Snapped Strings

Clint Talks

I woke up to the sweet sound of Nat's voice. She sounded so far away that I was concerned at first. Then I remembered Clint's drunken behavior and me locking him in the bedroom. I got up and walked over to the doorway of the bedroom where I saw Nat inside, cradling Clint in her arms. 

"Say something I'm giving up on you," she sang to him. This must have been the first good night's sleep he'd had in ages.

"Anywhere I would have followed you... You're the one that I love and I'm saying goodbye."

Wiping the tears from my eyes at the lyrics, Clint woke up and threw up on the carpet beside him. I sighed loudly and Nat turned her head to apologise to me. Together we got him cleaned up and lying on the sofa under a blanket whilst I washed his clothes.

"I'm sorry if I was an idiot to you Maria," he mumbled. Nat raised an eyebrow at him and he said, "Oh and sorry for being sick on your stuff. And for being rude. And for being drunk." I handed him a glass of water and waited till he had taken a sip before I spoke. "Would you like me to get you some help for your drinking?"

"What do you mean by help?" Clint said, looking honestly interested. "Well I could help you get counselling so you can come to terms with being single or I could help you find a support group for drinking. Whatever you think will help you most, I have a lot of contacts in those areas so just let me or Nat know." Clint thanked me and put his head down on the arm of the sofa, falling asleep quickly. When he started to snore, I know it was safe to talk to Nat.

"Did he talk to you this morning?" I asked her. "Not at all. I woke up early so I thought I'd check on him. I found him asleep on the floor so I decided to sit with him. Then you came along." I nodded, taking in what had happened. "How come you were singing such a sad song to him?" Nat avoided my gaze so I let it drop.

We sat in silence for the next hour or so until there was a knock at the door. I got up to answer it, saving myself from the awkward lack of noise. "Maria! Nice to see you again, here are Tony and Pepper for lunch that you totally said you were doing!" Bruce was bright red in the face and completely flustered. Just down the stairs were a man with chiseled features and a woman with shocking red hair.

I pulled Bruce in and said, "For lunch? What the hell were you thinking? Clint has only just sobered up. He's no-where near ready to face that woman again. I don't even know why she left him!" Bruce put his hands up in a comical surrender. "I know, I know. As far as I can remember, Pepper was pregnant but lost the baby late into the pregnancy and neither of them knew how to get over the loss. Long story short, lack of communication meant they just didn't work anymore." 

"That explains Clint's drinking. He was getting over the baby as well as Pepper." I muttered. Bruce nodded slowly and then whispered to me, "But there have been rumors that it's not all sunshine and happiness with Stark either." We both pulled an 'interesting' face and I let him call Tony and Pepper into the flat. Whilst he was talking to them, I got Nat to take Clint into the bedroom so he could sleep properly and not have to face Pepper quite yet.

"If you wouldn't mind sitting down, I'll get us all some drinks and then we can get talking," I said to my sudden guests. I quickly got some beers out of my fridge (the perks of working at a bar) and handed them out. "I've got the impression this wasn't just a slightly weird invite to lunch, but rather a very weird invite to lunch," Tony said. I nodded and exchanged a look with Bruce as Nat came and sat down beside me. I could tell she was looking Pepper up and down in hate so I held onto her hand tightly.

"You're right Mr Stark." The formal-looking man laughed. "Please, call me Tony." I had to stop myself from laughing as Pepper rolled her eyes. Tony must be this flirty all of the time. "Basically my brother, Clint, has a broken heart because of her." Nat burst out, pointing at Pepper. The red-head didn't react as I thought she would. Instead of protesting or kicking up a fuss, she just looked to the floor. Tony didn't even comfort her; he was busy observing Bruce's behind as my little tech friend was playing with the settings on my TV. 

"What Nat is trying to say, is that he still loves you. Can you two maybe not sit down and have a conversation about what happened? He's drinking heavily and I for one am concerned about his health because of it." I trailed off, tears flowing down Pepper's cheeks. "Excuse me," she mumbled. She got up and walked down the corridor and gasped loudly. "Pepper?" Clint said slowly. I groaned and put my head in my hands. This had suddenly got so much more complicated than I thought it was going to be.

A/N: Oopsies :s Poor Clint, poor Nat, poor Maria! Why was Nat thinking of a breakup song? Why didn't Clint say about his baby? And why is Tony Stark admiring Bruce Banner's behind?! So many questions! Onto the next chapter me thinks :)