew I'd beat you!"
"You son-of-a-bitch, you cheated!" Tony gasped out, nearly crumpling to the ground under the force of Clint's hand. Clint chuckled and steadied him.
"Man, I need a drink." He muttered, shrugging away from Clint and straightening up. Clint groaned.
"Just suit up and get me out of here before Fury finds out I'm gone." he said dryly without a hint of sympathy for his friend.
Tony shot him a look and pulled his red briefcase out from nowhere, his suit unfolding around him. Soon enough, he was Iron Man. He held out his arms wide, and beckoned Clint into them.
"Come 'ere baby," he said in a mock serious tone, pouting slightly.
"Don't let Pepper hear you call me that," Clint warned with a wink, stepping forwards to grab hold of his friend.
Tony narrowed his eyes and powered up his suit before tightening his grasp on the archer and soaring off, down to Stark tower.
Meanwhile, Natasha Romanoff had just finished her conversation with agent Hill. She didn't even understand how the two misfits could have escaped. Sure, one of them was a genius and the other was a world-class assassin, but to get from they were and out onto the roof of the Heli-carrier, they would have had to have gone through the mess hall – and Natasha had been in there the whole time.
The Russian stopped in her tracks, vaguely remembering hearing a crash. She had assumed it had been a novice agent being careless. She had been half-right. Except instead of a newbie agent, it was Clint goddamn Barton who had been crashing around trying to sneak past her. Natasha scoffed -Well shit.
The spy scowled and ran up the very same stairwell that the two escapee's had disappeared up mere moments earlier. Bursting out onto the roof, she jumped into a jet and commanded the first pilot in sight to take her back down to the unofficial Avengers' base.
A few minutes later, she was storming down the halls of Stark tower absolutely fuming. Stalking past Bruce Banner (making him flinch and cower in the corner), the angry red-head stalked through to their respective living room, narrowing her eyes upon seeing Clint standing there, happy as Larry, bonding over a beer with Tony. Growling, she grabbed Clint by his left arm and roughly dragged him along with her to her room, never breaking stride.