Chapter eighteen is done! Wow, this story has gotten longer than I ever thought it would be. And I thank you readers for giving me the confidence to post new chapters. If no one was interested in this story, I guarantee this wouldn't be here today. But it is, so yay! :D

Chapter Eighteen

*Tony's POV*

Clint's attitude was something that was to be expected. We all knew that. But it hurt to have him be so cross with us. I mean, we were only trying to help the guy, not spoon feed him for crying out loud. I pushed my breakfast away, no longer hungry. Bruce had gone after him; he was the only one who hadn't lifted a finger for Clint. Probably thinking Clint would want to do things himself. It seemed the right move anyways. One, because Bruce came back unharmed. And two, he seemed to be smiling. What was that about?

"Is there any reason why you're smiling Brucie?" I asked.

Bruce chuckled, "Yes, in fact there is. Clint more than likely won't kill you all now. Now that I've smoothed things over." He said.

"More than likely?" I asked, repeating some of what Bruce said. Bruce nodded.

"I explained to him that your behavior towards him like he was fine porcelain was because you were so worried about him and still are. You just haven't said anything yet. I told him, in more or less terms, to give you all some time and let you guys apologize." He said shrugging. Huh, that was something at least.

"But go one at a time please. Clint can only take so much." Bruce warned us in his doctor voice. I merely saluted him, which made Bruce roll his eyes and shake his head before leaving the kitchen for his lab.

"So, who's first?" I asked. No one moved.

"Oh, don't everyone get up at once." I said sarcastically before getting up. Might as well be me. I went to my lab and got his new bow and arrows. He was using his old one, which I don't get in the slightest. I made my way to the shooting range, only to have to quickly dodge an arrow that would have went through my shoulder. I would have yelled, if not for the look on Clint's face. I rose my hands up on either side of me.

"Clint, buddy, you're not there anymore. It's me, Tony." I said softly and slowly. Clint slowly came back to himself and blinked a few times, looking at me with clear eyes this time. Cursing a blue streak, he set about shooting every one of his arrows without aiming. He was angry at himself. I strode over, making sure to make enough noise and grabbed his arm in a firm grasp.

"Calm down, you didn't mean it. And you know it. Stop hating yourself for something you have no control over." I said. Clint looked at me and before he had a chance to reply I put his new bow and arrows down next to him.

"Try them out. They can probably relieve you more than your old ones." I said backing off. Clint looked down and picked them both up, examining them before firing one off. He tried the various effects and couldn't help but smile inwardly when Clint finally chuckled. His first laugh since he woke up. I wouldn't push it so I clapped him on the shoulder and left him to his fun. I liked my suit a lot better. I came back up to the kitchen, pointedly raising my brows at the others. I then turned and got myself the cup of coffee I so desperately needed.

"You know, he isn't going to be down there forever. You might as well get it over with." I said, giving them another glance. They still didn't move; I huffed out a breath. Natasha is an assassin; she should have been the first one in there. Cap was our leader, he shouldn't be lagging behind because he's nervous about Clint. I mean granted, he nearly took me out with one of his arrows, but that was my fault. Thor, he's a god, enough said. I pointedly looked at them before going down into my lab. I had my suit to fix and upgrade some more weapons. After about a half a day(I'm estimating, so don't quote me on that), I heard my music dim was about to horrendously scold the person who did it until I noticed that it was Clint.

"Hey Hawkster, whatcha doing down here? The boring old lab is never a good look on you." I said. Clint bent his head, presumably hiding his laughter. Or was trying to at least. After he got his laughter under control, he approached me.

"Thank you, for the new weapon. It's awesome, better than my old one." He said.

"I pride myself on that. Is that all you came down here for?" I asked, smirking.

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?" Clint asked.

"Nope, so you may as well spill it." I said chuckling. Clint shook his head, then sighed.

"I want to thank you. Not just for the weapon. I mean, actually getting up the balls to come apologize to me first." He said.

