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Bucky finds himself oddly excited for his first mission as a part of the Avengers. He had thought he would be filled with dread returning to the fight. And admittedly, he isn't looking forward to the absolute chaos of Steve throwing himself into every hopeless fight possible. But in a strange turn of events, instead of Steve, Bucky is partnered with Clint Barton. He suspects that they wanted one of the SHIELD agents to monitor him, but his and Natashas history would make it hard to provide an impartial report. Which makes Clint the best candidate.
Despite the obvious SHIELD monitoring, Bucky is actually looking forward to seeing Hawkeye in action.
He's seen Clint shoot before, like Bucky he's in the range at all hours of the day and night. Seeing Clint shoot is a thing of beauty. The archer can shoot for hours on end, and it seems to be the only time Clint is completely at peace. In his more energetic states, Clint shows off with impossible trick shots. Bucky has even seen the man do a handstand and shoot an arrow using his feet to draw the bowstring. He's not sure how useful a skill that is in combat, but it's certainly impressive.
Unfortunately, what should be a simple recon mission goes horrendously bad very quickly. In a miraculous turn of events, they make it out but Clint was sliced in the stomach with a nasty looking machete. Nothing that Bucky needs to worry about, he just needs to get Clint to a safe place so he can heal up.
They make it to the safe house, a filthy looking motel, and Clint practically collapses on the bed. He peels off his blood soaked body armour, revealing the deep cut which is freely bleeding.
'Your serum as botched as mine?' Bucky asks curiously as he gets a closer look at the wound. It should have at least scabbed over by now. For Steve it would be totally healed, but Bucky's takes longer and depends on his physical condition. He idly wonders if Hawkeye hasn't been eating enough when a confused voice pulls him from his thoughts.
'.... I ain't a super soldier Buck.'
Bucky blinks, processing the information. 'What?'
Clint just shrugs. 'I've never had any serum. Pass me the first aid kit?'
Bucky numbly obeys the order, grabbing the first aid kit from his backpack and handing it over. 'So you're just a plain human who's weapon of choice is a bow and arrow…?'
Clint laughs under his breath. 'Not only that, I'm a hearing impaired basic human.' He says, tapping his ears. 'My comms double as hearing aids.'
'What?!'
'You know that dog that hangs around the tower and mooches pizza?' Clint asks, looking like he's enjoying the moment despite actively bleeding out.
'Yes?'
'Service dog.'
Bucky looks at Clint, feeling as if he's actually seeing the archer for the first time. Clint looks dangerously pale and his hands are shaking as he reaches for the suture kit.
'Here, let me.' Bucky sits on the edge of the bed, taking the kit from Clint's shaking hands and prepares the wound. 'I don't understand …' He says as he makes sure everything is well disinfected now that he knows Clint would be susceptible to illness. 'You're the world's greatest marksman? You have every record. I've seen you shoot an arrow holding the bow in your feet?!'
'Old trick from my circus days.' Clint wheezes, leaning back against the headrest while Bucky works.
'Circus?!'
Clint grins despite his clear exhaustion. 'Oh yeah, I'm carnie trash.'
'...You're a clown.' Bucky realises as he starts stitching the man back up.
Clint hisses. 'Fuck you, I was an acrobat and a trickshot.'
'How…'
'Look, when it's a case of shoot perfectly or don't eat, you become a damn good shot.' He explains closing his eyes.
'Hey, stay with me while I stitch you up, okay Hotshot?'
Clint huffs but does manage to open his eyes.
'There you are. Come on, stay awake. Tell me about the circus.'
'Not much to tell.’ Clint grumbles. ‘I did the whole cliché run away to the circus thing as a kid.'
‘How the hell did you go from that to secret agent?’
‘The circus let me take the fall when the police realised the spree of robberies in the same cities the circus visited wasn't just a weird coincidence. I was on SHIELDS watchlist for my aim though. I guess one of the agents caught one of the shows? They offered to wipe my record if I worked for them.’
‘Christ…’ Bucky exhales as he wraps the wound in a bandage. ‘There…’
‘Thanks. Am I good to get some sleep now?’
‘Do you have a concussion?’
‘Relax. I didn't hit my head.’
‘Alright then.’
‘...You're not going to act all weird now that you know I’m just basic bitch human are you?’
‘Hard to say.’ Bucky replies honestly, still reeling from the new information.
Clint just lets out a small laugh and removes the rest of his clothes. Bucky very adamantly does not look until Clint is under the blankets. ‘Wake me up in a few hours okay? I’ll take over so you can get some sleep.’
‘Sure.’ Bucky responds, knowing he’s going to let Clint sleep as long as possible.
There's only one bed, but Bucky knows he isn't going to be getting any sleep. He sits in the small armchair, angling himself so that he can keep an eye on the sleeping Hawkeye and the door. After a while, his thoughts start to drive him crazy so he calls Steve.
'Hey Buck. Everything alright?'
'Why didn't you tell me Barton was human?'
There's a stunned pause before Steve answers. 'What did you think he was?'
'Like us. Super Soldier.'
'Oh Buck no he's just…'
'Human. I know.'
'Why'd you think that?'
'How else would you explain how he keeps up?' Bucky grumbles.
'He's a SHIELD agent. He's just good at his job.'
'You don't understand how impressive he is, Rogers. As team lead you need to acknowledge that.'
There's a fond tone to Steve's voice. 'Alright Buck.'
'He'll need a doctor when we return. I've patched him up but someone needs to look at it.'
Steve actually laughs at that. 'Good luck getting Clint to medical. He's pretty stubborn with it.'
'Hes vulnerable. And injured. He will be going to medical.'
Steve pauses.
'What?'
'Sorry you just… You sounded real Brooklyn there Buck.'
Bucky hums. 'Feels familiar I guess. Used to looking after disaster blonds who refuse to get the help they need.'
'Yeah yeah.' Steve replies fondly.
Clint moves in his sleep and Bucky reflexively holds his breath. He half expects Clint to stop breathing like Steve used to in the middle of the night, but Clint just pulls the blankets tighter and settles again.
‘You okay…?’
‘Yeah, just… he's amazing.’
‘Oh.’
‘Oh?’
‘You're falling for him.’ Steve says, sounding amused.
‘Wh-’
‘I should have seen it coming. You two are so alike.’
‘Shut it Rogers.’
Steve just laughs at him. ‘Alright. Try to get some rest Buck, I’ll see you soon.’
Bucky hangs up and can't help watching a while as Clint sleeps soundly.
Maybe he is falling for the archer.
Maybe that's not such a bad thing.
Clint starts to snore and Bucky can't help the fond smile that spreads across his face. ‘Definitely human.’ He mumbles to himself, contently settling in to keep watch for the rest of the night.