The Hawk Incident: Certain events lead Bruce and Tony to believe that Clint has been somehow turned into an actually hawk.
Hey guys, so I needed a break from my story Riot and decided to add another story to my one shot story "Alibis and Lying Eyes" and continue on with the humor. ^^ Thus Antic's was born…so my wild friendship stories will be posted here together.
Hope you enjoy!
The Hawk Incident: Part One
It was quiet in the Avenger's Tower. Something that was rare.
Captain America and Natasha were both off on solo missions. Thor had gone back to his home planet to visit his mother for the Asgardian version of mother's day. Only Bruce, Clint and Tony remained at the tower.
Typically the trio together had the potential of being loud enough to make up for the loss of their teammates. However SHIELD had asked the Science Brother's to create some new technology and when the boys started working on a project they basically lived out of the labs.
Clint had just gotten back from a mission gone wrong. Arm in a sling, paler than one would consider healthy and plagued with a terrible sounding cough Barton shrugged off his teammates concern – as always.
Apparently the archer's mission had been high class – special ops – or whatever. Bruce and Tony didn't have the clearance required to read the mission report and Barton was less than open with the details.
Bruce made sure to check on Clint's condition from time to time, but for the most part he gave the man space to heal. Tony was a little harder to pull away from questioning the injured man to death, but Bruce was a patient individual. He had to be – considering his condition.
"I think we've hit a wall." Banner announced as he pulled off his glasses with one hand and rubbed at his eyes with the other.
"Bruce, I've hit a wall before." Tony smirked as he leaned back on his stool. "Trust me when I say it's more painful than being unable to work out a complex algorithm – even in a metal suit."
With a huff Banner picked up and slipped his glasses back on. "I didn't mean that literally, Tony."
"Yeah," Tony sighed out the word playfully. "Yet I still took it that way." The billionaire smile was annoyingly bright.
With a roll of his eyes Bruce grunted and stood with a stretch. "Well, I'm taking a break." He informed his friend before heading towards the lab's door.
"I'll join you." Tony chuckled lightly as he jumped up from his chair and hurried after his partner in crime. The two had worked most of the day and despite his cheerfulness Tony was exhausted mentally. A break with food sounded like a good plan.
The two scientists took the elevator up to the main floor and flooded out onto the previously empty kitchen.
"Huh, wonder where Barton is." Bruce commented seeing the area empty. Clint was under strict orders not to shoot his bow, or do anything else SHIELD considered strenuous.
"I don't." Tony responded bluntly with a shrug.
Banner eyed his friend sharply. "You have to admit, Clint is a bit of a mystery."
"He may mysterious, but the guy is predictable." Tony shot back smugly. "I bet you ten bucks he's on the roof."
Bruce rolled his eyes. Tony could be seriously full of himself sometimes. Bruce sighed and glanced at Tony's outstretched hand in silent debate. Even if Stark was sure he was right, Clint had the tendency to prove everybody wrong. With that thought in mind Banner slapped Tony's outstretched hand. "You're on."
The dynamic duo abandoned the kitchen and headed up towards the roof. Barton favored the area the second he moved into the Avenger's Tower. It might as well have been the hawk's number one 'nest' – although the man had several others within the tower.
"Barton!" Tony called out as they exited the door.
Bruce's eyes immediately fell on a small figure on the roof's patio and he nudged Tony. "Hey, check that out."
"What is it?" The billionaire asked as they approached slowly.
Banner frowned lightly as he got a better look at the poor little animal. "I think it's a hawk. It's small, must be a young one." The little bird had spotted stomach and brown wings. The creature's dark eyes watched the two men as they approached, but it was slow to move.
"You're shitting me," Tony shook his head. "An actual hawk is crashing Hawkeye's nest? For shame. Where is Clint? Shouldn't he be defending his territory or something?"
"I think it's injured." Bruce commented lightly as he lowered himself to his kneels next to the helpless animal. The hawk's wings fluttered a little as the bird tried to scramble away from the humans. One wing was bent oddly, uncooperative.
"The irony continues." The billionaire deadpanned looking over Bruce's shoulder. "How bad is it hurt?"
"I'm no vet." The little bird squawked unhappily as Bruce picked it up. "Wing looks pretty messed up, though." The hawk struggled and wiggled in the doctor's gentle grasp before it stopped and let out a pained squeak.
"Kind of like Clint's ar – " Tony's sarcasm halted as a look of contemplation fell over his expression. A long pause followed, but finally the scientists exchanged sharp looks of horror.
"You don't seriously think – " Once again Stark found himself unable to finish his sentence. "No. Not possible."
