Here, Hold My Beer - And Other Stories of Friendship and Shenanigans

Here, Hold My Beer

I was inspired by the first CACW clip with Ant-Man riding on Hawkeye's bow. 

It's completely possible that this is how Scott Lang and Clint Barton became friends and Scott started riding on Clint's arrows. Maybe?

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Clint sat outside of the room where Steve was holed up with Bucky Barnes and rested his head in his hands. How in the hell had everything gone this far? Less than a year ago, they were fighting Ultron together as a team. They were the Avengers, Earths Mightiest Heroes. Now that team was fractured in two, and he wasn't sure that they would ever be able to put the pieces back together.

Tony probably thought that he was doing what was best. On some level, Clint knew that. He just couldn't agree with him that the government should have so much control over them. They went that route once before, and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. proved just how corruptible the government could be. He knew better than anyone what it was like to be controlled, and he'd be damned if he ever let that happen again.

Maybe Laura was right. Maybe he should have sat this one out, but she knew as well as he did that he didn't have a choice. This was about protecting his family and the people he cared about, even if some of those very people were standing on the other side of the line that Tony and Steve had drawn in the sand.

Natasha. Even though most of her secrets were made public when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, he was surprised as hell when she took Tony's side. She obviously knew the importance of a secret identity, even if she, herself, no longer had one. She'd removed all information that she could about him before she released all those S.H.I.E.L.D/HYDRA documents onto the internet, to keep him and his family safe.

He knew that her motivation had more to do with the man whose metal arm was currently trapped in a vice in the room next door. Whatever her reasoning though, if it came to a fight, he would do whatever he could to keep her safe, even if that meant fighting her himself.

Reaching into the cooler that Sam brought earlier, he grabbed a beer and opened it before offering it to Wanda, who was sitting against the wall, lost in her own thoughts. "We're probably going to be here a while. Might as well relax a little. You want one?"

"Thank you, I suppose one won't hurt," she replied in her strong European accent. She took the bottle from him, and he grabbed another for himself. "I have enjoyed all of the pictures that you've sent of little Nate. He is getting so big. It makes me happy that my brother is being remembered."

"If your brother hadn't done what he did, my son wouldn't have a father. It's the least he deserves."

"You are kind." She paused a moment and considered her next words. "Speaking of sacrifice, you do know that Captain Rogers will protect his friend at all costs?"

Clint nodded and took a long sip of his beer. "Yeah, and I've made it clear to him and Barnes that if it comes to the safety of any of us, I won't be as concerned with Barnes as he is."

"He's scared, Barnes is. I've seen inside his mind. Steve is fighting for his old friend, but I do not think that he is in there. That man is something new. Not James Barnes and not the Winter Soldier."

"That's what worries me." Clint sat his bottle down, picked up his bow and nocked an arrow, letting it fly toward the wooden pallet that he'd been using for target practice.

When the door to the warehouse rattled and opened, he turned quickly, another arrow set up and ready to go.

"It's just me, Barton. Relax, man. I brought pizza." Sam Wilson held up the boxes in his hands in surrender. Clint lowered his bow and picked his beer back up, eyeing the man following behind Sam curiously.