Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1.
Tony was led to the floor labeled “Offices of Senior Agents and Handlers” by the younger agent, who refused to respond to Tony’s invasive questions about SHIELD. Whatever, he tried.
The agent nodded at one of the first doors in the hallway. “Make sure to knock,” she grunted before turning around and heading back down the way they came.
Tony inspected the door. It was solid black and windowless, with a metal nameplate labeled “Coulson” across the top of it, along with a long list of numbers. Tony shrugged and completely disregarded the girl's instructions, why would he need to knock if SHIELD had summoned him anyway? He simply turned the handle and opened the door.
Coulson, surprisingly, was not alone. While the agent was seated at his desk with a computer in front of him, a younger man was sitting on the desktop, talking to him. The man was long and lanky- almost all legs- with a scruffy look to him and a mop of short blond hair on his head. He was a sleeveless turtleneck vest, and sported many bandages along his toned arms. He was pretty handsome, but young looking, almost baby-faced. Tony assumed he was barely 20.
They both looked at Tony as he opened the door, Coulson tensing, while the blond hopped off the desk, an unreadable expression on his face.
Coulson stood, “Mr. Stark.” He nodded curtly, his voice bored and monotone. “For what do I owe the pleasure?”
As the blond seemed to deem he wasn’t a threat from Coulson’s familiarity, he brightened a little. “Mr. Stark as in Tony Stark? As in Iron Man? The big metal guy who fights other guys?” A bit of childish wonder slipped into his eyes, brightening them.
“Yes I am,” Tony took off his sunglasses and directed his attention to the older man, “Ah Coulson, my favorite agent.”
“Dude we saw you on the news the other day! Oh my, you aren’t here to fight him are you?” He grinned glancing at the man in question, “Gee Coulson, if you end up fighting you might have to take that tight shirt off, you know, because it limits your movement an’ all.” Although the blond's southern drawl was teasing, there was something Tony could only describe as yearning in his gaze as glanced at the older agent's chest.
“That’s quite enough, Agent Barton.” Coulson snapped, sending him a glare, “We won’t be fighting, now, will we, Stark?”
“Oh no,” Tony chuckled charmingly, still trying to figure everything out, “I’m here to speak to Agent Agent here. Can we, Coulson?”
With a quick inspection, the man nodded, “of course. Barton,” He turned to him, “Either leave or stop listening. I assume this conversation is private.”
‘Barton’ sighed softly and fingered at his ears- pulling out hearing aids, Tony realized- before flopping face-down on the couch by the door.
Agent Coulson sighed softly, rubbing his temples, before looking up to meet Tony’s eyes. “What can I help you with?”
Ignoring the question, he grinned, “You seem to have your hands full here.”
Coulson frowned, “Unfortunately, I have been made into a handler after specialist Barton couldn’t follow the orders of the other handlers. He doesn’t seem to understand privacy or professionality, but I’m sure he will make a great agent one day. That is- once he learns not to bombard visitors with questions.” Tony watched him carefully, there was a hint of pride in his eyes, but also something deeper and fonder, something he didn’t think the stoic man was capable of.
“I don’t think I could ever see you as a babysitter,” Tony chuckled.
The older man became defensive at that, “Barton is not a child. I am not babysitting. I’m not sure I appreciate that comment on how you view our handlers.”
Tony sighed and waved him off. “Well, Saint Nick summoned me, and I was told to go to you before going straight to him.” Tony raised his brow. “Or was that a mistake?”
“Right, yes, he told me about this,” Coulson straightened, smoothing out his already pristine suit before walking around the desk to the door. “Follow me.” He paused for a moment to tap on the foot that was hanging over the edge of the couch- presumably something in morse code- before opening the door and leading Tony out.
……
When Tony met Clint Barton years later for the battle of New York, he hardly hadn’t recognized him. There were still teasing comments and hints of a southern accent, but he was harder, colder, more calculating. His hair was more of a dirty blond now, and everything about him seemed more serious and harsh. Tony didn’t even realize he was the same person as (how many?) years ago until he lifted him to the top of a building and caught a glimpse of purple hearing aids stuck in his ears.

