Duyên || Clint Barton

041 || ready

•••

"So that went well" Clint chuckled, wrapping his arm around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.
I huffed, smiling as I leaned back into his touch, pointedly ignoring Nat's smirk.
"Nah, Thor's alright. I sent him for a nap so he'll hopefully be feeling better for later"
Clint just hummed, pressing a kiss to the inside of my neck before pulling away, moving to sit in the seat beside me.
"So, you basically just missed the run down of what stones are which. We're going to break for lunch and then try and figure out what the easiest way to ... do this"
I nodded, resting my head on my hand as I prepared to take in the information.

•••

"Jesus, so you really have been almost killed by most of them, huh"
Clint just laughed, nodding as he took the final bite of his sandwich, "it's been a pretty crazy few years"
"At least the Tesseract gave us the twins" I mused, biting my lip, "- Wait. Removing the tesseract from before the twins were captured wouldn't change them would it? What happens if they're never at the HYDRA base in the first place? Would we never have found them-?"
Bruce cut me off from where he was standing quietly behind Natasha, "we can't change the past" he stated simply, "the twins won't be affected by it"
"You're sure?"
"Well as sure as you can be with theories, but yes"
I frowned, but nodded at Bruce, my hand finding solace in Clint's.
"Nat, Tony and I are going to brainstorm in the study. You're welcome to join us"
"Nebula?"
"I think she went off with Rhodey to study the power stone"
I nodded, looking over at Clint, "I'm going to check out the armoury. I don't have any of my stuff anymore so I need to take some things for tomorrow"
Clint smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck, "well ... about that"
"You kept it?"
"Of course"
I gaped at him, tears prickling in the corner of my eyes. Noticing this, Clint wrapped me up in a hug, pressing a kiss to my temple.
"I would never have thrown the sword away. It was the only thing I had left of you"
"I thought I lost it" I mumbled, forehead resting against his shoulder.
He lifted my head gently, holding it so he could look me in the eyes, "I've got it in my bag"
Then, he stepped away and offered me his hand, guiding me through the hallways.
In the corner of our room was a dufflebag. It looked pretty unimportant until Clint lifted it up, the telling sound of clashing weaponry emitting from it.
I watched with baited breath as he opened it, pulling out the sword that I hadn't seen since the slaughters.
"I'm almost scared to hold it again" I admitted, "it feels like every time I hold it somebody dies"
"The only ones that are going to die are those who try and stop us from getting our kids back" Clint said, placing the sword gently in my hand before cupping my cheek, "we'll win"

•••

By the next morning we were ready to go. The plan was set out: Nat, Clint, Rhodey, Nebula and I were going to space, Thor and Rocket were going to Asgard and the rest were going back to New York.
I had raided the armoury earlier that morning, making myself a utility belt, adding a few of Tony's non-lethal gadgets to give me a choice of mercy if I needed it. I met Steve on the way to the main room, anticipation making my skin vibrate.
"We've got this" he said, squeezing my hand reassuringly.
"Of course" I nodded, squeezing back, "We've got this"

I stood in between Nat and Clint as we stepped on to the machine, everyone exchanging nervous glances.
"Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends... We lost family..." Steve trailed off slightly, looking at me. I gave him a soft smile and a nod, "We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win"
Tony and Steve swapped gazes, "Whatever it takes. Good luck"
"He's pretty good at that" Rocket said to Scott, sounding impressed.
"Right?"
"All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green" Tony called, rubbing his hands together, anxious to go.
I watched as Bruce fiddled with some of the buttons on the machine, it coming to life underneath us.
"Tractors engaged"
I blew out a shaky breath, shifting on my feet nervously.
"You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?" Rocket said, pointing to the shrunk Benetar in Clint's hand.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I'll do my best."
"As promises go, that was pretty lame"
I snorted, turning to face him, "I'll make sure he brings it back without a scratch"
"Now that was better"
Next to me, Natasha grinned at Steve excitedly, "See you in a minute"