So, this is a one shot from March 2014. Very old, and I haven't edited it, primarily because if I did, I would also change it to fit in with the newest version.
In The Rise of Loki, Clint and Iris are still hiding their relationship from everyone. There are a few references in here to other one shots as well. (The Mission, and a number of prank ones). Also, Iris is the one fresh out of a coma, and restricted in what she can and can't do.
(Also, I am aware that I make the impossible, possible, it's a problem with my earlier writing, I was too invested in telling a good story to make it all make logical sense, nor did I believe in researching things I didn't know. (I'm much better now)).
Iris groaned as she felt the bed move beside her.
"Go back to sleep love." Clint whispered, pressing his lips to her head. Tucking the blankets around her as he got up.
"Stay." Iris rolled over watching him move with surprising grace and elegance.
"I can't Ri. Gotta work for a living." He smiled playfully at her. Picking up a discarded towel and heading into the shower.
"I'll be bored!" Iris complained when he exited again, a golden eye open to watching him. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, water droplets rolled from his hair down his torso. Clint couldn't help but smirk as her eyes trailed down his chest.
"Like what you see?" He teased, Iris blushed, looking away from her lover. Pretending to fall back asleep. Clint chuckled, pulling on his black jeans. Before sitting on the edge of the bed. Silently Iris moved, taking the towel from him and slowly towel drying his hair. The Master Archer caved instantly to her hands, slowly she ran the towel through his hair, before continuing down his torso, massaging as she went.
"Stay." She whispered, pressing her lips to his neck.
"I would love to, but I can't." Clint turned, pulling her around to his lap. Capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.
"I will be back at 1700, keep safe. Bug Stark if you get bored." Clint ordered, kissing her again before placing her back in bed.
"Babe." Clint hesitated,
"Shirt." Iris ordered in return. "You are all mine." He laughed, leaning down to press his lips to her head. Hearing the slight jealousy in his lovers voice.
"All yours?" He raised an eyebrow, before picking up a white business suit and black suit jacket.
"Definitely." Iris hooked her fingers through his belt loops, pulling him down to kiss him. Releasing him only to watch as he pulled on the suit shirt.
"Go bother Stark." He smirked, pausing to kiss her one last time before walking out the door. She was asleep again before he reached the elevator.
Tony opened one eye as he heard a rustling sound. Closing it again with a groan as he noticed it was Pepper. His right arm reached out, stealing her pillow and using it to cover his face.
“One moment!” Pepper called, hearing the elevator open, and not realising she had woken her boss-turned-boyfriend.
“Pepper, what are you doing at this god-forsaken-hour?!” Tony demanded, lifting the pillow to look at her.
“Working.” Pepper rolled her eyes, looking over at him.
“You’re supposed to be here with me.” He pouted playfully, and Pepper laughed.
“I’ll be back in a few hours, it’s just a short meeting.” She promised, walking over and moving the pillow out of the way to kiss him sweetly.
“Short is 5 hours.” He captured her in his arms, pulling her down on the bed, and eliciting a playful squeal from the woman who expected nothing.
“Tony!” He kissed her, keeping his arms around her and snuggling into her neck, intending to go back to sleep. “I think Iris is upstairs, go bug her if you get bored.” Pepper spoke, attempting to break out of his strong hold.
“You alright Pepper?” Tony was startled by the other male voice in his apartment, but quickly relaxed when he realised it was Clint.
“I’m fine. Just another minute!” Pepper called back, turning over in Tony’s arms to give him a brief yet passionate kiss. Before hopping out of the bed and heading for the door.
“Pepper?” She paused, hearing the vulnerability in his tone. Turning back to face her man quickly.
“I love you.” He muttered sleepily, eyes drifting shut, clearly not expecting a reply. Startled Pepper took a moment to respond.
“Sweet Dreams Tony.”
