Fated Marks

Clint groaned as the morning sunlight poured the windows of the room. Clint cracked his eyes open for a second and saw that Hayley was still sound asleep. It had been a long time since he had seen her sleep so peacefully that when his phone started ringing he didn’t think twice when he sent it straight to voicemail. He put an arm around his soulmate and kissed the top of her head before going back to sleep for a little longer.

Hayley’s POV-

I didn’t want to open my eyes. What I wouldn’t give to just stay in this town in the middle of nowhere hidden away from all my problems.

Unfortunately running away and hiding from my problems is the reason I’m in this mess to begin with so I opened my eyes.

“Morning.” Clint whispered.

“Mh, morning.” I said before hugging him and kissing his cheek. “What time is it?”

“Still early.” Clint said.

“Then I’m not going anywhere.” I said throwing the sheets over my head.

“Really?” Clint said before throwing the sheets up and moving so he was hovering over me. “You want to just stay in bed all day?”

“There are worst places to be. And I have great company.” I said.

“Can’t argue with you there.” He said bending down to kiss me. “But Nat has been calling and I’m pretty sure Stark is going to fly out here and take you back any minute now.”

“Guess it is time to get back to work.” I said dreading having to get back to the endless and unproductive search for some answer out of my problems.

“I better start watching some home improvement shows and looking up some ideas for the house.” Clint said.

“You know that offer still stands. I could just have the place demolished and build something exactly the way you want it.” I said.

“No way. I can already see it now, we knock down that wall between the dining room and the living room, Sand and polish the hard wood floors… ” Clint said.

“Fix the giant hole in the ceiling.” I said.

“And evict the family of raccoons living in the attic.” He said.

“It’s a good thing we’re not in a rush to move in.” I said with a smile.

“I can’t wait until we do.” He said.

“Me either.” I agreed. “But for now.” I said running my fingers through his dirty blonde hair. “We should shower and get dressed for the day. We have a long drive back.”

“Just five more minutes.” He said putting his arms around me and nuzzling his face in my neck.

“Okay.” I said threading my fingers through his hair and softly scratching his scalp making Clint moan slightly.

What I would give to just stay here. I don’t know why I just have a really bad feeling about today.

Five minutes ended up being twenty since I dozed off a bit. It wasn’t until Clint moved to pee that I got up and started picking up our clothes. We both quickly showered and got dressed before going to check out. I didn’t miss the looks the innkeeper gave us as we checked out.

Clint insisted that since I was the one that drove us all the way here yesterday that he’d drive today. I agreed but made him promise that if he needed a break that I would take over for a bit.

Traffic wasn’t as bad as we thought it’d be and we made it back around three in the afternoon.

We pulled into the garage and headed up with smiles on our faces, holding hands.

“I was thinking yellow for the outside of the house.” Clint said.

“Yellow?” I asked.

“Yeah, keep the classic look.” Clint said.

“It would make the pine green shutters stand out more.” I said. “But do we even need shutters?”

“They’d be more for show.” He said as the elevator doors opened to the common room.

“The porch though, I want a porch swing.” I said. “I’ve always wanted one.”

“What a rocking chair to go with it?” Clint joked.

“No a lazy boy in the living room will do.” I retorted.

“I love you so much.” He said hugging and kissing me making me laugh as we walked into the kitchen. We were greeted by Tony, Bruce, Thor and Steve looking really glum.

“Guys?” I greeted but it ended up coming out more of a question.

“What’s going on?” Clint asked.

“You two haven’t been answering your phones.” Bruce said.

“Mine died and I forgot my charger.” I said.

“Same.” Clint said.

“There was an accident.” Steve said.

I took one look around and the first thing I noticed was that Nat wasn’t there.

“Nat?” I asked getting worried.

“No she’s at the hospital with Will.” Tony said.

“Is he okay?” I said starting to panic.

“Will’s fine, they both are. Josh was in an accident. He was driving back from Jersey and he crashed. He’s in really bad shape.” Steve said.

“Damn it, what hospital is he at?” I said grabbing my keys.

“New York Presbyterian.” Tony said.

“Natasha is there with Will already.” Thor said.

“Tell them I’m on my way.” I said.