2.
After the battle, all of the team were worn out. Cap had scarfed down his shawarma and was now sitting, staring off into the distance. Thor had finished his, then ordered a few more to continue eating, seemingly having never ending energy. Both Natasha and Bruce were eating a bit more slowly, and Barton was simply playing with his, moving it around his plate as if to make it look like he was eating, but Tony hadn’t seen him take a bite. There was guilt in his eyes, and Stark tried to imagine what it would be like to be taken over by Loki and fight against his own people, but he simply couldn’t.
After they were done eating, Tony invited them all to the tower for a little R&R, since most of them had been sleeping on the now-destroyed Helicarrier. They had all agreed with little arguments once Tony had assured there were plenty of guest suites and that it was way better than a hotel.
That was how the Stark Tower became the Avengers Tower, with the residence of all of the 6 (plus Pepper, of course). Tony had to admit, it was nice living with all of them. He slowly got to know them over the course of the two weeks before Thor brought Loki back to Asgard, and it was kind of nice to see new, unique faces, who didn’t all seem to hate him. Him and Bruce had become buddies, and Tony found it to be fun to have someone who could work on science-y stuff with him, another brain for when his own got stuck.
Pepper and Natasha’s friendship returned, despite the assassin's shady nature. Tony annoyed Steve nearly every night to come watch a movie, anything that Steve had missed during his time in the ice, and even encouraged him to start a list of things to catch up on. Thor was a joy to be around, he seemed to never get sick of hanging out with everyone, and you could always hear his booming voice as he talked to one of the team or even Tony’s robots. Clint was the one Tony saw the least. Someone must have told him about Phil’s death, because Natasha- according to Pepper- was worried about him. He spent a lot of time in the Tower’s ventilation system (even if Tony wasn’t supposed to know that) and, while he had some jokes and bantered a bit, seemed closed off and brooding.
He had nightmares, Tony knew, that woke him up screaming loud enough for the cameras outside his suite to pick up- and Natasha was the only one who could seem to calm him down (Tony still wasn’t sure about their relationship- he was sure it was romantic, no matter how much Romanoff denied it). He was also one of the members who decided to stay in the tower even after Thor left- including Bruce and Steve (Natasha had gone back to SHIELD and tried to take Barton with her, but he refused with the notion of “I think it would be better for everyone there to get a little space from me”).
Needless to say, Tony felt bad for him, but he didn’t quite know how to help him. Infact, the only thing that seemed to help was when Natasha visited, as he actually warmed up around the rest of the team and made conversation and joined them for dinners.
He was still quiet, of course, but during the times they hung out some of the light would re-enter his eyes. It was only those moments that Tony was reminded of the archers youth- he wasn’t young, by any means, but he was the youngest on the team at the age of 24, followed closely by Steve (kinda- he was technically 93) and Natasha. It was saddening to see the guy who should have so much life in him become dull and sad.
…
Then Phil was found to be alive.
This had thrown a wrench into the Team's fragile sense of normalcy and calm. Nick Fury had sent Natasha to deliver the news.
She stormed into the tower and ordered JARVIS to gather everyone in the common room, which was when she took a deep breath and told them all the news. Her eyes never left Bartons.
Everyone took it differently, Steve was shocked, Thor was overjoyed, Bruce was curious and Tony was-frankly- a little pissed. He knew SHIELD had secrets, but this seemed too much to keep from them. Clint was completely silent, but tense. Over the shouts of the rest of the team, he stood and fled from the common area. Natasha waited until after she was done answering their questions (‘answering’ was an overstatement. A lot of her responses were along the line of “I don’t know, ask Fury”) until she followed the archer.

3.
After that revelation, things had slowly gone back to normal. Phil had come to the tower the next week and explained that he yes- had been dead for a short amount of time before Fury had moved mountains to bring him back.
Now, a year later, everything seemed alright. Clint had moved out of the tower and into an apartment, and was cleared for SHIELD duty. Bruce had taken a permanent residence in the tower, much to the delight of Tony. Thor popped in every once in a while and stayed for a few days at a time. Steve also agreed to stay in the tower, as all the apartments were so new and unfamiliar and expensive (no matter how many offers Tony made to buy one for him).
