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“Any passengers who need a little extra time to load, families with children under 3, and veterans may now board.”
“That’s us,” said Clint, standing up and taking his own and Tony’s bag over his shoulder.
“I can get it,” said Tony softly. He already hated that he needed extra time to get on an airplane and had to load with all the babies, he didn’t want Clint to have to hold his bag as well.
“I know,” said Clint with a grin. “But Phil’s carrying Steve’s bag and I don’t want to get shown up.”
Steve was the entire reason they were even taking this trip. There was a doctor with some experimental treatment that could help people like Steve who suffered from multiple medical issues. Steve had gotten in on the clinical trial and Phil had thought it would also make a nice family trip.
Bucky took the window seat where his arm was next to the window covered in a black hoodie. Tony took the seat next to him by the aisle. He folded up his cane and slid it under the seat in front of him. As much as he hated his cane it was easier than the wheelchair for the small plane and his crutches were too large and had to be checked.
“Well this is cozy,” said Clint, sitting across from Tony in the middle row. Steve was next to him in the middle seat and Phil was on Steve’s other side.
“I swear plane seats are getting smaller and smaller,” grumbled Phil.
“Or you’re getting fatter,” said Steve with a smirk.
“How you boys doing?” asked Clint as more people started filtering in.
“Fine,” said Bucky. “Tony, your foot is sticking out.”
Tony looked down and saw that indeed, his foot was in the aisle. He moved his leg and pulled is back in.
“Thanks,” said Tony.
“Hey, why don’t you two go through the list of things to do while we wait for this plane to take off?” suggested Clint.
Bucky rolled his eyes but took out the list that Phil had created and started reading it with Tony. He knew it was more to distract Tony than anything else. Steve was a nervous flyer which was why Phil and Clint always sat with him. Bucky didn’t really care about flying, but they had never taken Tony on a plane.
“What if we just stayed in the hotel room and ordered pizza and went nowhere,” said Tony.
“Please direct your attention to the flight attendants as they give you a brief safety briefing.”
Tony watched and counted the seats to the nearest exit. He read the sheet in front of him and then the plane was taking off. Bucky fell asleep shortly after takeoff and Tony took out a book and read the entire time. Clint kept an eye on them but they were perfectly fine until they hit a bit of turbulence. Steve started to panic.
“Bucky, is the plane supposed to do that?” hissed Tony, clutching Bucky’s arm tightly when the shaking continued.
“Yeah,” yawned Bucky, blinking awake so he could pay attention to Tony. “I mean, it’s not ideal but sometimes the plane hits air pockets and makes it shake. Doesn’t usually last long and I don’t think a plane has ever actually crashed because of turbulence though.”
“Okay,” said Tony, taking a deep breath. “I think I need a book about planes.”
“There’s a bookstore close to our hotel,” said Bucky. “Pops would love to buy you a book about planes.”
“Um, sir, is this yours?” asked a flight attendant, holding out Tony’s folded up cane to the older man sitting in front of Tony.
“That’s mine,” said Tony, blushing. “Must have rolled out during the turbulence.”
“Aren’t you a little young for a cane?” said the attendant with a frown.
“And you’re a little old to be asking dumb questions,” snapped Bucky.
“Bucky it’s fine,” said Tony softly. “She doesn’t know, it’s a normal question to ask.”
Bucky leaned over and snatched the cane from the attendant before putting it in his own lap. The woman moved on and the rest of the flight was uneventful until it came to unloading. Everyone seemed to be in such a hurry to leave that they all got up at once. The push of bodies made Tony start to feel crowded. He pushed back, away from where everyone was standing.
“Here,” chuckled Bucky, lifting the armrest and pulling Tony onto his lap and further from the strangers.
“Thanks,” said Tony, panting slightly, his eyes wide with fear.
“You’re fine,” said Bucky calmly to the almost nine year old. “It’ll be over soon. Next time we can see if we can sit up front or I’ll switch you seats when it gets close to landing. Sound good?”
Tony nodded but kept his eyes on the crowd of people slowly filtering by them. Clint saw them from across the aisle and told Phil to wait until everyone was out before trying to leave. By the time everyone was away Tony was calmer but still shaking.
“Alright, come on kiddo, up you go,” said Clint, reaching down and pulling Tony into his arms. “Let’ go get our bags. Phil?”
“I’ve got the boys and the bags, go wait outside,” said Phil with an understanding smile.
For once Tony didn’t argue, didn’t try to insist that he was fine and could do it himself, he just buried his face in Clint’s neck and let the older man carry him.
“I know, it’s been a hard day,” said Clint softly. “We’re going to get our bags and go to the hotel, okay? Then we’ll just relax. Do you want to order pizza? We can order pizza, okay?’
Tony nodded, not removing his face from his hiding place. It was safe and warm and Clint was so solid that Tony felt like nothing bad could happen to him as long as Tony stayed with him.
“Okay, we’ll do that,” said Clint with a smile. “We’ll order pizza and maybe watch a movie. We got two bedrooms but they connect through a shared door. After treatment Steve was planning on staying in the room with Phil and me so you and Bucky get the entire room to yourselves. That should be fun.”
They entered the baggage claim and the noise level picked up. Tony couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped him but instead of a reprimand or a scoff, Clint just held him closer and continued to talk.
“As soon as Phil gets here with Bucky and Steve we’ll go outside and find a nice, quiet place to sit,” said Clint.
He didn’t care about the looks he was getting from people for holding a boy that was too old to be carried around. He didn’t care what they thought, it wasn’t their business. They didn’t know Tony, they didn’t know the kid got scared in small spaces because his mom used to lock him in his closet when she had people over, often for hours on end. They didn’t know that it had only been in the last two weeks that Tony felt comfortable enough with them that he allowed them to comfort him after nightmares. They didn’t know any of that and they could stare all they wanted because Clint was not about to take away comfort from his kid just to get strangers to stop staring.
“Hey, how are we doing?” said Phil, joining Clint with the two other boys in tow.
“We’ve been making plans for when we get to the hotel,” said Clint. “We were thinking about ordering a pizza and having a quiet night in. What do you guys think?”
“Sounds good,” said Phil. “We’ll grab the bags, why don’t you two go out and get a cab for us? It might be more difficult to find a van.”
“On it,” said Clint. “See you outside.”
When they reached the hotel Clint let Phil do all the talking and checking in while he sat with the boys on the couch. Tony was still jumpy and clingy and Clint had never been more proud of his sons than that moment when they didn’t tease Tony at all and were totally willing to go along with whatever would make him feel better, even Steve who had thought he would be calling most of the shots on the trip. Clint had been worried about Tony being so much younger than Steve and Bucky, worried that they wouldn’t bond like Bucky and Steve had, but now he could see it wasn’t true. Tony, without trying, had managed to get both Steve and Bucky wrapped around his little finger.
They settled into the rooms, ordered pizza, and Tony fell asleep halfway through the movie, curled up next to Clint on the king sized bed, Bucky on his other side while Phil and Steve were on the couch.
“I’m going to put this one to bed,” whispered Clint, easily scooping up Tony and carrying him to the next room.
Steve and Bucky had decided to share a queen sized bed, allowing Tony the one closest to the bathroom and adjoining door. Clint had gotten Tony to change into his pajamas before starting the movie, so he simply pulled back the covers and laid Tony down.
“Sleep well Tony,” whispered Clint, tucking Tony in and making sure his crutches and cane were in easy reaching distance. “Tomorrow will be a better day.”
“Night Dad,” mumbled Tony, curling into the blankets more, still mostly asleep.
“Good night, Tony,” said Clint with a smile. “I love you too.”