Gently

6. You Have Been Warned

Natasha didn't join him on the range very often, but when she did, Clint knew that meant she had something to get off her chest; more specifically, something regarding him. At first, he barely acknowledged her presence, just pausing long enough between shots that she got the message. It was only until he'd emptied his quiver that he put his hearing aids back in and turned to her.

"Something wrong?"

"No." The Black Widow watched him as he packed away his bow, arms casually folded over her chest.

He raised his eyebrows. "Am I in trouble?"

She pursed her lips. "Not really."

"Has Coulson sent you?"

"No."

Straightening, Clint frowned. "Then I'm all out of guesses. What do you want, Nat?"

Natasha studied him for a few seconds, head angled slightly to one side. "There's something we need to talk about."

"There is?" The last time they'd had 'something to talk about' had been after Loki and the Chitauri, after they'd all gone their separate ways and she'd insisted on sticking to him until she was sure he'd recovered. When she tilted her head towards the door he followed, making a mental note to retrieve his arrows later whilst wondering where she was taking him. It turned out to be just the elevator, which wasn't particularly exciting in itself but made Clint nervous – Natasha wasn't giving him any escape routes.

"I was speaking to Steve earlier," she said when he stepped in beside her.

"Yeah?"

The lift started to move down and she nodded. "He mentioned that you and James were seeing each other. Accidentally, of course. He feels terrible about it."

Frozen in place by her words, Clint swallowed hard before nodding. "Yeah, well… Y'know, it's Steve, so –"

"Do you remember the night you brought me in?"

Startled by the abrupt change in conversation, Clint blinked. "How the hell could I forget? I wasted at least a dozen arrows on you."

Natasha punched him lightly on the shoulder, a tiny smirk on her face. "What did I say to you after you made your offer?"

"You threatened me," he said, then turned to look at her. "Unless this is another Budapest, and we're remembering it very differently?"

"Oh no, I threatened you," she agreed calmly. "Can you recall what with?"

He couldn't help but squirm. "Yes."

"Good." Her green eyes were suddenly very, very serious as she fixed them on him, and it felt like hundreds of spiders were running over his skin. "If I ever find out that you hurt James in any way then that threat will be carried out, Clint. Do you understand?"

Clint felt the blood drain from his face, and he nodded jerkily as the lift doors opened on the R&D floor. "Yeah. I got it." She dipped her chin in return, leaving him where he stood.

"I hope it never comes to that," she said over her shoulder. "I wasn't so fond of you when I first said those words. I'd hate to have to do something like that to you now."

"You won't," he promised as the doors slid shut. Only when the lift started moving again did he slump against the wall, wrapping his head around what had just happened; he regained his composure in time for the doors to open at ground level, and left S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters without anyone bothering him (even though he'd left all his arrows in a target on the range – the sooner Tony finished upgrading the one in the tower, the better). Hopping into the car he'd borrowed from the Stark garage, he let the music from the radio wash over him until he arrived at Headquarters number two – the former Stark Tower – and then it was another elevator ride until he reached Bucky's level. He let himself in, happy to see Bucky watching a modern movie, and flopped down on the couch, laying his head in the other's lap.

"Steve told Tasha about us," he said five minutes later, the tips Bucky's fingers in his hair.

"So I heard."

"She gave me shovel talk, y'know."

Bucky chuckled, the sound deep and warm in Clint's current position. "What'd she say?"

He shrugged. "Eh, nothing too bad. Just promised to follow up on an old threat she made me way back when."

"I'm guessing she won't actually have to go through with it though, right?"

"Let's just say that I like my manly bits where they are. Uncooked." That made Bucky laugh hard, and Clint could feel the way his body shook with it. It made him grin, too.

"You and me both, kid!" he said once he caught his breath back. Wiping a tear from his eye, he shook his head. "Nice to know she's looking out for me, too."

"Hm?"

With a quick glance down, Bucky shrugged one shoulder. "She might have also given me a few words of warning."

"Like what?"

The joviality slowly drained away from his face, leaving him staring vacantly at nothing in particular. "Bringing something up from the past," he said softly. He had gone very still. Concerned, Clint raised a hand, brushing his knuckles against Bucky's chest lightly. The haunted look was blinked away, and Bucky smiled down at him, pressing Clint's fingers against his lips briefly before returning his attention to the film. Whatever it was Natasha had said to him, Clint didn't doubt that it wasn't something she ever wanted to do to Bucky – it was just to make sure he knew how serious she was being about protecting them both. The thought warmed his heart. "You know that's just her way of saying we have her blessing, right?" Bucky said a few minutes later.

Clint rolled his eyes. "Seriously, how many blessings are we gonna end up with?"

"Told you kid –"

"It's an oldies' thing, I know." Bucky looked down at him, eyebrows raised. "Dude, you were born in the twenties." The answering snort was confirmation that no offence was taken, and Clint relaxed back into the feel of fingers trailing through his hair. "Wait, you won't tell Natasha I referred to her as an oldie, will you?" Bucky never answered – just grinned.

AN: Prompt: "if Natasha is close with both Bucky and Clint then who does she threaten if they hurt the other one?"