Welcome to chapter 13, everyone! Thank you all so much for your overwhelming response to this story, it really does keep me writing for all of you.
Moving on, there will be one more chapter to this story to finish it up, before I start on Glass. Finally. I know some of you have been waiting a while to see that one, and it's finally time for it. I'll put up a summary in the author's notes of the next chapter.
So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and tell me what you think. If I (read: the online translator) butchered any of the I think three different languages in this chapter, I apologize.
As always, I own nothing.
When Natasha came out of her room the next morning, she couldn't help the small, relived smile that graced her features as soon as she got a whiff of the smells coming from the kitchen. Namely, the smell of Clint's very distinctive pancakes. No one to date had gotten him to tell them what was in them, and the archer had sworn JARVIS to secrecy. Not even she knew what exactly went into the batter.
What she did know, was that while he went for runs with Steve typically on days when it was worse, he only typically made pancakes on days that it was better. Even the rest of the team seemed to have picked up on that aspect, and the fact that he was making pancakes now told her a lot about how his mood had to have improved since the day before. And she hadn't even seen him yet.
Sure enough, as she turned the corner into the kitchen, she paused to take in the sight of Clint at the stove, flipping pancakes two at a time between pans and having them cross in mid-air, all while Tony sat at the counter and scoffed that he wouldn't be able to do it. Steve, Thor, Bruce and Pepper were also situated at the counter, watching the interaction between archer and billionaire in amusement.
It wasn't often that Natasha found herself as the last one awake, especially with Stark in the tower. She walked forward, over to Clint's side and eased herself onto the counter to the left side of the stove, grinning as her eyes caught his. He returned it as more a lopsided wry smirk, that would have made her laugh with happiness had she allowed her emotions to show. His eyes were bright, any traces of darkness and guilt buried deep and locked away. She wasn't a fool; she knew those feelings would never really go away completely. They were still closer to the surface than they had been before Jack Potts had resurfaced, but considering that he'd spent the last two days barricading himself away from everyone, this was a spectacular improvement.
"Hey there sleepyhead." Stark's snarky greeting pulled her out of her assessment of her partner, and her eyes flicked to him quickly with one eyebrow raised. "We were beginning to think you'd gotten caught in your own web."
"Can't a girl sleep in once without getting the third degree?" she asked lightly, before allowing her eyes to flash. "Besides, Stark, the only one that needs to be worried about getting caught in a web is you."
"I feel threatened!" Tony threw his hands into the air and jumped off his stool, ducking behind Pepper's amused form.
The group laughed, and Natasha felt her smirk widen when Clint's voice joined in with them. Only she would be able to hear the slight note of hesitancy in the sound, but she caught his gaze again reassuringly, and held it, even as he jerked both hands that were still resting on the handles of the pans, this time flipping the pancakes onto the stack on the other side of the stove.
Without even thinking about it, she reached out and snagged one of the light, warm and fluffy pancakes mid-air, bringing it back closer to her with a grin as the other landed perfectly on the stack. She tore off a piece and popped it into her mouth even as he gave her a mock exasperated expression, pouring a generous blob of batter into each pan.
"You didn't let me steal one early." Tony complained in a way that was a centimeter from being called a whine, and Clint just turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised.
"She's cuter." the archer said as if it were obvious, causing Thor and Bruce to chuckle while Pepper pursed her lips, clearly trying to hide her amusement, Steve just gave his head a small shake of amazement.
"Hey Legolas, I've got a question." Tony perked up, returned to his stool and spoke again within a few moments, his eyes bright and mischievous. "Considering a black widow's reputation, are you concerned that-,"
"Stark, what's about six inches behind me and to my left?" Natasha spoke to cut him off, her tone innocent as she ripped off another piece of pancake and waited for his response.
"Ah, the knife block?" the billionaire responded as almost a question, and Natasha just gave a slow nod.
"And what will happen if you even think about finishing that sentence?"
"You'll throw one at me?"
"Mm hmm." she nodded again, and he smirked but raised his hands in surrender.
"I don't know, Nat, should I be concerned?" Clint's teasing voice sounded then, his eyes glittering with barely contained amusement as her eyes turned to him next, clearly disapproving. After a heartbeat, however, she changed her expression to a coy smile and let one hand lightly ghost his shoulder.
"No." she said quietly, tone almost seductive. "But that's what I always say."
