House Guests
Pairing: Clint x Reader Words: 3,145 A/N: Hi there, I did pre Age of Ultron Avengers because times were simpler back then. I feel like I took this thing in a really weird direction, but I like it so lemme know if you do too!
*Knock knock*
You blearily blinked your eyes open at the loud knocking on your door. The dim light on your clock read 2:47 am and you groaned in annoyance. No one ought to be bothering you this late at night. You couldn’t think of anyone who would even think to come to your house. The knocking persisted and you figured you would just deal with it, whatever it was.
Slowly, you made your way to the door, picking up a metal bat on your way over. You slung it over your shoulder and chanced a glance through the peephole. The porch light was off so you didn’t see much and you didn’t think it would be smart to change that. The knocking was still there and you debated between calling the cops or just dealing with it yourself. You weighed the pros and cons, but made a decision as the pounding only got louder. With a deep breath, you threw the door open, ready to swing.
“Whoa there, Sammy Sosa, it’s just me.” Clint Barton, your old friend from S.H.I.E.L.D., said as he held his hands up in surrender.
“Son of a bitch, Clint, you scared the life out of me!” You said as you breathed a sigh of relief and hugged your best friend. The bat went clanging to the ground and you noticed he wasn’t alone.
“Yeah there’s been an incident,” He said, scratching his head with a sheepish look on his face, “I-well we- need a place to hideout for a little while.”
“Or course! Get inside, hurry up, all of you.” You ushered them inside and took a headcount.
Clint, Natasha, Steve, Thor, Tony, and Bruce. It was going to be a full house and they were already filling in the space. Nat was looking around at your quaint decorations while Steve stood politely in the foyer. Thor, still not used to Midgardian households, was peering inquisitively at the small colorful fish as they swam around the tank. Tony was peering around, obviously accustomed to a higher standard of living. Bruce was quietly minding his own business, making himself as small as possible so as not to cause a commotion.
“Thank you so much, Y/N, you know we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t an emergency.” Said Clint once everyone was safely inside.
“And he’ll take any excuse to come see you.” Quipped Natasha and Clint pushed her away.
“It’s okay, really I don’t mind.” You said, giggling at their interaction. “You guys look exhausted, I can show you all to your rooms. There’s a lot of space, but it might be a little tight.”
“Some of us won’t mind doubling up and are you sure it’s not too much trouble? There are seven of us after all.” Clint still looked a little worried so you puffed up your chest and put your hands on your hips in a show of confidence.
“Absolutely not! You would do the same if me and my superpowered friends showed up at your door in the middle of the night. Everyone, follow me!”
You led them all through your house, leaving them two by two in a room. There were three rooms total and you kept each one furnished with a bed or at least a pull out couch. It came in handy when your extended family, of which you had plenty, came for a visit. Had you anticipated that your house was going to turn into an Avengers bed and breakfast, you would have prepared a little more. Nonetheless, you paired them up and gave them extra blankets and pillows for their stay.
Steve and Natasha took the downstairs bedroom while Thor camped himself on the couch in the living room. It was an odd sight to behold when you saw him in his full battle gear pulling out the bed from the pullout couch. Tony and Bruce would be staying in the upstairs bedroom across the hall from your room and you could already hear him dictate the rooming arrangement. Clint followed you to the last bedroom towards the end of the hall and you opened the door to reveal a large bed and a dresser. It just so happened to be your bedroom and you were already running out of room.
“Um I can take the floor if that’s alright with you?” He asked nervously.
“You hate sleeping on the floor.” You said, recalling his high maintenance sleep regiment.
“Yeah, but you don’t have another couch and I don’t want to-” He began, but there was no way you were gonna let him sleep on the floor.
“Clint, shut up, we can share my bed. It’s not a big deal.” You shrugged as you pulled out some pajamas and tossed him a pair.
“The last time we shared a bed was back in Moscow, right before your last mission.” He said, a hint of a smirk etching itself onto his face.
You thought back to that day and you remembered it like it was yesterday. Those kisses and his soft touch all over your body. Just thinking about it sent shivers down your spine. In the days that followed you would take several bullets to your midsection and even more lacerations all over your body. There wasn’t even time for a proper goodbye because you nearly died then and there. Heat was rising to your cheeks for more reasons than one and you looked for an excuse to leave the room as soon as possible.
“Those should fit you and I’ll be right back after I hand the rest out to the troops.” You rushed the words out as you threw a pile of pajamas at him.
You didn’t even acknowledge his comment and he watched as you left with your arms full of clothes. You back tracked to all the rooms and dispersed the goodies. They mostly consisted of over-sized t shirts and sweatpants anyways so they fit just about everyone. Once everyone was dressed, you went around to all the rooms again and triple checked that they were alright.
