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Bucky may not have been actively waiting for Clint's arrival but he can't stop the fond smile that crosses his face when he hears the elevator doors open, signalling the archers return. He gets up to grab Clint's mug to fill it with coffee, stubbornly ignoring the annoyingly smug look on Steve's face as he watches.
Initially, Bucky had avoided Clint, mostly because Steve was so pushy about the pair of them getting to know each other. He was mostly just being stubborn but he can't deny that Steve was right. Clint had found him on the roof in the middle of one of many sleepless nights. He had taken one look at Bucky and dragged him down to the range. The other Avengers had banned him from handling weapons, but Clint just passed him a revolver and teased his way into what became a relatively heated marksman competition. Clint had won, but mostly because Bucky had been distracted by the sight of the archer's biceps as he pulled back on his bow. The pair had been basically inseparable since and Steve has been insufferably smug about being right.
Bucky ignores Steve, letting his super senses extend to listen out for his boyfriend. A small frown crosses his face when he realises Clint is talking to Tony and it only deepens when he realises that they're arguing.
'What part of secret agent do you not understand?' Clint is saying as he storms into the kitchen. His eyes quickly scan the room, the scowl on his face morphing into a warm smile when he spots Bucky holding the chipped purple mug. 'My hero.' He says as he moves towards Bucky.
'Barton, we are not done.' Tony says from the door. 'You-'
'Are not going to any Avengers fundraising bullshit.' He says as he holds the mug close to his chest. 'I'm a secret agent Tony. I don't need my face plastered in the press.'
'You were a secret agent.’ Tony reminds him. ‘You're an Avenger now. And being an Avenger comes with publicity bullshit. We need the public on our side otherwise they’ll start picking up on the less than legal way we go about doing what we do.’
Clint scowls at him.
'And besides, this is a fundraiser for a school for the hard of hearing. I'm not exactly the Avenger those kids want to see.' Tony says, with a pointed look to the hearing aids in Clint's ears.
'Low blow.' Clint grumbles. 'Fine. But no more press bullshit.'
'Language.' Steve mutters, trying not to laugh when Clint flips him off.
'Deal.' Tony grins, turning on his heels and heading back down the corridor, talking to Jarvis as he goes.
Clint turns to look at Bucky. 'You're going with me.'
'What?!'
'Boyfriend tax.' Clint hums.
'We should break up.' Bucky deadpans.
'Buck.' Steve frowns, but Clint knows he's joking.
‘Prepare yourself Soldat.’ Clint says, drinking his coffee in one swift gulp. ‘This is gonna suck.’
***
The event itself isn’t nearly as bad as Clint made it out to be. Clint is tactical about it and brings Lucky along with them. Tony briefly complained about there being a dog in his car, but quickly shut up when Clint pointed out that technically Lucky is a service animal (he’s mostly trained to let Clint know about certain noises when he doesn’t have his hearing aids in. But Bucky has also seen Lucky act as an emotional support animal when Clint has needed help grounding himself after a particularly bad flashback.)
The one eyed labrador draws a lot of attention at the fundraiser and Bucky finds that people are more likely to ask him questions like “what's his name?” and “is it a boy or a girl?” rather than the usual barrage of uncomfortable questions about his time with Hydra or his rehabilitation.
It’s strange watching Clint talk to the people around him mostly in sign language. Bucky hasn’t learned much of the language in the short time since he started studying, but he does know enough to answer questions about Lucky. So that makes things a little bit easier.
He smiles when Clint turns his head and Bucky's eyes catch on the flash of purple over his ears. Normally, Clint wears hearing aids that have been integrated into his comms, so small they're practically invisible. But for the event he switched to more clunky BTE hearing aids in his trademark colour.
Watching Clint rapidly sign is fascinating and it strengthens his resolve to learn the language. Clint had told him it wasn’t necessary. But Bucky had noticed that when Clint was tired and needed a hearing break, he would barely talk and tended only to sign to Natasha when he needed to communicate. So Bucky was doing his best to learn so that Clint would have more people to talk to.
