A Fool's Dance

Chapter Nineteen

Clint glanced sidelong at Barnes as he picked up one of his pistols. They'd agreed that the targets should move at random. Barnes's targets were red. Clint's were purple. The first one to miss the target had to buy dinner, and walk around the tower in their underwear for an hour. Clint had acted like he was going to shoot Tony for that.

"You first," Clint told Barnes.

The other man just smirked and fired off the first shot. Clint gritted his teeth when he realized that the match was going to be harder than he first thought. He glanced over his shoulder at the others and met Natasha's gaze. At her small nod, Clint turned back around and shot the purple target speeding along the back wall.

Clint watched as Barnes shot again. A second after he saw the bullet hole in Barnes target, Clint shot his own. It became almost like a race to see how fast the other could shoot. Once they ran out of ammo, Clint went and got his bow out of his locker. He felt calmer than before with his bow in hand. Clint grabbed his quiver of practice arrows and walked back to his spot. A smile tugged at his lips when he noticed Barnes had a rifle set up.

"Ready to put your money where your mouth is, kid?" Barnes asked.

Clint rolled his eyes and pulled out an arrow. Barnes grinned and Clint glanced over his shoulder at Natasha again. So far neither of them had missed. It wasn't looking like Clint's aim was really all that great anymore now that Barnes was here.

"Right, you first," Clint said when he turned back around.

The rifle was a lot louder than the pistols they'd been shooting, and Clint took an involuntary step to the side to avoid being hit with the discharged bullet casing. He nocked his arrow and pulled on the bow string as Barnes's target dropped to the floor. His own target started moving, and Clint released the arrow. A small sigh of relief escaped him when the arrow landed in the center.

Again, they sped up until there was only a second gap between their shooting. They stopped once Barnes ran out of bullets. Neither of them had missed the entire time.

"Rematch?" Barnes offered.

"No thanks. I'm actually ready to go home. So, see you guys later," Clint replied as he collapsed his bow.

"No, hey, Barton," Tony said quickly after Steve elbowed him in the side.

Clint arched an eyebrow at him and waited for him to continue.

"We're having movie night. You could stay, if you want. Just for the movie. We might get pizza too."

Clint shook his head and placed everything in his locker. He knew full well that Natasha and Barnes wouldn't let him take the bow back with him.

"It's a team bonding thing. You have to," Tony added as Clint started to walk past him.

Clint whirled around and shoved the billionaire in the chest.

"I don't have to do anything, Stark. As far as I'm concerned, you've got Barnes. So fuck off," Clint snapped.

He stormed out of the room and pointedly ignored Barnes when the man followed him.

"Wait," Barnes ordered.

"Screw you," Clint snapped.

He stepped into the elevator and made sure the doors closed before Barnes could step on. With a sigh, Clint opened the doors back up and dragged him in.

"Sorry. Just, I- never mind," Clint signed.

"You should stay."

"I know."

"So stay."

Clint shook his head and moved to jab the button for the ground floor.

"Just this once. And if you don't like it, you can leave."

Clint glared at him for a minute before nodding. He blinked in surprise as Barnes kissed him quickly and pulled away.

"Let's go."