Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I really don't see how living with Mighty Cap and his buddy is any better than living at SHIELD" 

Worn down purple backpack slung over his left shoulder, bow over his right, Clint Barton trotted next to Phil Coulson. Leaving the elevator, he looked around. He had been to the Tower before. He and Stark had met on a few occasions. After all he was the one who worked on improvements of his bow and arrows. As the youngest agent in training, who was not sent on solo mission yet, he spent most of his time around SHIELD HQ, the gym or at the shooting range, either at SHIELD or the tower. Last was the place where Tony had sometimes met him to see how he was handling the tech, or just to say hi. The first time he had found it incredibly awkward. He had had only heard about Tony at that point, the arrogant billionaire, who thought he was better than anyone because he had the money and intelligence to make things move to his liking.

Clint liked him. As far as liking people went for him. He liked Coulson the most. After their rocky start, he had learned to read the agent, knew his limits and how far he could push them. Punishment and discipline was a thing with him. Within limits he could accept. He was strict, but not cruel, something he appreciated after all the abuse and hurt that his life had consisted of until the point he had been taken under his wing.

So he was naturally very much not impressed, when he had told him that they would move him from his small HQ quarters into a bigger place at the Tower. With Steve Rogers, Mr Righteous and Captain America and his best friend Bucky Barnes. The rehabilitated Winter Soldier, freshly back from Wakanda and held as something between a serial killer on probation and a back up plan in civilian disguise. Fuck, could he not just move in with Stark alone? At least he had proven to have humor and a quite interesting way of bending rules. He was more his kind of guy.

"We've talked about this how many times?" Coulson didn't sound the least bit impressed. "You are minor and obviously need an eye or two to watch over you"

"I've gotten along great the past five months! I can look after my own, Phil"

"You fell asleep in class after not sleeping- for a movie marathon"

"That was one time !"

"Pizza and ice cream is not a balanced diet"

"Pineapple is fruit and if you look at it closely, ice cream…"

"Clint"

The teenager stopped at the sharp tone, turning to the agent. Coulson put a hand on his shoulder, face serious but also as friendly as ever when trying to reason with him.

"It's a chance, not punishment. The other option is early graduation and the junior year of SHIELD academy. You prefer that?"

"Hell, no!"  More older agents picking on him, thinking just because he was below average age they could push him around and make fun of him? Thank you very much, but fucking nope. He had enough of that. He was done with being their punching ball and the kid they got away with picking on. 

He sighed and looked down. He had just settled into his small space at SHIELD. He didn't want to move again.

"I don't need a babysitter. I'm fine on my own"

It was Coulson's turn to sigh. He pulled him into his arms, brief but tightly. 

"You're minor Clint and it's for your best. See the positive in it. You get a bigger place and keep all your privileges. There are just two more people around you. I'll stop by as often as I can"

Because living with Coulson hadn't been an option. He had asked about that before. He had neither met Rogers, nor Barnes before and Stark was living a few floors up from their apartment. Cap had missed the 'get to know meeting' two days prior due to some SHIELD affair and Barnes had been at an extended therapy session.

Therapy session. 

Jesus fucking… He needed to talk to Stark. He was probably the one he could pull on his side in this.

"I won't promise anything"

"Try your best, okay?"

"Don't I always?"

He grinned and turned to make his way into the living room to meet his new babysitters, when the elevator door opened once again and Tony Stark stepped out of it. Oil stained jeans, faded Black Sabbath shirt and a grin on his face.

"What's up, Robin Hood?"

"Gas prices and airplanes" He couldn't help the smirk at answering back to the billionaire. Stark was… different. He had a joke for everything, unless there were the wrong people around, then he was the kind of role model to teach underlying offenses and sarcasm of the kind that would earn him detention. 

"Mr.Stark.."

"Agent! What a pleasure to see you"

He walked past them, ruffling Clint's hair, which he took with a protest and a swat to the billionaire's hand. Stark stood by the door, that opened with a low sound as soon as Clint and Coulson were close enough. It opened into a huge living room. Yeah, that was definitely bigger than his place at HQ. Tony leaned down to him.

