Somehow, I couldn't get that car out of my mind. The one Hawkeye and Black Widow get into at the end of the Avengers movie. Okay, yeah, so it was probably from SHIELD's vehicle pool or something. But I guess Clint's got his own car. Well, you'll see where this is going in the next part, which, hopefully, I'll finish soon.

Drive My Car – Well, Yours, Actually ...

It all started innocently enough.

"Hey, Feathers."
Tony leaned on the kitchen counter where Clint was just preparing breakfast.
"I wondered whether I may borrow your car."

Maybe it was because it had been a long night and he wasn't properly awake, yet. The request should have rung several alarm-bells all at once – after all, Tony Stark owned more than one car and they were all newer and faster than Clint's – but it didn't. And so, Clint said: "Sure. Key's in –"

"Oh, I don't need the key. Just the car."
Tony hurried away.

Clint looked after him with a frown.

It didn't dawn on him something might be wrong until about half an hour later, when Tony didn't show up for breakfast – nor did Bruce but that wasn't so unusual, so Clint thought nothing of it – and Tasha pointed out that lending your car to Tony Stark was a pretty stupid idea because you never knew what he might turn it into.

"Didn't you name it?" she asked. "Something like – what was it? Christobel?"

"Christine."
Just for the fun of it, after seeing that horror movie.
Clint put down his coffe-mug.
"Please excuse me", he said, getting up from the table. "I think I should – err, ask Tony if he doesn't want to join us."
In his hurry to get down to the garage, he completely missed the smile Tasha exchanged with Steve.

It was gone. His car was gone – it was unmistakably not there anymore. Clint knew it immediately because Christine kinda stuck out between all the shiny, new, well-kept Stark-cars and Steve's motorcycle. Unlike the other cars here, Christine had seen her share of action. Long road-trips. Standing outside day and night, by sunshine and rain, until Clint had finally found a spot in SHIELD's vast garage where he could put her. He never would have admitted it but he was kinda fond of that car. Christine had been the first thing he had bought from the money he'd earned with SHIELD. Yes, okay, so she had seen better times and maybe it was about time to replace her with a newer model but –

"Tony Stark, I swear if you mess her up, I'll kick your butt from here to Morocco", Clint muttered under his breath while he rushed back to the elevator.

He pressed the call-button repeatedly until, finally, the doors slid open to admit him.

He tried to remain calm while the elevator slowly crept upwards, to the floor that held Tony's workshop. It seemed to take longer than usual. Much longer. When the doors finally opened again, Clint hurled down the corridor like Jack sprung from his box – and was headed off by Bruce just before he reached the workshop.

"Sorry, can't let you through."

Clint tried to push past him.
"You're in on this?" he asked. "What are you doing to my car?"

Bruce held him back.
"Calm down", he said in his usual toned-down manner. "Your car's gonna be fine."

"Yeah, sure."
Clint craned his neck even though he knew it was absolutely impossible to see into the lab from here.
"Tony!" he called. "Get your ass out here and explain this to me, will you?"

Tony indeed did poke his head out of the workshop.
"He's right", he said. "We just needed a – test subject to try out some improvements I've come up with."

"Test subject?"
Clint didn't manage to keep the alarm out of his voice.

"Relax, Feathers. If this doesn't work out, I'll buy you a new one."

"I don't want a new car. If I wanted a new car, I could have bought one myself years ago."
Clint again tried to break free of Bruce's grip. To no avail, though, since he didn't want to kick or hit the man and accidentally bring out the Hulk.

"It's gonna be alright. Trust me", Tony said.

"Trust the guy who thought it would be a good idea to see how much Asgardian mead he could drink before passing out?" Clint asked incredulously.

"Trust the guy who built those suits."
Tony nodded down the corridor towards the area where he had put up all his Iron Man suits for display.

Clint couldn't argue with that.
"Okay. Fine."
He raised his hands as a sign of defeat. Bruce let him go and took a step back.
"If you mess her up, though, you better be watching your backs for the rest of your lives."
Clint glared at Bruce.
"The Hulk, too."

"Will do, Feathers. C'mon, Big Green, time to get working."
Tony's head disappeared in the workshop again.

Bruce shrugged in that "well, you know him" way.

"Yeah, yeah."
Clint sighed.

Looked like there was nothing he could do to get his car back, short of breaking into Tony's workshop. And that was impossible. Security on the workshop was tighter than on Fort Knox. He had tried to get in back in his first week here in Avengers Tower – just to see if he could do it. The answer was: No, not even with a little help from Tasha.

Maybe he should start looking for a new car ...