"Alright, alright. Can we get through breakfast first, please, before you go trying to test that? And maybe go somewhere a little more private? Bruce questioned, though there was a note of laughter to his tone due to the assassins' antics, and Natasha's expression returned to normal and Clint looked up with a smirk before flipping the pancakes.
Before either assassin could respond, the elevator dinged and Jack and Marie stepped out, both of their expressions looking stunned.
"Turn on the news." Jack said gruffly, nodding to the TV with his hand wrapped around Marie's waist.
"JARVIS?" Tony prompted quickly as they all slipped off their stools and moved closer to the TV as it instantly flicked to life, showing a live newsreel from outside a police precinct.
Clint stopped at the edge of the counter, arms crossed across his chest and shoulders stiff, even as Natasha moved silently up to stand with him.
'-Ortega, a known operator inside a prominent drug cartel was killed in police custody very early this morning. An NYPD officer, who has since admitted to working for the same cartel on the side, has been arrested for the murder. There is no word yet on any sort of motive for such a bizarre crime, but you can be assured that we will be providing you with information as it is released. Now-,'
"Mute." Tony cut off the anchor in the otherwise silent room, everyone but Clint and Natasha showing some form of surprise on their faces.
"Told you I took care of it." Clint reminded easily after a few beats of silence, moving back to the stove to get the pancakes out of the pans before they burned. As Natasha watched with a critical eye, he forced his shoulders to relax but couldn't help an edge of darkness that entered his gaze again.
"What in the world did you do?" Steve asked, walking back over to stand at the counter again as Natasha grabbed plates from the cabinet, seeing as Clint had flicked the stove off and set the pans in the sink.
The archer cast a quick glance over his shoulder at the Captain, and then the entire group that was watching him curiously, and gave a shrug.
"All I did was shoot an arrow into the guy's wall with a note telling him to leave the witnesses to Ortega's crime alone. All of them. But like I said, we've been acquainted before. He probably didn't want Ortega spilling information for a deal once it became clear that he wasn't getting any help from the cartel." he said as he began to divide the pancakes between the plates Natasha passed him.
"So you're telling us that a drug lord is scared shitless enough of you to have his own number two murdered, outing the cop he had on payroll in the process?" Tony asked, his voice betraying his impressed shock.
"Seems so." Clint said simply, grabbing two of the plates, passing one to Natasha before snagging the syrup out of the pantry and moving to the table.
"That's pretty impressive." Bruce pointed out, grabbing a plate as well and following suit.
"Even I can understand the significance of such actions." Thor agreed, grabbing one of the two plates piled with double the amount of pancakes as the others, Steve sliding the other similar plate towards himself.
"Come on, you've got to give us the background for this." Tony said, grabbing two of the remaining plates for himself and moving to the rapidly filling table with Pepper. "The suspense is killing me."
"Pancakes?" Clint offered to Jack and Marie, jerking his head to the two remaining plates on the counter and completely ignoring Tony. Instead, he slathered his plate in syrup and cut off a bite with his fork. As he did so, Jack and Marie took the plates he'd pointed out and moved to find seats in between Pepper and Bruce.
"Come on, Barton. Please?" Tony was now actually whining, practically bouncing up and down in his seat.
"If it helps, I'm curious too." Bruce offered, Steve and Thor giving quick nods of agreement, though they had already stuffed their mouths with pancakes.
"It's not that exciting." Clint relented after casting one quick glance around the table and noting everyone's similar expressions. "Before Eddie Menendez ran the cartel, it was his older brother's business based in Argentina. SHIELD gave me him as a target in 2010. I went in when they were at a port, seeing to a shipment that was coming in. My orders were to put down Menendez and as many of his top lieutenants as I could before my position was compromised. Marco, that was the older brother's name, had been getting a bit too cocky with his operations; there was a laundry list of reasons SHIELD wanted him put down. Murder, terrorizing the innocents that lived in the town where he had made his base, and a bunch of other things that didn't even take into account the drug trafficking. Eddie happened to be standing with his brother when I put an arrow in his heart. I then proceeded to take out all five of the men in my file before they could get to cover. Afterwards, he tried to track down who was responsible, wasn't really difficult; I'm the only assassin who has the calling card of using a bow and arrow. His fear has always trumped his anger, and from what I've heard he's a paranoid bastard now. But SHIELD managed to get quite a few agents in the cartel's operations long-term since then. No one I recognized from last night, thankfully." Clint ended with a somewhat bored tone, returning to his pancakes with a small shrug.
