Avengers Stories //Oneshots//

The Barn (Part 3) - Finale

As soon as Laura had saw him cleaning, she had came over, grabbed the broom out of his hand, and dragged him back into the livingroom.

"Laura!"

"Don't 'Laura' me, Stark," she said as she pushed him gently to sit down on the couch. "You're going to sit right here while I make you some warm soup."

"Laura-"

She held up a finger to him, tutting lightly. "You shouldn't be out of bed, you're lucky I'm not marching you back upstairs to your bedroom instead of to the couch."

"I'm fine."

"Tony, you're shivering."

The genius then noticed that he indeed was shivering and made an effort to stop himself. "Not."

"Uh-huh." She turned around and started heading for the kitchen. "I better see you right there when I get back."

Tony grumbled under his breath, shifting in the seat. His mind itched to do something but his body protested. He was also very scared of Laura Barton and he was not afraid to admit it. She was almost as scary as Pepper could be.

A few minutes later Lila and Cooper came down stairs, Cooper carrying Nathaniel.

"Hey Uncle Tony," the older two greeted, Nathaniel babbling something close to 'Tony'.

"Hey kiddos," he said as they plopped down on the couch beside him. Cooper grabbed the remote and started lazily flicking through TV channels.

Eventually, the kids wandered off, except for Nathaniel who was curled up against his side, watching the TV.

"Soup is up," Laura said as she walked in, smiling fondly. She pushed a bowl and spoon into his hands. "I want to see every last drop of this gone, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

"Good." She went back to the kitchen and the smell of breakfast soon came drifting into the livingroom. Not long after, Clint was coming down the stairs, still in his pajamas.

"I smell-" he started before seeing Tony. "Why are you out of bed?"

Tony just shrugged.

The archer walked over just as Tony ate the last bite of soup and got up to go put it in the sink.

"Nope," Clint said, taking the dishes from his hands. "I'll take these and then I'll be back to see your cut and head... which should be bandaged." He narrowed his eyes at Tony's forehead.

Again, Tony shrugged, albeit more sheepishly.

Clint did as he said, changing the bandages of the cut with a satisfied nod while Tony quietly whined about not being incompetent or needing a babysitter.

"Everyone needs help sometimes, even idiot geniuses like yourself." He ruffled Tony's hair.

"Hey!"

"You can't argue with logic."

"I defied the laws of physics."

"Rules are made to be broken, even if it's with the magic you somehow possess."

"Science, not magic."

"Same thing."

"No, it's not. Magic is just science we haven't figured out yet."

"Explain Thor's hammer."

"Materials I don't know how to wield. Yet."

"Yet?"

"That's right."

"How are you going to harvest a dying star?"

"I don't know, but I'll figure it out. I'm a genius."

"Yeah, a genius who doesn't know how to take care of himself."

"Boys!" Laura cut into their bickering. Nathaniel had left at some point and he could see the three kids eating breakfast at the table.

"Sorry, Laura." They said at the same time.

Then Clint added, "but he is an idiot."

"Hey!"

"He's right."

"I thought you were on my side, Laura!" He sunk into the coushins in fake despair at the 'betrayal'.

Laura chuckled before her face became serious. "Tony, why were you in the barn when it was so cold?"

"I lost track of time." Tony said, looking away.

"Tones," Clint sighed. "did you really not notice when your body started shivering? Or the Arc Reactor?"

Tony refused to answer.

"Is that why you fell off the tractor? Did you get drowsey from the cold?" He asked.

Again, he did not answer, instead staring at Clint's house shoes.

"Tony," Laura said. "Look at us."

Slowly, he brought his head up.

"I saw you fixed a lot of stuff. Why?" Clint asked.

"You trusted me to watch your house."

His eyebrows came together. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Repayment."

"Anythony Edward Stark," Laura said, sitting down beside him. "You are one of our closest friends. We trusted you to watch the house. There was no payment needed."

Tony didn't say anything, even when Clint's hand landed on his shoulder.

"Dude, you don't need to do stuff to keep us as your friends. Whoever told you that or convinced you of that is wrong. Understand?"

Tony's vision blurred a little and he subtly blinked away any tears threatening to fall, clearing his throat.

"Yes."

Laura and Clint both hugged him tightly. He hugged then back for a few seconds composing himself.

"Alright, enough with the sappy stuff. Can we eat? I'm still hungry."

They chuckled and pulled back. Laura stood. "C'mon, let's get to the table before the kids eat all the bacon."

"They probably already have," Clint said.

Tony snorted. "I don't doubt it." They laughed.