Saving Family

Clint was watching Tony’s chest rise and fall when the door opened. He had heard the footstep a few seconds ago so his hand was already on a small knife that he kept in his sleeve. He saw Vision turn to face the new guest from the corner of his eye but he stayed still.

“Director Coulson and Former Director Fury, I’m surprised you made it here this quickly.” Vision said as he moved out of Clint’s view.

The archer let the knife slide back up his arm as he got up in one smooth motion. “Coulson, Fury.”

The pair nodded in greeting as they moved closer to the patient. Tony had been out since his little conversation with Laura. Dr. Cho reassured them that it was normal for Tony to sleep for a long period of time as Extremis worked on his body.  Clint still thought it was unnerving since he had never seen Tony so still. It was worrying.

Fury moved over to the head of the bed and lightly touched Tony’s face. Though they had lost touch as Tony had grown, Clint found out that Fury had great stories about Tony being a hellion at SHIELD when he had been younger. He had been a recruit and one of the punishment that would be doled out would be watching the mini Stark as they called him on the base. Kids could be fine but Tony’s intelligence and hyper activeness meant that there were lots of impromptu hide and go seek games that only Tony was in the know about. Nick came from a big family so he knew how to deal with the tiny terror. Finding Tony wasn’t always fun but it did get the day to go by quick. Nick had been transferred when Tony was around five so the genius hadn’t put the Nicky of his childhood with the Fury of his adulthood until their first conversation after the Iron Man press conference. When Tony and him went through the pros and cons, Nick told Tony that if he went with SHIELD that he would have to work with a team. At the time, Tony was too tender from Stane’s betrayal to trust new people so he passed on the deal. Fury understood but he told the genius that he was going to be keeping an eye on him causing the smart-aleck to ask which eye. Though they had their ups and downs, the pair had come to care for each other. Clint was not surprise to see the ex-director there.

Turning away from Tony, Fury’s face was pure anger. Clint had only seen something akin to it when Fury had talked to him about Loki’s hand in Coulson’s death. It had been right after Nat had fixed his mind control and the guilt of hurting and maybe killing his coworkers was over whelming. Fury had come to give him a pep talk before sending out the Avengers for the first time. It had helped Clint get his head back on straight but it would have been nice to be in the loop about Coulson. The six months it had taken Jarvis to find out about Coulson had been excruciating. Tony had come to him mad that SHIELD hadn’t told the genius about Coulson; Clint was floored. Tony quickly figured out that Clint had also been out of the loop. Since Nat had been on a mission, the pair went looking for clues. (Clint did more of the physical looking and Tony had Jarvis rip SHEILD’s servers apart to look for information.) That quickly lead them to the fallen agent and of course, Fury, who didn’t want to explain everything that had happened. Clint didn’t care as much since Coulson was back but he was sure that Tony took all the data he could get and went crazy in his lab for a few days. Fury did do his token argument about how Tony should leave things above his clearance alone but it seemed that Fury was as worried about Coulson as the two of them were. Now that concern was shifted towards the sleeping billionaire with heaps of anger added to it.

“Do you have the information that we need?” Fury asked Clint.

The archer nodded as he felt himself tense with the command in Fury’s voice. He knew that Fury was no longer the Director on paper but that didn’t mean that the man was powerless. “Yes, sir but I’m waiting for Tony make sure his end is ready.”

“His end has been ready since the bombing.” Coulson said as he was trying to scan Tony’s medical report. He glanced at Clint and Vision before going back to his reading. “Tony had pardons for all of them when Barnes was brought in for questioning. They all had stipulations that they would need to go to counseling and be cleared before they were allowed on to the team. Between Wilson’s hero worship, Wanda’s blind revenge, Barnes’s brainwashing and Rogers inability to see reality, it would have been a while until they were cleared. Tony thought that it would give everyone time to regroup and the Avengers time to become a better team.”