An hour later Iris was bored, sleep had left her, wide awake and lying in bed missing her lover. Rolling over she reached for the phone that had been retrieved from the bottom of the harbour. A text was waiting for her. ‘Good morning Ri. I miss you too, go bug Stark!’ Iris laughed, already Clint knew exactly what she was planning to say. Picking up Clint’s abandoned towel she headed to hang it up in the bathroom to dry and have a shower herself.
Iris heard the blood curdling scream as the elevator came to a stop on Tony’s floor. Following her immediate reaction, she raced for the billionaire, ignoring the pain that it caused her. She stopped when she saw Tony, writhing about on his bed, trapped in a nightmares clutches. She knew she shouldn’t, couldn’t, interfere, but she felt her ‘motherly instincts’ tear at her insides. Praying Pepper would forgive her for interfering, she cleared the room in seconds. Shaking the genius awake harshly.
“Pepper.” He whimpered, eyes darting around the nearly empty room.
“She’s at work, she’ll be back soon. Shuffle over.” Iris spoke softly, forcing the man to move before she sat on the bed, feeling her legs weaken, attempting to ignore her pain.
“She’s alright?” He sounded so broken, a shell of the man Iris had heard so much about.
“Course, here.” Iris pulled up a holographic screen, opening it to video feed. Pepper was seated in the chair at the head of the table, her ‘business’ face on. Keeping patient as those she was in a meeting with argued their case.
“P.T.S.D.?” Iris asked softly, watching him calm considerably at seeing her.
“That obvious?” Tony asked,
“I’ve seen it far too often not to recognize it, and I know better than to interfere.” Iris looked away from him, before glancing back.
“So why did you?” He asked, trying to sound mad but silently relieved she had. Making a note to swear her to privacy, no one could know about this weaker side of him. He dared not tell Pepper, yet the agent before him had figured it out with a scary ease.
“Because it compromised the mission.” Iris answered simply, unable to tell him the truth. That her motherly instincts kicked in too hard to be ignored. That she was concerned for the man she was starting to think of as a friend.
“What mission?” Tony raised an eyebrow at her, curious.
“Everyone’s safety.” Iris challenged him to argue with two simple words, but it wasn’t enough.
“Your safety.” Tony turned away, getting up from the bed.
“I’m fine.” He lied, denial his best friend.
“Tony-”
“It’s none of your business!” He snapped at her, turning on his heels to glare at her.
“You’re right, but if this puts anyone I care about in danger I will make it my business!” Iris stood shakily, taking a breath before starting to walk back out. She rounded on Stark as he walked up behind her. Preparing to defend herself if she had to.
“You shouldn’t be up.”He sighed, lifting her up and carrying her back to dump her on the bed. Her weight barely bothering him, thoughts elsewhere.
“You’re just as bad as him.” Iris grumbled to herself, sitting up, and bracing her weight on her arms.
“Who?” Iris raised an eyebrow at his seemingly innocent question.
“Coulson.” She answered, lying to throw him off slightly. Yet knowing it wasn’t a full lie. Coulson had gone into a fully fledged overprotective mode on more than one occasion.
“Drink?” Tony asked, heading towards the bar.
“I would love one, but can’t with the meds.” Iris sighed, craving a glass of good, strong, russian Vodka. Knowing she couldn’t risk her child more than she already had. Tony nodded, pouring himself a glass and downing it, before pouring another one to sip at.
“Who?” He asked softly, referring to her comment about posttraumatic stress disorder.
“Clint, Vaile, Natasha, Loki, Fury, Coulson, Me, You.” Iris trailed off,
“I worked for Shield, it's more common than everyone likes to admit.”
“How do you cope?”
“At first, we don’t. Then someone points out we’re being ruled by fear, or we figure it out ourselves. Then we have to feel in control again. We all have our own ways, some it’s relaxing, taking a break. Others exercise, some start replacing bad memories with good, look for the silver lining.”
“And if there is no silver lining?” He took a seat on his couch, putting his feet up and watching her carefully.
“There’s always a silver lining Tony. Sometimes it’s just harder to find.” A soft smile, a truth she knew all too well.