"Don't worry, your room is cooler, I didn't go with the style of the two fossils living here"

He grinned, but then turned serious when Steve Rogers and James Barnes emerged from around the corner. They stopped their talking when seeing the three of them waiting, their eyes glued to Clint.

"Didn't they say he's sixteen?"

"Punk, you never were bigger than he's now"

The teenager narrowed his eyes at them, taking a step back and crossing his arms over his chest. Coulson's hand came to rest on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly to keep him from stepping further away.

They came over and took Coulson's outstretched hand. Holy shit, they were walking mountains, both of them. Awesome. He was sure that had totally been one of the reasons they had chosen them as his babysitters. They would be harder to take down than the two asshole agents the other day. Fuck.

"Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes, thank you for agreeing to this"

"Please, Steve is enough, we aren't on duty here"

Steve, yeah, right. He couldn't call him by one of the countless names he had given him in his head already. Cap turned to Clint, smile on his face. For some reason it annoyed him.

"And you must be Clinton" 

He looked at the outstretched hand Rogers offered him and finally took it briefly.

"Clint. Hawkeye is fine, too. Don't call me Clinton"

Another squeeze of his shoulder warned him about his tone, while he saw amusement on Stark's face.

"Clint it is, I'm James"

At least Barnes radiated less of an authority aura. He looked and sounded almost as thrilled as Clint felt. Great, made two of them.

"I'm sorry I can't stay much longer, but I have to leave for Gauteng in an hour"

Something in his guts twisted at the thought of Phil leaving for mission right after he had been brought over. He would have preferred to hang in his office at least for the rest of the day- not like he would have admitted that out loud. 

"No problem, his room is ready and we can talk about everything else over dinner. I read his file, so there shouldn't be many surprises"

He had…

"Oh awesome. All of it? Must have kept you awake a night or two"

Stark laughed. Phil? Not impressed. He turned Clint to him and gave him that look , that didn't need more warning. He was pushing it and he knew it, but he needed Barnes and Rogers to know, that he had had no say in this and was very much not happy about his re-homing. He looked past his mentor's face and at Tony, hoping he would say something to help him. He didn't though. Clint sighed, allowed Coulson to hug him once more and returned the embrace briefly.

"Come back in one piece. Don't forget movie night" He mumbled to him. He cared about Coulson, letting him go on an actual mission was hard each time. He had lost everyone he had cared about in his life. He couldn't lose him, too. It made him anxious each time, knowing what mission meant for agents. He would most likely not even hear from him until he returned. No tracable phones on missions or behind enemy lines. 

"I'll bring pizza"

"And don't forget.."

"... how could I? The usual?"

"Special occasion order if you aren't in one piece"

"Hard game you play, kid"

"Not a kid"

"I'll remember"

"Good man" 

With that he gave Coulson's upper arm a nudge, exchanging a wink with him. The tension had fallen off him a bit, but it returned when catching the looks of Rogers and Barnes. His face hardened and he walked around them, keeping his distance.

"Yeah… you're gonna talk mission or whatever and I show Robin Hood the vast hideouts of Sherwood forest"

He wanted to thank Stark for pulling him away, followed the man when he nodded down the hallway. Yeah, anything to get away from the super soldiers who were in charge of him from that point on. Really..he had done NOTHING to deserve this. Or maybe he had? A thing or two. Whatever. He would not hang around them more than necessary. Air vents went through the whole building, he didn't have to meet them if he didn't want to. 

>>--->

"Charming kid"

"Being told your file has been read is not a way to say hello, Steve" Bucky looked at his best friend, one brow just slightly raised "Especially not with what exactly his file contains"

Yeah, that hadn't gone particularly well. Steve the air out between his lips in a low exhale, looking at Coulson. "Any advice on how to deal with him? He seemed to be more fond of Stark. I wasn't aware they knew each other that well"

"He developed his new bow and arrows, which he isn't allowed to use outside the shooting range and training course. The one he has with him now is his personal one, he already had it when we recruited him. Don't touch it and don't threaten to take it away or he bolts"

Bucky shifted in his spot, narrowed his eyes at the agent briefly. Now that sounded far more important. "So, should we better ask what not to do with him?"

