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Bucky is starting to get pretty sick of this argument.
‘I just dont think Clint is the best influence on you right now Buck.’ Steve says as they step out of the elevator. He sounds genuinely worried about Bucky, which would be nice if what he was saying wasn't total bullshit.
Bucky just barely resists the urge to roll his eyes. ‘You were the one who wanted me to talk to more of your pals.’ He points out.
‘Well, yes. But Clint isn't really…’
Bucky folds his arms over his chest. ‘Something wrong with him?’
‘Don't get me wrong, he's an amazing field agent. He's just a bit of a … disaster, the rest of the time.’
‘The hell do you mean disaster?’ Bucky, always hyper aware of his surroundings, notices a strange acidic smell in the air. But it doesn’t register as anything dangerous so he pushes the thought aside to focus on the argument at hand.
‘Just… you know he has an insane sleep schedule. He’s clumsy and unpredictable. And he barely meets his basic needs. I think he drinks more coffee than Tony, which is insanely unhealthy. He's a mess. And spending all day at the range with him can’t be good for your rehabilitation. You need to get back to normal things, not training like the Soldier.’
Bucky is ready to jump in and defend Clint. But a sudden shuffle of movement from the common room grabs his attention. The gun is already in Buckys' hand when he realises what the source of the movement is.
His blood goes cold as he spots Clint getting to his feet. He suddenly wishes it was an intruder instead. That would be so much easier.
It gets significantly worse when he realises it's not just Clint.
There’s a dangerously calm tone to Clint's voice when he finally speaks. ‘Alright Nat, I’m going to head off. Maybe take some of the vacation time that SHIELD has been begging me to take.’ Clint breezes past them, not even acknowledging their presence.
‘Clint…’ Steve starts weakly but Clint just pointedly flicks his hearing aids off and steps into the elevator. Bucky's eyes fall on the dark purple nail polish on Clint's fingers, realising that that was the strange smell he had picked up on. He and Nat had been sitting on the floor doing their nails, blocked from view by the sofa.
Jarvis must have an elevator waiting for him, Clint immediately steps into it, not looking at them as the door closes.
Natasha slowly gets to her feet, collecting the small bottles of nail polish. She moves slowly and Bucky doesn’t loosen the grip on his gun. Just in case.
‘You’re clearly struggling with Barnes’ rehabilitation.’ Natasha says coldly, approaching them slowly. The second she gets close enough, her hand snatches Steve's phone from his pocket, moving too quickly for Bucky to even register until it's too late. ‘SHIELD has experts in rehabilitation in cases like this.’ She says as she punches in a number. ‘Ask.’ She demands, pushing the phone back into his hands as it rings.
Steve looks desperate to push the phone away or hang up, but thankfully he’s not stupid enough to refuse Natasha. ‘Um, Director Fury…?’
‘Rogers.’
Natasha won't be able to hear the other side of the conversation, but Bucky's enhanced hearing means he hears everything.
Steve sounds impossibly awkward as he responds. ‘Sir, do you have any experts you can recommend who may be able to help Bucky’s rehabilitation?’
Fury just sounds confused on the other end. ‘What, you haven't introduced him to Barton yet? He’s been back in Stark's tower since the Cairo mission, right? Just bring Barnes to him. Don’t even ask Barton for his help, his instincts will take over and he’ll get Barnes in the right direction. He has the highest success rate when it comes to bringing in agents from the cold. He has good instincts. Is that all?’
‘...Yes Sir.’ Steve says with a stunned nod before hanging up.
‘Not only have you deeply offended Clint. You’ve now lost the best chance you had of getting Barnes’ rehabilitation on track. Fix this, Rogers.’ She demands, before turning to storm away.
***
The Tower is painfully boring without Clint around. The archer usually provides an endless array of distractions, whether it be a movie marathon, a gaming tournament or just time spent down the range. Bucky understands why Steve thinks it’s a bad idea for him to spend time with a gun in his hands, but something about it settles his mind and helps him think. Clint always understood that. Whenever Bucky was getting too in his head, lost in half remembered horrors, Clint was always there to pull him down to the range, either for a high spirited competition or calm, repetitive shooting that was so mechanical it was almost like meditation. Clint always seemed to know what Bucky needed in the moment.
He can see why Fury called him the expert.
