Supernova (avengers x-reader)

Calmed

(A/N: So, after an entire month of hiatus, I am back! Even if I wanted to drop this story (which I don't!), I wouldn't have the heart to after such an amazing reaction to it. This story, as of this moment, has had around 3,800 reads (which absolutely blows my mind!) and according to my story demographics, I have readers as far away as India and Norway (I live in the US). I just wanted to thank all of you for supporting my work so far and giving me the courage to do what I do. And now, without further ado, on with the story!)

   Clint grins, moving as silently as he can through the air vent in the direction of the kitchen. When he had woken up this morning, he had been hit with the most brilliant idea for a prank. He pulls himself forward with his elbows, being careful not to jostle the air horn in his hand against the metal walls. When he gets to the vent cover right above the kitchen, he'll jump down, blow the air horn, and scream, "Rise and shine, fuckers!" before running out of the room. He already has a solid escape plan, but he knows that if Nat catches him, no amount of pleading with make her spare his measly, annoying existence. Mentally, he shrugs.

   Hey, it comes with the territory of being the official prankster in this tower, he thinks, resigned to his fate, whatever it may be.

   He pulls himself a few more feet and looks down through the slats of the vent cover below him. He can see Steve, Thor, and Nat sitting at the table to his left. Thor is busy tearing through a box of Poptarts while Steve eats his eggs and Nat leans back in her chair, tapping away on a black iPad with an amused half-smile. The absence of Dr. Banner means that there won't be any Hulk action and Clint doesn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved by that fact. He shifts the air horn in his hand and grins as he prepares to drop through the grate, but a voice from below stops him.

   "Clint, if you use that air horn, I'm going to have to hurt you and that will really put a damper on our friendship."

   He looks down and almost jumps out of his skin when he sees that Nat is looking directly at him. Steve and Thor look at her, confused, then follow her gaze up to the air vent and immediately, comprehension takes over their expressions. Steve sighs and returns to his eggs while Thor looks at Nat and grins.

   "How..." Clint says, bewildered. Nat shouldn't have even been able to see him through the vent, let alone hear him.

   "Camera to your left," she responds. Clit looks at the vent wall at his side and notices the tiniest lens in existence embedded in the metal. Returning his gaze to Nat, he now sees that her IPad isn't displaying some old SHIELD file or ballerina video, but security footage from around the building, including feed from the air ducts.

   He sighs, resigned to the fact that he's been made and pushes the vent cover away. He slides out of the vent head-first, flipping to land in a cat-like crouch. Also like a cat, he does his best to go about his business and pretend as if he had never blundered in the first place.

   "Hey, where's ________?" he asks, casually setting the air horn on the counter as he pulls a box of cereal out of the cupboard. "She's usually down here way before I am."

   Nat frowns, ready to call Clint out on his shit, but realizes that he's right.

   "I have no idea. I haven't seen her since yesterday."

   "It is the same with I," Thor mumbles around a mouthful of Poptart. "I have not caught sight of her since our last mid-day meal."

   "Yeah, me neither," Steve says with a frown.

   "Who haven't you guys seen?" Dr. Banner asks as he enters the kitchen.

   "­­­­­_________," Clint replies. "None of us have seen her since around noon yesterday."