DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING

…..

Trust and a night's rest

'Breathe Clint, just breathe…'

Clint Barton took a shuddering breath, trying his damn hardest to not hyperventilate because of a fucking nightmare. He stood there in his bathroom staring at his reflection in the mirror. His head was disheveled, his eyes were blood-shot, and well…he looked like shit. But despite looking like a total mess right now Clint couldn't help but feel a little relieved. No glowing blue eyes staring back at him.

Turning on the faucet of the sink, Clint cupped his hands under the water and splashed it on his face. The cool refreshing liquid helped to wash away any remnants of sleep and the memories of his latest nightmare. After drying his face off the male walked back into his bedroom and stared at his alarm clock.

2:45 a.m.

Too early for him to be up, heck, it was too early for anyone to be up. Clint thought about going back to sleep, but…

Blood was splattered everywhere. On the walls, on the floor and…and on his hands. Body parts were strewn all over the floor while dead, lifeless eyes of all too familiar faces stared up at him, accusing him for their demise. He could almost hear their voices calling out to him, asking him, why? Why did he kill them? Why did he betray them? Why…why…why…?

Barton snapped himself out of his tormented thoughts. There would be nothing but nightmarish anguish tinted in a shade of blue waiting for him once his head hit the pillow. With a small sigh he decided to leave his room and walk around for a bit for a change of scenery. Who knows, it might help him calm down a bit. After a elevator ride down to the main floor where the team, except for him, hung out together, Clint briefly wondered what he could do at 2 in the morning, but stopped when he remembered where he was.

Stark Tower or Avengers Tower has everything you'll ever need and more. Movies, video-games, a fully stocked kitchen, a gym, a shooting range, and yadda…yadda…yadda he stopped paying attention to Stark's explanation of the team's new home after he heard shooting range. Well the shooting range was out of the question because he didn't trust himself with a weapon at this time. Barton didn't want to watch a movie because he knew he'd just fall asleep and encounter more nightmares. It was too early to try to cook breakfast. And he couldn't use the gym because he had doctor's orders to not do any strenuous activities until his body had healed. After going on a mission that had you jumping off of buildings and getting shot at, of course your body was going to need some time off.

"Well this sucks," Clint muttered to himself while running a hand through his messy blond hair. He was about to give up and go back to his room until he spotted a familiar greenish-gray duffel bag sitting in a far away corner of the room. It was his personal bag that was filled with his personal belongings, all ready packed up just in case he needed to leave the tower and go into hiding someplace because he did something stupid.

The blond wondered if tonight would be the night that he left. The nightmares weren't getting any better and he was always worried he would become compromised again, that Loki still had some kind of magical hold on him and was waiting for the right time to pull his puppet strings on him again. He shuddered at the thought. It wouldn't affect the team if he left, would it? He was just a guy with a bow and had far too many mental and emotional scars to deal with. It might do the team of broken heroes some good to have someone stable to replace him. Just as he was about to walk over to his bag the elevator door opened and two tired, but accomplished looking scientists came in. They seemed surprised to see him awake.

"Banner and Stark, I trust you didn't blow up anything."

Tony Stark grinned as he approached the archer. "No explosions tonight, but Bruce and I are working on a super special project."

Clint scoffed softly. When were those two not working on a project? "So what kind of "special" project is this now?" he asked.

Tony tweaked the archer's nose in response. "Sorry Legolas, but that's secret until later."

Bruce decided to intervene before anything turned violent. And judging from the look on Clint's face, things were definitely about to turn violent. "Come on, Tony. Let's leave Clint alone and go to bed. We have that meeting at SHIELD tomorrow."

Whining soon followed. "We have another meeting to go to?! Those things are so boooring!"

Banner rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Clint, who looked like he was about to keel over. "Are you okay, Clint? It's a little strange to see you up so early."

Barton shrugged his shoulders at the doctor's question. He wasn't in the mood to explain his sleeping habits and he sure as hell didn't need to give anyone another reason to question his sanity. "I'm doing alright. Just came down to get something to drink."

"Ooh a drink, excellent idea!" exclaims Tony with a bright smile. "We've made so much progress on our experiment that we should celebrate!" With that said the billionaire rushed over to his bar and started searching for an appropriate drink.