Without Clint, those same activities seem boring and lifeless. He can’t focus on the movie without Clint's legs draped over his lap. There's no point playing Starks endless array of video games without Clint teaching him the best way to cheat. And shooting in the range has the ice cold of the solider settling in, instead of the usual warmth.
Natasha avoids any team gatherings after Steve's monumental fuck up. After a few days, Bucky feels like he’s losing his mind and goes to her floor of the Tower for help.
The door opens automatically, indicating that Natasha was expecting him. He steps into the apartment cautiously, half expecting an ambush. Instead, he finds Natasha sat casually on the sofa, book in hand.
‘Barnes.’ She says stiffly, placing the book to one side.
‘I want to apologise to Clint.’
‘And?’
‘And I could track him down myself. But asking you would be quicker.’
Natasha’s mouth ticks up into an amused smile. ‘You couldn’t track him.’
‘I’m the Winter Soldier.’
‘And he’s Hawkeye. Trust me. When he wants to hide, he does a damn good job of it.’
‘But you know where he is?’
‘Of course I do.’ She stares at Bucky in a way that makes his skin crawl, he feels like he’s trapped in an interrogation. ‘Why do you want to apologise? You didn’t say anything.’
‘Exactly. I was about to. I was going to tell Steve to fuck off. But I didn’t get a chance to. I don’t want Clint to think I agree with him.’
For a brief moment, Natasha looks reluctantly impressed. The expression quickly smooths out into her usual glare. ‘Alright. If you-’
Whatever she’s about to say is interrupted by the Avengers alarm.
‘Later.’ Natasha nods as the pair jump into action, suiting up and heading to the quinjet in record time.
It turns out that it's a local mission, with small drones called “doom bots” causing havoc in Times Square. They're fairly easy to break, but there's too many of them to handle efficiently.
On the countless screens that decorate the square, a man with a robotic mask makes grand declarations about the poor state of the world. Bucky just tunes him out, focusing on the robots chasing after civilians.
Bucky punches one of the bots before it crashes into a young woman. This one has whirling blades on either side of it and the dark red stain on the metal suggests it's already drawn blood. He hears another one whirring behind him. Before he can fully turn to face it, it's shot out of the air and pinned to a car by a purple arrow.
‘Hawkeyes on the field.’ He says into the comms breathlessly.
‘Of course. You think I'm going to miss the robot party?’ Clint replies teasingly. Bucky just spots a flash of purple as Clint leaps from one screen to another to get a better vantage point.
‘Clint!’ Steve calls out. ‘I’m sorry, I-’
‘No chatter on the comms.' Clint says, mimicking what Steve says practically every mission.
Bucky chuckles under his breath and runs to give Steve some more cover. He slams his metal fist into a particularly determined bot, smashing it into a wall. Something in his arm makes a worrying creaking sound and a few of his fingers start twitching. He figures he can ignore it until after the battle, Tony's been dying to have a look at the arm anyway.
‘There's a-’ Clint's comms line is suddenly overtaken by static before it cuts out completely.
‘Clint!’ Bucky calls, spinning around to look for him amongst the chaos.
He finds the man waving frantically, stood on top of one of the many screens. Once Clint realises he has Bucky's attention he starts to sign. ‘There's something wrong with the screen's frequency. Get Tony to shut them off.’
Bucky isn't sure when or why Hydra shoved the signed language into his head, but it's certainly been useful. He nods in understanding, tapping his earpiece. ‘Iron Man, can you shut down those screens?”
‘Can I-?’ Tony huff's. Less than a minute later all of the screens go black. The Doom Bots stutter and suddenly all crash to the ground.
Steve looks around confused. ‘What's going on?’
‘Clint figured out that the screens were putting out a weird frequency. Must have been controlling the bots.’
‘Huh.’ Steve's eyes widen as he spots Clint leap across the street onto a nearby fire escape. ‘Clint!’ He calls chasing the man down.
‘Sorry to skip out on cleaning duty Cap but I’m technically off the clock.’ Clint calls, climbing up the escape. ‘SHIELD HR will kick my ass if they find out I'm working during my vacation time.’
‘Clint, come back to the Tower.’
‘It's fine Cap, I get it. How does it go Tony? Hawkeye, yes. Clint Barton not recommended?’
Besides him, Tony snorts out an amused laugh.
While Steve continues to try to coax Clint back down, Bucky slips away to find Natasha.
