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Brothers in Arms	By : trudyw000 Category: Marvel Verse Movies > Avengers, The Views: 2931 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, the Avengers or Avengers Assemble. I make no money from this work.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Brothers in Arms - Chapter 4b
Clint's morning in contrast had been one of complete frustration. He'd checked out Steve's room first, knowing it was probably too obvious a place for Steve to have gone, well he'd been right, Steve wasn't there and from the looks of the room he hadn't been since the previous evening. After that he went to track down the work crew supervisor to see if Steve might be hiding in plain sight on one of the repair teams.
"Hey, Kenny" he called out, spotting the man he needed knelt down in front of an open electrical panel tracing the wiring with another man.
"One minute," Kenny didn't even turn his head as he issued the instruction, simply continuing his discussion.
As Clint waited he realised that the man working with Kenny was Joe Morena, the engineer who had fallen yesterday. He was a little surprised to see the man back at work so soon and he supposed that he would be working as far away from the gaping holes in the hull as possible for a few days.
A few minutes later Kenny clapped his companion on the shoulder, "You good here?" he asked, waiting for the affirmative reply before standing and brushing off the dust from the knees of his jeans.
"Sorry about that, what can I do for you?" Kenny asked over his shoulder as he continued to watch Joe work for a moment to be sure the problem they'd been discussing really was resolved.
Turning he finally saw who he was talking to "Clint, sorry didn't realise it was you. You're just the man I needed to see, after Joe's little stunt yesterday my guys are a touch wary and we finally got the parts in to repair the big antenna array up top. Any chance you could take a look at it for me?" he asked hopefully, "you know how Fury has been on my ass about getting the sensors back up and running."
Clint hated to disappoint the man, but today he had other things on his mind "Sorry Kenny, I've got a lot on this morning, I might be able to come back later and help once I've got some stuff sorted, OK?"
Kenny just nodded acceptance of the offer, "sure man, whatever you can do."
"How is Joe?" Clint asked watching the man in question, "I didn't expect to see him working today."
"He's fine, a little shaken up but we need his skills too badly at the moment." Raising his voice so Joe could hear he added, "besides, we're keeping him well away from anything he could possibly fall off of. Right Joe?" and he nudged him gently with the toe of his boot.
"Bite me Ken" was his only response and Kenny laughed as he steered Clint away to somewhere a little quieter so they could talk.
"So, if you're not here to fix my resourcing issues, what are you here for?" he asked good naturedly.
"Actually I was wondering if you'd seen Steve around today?" Clint asked guardedly.
"Steve Rogers? No I haven't seen him. He never sticks with one team, he's more one for flitting in and out, helping where needed."
Clint smirked at the notion of Captain America 'flitting' anywhere. Then he scowled, this was going to be harder than he had thought. "Right, I'd better get going then. If I get this sorted then I'll be back to help out with that antenna thing OK?"
"OK, thanks" and with barely a wave Kenny was off to see what other issues needed his attention this morning. One thing you had to say about this job, it was never boring.
Clint took off on what would turn out to be one of the most frustrating mornings of his life. He roamed through the great hull of the helicarrier, keeping to the areas with the most damage. Some places the crews hadn't seen Steve in days, others had seen him earlier that morning but he had moved on before Clint had gotten there. However in an unnaturally large number of cases he was told 'Yes' and Steve's location was pointed out to him only to find that when he reached the indicated spot Steve had just left. It would be enough to give any man less driven the idea that his quarry was actively avoiding him. But Clint was a driven man, and if his confidence flagged then he had Tony's words from that morning to spur him on. And if that wasn't enough he only had to close his eyes for a moment to relive the feel of Steve's strong arms holding him close and the gentle press of a single kiss to the top of his head.
Eventually Clint had an idea, he was fed up of chasing an elusive Captain America around but perhaps he could persuade Steve to come to him. Abandoning the chase he went back to speak to Kenny again.
"Hey Clint, you come back to sort the antenna out for me?" Kenny called from his position over-seeing a couple of his men who were removing a damaged panel covering some especially sensitive components.
"No, sorry, but I might have an idea about that for you." Clint offered, beckoning for Kenny to move a little away from listening ears so that they could speak in private.
Checking that his men had their task well in hand Kenny followed him with a sly smirk, "still not found Steve huh?"
Finding a relatively quiet corner Clint spoke, keeping his voice as low as possible whilst still being heard. "No, but I was wondering, do you have a way of contacting him if you need his help for a specific job?"