“I’ll go with you.” Tony said. “I’m also driving.” He said taking my keys away.

“Then let’s get moving.” I said walking towards the elevator.

Will was probably freaking out right now. I remember when I ended up at the hospital he was constantly mothering me and asking everyone that walked in every question that sprung to mind. It was probably worse now, since it was his lobster.

“Hales?” Tony said from inside the elevator.

“Yeah, going.” I said getting in. “How bad?”

“How bad what?” Tony asked.

“Josh, the accident, how bad?” I asked.

“Internal hemorrhaging, a shard of glass stabbed him on his left side but missed any vital organs. There was a brain bleed but they managed to get that under control with meds, some broken ribs and a concussion.” Tony said. “That’s just what they found on the initial check, last time Romanoff called he was still in surgery and were having a hard time patching him up.”

“Shit.” I said as we got to the garage and walked towards the car. “What caused the crash?”

“Not sure. Cops blamed the weather; Romanoff’s going to double check after we get to the hospital. She didn’t want to leave Will alone.” Tony said.

I nodded before getting in the car. Something about this didn’t seem right but it was just a car accident. Those happen all the time. Hell, my mom died in a car accident. It was just that, an accident.

So why does this feel so off?

In the time I’d known Josh he was always a careful driver. He was kind of a grandpa behind the wheel. Kol used to joke that the reason he got speeding tickets was because he wasn’t going fast enough. He was practically a boy scout he carried everything in the trunk of his car from a spare tire, a jump-start, to snow chains for when the weather got bad.

He was the last person you’d expect to drive reckless enough to get into an accident.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Tony asked.

“Not sure, maybe I’m being paranoid or this is bringing back some memories but something doesn’t feel right.” I said.

“It was a car accident Hales. They happen, my parents, your mom, the millions of other people around the world…” He said.

“I’m probably just overthinking it.” I said.

“Probably.” Tony said. “So how’d Clint like his Christmas present?”

“He liked it.” I said.

“I can tell. Judging by the size of that hickey he more than liked it.” Tony said and my hand immediately flew up to cover the mark on my neck.

“I thought it wasn’t that noticeable.” I said freaking out.

“Are you kidding you can see that thing from space and you two are matching.” He said with a smirk making me blush.

“Oh look parking.” I said deflecting.

“Well it is a parking structure.” Tony retorted.

“They’re probably in the ER waiting room.” I said unbuckling my seat belt and opening the car door. “I’m going to find Will, meet me inside.” I said leaving before he could argue otherwise.

I walked into the hospital and looked up directions to the ER. It didn’t take me that long to hear doctors shouting and running around so I followed the noise and ended up at the ER waiting room. I immediately spotted Natasha’s red hair and walked over.

“Hey, I came as soon as I heard.” I said.

“Hayley.” Will said standing up and hugging me as he cried.

“Hey it’s going to be okay.” I said rubbing his back. “They’re doing everything they can to save him and josh is strong. He’ll pull through.”

“He so hurt hales. I couldn’t even tell it was him.” Will cried.

“He’s still in surgery.” Nat said. “There was a lot of damage.”

“Tony’s parking the car.” I said as we sat down. 

“I’m going to go grab a few things from the apartment and maybe something to eat.” Nat said obviously lying so Will didn’t suspect anything.

“I’ll stay here.” I said giving her a hug. “Be careful.” I whispered before kissing her cheek.

“Need me to go down and get you anything from the cafeteria?” I asked Will.

“No, I’m not hungry.” Will said sniffling a bit. I grabbed his hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

“What do you need?” I asked.

“I need Josh to be okay.” Will said. “But I’ll settle for distracting myself with that giant hickey, wow was Clint trying to eat you or something?”

“Or something.” I blushed bright red but not hiding the smile on my face.

“Hayley you slut.” He said smiling and I slapped his arm.

“Ass.” I said.

“I mean that in the best way possible.” Will said. “So tell me, did you christen the new house?”

I glared at him but he was smiling and it was helping him feel better so I indulged him. “No the ceiling caved in and we thought it would be better to leave before it collapsed on us.” I answered.

“The ceiling collapsed, jeez. You couldn’t have sprung for a decent place?” Will said.

“It was a grand gesture. We’re going to fix it up together and make it our home.” I said.