"Don't pressure him. He'll come around. His attitude is that he doesn't need anybody and for the most part it's true. He's young, but ahead of his age in many things. If you corner him in, he shuts you out. He's got a big mouth and goes overboard sometimes, but he is a good kid mostly. Growing up in foster homes and on the streets left it's marks. Don't touch him and don't approach him from behind. Don't …"

He stopped himself and reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, pulling out a small amount of papers, neatly bound together. He handed it to Steve.

"I broke it down for you. Those are his schedules for training and school, the important numbers in case of emergency. Agent Hill will be your contact for emergencies. JARVIS knows all the protocols as far as Stark programmed them"

"Mr. Stark has added several new protocols concerning young agent Barton in my system, including his medical file and preferences on food and movies, along with his curfews"

The disembodied voice speaking up suddenly had made Bucky jump. He had still not grown used to it, even after almost two months of living in the Tower. He had requested the AI to be turned off, but neither Stark, nor SHIELD had agreed to that. Security was closely linked with the all seeing system and he had no other choice but to go along with it. That didn't mean he was happy about it. 

Steve scanned over the list Coulson had handed him, blew out another breath. The list of triggers and do nots was almost a whole page. The kid was sixteen years old and had more issues than some soldiers he knew. 

"We'll be okay, thank you"

Bucky wasn't so sure. He hadn't been convinced that the whole adopt a teenager agent thing was a good idea, but Steve and his what could go wrong had made him agree. Now, more than ever before, he wondered what could not go wrong. 

"Don't let him provoke you. He's good at it. Jarvis will know when he leaves the building, so don't worry too much if he goes missing. He takes timeouts hiding now and then"

"What?" Bucky stared at him. How could the agent be so calm with information like this? How was he supposed to be kept safe, when hiding from his guardians was a regular occurrence? 

Coulson's phone went off and after a few minutes he had left their suite after short goodbyes. SHIELD needed him and although he assured several times that he was sorry,  he couldn't stay longer. Bucky stood in his spot by the door still, even a minute after Coulson had left. He felt like Thor, who he had met once so far, had git him with his hammer. He turned to his friend slowly, head tilted to the side. 

"Steve, I'm not sure this is a good idea"

His friend, still looking over the papers he had been handed, finished the page and looked at him, a small optimistic smile on his face. 

"Buck, he's sixteen. He just needs some guidance and stability"

That made Bucky laugh. "If I don't remember a lot from back then, but I remember you at his age and you were a handful, punk"

"Meaning to say you are quite trained for this?"

"What? No! Goddamn, Steve!"

He gave Bucky a pat on the shoulder, staying positive about the task. They hadn't started off on the right foot, but things could always get better, right? If one would have asked Bucky, he saw it only getting worse from there.

>>--->

So he had read his file. Great. Good for him. So he knew about his detention times, the occasions when he had been caught by the police and the numbers of social workers he had attacked over the years? Congratulations. He had been told very little about Rogers. In fact, he probably knew more about Barnes at that point. Whatever. He didn't plan on playing family with either of them. 

"Don't be mad with Coulson. He thinks these two are your best option"

"Why didn't you volunteer?"

Stark laughed, shook his head and lead him towards the last room to the left of the hallway.

"Because I'm no role model for Coulson's Golden boy and don't have even half the time they want your babysitters to invest in you"

"Do I look like a potty in need of protection? Fuck that shit. I don't want them. I'm fine on my own"

"Sure thing, short stack. I believe you. I'm not the one to convince"

He opened the door and held it open for the teenager to step in.

"Any changes you want are up for debate"

Clint was absolutely in awe of his new room, right the second he stepped in. It was huge . There were floor deep windows on one side, a huge bed, a desk with a frigging laptop and a ceiling high enough that he was sure the room stretched over two floors. Under the ceiling ? Bars, ropes and a fucking huge hammock in the corner by the window front. The wall opposite the bed looked like it had some dents and cracks. Mouth hanging open he walked over, fingers going over the surface. 

