A Second [Clint Barton x Reader]

A Father's Love

Part 17
***
You stood behind the panel with the others, watching as Bruce flipped a series of switches and turned multiple knobs. You had no idea what he was doing exactly, but just prayed that he knew what he was doing.

Clint was standing in the middle of the time machine, his shoulders rolled back and looking confident. His eyes were just the slightest bit unsure though. He looked up toward the ceiling and took a deep breath as Bruce finished getting everything set up. You just wanted this to be over with.

The machine suddenly buzzed to life, making your frantically look between Clint and Bruce, wanting to make sure Clint didn't suddenly disappear and hoping it was all just cause Bruce did something he was supposed to. It ended up being the latter, and you took another deep breath to calm yourself.

"Hey," You heard next to you, and you turned to see Natasha giving you a smile. "He'll be alright." She assured you gently, and you tired to return the smile.

"Thanks, Nat." You nod, feeling a little better with her reassurance. Natasha was usually right about a lot of things, and you so badly wanted to trust that this was just another thing she'd be right about. Despite that though, you could tell she was just the slightest bit nervous herself too. That was her best friend they were sending back in time.

"Alright, Clint! We are going in three..." You suck in your breath and step closer to Natasha, needing someone to support you. She gently threads her arm through yours, and you took her hand. You both squeeze hard.

"Two..." Clint looks to you, or maybe he was just looking at everyone. He was quite the distance away, so it was hard to tell. His helmet snaps shut as he prepared to leave.

"One..." The machine lights up, and before you even had time to react, it looks like Clint just gets sucked down into it. There was a little bit of a flash, causing you to squint, and then there was nothing. It was quiet, and you look to Bruce. He was watching the panel intently to make sure everything was staying stable.

"How long before he's back?" You ask softly.

"He'll have five minutes to walk around. Or at least until we get these numbers down." He explains, writing some stuff down into a notebook. You nod and take a deep breath, looking back to Natasha who was still holding your hand tightly.

***

"Alright, Clint! We're going in three..." Clint took a breath. It was time to go. Was he nervous? Only on the inside.

"Two..." He looks back out to the group around the time machine panel. Tony and Bruce were pouring themselves over the panel, flipping and pressing all kinds of buttons. Some of the others were standing outside, watching through the windows. (Y/n) and Natasha were both nervously looking at him. He was about to send them both a smile, to put their nerves at ease, but then his helmet snapped shut.

"One..." He suddenly felt like his body was free falling as the machine sucked him in. Almost like those dreams where you fall and wake up before hitting the ground.

At first, he lost his balance and was just flailing around, try to right himself. The world around him looked like he was in a glass slide under a microscope. Only by the time he had that thought, everything had changed again into this weird colorful tunnel system.

He tried to even his breathing and focus. He needed to go where his QPS was taking him. Following the little targeting center that appeared before his eyes, he went down the little tunnels it told him too, hoping this would be over soon. He hated the pressured feeling in his head. It was like experiencing a ton of G forces, and the colors and lights rushing past his gaze wasn't helping.

Soon though, he started seeing the microscopic particles again. He must be getting bigger again. With a sudden jerk, he found himself back in the real world. His head spun horribly, and he almost felt like he was going to be sick. He opened the helmet, desperate for fresh air, and then slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't even focus on anything though. The world was just spinning and out of focus. Bruce wasn't joking when he said he would feel discombobulated. Once the world came back to him a little, he tried to stand up, knowing he didn't have too much time.