“You already live together.” Will said.

“Well technically him and Nat just sleep over.” I said.

“Do you guys have a sleep schedule or how does that work?” Will asked.

“Well not really a schedule it’s more of where and who I’m with when I fall asleep or if I’m pulling all nighters in the lab. Tony’s an insomniac and basically lives in his lab so we mostly just have quickies and getaways.”

“Hales…” Will said groan. “I work for the guy.”

“Thor, Its more like I sleep on top of him. I feel really bad because he says I weigh about as much as a feather and he likes being close like that but I feel guilty he doesn’t get enough rest so most of the time it’s naps or cuddling on the couch.” I said.

“Well considering how strong he is he probably isn’t exaggerating about how much you weigh to him. Well not that much…” Will said and I gave him a glare. “Well continue. I’m living vicariously through you.”

“Uh Steve… We’ve slept together but he still has the 1940’s in him. So getting to second base is a big deal to him. Sleep wise, he likes to give me space since you know I tend to move around a lot but he’s always reaching out to put a arm around my wait or hold my hand. He does give the best hugs though. Well him and Thor. It’s like they Shield you from the world with their bodies. I sometimes feel like asking them to never let go but feel I’d that’d be too clingy.” I said.

“So Nat and Clint are who you spend the most time with?” Will asked.

“We spend most nights together but the day can be anyone else.” I said. “It’s not a perfect system but it works.”

“What about Bruce?” Will asked and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Uh that’s… We’re taking things slow. I love him, he loves me and considering this time last year he’d only talk to me from across the lab, I’d say we’ve made progress. Don’t get me wrong I wish there was more going on but I’m going with what he feels comfortable doing. Sometimes it’s just a hug or a quick kiss on the forehead but he’s still one of my favorite people to be around. We can talk for hours about the most random things and it won’t even feel like hours.” I said.

“So what’s the sex like?” Will just blurted out.

“Wow you’re not even going to ease into that?” I retorted.

“I’m sorry this is all sweet and fluffy and you’re living the dream but you’re soulmates are some of the hottest people in the world. One of them’s a god. I want to know!” Will exclaimed making a woman with a toddler look at us funny.

“We’re in a hospital.” I said.

“I know those babies that get delivered on the fifth floor had to come from somewhere.” Will said laughing which made me laugh.

“Wow, when I walked in here I was not expecting you two to be laughing.” Tony said.

“It’s better to laugh than to cry.” I said.

“Laughter’s the best medicine.” Will said with a shrug. “Maybe I can make Josh laugh.” Will said tearing up.

“Hey, hey It’s going to be okay.” I reassured him again.

“I need more distractions. Sex, talk about sex.” Will said.

“Sex is great.” I said.

“You are the worst story teller ever.” Will said.

“Well compared to you who tells every nitty gritty detail of every encounter he’s ever had, yes I am.” I said.

“Oh come on. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Will said.

“Go ahead Hales, I’d love to hear about how great I am.” Tony said.

“Yeah I can’t, Will has that rule. Never talk about how great in the sack a guy was with another guy you’re sleeping with.” I said.

“So If I go get you guys some coffee will that give you enough time to talk about…” Tony started.

“Yes!” Will exclaimed immediately. “Three creams, one sugar, extra espresso shot.”

“The usual. Thank you.” I said with a huge smile.

“I’ll take the long way there… and back. Since I know you’ll have a lot to brag about.” Tony said with a smirk.

“Sex is great the end.” I said making Tony roll his eyes as he walked away. “You get one freebie. Choose wisely.”

“Hayley…” Will whined.

“One William.” I said. “It should be more than enough.”

“Uh fine. Hm… Tell me about last night.” Will said.

“Really? I thought you would have asked about Nat.” I said.

“Probably the only woman that could get me to consider going straight but I’m curious about that hickie.” Will said.

“Uh, okay. You want the play by play or…” I started.

“Details Hales I want to know everything.” Will said.

“Okay, so I took him to the house and I gave him a big heart felt speech and ended with I love you. We kissed. I repeated it a few times. Kissed again and then the ceiling collapsed. Of course it had started snowing by then…” I said.

“Okay too many details. Skip to the smut.” Will said.