“Sometimes it's confiding in a lover, others go straight to a doctor, but the longer you leave it-”
“The worse it gets.” He cut her off with a sigh. Knowing she was right, he was ignoring it, lying to Pepper, and it wasn’t getting any better.
“It’s a slow recovery process the first time, and there's always that risk of relapsing. Some of those images with haunt you forever, but you have to make them a strength, not a weakness. Of course easier said than done.” Iris shifted her weight slightly, so she could use her hands to trail across the screen she had recollected.
“But you’ll find your own method, and I’m not planning to rat you out or anything.” Iris crossed a finger over her heart with a playful smirk. Tony couldn’t tell exactly what the agent was doing with the ‘so-called-computer’ but judging by her smile whenever she spared it a glance he had to assume it was nothing good for him.
“Pranking is a good coping mechanism when you can’t exercise.” She glanced over at him with a devilish wicked smirk.
“But you’re confined to the bed aren’t you?” Tony smirked back with the same wicked glint in his eyes. Having observed the agent and realised she was weaker than she had let on.
“You screamed, sounded like you were being attacked. Instincts kicked in.” Iris shrugged, pausing, using her super hearing to confirm her body was healing the damage she had unwittingly done.
“You rushed to my defense.” He teased, laughing as the agent glared at him.
“I have the strangest feeling that Pepper would’ve scolded me if I hadn’t.”
“Only if I’d been kidnapped or killed.” Tony got up to top up his glass, coming back with a glass of water for her.
“Thanks.” She smiled gratefully at him.
“What mischief are you up to now?” He asked, sitting next to her and scanning the screen.
“Trying to hack a secured cell phone that's off the grid.” Iris frowned,
“Off the grid as in-”
“Turned off, battery removed, out of service range.” Iris cut him off, knowing his question.
“It’s impossible.” Tony frowned, looking over her shoulder.
“Nothing is impossible, but I have a 12 hour deadline.” Tony expanded the screen, ‘throwing’ it before the pair.
“If you fail?” He asked, curious about the stakes.
“Coulson didn’t say, just that it was urgent and he needed his best agent on it.” Iris frowned, highlighting a section of code.
“What if-” He started suggesting, the pair finding yet another thing in common as they started working. Tony Stark never could resist a challenge.
It was there Pepper and Clint found the pair hours later when they returned. Empty food cartons scattered around the room. Takeaways from the food court that Bruce had insisted the pair eat. Looking out for their health when they were too preoccupied to think about it. There were just as many empty water bottles hazardly strewn across the floor. Three clear paths through the mess. One to the bathroom, and another two where the pair had clearly been pacing to relieve build up energy and think through problems.
“That’s it!” Iris announced excitedly, neither having noticed their respective partners in the doorway.
“What about the-”
“Factory re-”
“Ah, then the-”
“Then we’re-” The pair kept cutting each other off, thinking along the exact same lines to a point where they had no need to voice their thoughts. Clint and Pepper shared a glance, confused as to exactly what was going on. This was something that they had definitely not expected from the pair who seemed not to get along. As they watched they both typed on separate keyboards, yet sharing the same screen, effectively halving their workload. Neither expected what happened next.
“Congratulations.” Coulson’s face appeared in the screen, and a yell of outrage was heard from the background. The sound of someone being beaten.
“Dad?” Iris questioned, confused as to why it was him on the other end of the line.
“We have a Rookie here who said she was the best hacker Shield would ever have within their grasp. Couldn’t resist proving her wrong.” Agent Grant Ward spoke, appearing in the video screen and waving. He looked like a younger version of Clint, without the events Clint went through to ‘scar’ the other agent. Ward would never admit it, but Hawkeye was his hero and everything he secretly aspired to be.
“Nice to see you again Agent-”
“You must have me confused with one of my sisters, we have never met before..” Iris cut him off quickly, eyes glancing up to Clint, who looked less than impressed. Knowing exactly who it was she was talking to, despite her attempts to throw him off.