"Tony, it's three in the morning!"

"It's five o'clock somewhere in the world."

'And that's my cue to leave,' Clint thought before heading towards the elevator. But before he could make it, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Where do you think you're going, Legolas? We're suppose to be celebrating!"

"And what the hell am I celebrating for?" The blond was trying hard to stop himself wrenching his arm free and hurting the genius.

"You're alive, aren't you? That's reason to celebrate," the older man responded with that insufferable smirk of his. "We can also use this time to bond. You're always off somewhere by yourself; makes me think that you don't like us at all."

Pouting. This man was seriously pouting at him. Already this day was shaping out to be terrible. He let his eyes wander to Dr. Banner who had a shy, apologetic look on his face, but he could also see that the man was wondering the same thing. Wonderful, just simply wonderful.

"I…don't not like you guys," the archer starts quietly while trying get Tony to let go of his arm. "I just like spending time alone sometimes."

Bruce frowned before saying, "But that's…"

"…All the damn time!" Tony finished for him.

It was obvious that the two scientists weren't going to let this one go, so with a heavy sigh, "Alright I'll try to join in on the team building activities, but I'm not making any promises." Stark grinned triumphantly at the answer while Banner let out a sigh of relief accompanied with a shy smile.

"Now about that drink. We have two reasons to celebrate now!"

"Can I have my arm back now?"

"Oh, is this your arm?"

What in the world did he get himself into?

XxXxXxX

Clint buried his head in his arms and sighed. Tony was right, these meetings were boring. Director Fury decided that the Avengers needed to be re-educated when it came to saving the city. For example, when it came to defeating huge monsters or invading aliens, try not to knock over so many damn buildings in the process! Number two: When the battle is over make sure that someone has an eye on the Hulk so he doesn't go smashing anything else. Number three: Keep fights between Thor and the Hulk to a minimum so they don't go smashing each other while destroying things in their path.

The archer was sure that the list went on and on, but he couldn't keep himself awake to listen to it all. The doze was short, and the only reason why he woke up was because the area around him had gone silent. Unburying his head from his arms Clint saw his boss and his team were all staring at him.

"Am I boring you, Agent Barton?" asks Fury with an irritated one-eyed glare.

Oh crap.

Gulping silently the agent quickly straightened himself up in his chair and tried to appear more awake than he was. "Of course not, sir. You know I live for your much needed lectures and words of advice."

"Really? Cuz it looked like you were giving all of your undivided attention to the table, Katniss. And to be honest I'm a little jealous because you never show me that kind of attention, and I build all kinds of arrows and stuff for you!" Of course Tony Stark had to put his two cents into the conversation, because really, no SHIELD meeting was complete without it. And because of that unneeded comment from the billionaire Clint felt totally justified for kicking the man underneath the table, hard.

There was a shout and a curse, and all eyes were on Tony instead of him. And for the first time in months, Barton felt a smile appear on his lips. The meeting continued a short time later and the archer was glad he managed to stay awake this time even if Tony was glaring at him and muttering promises of revenge.

XxXxX

Natasha was giving him that look again. That blank look she always gave him whenever she was worried about him. And why would she be worried about him? Well, she was going on a mission with Captain America and Thor while he, Tony, and Bruce stayed at the tower. Normally this wouldn't be a problem since the two were used to going on separate missions, but since Clint wasn't acting like his normal self, Natasha wasn't up to letting him out of her sight yet.

Barton inwardly sighed. He wished she wouldn't worry so much. If she was distracted then it could cause problems during the mission. He would be fine without her watching over him. Sure he didn't like the idea of being left alone with two crazy scientists, but he could make due.

"I'll be alright, Tasha," Clint says with a small smile.

This seemed to have worked. "You'd better be," she replies with a tiny smile of her own. She finally finishes packing up her bag and they both leave her room. Clint could tell that his partner wanted to say more to him, but in the end she kept her mouth shut as they walked towards the elevator. Once making it onto the main floor the female gives her partner a sharp jab in the side. "Promise me that you'll behave."

Clint glared at the woman while rubbing his aching side. "I'm always being have," he responded with a smirk only to be jabbed again.