"Oh, no. That's not exciting." Tony scoffed with a roll of his eyes that had Bruce snorting into his plate.
"It was just another mission." Clint informed him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "You do realize that drug lords, arms dealers, terrorists… typically make up my list of targets, don't you?"
They all paused when the archer's phone rang from his pocket, and he quickly fished it out, turning his eyes briefly heaven-ward and muttering under his breath when he read the caller-ID before answering it.
"Barton." he answered, scowling and rubbing his temple at the obviously furious voice on the other end of the line. "Yes sir, that was me… Yes sir, that too. I was trying to protect-,"
The rest of the table flinched as one when muffled, livid shouts came from the phone then, Fury's distinct voice easily audible to all of them. Jack and Marie looked to be the most confused out of all of them, while the rest of the team was simply sympathetic. Clint gave no reaction other than to hold the device a few inches from his ear and give a slight, inaudible sigh and close his eyes.
"Sir, I'm an assassin, I'm pretty sure 'vigilante' is in my job description." he said tonelessly, not reacting at all when the shouts came again. "I understand sir… No, sir… Yes sir, I remember… Yes, sir… I know, sir… No, sir… Yes, sir… Yes, sir… It won't happen again… You're probably right, sir… I'll keep that in mind."
Clint rubbed his ear as he ended the call and tossed his phone down onto the table, one eyebrow raising as he considered the device.
"FYI, my next mission is probably going to involve me sitting and doing absolutely nothing in the ass-crack of the world, probably with some hellish environmental condition, for at least a month." the archer said dryly, before giving his head a slight shake and turning back to his pancakes as Natasha gave her own sigh.
"Is that what happened the last time you made him angry?" Steve was the first one to regain his voice out of the group, and Clint gave him an absent-minded nod.
"Yup. Spent four weeks tracking wildlife poachers across Africa in the middle of summer, during a drought. It wasn't a fun experience. I almost got eaten by a leopard once." Clint said airily, smirking as Tony sniggered, Thor's eyes brightened with mirth, Bruce smiled, and Steve just gave another disbelieving shake of his head. At the same time, Natasha rolled her eyes, while Jack and Marie shared a glance.
"What'd you do, steal its tree?" Bruce asked dryly, and the archer gave him a joking glare before returning to his pancakes again.
"Shut up, Banner." he muttered, making everyone else laugh. "Alright, how was I supposed to know that the leopard wouldn't appreciate company?"
"Because it's a leopard?" Tony offered sarcastically.
"I wouldn't think wildlife poachers would fall under SHIELD's concerns." Pepper said doubtfully, though it was clear she was hiding her own amusement.
"Oh no, these were special wildlife poachers." Clint assured her sarcastically, expression completely serious. "Endangered international security."
"I see." Tony said, before snorting. "What'd you do to earn that one?"
"Brought Tasha in." Clint said matter of factly, casting a quick grin towards the Russian assassin who just returned it unashamedly. He then pointedly ignored Jack Potts' gaze that was directed at him as he turned back to his plate. So maybe saving the man's life was easier than starting a conversation. He was okay with that. "Now can I please eat my damn pancakes?"
His tone wasn't actually angry, so no one took it seriously, but they did move conversation away from Clint, and what he had done. Natasha, however, had adopted an expression of muted concern, but waited until everyone else's attention had been successfully diverted before she leaned in closer to him and spoke quietly.
"Вчать эксацтлы дед Фуры сай?" (What exactly did Fury say?) she muttered under her breath, but he just shook his head slightly.
"Не волнуйтесь. Ничего не происходит запись." (Don't worry. Nothing is going on record.) he responded in the same tone, but she didn't look convinced, turning so their gazes met.
"Если Совет считает, что вам мешает работе ..." (If the Council thinks you interfered with an operation…) she protested quietly, but he just gave her a reassuring glance, lightly touching one hand to her leg under the table to calm her.
"Они не будут знать. Ярость все еще должен мне за то, что произошло в Лос-Анджелесе с Napier. Он не говорил им ничего об этом. Ничего не произошло, нет никаких оснований." (They won't know. Fury still owes me for what happened in L.A. with Napier. He's not telling them anything about this. Nothing happened, there's no reason to.) Clint explained quietly, and she snorted, eyes still slightly worried.
"Он вам это сказал?" (He told you that?) she demanded shorty, and he nodded.
