Duyên || Clint Barton

017 || bullets

•••

"We're gonna start moving the lifeboat back Grace, get ready for the last few stragglers"
"Roger that, Fury"
My eyes flitted over to the lifeboat's entry way, spotting Clint as he helped the last few on board. A huff of relief escaped my lips, swiftly turning into a frown as he stepped back off of the ship. I saw him pull a little boy out of the wreckage and my smile returned slightly.
That was until gunfire sounded.
"Oh my god CLINT"
I watched in horror as the jet flew at them at full speed, Clint turning around to shield the boys body with his own. A flash of silver appeared in front of them right before the bullets started to fire, moving both Clint and the child out of the way. I let out a huff in relief, before seeing the silver man who saved them collapse.

Pregnancy belly be damned, I sprinted over to the body, ignoring Clint's shouts of surprise. Now that I was closer I saw how young he was, a few bullets scattered across his torso as his chest heaved.
"You're going to be okay" I said quietly, starting to look at his wounds. I figured all of them were exit wounds, so all I could do at the moment was apply pressure.
Ripping my jacket sleeves into strips, I started to tie them tightly around the wounds, all the while softly speaking to the boy.
I could hear Clint talking to me in the background but my hearing was dull, my sole focus on keeping the boy alive. Steve ran over, sensing my urgency and picked the boy up. He helped move him onto the helicarrier, and as soon as I was next to my things I immediately started trying to help the boy, fingers madly working to try and fix the gaping holes that punctured his body.
"It - hurts" he mumbled, slightly delirious from the pain.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry. Just a few more" I cooed, trying to stop him from panicking.
He carried on emitting low moans of pain, and I shushed him calmly as I worked, trying to ignore the wave of fatigue that was threatening to crash over me. My eyes darted around for a blood bag, inserting the needle in his arm and using a hook on the ship as a makeshift IV holder.

Knowing I had done all I could, my knees collapsed, my back resting against the bench where he lay. I glanced down at my shaking fingers as I tried to calm myself down, a hand softly being placed over them.
"Grace what the hell are you doing here" he asked softly, though I could sense the brewing anger in his voice.
"They needed help" I shrugged, still shaking like a leaf, "I wanted to help them"
He pulled me into a hug with a deep sigh as the lifeboat started to return to the helipad, stroking my head with gentle touches as I melted into his arms.

•••

"What the fuck Fury! Why did you bring her here?" Clint shouted, his anger evident on his face as he stormed into the control room, shrugging Steve off as he tried to stop him.
"You know full well why I brought her here Barton, and without her that boy would be dead right now -"
"I'm glad she could save him but that's not the point - you promised me - I - I don't understand why you would bring her here of all places"

Their voices faded into the background as I followed the boy (who I was told was called Pietro) into the helipad's medical room so I could help him some more.
We had just got him onto a bed and hooked into the machines that a brunette rushed in, her eyes brimmed with tears.
"Pietro!" She cried, rushing to his side and grabbing his hand in hers.
"You didn't see that coming" He wheezed, making her roll her eyes, though a small smile came out.
I gave the boy another once-over before smiling slightly at my work. Most of hid bullet holes had already started to close, I was guessing from genetic enhancement.
"I'll leave you two alone-"
"You helped him. You saved my brother" the girl said in a grateful tone, pulling me into a hug, "thank you so much"
"I have him to thank for saving my husband" I shrugged, smiling at Pietro, "it was no problem"
"I'm Wanda"
"Grace"
She sent me another grateful smile as I left, making my way back to the control room.

As I got closer, I started to hear conversations.
"Tony back off-"
"No, she saved the kid's life and now he's acting like she pissed in someone's cereal"
"She's pregnant. Eight months pregnant - and he brought her to the centre of a war zone! How am I supposed to just be okay with that?"
"I understand Clint, if someone took my Jane into harms way I would be angry as well-" Thor frowned.
"Thank you!"
I rolled my eyes as I walked into the room, the men falling silent as they spotted me.
"He'll live"
"See?" Tony said, gesturing towards me pointedly.
"Grace-"
I just waved him off, still mad at him for almost killing himself.
"Grace-"
"You know, I just watched you almost kill yourself!"
"Gr-"
"No! I had to watch my husband turn his back on a fast-firing gun. Forget the fact that you have children at home, what were you thinking?"
"I had to save the boy -"
"You could've dived out of the way! Anything! Don't you dare talk about the danger I'm in here, think about yourself for once. For years I have been okay with you going out to do these missions even though I knew the risk. You couldn't even handle me being on the sidelines - just think about how I feel all the goddamn time!"
"You never said-"
"Because you love your job! I'm not going to tell you how many times I haven't slept because I was crying! I'm not going to tell you how much my heart breaks when Cooper asks why you're always away, or how Lila almost forgot who you were when she was a baby. I don't tell you that because I know it would hurt you, but it fucks me off that you couldn't handle a fraction of what I've lived through"
The others stood awkwardly, not wanting to move and disturb the argument.
My anger slowly slipped away as I studied the guilty expression on Clint's face, and I moved to pull him in to a hug.
"Just hug me you fucking idiot" I demanded, wrapping my arms around him, Clint burying his face into the crook of my neck and mumbling apologies into my hair as we swayed side to side slightly.