“Course, Ma’am Fury. Thank you for your assistance.” He got the not-so-subtle hint from the more experienced agent. Backing away, and was instead quickly replaced by two new faces. A male with short brown curly hair, and a woman with long brown hair. They looked younger still than Agent Ward, yet with the combined intelligence to have graduated top of their fields.
“Iris, Leopold Fitz, and Jemma Simmons.” Coulson introduced, gesturing to the man and woman respectively.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you! You and your sisters are living legends!” Jemma spoke first, her overwhelming bubbliness coming through clearly. Unable to believe exactly whom she was talking to.
“The pleasure’s all mine.” Iris laughed at their starstruck expressions. It was uncommon, most those she interacted with were more scared of her parentage than starstruck by her.
“Yeah, whatever.” A snarky reply from somewhere in the background. Iris caught a flash of lighter brown hair.
“Skye!” Jemma scolded, turning towards the flash.
“This is one of the top five Shield agents, have some respect! No offense Coulson.” Fitz spoke, gesturing towards the screen. Ignoring Ward’s presence altogether.
“I’ve heard a rumour that you’re all residing in the tower with the Avengers?” He asked Iris, curious as to what could have the top agents Shield had all in one place.
“That’s classified.” Coulson cut them off before anyone else could respond. “Thanks for the assistance. Go back to bed. I’ve heard the Doctor’s reports!” Coulson smiled at his daughter. Showing her he was half teasing as he spoke.
“Dad!” She complained, but he just winked before shutting off the communication link.
“What just happened?” Tony asked, as Iris retracted the screen and moved it off to one side.
“Dad put together a team to tackle threats, without the red tape.” Iris shrugged, standing carefully on her feet. Tony bit back his mid-life crisis comment.
“That’s Agent Ward?!” Clint demanded, drawing everyone’s attention. Tony only just noticing the duo in the doorway.
“This is a discussion for another time.” Iris replied, glaring at him.
“Pepper.” Tony motioned for her to approach, and she did so, watching where she stepped.
“Thanks for your help Tony.” Iris glanced over her shoulder to smile at him. Trying not to show how forced it was, and hiding her anger towards her lover.
“Any time. Will you be alright?” He asked, having spent the whole day with her and having some idea of just how weak the highly trained agent was after her actions that morning.
“I’m fine.” She shrugged off his concern harshly. Walking away, Clint on her heels.
“Agent Ward seems to be a touchy subject.” Iris heard Tony remark to Pepper as she and Clint got in the elevator.
“That’s Agent Ward!?” Clint demanded again when the elevator doors closed behind him.
“So what if it is!?” Iris shot back, leaning against the handrail to support most her weight.
“You know exactly what!” He didn’t bother trying to reign in his anger, knowing she was strong enough to take it and deal it back just as harshly.
“I can’t just ignore him because you get a little jealous!” Iris never backed away from an argument, especially if it was her lovers idiotic tendencies and beliefs.
“I have every right to be-” He couldn’t help but think back to what had happened.
“He was doing his job!” She cut him off, sick of his same excuse.
“Iris I am not discussing this with you.” Clint turned his back on her, arms crossed angrily, yet his eyes still watched her in the cool metal of the elevator. Able to see how weak she was, and unwilling to let anything happen to her, no matter how mad he was.
“There’s nothing to discuss! I chose you. I made my choice a long time ago! Before I even knew him!” She felt herself weakening, yet refused to ask him for help while he was mad at her for something she couldn’t control.
“And if you could make your choice again?” The anger melted from his voice, leaving a weaker tone behind. He didn’t want to know the answer, yet he needed to.
“I would never not choose you.” Clint turned, arms unfolding.
“I haven’t disabled the security cameras.” Iris said, knowing exactly what he was planning.
“Screw it.” In mere moments he had her pinned against the elevator wall, lips demanding against hers, and she yielded. Making a mental link to wipe the camera feed the second she had a spare moment. Before reacting to her archer, freeing her arms to wrap them around his neck, hand dangling in his hair. His hands gripped her hips loosely, his body pinning hers with an ease he never knew was possible. He picked her up when the elevator doors opened, stepping into their room.
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