Story [Avengers] - Man in the Mirror - Clint Barton, Tony Stark friendship

Story: Man in the Mirror
Author: Master_Jaina1011
Characters: Clint Barton, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff.
Summary: When Clint walked onto the roof, he didn't expect to find Tony Stark there. However, sometimes you need someone to understand those darker thought that threaten to intrude.

A/N: Well, yesterday after my dad yelling at me for being friends with the only nice guy he has heard of, my muse went "Clint, Tony as fathers. What kind of thoughts would run through their heads after letting it sink in?" So it came to this. In my mind, I would see Clint and Tony as pretty good friends, because they are snarky and can be pretty childish. My muse saw this and went farther with it. And farther I mean Tony actually comforts Clint, and vice versa. I swear she is weird. Anyways, I am writing the new chapter to Tumblin' which is my verse for Avengers. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Unfortunately. If I did I would have a Hawkeye of my own, with those arms... mmmmm

Man in the Mirror



Clint Barton was not a person who took well to surprises. When he said he saw better from a distance he meant it. He liked things planned, and liked those plans to be followed. So as he climbed up the ladder, one arm in a sling, he did not expect to find one Tony Stark sitting in his nest.

“Stark?” he asked, swinging up onto the roof and landing softly on his feet. “What on Earth are you doing up here?”

The older man turned around smirking at him. “Enjoying the view. What exactly do you watch while you are this high up?”

Clint rolled his eyes and sat next to the billionaire. “Everything. But you never EVER come up here? And I quote, “I may have built it for you Hawk, but I am never setting foot up there unless I am in the suit””

Something softened in his stance and Clint was put on alert. He had just returned from yet another midnight food run for Natasha, who at this point was getting more sleep than him. No one ever warned him that fathers did not get sleep once the mother hit the second trimester. Natasha was only five month’s along but her cravings were always at the most inopportune times.

“Why are you up here? Aren't you banned from your nest while that is healing?” Tony snarked, pointing to the sling.

“I was banned until I was fit enough to go on a midnight food run.”

“What was it this time?”

“Indian food, with a side of McDonald’s. How do they even eat this stuff together?” Tony shook his head and returned his gaze to the city below him.

“Why aren’t you below with Natasha? I thought you weren’t to leave her side after this last mission?” Clint sighed heavily. He had been on a mission, with a rookie who hadn’t gathered enough intelligence for him to finish the job properly. Instead he was ambushed and managed to injure himself severely enough to make his pregnant wife demand he not go on another with rookies.

He was now able to make the midnight food runs, making Bruce and Steve extremely happy. While he was forbidden from doing anything other than move from the bed to the couch and back, they were the ones tasked with those runs. The looks on their faces after returning were priceless. And the reason Tony wasn’t included was because he was doing the same thing for Pepper.

That’s when he noticed the bottles next to Tony. “Is that beer?” the archer asked, leaning over the other man’s lap and grabbing one. Looking at it closely, he laughed. “You stole the Cap’s stash?”

“He lost a bet. I won it fair and square.” Clint didn’t need to ask and sipped on the cold beer. Both he and Tony were thrown in the deep end when both Pepper and Natasha announced they were pregnant. Despite being extremely excited, Clint was also deathly afraid. Neither him or Tasha had any semblance on what parents were supposed to be like and every so often, she knew he needed to battle the demons that came roaring back.

Tonight it had been her rubbing her belly and talking to it softly. It had brought back memories of his father and his mother and the fact… he wasn’t going to go there. He wasn’t his father. He had a real family now and they both had a pretty fantastic support system.

“Pepper found my father’s reels of me when I was younger.” Tony said, causing the assassin to jerk out of his depressing thoughts. “I walked in from the lab, and she was entranced by this little boy I swore never existed. “

Clint nodded, taking another swig of his beer. He knew despite being a pretty arrogant man, Stark had his issues. Something all three of them, Natasha, Stark and himself, had bonded over one night after they all suffered some pretty horrifying nightmares.

“How can I be a good father when I didn’t have a good example of one?” He remained silent for a moment. “I am so happy to have this opportunity but still, it’s Pepper. She can do anything and make it awesome. Me… I really only think of myself. How am I supposed to do this?”

Waving his arms around, Clint ducked one and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. He knew for a fact that Tony had changed since the days Natasha had been placed to watch over him. He saw the man who had made the sacrifice play to save millions of people. He had lost count on how many times Iron Man had saved him from what could have been fantastic deaths.