"That's… a Boulder wall!"

Stark looked obviously proud of himself.

'Yeap. Had to make the place fun. Saw footage of you at the gym. Wondered if archer or monkey describes you better"

"Carnie"

"Pardon?"

Clint ran his fingers over the wall, dropped the bag and bow and jumped next second, taking a hold of the highest spot he could reach and pulled himself up. 

"I'm not a monkey, I used to live with a carnival"

"Yeah..whatever, not my circus, not my monkey"

Clint grinned, scaled the wall and looked at one of the bars about three feet below the ceiling. He calculated the distance, turned and jumped for the bar, satisfied with himself when Stark gasped. Another few movements and he sat in the hammock, looking down at the city in the setting sun. 

He loved it. 

His new room. Yeah, he could totally admit to loving it. That way, even if he was grounded, he could burn off some energy, stay in shape without begging to be allowed gym privileges. Perfect.

He turned to look at Stark, who leaned against the wall with a grin, arms and ankles crossed. He felt happy with himself, glad to see the kid enjoy at least his new room. He had attempted to give him the luxury he could think of. Being the youngest everywhere because of a certain gift was never easy. He knew that from experience. Teasing was endless, expectations ridiculously high. If something simple like a Boulder wall, a hammock and some bars and rings under the ceiling could make Barton happy? Heck he was all up for it. 

"Come back down here Tarzan, there's more"

He gave him a look.

"What's up with the Disney references ? That the stuff you watch when claiming to work late?"

"Smart-ass. You want to see your toys or not?"

Of course he wanted. It took him less than a minute to get down from the high up spot and as Stark showed him the laptop and access to libraries and servers, his music collection and explained JARVIS beyond what he already knew about the AI, he felt grateful to a level he couldn't express. Stark just went ahead, explained stuff like they were at eye level.  He didn't have that attitude of showing some superior position, just because Clint was a teenager. 

He didn't expect to have his own bathroom, but he did. Tub and walk-in shower, stunning view included. He had no idea where all the new clothes in his closet had come from, but he saw quite some purple hoodies and shoes and that alone made him happy enough to not question anything. He had spent a fortune on him and although he hated it, when people did that, he felt mostly gratitude towards the man.

"Thank you Mr.Stark" Sitting on his bed, looking around and trying to process everything, he managed a smile.

"Oh God, call me Tony, before I turn twenty years older just from listening to the Mr.Stark crap"

"Thank you, Tony.."

"Welcome, Merida"

At that nickname he spun around and launched a pillow at him, which hit him square in the face. 

"Careful, mini Agent. Still my Tower"

"Are you scared?"

"Ppfff.. I fly a suit at Mach 3, I'm not scared of your antics"

"I'm deadly"

"No doubt. Heard you never miss"

"I don't"

"Prove or it's not true"

"The range?"

"Tonight after dinner?"

"Seven okay?"

"Perfect"

"Challenge accepted"

He grinned at Tony, wide and honest, wagging his brows once. Maybe, and just MAYBE , living at the Tower wasn't the worst thing. At least as long as Tony was around.

Chapter Text

The buzzer under his pillow pulled him from sleep way too early. Only one eye cracked half open, he reached for the alarm clock attached to the annoyingly vibrating device. He literally punched the clock to silence, his arm dropping down with a deep sigh. The sun had only started to rise, the room filled with twilight and tempting him to just close his eyes again and get a few more hours of sleep.

He had hardly slept at all. Falling asleep had taken hours. The time with Stark had been fun, but the cramped dinner with Rogers and Barnes had reminded him again about how much he didn't want to be with them. Rogers, possibly meaning good but still doing all the wrong things, had tried for small talk. He had asked him about his food preferences, when school days would start and what routines Coulson had set for him in the past months. When telling him to read the list he had been given, he had looked at the teenager, baffled. What? Because he had blown off on him? No, because he hadn't expected him to know about the list. Fucking serious ? Had he thought Coulson had slipped him such personal info? He had written that list with him, for fucks sake. To avoid exactly the conversation that Rogers had tried to force on him during dinner. Meal time had ended after this and he had spent the rest of the evening alone in his room. He could very well live without their company.