"And I want you to avoid being Stark and Banner's lab rat. The last thing I want to come home to is you running here with an extra arm or something."

"An extra arm? That's the most uncreative thing I've ever heard," says Stark, who happened to be walking by. "If me and Bruce were to experiment on Barton here, we would make him sprout bird wings so he could fly. That way he wouldn't have to worry about anyone having to catch him when he's thrown off a building."

"As tempting as that sounds I don't want to see Clint with bird wings either." She paused for a second and then continued. "And it's "Bruce and I" not "me and Bruce"."

Stark crossed his arms and looked away while muttering something under his breath about Natasha being a Grammar Nazi. When he felt the hard stare of the lone female practically start to burn the side of his face Tony lifted his right hand the air and said, "I, Tony Stark promise not to conduct any experiments on Clint Barton. There, you happy now, red?"

"Nor will you try to redesign any of my bows and arrows?" added Clint.

Stark only stuck his tongue out at him. "I'm not promising that."

"Children, children, let's not start," intervenes Bruce once again. "Natasha, Cap and Thor are waiting for you on the quinjet. I promise to make sure that Tony and Clint don't kill each other while you're away on the mission."

"Thank you, Bruce. I'll hold you to that."

XxXxXxX

The insistent knocking on the door was wearing thin on Barton's nerves. He figured if he just ignored the noise then the person on the other side of the door would think he was sleeping and would decide to leave.

*Knock…knock…knock…knock*

Apparently this was not the case. The archer let himself endure two more minutes of repeated thumping on the door before he finally had enough. Wrenching the door open with more force than necessary, Clint was more than ready to rip Tony's head off…only to realize that it was Bruce who had came a-knocking. Well this was unusual. "Doctor Banner…um…hello?"

Said doctor gave a small smile and said, "Tony's initiating a mandatory movie night right now. He says bring a blanket and a pillow as well."

Clint cocks an eyebrow and notices that the good doctor had said items tucked underneath his right arm. "I'm not really feeling up to watching a movie tonight." He started to close the door, but to his surprise the older man held it opened.

"I thought you said you were going to start hanging out with us?"

"I did say that. But I didn't mean today."

It was right then that the older man gave Clint a face. Now this particular face was known as the Disappointed Face by Tony. The people who generally used this look was Captain America, Pepper Potts, and Bruce Banner, and usually it was directed at Tony if he had done something stupid. But now this look was directed at him, and it was only thing stopping him from pushing Bruce from the door and slamming it in his face.

"…Fine," Clint muttered after he was unable to endure the Disappointed Face from Bruce anymore. He moved to grab the requested blanket and pillow, and followed the man to the elevator without further complaint. Besides, he did sorta owe the man for reminding him that there was meeting at SHIELD. His sudden disappearance would have raised all sorts of hell for SHIELD and for the Avengers.

"You don't have to look so uptight, Clint. I'm somewhat sure that you'll have a good time watching a movie with Tony and I."

"You know, Banner, if you keep this up I might have to put you on my list of people I want to avoid."

The scientist chuckled. "I hardly see you around the tower anyway, so I kind of figured that I was already on that list."

Barton couldn't help but laugh as well.

XxXxXxX

The movie turned out to be a pretty good one, but Clint would be damned if he told Tony that. He shoveled another handful of popcorn into his mouth as the serial killer in the movie chain-sawed a screaming girl's head off. Blood went flying everywhere and Clint had to force his mind from thinking back to his latest nightmare.

"Man, that's a lot of blood spewing from that girl," muttered Tony before slurping loudly on his soda. "Hey does the human body really gush out all that blood when its head is cut off?"

"It sure does," mumbled Clint. Though he wasn't proud of it, he was used to seeing bloody deaths like this in the real world because of his life before SHIELD. Tony nods his head before grabbing a handful of popcorn from Barton's bowl, much to the archer's chagrin.

"What the hell, Stark? Eat your own damn popcorn from your own bowl!"

"I ran out of popcorn! Besides, being a part of a team means you have to share!"

"Ew I think I saw you lick your hand before you stuck it in my bowl! That's disgusting! Here, take the rest of it, I don't want anymore!"