"Not really, I just send word out to the crews that I need to see him and he generally turns up pretty quick. Why, what are you thinking?" Kenny explained.
"This antenna repair, is it something Steve could do?" From the look on Clint's face there was a lot riding on the answer to his question.
"Hmm," Kenny thought carefully about it for a moment, "it's not really something I'd ask him to do alone, he'd be a great help with the donkey work, clearing the wreckage and getting the new parts into place but wiring them up, that's another matter entirely!"
Clint looked disappointed at first, if this wasn't the type of job Steve would normally be asked to assist with then the astute leader of the Avengers was likely to smell a rat, still, it looked like his only chance of running the man to earth any time soon, he'd take his chances.
"Could you send word for him, ask him to do the prep work for the repair?" Seeing Kenny looking doubtful he added beseechingly, "please."
"Look, what's all this about? I get the strong feeling it isn't official business or you'd just call him on comms instead of spending an entire morning playing hide and seek with the man throughout the entire ship" Kenny asked bluntly. He liked Clint, the archer had been a major help in pushing the repairs forward, but he didn't want to get involved in the internal squabbles amongst the Avengers. Pissing off the super soldier seemed like a bad idea from where he was standing.
"You're right, I'm sorry, I shouldn't involve you in all this, something happened this morning and I just need to speak to him about it. I promise my intentions are..." he stopped, he'd been going to say honourable but he realised that that might not be entirely true, "good." he finally finished. "Kenny please, look the antenna array you want repaired is the big one, right in front of the main bridge right?"
Kenny just nodded confirmation.
"Look, honestly, I'm not going to enact some nefarious plot with the entire bridge crew watching. Please I just need to speak to him." Clint was trying hard not to beg but he wasn't sure he was succeeding.
"Alright, I'll send out word for him, and if he replies then I'll ask him to start work on clearing the wreckage and installing the new antenna rods, you're on your own from there!"
"Thank you, there's just one more thing..." Clint tailed off, looking a little sheepish.
"Go on," Kenny encouraged in a resigned tone.
"If I go and hide out in my quarters, can you call me when he's at the antenna array." Kenny was looking doubtful again and Clint rushed on, "he's seemed to have a sixth sense as to where I was all morning, every time I got near him he'd disappear. Please, I'll owe you big time!"
"OK fine, get out of here, I'll call you when he's at the antenna array"
"Thanks man," and Clint hurried off whilst Kenny started radioing his repair crews asking them to pass the word that he needed to see Steve Rogers about an urgent repair.
When Steve first heard that Kenny needed to see him he was in two minds about whether or not to respond. He hadn't seen any sign of Clint chasing him for a little while and had been hoping that the archer had given up. When the message reached him he immediately assumed it was some kind of a trap. However once he'd heard the same thing from three different work crews, and picked up a few more details, including the fact that the parts had finally come in for the antenna repair he began to wonder if it was a trap or not. He knew that Fury was anxious to get the sensors back up and running. Maybe Clint really had given up. So when a fourth work crew passed on the message about the repair he finished up the task he was helping them with and went to find Kenny.
By the time he finally tracked the man down it was over an hour since he had first passed word and Kenny had just about given up on him so it was with unfeigned relief that the work boss greeted his arrival. "Steve, I'm so glad to see you. Can you help us out with this antenna repair, none of my lads will touch it after Joe's little swan dive yesterday".
"Hi Kenny, I'll be happy to help in any way I can but I'm not sure I'm really the man for this job. You know I don't do well with electronics." Steve replied looking around carefully for any sign of Clint lying in wait for him.
"I appreciate the help Steve, I truly do, and I don't need you to do any of the wiring or anything like that, the mangled remains of the old antenna array is still up there, I need someone to clear that away and to fix the new rods into place. Once my guys see that it's safe to work up there I'm hopeful that I can get one of them up there to complete the re-wiring." Kenny explained. "You know how Fury has been all over my ass to get this repair done, we're flying blind at the moment and he's not a happy camper."
"OK, show me the new parts, let's get on with this," and Steve gestured for Kenny to lead the way.
Kenny led him to a heavy metal door which opened onto the main flight deck on the top side of the helicarrier. Going through the door he pointed out the neat pile of new rods and spars for the antenna array and handed over the laminated plans to show how everything should fit together. It was windy out on the flight deck and the air was thin but they were flying at a lower altitude than normal due to the damage they had sustained so it was breathable, especially with the increased lung capacity conferred on Steve by the super soldier serum.
