Greetings everyone! Just to let you know, I'm still working on responding to all of the reviews to last chapter, I just wanted to go ahead and get this up for you guys. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited or alerted this story.
A little Clint/Natasha at the end of this chapter for those that have been waiting for it. Not much, but a little. ^^
I hope you enjoy the chapter, and maybe give me your feedback in a review.
As always, I own nothing.
By the time the black SHIELD SUV Clint was riding in pulled up in front of Stark's mansion, the archer was seriously starting to believe that dealing with the Italian arms dealer's lackeys back at the warehouse was easier than dealing with SHIELD.
Clint had managed to position his quiver so it covered the wound in his shoulder before the two SUVs and one van pulled into the loading bay in the back of the bakery. Medics had practically leapt out of the van and moved over to Akers, while another quartet of agents had slid from the SUVs and had approached Clint, Napier and Lewis.
From there it had taken almost another fifteen minutes of the agents taking their reports of what had happened, Clint having to inconspicuously keep the back of his shoulder out of sight of the agents just in case, before he had finally been able to climb into the back seat of one of the SUVs, one of the four agents getting into the drivers' seat and peeling smoothly out of the loading bay.
He'd sat stiffly and silently for the entirety of the nearly 45 minute drive, not wanting to risk leaning back against the seat and leaving blood from his shoulder behind. His head still throbbed in time with his heartbeat, and fire lanced through his back and right arm at regular intervals.
His motions were slow and weary as he opened the mansion door, only to almost be instantly be greeting by JARVIS' voice informing him that the rest of the team was still in the kitchen/dining area. Before he could even get there, Steve and Bruce had walked out to meet him, both wearing concerned expressions as soon as they saw him. Clint didn't bother trying to hide his exhaustion and pain from them as he had the SHIELD agents, due mostly to a combination of knowing it wouldn't work, as well as that he didn't need to.
"How'd it go?" Steve asked quickly, looking over him critically, and easily taking the quiver that the archer offered to him.
"Oh, you know, the usual." the archer said with a one armed shrug, making Bruce frown as they made their way back to where the others were waiting.
"Clint, the usual for you would be collectively defined as disastrous for anyone else." Bruce pointed out, no form of doubt in his voice before his eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the blood on the assassin's shoulder. "Don't tell me you got shot."
"I didn't." Clint assured quickly with a grimace, taking the chair offered to him at the table once they'd reached it. Thor, Tony and Pepper were already there waiting, and Clint wasn't surprised to not see Natasha. It'd probably take her longer to wrap everything up with SHIELD, he knew. "I got stabbed. Completely different."
There was a collective groan from everyone but Pepper, who gave a short gasp of worry.
"It's not serious." the archer continued quickly before either Steve or Bruce could start chewing him out. "But I would appreciate it if you could take a look at it for me Bruce."
The doctor gave an exasperated sigh but moved into the kitchen to wash his hands as Pepper quickly stood to find a first-aid kit.
It took a couple of agonizing minutes to get the archer out of the top half of his suit, sitting backwards in his chair with his arms crossed and braced on the table.
"Really, Legolas, you've got to stop coming back from missions injured. You are probably the single unluckiest person I have ever met." Tony said dryly, hiding his reaction to the bloody wound along with everyone else aside from Pepper who looked slightly pale.
"Or you can look at it the other way, in that I haven't actually been killed or permanently injured yet, which would actually imply that I am the single luckiest person you have met." Clint countered, looking up at him with a smug smirk which just made Tony snort as Bruce approached.
"Touché, Featherhead." he said simply.
"Clint, this isn't a normal stab wound." Bruce protested slightly as he finally got a good look at the wound, his frown deepening as he did.
"Well no. That's what a stab wound from an arrow looks like." Clint said lightly, grinning at the shocked stares he got. "What? For this to be the first time this has happened in my eight years of running around with a bow and arrow, it's actually probably about time."
"What happened?" Bruce demanded as a sigh, grabbing a wet cloth to start cleaning away the blood from the area.
