Marvel Imagines

Clint - Safety

This story takes place right after the first Avengers movie, in an AU where Hawkeye never had a wife or kids.

The female protagonist was recruited to join the Avengers after she discovered her ability to fly.

*Warning*
This story contains mature subject matter, including discussion of rape, physical abuse and will contain a number of swear words. If you are not comfortable with this, then please skip over this story.

Clint ran up the eighth flight of stairs in the seemingly endless apartment building. He focused on controlling his breathing, to fight off the exhaustion closing in on him. His pace never faltered as he reached the ninth floor and dashed out of the stairwell. He jogged over to room 916 and knocked on the door, trying desperately to catch his breath.

"Lee?" He called out through the closed door.

He heard footsteps approaching the door and sighed in relief as it swung open slowly.

"Hey, what's going on?" Clint asked as he looked at the misery dripping from her face.

Her eyes were downcast and her hair fell loosely around her face, casting shadows across her cheeks. It was so dark in the hall way that he couldn't  see the tears streaming down her face.

Her body shuddered as an involuntary sniffle came from behind the curtain of hair that she hid behind.

"Are you crying?" Clint asked in absolute shock, "What the hell happened?" He reached out for her, but she didn't notice his hand until it brushed her shoulder, causing her to flinch and pull away.

"I'm sorry." She apologized immediately after realizing how she'd reacted to his touch.

Clint felt his heart breaking as she shuddered again and raised a shaking hand to brush away her tears.

"Don't apologize." He shook his head and spoke as softly as he could, "Just tell me what happened that has you so rattled." He pleaded and Lee nodded her head slowly, but as soon as she tried to talk she became overwhelmed with emotion and held back a sob, trying desperately to stay in control.

When she realized that fighting back her tears was a losing battle she reach her arms out for Clint and he eagerly wrapped his own around her waist. Wanting to comfort her in any way he could.

He ran his hand through her long, dark hair and whispered comforting sentiments as he pulled her tighter to him.

"I've known you for years now, but I've never seen you like this before." He said in bewilderment, "What could possibly have scared you so badly?" He asked and pulled his head back to look down at her face. He walked her further into the apartment and closed the door behind them, leading her slowly over to the couch. It was pitch black outside and only a single lamp lit up the living room where they now stood.

Clint sat her down and turned around to switch on a light, but she grabbed his hand, "Don't." She insisted suddenly and looked up into his eyes for the first time since he'd arrived.

Clint hesitated for a moment, but nodded and sat down beside her, keeping a hold on her trembling hand.

"Please Lee, you've got to talk to me." He begged and she glanced up into his eyes, seeing nothing but compassion and concern within them.

She took in a shaky breath before speaking, "I just got into a big fight with Brad." She began and Clint nodded for her to continue. "I know I told you a few weeks ago that things felt off with us, and since then I've felt like he's been pulling away from me." She ran her hand back and forth over her jeans, and tried to steady her voice as she spoke. "Well, yesterday, I found out that it's because he's been seeing another woman behind my back." She said and Clint could almost feel the sadness radiating off of her.