Deciding to leave the new parts where they were until he'd cleared the damaged rods away he secured the instructions under one of the heavier bundles and donning a tool belt he started climbing the antenna mast. He quickly reached the small platform at the base of the array proper where he set to work.
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Clint had gone straight to his quarters after leaving Kenny, not wanting to risk Steve seeing him there and recognising the trap he'd set for what it was. However now he was stuck in his room with nothing to do but to wonder whether this was going to work and to try to decide what he was going to say if he was able to talk to Steve.
At first he tried to distract himself by tidying his rooms, unfortunately he'd always lived a fairly nomadic existence and so he didn't have that much stuff. Even after he'd neglected his surroundings over the past week as he tried to work himself into an early grave to atone for the crimes he'd committed whilst under Loki's thrall, it still didn't take much tidying and he was soon done.
Next he tried to read the briefing packets that had been delivered to him for ongoing missions which might require his and Natasha's particular skill sets. However after he'd read the same page four times and taken in precisely nothing he realised that he really wasn't getting anywhere and put the paperwork aside. Instead he started working through the conversation that he expected to have with Steve in his head.
He wasn't practicing the conversation he told himself, just trying to organise his thoughts so that he wouldn't sound like a complete imbecile when he got to talk to Steve. Unfortunately no matter how he tried to explain that everything was fine, that the events of the morning didn't have to mean anything if Steve didn't want them to, that he was fine just being friends, that Steve's friendship was important to him and he didn't want to lose it, but that society's opinions had changed in the last seventy years and if Steve did want to pursue something more than that would be fine too. Whatever he said and however he tried to explain things imaginary Steve wasn't co-operating, still mired in the cultural biases of seventy years ago.
Dropping his head miserably into his hands he decided that this whole thing had been a really bad idea. He was just about to call Kenny and tell him to forget everything and that he would be right down to start on the antenna repair when he was interrupted by an incoming call. "Hey Barton, it's Kenny, he's up on the antenna array now. Maybe after you've finished your conversation you could give him a hand to get the repairs done." It was couched as a suggestion but Clint recognised the force behind the words, acknowledging with a simple "Thanks Kenny" he cut the connection and headed topside, Showtime!
Stepping through the door Clint looked around, quickly spotting Steve working at clearing the wreckage fifty feet above the deck. He was still wearing the black jeans and sky-blue t-shirt from the night before although both were now liberally streaked with muck and dirt from the work he'd been doing throughout the day. Even so he looked good to Clint's eyes and the archer took a moment to appreciate the view before walking over and starting the climb up the antenna mast.
Steve was engrossed in his work, wrestling the mangled parts free and lashing them into a bundle hanging from the edge of the platform ready to be lowered to the deck later. He was so engrossed he didn't notice the figure climbing the ladder up to his position until Clint climbed through the hole in the floor and stepped clear facing him.
"Hi Steve"
The piece of tangled metal that Steve had just pulled free of the mess around them fell from nerveless fingers as he spun round to stare at the man who had appeared on the platform behind him. The fallen debris skidded over the edge, bouncing off the hanging bundle of twisted parts before clattering to the deck far below them.
As Steve watched the piece fall he wondered briefly if he could follow it, he could take much more punishment than the average human these days, he could probably survive a drop of fifty feet. Then he realised just how stupid he was being. Clint had spent all day tracking him down, even if he did escape now Clint would only track him down again, better to take his lumps like a man. And that was only if Clint really was angry, he'd had a lot of time to think today whilst helping out with the brute force tasks that were required of him.
Clint hadn't pulled back that morning, he hadn't looked angry in the brief glance that Steve had spared him as he mumbled his apologies and ran from the room. The various people during the day who had mentioned that Clint was looking for him hadn't given him the impression that Clint was ready to tear him a new one. In fact they'd seemed incredibly casual about it. He'd started to realise that maybe he'd been attributing forties moral values to 21st Century man.
So why was he still staring at a piece of twisted metal down on the flight deck instead of looking at the man who had gone to such lengths to find him. Straightening he took a deep breath and turned to face Clint who was stood squarely between him and the access to the ladder leading down the mast. Then Clint took two steps back, leaving the route back to the deck clear. "I just want to talk, but if you don't feel we have anything to say to each other then there's the way down, I won't stop you." and Clint took another step back hands held up in a gesture almost of surrender. After spending all day chasing him about the ship would Clint really just let him leave if that was what he wanted?