“Really Will, you’re supposed to be worried about…” I started and Will started pouting and tearing up. “So we walked into the room at the bed and breakfast and he pins me to the wall as we started making out. He puts his knee in between… I got on my knees… on the bed and kissed down… It was slow but hit all the right spots… got on top… passed out and came back around hugging him.” I finished being as detailed as I could possibly be.

“Wow.” Will said.

“Yeah.” I said blushing.

“Five times.” Will said.

“Five times.” I said smiling.

“Damn, you luck ass.” He said. “How can you walk right now?”

“Just because I can walk doesn’t mean I don’t feel it.” I said making Will laugh.

“One year ago you were a virgin. Now you’re having mind-blowing sex that makes you pass out. You’re living the dream Hales.” Will said.

“Hey, you two done?” Tony said walking over to us.

“Just about.” I said taking my coffee. “Thank you.”

“Thanks, both of you. For being here.” Will said.

“We’re family buddy. I’m with you no matter what.” I said squeezing his hand and resting my hand on his shoulder.

“Family of Josh Rosza.” One of the doctors said.

“Here, I’m his boyfriend. How is he?” Will said standing up.

“He’s out of surgery. It was a little rocky but he’s strong. He’s not completely out of the woods yet but he’s stable.” The doctor said.

“Oh my gosh. Thank you. Thank you so much.” Will said hugging the doctor.

“Oh, we’re moving him to a private room in the ICU. One of the nurses will be by to take you to him once he’s settled.” The doctor said before walking away.

Will fell to the ground crying.

“Buddy, you heard the doctor. Josh is going to be okay.” I said. Okay he didn’t exactly say that but I had to be the optimistic one for once.

“I’m just so relieved.” Will cried. “I can finally breathe. And… I kinda need to go pee.”

“Then go.” Tony said.

“Right,” Will said running off to the restroom.

“Natasha called while I was in the cafeteria.” Tony said.

“Please tell me she called to say the cops were right and it was just an accident.” I said.

“They were right, it was just an accident, that was caused by another car ramming into Josh’s car.” Tony said making me groan. “There was a second set of tire marks on the road and there was an imprint on the back bumper of josh’s car, looks like a truck rammed into the back.”

“So not an accident.” I said.

“Not an accident.” Tony said.

“Hadrian.” I said.

“You think it was him?” Tony asked.

“Who else would it be?” I responded sitting down.

“It could just be a coincidence.” Tony said.

“There are no coincidences.” I said. “I did say his next move would hit close to home.”

“Josh?” Tony said confused.

“Josh isn’t the target.” I said looking up to see Will walking towards us.

“Ah That’s better.” Will said sitting down.

“Shouldn’t have held it in that long.” I reprimanded.

“Mister Adam’s, your boyfriend is in his room. Two of you can go in at a time.” She said.

“Go.” Tony said. “I have to fill everyone else in.”

“Follow me.” The nurse said. Will and I grabbed our coffee’s and followed her through the double doors and down the halls of the hospital. A few turns and almost crashing into a few gurneys we made it to Josh’s private room.

I had to hold back a gasp at how bad Josh looked. One of his eyes was swollen shut. There were tubes sticking into his chest and IV’s hung up behind him.

Will started crying. I hugged him and pat his back before walking in with him. Will sat down right by Josh’s side and held his hand. I pulled up the other chair next to Will and settled in for the night. It was a few hours later that Will knocked out in his chair. I grabbed one of the extra blankets one of the nurses left and draped it over Will.

“I love how he smiles when he’s asleep.” Josh said making me jump slightly.

“Hey.” I said before shaking Will awake.

“Josh!” Will said standing up and immediately kissing Josh making him groan in pain. “Sorry, sorry. I just, I thought I lost you.”

“No way. We had plans remember?” Josh said making Will cry.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I was on the road and a truck came out of nowhere, rammed me into that ditch. It was your brother Hayley. Why does everything taste like metal?” Josh asked.

“The medicine and the tube from the surgery did that.” Will said.

“Oh… he said something.” Josh said.

“Hadrian?” I asked.

“It was a message. He said…” Josh said closing his eyes and pinching them together with a groan before opening them again. “He said to… to tell you, t-time’s up.”

“Hales?” Will asked.

