You get inspiration from the strangest places (or maybe that's just me!). I was watching Return of the Jedi in the theater last weekend, and they showed a commercial for a candy bar. I immediately thought, "This seems like something that would happen to Clint."
You're welcome!
Clint had to get away from the tower. He'd been released from medical after his latest injuries and a stern lecture from Bucky about not doing anything stupid. "It was a giant armadillo making its way down Park Avenue! What did you expect to do?" Okay, so maybe jumping on its back and trying to ride it wasn't the best option to get the enormous creature away from the crowds, especially when he got thrown off and couldn't shoot his grappling arrow in time. "I always knew my time on a farm, and then the circus would help at some point," he said as Bucky carried him bridal style to the ambulance. "I lasted the 8 seconds, didn't I?" Bucky just shook his head, rolled his eyes, and mumbled something in Russian, or maybe Ukrainian, could've been Romanian; Clint wasn't sure since, at that point, everything sounded jumbled.
After two weeks of being cooped up with his teammates and Bucky nowhere in sight (damn that HYDRA base Hill found), he'd had enough. "That's it, I'm going for pizza," he said to no one in particular. Bruce was in the corner, teaching Thor how to play chess. Steve and Nat were on the mission with Bucky, and Tony and Sam were upgrading Sam's wings in Tony's lab. Clint continued mumbling to himself as he took the elevator to the main floor and exited into the hustle and bustle of the city.
He'd traveled a few blocks when he was suddenly knocked to the ground. "What the hell?" Clint looked around and saw a yellowish dog dart into traffic, somehow making its way across the heavily congested street. He whistled at the dog to try and get its attention, but it was absorbed into the cacophony of the usual city sounds. Clint knew he'd never make it across the street in time to catch up with the dog. He scanned the area and saw a rideshare car waiting for a fare. Clint ran to the car, flung the driver-side rear door open, and jumped inside. "Quick, follow that dog!" He screamed at the driver while pointing toward the dog scampering down the opposite sidewalk. The man behind the wheel, a dirty, unshaven man with dark, greasy hair and a filthy ballcap, looked at him in the rear-view mirror. Suddenly, both rear doors flew open, and two large men jumped into the car, one of whom tossed a heavy gym bag into Clint's lap.
"Who the hell is this guy? The deal was no hostages!" The man to Clint's left growled.
"Hostages?" Clint shook his head as if he couldn't believe what was happening. 'Oh, shit. Bucky's gonna kill me,' he thought. 'This may be the stupidest thing I've ever done in a long list of stupid things.'
"Go, go!" The guy on the other side of Clint barked at the driver, who floored the gas pedal and peeled away from the curb into the traffic.
Before Clint could respond, he heard a pop. The bag in his lap exploded, and the car's occupants were covered in blue dye. The driver screamed. "You were supposed to make sure that wasn't in there, dumbass!"
As the three argued, Clint's brain scrambled to try and figure out how to get out of this mess without hurting anyone but the criminals. He knew he had a couple of knives and a pistol on him, but being sandwiched between guys who dwarfed Bucky and Steve limited his use of weapons. Clint went to rub his neck, and his hand scraped against one of his hearing aids, and that's when he knew there was a way out of this. He tapped on the hearing aid without the guys around him noticing. About 10 minutes later, he saw a red streak flying through the sky and heard a thunk on the top of the car. A metal arm crashed through the windshield and ripped the steering wheel out of the vehicle. Clint grinned and waved. "Hey, Bucky!"
"Hiya, doll. We're talking about this when we get back. Okay, big guy, all yours!" Bucky leaped off the car and was replaced by Hulk, who stopped the car practically on a dime.
As the robbers attempted to exit the vehicle, Clint saw Bucky murder strutting back to the car. "Gentlemen." Clint whipped his head around to see Steve and Thor leaning into the back and dragging the guys out, allowing Clint to get out of the vehicle behind them. "Nice look, Barton."
"Thanks, Cap. All part of my plan to catch the bad guys."
"I'm sure it was. Officer, I believe these are the men you're looking for." Steve, Thor, and Bucky shoved the criminals toward the police offers, who thanked the team and took the robbers away.
Bucky, still in Winter Soldier mode, marched up to Clint. "This was not what I meant when I said don't do anything stupid."
Clint leaned over and kissed Bucky. "Missed you, too, Bucky," Clint explained what led to that point.
"All this for a dog?" Bucky was dumbfounded, though he really wasn't surprised.
"You mean this one?" They turned and saw Natasha walking toward them with said dog on a leash.
"That's the one! Come here, boy!" Natasha dropped the leash, and the dog bounded to Clint, knocking him to the ground. "Aww, such a good boy!"
"His name's Arrow, per the microchip. Owners said they don't want him anymore because he keeps getting out and going to pizza places." Natasha smirked. "Sounds like someone else we know."
Clint looked up at Bucky with his version of puppy dog eyes, which Bucky could never resist. "Sure, bring him back. He's a dog version of you."
"Yes! Come on, Lucky. Let's go home…after pizza, of course."