A/N: And here it is, the second chapter! I'm trying to keep my promise and post every day. I really have no excuse since I have so much of the story written already. So here it is!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I owned the Avengers, I could afford college…and a jet. But I do not because they are owned by Marvel/ Disney and I don't think they're interested in sharing.
Warning: Slash ahead. If two men kissing is offensive, don't read this. However, we aren't to the mature stuff yet so if that offends you, don't worry.
Damn, he must've been more tired than he thought. They were in Pakistan already. Usually he didn't fall asleep around other people. It just goes to show that he was more comfortable around Phil than he thought.
It wasn't long before Clint was up in his perch on the roof of an old building, the hot sun beating down on his back. Of course, since S.H.I.E.L.D. was full of people who made things for agents in the field and had never actually been in the field themselves, they had outfitted him in protective gear that was all black.
He felt another drop of sweat rolling down his back for what felt like the hundredth time in the last five minutes. He wiped his hands on his pants. He was sweating so much that he was starting to lose grip on his bow.
Fuck was it this hot the first time? Clint couldn't remember but he guessed since it was the same day, it probably had been this hot the first time.
It seemed like he had been perched up in this spot for hours. "Coulson. How long have I been up here?" He heard the sigh through the com line. It wasn't a loud noise, it would've been barely noticeable to someone who didn't know the agent as well as Clint did.
"Barton, how many times do I need to tell you to keep quiet over the com?"
Clint smirked at that. "Sir how many times do I need to tell you that I won't listen?" There was a moment of silence before he heard his response. "You've been up there for thirty minutes Barton. Now maintain silence."
Christ had it really only been thirty minutes? Clint felt like he had been up there for hours. He just sighed and went back to scanning for his target, the leader of a powerful terrorist ring.
An hour passed, then two. Clint was starting to feel dehydrated. It was just so hot! He kept himself focused on the task at hand. If he remembered right, it was a few hours into the mission before the target appeared.
As if on cue, a car pulled up and a man dressed in full military gear got out, bandoliers across his chest and an automatic rifle hanging from his shoulder. Yep that was his guy. He waited till he had the shot.
"Sir I have the target in sight. I have the shot." He waited a minute before he heard Coulson's voice over the line. "Roger Barton, you are cleared. Take the shot."
Clint smirked before pulling back on the bow and letting an arrow go. It hit the man in the heart, sending those around him into a panic.
"Barton, get back to base now." He nodded to himself. "Yes sir, be there soon."
As soon as he went to leave the building, the terrorists that had been around his target opened fire on anything and everything they could see, including the building that Clint was perched on.
The archer quickly flatted on the ground but he was now stuck.
"Sir I've been compromised. Under fire, stuck in perch. What are your orders?"
"Barton, stay there. Do not leave until cleared. That's an order."
Clint huffed. He'd forgotten this part of the mission. He definitely didn't like being stuck on a dusty roof under the hot sun being shot at. But Coulson had ordered him to stay. He heard a noise as the terrorists were dispatched by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
He sighed; if that was all that he was waiting for he could've done that himself, easily.
"Barton get off the roof now. There's a car waiting for you below." 'Yeah, yeah' thought Clint, 'I remember this'. He slowly climbed off the roof. When he got down, he saw Phil outside the car waiting for him. Clint was a dusty, sweaty mess and there Phil was in this damn heat, in his signature suit and tie, looking unfazed by the heat. Clint once again had to wonder if the man was real. Phil gave Clint a small smile and waved him towards the car.
Just as Clint began to move towards Phil, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. It was a terrorist that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had missed. No way, this did not happen the first time around!
"Coulson! Get down!" Clint threw himself at Phil, barely managing to get his body on top of Phil's in time. It took a few minutes for it to sink in that he had just been shot, even though he could feel the pain well enough. Now, Clint had been shot before but it had never been so close to his heart before. A few inches higher and he'd be a dead Hawk right about now.
He was vaguely aware of the other agents going and quickly killing the terrorist. He was hyper aware that he was situated in Phil's lap, bleeding all over his suit. That made Clint smile. He was more important than the agent's suit. If history was going to change, at least this part was positive.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Phil's worried voice. "Clint? Clint, stay with me. I've radioed medical. A helicopter will be here soon. Just, please stay awake Clint."
