Work Text:
It's not often Bucky finds himself on the end of a gun with someone he knows holding the weapon. He's kept his arms raised ever since he turned around and came face to face with the 9mm, the only movement coming from the gentle rock of the yacht as it lay anchored in the middle of the ocean. No man's land. While Bucky had expected to see someone on the boat, there was something cold about seeing Clint brandishing the weapon and knowing that he wasn't here for their usually rumble in the sheets. He couldn't admit to himself that he was disappointed but he was, because Clint was more important to him than any treasure yet here the other was aiming a gun at him like he was nothing but a stranger.
"If you wanted to make things a little more exciting in the bedroom Clint, you coulda just asked."
"Shut up," snapped Clint in reply, oh how it was heart breaking. To wake up one morning with Aleksander Lukin leaning over him, several armed men around the room and instruction that he was being hired to find some sort of Golden Arrow that had been stolen from Lukin's possession. As Clint had gotten up he had suspected the artifact hadn't been stolen from Lukin at all but work was work and there as of late it had been scarce. He'd accepted, naturally and had begun his search, receiving word two weeks later from Bucky that he was near the end of a job as well and it would be great to meet. Clint had laughed at the irony and accepted then felt sick when he realised Bucky had been after the same artifact and had obtained it. Safe to say Lukin hadn't been happy and Clint still carried the bruises from the beating.
That wasn't the worst of it though. What was worse was that Lukin had gotten ahold of Bucky's boat and lined the hull with explosives, had planned to blow it sky high until Clint had desperately pleaded with the man and assured him he could get the Arrow without any blood shed. Lukin had relented eventually, especially when Clint had spun some shit line about the arrow being affected by the heat of the explosion. While Clint's original plan had been to warn James, the wire they attached under his clothes as they pulled up a few feet from the rendezvous point had messed up any hope James had of warning him.
So here he was on Bucky's boat, brandishing a weapon rather than dinner and threatening to shoot him over fucking him, Lukin's promise of blowing them both up if Clint failed still ringing in his ears. Seeing the shock and hurt in Bucky's eyes had to be the cruelest part of the whole thing. Still, needs must and maybe Bucky would forgive him once he knew why Clint was breaking their one rule.
They don't steal from one another.
"Now give me the fucking Arrow. I know you've got it Bucky and I don't really want to spend half an hour standing here while you pretend to look for it. Give me the artifact or I blow your brains out all over the mahogany." Clint felt his heart sinking with every word but the faster he got this done, the faster he could get Lukin away from the boat and away from Bucky. Yet even as he spoke, there was a flicker of deeper hurt across Bucky's face and then it set in steely anger.
"Really Clint? You're going to shoot me if I don't give you the Arrow? Did you lose your balls in Thailand or just your brain because there's acting like a dick and then there's acting like this and frankly I'm offended that you even thought I'd be weak enough to fall for a threat like th--!" Bucky was cut off by Clint aiming to the left and firing off two rounds into the wood behind him, Bucky flinching with each shot and raising his hands a little higher. "Jesus okay!!" What the hell had gotten into Clint? This wasn't like him, but then the more Bucky thought about it, the more he realised that they didn't really know each other. After all, everyone had a price.
Clint felt sick. Sicker than sick and for a moment he nearly gave in, the thought of one last kiss before being engulfed in flame was a rather good thought. But before he could speak, Bucky was moving to the side wall on shaky legs and pulling away one of the planks to reveal the safe on the other side. He typed in the code and pulled open the door to reveal the Golden Arrow resting on a cushion. Clint's more than a little surprised when Bucky picks it up and hands it over without a word. So he takes it, slips it in his pocket and takes a step backwards. Bucky's gaze is down, his shoulders tight and hunched and Clint knows that he's severing any and all ties with him and there's not a thing he can do to stop him. But he'd rather lose Bucky than see him murdered, so each sacrifice must be made. Clint mutters a brief "Thanks" and heads for the door.
"If I see you again, I'll kill you,"Bucky mutters, breaking his silence to shook Clint's retreating back a glare. Clint pauses in his steps and half glances back. "I wouldn't expect anything less." Then he's gone, climbing up the stairs and on deck, then down to the small speedboat tied along side. He uses that to get back to Lukin's yacht, wondering if he could use the weapon on that bastard once they were far enough away.
He reaches Lukin's yacht about five minutes later, allowing the mercenaries to pull his boat in and help him aboard. He's led down below deck to where Lukin is still sitting only this time the man had on some headphones. He pulled them off when he caught sight of Clint and leaned forward, holding out his hand. "It would seem Mr Barton that you were a little more acquainted with that hunter than you first informed us hmm? Where is it?"