They all kept in touch, meeting up once a month or so for dinner, and going on Hydra related missions together. After all, Cap’s battle wasn’t over yet, and as far as everyone was concerned, he wasn’t fighting it alone.
After a particularly hard mission where they had been ordered to lay low and stay away from the tower, Clint brought them to a safehouse- his apartment. He apparently owned the whole building, which made things a whole lot easier, and had a few vacant rooms for the team to stay in for the night, but he invited them into his living space to get patched up and settled in immediately after.
There were a few things Tony noted about Clint's apartment. He noticed the photo on the TV stand of Clint and Coulson, much younger, with the caption First Mission as a Team! He also noticed the sheer amount of books, which- to be frank- Tony had rarely ever seen Clint read in his life, especially books at the length these ones were.. There was Captain America stuff kind of everywhere, even though it was subtle and decorational, it was still there. Also, when Tony went to use the bathroom, he noted the presence of two toothbrushes, implying that Clint was holding out on the rest of the team.
He tried to snoop around as subtly as possible, but he really couldn’t find evidence of who was living with the archer, only that someone was. He also didn’t want to ask. Clint was a pretty secretive guy, who wasn’t someone who openly talked about his personal or feelings unless prompted (even then he shared them very sparingly). A mention could shrink him away from the team for the rest of the night.
Of course, that didn’t stop Tony from saying something. “I didn’t know you were such a fan of Cap, Katniss,” Tony leaned on his counter as the archer made coffee, grinning at him.
Clint didn’t look up, “It’s not mine.”
Tony frowned, huffing.“Well…” He prompted, “Who's it?”
“Nunya.” Clint poured himself a cup and brushed past Tony into what he assumed was his bedroom.
The man poured himself a cup and sat on one of the stools, glaring ahead. There was something in the deep corners of his mind. Something relevant and ready to think about that would help solve the mystery, but Tony just couldn’t remember. Maybe if he wasn’t so tired from the mission his memory would be better, but for now he just had to sit and brood, dissatisfied.

4.
A few months after that, SHIELD and the Avengers decided it was safer and in everyone's best interest for the team to move into the tower together. This included Phil, who was now an honorary member and the mission director.
Much to Tony's disappointment (he had been speculating on their relationship as of late), Clint and Phil got separate floors. Even Natasha went on the floor above Clint’s instead of just sharing one, which left Tony all sorts of confused.
But, alas, it was their life and their relationships and if they wanted it to be private then Tony would just have to handle it and mind his business (fuck that).
It was move-in day, and Tony was extremely excited. He had missed having all of his friends around and, while everyone would be able to leave and do their own stuff, he was excited to see them every day again.
He and Happy helped carry approximately one of Thor’s bags to the elevator, and promptly left the robots to do the rest (seriously, why did the God need so much stuff? He could literally teleport to Asgard at any time he wanted). He made time meeting everyone at the entrance and chatting while he showed them their new suites.
Clint was the last to arrive, only carrying a few bags of stuff. The one thing that stood out immediately to Tony was the large cello case he was carrying in one hand. A memory pinged at the back of his mind and he sent Pepper a glance, who seemed to have made the same realization.
The archer smiled sheepishly at their interaction, “It’s uh- not much but y'know, we can’t all be millionaires, yeah?”
Pepper snapped out of it, reaching forward to take the case from his hand in order to give it to one of the delivery robots. “Of course, of course! Wow, Clint, is this a cello? Since when did you learn to play?”
Clint brightened and followed her, “oh well- when I was in the circus-” (what?) “we had a lot of bands come and play with us, and I liked to try out the instruments- when they let me. The cello was really the only one that stuck.”
Tony watched them go, his brain tick tick ticking in his head.
……
Later, after a long day of moving the team in, he and Pepper were sitting on the couch on their floor, watching some dumb TV show.
“Do you think Clint and Phil are like- dating?” Tony suddenly piped up after a while.
Pepper sighed softly and turned her attention to him, “I don’t know. I know that you have had your theories- and that cello thing certainly didn’t help- but I just still think it may be a coincidence.”
