Chapter Text
Part 1: Clint
His lungs were burning, his nose and mouth full of filthy water. The car battery dragged at his chest, threatening to rip free of his coronary arteries. Tony didn’t know which would be the more painful death; drowning in a tub of rust-tinged water, bleeding out as the major vessels were ripped from his heart, or feeling razor-sharp shrapnel bury itself in his cardiac muscle. All he knew was that he was dying, one way or another, and he couldn’t breathe; his chest gripped with the desperate, tearing need to drag in air, but when he opened his mouth all he sucked in was water, water in his throat and in his lungs and he was choking, choking….
Tony sat bolt upright in bed with an incoherent shout, dragging in deep, gasping draughts of air. His sheets were twisted and damp with sweat, his pillow on the floor halfway across the room. He stared around for a long moment, taking in the familiar surroundings highlighted by the soft blue glow of the arc reactor, then buried his face in his hands, drawing in deep, shuddering breaths, his breath hitching with remembered terror.
A soft click from the ceiling made him look up, his mind still fuzzy with sleep and fear, and he was half out of his bed before a figure dropped to the floor in front of him with soft feet, hands held up in a pacifying gesture. ‘It’s okay – it’s okay, it’s me. I just – you sounded upset….’
‘Barton?’ Tony managed, incredulously, recognising his teammate through blurry eyes. ‘What – you were in my ceiling?’
Clint had the decency to look embarrassed. ‘I was over the kitchen, actually. It’s warm up there, and I sleep better when – well, I just feel safer up there. But I heard you, and I thought you might be in trouble, you were shouting, so I came to see, and then – well, I couldn’t leave you like that.’
Tony ran a shaking hand over his face. ‘Unbelievable. This is what I get for inviting a bunch of crazy people into my home.’ Clint looked crestfallen, and Tony relented with a sigh, sitting down on the edge of the bed. ‘Come on, then. Have a seat, now you’re here. I – I guess I could use the company.’
Clint crossed the room silently, settling beside him on the bed. He sat quietly for a few moments, then looked at Tony out of the corner of his eye, nudging him softly with his shoulder. ‘Nightmares?’
‘Yup.’ Tony sighed. ‘I’m a fucking cliché. Sorry I woke you.’
‘Hey, it’s fine. We all have them. Well, I do, and Tasha does, and I know Steve does because I’ve heard him. Wouldn’t be surprised about the others.’
‘Steve? Huh.’ Tony huffed in faint surprise. ‘Did you drop out of his ceiling too?’
‘Didn’t get a chance. He was attacking the punching bags before I worked out what was going on.’
‘Who’d’ve thought it? Captain America is human too.’ Tony sighed, leaning against Clint’s shoulder just a little.
‘We all are. You included. Want to tell me about it?’ Clint shifted position slightly, letting Tony lean against him, and Tony curled against him, leaning his head on his shoulder. Clint hesitated, a little surprised at the sudden intimacy, but then slipped his arm around Tony, smiling slightly as he snuggled into the embrace.
‘Not much to tell. I know you’ve seen my files.’ It wasn’t a question, but Clint nodded anyway, and Tony sighed softly before continuing. ‘I can’t seem to get my head out of Afghanistan, especially when Pepper’s away. Doesn’t help with restful sleep and all that crap, you know? I guess I’ll go down to the lab for a while, work it off.’
Clint was silent for a moment, then shifted to look at Tony. ‘You need to sleep, man. It’s three in the morning, you’ll be dead on your feet tomorrow. Listen – would it help if I stayed?’
Tony pulled away from him a little to look him in the eye. ‘You’d do that?’
Clint shrugged. ‘Sure. If it’d help you sleep, that’s fine with me.’
‘Tasha won’t kill me in my sleep for stealing you?’
Clint snorted. ‘She knows you wouldn’t dare. Nor would I, for that matter. No, it’s fine. Come on, shift over.’ He leaned down to retrieve the pillow, tucking it under Tony’s head as he lay back on the bed, then curled in beside him, pulling the duvet over them both. Tony rolled over to face him as soon as Clint was settled beside him, wrapping his arms around him and pillowing his head on his shoulder. Clint huffed out a laugh, wrapping his arm around Tony’s back.
‘Well well, who’d have thought it? Tony Stark is a secret cuddler!’
Tony smiled into his shoulder. ‘It’s a well-kept secret.’
Clint pulled him closer, laughing. ‘You’re a man of mystery. Now go to sleep.’
And, wrapped in the safety of his team-mate’s arms, Tony did.