He finds the agent pulling arrows out of the deactivated robots. When she spots Bucky she says nothing but hands him the arrows.
‘Where will I find him?’
‘... I’d draw it out and make you work for it. But I'm pretty sure I saw one of those robots slice his arm.’ She says with a small scowl. ‘He has a building in Bed Stuy.’ She tells him, rattling off the address.
‘Thanks.’ Bucky says quickly before sprinting off in the right direction.
***
Once the clean up is done and the Avengers return to the Tower, Natasha walks into the kitchen and drops a stack of paperwork on the table in front of Steve.
‘What's this…?’
‘Just wanted to make sure you understood the severity of the situation, and just how wrong you are about him.’ Natasha says simply.
Confused, Steve turns a page and reads the initial drafts of the proposal for the Avengers Initiative. ‘...Oh.’ He says quietly when he realises what Natasha is trying to show him. ‘Fuck.’
Tony gasps dramatically, eyes lighting up at the opportunity. ‘Language!’
***
The security for the apartment building is much more complex than Bucky was expecting. He needs a passcode to get in. He's considering just breaking the door down when a young woman with bright pink hair walks towards him. She glances at him and then at the keypad.
‘... If you don't know the code you're not getting in.’
‘I'm a friend of Clint's.’
‘But he didn't give you the code?’
‘It's a surprise visit.’
‘Mmhmm…’ She says, raising a heavily pierced eyebrow. ‘You can see why I’d be reluctant to let the world's most famous assassin in the building.’
‘You don't seem all that worried about me.’
‘I’m used to violent assholes around here.’ She shrugs. ‘At least you don't have a baseball bat on you.’ Her eyes flick down to the purple arrows in Bucky's hand. Bucky can’t tell if she’s more or less likely to trust him given that he’s holding Clint's ammo.
‘This guy bothering you Aimee?’
Bucky turns to find Clint approaching them with an amused smile.
‘I beat you here?’
‘You’re faster than me, super soldier.’ Clint chuckles. ‘He’s fine Aimee, thanks for looking out.’
Aimee gives him a peace sign before entering the building. Clint and Bucky follow after her.
‘The lifts broke again?’ Clint says, frowning at the blinking light on the elevator.
‘Yup.’ Aimee sighs. ‘Grills said it went down this morning, put a sign on it so no one would try to use it and get stuck in there.’
‘I’ll call the repair guy, see how fast he can get here.’
‘Thanks Clint. Don't get killed by the assassin.’ She says as she lets herself into one of the apartments.
‘I’ll do my best.’ Clint's fake smile fades when the door is closed, relaxing into a more pained expression. His hand moves to his arm, pressing down on his injury. ‘Don't take it too personally, this building has had a lot of run-ins with the Russian mafia.’ He gestures to the stairs. ‘Come on, I’m on the tenth floor.’
After a long walk, Clint pushes open a chipped purple door.
‘You don't lock it?’
‘Nah, I know everyone in the building. It's fine.’
‘You know everyone?’
‘Yeah that happens when you're the landlord.’
‘You're the-...’ Bucky pauses when Clint pulls his body armour off, revealing his sliced bicep. ‘Shit.’
‘It's not all that bad.’
He drops the arrows Natasha collected on a nearby armchair. ‘Where's your first aid kit?’
Clint looks at him for a moment like he's about to argue but just sighs and drops down onto a battered couch. ‘The nearest one is under the coffee table.’
‘Thank you.’ Bucky nods and fetches a surprisingly well organised first aid kit. He sets about the task of disinfecting and stitching Clint back up. He works in silence, focused on the task at hand.
Bucky reflexively tenses when he hears someone walk down the hallway, towards the apartment. ‘Someones coming…’
‘That's fine. It’ll just be one of the neighbours.’ Clint explains, wincing as he reaches for an old tattered hoodie. He throws it on before heading to the door just as the doorbell rings. Instead of the usual noise, the alarm is a flashing light by the door. It takes Bucky a second to realise that it's because Clint may not always have his hearing aids in.
Clint pulls the door open, smiling at the woman in the hallway. ‘Heyyyyy Simone.’
‘Hey Clint, brought you a casserole. Can I come on?’
‘Sure thing.’ He says, stepping aside just as Bucky hides the first aid kit.
The woman's eyes widen in surprise when she spots Buckys. ‘Oh, I didn’t realise you had company.’