“Too many needles.” Josh groaned. “Mh,”

“Josh?” I said.

“Ah!” He shouted before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he started shaking. The machines went crazy.

“Josh!” Will cried.

“We need a doctor in here.” I shouted pressing the call button. The nurses and the doctors came in and started moving things around.

“He’s seizing. Push in 5 cc’s of Lorazipam.” One of the doctors ordered. “Get them out of here.”

“You have to leave.” One of the nurses said.

“No he’s…” Will started.

“Will, there’s nothing me can do we have to let them work.” I said putting my arm around him and leading him outside where we could still see through the glass doors.

“He’s coding.” One of the nurses said.

“Someone get me a crash cart!’ The doctor shoutes.

“No, no no.” Will said pressing his hand on the glass.

“Come on Josh.” I whispered.

“Charge to two hundred.” He said. “Clear.” They shocked him and he jumped up but nothing. “Two fifty, clear.” Again still nothing. “Three hundred clear.”

Will clutched his side and fell to the ground. “No, no, no. Don’t do this baby please.” Will cried.

“That’s it, I’m calling it. Time of Death: 02:23” the doctor said.

Will cried out but I didn’t hear anything. It was as if I was under water and everything was muffled.

“Hayley. Hales. Hayley!” I felt someone shake me. I jumped slightly and saw Tony standing next to me.

“Josh died.” I said looking around where I was sitting. When did I even sit down?

“I know.” Tony said.

“He was okay. He was talking and being his usual charming self.” I said. “Will, where’s Will?”

“He, uh… he’s with, Josh’s body.” Tony said.

“I should, I should go with him.” I said standing up but swaying a bit. Luckily tony caught me before I fell.

“Whoa, just wait a sec.” Tony said.

“No, My best friend just lost his soulmate. I need to be with him!” I shouted just as my phone started ringing. I picked it up with out checking. “What!” I shouted.

“Having a bad day are we?” Hadrian greeted.

“This is your fault.” I growled.

“You could have avoided all of this Calliope. You just had to hand over the brat but just had to do the right thing.” Hadrian taunted.

“He’s an innocent kid,” I said.

“So was Josh. Today was the deadline and you didn’t deliver. I’ll be seeing you soon Cal. Or would you rather I have Will reunite with Josh first?” Hadrian said before laughing and hanging up.

My phone slipped put of my hand and fell on the ground.

“Hayley, what did he say?” Tony asked.

“Time’s up.” I said and Tony moved to hug me but was interrupted by Will screaming.

“No! You can’t take him!” Will shouted.

I ran to the room and got in between Will and the orderlies.

“Will.” I said.

“No, they can’t do that. I’m not ready! I can’t.” Will cried.

“Hey Will. Look at me.” I said.

“Hayley.” Will argued.

“Look at me.” I said and put my hands on the side of his head. “That’s not Josh. Not anymore.”

“He’s my lobster.” Will sniffled.

“I know Will.” I said distracting him so the orderlies could take him out without Will making a scene. “And he loved the crap out of you but right now we need to go.”

“No! I need to… need to make arrangements.” Will said.

“You have to wait. Those take time. It’s four in the morning. There’s nothing we can do anymore. Please.” I said.

“What am I supposed to do without him Hales?” Will cried hugging me.

I didn’t know what to say to that so I just hugged him and let him cry it out until he just couldn’t anymore and let me lead him out.

Tony didn’t say anything when he saw us walk out. He walked with us to the car and got in the driver’s seat while I got Will in the car.

There was no way we were going to leave Will alone so we went home to the tower. I led him to the guest room on my floor and let him curl up into a ball while hugging a pillow. I curled up next to him so he knew he wasn’t alone and listened to him cry. By the time the sun rose his breathing was finally evened out so I knew he was asleep.

I crawled out of bed and went to my room. I grabbed the warmest coat and boots I could find before jumping in the shower and getting dressed. I ended up with an all black outfit of jeans, boots, a turtleneck and a trench coat.

“Going somewhere?” Natasha asked from the door way of my room as I put on my gloves and grabbed my bag.

“I need to run and errand. How important is your job to you?” I asked.

“Why are you asking me that?” Natasha said.

“Because I need your help.” I said.