Tony worked his jaw, staring off, “It’s still hard for me to think of Barton as- I don’t know-”
“Gay?” Pepper offered, moving her hand through his hair.
“Yeah. I mean, I’ve seen him talking to women, and well- I’ve heard some stuff from our drunk talking sessions- he doesn’t strike me as someone who’s all that into men.”
“Maybe he likes both?” She smiled at him, “it is possible, you know.”
“Yes, yes of course I know that. I just- I couldn’t see Coulson dating anyone- especially not Clint. They just don’t- match,” Tony looked at her, “I mean he’s such a hard-ass, how could he like well- Clint?”
Pepper's eyes crinkled with her smile, “Well we don’t exactly make sense either by that logic.”
Tony smiled, “I suppose not.” He leaned in to kiss her, before his brain fired another thought, “you’re sure Romanoff and him aren’t foolin’ around? I know you said she told you they weren’t but- that’s just so weird if they aren't!”
Pepper rolled her eyes, “Yes, I’m sure. And listen, I know you want to know- and you tend to get obsessed with these things- but if they don’t want us to know, then we can’t force them.” She leaned forward to kiss his cheek, smiling before adding softly, “maybe you should just forget about it.”
The man looked away, “yeah, yeah. I know. Doesn’t mean it’s not annoying.”

5.
Despite Pepper’s warning, Tony did not, in fact, forget about it. In fact he became a little more obsessed with the prospect of Clint’s love life.
Late nights in the lab Tony could be found looking at the security footage from the elevator (nobody had cameras in their suites, he wasn’t a monster), just to document if anyone was still awake.
On many nights, he watched as Phil or Clint entered the elevator, and got off at the others floor. This should have been answer enough to Tony’s theories, but when Pepper reminded him of Clint’s nightmares, she put the idea in his head that Phil might simply be helping him like Natasha does sometimes.
……
It was one of the more relaxed nights of the tower, everyone had already gone to bed except for Thor, Steve, Bruce, and Tony. They were sitting at the table talking and drinking when Tony got the brilliant idea to see what the others thought of the matter.
“So. What do you guys think about Barton and Coulson?” Tony said out of the blue.
Steve kind of froze and blushed, “what about them?”
“Like do you think they’re dating? Or married?” Tony egged on, watching as Bruce took another sip of his drink.
Thor stroked his beard, “I suppose it is not out of the question. They do seem very close, but who wouldn’t be after years of working together?”
Steve rubbed his neck awkwardly, “Do you really think either of them are um- homosexuals?”
“Them being gay isn’t totally out of the question, Clint has talked to me about some of his past relationships, and they don’t exactly exclude men.” Bruce piped up.
“Do you guys have separate terms for men?” Thor looked around the table, “Midguardians are weird.”
“Well okay, listen to this,” Tony leaned forward and presented all of his evidence, talking way back to the day he met Clint, to just a few nights ago.
Afterwards everyone was silent.
“Well, no matter what, don’t you think being this invested in their personal lives is kind of well- inappropriate?” Steve asked.
“I feel like that’s pretty irrefutable evidence,” Bruce cleared his throat nervously, “I don’t think I can disagree with you.”
Tony brightened, “I knew you would agree with me, Brucie-Bear!”
Thor shrugged, “I don’t see how this could be deniable either. They must be in love!”
Cap was silent for a long while, “It’s kind of crazy that being queer is so accepted nowadays. Not bad- not at all, just different. I figure if I was homosexual, I would want everyone to know simply because I could.” A faint blush crept up his neck, and his eyes got this far away look that implied he was thinking of the past again.
“I’m sure they both know that they can trust us with it, but we have to remember that they are both very private people in general,” Bruce rested his hand lightly on Steve’s arm.
Thor raised his glass, “A toast! To Son of Coul and Barton!” And with that, the conversation was over.

Chapter Text

+1
Clint got hurt.
With how well the team worked together, it was always a bit of a surprise when someone got hurt enough to end up in SHIELD medical.
