21 Days [A Hawkeye/ Clint Barton fic] [HEAVY EDITING]

The End of the Program

SO sorry this took forever! Classes have been crazy and I've kinda had some writer's block...with everything. BUT I'm nearly done with the next chapter for a couple different stories! 

Long chapter, so here's some side notes: Clint throws a fit, Clint and Natasha best friend moment...oh, yeah, and Barney's back. Have fun! I hope you like it!

Steve and Natasha had sat in the back of the truck with Clint on the ride back to Avengers Tower. Their archer had his head in Natasha's lap and the bottom of his shoes were pressed against the side of Steve's thigh. Clint was curled up on his side, struggling to hold his eyes open as Natasha kneaded her fingers through his hair. She didn't realize it, or maybe she did, but it was putting him to sleep.

"Are you sure you can handle the traffic here, Laura?" Natasha asked nervously as she looked up at Laura in the driver's seat of the truck.

Laura nodded once, keeping her eyes on the road. "I'm a nurse for SHIELD, remember? I spent two years driving in worse conditions than this. I've also had to go after Clint's ass a couple of times out in the field."

Bruce, who was currently sitting in the passenger seat, dropped his phone in his lap after a long conversation with Jemma Simmons. "FitzSimmons are prepping a bed for him in our lab. I figured it would be a better place for him to stay than the infirmary. With the technology in the lab, we can monitor him better there. Hell, it could be nothing, but we need to be sure." He turned around in his seat and focused on Barton, who was struggling to keep awake on the ride to the tower. "Clint? Talk to me, Barton." He reached out and gently shook his shoulder. "How are ya holding up?"

"Don't make him talk, Bruce. Let him sleep," Natasha responded, watching Clint's chest rise and fall with irregular breaths.

"Nat, we're almost there. Count his beats per minute," Laura interrupted, then shot an apologetic look at Bruce.

"Don't feel too hot..." Clint lagged in his response to the scientist. His eyelids slid all the way shut as soon as he answered. Natasha looked at her phone for the time as she set to work counting his breaths before they reached the tower.

"Bruce, do you think we..." Natasha trailed off as she ran her hand through the archer's hair again. "I don't know. Have SHIELD send over the facility doctor again?"

"He's not getting anywhere close to Barton," Steve interrupted, shooting a glare at Natasha, "Never again."

"Have SHIELD send over his medical files. I want a full blood work up, ultrasound, a scope sent down his throat, and the whole nine yards. Laura, we're gonna need all the help we can get. How do you feel about handling this?" Bruce sat back down in his seat and turned his attention to Laura, who had just flashed her ID card at the security guard before she pulled the truck into the parking garage under the tower.

"I'll do everything, except operate." Laura answered immediately.

"We're going to try to avoid surgery." Bruce replied, getting out of the truck.

Clint groaned in protest at the mention of the possibility of surgery still on the plate. Bruce repeated again how they were going to try to avoid it. Once they managed to help Clint get out of the vehicle, Steve picked him up again and carried him to the lab. He rushed him over to the bed and laid him down before stepping back and letting Simmons and Bruce take over.

"Agent Barton?" Simmons was quick to push back his eyelid and shine a light into his eyes to check his pupils. Clint automatically arched his head away and batted her hand away. He wasn't interested in being cooperative for any exams or tests.