"I got into a fight with six assholes, the last one got behind me and grabbed an arrow out of my quiver and stabbed me with it." Clint grimaced slightly, before his expression smoothed to hide his pain from Bruce's actions. "Luckily, I'd started turning around, so it didn't hit anywhere vitally important like was probably intended, but it did scratch pretty hard against the bone of my shoulder blade."
"And through a couple layers of muscle." Bruce muttered unhappily, taking a small step back to get a better look at it once he'd cleared the area of all the old blood. "Clint, this needs an actual medic. Despite what you all may like to think, I'm not actually a medical doctor."
"You're good enough at it." Clint snorted with a slight roll of his eyes, turning his head to look at Bruce over his good shoulder. "Look, there is an actual long and drawn out reason I can't go to SHIELD with this. Not that I would have gone anyway. So either you can do your best with it, which is probably up there with what an actual SHIELD medic would do anyway, or I can stitch it up, pour some antiseptic over it and pop some antibiotics."
"How have you lived this long?" Bruce muttered under his breath, which just caused Clint to huff a laugh.
"Phil was fond of forcing me into medical against my will. As well as keeping a fully stocked first-aid kit in my room. I've actually become quite adept at field medicine over the years."
"Forcing you into medical is starting to sound like a good idea." Steve pointed out under his breath from where he sat beside Thor more or less across from Clint, not reacting other than with a raised eyebrow to the glare that the archer tossed him.
"Seriously, I mean look at you." Tony added his two cents in with a vague wave of his hand. "You've got more scars than… You know what, I can't accurately finish that analogy. Just put me down as agreeing with Rogers."
Various sounds of amusement followed his words, while Clint just gave his head a slight shake, before he stiffened and hissed quietly when he felt Bruce poking around the injury. All hints of joking amusement died from all of their faces, and Bruce gave a wince of apology.
"Sorry, Clint, but I am going to have to stitch this. And I'd like to make sure that your shoulder blade isn't cracked or broken, but seeing as I don't have an x-ray machine handy…"
"I can tell you it's not broken." Clint said dryly, not relaxing in the slightest, even though he knew Bruce wasn't trying to hurt him.
"Thank you, that really eases my mind." Bruce responded lamely, before he looked up and gave Tony and Steve pointed looks as he pawed through the box of first-aid supplies for a suture kit. "If you had actually gone to a medic they would be able to give you all kinds of fun things to numb the area. As we've been through, I am not an actual medic, and I don't have those things."
"I know, Bruce." Clint responded wearily, forcing himself to relax, if only to make the muscles in the back of his right shoulder stop screaming at him for a few moments before Bruce started.
"So what's the with the whole 'super secrecy' thing over a stab wound?" Tony asked curiously from his seat, and Clint raised an eyebrow at his wording before he gave a one-armed shrug with his left shoulder before responding, just as he felt Bruce start to work on the injury again.
He completely ignored it, offering no indication of his pain on his face or in his voice, which made both Thor and Steve share an impressed glance.
"SHIELD has very strict protocol concerning extractions. If the agent doing the extracting ever believes themselves compromised or in danger, or that they don't think a safe extraction is possible, the protocol says that it is then that agent's responsibility to instead eliminate the compromised agent they were sent in to save and bug out before they can be injured, killed or captured themselves." Clint explained, giving a strained smirk to the shocked stares he was receiving.
"From a strategic standpoint, I can understand the logic… but in implication, that's just ridiculous." Steve said shortly, his eyes having narrowed, and Clint gave a snort, before letting out a deep breath as he felt the needle Bruce was using bite into the already sensitive skin around the wound.
"Yeah, well, that's SHIELD." the archer said tonelessly. "I'd be dead a couple times over if Phil stuck to that protocol, but he never did, and neither do I. Fury knows that, and the Council hates me for it. They haven't sent me on an extraction in years for that reason. You'd think that they'd be happy I was actually willing to get the other agents out of shit situations even if I was threatened, but no. God forbid you break protocol."
"So you didn't want them to know about the injury so they wouldn't know that you broke protocol. That you got the other agents out despite the situation." Steve said, understanding coloring his tone and Clint gave him a small nod.