His new room, despite having awesome features, had felt foreign, too big and almost threatening. The oversized blanket and the soft sheets smelled of laundry detergent and..  sterile. He had tossed and turned until the early morning hours, missing the scent of his small SHIELD apartment, where pizza, coffee and his favorite soap was what he usually fell asleep to. Now ? It all felt wrong. He found no comfort in anything. 

His mood was seriously below a zero point by the time he dragged himself out of bed. He didn't bother putting on more than sweatpants and a purple hoodie for breakfast. He needed a coffee and he needed it fast. He put his hearing aids in on the way to the door, breathing a sigh of relief when his surrounding stayed pleasantly quiet. The scent of coffee already hit him halfway to the kitchen. There were noises of someone moving around, opening and closing cabinets. He really was in no mood to talk to anyone and if Rogers started as talkative as he had been the evening before, he would take no responsibility for what would happen. 

He only found Barnes in the kitchen. Rogers was nowhere to be seen. He didn‘t know why, because that had for sure not been on the list, but the lights were still dimmed to only part of their brightness. He appreciated that. With eyes as sensitive as his, he had grown prone to headaches and irritated eyes over the years. Especially in the morning he needed a certain adjustment period for his ears and his eyes.  Barnes stayed out of his way and didn‘t say a word while Clint moved around him, poured himself a coffee and sat on one of the stools at the table. He took the first sip, then set the mug down, both hands wrapped around the cup. He swallowed and shivered comfortably with the hot beverage going down his throat. God, this was heavenly.

His eyes stayed down, either fixated on the mug or the table in front of him. He wasn‘t a morning person at all, always the most tired around dawn. 

A plate was placed in front of him and he looked up, raising a brow at Barnes.

„You ain‘t leaving without breakfast. Lunch is either turkey or cheese sandwich“

His eyes went down to the plate. Toast, scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon and some strawberries.

„Are you trying to impress me?“ It wouldn‘t work. Even if he put his favorite food in front of him every day, it wouldn‘t make him like the men or the situation more. To his surprise Barnes just laughed briefly. 

„You think I need to?“ Hu? Okay, not what he had expected. Barnes poured himself a coffee and took a slow long pull from it after leaning against the kitchen counter, eyes on the teenager. „You have a long day ahead and need breakfast before leaving. I am always up early. Breakfast is kinda my duty. If you don‘t tell me what you want to eat, you‘ll have to deal with the things I chose. Same goes for your lunch. I won‘t drag you out of bed if you decide to oversleep. Coffee will be ready by the time you get up. You put your things in the dishwasher when done. If you prefer not to talk, that‘s fine by me, but don‘t get bratty with me“

„Wow, you sound like Coulson already“

It was just the truth. In fact, all the things Barnes had stated were the exact same rules that Coulson had set for the ocassions that he had happened to sleep at his house. Nothing new and nothing out of the ordinary. 

„If that makes it easier for you, think of it as his rules“

Clint bought himself a few seconds by taking another pull from his coffee and looking around. There seemed to be nobody else around?

„Steve goes running from six to eight. Chances are high you won‘t see him before school“

„Wow..what a loss“ The sarcasm was dripping from his words. 

„Okay, kid, listen“

„I am not a fucking kid“ He narrowed his eyes at him, fight response kicking in. God, he was so sick and tired of being called kid or boy just because he happened to always be the youngest one around. He was exhausted and not in a mood to get a pseudo daddy talk.

„What else would you like? Brat? Because that‘s how you‘ve been behaving. Given the fact that we are giving you a chance here you‘ve been nothing but a moody child since you walked in here“

„So what? Send me away? To SHIELD academy? It‘s not like I wanna be here anyway“

He raised his chin in a stubborn gesture. It was entirely too early for these conversations. He hadn‘t even finished his first coffee yet !