"да." (Yes.) he said firmly. "Он злится, но не сердится, Nat." (He's angry, but not that angry, Nat.)
Both looked up when Tony's voice sounded loudly, or rather, louder than the previous conversation that had been going on around them.
"Oh, don't mind them. They frequently speak in Russian so we have no damn clue what they're saying." the billionaire sounded vaguely aggravated, and both assassins turned their eyes to him, Natasha with an indifferent expression, while Clint gave him a cocky smirk.
"Well, Stark, if you want to know what we're saying, guess you'll just have to learn Russian." the archer said brightly, and Tony just scowled.
"No, because then you'll both just go off in another random language like Dutch." Tony said sourly, to which Natasha looked to her partner and shrugged.
"Waarschijnlijk." (Probably.) she agreed, even though he would have no idea that was what she was doing. He would just recognize the change in language, and presume it was Dutch. Which it was.
"Ik ben niet helemaal vloeiend Nederlands." (I'm not quite fluent in Dutch.) Clint reminded lightly, his smirk widening as Tony gave a loud groan and rolled his eyes, and Bruce laughed quietly to himself while the rest of the table just watched the interaction with amusement. "Paano tungkol sa Pilipino?" (How about Filipino?)
"Ngunit maaari kong panatilihin up sa iyo." (But then I could keep up with you.) Bruce spoke up then, surprising the two assassins, before he shrugged. "Kadalasa'y." (Mostly.)
"Upang malaman namin ang lihim na pag-uusap na may Bruce sa Pilipino." (So we know to have secret conversations with Bruce in Filipino.) Natasha pointed out, now looking amused as well with Tony's obviously rising frustration.
"Alright, alright." Steve played the peace-keeper quickly before an argument could start. "Tony, you know that they're not just going to tell us what they were talking about, they had the discussion in Russian for a reason. And you two don't need to language hop just to annoy him."
"He annoys us all the time." Natasha pointed out, rolling her eyes when Tony childishly stuck out his tongue at her.
"What are we, ten?" Pepper asked, her tone exasperated, and not just at Tony.
"How many languages can you two speak?" Marie asked curiously, looking to the two assassins who shrugged simultaneously.
"Quite a few." Natasha said evasively, standing and grabbing both hers and Clint's plates as the archer leaned back in his seat with his coffee mug.
They all looked up when Jack cleared his throat a few moments later, before he spoke, eyes seeking out Clint.
"Is there somewhere we can talk?" the judge asked gruffly, standing as he did so, and Clint stiffened slightly, meeting the other man's green gaze.
"Sure." Clint pushed himself out of his seat and walked towards the elevator. He wanted to ask the man why he just didn't blurt out whatever he wanted to say in front of everyone else, like he had proved he didn't mind doing before, but he kept his mouth shut. After all, his ultimate goal was to make Jack Potts not hate him.
He was well aware of the eyes of everyone else following them as they both stepped onto the elevator, Clint pressing the button for the roof easily. If the other man had a comment about their destination, he didn't make it, the short, two-floor ride up completely silent.
It was windy and cold when Clint stepped out onto the vacant roof, moving over to the edge and balancing in an easy crouch overlooking the city before he turned to look at Jack, who was eyeing his position with a raised eyebrow.
"Doesn't bother me." he said simply, not needing to hear the question asking how he could be comfortable putting his back to a nearly hundred-story drop that was only inches away. He got it from everyone. "What did you want to talk about?"
He wasn't stupid, he knew what was most likely to come out of the man's mouth next, but that was the easiest way he saw to start the conversation.
"Look, Barton, I just wanted to say thank you. For what you did last night." Jack said gruffly, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking completely uncomfortable. Even so, he held Clint's gaze unflinchingly, which was no less than what the archer expected. "You didn't have to follow us; you didn't have to protect us. In fact, you had most every reason not to."
"You're welcome." Clint nodded easily, expression cool but otherwise empty of emotion. "Like I told Pepper, I wasn't going to let you do something… ill-advised and get killed for it."
"It was stupid." Jack corrected knowingly, and Clint snorted but nodded again.
"Sure was."
They were both silent for a moment, and Clint silently wondered if that was going to be the extent of the conversation before the older man spoke up again, his voice hard.
"And I also wanted to apologize for what I said the other night. I especially should know better than to make accusations without knowing all the facts. I don't pretend to condone what you do, but…" Jack trailed off and Clint gave a slight sigh, running his hand down the back of his head before he responded.