"Exactly. They can't prove what happened in there aside from the reports. And Napier and the others aren't going to rat me out for saving their asses. If I can avoid trouble with the Council, I will be infinitely happier." the archer told them, and Bruce snorted slightly from where he still stood behind him, finishing up the sutures on his injury.
"If Fury finds out you lied, he's going to be rather angry." the doctor pointed out mildly, but Clint just smirked.
"Please. The only reason Fury sent me tonight was because he didn't want protocol followed. I've been with SHIELD seven years, and I know that he can and will work the system if he thinks it's necessary. He could have easily switched mine and Tasha's missions tonight, but he sent me on the extraction knowing my track record. We have an understanding for this one, and I'm fine with taking the heat for it if need be." he explained wryly, unnoticeably relaxing ever so slightly when he felt Bruce finally tie off the stitches.
Tony gave his head a slow shake at his words, making Clint's smirk widen. Before anyone could comment, JARVIS' voice came from above them, just as there was the sound of the front door opening.
'Sir, Colonel Rhodes has arrived.' the AI informed them, just moments before the man in question walked into the room, pausing at the scene in front of him.
"Oh, hey Rhodey." Tony greeted lamely, a slight smirk forming on his face. "What's up?"
"We got reports of explosions from a warehouse downtown." the newly arrived man said slowly, staring at where Bruce was snipping off the extra thread from the end of the stitches and gently wiping down the wound with antiseptic. "Then we got the orders to back down and forget about it. Can you blame me for thinking you were somehow involved?"
"Well, no, but this time, I wasn't the one blowing stuff up." Tony said, sounding proud of the fact, which just made the rest of the occupants of the room give snorts of amusement.
"Trust me, it's better just to go with it. You really don't want to know." Clint said empathetically from where he was still leaning on his arms, not bothering to try to turn around while Bruce was working.
"Uh huh. You alright?" Rhodey asked, and Clint huffed a short laugh.
"Just peachy." Clint retorted with ease, wincing slightly as the doctor behind him pressed a gauze pad to the newly stitched injury before he began bandaging the area tightly. "Speaking of blowing stuff up, that quiver worked like a dream. You guys are awesome."
"Of course it did. I was directly involved." Tony said as if it was obvious, while Bruce just gave a small smile and responded.
"Thank you." he said sincerely, frowning when he noticed the large bump and bruise on the back of his friend's head, now that he wasn't preoccupied with the gaping, bloody hole in the back of his shoulder. "That's quite the goose egg."
"That's what happens when a piece of debris from this explosion everyone keeps mentioning about this big slams into the back of my head." Clint said dryly, slowly sitting up straight and holding his hands about six inches apart.
"My friend, I am beginning to agree with the Captain and Man of Iron." Thor said doubtfully, which just made Tony gave a triumphant smirk.
"I think we have the majority, Featherhead." he said smugly, put Clint just cast him a challenging glance as Bruce lightly swatted his left arm.
"Don't move your shoulder, you idiot. If I thought I could keep you in it, I'd put you in a sling." Bruce said unhappily, and Clint just cast an amused glance at the doctor, before the man huffed and gently felt the area around the lump on the back of his head.
"So the explosions were you." Rhodey deduced, but Clint just cast a level look at him, allowing Bruce to continue, though he was slightly exasperated.
"I plead the Fifth." he said tonelessly, frowning at the way the man was watching Bruce's actions warily, before almost instantly responding to the confused tilt to Thor's head. "It's a figure of speech, referring to the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; the right against self-incrimination."
The demi-god gave a grateful nod to the explanation, while Rhodey just crossed his arms over his chest.
"Do you have a concussion?" Bruce asked quickly, and Clint gave a slight shrug.
"I don't think so. Maybe a mild one at worst." he said dismissively, but Bruce didn't look convinced, turning Clint's chair slightly and moving to stand in front of him.
"Full name?" he prompted, causing the archer to give a disbelieving groan, while Tony just sniggered.
"Bruce, I just gave a completely coherent explanation of SHIELD protocol and the Fifth Amendment." he protested, only to scowl when the doctor's expression didn't change. "Clinton Francis 'Hawkeye' Barton. Happy?"