‘This is Bucky. Bucky, this is Simone, she lives downstairs with her boys.’
Simone hums, heading to the kitchen. Clint follows her so Bucky follows suit. ‘And a little birdie tells me that you pulled an all-nighter with one of my boys last night to help him study.’
‘I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations.’ Clint says neutrally as he reaches over to flick his coffee machine on. ‘How did Charlie do on the quiz though?’
Simone smiles as she clears out the empty pizza boxes in Clint's fridge to make room for the casserole. ‘He got a B.’
‘Yes!’ Clint grins, lifting his hand for a high five.
Confused, he taps Clint's hand with his own, being careful not to jolt the man's injured shoulder.
‘Clint, seriously. If my boys are bothering you and keeping you up-’
‘Hey, no, this ain't Charlie's fault. I offered to help him study okay? He was freaking out and it was all about the war and the Howling Commandos.’
Bucky wrinkles his nose. ‘They teach that in school?’
‘Yup. And I know all about that shit, me and my brother were big Captain America nerds as kids. Plus, you know, I live with two of them. So it wasn't hard to help.’
‘Still, if staying up late with my boys is going to have an effect on your Avenger-ing…’
‘There's no effect.’ Clint swears.
‘You're telling me you didn't go from an all nighter to fighting flying robots.’
‘That was kids stuff.’ Clint shrugs and winces. ‘Besides, I would have been up anyway. So it's no different. Really Simone, I wouldn't put anyone at risk by not working at my best. Promise.’
Simone visibly relaxes. ‘Alright. I think I just feel bad that I couldn't help him myself…’
‘You can't help being stuck on the night shift, Simone. They understand.’
She gives him a warm smile. ‘Thanks, I’ll get out of you boys hair.’ She says, glancing at Bucky with a knowing look.
‘Nice to meet you ma’am.’ Bucky nods.
She presses a kiss against Clint's cheek. ‘You're bleeding through your hoodie.’ She tells him before she leaves, waving at Bucky on her way out.
‘Aw, hoodie no.’ Clint pouts, prodding at the patch of blood that's slowly spreading.
Bucky fetches the first aid kit, placing it on the kitchen counter. ‘How are you bleeding again?’
‘Oh you didn't hear? I'm a clumsy disaster.’ Clint huffs as he fills a purple mug with coffee.
‘Steve didn't mean all of that.’
‘Yes. He did.’
‘He was being an idiot. He's been overreacting ever since I came back. He doesn't know what to do with all of… this.’ He gestures vaguely to himself. ‘Let me see.’
Clint rolls his eyes but takes his hoodie off regardless.
‘I get what Steve is thinking.’ Clint admits quietly. ‘He expects me to be like Nat. And you know… I can be that stone cold agent who’s always in the mission mindset. I did that for years. But it doesn’t work for me. Especially not now I have to keep up with super soldiers and gods. I need time to switch off. And just be Clint Barton.’
‘That's not a bad thing.’
‘What he said… it was all technically true. It's just hard to hear from the Team Lead… From Captain Fucking America…. And from my friend.’ He sighs. ‘It’s hard. Being one of the few humans on the team. Hell, it was hard enough to prove myself as a SHIELD agent when my hearing went for good. Deaf people don’t use the word “disabled”. It’s an insult. But they certainly slapped that label all over my SHIELD file.’ He scowls. ‘I guess I’m mostly just mad at Steve because it’s been hard to feel like I deserve a place on the team given how it all got started.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘... Steve didn't give you my file?’
‘He gave me files on all of you but I never read them. Figured I was better off learning about you myself.’
‘So you have no idea…’
‘No idea about what?’
Clint bites his lip anxiously. ‘I-’
Bucky was so swept up by the conversation that he didn't hear more steps approach the apartment. He realises someone is close when the door opens, he has a split second to react, catching an arrow with his metal arm before it hits his face. The sudden jolt pulls on whatever has gone wrong in his arm and he feels it go dead.
‘Hey, stand down!’ Clint calls, putting a hand on Bucky's chest before he moves to retaliate. ‘Katie what the fuck?’
Their attacker is a young woman dressed all in purple. She slowly lowers the bow. ‘You good?’
‘Yes, I’m good.’ Clint assures her with a frantic edge to his voice.