"Technically it was Bruce that called a truce with you." I said.

"Fair enough, the second one. But you didn't need much prodding like the others. They each came down and told me that you ribbed into them until they came down." He said.

"Technically it was only a few times. But I bet guilt had a way of bringing things to action." I said. Clint nodded in agreement.

"And I thank you for that. I may not be myself right now. But I will be." He said. I nodded solemnly.

"I know you will. You'll be pranking the hell out of everyone soon enough." I said. Clint chuckled and nodded.

"Now all I need to do is to get used to going into vents again." He said, shuddering.

"Hey, I don't blame you for not wanting to. But the truth is, getting over a fear might just be what you need. There's nothing that's going to jump out at you here." I said. Clint nodded and went over and clapped me on the shoulder before giving me a small smile and heading back up the stairs and out of the lab. I spent the rest of my day in a good mood. Even my robots couldn't annoy me enough to make me throw stuff that them. I went up to get some food, knowing that someone would hound me if I didn't. Everyone was up in the kitchen but Clint. Or so I assumed.

"Hey Stark." He said. I jumped and looked around. There he was, perched on the tallest thing in the kitchen, smiling and stifling a laugh, though barely.

"Gotten used to perches already? You're on fire today Hawkie." I said smirking.

"I'm not used to vents yet. Perching, as you call it, wasn't tainted." He said. Well, I could see that. The witty humor went back and forth amongst me and Clint, amusing the others. Natasha tried to hide it. But I could see the upturned lip just slightly. We had nothing on our agenda, so that gave Cap a reason to do some time bonding.

"How about we go out to eat tonight?" Steve asked.

"Give me one good reason why we should." I said.

"It would be good for Clint, being here since he woke up. Plus, we haven't really been out ourselves since it happened." He said. He had a few very valid points there.

"All right, let's do it." I said, nodding. Clint jumped off his perch, looking slightly nervous. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be good for you, relax." I said so only he could hear. He nodded and we all went our separate ways to our rooms. In the end, Thor had a last minute call from Jane, so he went off to spend some time with her. Not that I would complain about it or anything. Jane must have been worried sick. We all headed out, Steve took his motorcycle, meeting us there, while the rest of us just piled into a car and drove there.

"Shwarma? Really Stark?" Natasha asked.

"Do not knock the shwarm." I said pointing a finger at her before getting out. Steve was already there, reserving us a table. We all sat down and picked something out. We weren't really picky. We've been here before after all. After we ordered our drinks and our food came, is when we started talking. Well, not really talk, more like banter back and forth. That is until the food started flying, first it was one piece, thrown by Clint, who looked like he was the cat that swallowed the canary. I, in retaliation, threw one at him. Then Clint used his other hand and aimed a piece at Natasha, who ducked and got Steve and Bruce instead. So pretty soon, we all pretty much had food on us than in us. We were laughing so hard, Clint especially. We paid for the mess of course, making sure to order new food to go as any apology as well. We came back, still amused.

"Man, that was the most fun I've had in ages." Clint said, still picking crumbs out of his hair.

"Tell me about it. Next time you want to start a food fight, let me in on it." I said chuckling. The others chuckled.

"I think Clint should have better aim though." Bruce said in an amused tone.

"Natasha ducked." Clint said.

"You threw it." Bruce said smiling a little. They bantered back and forth and I just had to smile at it. The team was closer and getting better, especially Clint. He wasn't better a hundred percent, but I could see he was getting there. After all, what would a team be without some support to back you up when you need it the most?

And that is the last chapter. I've decided that giving them all issues would be a waste of time. And since I couldn't think of anything, I made this. I've come up with another idea. 30 Days of Night scrambled with the Avengers? Any thoughts? Would it be considered a crossover? And if I do start that idea, I would like to have a lovely beta because I'm not perfect and I do make mistakes. I hope you enjoyed the ride my lovely readers. And I'm sorry if I spelled Shwarma wrong. Do tell me if I got it right or not :D