Work Text:
1. “Want to.” Sugarland
They’d flirted for weeks after Thor went back over the rainbow. All their bickering and bantering finally led them to a long weekend spent in the only hotel in town. When their time together was up, she’d told him she wanted to give them a go, but only if he wanted the same. They’d decided to risk the fall; she’d stay with Jane and finish her degree. He’d go off to “classified” and do things he couldn’t tell her. They’d see if they could make following their separate paths together work. They’d made no promises beyond having no regrets. She’d walked away with hope in her heart and his ring around her neck; he’d tucked his shirt she’d worn that weekend (the few times they were clothed) away in his bag. It was a little bit High school, but kind of perfect for them.
************************
#2 “Give a little more.” Maroon 5
Clint sighed as Darcy slipped out of his door yet again leaving him with a scowl on his face, and a problem he’d have to handle himself, ‘cuz a cold shower wasn’t gonna cut it this time.
He was frustrated, and not just sexually. He didn’t know where to go from here, or what she was looking for from him. It had all started with harmless flirting, and moved on to real flirting and stolen kisses. He wanted her in his bed, but he also wanted something more. He tried asking her on dates, and that lead to their current holding pattern of nights out and making out like teenagers. It wasn’t what he wanted, but he wasn’t willing to put himself out there, if she wasn’t gonna give him something in return. He’d been down the unrequited road before, and he was trying to avoid ever going through that shitfest again. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure he was gonna fall for her in the end, either way.
************************
#3 “The promise and the threat.” Evans Blue
They were so different from one another. It shouldn’t work. Sometimes she wasn’t sure it did. She didn’t know if love was enough. It was hard to see past the masks they wore for the world, and let each other behind the walls they’d built around their hearts. They were always spinning, sometimes in a whirlwind, other times like a downward spiral.
They could destroy one another, or they could break down those walls and be vulnerable. She never knew if that was more a promise or threat.
************************
#4 “Incomplete.” Sisqo
Clint missed her. He caught a whiff of her perfume in the hall, and his mind flashed to sassy smiles, rambling commentary and sharp tongued banter. Soft curves and the way they felt in his hands as she arched under him. It’d been almost a year, and he still couldn’t let her go.
She’d been his everything. She’d filled the spaces in his life he hadn’t known existed. But like the jackass he’d always been, he’d walked away after she bared her heart to him. He hadn’t been sure it was love. Wasn’t sure he wanted to be tied down. She’d said she understood, but he can still see the pain in her eyes as the pictures of him and all the other women flooded the media. He hadn’t handled being thrust into the public eye well, and she’d suffered from the fallout of his sudden rise to fame. As a Shield agent, he’d been a ghost, but Avengers weren’t allowed that anonymity. Sure, he might have access to the most lavish things Stark’s money and his own status as a “superhero” could provide, but he’d realized too late that it really wasn’t anything without her.
************************
#5 “Should’ve said no.” Taylor Swift
She wasn’t surprised it was him at her door. She’d known he’d show up sooner or later. She knew her eyes are red and puffy, rimmed with dark circles. She’d wiped away the tear tracks, but it was obvious she’d been crying. A small part of her was ashamed, to let him see her like that. A bigger part was pissed off – he didn’t deserve to see her pain. Her days of laying herself bare to him were over.
She’d listened to him beg; saw the pleading in his eyes. He’d said all the right things as he tried to explain, but it all felt so wrong. None of it should have ever happened. He shouldn’t have let them go so easily.
She’d wanted to ask if it’d been worth it. Was the little blonde bitch worth losing everything they had shared? All they’d been? But she hadn’t, because it really didn’t matter. Instead she’d just forced him to take the box of his things she’d packed up, and really how much more cliché the situation get, and moved back towards the door, “you should’ve said no.”
************************
#6 “There goes my baby.” Usher
Clint watched Darcy circle the large conference room table, passing out briefs. For once Shield was playing nice, so it was an inter-agency task force meeting. Being included was a big deal for her. He gave the proceedings just enough attention to keep up, and keep Coulson off his ass, the rest of his considerable focus was trained on her.
She hadn’t been off his mind since she slipped into her red soled heels that morning. A gift from Pepper, they weren’t her normal office wear, but she’d needed a little boost of confidence for the meeting, and they made her feel “badass”. They made Clint feel something else entirely.
He was using all of his well-honed patience waiting for the moment he could wrap his arms around her, drag her back to their place and peel everything off her delectable body, except the shoes. He might have a little bit of a fetish. Until then he’d just keep his eyes on his favorite target – his baby girl.
************************
#7“I just can’t live a lie.” Carrie Underwood.
Clint walks out the door without word, right in the middle of yet another argument. Darcy stands with her fists clenched, fighting back tears. She wants to throw something, to scream, rip out her hair; destroy their living room. Run. Everything she does lately seems to be wrong; everything she says pushes him further away. She knows his last mission went sideways, she doesn’t know the details, but the haunted look in his eyes tells her enough. It hurts that she can’t help him. That he won’t let her.
Some days she thinks it would be so much easier to call it quits. Tells herself to just get over him and go live a more carefree life. Maybe even find a ‘normal’ guy and try to move on. Those thoughts never gain much traction. Any life without him would be one big lie, and Darcy’s a lot of things, but a liar she is not. The truth is, sometimes being in a relationship with Hawkeye is fucking hard, but loving Clint – that’s as easy as breathing. So, she’ll take a real life with him, over a lie with anyone else.
************************
#8 “Love your memory.” Miranda Lambert
Darcy smiled as she placed a stuffed purple monkey into the box she was filling. She nestled it in next to a black t-shirt, and her old lime green i-pod. She could still remember the look on Clint’s face when she’d thrown her arms around him when he’d returned it to her. She’d always called it their ‘meet cute’ moment. Too bad they weren’t living in a rom-com. She took a long sip of wine and stared at the last thing waiting to be packed away. The little gold arrow necklace glinted dully up at her; she tried in vain not to think about the similar one worn by Natasha.
Sometimes she didn’t even know why they’d tried. She was never going to be what he wanted. She stopped herself right there. Tonight wasn’t about the hurt. She was done with all the pain.
She didn’t want to see Clint or touch him. She didn’t want to miss him either. All she really wanted was to fill her box with mementos, and love the memory of him.
************************
#9 “I wanna be down.” Brandy
Darcy wanted Clint. She’ll admit at first it was mostly the arms, ass and occasional smirk that got her attention. But the longer she was around him, the more he let her in, the less she ogled and the more she saw. It was obvious he wasn’t okay. He was still trying to shake his experience with Loki and the aftermath. She wanted to be there for him. As they spent more time together her feelings grew, from lust, to affection, to maybe could be love. She made it her mission to be there for him, in whatever way he’d let her. And she made clear her belief, that if he gave her a chance, they could be something special.
But he was skittish. Not quite ready for a real relationship. But that was okay, because he kept letting her in little by little. She could work with that. Contrary to popular belief, Darcy could do patient. She’d make him see it her way eventually.
************************
#10 “I need you.” Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
Some days Clint wanted to climb into a bottle of whiskey. Or jump in his car and just go without looking back. Some days he wanted to let it all fall away. Those were the times he held Darcy tighter and waited for the urges to fade. He needed her. She grounded him and gave him something to hold on to, something to make it all real, and worth all the crazy. He needed that, wanted that, more than he needed an escape from life’s problems.
And against all odds, she claimed she needed him too. Clint figured that made him a lucky son-of-a bitch. And if that meant he drank a little less, held on when everything in him said run, and jumped off a few less buildings…well, he figured it was worth it. She was worth it.