these hands that hold
Pairings: Clint Barton / Bucky Barnes
Summary: clint has no coordination when it comes to his crush
Whumptober prompt #1 : swooning / 'how many fingers am i holding up?'
Notes: we're making an attempt at whumptober! i'm in no way promising a fic every day, but hopefully this will get me back into writing :)) if you have any fic ideas that you want me to write, my requests are open as always. HAPPY OCTOBER!! this is slightly more fluffy than the rest will be - i just cant resist fluffy winterhawk
masterlist || whumptober2023
"Another day, another sucky mission waking me up before noon."
"As optimistic as always," Nat drawled, rolling her eyes fondly as Clint pouted, "I made a fresh pot for you."
He kissed her forehead grinning, rushing over to the steaming pot of coffee, "Natasha, this is why I love you."
"Keep that in mind for when I say -"
"Oh god -"
"You're with Bucky today."
Clint's smile dropped instantly. "Nat. You cant do this to me - last time I was in the same room as him I literally tripped over thin air. Thin air, Nat! I can't think straight when I'm around him -"
"Tough shit, sorry. We need two snipers on this one, so suck it up big boy." She slid off her chair, patting his shoulder condescendingly. "Be nice to him, okay?"
"You - he - he's the one that's mean to me!"
She guffawed, walking out the room. "Quinjet in ten!"
Clint let his head drop on to the kitchen counter, hand gripping the handle of the coffee pot impossibly tighter. "Get it together, Barton."
"Talking to yourself again?" An amused voice from the doorway interrupted his pity party, Clint holding back a groan.
"It's too early for this shit" he shot back, lifting his head to glare at Bucky leaning against the doorframe.
"Early for you maybe - y'know normal people don't sleep in until 3pm?"
"Says the fossil."
"Ouch, you really hurt me with that one," Bucky replied, hand over his chest and a smirk on his lips.
Clint stomped down the butterflies that threatened to make him blush, instead levelling the brunet with what he hoped was a convincing death stare.
Rolling his eyes - and damn did he look good when he did that - Bucky pushed off the doorframe, walking over to Clint and picking the pot out of his hand as if it was nothing.
"Hey! Get your own coffee!"
Bucky didnt reply, instead lifting the pot to his lips and taking a large swig, maintaining eye contact as he did so.
"Asshole." Clint frowned, snatching the pot back as soon as he could. "If you think that will stop me from drinking it, you're sorely mistaken. Nothing gets in between me and my caffeine intake - especially when I've been woken up at an ungodly hour."
With that he stormed out of the room heading towards the quinjet hangar, resolutely ignoring Bucky's scoffed 'It's 11am' from behind him.
"Snipers, that's Clint and Bucky, will be stationed on this rooftop here," Steve explained, pointing to a location on the hologram map. "Due to the limited sightlines, this is the best vantage point in the city. Clint will be covering the north-western approach, while Bucky covers the south-east."
"Roger that, Cap." Clint replied, definitely ignoring the way that Bucky's arms flexed as he put his shoulder length hair into a bun. He wasted absolutely no brain power on the way his hair looked especially soft today. None at all.
He especially did not smell his hair when he leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Who knows, if all goes well we might get you home in time for your nap."
His shampoo was coconut scented.
"Very funny - har har. Y'know getting enough sleep is vital to being a functioning human being, so not the insult you thought that was, actually."
Bucky huffed a laugh, standing back up to his full height. Natasha caught his eye from across the quinjet, giving him a sarcastic thumbs up.
He flipped her off in return.
" - essential that we do this quietly, swiftly and with as little damage as possible. That being said, Bruce we need you on comms and on medical standby - we hopefully won't need to call a code green."
Bruce nodded at this, tugging on his sweater nervously. "Im not the most anxious to get back out there after..."
He trailed off, Steve nodding understandingly. "Don't worry, we have multiple back up plans in place. Now, since Thor is off-world and Tony is sitting this one out -"
"He was literally thrown through a wall last week -"
"We'll be a little short on air support. Sam, we're going to need you to cover twice the amount you usually do."
"Redwing will watch over what I can't - if anything goes wrong I'll be there in seconds."
"Natasha and Wanda, you're with me on the ground. We get in, grab the prisoner, and get out. Is everyone clear on their assignment?"
Affirmative words spread around the room, Clint moving over to Natasha to get his bow and arrows.
"Y'know, you should use this time to make your move." she murmured, smirking.
"By what? Making an even bigger fool of myself?"
Natasha hummed, "Possibly. Or you could... I don't know, use that Hawkeye charm and flirt?"
Clint scoffed, ducking away as she tried to ruffle his blond hair. "Bite me."