"Francis." Tony chuckled, not at all fazed by the heated glare being sent his way.
"Date of birth?" Bruce continued, while Clint adopted an almost pleading expression.
"Are we seriously doing this?" he demanded, beginning to entertain the idea of giving them the same outburst he'd given Napier. He just wanted to lay his head down and rest his eyes until Natasha got back. Was it too much to ask?
"Last one." Bruce acquiesced, and Clint gave a long, drawn out sigh before responding.
"March 18, 1987."
"Thank you." Bruce said simply, before accepting the ice pack wrapped in a dish towel that Pepper offered him, having gone into the kitchen to retrieve it as soon as the bump on Clint's head had been mentioned. The doctor then lightly pressed it to the back of the archer's head, making him stiffen slightly, before he relaxed and moved to hold the object in place himself with his left hand.
"I'm not a two-year old, I know how to handle myself." Clint responded shortly, making Bruce blink at him in surprise before sharing a glance with Steve.
"Clint, we just want to make sure you're alright." Steve said gently, making Clint give a slight sigh but rest his left elbow on the table to lean on. "Can you blame us?"
Clint closed his eyes, not responding for the moment. No, he couldn't blame them, but he wasn't used to having so many people mother-henning him either. For a long time no one had. Then it had been Coulson, and then Natasha's subtle prodding. Now there were currently five people, six if you counted Rhodes, hovering over him and trying to coerce him into medical treatment. If he didn't get them to back off, at least somewhat, he was going to go insane.
"Just… tone it down a bit, alright?" Clint offered, smirking slightly to himself when he felt Bruce take an almost immediate step back, moving instead to take a seat on his right.
"So when can we expect our resident crazy Russian back?" Tony questioned after a few moments of silence, Rhodey moving to take a seat as well, beside the billionaire.
"Depends." Clint grunted, not opening his eyes or looking up. "She was finished before I was, but her target was live, and that involves a lot of paper work and procedure after the fact. Another hour or two, maybe."
Finally, Clint blinked his eyes open and removed the ice pack from the back of his head before standing slowly.
"I'll be right back, I'm just going to go get changed out of this." he explained quickly before Bruce could form words to the disapproval of his actions that sparked in his eyes. He grabbed his bow and quiver that Steve had set aside before he made for his room, trying to blink back the muddled haziness that had descended over his mind from exhaustion, pain, and the blow to his head.
Once back in his room, he carefully put all of his weapons away before extracting himself from the rest of his suit and instead donning sweat pants and a plain gray hoodie. Considering the blood he'd lost, he wasn't surprised that he was colder than he'd usually be. As he made to leave his room again, he cast one longing look at his bed before he shook himself and continued out. He wanted to at least try to wait up until Tasha got back. Whether or not he'd actually manage to do so was still debatable, but he was going to at least attempt. He was slightly surprised to see everyone still at the table when he returned, but didn't spend too much time wondering about that.
They'd waited for him, they'd wait to see that Natasha was home safe as well.
Their eyes turned to him, however, as he eased himself back into his seat and grabbed up the ice pack he'd set aside and returned it to the lump on the back of his head. He gave a slight smile when he saw a plate complete with a couple sandwiches, a Gatorade and a bottle of antibiotics.
"So what, I leave and you end up with sandwiches?" he asked, carefully reaching forward for one with his injured arm, seeing as the uninjured one was currently supporting the ice pack on the back of his head.
"Pretty much. Yeah." Tony said simply, looking around to see everyone else giving amused nods of agreement.
"How did you survive before we moved in?" Clint asked with a slight shake of his head, to which Rhodey snorted. The archer looked to him quickly, almost surprised he was still there.
"That kitchen was pretty much there for show." the Colonel said matter of factly finally turning his gaze away from Bruce, making Tony just stick out his tongue at him.
Clint managed to down one of the sandwiches and some antibiotics before he laid his head down on the table and tried desperately not to sleep. He realized it wasn't working when he felt someone taking the ice pack that was slowly slipping off his head.