That made Clint falter. “That means when I got the call, this should have been over. If he had used the two brain cells that he had the fight at the airport would have never happened and we would have never been put into the Raft.” Clint reasoned out as he started to pace. “I mean I know that in a day or two more, Tony would have gotten us all out since it was illegal to house us in that place. Add that we were never given lawyers or heck even a phone call, Ross didn’t have a leg to stand on legally.”

Vision spoke up for the first time since the heads of SHIELD came in the door. “And War Machine would never have been injured.”

Nodding, Clint heard the guilt the android had about the incident. “It’s Roger's fault that we fought and that is who we should blame. We should have never been there to begin with.”

Coulson had finished this perusing of the sleeping man’s record and turned to the group. “I think we should still wait for Tony to wake up. He knows the most about what happened and I want his opinion of what should happen next.”

“Barton, do you think that the new King is going to cause any problems if we have to go in and get Rogers and his motley crew?” Fury asked as he moved to a chair in the corner.

Taking a hint from the old director, Clint went back to his seat. “When I spoke with him about transport, he seemed not completely invested in them. Rogers already lied to him about Tony’s condition. If you couple that with the Wakandan isolationism that is just lifting, I don’t think he would put his country at risk for them.” There were a few seconds of silence before Clint spoke. “Have you heard from Nat?”

Coulson shook his head as he took off his coat and hung it on a hook. Clint knew that Coulson was getting ready for a long stay. After all, Coulson had a soft spot for Tony since he was always surprised that the genius was didn’t have the self-preservation that a gnat had. Add the fact that Tony had been the one to sup up Lola and make Coulson his new hand, Tony was on a short list of people Coulson would mother into submission. As far as Clint knew, the list was Tony, Nat, Daisy and himself. He called him his Tamagotchis. (Basically, cute and fun but could never take care of themselves. Also easy to loose and get hurt.) Nat was stuck on the list just because her trust issues made her oddly vulnerable at times. 

Vision spoke as he sat down in his chair. “Ms. Romanoff has picked up two of the messages left by those in this room according to FRIDAY. I’m estimating that she should be here tomorrow. I do not know if she will be cleared of charges by then however.”

“It didn’t seem like the King wanted to press charges anymore but I don’t know. Maybe if Tony or Pepper could talk to him…” Clint commented as his eyes again focused on Tony’s chest. Coulson walked up next to him and put a hand on Clint’s shoulder. The archer glanced up at his old handler. “I know it was Captain…”

“Fuck him.” Coulson said as outrage colored his voice. “A man who can do this is not a man who any one should be putting on a pedestal. He used Tony and then he almost killed his supposed friend when he wasn’t useful anymore. Look at what he did in Bucharest when he tried to get to Barnes first. He had Wilson push a helicopter into an apartment building, threw the JCTC agents flights of stairs and out of cars, threw a bomb onto another building to save himself and Barnes. They are still trying to save people from the tunnel he destroyed. This is not the man who I read about in the comics. That man could have looked out for those who needed protection and help them express their needs. Rogers only really cares about himself.”

It was disheartening hearing Coulson talk about Captain America like that. The man had almost worshiped the comic book hero. “Tony thinks that he is still that man fundamentally. He thinks that no one really helped him adjust to what happened to him and just pointed him at the next disaster.”

Coulson sighed and plopped down on the empty bed next to Tony’s. “I know. That’s why he was pushing for the counseling. Tony is also clouded by his hero worship from when he was a child.”

Fury snorted as he relaxed into his chair. “We can only hope that finally died in Siberia because I will take a piece of that man's ass as a trophy for what he did to Stark.”

Clint was about to reply when the door knob moved. The whole room tensed since none of them had heard any footsteps in the hallway. When the door opened, in walked a petite woman with black hair in the hospital’s light blue scrubs with a surgical cap and mask. Coulson’s hand was in pocket while Fury’s hand was in his jacket’s inner pocket. The woman ignored them and went straight to the bed. She touched Tony’s face lightly akin to how Fury had. “дорогой.” The men all relaxed. She didn’t look at them as she spoke. Her voice was strong and measured. “I want his hands mounted on the wall for touching Tony like this.”