"Where's what?" muttered Clint, only to double over when an elbow slammed into his gut and he ended up bracing his hands on his knee's and gasping for air. "Oh y'mean the Arrow?" He was about to say in his pocket but already hands were rummaging over him and his cries of protest were silenced with a huff when the man on his right located the Arrow and handed it over to Lukin who proceeded to examine it. Seemingly satisfied, he nodded and waved a hand as he turned away. "Take him upstairs and let him enjoy the fireworks."
"Fireworks?" Clint's question went unanswered and as he was dragged up the stairs again, a cold panic settled into his gut. No, no they couldn't mean... they couldn't! Two seconds after he was shoved towards the railing and caught sight of Bucky's yacht, the water craft was engulfed in a ball of fire with an explosion that had enough force to rock Lukin's yacht all the way over here. Clint's scream of horror was drowned out by the roaring boom that spread over the water and he was unsure if it was the force of the blast of the devastation that had him crashing to the deck. Everyone else remained standing to Clint vaguely assumed it was the hurt.
Liars. Betrayers. Bastards! Clint pulled himself to his feet with a cry of anger, only managing to punch one man in the jaw before a bullet ripped through his side and he toppled backwards over the railing and crashed in the water below. From there, several men moved forward and opened fire on the ripple Clint's body left behind, emptying clip after clip into the deep blue until there was nothing left but a few shell casings floating in the water. The man that had been punched was rubbing his jaw when his radio buzzed into life and Lukin ordered everyone to finish preparations to get them moving because he wanted to go home. With a final glance at the water, he ordered his men to disperse.
It was only 20 minutes later when they finally set sail that someone reported the speedboat missing.
***
When Clint finally came to several hours later, his head was throbbing from the impact with the water, his side a dull ache from the bullet and for a few hazy moments he feared Lukin's men had dragged him out of the water and he was about to face some sort of of sick interrogation. He was definitely on a boat, he could hear the lap of water against the side, feel a brush of wind across his cheeks but he didn't dare open his eyes for fear of what he would find. Not did he want to face the sickening reality that his actions to keep Bucky safe and alive had failed. At least until he heard a voice.
"You gonna lie there all day?"
Clint's eyes snapped open at that, blinking a few times to combat the glare of the blue sky above him before leaning up on his elbows and staring in shock at the owner of that honey tone. Sure enough, perched near the motor was Bucky, naked from the waist up but alive and not blown to pieces. "Bucky? But... but your yacht, I saw it. I saw it blow up I saw everything blast across the water like it was nothing more than matchsticks and you were... you were..." Clint's stomach heaved at the thought and he had to quickly fall silent and swallow to combat the rising bile. It was then he noticed where they were, a hand sliding around himself to press an support the wound and he was once more surprised at the bandages he found there. "The speedboat?"
"You think I didn't know someone else was after the Arrow? C'mon Clint, it's me," Bucky grinned, sliding forward a little. "I knew all about Aleksander and what he was capable of, I have to admit I was a little surprised when your name came up on his records but you forget I know you too. The C4 he laid all over my boat was a surprise though, it was a stroke of luck I decided to follow you and find out why the fuck you broke out rule. Made sense when my boat got destroyed but I'd made it to the speed boat by then so..." Bucky shrugged it off and it became clear to Clint that Bucky's last words of 'If I see you again I'll kill you' had not been for him at all, but for Lukin. Clint wasn't sure what to say, relief and apologies rising up all at once.
"I'm so sorry, the things I said and the shooting. I didn't-- I'd never-- I'm sorry."
"Hey, hey..." Bucky slid forward once more, easing Clint back down when he tried to rise up. "If someone was going to blow you up with a shit tone of C4 I think i'd have done the same thing. It's okay, it's okay!"Bucky's heart clenched when he saw tears well up in Clint's eyes and the choked 'I thought you were dead' made emotion claw up his own throat. "Well when you went over the side I thought you were aswell," Bucky admitted, shuffling into the gap next to Clint and cupping his face, pressing a slow, tender kiss to his lips. From there, Clint's emotions caught up and probably the pain as well from the hiccup and sob that tore from him, but Bucky simply laid there next to him, soothing his chest and drying his tears. Eventually Clint calmed enough to notice they weren't moving and he turned his gaze to Bucky, half wondering about painkillers.
"We're not moving?"
"No. Ran out of gas in the motor."
"Where are we then?"
"Fuck knows."
"Crap... ow."
"Sore?"
"Yeah... fuck it hurts."
"You know, pleasure's a great body induced painkiller."
"...--jesus christ."