Carefully he searched Clint's face, trying to divine the truth of the man's intentions and he realised he'd never seen the man look so open. Everything was there, laid out in his expression for anyone who knew how to read him and Steve felt a churning in his midriff as he finally recognised just how much he wanted to be the man who knew Clint that well. The person who understood every nuance of his facial expression, his body language, his word choice and then the tension that had gripped him fled as he knew that he wasn't going anywhere. They needed to talk.
Clint saw the instant that Steve decided to stay and the relief that he felt took his breath away for a moment. Now that they were finally going to talk , the aura of calm that he had been doing his best to project crumbled and all the nervous energy that had built up as he waited in his room for Kenny to call showed itself. Taking a deep breath he started to talk, "I'm sorry... about this morning, if something I said or did freaked you out I'm sorry. It's just that I... kinda' like you, and I'd never have said or done anything about it, but I might've still been a little bit drunk, and then after you left Tony said that he thought you might... kinda' like me too. It doesn't matter if you don't, I completely understand and I'll never bother you about it again but I just needed to make sure you were OK because Tony mentioned the way that they had some really strange ideas in your day... about two men together, so I needed to check and make sure that omph!"
At first Steve had listened to the wall of words with some amusement, however when the spate showed no sign of abating and it looked like Clint was more likely to talk himself out of anything rather than talking Steve into anything he decided he needed to intervene. The only trouble was that Clint had worked himself up into such a state that every time Steve tried to get a word in Clint steam-rollered right over the top of him. Eventually he decided the only way to shut the other man up was the old-fashioned way and stepping in he laid his hands on the other man's hips pulling his body in close and brought their lips together in a messy kiss.
It was all teeth and tongues for a moment as he felt Clint's mouth moving beneath his as the archer continued to try to talk but Clint quickly got with the program, insinuating his arms inside the taller man's and wrapping them around Steve's waist. Flicking out his tongue he lapped at the warm lips moving on his. He exulted internally as they parted for him and he was able to deepen the kiss. Steve's innocence was obvious in his tentativeness but under Clint's tender ministrations he quickly gained in confidence and soft moans were soon coming from both men. But eventually Clint needed to breathe and with great regret he loosed his hold and pulled back slightly ending the kiss and bringing his forehead to rest against the juncture of Steve's neck and shoulder.
"Are you OK?" a warm voice asked next to his ear and Clint tightened his arms briefly before murmuring, "I'm very OK."
Soft breath tickled his ear as Steve chuckled then large hands ran up his arms and settled on his shoulders, pushing him back a little so that Steve could look into his eyes.
"Listen, I know that society these days is much more progressive and homosexuality is no longer a crime." Steve paused, wanting to be sure that Clint understood the seriousness of what he was saying, "but I also know that some people still think that two men together is unnatural, especially in the military, so if you want to keep this quiet then I totally understand."
Clint started to laugh, but then he saw that Steve was serious, "Um, sorry Steve, but I think it's a bit late for that." and he looked pointedly to one side.
Steve followed his gaze to find himself staring in the massive windows of the flying bridge of the helicarrier. Windows lined with faces as most of the SHIELD agents on duty stared out at the two men embracing on the antenna mast. As Steve watched the officer in charge started calling the crew to order and back to their posts and the faces cleared from the window.
Steve groaned, how could he have forgotten exactly where the antenna array was situated, he'd been so engrossed in his thoughts he hadn't really registered his surroundings, and once Clint arrived his attention had been entirely focussed on the other man.
Now it was Clint's turn to be concerned, "I'm sorry, is that going to be a problem for you?" he asked nodding towards the, now empty, bridge windows.
Shaking his head a little Steve smiled ruefully, "No, no problem," and leaning in he kissed Clint again, breaking off after a few seconds. "So, are you going to help me get these repairs finished?" he asked.
"The repairs," Clint whined, "but I thought maybe we could go find somewhere a little more private." and he smiled suggestively.
"Of course we can," Clint smiled in triumph, only for his face to fall a moment later when Steve concluded with, "as soon as the work is finished!"
"You're really going to make me get the new antennas in place before we can take this any further aren't you?" Clint asked in disbelief.
"No, you don't have to do anything. I promised Kenny I would get this done not you." Gently Steve disengaged himself from Clint's embrace, and started work on freeing the next piece of debris from the mangled array, "Of course, I'll be finished much sooner with your help," he threw over his shoulder as he got back to work.
Clint knew when he was beaten and looking around at the charred and twisted wreckage he selected a piece and got to work.
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Brothers in Arms