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It’s been a long time since Clint has done a performance like this. The cheering crowd, the flashing lights, it’s all a bit much.
Not that he’s not up for it. He can put on a fake smile and play up his skills with the best of them. He did it for years in the circus and he can do it again now, even though he’s pretty sure none of the people in the crowd are actually there to see him. They want to see Tony fly around and Cap throw his shield. Clint is just the opening act.
He’s behind the long, red, white, and blue curtain, waiting for the signal to get out there and he feels a rush of nerves that surprises him a little. He’s always loved to perform. No reason this should be any different. The targets they have out there aren’t even moving. He could make these shots standing on his head. Maybe he will, just to make it a challenge.
A hand closes around Clint’s shoulder and he turns to see that Bucky has joined him. Bucky wasn’t invited to participate in the showcase, which Clint thinks is deeply unfair, but Bucky just shrugged it off.
Bucky says something, but with the noise, Clint has turned down his aids and can’t hear a word. He points at his ears and Bucky grins, leaning in to press a kiss to Clint’s cheek.
“Good luck,” he mouths clearly to Clint, squeezing his shoulder once more before disappearing back into the wings. The feeling of his hand on Clint’s body lingers and Clint isn’t so focused on the show anymore.
Clint does a somersault to enter the stage and stands up with his hands over his head and a wide smile on his face. He might not be who they came to see, but he’s going to give them a show.
A few shots later, with a cartwheel and a behind-the-back shot thrown in for good measure, and Clint is back behind the curtain, hardly watching as Tony soars in from the back of the crowd. Clint spots Bucky and lets himself be wrapped up in a fierce hug.
The hug turns into something else when Bucky starts kissing down Clint’s neck, murmuring something that vibrates against Clint’s skin.
“What?” Clint says, pulling away and turning his aids up a fraction so he can hear Bucky a little better.
Bucky tugs him away from the stage entirely with a smirk. “Watching you shoot like that…” He trails off, tongue tracing over Clint’s jawline.
“Let’s go home,” Clint says, winding his fingers through Bucky’s and nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste to get them back to the Tower to finish what they’ve started.