With a hard stare at the creature in his hands, Bruce's eyes widened. "Well, weirder things have happen." He offered lightly. While Bruce had hoped Barton would surprise them this hadn't been exactly what he wanted. "I mean, we fight science and magic and alien creatures almost daily. This honestly isn't all that unbelievable." Bruce shook his head. "Well it is, but it isn't, you know?"
"I'm sorry," Tony shook his head with a negative wave of his hand. "There is no freaking way Barton somehow got himself turned into an actual hawk. He probably snuck down to the range. This all has to be coincidence. Jarvis!" Tony pulled out his cell phone. Jarvis had no connections out on the roof. "Locate Clint for us."
"Sir, Agent Barton is currently not in the Tower. Would you like me to notify you upon his return?"
At the AI's response Tony winced and shared another look with Bruce. "That won't be necessary, we think we have an idea of what might have happened." Without another word, Tony shut the phone and shoved it back into his pant's pocket.
Both scientists returned their attention to the little creature in Bruce's hands.
With a sigh Tony pointed a finger at the bird. "So the big question here is, how the hell did this happen?"
"I'd say the bigger question is, how the hell do we turn him back?" Bruce winced deeply as he stood. The small hawk struggled once again in the scientist's hands. "Shh, hey, you're okay." Bruce muttered softly to the frightened animal.
Tony moved closer for a better look at the injured bird – or rather his friend. "Do you think it – I mean he – can understand us?"
With a shrug Bruce kept his eyes on the little hawk. "I don't know. Maybe you should try, uh, talking to him? See if we get a Hawkeye like response."
Tony looked un-amused. "A Hawkeye like response? What exactly would that look like?"
Banner shrugged. "I don't really know. Birds aren't really known for their clear use of sarcasm."
"Our Hawk is," Tony brightened. "Clint will find a way, won't you?" The last bit was directed towards the animal. Tony winced slightly as he realized he just 'baby talked' his best friend. Yes, Clint made a rather adorable bird, but still.
The hawk just stared blankly back up at the billionaire. Its dark eyes were slightly unnerving. "See? That's totally a Hawkeye like glare." Tony told Bruce.
"Okay, let's bring him inside." Bruce eyed the ledge of the building nervously. The bird's wing was messed up – even if Barton could figure out how to fly, he wouldn't be able to stop a rapid and deadly decent to the streets below. "We need to figure out what happened and I think we should do something about his wing."
Tony nodded and motioned towards the door. "Hey, does this mean I win the bet? I mean Clint was on the roof."
Bruce glared. "I think we have bigger problems now than a stupid bet."
"But I did win, right?" Tony insisted.
With a roll of his eyes Bruce sighed. "Sure, you won."
"Yes!" The billionaire pumped his fist in the air and practically skipped the rest of the way to the door to hold it open for Bruce and his precious cargo.
"You do realize you're rich, right? Ten bucks is nothing to you." Bruce grumbled as he walked through the door, eyes focused on Clint's bird form.
"It's not about the money, dear Brucey," Tony slapped Bruce on his shoulder as he passed by. The action nearly caused the doctor to lose his grip on the hawk. "It's about me being more awesome than you."
Once Bruce readjusted his grip on Hawkeye, who had doubled his efforts to get free since they left the roof, the doctor glared at Tony once more. "Perhaps you should try and focus you're awesomeness into fixing Clint."
Tony nodded with a lazy shrug. "Well obviously. Natasha will not be pleased if she comes home only to find Feather's is now literally a bird." He sighed and punched his thumb against the button to summon the elevator. "How exactly are we going to fix this, though? We don't even know how it – "
"Shit!" Bruce swore suddenly and unceremoniously dropped the hawk.
"What the – ?" Tony gasped as he watched Hawkeye flap around for a moment until he realized he should try to stop the bird.
"He bit me!" Bruce hissed, the words muffled around the thumb shoved in his mouth. "Don't just stand there, grab him!"
"You dropped him, you grab him!" Stark shouted back, bent low as he tried to corner the injured hawk. The bird floundered around in his attempt to escape. "I don't want to hurt you Clint." Tony held his hands out in front of him as the hawk turned its beady eyes onto the billionaire.
"That's right," Stark muttered calmly, hands out cautiously in front of him as he made his approach. "I'm not going to hurt you – just stay still!"
As Tony dove for Clint just as the hawk let out a battle cry of it's own and sprung forward. As Stark reached his hands out to close them around the bird's body, the bird skillfully dodged the billionaire's efforts and hopped onto Tony's head and took off in wobbly flight – straight into an open vent.
The second half is coming soonish. ^^
I think I'll take prompts for this series of one-shots, so if you have a craving for something PM me and I'll see if I can help you out. Else whenever I think of something entertaining I will write it and post it here ^^
Now I'm going to refocus on Riot. Have a wonderful weekend!
Remember Reviews are seeds of inspiration. Plant flowers!