Bucky watches as music starts to play and kids excitedly grab bright coloured balloons, holding them close. He tilts his head when Clint offers him a purple balloon.
‘It's how they feel the music.’ Clint explains. He holds the balloon in his fingertips. ‘It amplifies the vibrations. Try it.’
Bucky copies, careful not to hold the balloon too tightly with the metallic hand. Each pulse of music vibrates through the balloon and into his fingertips, he can feel the beat of the music. ‘Huh.’
Clint winks at him and Bucky tries not to melt at the sight of Clint's easy grin.
‘Thanks for explaining.’
‘Anytime.’ Clint responds warmly, kissing Bucky's cheek.
Their relationship has been public for a while, but they rarely go out which means they haven't really tested the waters with PDA. Clints smile softens out into a questioning expression, a little bit of nervousness seeping through. Bucky just chuckles and presses a quick kiss against his lips.
Before Clint can reply they're swept away in a flurry of donors, fundraisers and party guests.
***
Peter tells them they’re trending the next morning.
Bucky doesn’t know what that means but apparently it’s exciting. A photographer caught their kiss and the photo has apparently spread like wildfire. It's accompanied by a series of photos of the elusive Hawkeye smiling and laughing at something Bucky is saying. They're good photos but something about them has Clint worried. When Bucky asks, Clint just shrugs.
‘Just… the secret agent thing. Feeling a bit exposed.’ He admits.
‘Sorry… I should have thought to look for cameras.’
‘It was a fancy fundraiser with the Avengers. There was always going to be photographers.’ Clint sighs. ‘It's just… weird. I went for coffee and they wouldn't let me pay because I'm Hawkeye.’ He huff's, punctuating his name with sarcastic jazz hands. ‘I’ll get used to it… probably.’
The next day they’re trending in a very different way. ‘Apparently it's a tell-all thing that will expose the darker side of Hawkeye.’ Peter says, reading from his phone with a frown.
‘There's a darker side to you Bird Brain?’ Tony asks, only half joking.
Clint stares at him flatly. ‘I was an assassin for most of my life. So you know… yes.’
‘It’s on in five minutes.’ Peter tells them, grabbing the remote.
Tony gives Clint a surprisingly serious look. ‘How bad could this be?’
Clint is just staring at the screen as Peter flicks through the channels. ‘Real fucking bad.’ He admits.
‘Alright. Jarvis, shut down power to any device that tries to view this except for us. I want to see what we’re dealing with.’
‘You can do that?’
‘Not legally, but that’s a later problem.’
‘Do you think it's Budapest?’ Natasha asks, taking a seat on the armchair.
‘My money's on Iowa.’ Clint says quietly in response.
Bucky doesn’t know what happened in either of those places and it’s a reminder that there's so much about Clint that he still doesn’t know. Not that he blames him of course. He knows that there are some things that are easier to just ignore and move on from. ‘We don't have to watch…’
Clint shakes his head. ‘If it's going to come out we might as well see what we're dealing with.’
The show starts with generic newsreel footage of the Avengers, highlighting the few flashes of Hawkeye that they've managed to capture over the years.
‘Hawkeye is by far the most elusive of the Avengers.’ A voice-over states, a smug edge to the voice. ‘The agent, previously only known to the public as Hawkeye, has been revealed by our sources as Clinton Francis Barton-’
‘Francis?’ Tony repeats with an amused smile.
Bucky glares at him, wrapping an arm around Clint's shoulders.
A black and white photo shows on the screen, it shows a small boy grinning at the camera, his arms are around a taller boy but the photo has been torn so he’s barely visible.
Natasha stands suddenly and when the Avengers turn to look at her her voice is calm but deadly. ‘I’ll be back.’ She says simply before leaving.
Bucky glances at Clint who just shrugs, settling back into Bucky's side. ‘Only one person could have that photo.’ Clint explains quietly.