In the middle of a stealth mission a gunshot had rang out across the field, causing everyone to freeze and watch as Hawkeye got hit and fell from the 2nd story of a building. He had been climbing up the fire escape, not even making it to his post on the top of the building before he fell. Everyone’s breath had been held until they saw Clint struggle to his feet, stumbling away from the field so as to not interrupt the mission.
As much as Natasha seemed to want to follow him, Coulson assured them through the earpieces that he would be taken care of, so the team went on.
…
Despite the setback, the mission had gone well. The debriefing was short, much to everyone’s delight. The whole team seemed eager to go check on Clint and see how he was doing.
They found his room in medical from the sight of Phil pacing back and forth in front of the door. He looked up when he heard them coming, but his tense body and expression didn’t soften.
“He’s in surgery right now,” he reported when they walked up, “they’re digging the bullet out of his side. Luckily it seems to have missed any important organs or anything. The doctors say he’ll be okay.”
It was a relief to hear, a collective breath being let out by the team at once, but Coulson didn’t stop. “He managed to crawl back to the quinjet, but he collapsed as soon as he got there. I got him up on a stretcher and medical picked him up. The fall also cost him his left ankle, so he might be out of commission while it heals.” He looked pained at the statement, running his hand through his hair.
Bruce stepped forward, “why don’t you sit down and we can all wait for him while he’s in surgery.” He gestured to the chair kindly, and the distressed man sent him a grateful look as he eased himself into the chair.
“You guys would do that? I mean you just got off of an operation and I know you probably aren’t in the best shape either,” Phil sent a worried glance their way.
“Nobody’s injured,” Cap comforted as he sat beside him, quickly joined by the rest of the team, “we can handle sitting around for a few. Besides, I’m sure Clint would appreciate it if we were all here when he woke up.”
Phil seemed to loosen, a grateful look on his face as he smiled, “Yeah, that would be great, thanks.”
They all sat in silence for a long while, all of them winding down from the mission in their own ways. Steve leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes, attempting to get some rest. Tony and Bruce spent post-mission times debriefing, and talking quietly as they both leaned over a StarkPad. Natasha sat on the floor next to Phil’s legs, leaning her head into his shins as she took notice of any injuries on herself or the others. Thor spent his time in medical talking to the doctors and nurses that mulled about, asking them polite questions and starting conversations.
After a long silence filled only with the tick tick tick of Phil’s shoe hitting the linoleum as he bounced his leg, the agent cleared his throat. Everyone’s attention went immediately to him, and he took a deep breath.
“Um- I want to apologize for having to leave the mission early after Clint got hurt.” This was the most uncertain and uncomfortable that Tony had ever seen the man.
“No worries, Coulson, we understand how close you two are,” Steve smiled kindly.
“Uh- yes but- um no-” He shook out his hands and took another breath, “well the reason why we’re so close is um- well uh- me and Clint are together.” He blurted, “Romantically. We’ve been together for quite some time now, and I figured I should tell you. I didn’t want to before because I prefer to keep my private life away from my professional life, but I decided it’s not fair to you guys if I keep this from you. I didn’t want it to change anything on the team, but that was selfish of me, and I understand if it does.” He kept glancing back at Steve’s (his hero- Tony realized) face as he spoke, “but um- yeah. Clint wanted you guys to know, and I figured I couldn’t hide it any longer.”
There was a long silence at the confession, as nobody had ever seen Coulson so shaken up before. Tony decided to end that silence, shooting up out of his seat.
“I knew it!” He cried, “I knew it! I told all of you!”
Bruce groaned and rubbed his forehead, before turning back to Phil, “thanks for telling us, man. I get it was probably difficult.”
Coulson smiled, but his eyes lingered on Steve, who turned to him. “Tony did know it,” the blond said with a grin, “but I’m glad that I got to hear it from you.” He patted Coulson on the back, and a look of relief crossed his face. Natasha grinned up at them (of course she knew already).
At that moment, the doctor stepped out of the archer’s room. “The surgery was successful, he should be waking soon. You are welcome to come in as long as you go one at a time and stay quiet.”
All of the avengers urged Phil up, which he sent them a grateful smile for, before going into Clint’s room, the door shutting- but not before Tony saw him grab the archer’s hand.