"C'mon you guys, stop fighting and watch the movie," mutters Bruce.

Barton let out a huff before pushing his now Stark-tainted popcorn into the billionaire's lap and continued to watch the movie. An hour later the movie ended with the hero finally taking out the serial killer and getting the only surviving girl in the end. Good movie, he thought despite getting his popcorn stolen.

"Where are you going, Clint?" asked Bruce as Clint got up and began walking away.

"To sleep," the archer responds. 'Or really just stare up at the ceiling to avoid nightmares again.' Tony didn't seem to like the idea because once again the archer found himself being pulled by his arm back towards the couch. Apparently he wasn't allowed to leave yet until he watched the second movie that they planned tonight. Stupid scientists. Stupid double-features.

"Be honest with me, Banner. The real reason you want me to sit here is because Stark did the same thing to you when you were the only one to move in at the time. And now that other people have moved in you're forcing this on them as well."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said the gamma specialist in an innocent tone. But the mischievous gleam in his eyes said otherwise. The second movie finally ended with the good guys winning in the end, and Tony declared that he received an idea from the movie for their little experiment and promptly carted Bruce off to the labs.

"Guess that means I'll be the one cleaning up," Clint says to no one in particular. He then grabbed a broom from the other room and began sweeping up the excess popcorn that wasted to the floor thanks to Tony's carelessness. Afterwards he folded the "science bros" blankets and placed them in a nice pile with the pillows before grabbing his own things to go back to his room. The archer thought about taking the elevator but decided that it had been too long since he had taking the scenic route amongst the air vents, knowing full well doing so would irritate his "landlord".

Instead of climbing straight to his room the male chose to explore every inch of the vents to remap them in his mind. As always the vents were clean and well maintained all thanks to rumored psychotic cleaning robot that lurked somewhere within the metal tunnels. Clint hadn't had a run-in with the cleaning menace and he wanted to keep it that way. If he, a super skilled spy from SHIELD couldn't handle a simple cleaning robot he'd never hear the end of it from Tony. His trek continued at a slow even pace, inwardly wondering how long before he tired himself out to the point that he wouldn't dream at all. This train of thought continued for a while until he heard a slight whirring sound behind him.

Tri-colored eyes dilate in fear as a soft glow emitting from somewhere further up in the vents grew brighter and brighter until the archer was face-to-face with a demonic looking cleaning droid. The two stared at each other for a moment before the mechanical menace beeped loudly and surged towards the archer.

This was sooo not how he imagined his death.

XxXxXxX

If Clint's head wasn't pounding to the beat of an epic drum solo and his body wasn't twisted up like a pretzel, he'd probably would have thought that the situation he had just barely escaped from to be hilarious. He had to give credit to both Stark and his robot for being so damn persistent. That thing chased him left and right throughout the vents with no signs of letting up. If the robot had been human then Clint would guess that it would've made a good SHIELD agent. Unfortunately (fortunately) Clint had forgotten about a sheer drop in the vents that led to the lower floors and soon he had found himself hurtling down into darkness for quite a distance until he hit the bottom. It hurt like a bitch, but the fall could've been much worse if it hadn't been for his pillow and blanket. It was wonder how he managed to keep a hold on his possessions while being hunted down.

The SHIELD agent slowly untangled his limbs and kept on moving lest he encountered the savage robot again. And even if it wasn't directly Stark's fault, Clint was going to punch him anyway.

"Tony, could you please be careful with that mixture before you waste it?"

"Relax Bruce, I've got it."

'Huh those two are still at it?' thought Clint as he made his way to the sound of their voices. Soon enough he came to a metal grate and peeked through. There beneath him were Stark and Banner working on their "super special" project. 'Wonder if there's gonna be an explosion this time.' He thought about following his basic instinct to spy and gather information on what they were doing just to annoy Tony, after all, the billionaire didn't respect his privacy.

The archer made himself comfortable as he listened to the scientists babble on about different equations, mixtures, and metals. It was pretty interesting stuff, but soon his mind started to go blissfully numb and he started to doze off. His last conscious thought was hoping that the homicidal robot didn't come after him again.

END CHAPTER