"Oka-"
He leapt away as far as he could, hands thrown up in self defence, "Kidding! I was kidding!"
Steve huffed a laugh, patting Clint on the shoulder as he passed, "You should know better than that by now."
"Yes Cap..."
Sliding the shield on his back, he signalled for Bruce to open the quinjet doors. "Get in your groups, get to your stations and then call it in on comms - keep it clear from chatter. We do this fast and clean."
Clint swallowed heavily as he felt Bucky move to stand behind him, very aware of how close he was. His breath hitched as he felt Bucky lean closer, "I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing Stevie barking commands - since getting my memory back all I can see is the little punk from Brooklyn."
Clint smiled, head tilting slightly as he looked at Steve. "I find it impossible to imagine him with spindly limbs - surely his head would be too big for his body."
Bucky barked a laugh, earning the attention of the rest of the team. Steve narrowed his eyes, though Clint could see a hint of joy shining through, as if he was hearing a long lost song.
"'S so funny, Buck?"
"You - uhh, nothing Stevie." Bucky tried to muffle his laughter, coughing before throwing on a mask of indifference. "Lets do this."
Steve just nodded, though his eyes flicked between Clint and Bucky for a few moments, calculating. "Move out."
Clint shook himself slightly, clearing his head. Readjusting his arrow sheath, he followed Bucky out of the quinjet, climbing in to the passenger seat of the car.
"You sure you can drive?"
"I was driving before you were born, smart ass."
"Hey, just wondering if you were used to riding something that didn't eat grass and say neigh."
Bucky snorted, "We didn't ride horses."
"Really? There goes that dream." He pouted, followed by a sad 'yeehaw'.
Bucky shot him a weird look, suppressing a smile as he pulled away from the jet, driving towards their lookout point. On their arrival, Bucky reached into the back of the car and pulled out his sniper case.
Clint looked at the building distastefully, the crumbling plaster and boarded up windows doing nothing for its curb appeal.
"D'you think the elevator in this thing is still working?"
"Not for years - we're going to have to take the fire escape."
"Ugh, I hate climbing."
Bucky flashed him an odd look, seemingly swallowing down a question before pulling down the metal ladder. "Hawks first."
"Why thank you"
As they climbed, Clint made a very conscious effort to control his footing, aware that the last time he was alone with Bucky he ended up on his ass.
He was determined not to make a fool of himself this time.
"Okay, I've got to know. What was with that look you gave me when I said I don't like climbing?"
"Wha - well, okay. I just thought it was a bit ironic, coming from the guy who likes being up high all the time."
"Fair enough. I can see where the confusion comes in."
There was a pause. "Why don't you?"
"Like climbing? Um..." he thought about his answer, before deciding to play it safe, defaulting to making light of it. "Too much effort. Much prefer being carried places."
Bucky seemed as if he was going to dig further, Clint thanking his lucky stars that they had run out of fire escape. Scrambling on to the roof, he shrugged his bow off his shoulder, pressing his coms to activate it. "Hawkeye and Barnes in position."
Bucky huffed, shaking his head as he took out his sniper from its case, prepping his scope.
Steve's voiced crackled on, "Copy that. We're two minutes from target. Falcon, sitrep."
"Redwing made a preliminary scan - we count 5 hostiles guarding the front entrance, plus 2 hostiles on every exit. Seems to be more inside, but something is blocking the signal from reaching that far in."
"Electrical interference?" Natasha asked, sounding like she already knew the answer.
"Yep. Seems like its coming from the south-west side of the building."
"I'll see what I can do."
Cap chimed back in, "About to head in - keep this channel clear."
Clint pressed his com once, turning his mic off before settling into position, eyes scanning back and forth across his assigned area. Behind him, Bucky did the same.
Focused silence settled over the two of them, only to be broken after a few minutes.
"I can almost hear you thinking," Clint said, words hanging in the air precariously. "What is it?"
"Your response back there? I'm calling bullshit."
"Okay, wow."
Bucky audibly shrugged. "You asked me, I responded."
"Is now really the best time for thi-?"
Nat's voice interrupted him, com flaring to life once more. "Signal box down. Do you have visual?"
"Affirmative. There's 20 bodies in there - woah what the hell?"
"Sam?"
"We have an enhanced on the field. Looks like they're -"
He was cut off by Wanda, her voice shaking. "Flying? Yeah - Cap they're coming towards you. Heading towards the west exit of the building. Got the jump on me -"
"Copy that. You okay?"
"Fine - just some bruises."
Clint rolled his shoulders in anticipation, pressing his com to leave the line open.
For the next few minutes, Clint allowed himself to fully settle into his position, sniper training allowing him to relax whilst still being fully vigilant. In an instant, he had extracted an arrow from his sheathe and pressed it against his bow.