"Get some rest, Clint. We'll make sure she's alright when she gets back." he heard Steve's reassuring voice faintly before he gave a slight sigh and allowed himself to fall into sleep, his exhaustion winning out over his uncomfortable position.
Natasha gave a long sigh as she pulled Tony's car to a stop outside the mansion, almost getting out before she'd taken the keys out of the ignition. Fury had told her that Clint had already successfully completed his mission, which lent itself towards the explosions she'd heard as she walked away with a knife wrapped around the throat of her target, who was compliant through fear. Due to the rushed nature of the mission, she hadn't initially been aware of why exactly SHIELD was so insistent on wanting this particular arms dealer alive. After, however, and she had taken the time to read his file while waiting for the man to be processed into SHIELD custody.
The man had ties with a lot of different organizations around the world that the agency had eyes on including, she was slightly surprised to see, the Avengers' friends in what Tony called their mutant-loving terrorist cell. Looking over that list of affiliates, she certainly understood why SHIELD wanted him alive; information from him could further a list of SHIELD operations.
But at the same time, she was reminded of why she preferred taking out her targets as opposed to bringing them in. The amount of paperwork involved with a live target tried on even her patience.
She shook herself of the thought as she walked quickly into the mansion, hearing JARVIS' greeting but mostly ignoring it, following the hushed voices she heard to the kitchen and dining area, flicking her eyes over the room's occupants once she entered. Rhodey's presence was slightly odd, especially seeing as it was getting close to midnight, but what caused worry to flash in her eyes was the sight of Clint passed out on the table, the right shoulder of his hoodie bulging slightly as if it was covering bandages. And with the current temperature in the mansion, the only reason Clint would be wearing the sweatshirt, would be if she had lost blood.
"What happened?" she demanded quietly, her eyes flashing to Bruce, seeing as he would have been the only one Clint would have let see to an injury. Despite her worry, she kept her voice down, not wanting to wake him.
"By what he's told us, he got into a six to one fight, which I wish I could say was a little more unusual." Bruce said, a slight edge of exasperation to his voice as he glanced down to the archer with a slightly raised eyebrow. "One of them got behind him, grabbed an arrow, and stabbed him with it. Nothing debilitating." the doctor held up a quick hand to calm the wordless panic he saw flash in her gaze. "He's going to be fine. It impacted his shoulder blade but not the joint; tore through some muscle before it hit bone. There wasn't considerable force behind it, I don't think, and it scratched the shoulder blade, but that's it. Painful, but it should heal pretty quickly, especially by his standards. I cleaned it out, stitched it up and bandaged it. He has a very mild concussion from a bump to the back of the head, and a good sized lump, but other than that he's… his normal self. Maybe a little irritated."
Natasha gave one short nod, glancing over her partner, before she relaxed and repeated the action, looking to Bruce.
"Thank you." she told him, but Bruce just rolled his eyes and gave a slight smile.
"What about you? How'd it go?" Tony asked, leaning back in his chair and giving her a quick glance that she almost took to be concern.
"Fine, a couple bruises." Natasha gave a slight shrug of indifference, walking forward and laying her weapons on the table before she took a seat to Clint's left. "I could use some food though. What'd you guys get?"
"Sandwiches." Tony said lightly, gesturing to the plate that was still more or less in front of Clint, two untouched sandwiches on it. She reached forward silently and grabbed one.
She smirked but wasn't surprised when Clint's hand instantly moved to catch her wrist from where his arms were folded beneath his head, the rest of him stirring slightly a few moments later, his head raising slowly.
"Tasha." he muttered, sleep clearing out of his eyes with one blink as he turned to look at her.
"I still don't see how they can do that." Tony muttered, probably to either Steve or Rhodey. "I mean, he was dead-ass asleep. Has been for two hours. Then boom, she gets within a foot and he knows exactly where she is. She's done the same thing. I just… I don't get it. There's something wrong there."
Both assassins ignored him, each confirming that the other was alright with one pointed look, Natasha letting some heat enter her eyes when she tossed a quick glance to his shoulder.
"Totally not my fault." he protested, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position with a wince invisible to anyone but her.
"That's what you said in Oslo." she said skeptically, making Clint huff a chuckle, shaking his head.