Clint could feel something wrapped around his abdomen where the wound was. He felt it and couldn't figure out what it was. He looked up at Phil and noticed that the agent's jacket was missing. Phil had wrapped his jacket around Clint in an attempt to stop the bleeding. If he didn't hurt so much and didn't feel so weak, he would have smiled. However all that happened when he attempted to smile was he coughed up blood.
Coulson gently wiped the blood from his chin with a concerned look on his face. This was the first time that Clint had seen the agent show this much emotion in public. "Just hang on for me Clint. Please." Clint coughed again sending some splatters of blood onto Phil's shirt before smiling. "Is that an order sir?" Coulson smiled at him. "That's an order Barton. And there's no way you're getting out of going to medical this time." Clint smiled and heard the sound of the helicopter arriving.
He was lifted out of Phil's arms and put onto a stretcher before being transported to the S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility in Turkey. Clint wasn't stable enough to make it all the way back to the U.S. He didn't remember much after that. He knew he had gone into emergency surgery and he vaguely remembered hearing "Come back to me." Strange, whoever said that sounded a lot like Phil.
The next time Clint woke up was two days later. He was in a white room, the silence broken only by the steady beeping of the machines keeping him alive. Why were hospitals the same everywhere? Or maybe it was just S.H.I.E.L.D. ones.
His ears perked up at another sound. He looked over and saw Coulson asleep in the chair next to him. He looked like he hadn't moved except to change out of the bloody clothes. Clint smiled. Phil cared about him enough to stay. It was kind of sick but Clint wanted to thank whoever was responsible for changing his past. Even if it meant that he got shot.
The man in the chair next to him stirred, waking up slowly. He blinked slowly, trying to adjust to the bright light of the super white room. He looked over at the bed and started when he saw a pair of blue eyes looking back at him.
"Hey Phil" Clint whispered softly. The smile that appeared on Phil's face literally took Clint's breath away. The agent quickly took Clint's hand in his own and sighed. "Clint, oh thank God." The man put his other hand up to his face, rubbing in a tired motion. He also rolled his neck, earning a few pops for his effort.
Clint frowned, "How long have you been sleeping in that chair Phil?" The other man looked into his eyes, not even needing to say anything. Clint understood everything in that look. "You've been there since I got out of surgery haven't you?" Coulson nodded. "Where else do you think I'd be?"
The archer offered the agent a raised eyebrow. "I would've thought that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top man would have more important things to do." He had meant it as a joke but the look on Coulson's face told Clint that he took it very seriously.
"Clint, there is nowhere I could be right now that is more important that being right here with you." Clint clenched his free hand at that. He didn't know how to react to that statement.
It didn't seem to make sense to him that someone might be able to care about him, especially not this man right here. Said man gently turned Clint's head to face him.
"Clint" he whispered softly but his voice held all the conviction of an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Clint, I don't care how many times you've been told you weren't worth love, I don't care about what happened in the circus, I don't care about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s damn rules, and most of all I don't care how scared I am right now. Nothing can compare to how scared I felt when I thought I'd lost you" The agent was really close to Clint's face now. "Clint, I love you." And as soon as Clint heard those three words he leaned in and closed the distance between himself and Phil, finally doing what he had wanted to do for all of these years.
The kiss was slow and gentle, Phil taking care not to touch Clint's wounds. However, Clint started to get tired of that and made a gentle whine into Phil's mouth.
The agent chuckled, "Impatient are we?" Clint nodded and moved to reclaim Phil's mouth.
Coulson gently held the archer down. "Clint, you need to heal. Your wounds are too severe for much more." Clint pouted up at the agent.
The older man sighed and leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the younger man's lips. He pulled away just far enough to whisper, "Clint, I was so worried about you. You have no idea what seeing you take a bullet did to me. I thought I'd lost you, babe."
Clint gave Coulson a goofy smile receiving a confused look in response. "You called me babe." Clint said with the same smile plastered on his face.
The agent chuckled and pressed a kiss to Clint's forehead. "Go to sleep now babe. I'll be here when you wake up."
Clint let his eyes drift closed again slowly, the last thought on his mind about how much better this was all turning out the second time around.
A/N: Review! And stay tuned for chapter three coming tomorrow.