The Tale Of Two Starks

-Chapter 18-

"He will be back" Tony says turning his tablet around to manipulate the blue print holograms.

A couple hours later Pepper and Happy show up packed and ready to go.

"You ready"? She asks Tony.

"Yes" He says, gingerly getting to his feet and shuffling over to Pepper.

I follow behind them to the elevator.

"I will call you when we get to the house" Tony says hugging me.

"You better" I say poking his chest.

He smiles and the doors close.

"Jarvis what time is Steve coming back from training agents"? I ask wrapping my arms around myself.

"Captain Rogers has been called to a training mission, and won't return until next Thursday" He says.

"Oh, well ok then. I guess it's just me for a while or until Clint comes back to the tower" I sigh shaking my head.

My phone rings, I grab it from where I tossed it earlier.

"Hello"? I ask walking to the floor to ceiling windows on the other side of the room.

I don't hear a thing, except a slight static noise in the background. I hold my phone out to look at the screen 'number unknown' That's odd.

"Weird" I say out loud.

Again I put my phone aside and sit down next to the window.

"Jarvis? How is Nat's mission in Berlin going"? I ask throwing together a sandwich.

"All current reports say it is going well" He reports smoothly.

"Thanks J" I smile.

"Would you like me to notify you when Agent Barton is at the tower"? He asks in a knowing voice.

I nod knowing Jarvis will see it.

"Thanks"

-That night-

Most of the tower is quiet well except for the lab Tony has a new suit fabricating that once it's done I have to ship it to him.

"Agent Barton is here" Jarvis says softly.

I look up just in time to see the elevator doors open, I gasp at the sight before me. Clint is disheveled and there's blood on his Hawkeye uniform, his face is blank but his eyes betray his inner turmoil.

"Clint"? I ask barely above a whisper.

He lifts his head to look at me, but says nothing. That's when I saw his hands, they are covered in blood I can't tell if it's his or someone else's.

I walk slowly up to him as not to startle him, I put my hand on his shoulder he's trembling.

"Long time no see" I whisper taking a closer look at him, there's a cut above his right eyebrow.

He nods slightly at least he's hearing me as well as recognizing who I am.

Lightly I touch my hand to the side of his face he leans into my touch. That's all it took he falls into my arms still not a sound coming from the archer just the steady shake of his shoulders. I hold him together we sink to the floor.

"Just breathe. Nothing else just breathe" I whisper over and over until the shaking stops.

Clint sits back on his knees blinking back a stray tear.

"Come let's get that cut cleaned up" I say gently lifting him up with my power.

I lead him down the hall then down a floor to his room, I wait while he changes out of his uniform in the bathroom. He emerges in sweats and a grey t-shirt, he sits heavily on the bed I gather some first aid things and sit down next to him.

"Are you ok" I ask squinting at the cut on Clint's head.

"It stings" He says quietly.

"No not your head, I mean are you ok" I ask putting more emphasis on the word you, asking about him as a person.

"The mission ended- badly, it got so messed up I'm not sure how to feel yet to be honest" He admits staring at me with an intense look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry that it ended badly" I say as I clean the blood from his skin.

He nods.

"It looks like this was a serious hit to the head. Do you feel like you have a concussion"? I ask choosing not to push for details on his mission.

"Uh no I don't think so" Clint says.

"Agent Barton is clear of any concussion symptoms" Jarvis pipes up.

I nod at that thankful for the AI and his inherit penchant for caring about us.

"That's one less thing to worry about, anything else hurt"? I ask after placing the last butterfly clips on his head.

"My ribs" He says, touching the clips.

"Jarvis"? I ask knowing the AI has probably scanned Clint for any serious injuries.

"Two fractured and one broken" He states.

Jeez that's got to be painful, I get the bracing tape and sit back down.

"Lets see" I say helping him get his shirt over his head.

His torso is a mess of bruises, I gently touch his ribs I find the broken one and tape it quickly and move to the other ones.

This is not how I imagined getting Clint's clothes off, that fantasy did not involve taping his ribs or fixing cuts.

"You between you and Tony I'm getting way too much practice fixing you boys up" I say gently helping him get his shirt back into its place.

"But you are so good at it" He grins lopsidedly.

"That is not a skill I want to be good at. I don't like it when you guys get hurt" I say putting the first aid stuff away.

"You worried about me"? He asks a sly grin on his face.

"Yes! I worry about you. You guys go out the there, your job is not safe" I say crossing my arms over my chest, accidentally letting some of my feelings color my tone.

He sighs, having nothing to say that refute the point I made.

"Get some rest Clint, I'll make waffles in the morning" I say leaving the room before I blurt out any other deeply personal feelings.

I lean on the wall kicking myself, how could let that slip? I have to be more careful about this Clint is a super spy and an Avenger there's no way he'dbe interested in me.

Clint point of view

"Get some rest Clint, I'll make waffles in the morning" Mia says before briskly leaving my room.

She worries about me? When did that happen? I lay down, my aching body reeling from the mission my hands trembling at my sides. The kid's face flashing in my head, his voice echoing in my ears.

How could I let that happen? It was a simple job protect a family nothing fancy like my Avengers stuff. But it went so wrong so fast, my mind is still racing going over all the details trying to slow it down make sense of it.

For the first time in years, I wasn't thinking of only myself and what the mission fallout would be. I found myself thinking about Mia all alone in the tower without anyone to protect her. That was my only thought after everything went to hell.

Mia point of view

I crawl into my bed worried about the look I saw in Clint's eyes. It's something I've never seen normally he's so in control of his emotions especially in a mission setting. It was a look of pure terror and pain mixed with anger I shudder to think what put that there.

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