A Second [Clint Barton x Reader]

Ronin -pt 2-

Part 6
***
For the longest moment, all you could do was stare at the man in front you. You didn't want to believe that it was really him, but it was. Tears were starting to blur your vision, and you found that your hands were shaking.

"C-Clint?" You finally managed to squeak out, still frozen in place. Clint looks away when you say his name and seems to snap out of whatever daze he'd been in. He flicks his sword blade and you watch as some of the blood flies off the sword and sprays the ground in little red spots.

"What the hell are you doing here? It's dangerous." He mumbles, and you could have melted at the sound of his voice. Even if he was basically scolding you.

"I could ask you the same question." You say, feeling yourself beginning to calm down a little. Your heart was still pounding though. His gaze goes back to you when you say that and he sheaths his sword.

"You almost died, (y/n). You're lucky I was in the area." He shoots back, walking toward one of dead men and pulling the kunia from his neck. His voice was harsh and hearing him talk like that brought back some painful memories. It made you feel as if he still truly didn't care about you.

You watched him collect his weapons, taking in his words and feeling a deep pain in your chest again. A small part of you still hoped he would have embraced you when he saw you, but you'd known deep down that he'd be this way. It still didn't make it hurt any less though and you felt yourself getting choked up.

Clint seemed to notice your silence, because he stopped what he was doing to look over at you again. You hear him sigh a little and he tucks his kunias away.

"Look, you're safe now and that's all that matters." He says, his footsteps telling you he was still walking around to gather his equipment. His voice was softer now, though still had a sharp edge to it. You swallowed hard and tried to stop yourself from crying. Seeing him again was beginning to get so much harder than you thought.

"You are ok right?" He asks again when you don't answer, and this time, you hear his footsteps coming closer to you. You start to panic a little and look away, trying to calm down faster, and nod, though don't meet his eyes.

"Yeah... yep. I'm fine." You say, unable to control the shaking of your voice. "Just recovering." You glanced over, just to see how close Clint was to you, and were shocked to find just how close he'd gotten. Your eyes met his for a moment and you found that his were searching yours for an answer. His gaze held concern and something else you couldn't quite read. All you wanted to do though was tell him how much you missed him.

"Are you?" You find yourself asking, his gaze becoming too much suddenly. "Safe. I mean. Are you ok? You're safe too?" Clint studies your face for a long moment, and you would have given anything to read his mind to know what he was thinking. He ends up nodding though, and you see his eyes become calm.

"Yeah. I'm ok." He tells you softly, his eyes squinting slightly like he smiled at you. That caused you to relax and smile a little too. It was then you realized how much you wanted to just see his face. He had everything but his eyes covered up.

Before you could even process what you were doing, your hands were reaching up to pull his hood back. It was only when his eyes widened and he pulled away that you hesitated.

Right as you were about to put your hands back down and apologize though, he relaxed and leaned back toward your hands. You looked into his eyes, almost asking if it was ok to continue. When you got no resistance from him, you went to pull it down. Slowly, you lowered his hood, then gently pulled off the fabric covering his face. Slowly the face of the man you loved came into view.

He looked so much older than you remembered, his face tired looking and his eyes heavy. He'd also changed up his hair style, shaving the sides off and leaving the top of his head with hair. You bet it would have looked good if the top weren't so squished and messed up. Despite the many changes though, he still looked like Clint Barton. And his eyes, though still heavy with loss and pain, still had the same calming blue color.