He had given Clint a new quiver and worked very hard on models for new arrows. There were days where him, Bruce and Clint were in the labs figuring what worked and didn’t work. Despite his every day annoying habits, Tony Stark was a good man.

“We may not have good role models for parents, but we have people who have. Phil showed me what a real father could be like. Fury, despite all his secrets, has always had our backs. Despite what we think, and what we know, I think we can do this.”

The genius nodded slowly and grinned. “I’m gonna be a dad. This kid is going to have amazing genes!”

Clint groaned and leaned back on the soft ground. “And you and Spidey are going to have a mini ninja archer baby! This is going to be so cool! I wonder if Pepper will let me build a mini Iron Man suit!”

Leave it to Anthony Stark to drag the conversation away from getting too serious. “Somehow I don’t think she will. And no you cannot build mine one either. Nat would kill you,” he drawled, laying the cold beer on his now healed ribs.

“What about bow and arrows? It could be like that princess from that Disney movie! Your archery skills, Legolas and scary woman amazing good looks!”

“She, Tony, she,” Clint mumbled, shaking his head. The man next to him stopped and looked at him jaw dropped. “Oh crap.”

“You and Widow are having a girl?”

He hit his head on the terrain and realized he might not live after all. He was supposed to blurt anything out until tomorrow when they told the rest of the team. “Yes but please don’t say anything. I want to live to see the birth of my baby girl…”

He trailed and smiled. He was going to have a baby girl. A. Baby. Girl. A mini Natasha, with her red curls and his sense of humor. A Daddy’s Girl!

A hand squeezed his shoulder shaking him out of his excitement. “Congrats, Hawkguy. I know you’ll be great.”

Barton sat up and stared at the city before him, almost fully recovered from the attack. His brooding thoughts didn’t return after Tony’s words. Whoever said Tony didn’t care about anyone but himself was sorely wrong. “Thanks. I know you will too. I mean you have Pepper to lead you after all.”

“Romanoff won’t be too bad either. I fear for anyone who would want to hurt her kid. She’s already scarier than she has been.”

The blond laughed heartily and shook his head. “Just stay on her good side, Stark. Right now she’s content because she got what she wanted, but God help us when none of us are around to go get her food.”

Both men stopped and looked at each other and gulped. “Pepper is even scarier now. If I want to sleep in the bed, I now don’t ignore her days upon end.”

They stared at each other for a moment, realizing that the two women who ran the household were pregnant with their child at the same time. “Speaking of which, I think we better get back down to these very women we are talking about.”

Tony nodded, standing up grabbing what remained of the beer. “Tell your wife that she will be a great mother. I know she has doubts, because Pepper does too.” He held up a hand. “Don’t ask. I think Pep will be great but she’s terrified. Let her know that and maybe they can bond some more. Get them out of our hair for a little bit.”

Clint grinned. “Now that is a great idea… Wait, Stark if they bond more they might gang up on us more?”

He saw the other man halt and turned around. “Either way, Barton we are screwed.” And then left him to the sounds of the city.

Standing for a moment, reveling in the happiness of having a chance to wipe the red out of his ledger, he headed back downstairs.

He came back to a beautiful sight. His wife, her stomach swelled with their child, sleeping on their bed, her face actually peaceful. Leaning down, he placed a feather soft kiss on her forehead, and her green eyes met his.

“Have a good talk?” she asked, tugging him down to her.

“Yeah, just needed to clear my head for a bit,” He said, putting a hand on her belly. “She move yet?”

“Not since you left. She is most definitely a Daddy’s girl.” He grinned, pressing a kiss to his daughter and mumbling soft nothings to her.

So far, that red… the red that had been created way before he had met Natasha was slowly being washed away and he couldn’t be happier.
The next day Clint awoke to a mini quiver full with green and purple arrows, a note attached saying “ I made these just in case. Because she has a great role model that can teach her how to be awesome- Tony.”

Clint Barton, expert marksman and assassin, fingered the delicate bows and smiled, shaking his head as he brought his wife Thor’s hot fudge sundae Pop Tarts. Tony Stark never ceased to surprise him.

 

Nice to see friends helping friends. I could see Tony and Clint being friends. I think Tony has a lot in common with both Bruce and Clint in different ways.

 

How did I miss this earlier? This is so sweet, and I love the bromance!