Bucky should probably be jealous that Natasha knows more about his boyfriend than he does, but Clint's relationship to Natasha is scarily close to his relationship with Steve. Right now he’s more than happy to let Natasha deal with their revenge while he looks after Clint.
The show quickly covers Clint's childhood in Iowa before moving onto Clint's teenage years performing at Carson's Carnival. The team is in a silent daze as they learn that Clint spent his youth in a circus. The silence is broken when Tony can’t resist laughing, Bucky tosses a cushion, hitting him in the face.
‘What, are we not laughing at the sight of Barton in a sparkly purple leotard?’ Tony snickers.
‘Tony.’ Steve says in a warning tone. Bucky’s glad that Steve has clearly picked up on how tense Clint is. As cheerful as the pictures of the circus look, Bucky knows it can’t have a happy ending.
‘But there was a darker side to the Carnival of Travelling Wonders.’ The presenter says as the photos and posters turn black and white for dramatic effect. ‘Carson's Carnival was responsible for a string of petty theft, home invasions and at the height of their reign of terror; bank robberies.
'Whoomp, there it is.' Clint mutters under his breath.
‘After a bank heist gone wrong, Clint Barton was arrested for the death of a security guard; David Haas.’
Clint winces at the sight of the man's photo. ‘Didn’t kill him.’ He grumbles, hands clenched into fists.
‘What happened?’ Bucky whispers.
‘My mentor was pissed that I wouldn't kill anyone to help us get away. So he shot the guy and then me.’ Clint taps his shoulder, Bucky's seen the scar a thousand times. A gunshot wound that went through his shoulder, Clint once told him that it took a ridiculous amount of physical therapy to make sure he could hold a bow again.
‘Despite being connected to a string of crimes, Clint Barton was given a complete pardon and joined the intelligence agency SHIELD, quickly rising through the ranks despite his young age.’
A picture of Clint's SHIELD file shows one the screen. The files were redacted so that Clint is only referenced by his codename throughout. But it still has plenty of incrementing information that should have stayed buried. ‘Stupid data dump.’ Clint grumbles.
Bucky winces. ‘Sorry.’
‘Not your fault.’ Clint pats Bucky's thigh, keeping his hand there.
‘Earning the name Hawkeye for his exceptional aim, Barton was assigned to Strike Team Delta. During this time he was involved in espionage and assassinations that despite originally being attributed to SHIELD under the pretence of maintaining national and global security, we now know that the majority of these missions were assigned instead by HYDRA. Something he has in common with his current partner; Bucky Barnes. Formerly known as the Winter Soldier.’
They show the viral pictures of the two of them at the fundraiser. Bucky is starting to like those photos less and less everytime he sees them.
‘He also has a close relationship with the previous KGB agent Black Widow. During their first recorded mission, the pair were responsible for the destruction of a large office complex in Budapest, killing many of the innocent workers, including an officer of the soviet armed forces, General Dreykov and his eight year old daughter Antonia.’
Bucky freezes at the photo of the man and his daughter. He knows that man. His thoughts are flooded with memories of young girls put through impossible trials. ‘You took out the Red Room…’ He says in awe.
Clint just hums in confirmation as the announcer continues.
‘As well as his connections with the terrorist organisation Hydra, Clint Barton was also involved in the Invasion of New York, killing a large number of fellow SHIELD agents while helping the alien terrorist, Loki.’
‘Twenty-five.’ Clint says under his breath.
‘Barton's records indicate brainwashing at the time of the Invasion. But how exactly do we prove the existence of alien magic capable of taking over one's mind? It seems a suspicious excuse give Barton's prolonged history of criminal activity leading up to these incidents. How can we trust these so-called Avengers when their lead sniper is so corrupt?’ The announcer demands. ‘We will continue to search through the SHIELD records for more evidence of Hawkeye's wrongdoing and will update this story as more information presents itself. For now-’
Tony waves a hand and the screen goes black as the presenter wraps up their report.