Barnes gave him a stare, muscles around his jaw twitching and for a moment he held his breath, tensing head to toe with the expectation of punishment coming. His hands literally cramped around the coffee mug. In the end he remained calm, voice not raised, but his intense stare had its effect.

„Steve agreed immediately when Fury asked him to take you in. You aren‘t a child, but not an adult either. You‘ve been through countless foster homes as far as I heard and I am sure that sucked big time, but if you would decide to work with us just a bit, this could go smooth for all of us“

„So we go the way of talking on eye level now? Wow, I‘m impressed, doesn‘t happen often these days“

„Doesn‘t surprise me. Behave like a child and you get treated like one“

That shut him up. He had picked Barnes for the silent brooding type. He had hardly said ten words the evening before. 

„ Agent Coulson wants a safe place for you and Steve volunteered. I honestly wanted to say no, because with your reputation I saw exactly this coming, but Coulson assured us you're a good kid and would only need some adjustment time. Take it. Hole up. Be silent. Take all the time you need, but drop the attitude. We do you a favor here and I didn‘t sign up for constant fights in our home when Steve talked me into this“

Wow. Barnes was surely not someone to hide his opinion. There was a sharp comment about to come out of his mouth, but what hit him was Coulson having spoken up for him. A good kid? Well, all he had ever wanted was to be left alone and do his thing. If that was what Coulson called being good, he could absolutely do that. Stark was always around the tower, or most of the time. He could avoid Rogers and Barnes. He had said it himself. He could be silent and hole up. Exactly what he planned on doing. Living next to them. Definitely not with them. 

He was still pissed about being placed with them, but saw a potential to make it work with as little contact as possible. Fighting down the comments and attitude, he pulled the plate closer and picked up the fork.

"Scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, waffles, pancakes and bagels are fine. No cereals and no bananas. I'm allergic to kiwis. Not a fan of cold turkey. Cheese is fine. Never put Mayonnaise on my stuff"

He hadn't looked up while talking and also didn't while eating. He missed out on Bucky's grin as he turned around to put his lunch together. Against Clint's assumption, he didn't mind having him around. Not in general. What he didn't like was the calm of their home being disturbed, where he had finally found some peace of mind. He wasn't ready to let a teenager take that from him. Neither of them spoke another word from that point on. Clint cleared his plate, only nodded in approval when Bucky refilled his coffee and left the table after he had emptied it and the plate. He made sure to keep distance while putting his things in the dishwasher and then almost bolted out of the kitchen.

By the time he had to leave for school, Barnes was nowhere to be seen. Fighting an inner battle, Clint stared at the brown paper bag he had left on the kitchen table. He was tempted to just leave it there. He didn't need anybody to make lunch for him for fucks sake! On the other side that would mean he had to get lunch at the cafeteria, sit with the other kids instead of in his favorite spot in the tree by the soccer field. So, with an eye roll and an annoyed click of his tongue he took the bag and headed out to where he would get picked up by the agent who drove him to school every day. 

He did not allow himself the mental gratitude towards Barnes when he opened the lunch bag after climbing his tree. Cheese sandwich, a small package of ketchup (had that been on the list he had written with Coulson?), an orange, vanilla pudding and a small can of Sprite. He was obviously trying to get him on his side, but he wouldn't let him have that easily. 

In fact, the only sign of Clint being grateful, would be the folded lunch bag to be found on the kitchen table in the afternoon, a thumbs up drawn on it and hardly readable words under- Apples are better than oranges. >>---> 

Dinner happened in silence. For that Clint was grateful. He didn't care about the looks Rogers and Barnes gave each other and left the table to clear his things away and then go to his room. If they had asked him why he was leaving so fast, the explanation of having homework to do wouldn't even have been a lie. Spring break was coming and teachers were loading him with essays and shit. He couldn't wait for the week off. Maybe he could talk Coulson into letting him stay with him during school break. Fuck, he hoped so.