“If we are bidding on body parts, I’m taking his head and I’m guessing Pepper wants his heart. Fury already called dibs on his ass.” Clint said as he watched Nat’s hand slowly travel down Tony’s body. Nat always need to physically touch both of them, especially Tony, when they were hurt. It was because Clint and Tony always downplayed their injuries. When she reached his waist, she took a step back and pulled off her medical disguise. She then slowly inched onto the left side of bed next to Tony. She was careful not to move any of the equipment or touch any of Tony’s injuries.

“I'm going to skin him when he wakes up. I told him to call someone. I told him to watch his back. T'Challa had a warrant out for me and Tony told me to run. I should have stayed.” Natasha said softly as she ran her hand up and down Tony's arm.

“Nat, who could he have called? I was stuck in the Raft. You were on the run. He wasn't going to pull the Xavier or his kids into the fight. He knows that while the Fantastic Four are going to sign, they were ironing out their contracts.” Clint left Rhodes's and Vision's reasons unspoken since the android didn't need to feel guiltier about what had happened. “He didn't have a choice and I don't think any of us thought that this could happen.”

There was a brief silence before the Russian spoke. “So was I.” She whispered. “That is Roger's death warrant.”

“Clint,” said the man in the bed. “Is there a homicidal spider in my bed… again?”

Nat squeezed Tony's hand as she replied. “If you stopped trying to get yourself killed, I won't end up in your bed.”

 Tony squeezed the dangerous woman's hand as he whined.  “But then how would I get a beautiful Russian into my bed?”

Coulson commented drily. “You know that black widows kill their bedmates.”

Tony scoffed at the statement. “Natasha won't kill me. She's out too much time put in making me obey her every whim. If anyone one's head is on the chopping block, it's Steve.”

The room when quiet as everyone’s rage came bubbling to the surface. “If Rogers knows what’s good for him, he'll stay far away from all of us.” Clint said for the room.

“Hey, I was joking. You know lightening up the room.” Tony said as he tried to sit up a little. “You know you are going to forgive him for what happened so just get to that part. We all knew that it was probably my fault it happened anyway.”

There was a chill in the air. Natasha got off the bed. “Your fault? How is getting a shield through your chest your fault?”

 Sighing, Tony feel back into the bed as he raised his good hand to wipe away the sleep from his eyes. “I shouldn't have attacked Barnes.”

“If that asshole told you about Barnes before, you would have been rational when you saw the video. I mean it's not even my parents and I wanted to smack him around for what he did.” Clint said as Natasha pasted him muttering dark thoughts under her breath. Clint winced about what she wanted to do to a delicate part of Cap’s body.

“Look, you know the media is never going to believe that this isn’t somehow my fault. I can wait to see how the media twists the videos that Zemo put up as being my fault. They haven’t tried to see what is happening in front of their faces since I was a child. I don’t think that that’s going to change now.” Tony reasoned as he watched Nat pace back and forth flipping a knife that she had hidden somewhere. Considering how loose the scrubs were, there could have been dozens of places that Clint could think she would have smuggled one.

“Then release the videos of what happened with Wanda.” Vision stated firmly to the shock of most of the room. They all had seen the romantic leanings both of them had towards each other. Clint and Nat even had a bet about it. (In interest of keeping their spying skills sharp and not because they were nosey busy bodies.)

Tony turned to the android. “I’m not going to do that to her. She has suffered enough.”

Nat stopped in her tracks. “That did not give her the right to do what she did to you or what she did to Bruce. You know what unleashing the Hulk like that in a populated area did to Bruce. They were finally getting to understand each other and the woman ruined it. Or are you going to blame that on Bruce like she did?”

Tony’s head snapped to look at the petite woman. “You know I don’t think that’s Bruce’s fault. She got into his mind and the Hulk tried to protect him. I think it even went a step further since Hulk didn’t recognize me during the fight.”