‘Oh, cool.’ She relaxes. ‘Just, you know the trail of blood and the assassin…’
‘Reformed ex assassin.’ Clint corrects. ‘He’s patching me up.’
‘Huh. Sorry.’ She says, not looking at all apologetic. ‘I brought your dog.’ She pushes the door open wider and a familiar one eyed labrador runs in, circling Bucky excitedly.
‘Hey Lucky.’ Bucky says fondly, bending down to pet the golden fur.
‘Lucky seal of approval? Alright you must be good.’ She nods.
Clint raises an eyebrow. ‘The Clint Barton seal of approval isn't good enough for you?’
‘Your judgement is questionable at best.’
‘Must be why I keep you around.’ Clint says, sticking his tongue out.
‘Yeah, yeah.’ She rolls her eyes but there's a small smile on her face. ‘Get your shit together. The BBQ’s in like an hour, you don't want to disappoint Grills, do you?’
‘We’ll be there.’
‘We?’ Bucky frowns.
‘Unless you're heading back to the Tower already? You’re more than welcome to stay a while, it’ll help me annoy Steve if I kidnap his bestie.’ Clint laughs.
Kate sighs. ‘If Captain America bursts through the front door I’m not helping you fix it.’
‘I’ll tell Steve I’m here.’ Bucky says, reaching for his phone. He can just imagine Steve freaking out once he realises Bucky didn't follow him back to the tower.
‘Alright see you on the roof.’ Kate salutes them before leaving.
‘There are other people who use a bow and arrow?’ He asks as he texts Steve.
‘Kates my protege.’ Clint grins. ‘She's pretty good.’ He holds a hand out to take Kate's arrow.
Bucky tries to pass it over but the fingers are locked in place. He tries not to panic but the loss of a functional arm immediately sets him on edge.
Clint raises an eyebrow. ‘You good there?’
‘Yeah just a… technical glitch.’ Bucky says awkwardly.
‘... Alright. Hang on, I have a tool kit around here.’
‘I don't know how to fix it.’ Bucky admits.
‘I have a rough idea.’
‘... What? How?’
‘You may not have read my file, but I read yours.’ Clint says as he drops the toolbox on the coffee table. ‘I was away on a mission when they were bringing you in. I ended up in a Hydra base and stole all their intel. I did a deep dive into how your arm works in case the team needed backup and we came head to head.’ He gestures for Bucky to sit down. Clint sits on the arm of the sofa and starts to unscrew a panel on Bucky's forearm.
‘Yeah? What was your plan?’
‘There's a kill switch in the arm.’ Clint explains. ‘So yeah, you're all super soldier. But if I deactivate your arm it would at least give me a fighting chance.’
The thought should fill Bucky with dread, but he finds the idea of Clint being able to take him out is actually comforting. He knows he's just a few code words away from going back to being the Winter Soldier. He's pretty sure Steve wouldn't have the nerve to properly fight him. But at least he knows Natasha and Clint would stop him.
‘You really know what you're doing, huh?’
‘I was raised on a farm. I had to fix the tractor like twice a week.’
Bucky blinks, studying Clint’s face to try to figure out if he's joking. ‘A farm?’
‘Until I ran away and joined the circus.’ Clint glances up with a sly smile.
‘.... the … the circus?’
‘Mmhmm.’ Clint hums. ‘It's not as fun of a story as it sounds.’ He twirls the screwdriver in his hand as he closes the panel in Bucky's arm. ‘Try that?’
Bucky flexes his fingers, letting the arrow drop. ‘Thanks… So I know like… nothing about you, huh?’
‘Kind of comes with the territory when you're dealing with secret agents.’ Clint chuckles. ‘None of that's in my file though. Pulled some strings at SHIELD to get it all redacted.’ Clint looks around the apartment for a jacket that isn’t stained in blood. ‘You coming? The BBQ’s can be pretty hectic, but they’re good people.’
‘Sure.’ Bucky shrugs, taking hold of Lucky's lead and following Clint out.
***
It’s nice, Bucky muses as he watches Clint interact with the building's residents. He’s clearly more relaxed here, if Bucky didn’t know better he’d think Clint was just a normal civilian. There's none of the constant vigilance that he’s used to seeing from Hawkeye. Instead, Clint is entertaining the younger kids by juggling anything they throw to him. There must be some truth to the circus story, the man is a talented entertainer.