"I've got eyes-on. Target is moving fast - have a minute window maybe less."
"Take the shot, non lethal if possible."
Clint huffed. Of course it was possible. He could hit an apple from the top of a baby's head at this range.
He swallowed down his need to brag, quickly aiming and firing at the target. His arrow soared through the air, hitting it's mark in the man's shoulder.
"Target hit - he's going down just outside the mini mart. Shot to the shoulder."
"I have no visual," Natasha said, frown audible, "Wanda?"
"Neither."
"I'm on my way," Sam added, "No visual from the surrounding areas."
"Fan out around the surrounding buildings, he's got to be here somewhere."
Sudden movement from behind him broke Clint's focus, Bucky pushing him out of the way as a man descended on them from the sky, knife in hand. He blocked the attack with his metal arm, the sound of clashing metal ringing through the air.
Clint swore under his breath, whipping his bow into it's baton form and charging forwards, landing a solid blow to the target's arm. The knife fell from his grip.
It devolved into a scuffle, Bucky and Clint working in unison to knock the guy down.
In between hits, Bucky managed to re-open his com link. "Target is on us, I repeat target is on our roof."
Clint winced as a particularly harsh hit landed on his jaw, responding by hitting the man's throat. The enhanced fell to the floor with a wheeze, eyes narrowing as his fist closed around the hilt of the previously dropped knife.
Time seemed to move in slow motion as he jumped back up, the silver blade just narrowly missing the soft flesh of Clint's neck. Bucky immediately moved to Clint's aid, pushing him out of the way as the blade returned.
Toppled off balance, he careened into the brick that lined the roof's edge, head smashing against it.
Through hazy eyes, he watched Bucky tackled the target, manipulating him until his knee was on their back.
He was hot when he fought.
Ringing was followed by the return of his limited hearing, faint and muffled, as Bucky yelled something unintelligible over comms. He heard no response, frowning, before realising his hearing aid had fallen out.
His coms were built in - a fancy upgrade from a lab-bound Tony.
Blinking heavily, he tried to refocus his eyes. Whilst two Bucky's had definitely been a part of countless recent dreams, he wasn't exactly fond of the lack of clear sight that went along with the double vision.
The Buckys knelt in front of him, metal wings descending behind him. Sam had arrived. He was saying something, concern painted across every line of his face.
Clint could only blink back dumbly, eyes narrowing as he tried to read his lips. Lips - Bucky's lips. They were very nice lips -
Bucky was clicking in his face now, two slowly merging back into one.
'Hear?'
Bucky was signing. He didn't know Bucky knew how to sign. The hand movements were clunky, but deliberate.
Clint shook his head in response, the sudden movement making his world spin on it's axis.
'One moment.'
Bucky had left his side, looking on the ground for something and standing up with a triumphant 'aha!'. Soon the device was pressed into his hand, guided up towards his ear by Bucky's gloved ones.
Common sense finally catching up to him, Clint placed the hearing aid back into his ear, slumping in relief as his senses returned.
"- ou hear me? Clint? Hey."
"Present"
Bucky held his hand up once more, "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Really?"
"Don't be cute, how many fingers?"
"One, two... three."
Bucky rolled his eyes, though Clint could see relief rush through him at the realisation he hadnt lost all his brain cells when he hit the bricks.
"How's your head? Can you stand?"
"We won't know 'til we try, I guess."
He accepted the hand that Bucky offered - the human one - and lifted himself up. The weight of gravity seemed to have tripled, attempting to drag him back down with a vengeance as soon as he was fully upright.
Bucky moved just as quickly, spare hand wrapping around his waist to keep him upright, anchoring him against his body.
Did he just - did Clint really just swoon?
What kind of disney princess shit was happening? He quickly looked around, half expecting to see cartoon birds still circling his head.
"Shit - okay." He was lowered down to the ground again. "Cap we're going to need med-evac for Barton. He can't stand."
The back of Clint's neck flushed red, "I'm fine -"
"I'll believe you when you don't fall over your own feet."
"Ask Nat, I do that all the time!"
She immediately replied, voice flat. "Don't use me as your excuse. We're coming to get you."
Clint groaned.
Bucky knelt down beside him, grabbing Clint's chin and moving him so that he could look into his eyes.
"Your pupils are a bit big - looking pale too -"
"Well you don't look too hot yourself," Clint replied, banishing all impure thoughts from his mind. This eye contact was doing something to him.
Bucky just shook his head, releasing his grip and sitting down, running a hand through his hair. "I - I'm sorry."
Clint's eyes widened, "No - I mean, you look beautiful. Not that you owe anyone to be conventionally attractive - you are though, and strong too! Not that you cant be both attractive and strong - you know, I think I'm - please just cut me off I'm losing my mind over here."