"Oh yeah? Well it was no better than what you claimed having no part of in Zagreb." he reminded, his tone taking on a teasing edge, the rest of the team forgotten.
"Munich." she retorted, eyes narrowing slightly as she pulled her wrist from his grip and sat back.
"Mexico City."
"Cape Town."
"Dubai."
"Budapest."
"Like hell you are pinning that clusterfuck on me." Clint protested quickly, looking up when Bruce spoke.
"My God, they can communicate in cities." the doctor said easily, his tone teasing.
"It's kind of getting old. First the 'we can read each other's souls' eye thing. Now there's the 'we throw around the names of cities like it's supposed to mean something earth-shattering' thing." Tony said, sounding annoyed, even if there was a distinct spark of amusement in his eyes.
"Munich was pretty earth-shattering." Clint pointed out, looking to Tony who just scowled.
"There was that whole crater incident." Natasha agreed thoughtfully, finally taking a bite of the sandwich she'd grabbed as he pointed a quick finger at her.
"Which was not my fault."
She simply raised an eyebrow, making him roll his eyes and grab the now pretty much melted ice pack that had been set to the side when he had fallen asleep.
"Right, are we good now? Cause if we're good now, I'm going to go to bed before ole' Nick can call me too." Tony said matter of factly, standing as he looked over both assassins.
"We're good." Clint assured him after a quick shared glance with Natasha.
"Fantastic." the billionaire said lightly, offering a hand down to Pepper when he reached her seat, the two making towards their room, before he turned back after a few steps. "Oh, and Rhodey, I'd almost forgotten you were there. We promise to let you know if we're going to be blowing stuff up in the future alright?"
"Alright." the Colonel stood as well with a slight snort, nodding to the rest of the Avengers, before he looked to Clint in particular.
"Be careful with that shoulder."
"I will. Thanks." the archer nodded, watching as he too made to leave.
"Friends, I bid you a good night as well." Thor spoke up, making all heads turn to him as he stood.
"I think that's where we're all headed, pretty much." Steve said knowingly, before casting his own glance to Clint. "At least try to take it easy?"
"Promise." Clint agreed as he too stood. "I'm going to hit a shower first, though. Bandage me back up when I'm done?" he tossed his question to Natasha, who nodded.
"Моя комната или твое?" (My room or yours?) she asked, making him smirk.
"Шахта имеет лучшее представление." (Mine has a better view.) he responded easily, nodding to Bruce, Steve and Thor. "Thanks guys, and goodnight."
They responded in kind, and Clint walked towards his room, bee-lining for the shower. It took him ten minutes to remove the bandages on his shoulder while trying not to move it before he could even get in, taking a quick, hot one once he did. Once clean and dry, he pulled back on his sweatpants before walking into his room, unsurprised to see Natasha waiting with fresh bandages, her hair damp as if from her own shower.
They didn't speak as she inspected the stitched wound for herself, before wrapping it almost exactly as Bruce had, and just as tight.
"I'm taking it that they got out alright then?" she asked as they laid down and turned out the lights, Clint laying on his left side so he didn't put any pressure on his injury.
"Akers needed medical, but overall they weren't as bad as they could have been." the archer told her truthfully, leaning back into her with a slight sigh as she wrapped one arm around his waist and used the other to run her fingers through his hair. "I called Fury on sending me though. Told him I'd still take the heat if need be."
"Clint, you don't need any more trouble with the Council. They don't like any of us, and haven't liked you from the beginning." Natasha protested with a frown, but he just snorted.
"If they haven't fired or killed me by now, I highly doubt this will make them. Especially since they have no proof I broke protocol." the archer said wisely, and Natasha's eyes widened slightly in realization.
"So that's why you didn't let SHIELD medics look at your shoulder."
"What'd you expect the reason was?" he asked curiously, and she leaned her head down and closed her eyes.
"That you were being a stubborn fool as always." she responded truthfully.
Clint snorted again but didn't protest her words, both falling into sleep within minutes.
And there we have it. Hope you enjoyed it and please tell me what you think. Next chapter should be up in a few days.
~Dogstar