The Book of Marvel Ships (NOT TAKING REQUESTS)

M.I.A.- CLAIA

This first chapter goes out to Yavanna80!

Today was the day everyone had long been anticipating; Clint and Laia's wedding day. The previous day was spent busily preparing the venue for the reception and now there were only a few hours before go time. Lilly was wandering around the church when she suddenly bumped into Steve.

"Lilly! Uh, you're not in the bridal party are you?" he nervously asked.

"No, why?" After the huge squabble that happened between Meg, Jill and Haylie, Lilly had gladly stepped down.

"Good. We need your help." Steve led her to the room where the men were all getting ready. After a few moments, she realized someone was missing.

"Hang on a minute, where's Clint?" The men all looked somewhat guilty.

"That's the thing... We have a Code C."

"Code C?!" The Avengers had gotten together and discussed everything that could go wrong at the wedding. Code C meant that Clint didn't turn up and Code L meant that Laia hadn't turned up. Out of all the situations, these two were the least likely but they had to cover all grounds. Lilly stood there wide-eye and stammering until Steve filled her in.

"We went out for a few drinks last night and we kind of... lost him."

"You lost him?! How can you lose him?! He's a grown-arse man, not a set of keys!"

"I know, I know but we lost sight of him. Bucky and I thought he was with Tony and Pietro and they thought he was with us. I've sent Bucky out looking in the places where we went last night and Nat's looking in Clint's usual hangouts in the city. Tony's walking Laia down the aisle, Pietro's the Best Man and I'm the groomsman so that means none of us can look in the Tower. Think you're up to the task?" he asked, handing her a comm. Lilly nodded and took it from him.

"Oh, has anyone told the girls?" The men all looked sheepishly at each other.

"We'd rather not tell them unless it's absolutely necessary. We don't want Laia to panic on her wedding day," Tony explained.

"Well sure, but at least one of them has to know. I'm gonna at least tell Jill, that way if we can't find Clint in time, she can tell Laia." Lilly grabbed an extra comm. and headed out to the room where the women were getting ready. She knocked on the door and heard "Come in if you're not Clint." Lilly stepped into the room and beamed at seeing Meg and Jill in their lavender dresses and Laia in her wedding gown.

"Laia, you look so beautiful," Lilly smiled. Laia started fanning herself.

"Lil, you're gonna make me cry and Jill's just finished my make-up. How's Clint doing?" Lilly plastered on a smile.

"He's doing good. Listen, can I borrow Jill for two minutes?" Laia nodded and Jill followed Lilly out the door.

"What's up?" she asked.

"We have a Code C," Lilly responded in a low voice.

"What?! I swear, if Clint bails on Laia I'm gonna-"

"Calm down Jill, it wasn't his fault. The guys took Clint out drinking last night and they lost him." Jill covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, this is like one of those Hangover movies!"

"I know, but we've got people out looking for him and I'm about to help. Here's a comm. and I'll keep you updated. We're trying not to let Laia find out until it's absolutely necessary." With that, Lilly handed her the comm. and left for the Tower.

...

The minutes ticked by and soon there was only one hour left to go and still no sign of Clint.

"Everyone, I'm checking in. How's everybody doing, Barnes?" Steve's voice came through the comm.

"I went everywhere we went last night and no one's seen him."

"Romanoff?"

"Been to all his spots around the city and still no luck."

"Willow?"

"It's a big tower and I'm one person. I..." Lilly suddenly spotted a pair of legs dangling out of one of the vents. "I'll call you back." Lilly went over to the vent, grabbed the legs and pulled. She yelped and cursed when Clint hit the ground.

"Clint, you still alive?" she asked, prodding him with her foot. Clint let out a broken groan. Well, he was breathing, that was a good sign. Lilly knelt down and carefully turned him on his back, sucking in a breath through her teeth when she saw his black eye.

"Come on dude, pull yourself together," she said, patting his cheek. "What happened?"

"Went out for drinks. Got in a fight with some guy 'cause he was teasing me 'bout gettin' married," he grunted. His eyes snapped open as the realization of his words hit him and he bolted up, holding his pounding head at the motion.

"What time is it?"

"There's one hour left until the wedding," Lilly explained. Clint let out a string of profanities and half sprinted and half stumbled to his room to get ready.

"Guys, call off the search, I've found him." There were a few sighs of relief coming from the other end of the comm.

"Nice job Lil, see you both at the church!"

...

After taking a shower and a couple of pain-killers, Clint was feeling much better. The whole car-ride to the church, he was babbling excitedly non-stop. Lilly managed to get Clint inside without too many people noticing and went to get Jill, leaving him in her capable hands. Jill put make-up on him to cover up the bruise and went out the door.

"I've done what I can, but it's still noticeable. That being said, it looks better than it did before," she explained. Steve checked his watch.

"Good, 'cause it's show time." Fortunately, the rest of the wedding went off without a hitch.