Bucky breathed a laugh, shaking his head slightly. "You're a mess."
"Yeah." Clint's chest clenched. "Yeah I know."
"I was apologising for hurting you." Bucky finally clarified, "I - I'm still not fully aware of my strength I guess."
"You saved me."
"I hurt you." He repeated.
"Okay, fine. You pushed me into a wall -"
"Exactly, I -"
"And away from the mad flying man who was about to plunge a knife into my head."
Bucky just sighed, realising this was one battle he was not going to win, and looked over at Sam. Clint had forgotten the other two were still on the roof, avoiding looking over at them as his cheeks blazed. Yet another captive audience to witness Clint's never-ending embarrassment.
"Don't look at me, man." Sam said, tightening his grip as the enhanced attempted to slip from his grip, "I've got my hands full."
"Useless bird."
"Metal bitch."
The roar of the quinjet interrupted, hovering by the edge of the roof as the platform descended, Bruce rushing out.
"Help me get him up," he demanded, looping Clint's left arm over his shoulder and gesturing for Bucky to do the same on his right.
As the three of them slowly made it back to the quinjet, Steve and Wanda moved to help Sam with the enhanced.
"I'm really fine," Clint complained, "this is all unnecessary."
Natasha glared at him from her spot next to the makeshift medical corner of the quinjet, pointing at the stretcher.
Bucky backed away, dipping out from under Clint's arm as Bruce helped him on to it, immediately beginning his medical checks.
Behind him, Natasha and Bucky talked indistinctly, backs turned to him. How inconsiderate.
Bruce moved back into his line of vision, stealing back his attention. "Any pain in your head?"
"No"
"That's a lie and you damn well know it. You're bleeding."
"Oh that? Yeah I guess it's a bit sore."
"I'm only trying to help Clint. The quicker you're truthful with me the quicker I can stop trying to probe you for answers."
"Right - sorry, doc."
"Any blurred vision? Nausea? Tingling?"
"Vision was blurred but is slightly better now and yeah, but I think it's cos I'm hungry. No tingling"
Bruce frowned, "Your pupils are blown, you have no balance - you have a concussion. Seems to be a mild one, but if you get any tingling or headache you tell me right away."
Clint saluted, "Yes sir."
Bruce rolled his eyes, though his smile remained kind. "Glad you're okay, Barton."
"Likewise!"
"So, doc - how long 'til he can have that promised nap?"
Bruce huffed, "The no sleep thing is a medical myth - you just have to be sure to wake him every 3 hours to check for any new symptoms."
"Bruce, I could kiss you."
"Don't."
The two laughed as Bruce retreated to the cockpit, Bucky replacing him by his side.
"All's good?"
"Like I said, I'm fit as a damn fiddle" Clint grinned, jumping off the stretcher with flair, only to pitch sideways. Bucky's arms wrapped around him once more, keeping him upright.
"Nothing wrong, huh?" he asked, raising his eyebrow unimpressed.
Clint cleared his throat, but made no effort to move. "Okay, so that's not completely true - but it's not life threatening so I'd call that a win."
Bucky laughed, "You know, I'm starting to think you just like my arms around you."
He shrugged coyly. "There are worse places to be."
Not expecting that reply, Bucky took a step back, arms loosening.
Clint immediately panicked. "I'm - that was stupid. I'm sorry."
"These arms..." Bucky trailed off, staring at his hands. "These hands. I've killed people with these hands. More than I can count -"
"You weren't in control -"
"They were still my actions. I did those things with the very arms you think -" he broke off, voice lowering to a whisper. "How can you think being in these arms is safe when you know how much blood they spilt."
Clint reached out, taking both of Bucky's hands into his. "These hands belong to you now, Buck. You're in control of them. You use them to fill out your stupid crossword puzzles - to steal my coffee. You used them today to save my life."
"I hurt you -"
"You saved me. I'd happily take a minor head wound over a stab wound any day."
"You're missing the point -"
"No. You're missing the point. You're a good person Bucky, and I'll say that as many times as it takes to make you believe me."
They stood there for a few more moments, Clint leaning against the stretcher for some support.
"Once more."
"Huh?"
Bucky finally looked up, meeting Clint's eyes. "Say it once more."
He smiled, reaching up and cupping Bucky's cheek in his hand. "You are a good person, Bucky."
"I - you'll need someone to watch over you for the next few hours..."
"It's a date." Clint smiled as Bucky's eyes widened, "You can kiss me now."
Bucky laughed, "You're bold when you're concussed."
"Hey, if I knew that I would've got a concussion earlier."
"Idiot."
Their lips finally met, smiling and warm.
They were going to be okay.
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