Chapter Text
“Clint, I have a special assignment for you,” Coulson said quietly and landed on the rim of his nest. Clint, who had been sleeping, yawned lazily, stretched his wings and sat up. And then he frowned.
“What are you doing up here, sir?” He asked. Coulson never came to their nests. Never. Their nests were their own refuge and he never entered them. It was something he just didn’t do.
“I have a special assignment,” Coulson repeated and folded his wings carefully. He hunkered down beside Clint.
“It’s… early,” he said. All the other cupids were still in their nests, he could see their wings shift, and it was dusky over Mount Olympus.
“But it’s important and I wanted to get this assignment. I had to be early or Diggle would’ve pestered Cupid to get it,” Coulson whispered conspiratorially.
“Okay,” he said carefully, folded his wings and wanted to rise. And then he remembered that he was naked under his blanket and he covered himself with his wings. “Can you…” he gestured at him and Coulson blushed and nodded.
“Of course. Meet me at the conciliabulum in five minutes,” he said, rose, unfolded his wings and flew away. Clint yawned again and moved to the rim of his nest to watch Coulson fly away. This had to be a really special assignment when he broke his own rule and visited Clint’s nest.
Clint rose, put on his tunic and folded his blanket. He yawned once more and finally flew down to meet Coulson. He found him at one of the balconies where they started their missions.
“So, why so secretive about this special” - he made air-quotes - “assignment?” Clint asked as soon as he was within earshot.
“It’s Steve Rogers,” Coulson said and beamed at him. Clint furrowed his brows and Coulson’s smile faltered.
“It’s who?” He couldn’t understand Coulson’s enthusiasm for everything human. They were so boring and short-lived, Clint didn’t even bother to find out what happened with them after he brought them together. But Coulson had a strange love for them.
“Steve Rogers. He’s a war hero and he’s brave and he’s… he’s great,” he explained. Clint sighed. It was way too early.
“Okay, and that’s why he’s so special?” He asked.
“It’s almost as prestigious to get Steve Rogers as to get Tony Stark and you had that one already,” Coulson nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay, okay, just… give me the details and the arrows and… the stuff, you know,” Clint said with a yawn. He folded his wings around himself because it was a little chilly, the sun would rise in about half an hour or so. “I need some caffeine,” he muttered, put the arrows into his quiver and shuffled away. He would start as soon as he was awake enough not to fly into a tree.
It wasn’t difficult to find Steve Rogers. Clint was a professional after all. He found him in a huge building in New York. And the other guy, Tony Stark, lived in the same building he found out, together with his husband, the one he almost had killed.
They were not alone, more people lived there, too. Clint saw a huge blonde guy with a blinding smile, a black guy in a suit, trying to tell the others about his adventures, two red-haired women, a curly haired man with glasses and a young girl in a red skirt and a black shirt. And he almost groaned when he saw that damned Pietro Maximoff speeding around. This guy had caused a lot of trouble that time when he had tried to get him together with his fiancé. Fortunately they couldn’t see him, otherwise they would see a very confused cupid right now, standing in a huge living room where a bunch of people were gathered around a huge TV and watching a movie. Something was going on here but Coulson, that bastard, didn’t bother to tell him why all these people lived here together. But in the end, Clint didn’t care. He was here to spread eternal love and happiness.
Beside Rogers sat one of the two red-haired women and Clint recognized her immediately as his mark, the one who was chosen for Rogers. Couldn’t be better, right? Just shoot at the two and go home.
He grabbed his bow, reached for the first arrow and just wanted to nock it when suddenly someone appeared in front of him.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing!” The someone yelled at him. And Clint almost dropped his bow because… the guy talked to him! And… and he had wings, too!
“What…” he blurted but the guy was already in front of him and spread his wings threateningly.
“Who are you!” He demanded and now Clint could see that one of his wings was a dark brown but the other one was a metallic gray and had red tips. “And what do you think you’re doing?” He snapped.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude, calm down,” Clint finally managed. “I won’t harm anyone.”
“Then why are you here with bow and arrows?”
“I’m just… I’m a cupid, I’m here to spread eternal love and happiness,” he said and the guy with the strange wings folded his arms over his chest and glared at him. “Who are you?” Clint wanted to know now.
“I’m Bucky,” he said.
“Ah.” Clint nodded and bowed down to pick up his bow. “Who?” He had no idea who the hell this Bucky guy was.
“I’m his guardian angel,” the other guy explained and pointed at Rogers, much calmer now and not as threatening as before.
“Oh, okay. Don’t worry, I won’t harm him. I’m just here to make sure he and Romanoff are getting together.” The guardian angel nodded, turned around and looked at them.
“Yeah,” he said and turned back. “But they are already together.” He frowned.
“Maybe,” Clint said and he felt a little awkward right now. “Uhm… do you mind…” he gestured at Rogers and Romanoff, who sat at the couch beside each other. Rogers had his arm around her waist and she had her head on his shoulder.