“Y/N, you put Wendy Darling to shame.” Said Steve as you walked in with another armful of extra pillows.
“I just want to make sure you guys have everything you need.” You said innocently as you plopped the pillows down on the bed.
“We’re all just fine, Y/N,” said Natasha, keeping you in one place with her hands on your shoulders, “honestly, you’re doing too much. It’s three o'clock in the morning. Go. To. Bed.”
“Are you sure you don’t need-” You tried to ask, but Natasha was quite literally pushing you out the door.
“Yes, we’re sure now go get some sleep!” She good heartedly shut the door in your face and you trudged upstairs. The late night was finally getting to you and you collapsed into the bed next to Clint.
“I promise this is only temporary.” Said Clint as soon as you crawled under the covers with him.
“You guys can stay as long as you need to, Clint, it’s really no trouble. I actually kinda missed all of this.” You said with a slight shrug as you snuggled into the blankets, sleep slowly taking over.
“We missed you too, especially me.” He mumbled, his voice drowsy as he was on the edge of sleep as well. “Good night, Y/N.”
“Good night, Clint.” You said, a small smile settling on your face just before you passed out.
The sunshine snuck in through the curtains and hit Clint in the face. His eyes blinked open and squinted at the light as it pulled him out of his deep sleep. He was confused at first until his surroundings came into view and he recognized the familiarity of your room. His heartbeat slowed down a little as he had begun to panic and felt around the bed for you. However, it picked up again when he couldn’t find you.
Clint jumped out of the bed and raced downstairs. His socked feet slipped on the wood floor as he rounded the corner. Voices were coming from the kitchen so he headed there. Upon arrival, he found you showing Thor how to flip a pancake and the rest of the team crowded around your dining table.
“Ah, Barton!” Shouted Thor jovially when he saw Clint staring wide eyed at the scene before him. “You must see what Y/N taught me, watch.”
Thor proceeded to flip the pan with entirely too much force, causing the pancake to stick to the ceiling. He looked around until he saw it stuck up there and just about everyone nearly busted a gut laughing.
“Nice try, big guy, but I’ll take it from here.” You said kindly and took the pan out of his hand. “Good morning, sleepy head, I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever wake up.” You said to Clint as he joined you and the rest of the team.
“Yeah I guess I was pretty tired.” He said and he took a seat next to Natasha as she feasted on some eggs.
“That’s okay, are you hungry?” You didn’t let him answer and set a plate with a stack of pancakes, about a half dozen scrambled eggs, a pound of bacon, and several slices of toast down in front of him.
“I guess I am.” He instantly wolfed down half the food and you were glad to see he liked it.
“Good because there’s extras on the stove in case anyone else wants more. I gotta get to work, but stay as long as you need to, alright?”
“Work? I thought you retired from S.H.I.E.L.D.? Asked Tony through a mouthful of bacon.
“I picked up a job on the side at a law firm. Apparently retirement didn’t really suit me.” You said with a shrug as you snagged a cup of coffee and bolted out the door.
You knew them all on a personal level so you trusted that they wouldn’t blow the place up while you were gone. That didn’t stop you from worrying that they would be discovered. Different scenarios replayed in your head, each of them more gruesome than the last. It wasn’t as if you doubted their ability to defend themselves, they were obviously more than capable of doing so, but your maternal instinct was kicking in. Ok, and maybe you missed Clint and wanted to get back to him.
With all that in mind, you did what any reasonable woman in your shoes would do: You faked the stomach flu and took a sick day. They wouldn’t miss you and you had more important things to do anyways. You even pretended to gag a little bit on the way out for good measure. It was quite the performance and your boss totally bought it.
It was still the early afternoon when you were headed back to your secluded home and stopped for pizza on the way there. You had witnessed Thor’s eating habits first hand and Natasha definitely knew how to put it away so you grabbed enough pizzas to feed a small army. The aroma of gooey cheese and fresh dough must have made its way into your house because half the team met you outside when you pulled up.
“What are you doing home so early from work?” Asked Clint as he took the stack of pizzas from your hands.
“I felt like I was needed elsewhere,” You said, giving him a warm smile and followed him inside, “besides, I could already tell you’d be hungry and I don’t have enough food left to make dinner.”
“Oh so our Den Mother decided to feed us? That was nice of her.” Said Tony as he bit into slice of extra cheesy pizza.
“I know, I’m sorry I just wasn’t expecting so many houseguests.” You apologized and grabbed bottles of beer you had stashed in your fridge.
“I was joking, Y/N, you don’t have to do any of this and we’re all so grateful.” Tony said as he popped a beer open and the rest of the team nodded along with what he said.
“Yes, let us toast to our keeper!” Thor held up a can of coors light to you and everyone followed.
“To Y/N!” They all cheered and you tried to hide your blush.