Content to watch, Bucky leans against a wall, petting Lucky with his non metallic hand. He hears a sound of a girl giggling at Clint's tricks and can’t help but think of his sisters. For a moment, he’s lost in the memory of brushing Becca’s hair and braiding it for her. He wrinkles his nose slightly when he feels Lucky licking at his hand, the dogs always had a good sense for when he’s dissociating. Clint once told him that Luckys a service dog, and Bucky suspects it's for more than just Clint's hearing issues. When Clint approaches, it takes him a few seconds to shake it off. Clint just waits patiently, like he always does.
‘You good?’ Clint asks gently.
‘Fine, sorry.’ It's bugging him that he can’t remember the colour of the ribbon he would tie Becca’s hair with. Maybe green but something about that doesn’t feel right. He’ll have to ask Steve later.
‘You’re good.’ Clint shakes his head. ‘Didn’t seem like a bad one?’
‘Nah. The kids just reminded me of my sisters, that's all.’
‘Huh… Do you want to say hi? I think Charlie is dying to talk to you about the Howling Commandos. Or we can head back to the apartment if this is a bit much?’
Bucky shakes his head. ‘Stop worrying. Introduce me to the kids.’
Clint just laughs. ‘Alright then, prepare yourself.’ He teases, gesturing for the small gang of children to come over.
***
After the BBQ, Clint decides he’s ready to head back to the tower and hear Steve out. They walk Lucky on the way, idly chatting about anything other than the upcoming confrontation. Clint laughs and smiles, but it seems more forced than usual. His smiles don’t quite reach his eyes. Bucky silently prays that Steve gets his head out of his ass long enough to give Clint a proper apology.
They find Steve alone in the common room, so invested in the stack of papers in front of him that he doesn’t notice their arrival.
Bucky pointedly clears his throat.
Steve's head snaps up to look at the two of them, focusing on Clint with a confused but determined expression. Bucky knows that look. Steve is either going to say the right thing to fix this, or it’ll all end in flames. Maybe literally.
‘You were supposed to lead the Avengers.’ Steve says, a confused and almost betrayed tone to his voice.
Clint raises his eyebrows. ‘Oh wow, Nat pulled out the big guns. You must have really pissed her off.’
‘What…?’ Bucky frowns.
‘The Avengers is a SHIELD initiative.’ Clint explains with a shrug, dropping down into the armchair opposite Steve. ‘I’m the highest ranking active agent SHIELD has. I was always the frontrunner for the Avengers Initiative.’
‘What happened?’ Steve asks.
‘Are you kidding?’ Clint scoffs. ‘Did you forget how the Avengers were actually formed? You all banded together to fight me.’
‘To fight Loki.’ Steve corrects him, voice strained.
‘I was the one giving him all the intel he needed. I gave him everything. I’d done my research, I knew everything there was to know about every member of the team. Granted, we didn’t envision you coming back from the dead when the Avengers were first proposed, but I was a cap fan boy back in the day and Coulson was my handler. So I knew enough.’
Bucky blinks in confusion, not following the fight. ‘What?’
Clint sighs, deflating. ‘That's what I was trying to tell you before we got interrupted by Kate… The Avengers were formed when Thor's brother, Loki, came to earth for world domination. First thing he did was get in my head. I was his little lackey until Nat knocked the brainwashing out of me.’
‘Oh…’ No wonder Clint has always been able to relate to Bucky so deeply.
‘Clint, those things you did… that wasn't you. No-one blames you for that.’
‘Still changed the line up though, didn't it?’ Clint laughs bitterly. ‘They weren't exactly going to promote me to team lead after you'd all spent days fighting me. But I was fine with it. I was happy to take a back seat and get some rest for once. I could never relax at SHIELD, I always had to keep proving myself. I didn't realise I had to do the same thing here.’
‘You don't.’ Steve promises.
‘A disaster. Clumsy. Unpredictable.’ Clint repeats.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Look. I accept that you're sorry and that you may have been exaggerating to get the point across to Bucky. But it still hurts Cap.’
‘Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?’
Clint tilts his head, the hint of a smile on his lips. ‘Anything?’
‘Of course.’ Steve says sincerely.
‘Let me train with your shield.’
Bucky watches Steve's eyes go wide as he freezes in panic. Steve’s attachment to his shield is unhealthy at best and the only other person he’s let use it has been Bucky. Of course, Clint understands that kind of attachment to his weapon given his own unhealthy attachment to his favourite bows.