"Don't apologize." he eventually said stiffly, making Jack blink at him in confusion. "Because to be perfectly honest, when you put me away, it was completely true. I don't make excuses for myself. I know I have innocent blood on my hands, and I am more than aware of the fact that if you hadn't put me into prison there would have been God knows how many more innocent names in my ledger. So I should be thanking you."
The older man was staring at him in shock by the time that he finished, but managed a slow, disbelieving shake of his head after a few moments.
"Your attitude sure has improved in the last seven years, I'll give you that." he said dryly, and Clint snorted, remembering how he had been acting the last time he had met the man, as an eighteen year old.
"I needed a swift kick in the ass." he said as way of explaination. And Coulson had certainly given him that.
Jack nodded in understanding, and waited a few beats in silence before he offered his hand to Clint, who blinked at it for a moment, hiding his surprise. He then shook it easily, giving the man a smirk and watching as he walked back towards the elevator.
He then turned and gazed out over the city for a few moments once he was alone, more than relieved that the conversation was over. It had even been civil. It wasn't long before he was slipping into the air ducts, making his way easily towards the training gym.
He hovered in the rafters for a minute or two after he arrived, watching Thor and Natasha spar. They were the only two currently in the gym, and both were completely focused on their fight not noticing his arrival. Smirking, Clint waited for an opening before dropping down to join in, pairing up with Natasha against the demi-god.
Thor gave a laugh to his challenging smirk, adjusting his style to combat both his attackers.
They'd fought like this before, the two assassins paired together against the blonde Asgardian. That way Thor got more of a challenge than he did against just one of them, and Clint and Natasha got to practice their moves together, as a seamless pair. Usually to find a challenge where they could fight side by side, they had to go down to general training at SHIELD and cajole a group of new agents into going against them. And they could never get the same group to do it twice.
Thor was quick for his size, and pinning him down was virtually impossible, even for both assassins, and as such, their matches usually ended in a draw. This was no different. After a little over a half an hour Thor stepped back off the mat, both Clint and Natasha taking pride in the fact that the demi-god was at least breathing heavily, despite the fact that he seemed mostly unaffected by their blows.
"A worthy bout, as always my friends." Thor told them with a smile as they all relaxed, Natasha tossing Clint a spare towel as she grabbed her own.
"Back at 'cha." Clint responded with a smirk, gingerly stretching his side that had caught one of the demi-god's blows.
"How'd it go with Jack?" Natasha asked curiously and the archer gave a small shrug.
"Fine. He thanked me, I said you're welcome; he apologized, I told him not to. We're fine." he said simply, and Natasha nodded slowly, not questioning. Thor, however wasn't quite as accepting of that explaination.
"Why would you tell the man not to apologize for his words?" he asked shortly, eyes narrowing.
"Because at one point at least, they would have been true." Clint met the demi-god's gaze, tone light. He didn't know whether to be exasperated, or relieved somehow at the doubt that colored the other man's expressions with those words.
"Somehow, friend Hawk, I doubt that to be true." Thor said, but otherwise dropped the subject.
Clint walked over to the pull-up bar, speaking as he jumped lithely up onto it.
"So where's Steve?"
"After you and Jack left, Pepper said something about having some work she had to get done before the holidays, and Tony got this weird look on his face before asking about the date. He seemed legitimately surprised that we're in the second week of December, and then he and Steve started conspiring about something and left." Natasha explained, sounding as if she would have been confused by the actions, if they hadn't been talking about Tony Stark.
"I'm sorry, Nat, but I really don't think you can use Steve and the word 'conspire' in the same sentence." Clint grunted as he flipped himself over the bar a few times before pausing again and looking to her with his chin resting just over it. "I just don't think it's possible."
"Fine. Stark was conspiring, Steve went along with it curiously." she corrected herself and Clint nodded slightly, keeping himself perfectly still.
"Alright. That works better." he said, and Natasha rolled her eyes while Thor chuckled.
The three spent another two hours in the gym doing various activities. Clint was just putting down his bow to go collect the arrows he'd fired on the other end of the range when JARVIS' voice sounded from above them, the AI's tone almost amused.
'Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff, Thor; Mr. Stark is requesting everyone's presence in the common area.'
"What did he do, JARVIS?" Natasha asked, stepping back from the punching bag she'd been using.