“How do I know that you won’t do anything harmful to him?” Bucky said and he squinted his eyes to glare at him once more. Clint sighed, reached for his quiver, took the parchment Coulson had given him and showed it to the guardian angel.
“See? It’s all official with Cupid’s seal and stuff, no harm will come to him, quite the contrary,” Clint said. “And it won’t even hurt,” he added. He didn’t dare to look at the black haired man who sat beside Tony Stark and had his arm around his waist, the one who almost bled out after Clint shot at him.
“But why did they sent a cupid to get them together? I mean, they already are a couple,” Bucky asked now. Clint sighed.
“Dude, why do you ask me? They give me the arrows and say go and shoot at them and I go and shoot at them. That’s it,” he huffed. “Apparently the higher-ups” - he made air-quotes - “want to make sure they stay together till the day they die. You know, eternal love and happiness,” he said with a grin now.
“Uh-huh.” Bucky cocked his head, looked from him to Rogers and back. “But why? I mean, what is so special about Steve?”
“Steve?” Clint cocked his head and then he scrutinized the angel. The way he had said the name told him more than the angel wanted to give away. “You know him?”
“I… I was his best friend a long time ago,” Bucky admitted. “That’s why I got the job as his guardian angel. I know that punk and his damn stunts,” he growled.
“Stunts?” Clint was confused now. But when Bucky sighed and sat down on one of the end tables, he followed him and sat down beside him. And then it hit him. “Wait… you’ve been a human?!” He blurted.
“Yes, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes at your service.” Bucky said and saluted sloppily. “And his best friend since childhood.”
“Wow. What happened?” Clint was curious. He had never met a guardian angel before.
“I fell from a train on a mission with him. I died and Michael offered me to get the job as his guardian angel,” Bucky said with a shrug. “So I can still keep an eye on him.”
“A mission? Oh, wait… Coulson said he’s a hero or something like this.” Clint grinned.
“Yes, he is. He’s Captain America,” Bucky shrugged now. “And he’s a little crazy.”
“I have no idea what that means,” Clint admitted.
“Captain America? Or that he’s crazy?” Bucky asked with a smirk.
“Both I guess,” Clint said. He watched the man who quietly whispered in Romanoff’s ear and hear her laughing. Stark threw a handful of popcorn in his direction and the huge guy with the blond hair laughed fondly.
“He’s a super-soldier and an Avenger and he thinks he’s indestructible. That’s why I lost a wing a few months ago. Had to save him when he jumped out of a plane without a parachute and…” Bucky sighed. “I got a new wing and that’s why they don’t match.”
“He jumped out of a plane without a parachute?” Clint blurted. These humans were really crazy! “And… and you lost your wing?” His eyes went wide.
“Yes, that’s… the fate of a guardian angel. We lose limbs sometimes,” Bucky said and shrugged again.
“Does it not hurt?” Clint asked carefully. He couldn’t imagine to lose one of his wings and in all his time no cupid ever lost a limb. But they were cupids, their job was to spread love and happiness and not to save idiotic humans who jumped out of planes without parachutes.
“Of course it does, but fortunately we have angels who can replace them. Wonders are great, I have to admit,” Bucky said with a grin.
“Wow, that’s…” Clint started but then he stopped. “What is an Avenger? You’ve mentioned Rogers is an Avenger but… I have no idea what that’s supposed to be?”
“Oh, the Avengers, they are a group of people who save the world repeatedly. They all are. Tony Stark is Iron Man, Loki, his husband, is… well… Loki, Thor over there is his brother. They are aliens,” Bucky explained and Clint managed not to blush when he mentioned Loki. “Steve is Captain America, Natasha is the Black Widow, Pietro is Quicksilver, James is War Machine and Wanda is Scarlett Witch,” Bucky introduced all of them. Clint nodded and pointed at the other red-haired woman in the room.
“And who’s that?”
“Pepper Potts. Tony’s ex-girlfriend,” he said and this time Clint blushed. And Bucky saw it. He frowned.
“Yeah, I guess… I guess that one’s on me. They were my mission,” he admitted.
“You brought them together?” Bucky blurted and stared at him, then at Stark and Loki and then back at him. “But… but why? Tony and Pepper were happy.”
“Still the same, I don’t need to know. “Look, they don’t send one of us for everyone. But there are pairings that need to happen and then we appear on the scene and make sure that these people get together. Why? We don’t need to know and so we don’t ask. Are the people we brought together happy? They definitely are and they have a guarantee that their relationship will work till the day they die even if they don’t know that. These are the couples authors write novels and poems and songs about. Eternal love and happiness, remember?”
“That sounds a lot like arbitrariness,” Bucky muttered.
“Hey, I don’t know why they have to be together but believe me, when we bring someone together it’s the best choice, then there’s a reason why they have to be together. And it’s not that they would suffer.” Clint defended his job. “They are happy till the day they die and that’s not a joke.”
“Okay,” Bucky finally nodded and looked over his shoulder at Rogers. He smiled at Romanoff and both seemed happy already.
“So… the Avengers, huh? Who are they and what do they do?” Clint asked and Bucky rolled his eyes.