‘Well… it could have been worse.’ Clint says weakly.
‘Could it?’ Steve asks.
Clint just shrugs, clearly not in a talkative mood.
There's a tense moment of silence until Tony jumps into action. He has his phone out and is already dialling. ‘Jarvis, delete all copies of that footage, I’m going to bribe the production team into keeping their mouths shut.’ He says firmly as he heads into the kitchen.
Bruce slowly stands. ‘I’m going to go because I’m getting a bit… green.’ He admits with a nervous smile.
‘Yeah, thanks Bruce.’ Clint says quietly.
Bucky glances at Steve, gesturing for him to give them some space. Steve understands immediately, taking Peter with him with a vague excuse about now understanding what trending means.
‘You okay?’ Bucky asks, despite knowing the answer.
‘At least they didn't go into the more gory details…’ Clint pulls his knees up, leaning his head against them so he can turn to look at Bucky while they talk. ‘You know what sucks… when I joined SHIELD it was like… repentance, for the shit I did in the circus, you know? I thought I was the good guy…’
‘You were. You are.’
‘My higher ups were Hydra. If I didn’t do those missions, they probably would have woken you up to do them.’ Clint sighs. ‘You okay? They dragged you into this too.’
‘I’m kind of used to it.’ The press had been all over him when he first moved to the Tower, but after his pardons everything died down as people jumped to the next hot scandal. ‘Don’t worry about me.’
‘I keep thinking of the kids at that fundraising thing… the ones who looked at me like I was some fucking hero.’
‘You are. You're their hero. And mine. And if you want me to help Natasha kill whoever exposed you, I’m more than happy to.’
Clint lets out a weak chuckle. ‘It’s fine, Nat probably has it covered. It’s… um-’
‘You don’t have to tell me.’
Clint shakes his head. ‘I just don’t like thinking of him. But… It’s my older brother Barney. After the circus he took over from our mentor, Trickshot. He probably just saw an easy opportunity to make some money when my face got plastered everywhere.’
‘Okay… I will kick his ass if I ever see him though.’
Clint seems to relax. ‘You know, it's kind of nice you knowing…Sometimes I would go to tell you a dumb story from the circus or something then I remembered you didn't know. And bringing it up would have meant explaining all … that.’ He says, gesturing to the black screen.
‘Well, I look forward to catching up with anything you're comfortable sharing.’
‘Thanks Buck… you're the best.’
The elevator chimes and Pepper strides in carrying a box. ‘Good job with the fundraiser.’ She smiles as she approaches, completely oblivious to the chaos of the exposé. ‘The charity sent over some thank you notes from the kids.’ She says, putting the box on the coffee table in front of them. ‘Is Tony here? I need him to sign some reports he was supposed to get back to me last week.’
Confused by the flurry of focus that is Pepper Potts, Bucky just points to the kitchen.
‘Thank you.’ She smiles, heels clicking against the ground as she heads towards her target.
Clint cautiously pulls the box towards him, with the same apprehension he would use to approach a ticking bomb. He picks out the first letter from the box, finding a crayon drawing of him holding his bow, with Lucky by his side. ‘...oh.’
Bucky is flooded with relief. This is exactly what Clint needs. God bless Pepper Potts.
‘How about we go to your floor, I’ll make you some coffee and we can go through the letters, okay? I think this one needs to go on the fridge.’
‘Yeah…’ Clint exhales, eyes still fixed on the drawing. ‘Yeah, that sounds good, Buck.’
Bucky presses a quick kiss to Clint's cheek before standing to grab the box. Clint keeps a hold of the drawing as they head to the elevator. Bucky knows it isn't a permanent fix, having his secrets exposed so suddenly is definitely going to weigh on Clint's mind and his brother is certainly a problem that needs to be dealt with. But for now, Bucky is more than happy to distract Clint and remind him of all of the good he's done.
Hawkeye is a hero. And nothing could ever convince Bucky otherwise.