'He went shopping.' the AI informed them matter of factly, and the two assassins shared a slow glance while Thor looked just as confused as they did.
"For what?" Clint asked incredulously.
'I've been instructed not to say. But he is rather impatient.'
"Would it be inappropriate to say that I am concerned for what waits for us?" Thor asked as Clint secured his bow and practice quiver in the weapons' room to be retrieved later and all three made for the elevator.
"No, Thor, I am very concerned." the archer informed him lightly, making both of his companions chuckle.
They all stopped dead just inches after exiting the elevator, nearly running into Bruce who had stopped in a very similar position.
In front of them, sat what was probably the tallest Christmas tree Clint had ever seen in a private home. It was in what had formerly been an empty space to the left of the TV, almost brushing the partition that separated the common area from the narrow circular hallway that housed the doors to their rooms. In addition to the massive tree, that was a good four or five inches taller than Thor, there were a few large boxes of what looked like Christmas decorations.
Currently, Steve was standing to the side of the couches with a sheepish expression while Pepper stood directly in front of a slightly alarmed Tony.
"What do you mean you 'flew the tree up through the elevator shaft'?" she demanded, hands on her hips.
"Well, it's not like there's any easy accessible windows on this floor… And well, it wasn't going to fit into the actual elevator, so…" Tony trailed off, thankfully sounding vaguely apologetic. That was gone in the next moment when he spun to put an arm around her shoulders and turned so they were both facing the tree. "Come on, Pep, admit it. It's an awesome tree."
"It is a very nice tree." she nodded slightly, though her anger seemed to have simmered into exasperated annoyance.
"So… We're doing Christmas?" Clint asked into the silence that followed the argument, some unreadable emotion in his expression and tone.
"We, Legolas, are most definitely doing Christmas." Tony said brightly, turning to look at the archer and giving him a wide grin, which he was surprised to see returned almost instantly.
"Awesome."
"I'm afraid I don't understand." Thor's curious voice sounded next, and Tony clapped his hands together.
"Alright. Bruce, you start explaining the situation to Goldilocks. Featherhead, you're on lights, they're in the boxes. Romanoff, Rodgers, me and Pepper will get started on this here tree." the billionaire said brightly, and Pepper patted him lightly on the arm, a small smile now on her face.
"I've got a few quick things I've got to finish up, and then I'll be back to help out." she assured him, and he made a face and pouted but nodded.
"Fine." he said, kissing her quickly when she leaned in. "What are the rest of you just staring for? Let's get this started. JARVIS, give us some festive music."
"What made you think of this, Stark?" Natasha asked as she watched Clint move over to the boxes, pawing through them and collecting the reels of Christmas lights. She could see the excitement hidden in his expression, and knew that he loved this idea probably more than Stark did.
"Well, it's just about Christmas-time, Romanoff. That's generally when people get out trees and lights and ornaments and string them up everywhere." Tony said as if it was obvious, snatching a reel of lights from Clint before he could take them all. "For the tree, Featherhead. Steve, catch."
"I didn't think you were a very festive person." she remarked, and he raised an eyebrow at her, pausing in his actions.
"I'm truly and deeply hurt by that. And what's with all the judgment?" he demanded before sobering slightly at her glare and tossing his head over to Bruce. "Banner. When was the last time you full-out celebrated Christmas?"
"Uh, not since before the incident, Tony. Haven't really had the opportunity." the doctor said, slightly confused by the question, from where he sat with Thor at one of the couches.
"Right. Capsicle, same question." Tony continued pointedly, the super soldier looking up from where he was starting to unravel the reel of lights.
"Like actually had a tree and all? Before the serum. After, we were too busy fighting HYDRA." he said simply, and Tony nodded acceptance, looking to Clint next, the archer's eyes on the ceiling, as if mentally mapping out where he was going to hang the lights.
"Legolas, what about you?"
"Far too many years." he said evasively, not even looking back to the billionaire who snorted, but didn't look surprised.
"Thor doesn't even know what Christmas is, and you? Have you ever had a nice, calm, holiday Romanoff?" he asked, and she sighed but shook her head, hiding her surprise at the depth of Tony's reasoning. "That's why. Now help me and Rodgers decorate the tree."
She relented then, privately agreeing with Tony in that this would be good for all of them.
After a few moments, Steve paused in what he was doing when he saw Clint moving towards the elevator.