“And, sir, she did the same thing to you. It’s in the videos. Why not release them to the public? Surely, it’s only fair for people to know who really cause the Ultron program to mutate into what it became.” Vision argued as he leaned forward towards Tony.

“Vis, they would destroy her. I barely was able to help her with Laos. There is…” Tony tried to explain to the man with pale red skin when the man in question interrupted.

“She pushed me through twelve floors of the compound when her and Clint left together.” Vision announced in a matter of fact manner. A chorus of shocked reactions rang through the room.

Coulson grabbed his phone and immediately started to text something quickly as Fury’s hand clinched the arms of his chair. Nat’s knife ended up in the wall next to the door as Clint scanned Vision for injuries though he was sure he wouldn’t find any. Luckily, the new being was very hard to hurt. Tony moved towards Vision as much as he could.

“Jesus, are you okay? She didn’t hurt you, did she?” Tony said as he almost fell out of bed trying to get to the other man. The love he felt for the android was clean on his face. The heartbreak that he was feeling that this being that erupted from the death of his loved AI proved that Tony Edward Stark loved without conditions. A man who would die to save the life of millions of strangers. A man who would sacrifice his reputation for a woman who hated him.

Vision moved his chair closer to Tony’s bed and laid his hand on the injured man’s leg. “I am whole and uninjured. I wished I could say the same of you.”

Interjecting, Clint lightly kicked the bed. “We all do and since we can’t fix the past, we can make sure those who caused this are accountable.” Tony laid down completely and watched the ceiling. Clint could tell hearing what had happened to Vision had started to change Tony’s mind. Clint slowly stood up and walked to next to Vision.  “Tony, think about what happened to Nat in the airport or Rhodes. Nat might be fine but Rhodes could be handicapped for life.”

Coulson continued as Tony tried to mask what he was feeling. “It wasn’t your fault, Stark. I’m not sure that Rogers gave his team all the information about your communications but that’s on him as a leader. That is his trust issues. You did the best you could with what you had.”

“But Rhodey…” Tony started to say but was quickly interrupted by Fury.

“I’ve known Rhodes for almost ten years now and I can say that this is not what is going to break that man. Don’t you think for one second it’s going to define him. Rhodes is a military man who knows that sometimes we pay the price for what we believe in. Also, he’s your friend. I’ve seen the crazy things that happen around you and I’m not sure that you won’t find some miracle.” Fury stated as he crossed his legs. The man clearly believed every word that he was saying and was daring anyone to tell him contradict him. “And even if he loses his legs which from what I have heard isn’t going to happen, you’ll make him prosthetics that will get him to a hundred percent. Hell, I bet give it a few days and you’ll put in rockets and say it only comes in bright red just to annoy him. He’ll be fine. You’ll make sure of it.”

Nat put her hand on Tony’s injured leg. “Let us take care of you. You don’t have to lift a finger. Let us take care of this mess while you heal. You can go home, play with the kids, tease Rhodes and hang out with the bots. You have people who need to make sure you are safe and that the people who hurt you pay for what they have done.”

Tony opened his mouth to object but was stopped by Clint. “What if it was me in bed after a fight with Rogers? Actually, I don’t think I’d make it this far. I would have bled out in Siberia. What if it was Nat whose chest he crushed in with his shield and was left gasping for air? What if it had been Coulson we had to almost put in the ground again? What if Rhodes had died? Wouldn’t you try to get the son of Bitches to pay?” Clint took a deep breath in so he wouldn’t start screaming. Screaming never helped with Tony. It would just make the man defensive and closed off. “It’s not just about you either Tones. There were people hurt when Rogers tried to get to Barnes first and then after they fled again. If we don’t make them accountable what is the use of the Accords or even being heroes. What separates us from Dr. Doom or Loki?”

Tony turned towards Coulson. “How many?”