“Dude, you have no idea what I have to go through since Steve is their fearless leader!” Bucky said, threw his arms in the air in desperation and leaned back against the wall. “Last week for example they were called to stop a bunch of Doombots and…”
“... and then he said ‘I’ve punched out Adolf Hitler 200 times and you think I can’t take it up with a pip-squeak like you?” Bucky said laughing and wiped away a tear that run over his face. And Clint almost fell off of the end table, too. His stories were so hilarious and he had shared a few of his own stories with Bucky.
The Avengers were sprawled sleeping all over the couches and no one looked at the TV anymore. But just when Clint opened his mouth to share another one of his stories his bracelet warmed up.
“Shit,” he cursed. “I have to go. My handler calls me,” he said and showed Bucky the metal band around his wrist.
“Don’t you have a job to do first?” Bucky asked and nodded in Roger’s direction. Clint turned, looked at the sleeping man, slapped his forehead and grinned.
“Right! Thanks! So, you won’t hit me when I shoot at your friend?” He asked, his head cocked and a grin on his lips.
“No, eternal love and happiness, remember,” Bucky said now. “Go ahead.”
He reached for his bow and the arrows and now Bucky frowned. “They are like five feet away from you. Why don’t you just stab them with the arrows?”
Clint winked and nocked the first arrow. “The magic happens only with the bow,” he said, drew, aimed and the first arrow landed in Romanoff’s neck. And then he shot the second arrow in Roger’s neck. Both shifted slightly, sighed and snuggled up even closer.
“That was it?” Bucky asked and frowned again.
“What did you expect? Fireworks and butterflies and flying hearts?” Clint asked with a smirk.
“No, but… I don’t know… maybe yes,” Bucky shrugged.
“They were really close already, so the effect is only minimal,” he admitted. “But believe me, when they are awake you will see the difference.”
“Oh, okay.” Bucky nodded. Clint’s bracelet warmed up again.
“Sorry, my handler is… persistent. But…” He stopped and Bucky nodded.
“Maybe we meet again,” he finished Clint’s sentence.
“Yeah,” he said and nodded, too. “So, it was… you know… nice to talk to someone who isn’t a cupid. And you’re pretty cool for a guardian angel.”
“Hey,” Bucky replied mock offended but he smiled. “You’re pretty fly as well,” he added with a wink as well. Clint’s bracelet warmed up once more and this time it felt urgent.
“So, see you around,” Clint said, waved and finally flew away. He looked over his shoulder only to see Bucky sit down on the end table again and watching over his former best friend who had no idea that he was still with him all the time.
“Where have you been so long?” Coulson snapped as soon as he landed at the conciliabulum. He had his arms folded over his chest and a very, very bland expression and everyone, who knew Coulson, knew that this was his angry face.
“I… I met Rogers guardian angel,” he admitted without hesitation. Coulson would find out nevertheless and so he could spare him time. “Did you know that his former best friend watches over him? And that he lost his wing watching over him? And that he has lots and lots of funny stories? And that...”
“You met Bucky Barnes?” Coulson asked and Clint nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, he’s…” he started but then he stopped and cocked his head. “Why do you know so much about Rogers?”
Coulson was quiet for a long moment but then he gestured at one of the balconies around the conciliabulum where they started and landed. He sat down on the broad balustrade and sighed. “You remember that I took some time off some time ago?” He asked and Clint nodded. “I asked Cupid for a vacation” - this time Coulson made air-quotes - “and he granted it to me. I lived on Earth for a few years.” When Clint’s eyes went wide Coulson added. “Their time reckoning, not ours.” Clint nodded quietly. Time on Earth ran differently than here on Mount Olympus. “I worked with a man called Nick Fury and… and that’s where I learned everything about Captain America. And that’s why I wanted to have this assignment,” he added with a smile.
“You lived as a human?” Clint asked and Coulson nodded. “Wow, I didn’t know that.”
“I know. Only Cupid himself knows about it. And you now.” Coulson looked over the balustrade down along Mount Olympus to the clouds and he knew that Earth was below them.
“Sir,” Clint said carefully after a long moment of silence and when Coulson looked at him he bit his lip for a second before he continued. “Do you think… do you think it’s possible… you know… to see Bucky again? I mean… as a friend?”
“But you have lots of friends here?” Coulson asked and Clint sighed.
“I know, but… he’s different. He knows so many funny stories and all of the other cupids do the same stuff I do every day.”
Coulson scrutinized him but then a kind smile appeared on his face.
“Of course, Clint. I still meet Nick Fury every now and then, he’s my friend and you can have friends outside of Cupid Rock, too.” Coulson rose and went over to him. “As long as you don’t forget your job.” He added then. And Clint beamed at him.
“Thank you, sir,” he blurted and grinned broadly. He wouldn’t forget about his job, he knew that it was important but the prospect of meeting Bucky again made him grin the rest of the evening. He had a friend now, a friend who wasn’t a cupid like himself and he looked forward to see him again.