"What's wrong, Clint?" he asked, somewhat concerned, but the archer just quickly waved him off, giving him a grin.
"Nothing, Cap. I've just got an idea."
Clint quickly went back to the gym and retrieved his bow, as well as the practice quiver he'd been using before. Tony wanted him to hang lights? Fine. But he'd do it his way.
None of the others noticed when he slipped back onto the floor and grabbed a reel of lights before retreating to the top of a tall bookshelf that held an eclectic collection of movies, games and books. Quickly situating himself, he affixed the end of the strand of lights where the wall met the ceiling before he unraveled a long length of lights, wrapping the strand twice around the shaft of an arrow. Making sure he had enough slack so that the entire reel didn't go flying, he nocked the arrow into his bow and took aim for where he wanted the next point to be. He was just about to loose the arrow when Tony's voice sounded from below him, far calmer than he'd expected.
"Barton, what in the hell are you doing?"
Clint smirked innocently and let go of the arrow, watching as it imbedded itself in the wall above the granite kitchen counter, a perfectly arcing length of lights in between the two points.
"Hanging lights."
"You're the one that gave him the job, Stark." Clint heard Natasha's voice comment simply from below him as he eyed his next target and quickly figured out how long the next strand would have to be.
"Of course, silly me. How else would a bow-wielding assassin hang Christmas lights?" Tony asked sarcastically, just as another arrow whizzed over their heads, a muted sound of impact heartbeats later. "That had better look awesome, Barton."
"It will."
There was no doubt in Clint's voice with that statement, which just made the rest of the team laugh, even Natasha lightly.
"And you're going to be the one fixing the arrow holes in the walls once we take the lights down. And explaining this to Pepper, because for once, this wasn't actually my idea." Tony continued once they'd all calmed.
Clint just gave a slow nod, aiming carefully again before letting another arrow fly.
"I'll take the heat from your fiancée, don't worry, Stark." he said in an almost teasing tone that had the billionaire shooting a glare up to him. "And why fix the holes? I can just hit the same exact ones next year."
Clint suddenly paused in unwinding another length of lights, his eyes widening slightly as he considered his own words.
Next year.
He was already expecting this thing; this home; with the team to last. Almost instantly he started mentally berating himself because he should know better than to think something like this would last. Nothing ever did. It always got to the point where he was comfortable, willing to stick with it, before it was ripped out from under him and he had to start all over again.
Why should he expect this to be any different? Sure he was still with SHIELD, and he had lasted with them for seven years, but it was different now than it had been. Even the people he had known treated him with a greater distance than they had before. He couldn't walk through any base without being watched carefully. And Phil… Phil was gone. It had ended bloody, just like he had always knew it would.
Even with all that rock-solid reasoning in his mind, he couldn't help the hope that was building inside him as he gazed down at the team that was laughing and joking below him. Maybe it wouldn't last forever, but he was willing to fight to make it last as long as he could. And despite the fact that it went against every instinct he had, he had already let himself get close, to plan ahead and think he was still going to be here tomorrow, with his team.
Giving his head a quick shake, he let a smirk spread across his face as he readied the next arrow, fixing it into his bow and firing easily.
It took exactly 26 arrows for Clint to string arrows the way he wanted them, and as soon as he'd finished he made everyone else stop what they were doing and had JARVIS turn off the lights while he moved to plug in the strands of Christmas lights that they could just vaguely see traversing the ceiling.
Grinning, Clint plugged in the only cord that went down to ground level, hanging down from the bookshelf he'd been shooting from.
"Holy hell, Barton." Tony was the first speak, eyeing the twinkling, multi-colored lights in appreciation as Thor made a sound of amazement, and Steve and Bruce chuckled quietly.
The lights went once around the edges of the common area, skirting the kitchen and dining area, before they went back and forth in a gentle arcing pattern between the edges of the area, and the small circle that had been formed with arrows around the top of the tree.
"Awesome enough for you?" Clint asked lightly, walking over to the rest of the group and brushing against Natasha's side, smirking when she leaned into him in a way that would be almost imperceptible to someone who wasn't looking for it, still gazing above them. He could see the carefully masked wonder in her eyes and he lightly wrapped one arm around her waist, looking up as well as Tony responded.
"I think that pretty much sums it up, yeah."
And there we have it. Christmas-time with the Avengers. Should be interesting. :) Please let me know what you think if you have time to leave a review, and the last chapter will be coming along soon.
~Dogstar