“There were forty-seven injured and six fatalities when Rogers when to get Barnes. Thirteen of those who were injured will be permanently disabled. Two of them were part of the squad that was tasked to bring Barnes in for questioning. Three of them were civilians who lived in the building that a bomb was thrown onto by either Barnes or Rogers and they are still tried to get more people out from the bridge collapse. We don’t have a complete total on the destruction in Berlin yet but it was mostly in the base so they received immediate care.” There was a pause as Coulson gathered his thoughts. “There was a family of American who were vacationing in Bucharest. They were on top of the bridge that Barnes destabilized during the fight. Their car ran over a fault that was created by the blast. The driver couldn’t stop fast enough and they went into the crack where the car flipped over. The father and the driver died on impact, the elder daughter is in a coma and the younger has a broken arm. The mom has a concussion and two broken ribs. The media found out about her and snuck into her room. She is pregnant. The American media is going crazy over her and what Rogers did to you.”

“You might be a grade A asshole but you are their grade A asshole.” Fury uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “Rogers is the guy who they heard stories about in to comics but you are the one who most of them have seen all their lives. They feel like they know you and your faults makes you more like them than Rogers’s after school speeches. You are there for them warts and all.”

Tony shook his head. “I get it but we need them. I can’t shake the feeling that something big is coming and we are going to need all hands-on deck for this.”

Fury rose and stood next to Nat. “So give them a work release program. Make them understand what it really is like to be used as a weapon. After all that’s what Rogers was so scared of according to his rants.”

Clint nodded as he folded his arms over his chest. It seemed like a cold response to what happened but at the moment he didn’t care. Rogers was the reason his family was almost exposed and he never forgave him for that since he showed no remorse.  What could have happened to all those agents who weren’t Hydra still haunts Clint’s and Nat's friendship even though she apologized. “We can use them but not trust them. If it’s part of their punishment than we don’t have to deal with them day to day.”

“But can you really trust someone who is only working out their punishment on the field. What if they start blaming us and they hesitate when they are needed? They will be a liability.” Natasha counted as she laced her fingers with Tony’s. “Without trust, we can never be a team.”

“You want them back?” Clint questioned, disbelief and shock coloring his voice. “After what those fuckers did to Tony?”

“I never said that Barton.” Nat’s voice was hard and cold. She wouldn’t be interrogated about her loyalties when it was plain to see who she cared for especially by someone who should know better. “I don’t think we should let them back on to the Avengers if we are on the team.” She turned towards Tony. “We could ask the UN to make them their own group that is separate from the Avengers. They could help out with projects that could use their skill set and we would only see them if the threat was global.”

“You are forgetting boys and girl that this is all conjecture until the UN decides what to do. I might have some pull but not enough to get them on my side for any crazy projects like you are talking about.” Tony’s eyes seemed to be getting heavier by the second and his words were getting slurred. “I’ll think of…” The genius was out like a light.

Clint snorted. “I don’t get how some days getting to look at a bed is seen as the highest insult but once he is in a bed, he never wants to leave.”

Natasha brushed Tony’s hair back. “I sent Everhart a file about the Avengers skewing it towards us but not too much so it looked heavy handed.” She tried to fix one of the cow licks she found as she spoke. “I put the truth about Ultron in there. Tony is going to stop paying for other people’s mistakes.”

Clint’s arms unfolded as he thought of the chaos that was coming their way. “You are burning them, Nat. They can’t take that much heat. No one is going to trust them again.”

“Than they shouldn’t have messed with Tony. I said that Tony wasn’t made to be a team player and he’s not. He’s so selfless and self-destructive. He will keep taking their pain until it ruins him. They need to see what he does for them. They need to know how sheltered they were and if they blow away in the face of the storm that is coming than we didn’t need them to begin with.” Clint could see the water start to well in Natasha’s eyes and though they would never fall, Clint knew that it was there. “He might have the Ironman armor when he is on the field but he is still Tony Edward Stark under all that metal. I’m not going to let that man sacrifice himself again for what he hasn’t done. I’m done seeing him get hurt.”