‘Just for one training session.’ Clint clarifies. ‘I-’
‘Deal.’ Steve says, interrupting whatever justification Clint has ready.
‘...Oh.’ Clint blinks, a slow grin crossing his face. ‘That was easier than expected. Let’s go!’ He says, jumping to his feet.
‘Your arm was sliced open.’ Bucky says, pushing Clint back into his seat. ‘It can wait until you're healed up.’
Clint pouts. ‘Fine.’
Steve chuckles at the pair of them. ‘I am sorry Clint. Bucks right, I got a bit panicky about his rehabilitation and overreacted. I do think you’re good for him. I shouldn’t have said any of that…’
‘Thanks…’ Clint says awkwardly. He leans back in the armchair to look up at Bucky. ‘Steve says I’m a good influence, want to pull an all-nighter playing video games?’
Bucky just laughs, helping Clint back to his feet. ‘Fine. But let me know if your arm hurts, okay?’
‘Yes mom.’ Clint teases, he glances over with a questioning look as Steve starts to laugh.
‘Welcome to Bucky's natural state; mother hen.’
Bucky flips him off. ‘Shut it Punk.’
‘Enjoy your game.’ Steve replies, waving them off as he sorts the stack of paperwork Natasha had given him.
‘Feel better?’ Bucky asks once they’re back in the elevator.
‘Yeah I guess.’ Clint shrugs. ‘I am going to destroy Steve's training record with the shield though.’
‘I don’t doubt it, Doll.’
***
In a miraculous turn of events, Clint does wait for his arm to heal properly before trying out the shield. Which goes to show how seriously he’s taking the olive branch.
Steve is obviously trying not to hover when Clint picks the shield up, testing the weight of it. Bucky hits Steve in the ribs with his elbow. ‘Relax.’
‘I’m relaxed.’
‘Sure you are.’ Bucky smirks as Clint steps into the training area.
‘You have no idea how long I've wanted to get my hands on this.’ Clint grins. ‘Jarvis, pull up one of Steve's training simulators will ya?’
Tony's simulations are as overly complex as one can expect of an eccentric inventor with access to an unlimited amount of money. Steve's usual training sequence includes a small army of robots and drones controlled by Jarvis. It's impossible to predict as Jarvis is diligent about making the sequence different every time.
Bucky is watching Clint intently and spots the moment Clint switches from Clint Barton to Hawkeye. His gaze sharpens as he assesses the simulated battlefield.
Clint flips the shield in his hand and tosses it. It ricochets off the first robot, hitting another two before returning to Clint's awaiting hand.
He spins to get the right momentum before tossing it again. With a combination of hand to hand combat while keeping an eye on the path of the shield, Clint demolishes the bots. At one point, Bucky thinks he may miss a catch, but Clint's foot kicks impossibly high, clipping the edge of the metal and knocking it into the path of an approaching drone.
Clint is grinning wildly when the last of the bots drops to the ground. He gives the shield one last spin before handing it back to Steve. ‘Thanks, that was fun.’
Bucky smirks, knowing that Jarvis keeps track of all their statistics. Because Tony is incapable of not turning everything into data. ‘Hey Jarvis, how did he do?’
‘Huh…’ Steve exhales when he realises Clint has more than tripled his high score.
Clint looks like he's desperately trying not to be smug about it, so Bucky just raises his hand for a high five. Clint is practically bouncing on the balls of his feet when he slaps his palm against Bucky's.
‘Alright that was a fun warm up. I’m going to head to the range to burn off some energy, you coming Buck?’
‘Sure. Stevie?’
‘I think… I'm going to stay and train with the shield a bit.’ Steve says, looking a bit shell shocked.
‘Alright pal.’ Bucky drapes an arm around Clint's shoulder to lead him away. ‘Jarvis please tell me you recorded that?’
‘Yes sir. Master Stark has already changed everyone's contacts of the Captain to images of the look of surprise on his face.’
Bucky laughs. ‘Alright, to the range?’
‘Unless you can think of other ways we could burn off some energy?’ Clint says suggestively.
Bucky's brain stutters for a moment as he processes the offer. He feels his face flush as he imagines all the possibilities.
Clint wiggles his eyebrows and Bucky's grip on Clint's shoulders reflexively tightens. ‘Oh, I think that can be arranged, Doll.’