The pizza lasted you all through the night and you moved the party to your patio. They caught you up on what you missed out on and you got to relive the good ole days again. You heard all about the most dangerous missions to date and you longed to be apart of those stories. Maybe it was the alcohol, but you were getting a little emotional over having missed out on so much.
“What do you say, Y/N, do you think you’ll ever come out of retirement?” Asked Steve as he munched the crust of his pizza.
“After the beating I took in Moscow? There’s no way I’d get clearance from anyone to go back into the field.” You absentmindedly rubbed at spot under your ribs.
“I thought that was just a cover up?” Natasha asked, never one to be out of the loop.
“I wish,” said Clint, “but no one’s put in as much work as Y/N. She deserved to get out and she deserves a good night’s sleep so let’s head inside.”
The team slowly packed up the show and shuffled inside. Once again, extra blankets and pillows were passed out and you gave everyone a fresh set of pajamas. You felt like their overprotective mother as you flitted from one room to the next, checking in on them. Your bed was calling to you and you finally trudged upstairs where Clint was already in bed so you followed suit.
“Sorry about all that with the retirement stuff,” said Clint once you closed the door, “they didn’t know it wasn’t your first choice after the accident.”
“It’s not their fault,” you said and shrugged off his apology, “I never thought that would be the way I’d go either so there’s no need to apologize.”
“We really do miss you, Y/N. Not just on missions, but when we’re at the tower and you’re not there, it feels like someone’s missing.”
“I was apart of the team for so long that it felt wrong to be on my own so I’m glad you’re all here, despite the circumstances.”
“If things were different-”
“Don’t think about what could have been, Clint, or we’ll never be able to sleep at night.” You cut him off because you knew what the rest of that sentence would be. You turned your back to him and shut off the lamp, leaving you both in complete darkness.
Soon enough, his breathing turned regular and you knew he’d fallen asleep. You were having less luck as you tossed and turned for a while. After several attempts to fall asleep you gave up entirely and got out of bed. You decided to make some tea to help you sleep, but you found Clint’s uniform on the ground.
Upon inspection, you noticed it had a few holes in it and other parts just looked a little worse for wear. You picked up the slightly tattered outfit and took it downstairs with you to the kitchen. While the water boiled, you pulled out a sewing kit and started patching up the holes as best you could. Once you wrapped up the repairs on his outfit, you took a peek around the house at everyone else’s. Just as you suspected, a few of them were in pretty bad shape too. Sleep wasn’t coming any time soon and the tea had done nothing for you so you set up your sewing station so you could quietly work on them.
“Y/N? What are you doing up so late?” Clint’s groggy voice startled you a bit and nearly caused you to poke your finger with the needle.
“Couldn’t sleep.” You said simply and held up the needle and thread.
“You are incorrigible, you know that?” He chuckled and joined you at the kitchen table.
“What did you want me to do? Your clothes were all holed up and I couldn’t leave them like that so now we’re here.”
“We never deserved you, ever.” He said, shaking his head at you as you continued to sew up Natasha’s spy suit.
“I never wanted to leave.” You said, almost too quiet for him to hear.
“We could find something for you back at S.H.I.E.L.D.,Y/N, ” Clint perked up a little and his words were rushed, “you don’t have to be out in the field.”
“Clint, I couldn’t go back unless it was to go out there and put my life on the line with you guys.” You heaved a heavy sigh that had been residing in your chest since the accident.
“Y/N, you don’t have to-”
“Clint, someone tipped off the wrong people that we’re here,” Steve came bursting in, still dressed in your sweatpants, “we need to go, now.”
“If you go now, I should be able to wipe any traces you might have left. After that, I can deal with whoever comes looking for you.” You said with confidence and the rest of the team came pouring into the dining room.
“We can’t just leave you.” Clint reached for your hand, but you pulled it away, afraid you would never let it go. Instead, you got up and started handing everyone their clothes so they could change.
“There’s no time for a proper goodbye, but take this,” you tossed Tony a pair of keys to an SUV, “and take the back road through the woods until you reach the next crtity over. It should give you a solid head start.”
Everyone was changed and the breaking sun shown some light on the car as Tony started the engine. Steve checked that they had everything they would need and you packed them a bag with lots of food and water for the drive. Almost everyone was piled into the car except for Clint who hung back.
“We can take you with us, it doesn’t have to be like this, Y/N.” He said to you as you stood planted in your doorway.
“Maybe,” you said sadly with crossed arms, “if things were different.”
“I’ll come back for you,” he said and cupped your face in his hands, “you can’t retire from me.”
He kissed you just as sweetly as he did in Moscow. You let him know how much you missed him in that kiss and hoped he understood. He pulled away from you too soon and ran to get in the car. You waved them off with a sad smile and knew in your heart that he would never leave you behind.
