Sitting in the kitchen of your childhood home, you held your head in your hands, leaning your elbows on the table and breathing in the steam from your first cup of coffee. The sun hadn't even risen yet, but you were expected to look alive and function at this time of day, despite your body's reluctance to cooperate. You rolled your wrist over to see the time of 3am on your watch and groaned, closing your eyes in the hopes of making the fatigued sting in them go away.

"This is unnatural, dad. Captain Rogers is definitely a sadist."

"I warned you, " he laughed, stopping to kiss the top of your head as he passed by to fill his own cup. "When you said you wanted to join SHIELD, I tried to reason with you, but you're just too damn stubborn to listen. We work on a 24-hour clock."

"No, the Avengers work a 24-hour clock, and thankfully," you paused to take a long drink of your coffee before forcing your body to stand, "I'm just moonlighting with you guys. Two weeks and I'm back to my nice office with a view and no one shooting at me. Well, no one shooting while in the office, at least."

With a long yawn and a slow stretch, you poured the rest of your drink down the drain and headed for the door, giving Clint a quick kiss on the cheek as you passed. "Okay, I'll see you at the tower. I'm sure the Captain has a full day planned for me."

"You wanna just ride in together?" he asked as he stood to gather his own gear, "or have you got big plans after work?"

"I've got a ride, thanks."

"You know I don't like that guy, (Y/N). He gives me the creeps."

"Well then it's a really good thing that you're not the one who's dating him, huh?" you said with a smirk as the door slammed behind you.

~~~

"Good morning, sunshine!" Steve called out loudly as you dragged yourself into the firing range, throwing him a harsh glance and dropping your bags heavily on the floor.

"You know, it's not natural, Steve, how you can jump out of bed at any given moment and be so damn happy. It ain't right." You had noticed that the tower seemed strangely dark when you entered and hadn't thought anything of it, but now that you had made your way further in, you had yet to see anyone else. "Hold on, did you bring me in this early just to work with you?"

"Is that a problem?"

You closed your eyes and shook your head, running your hand through your hair with a small groan. "No, no problem, sir. I'm all yours."

"Great!" he said with a bright smile and a firm slap on your shoulder, nearly knocking you off the bench, "there are benefits to being the Captain, you see. I get the top weapons specialist in all of SHIELD to myself. I need to stay current on anything that's out there."

Steve continued to talk about something that failed to hold your interest, and your attention was pulled away when Wanda walked past the room, looking like she was in a trance and walking much slower than she normally would. You glanced back to Steve, who was busy loading his first weapon, and stuck your head out through the door to try to catch her. "Wanda?"

She didn't turn back and kept on her way, moving silently through the darkened hallway. You reached out and took her arm, turning her towards you, "Wanda, what's wrong?"

Her eyes were glowing a dark red but her expression was blank as she snatched your hand and held it firmly between hers. Your body stiffened at the surge of memories that attacked your mind, and the feeling of fear gripped you at the sight of them. The memories morphed to include you as you were today, living in those experiences again. You could feel the stings of pain in your skin just as you did years ago, and the pounding in your chest as your heart began to race was nearly deafening in your ears. When Steve finally saw you and pulled you away from her grasp, your body was shaking and tears were freely running down your cheeks.

"Hey, (Y/N), look at me. You're okay." He held you firmly to keep you from dropping to the floor, seeing that your legs were trying to give way beneath you. "She sleepwalks sometimes, I'm sorry I didn't warn you. Wanda, wake up!"

"I...I have to leave..." you gasped, pulling away from him. He reached for you again but you were quick enough to evade him, leaving all of your belongings behind and running until you reached the entrance. You threw the doors open and stumbled out onto the sidewalk; relieved that it was still early enough to not meet the crowds of people heading to their respective workplaces, so you didn't draw much attention to yourself. That is, until your father drove up and spotted you leaning against the tower, trying to catch your breath.

The car screeched to a halt in front of you, with Clint throwing off his seatbelt to get out and see what was happening. Before he could get his own door open, you had opened the passenger side and dropped into the seat heavily, feeling the tension and tremulousness of your muscles finally giving way. Slamming the door shut, you reached down along the side of the seat, finding the release and reclining the back of the seat fully.

"(Y/N)? What the hell happened?"

"Go."

"Wait, I don't-"

"Dad, go," you whispered, your arms raised to cover your face as you tried to calm yourself. "Please. Just go anywhere but here."

~~~

"What the hell just happened?" Steve mumbled, watching you pull away from the building with Clint. "Wanda? What was that?"

She was still shaking herself awake, slowly lowering herself to the floor to sit back against the wall. Her face was blank as she started at her hands, looking at them like they were foreign to her. "I need to tell her I'm sorry. I would never do that to her on purpose," she whispered to herself.

"What did you do?" he asked more urgently.

Wanda still acted as if she didn't hear him, wringing her hands together in frustration now, her fingers turning white under the self-inflicted pressure. "I didn't know..."

~~~

Clint pulled the car up to your apartment building, watching you as he put it into park and turned the key back. The two of you sat in silence for who knows how long, both not sure of what to say. You had finally calmed yourself, but your stomach was still in knots and your head was pounding from the stress your body was put under. Clint watched and waited, knowing that you would open up when you were ready.

With a long and purposeful deep breath, you exhaled and grabbed the door handle, ready to hide away in the comfort of your own home. You wanted to jump out wordlessly and bury yourself in your bed until your head cleared, but you should have known that there was no way you would get away that easily.

"Woah, hold on. You can't just run off, (Y/N). Talk to me."

"She didn't mean to do it. I know she didn't," you whispered, doing your best to avoid his gaze. "I need to tell her I know that."

"Okay," he sighed, leaning back in his seat and turning fully towards you, "enough of the cryptic conversation. What the hell happened back there? I'm not leaving until you spill it."

"She showed me my worst fear. I relived my memories of...of my life before you and mom adopted me." You finally looked up at him, your eyes still red and slightly swollen, your tears beginning to dry. "Dad, I felt it. I felt it like it was real, so I panicked and ran." Your eyes widened as you thought back to that moment, realizing how it must have looked, "oh, god, I have to apologize to Steve. He must be freaked out."

"Don't worry about Steve, I can talk to him. What did you see?"

"Wait, you don't know, do you?" You pushed yourself against the back of the seat, gently banging your head against it and squeezing your eyes shut. You had assumed that when Clint and Laura adopted you they would have been told about your situation and what you were escaping from. That they knew about the years of abuse at the hands of your biological father before you bounced from foster home to foster home. How could they not know something so important? "I thought you knew. I'm such an idiot."

You reached up for the handle again, glancing over at him. "Dad, I can't do this right now, okay? I need to get my head straight. We can talk later." Leaning over to him, you gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and paused to look at him so he would believe what you were saying. "I'll call you. Maybe give me a ride to the tower so I can apologize to Steve?"

"Sure," he sighed, knowing it was all he would get from you for now. "Love you."

"Love you too," you said, closing the door firmly behind you so you could finally escape to your own environment, where you felt comfortable and could calm yourself. It had been so many years since you had even thought about your past, much less felt it, that you were still visibly shaken. Even getting the key into your door was a struggle.

"Hey, baby, I didn't expect you home so soon. You've only been gone a few hours," your boyfriend said, greeting you almost the instant you crossed the threshold of the door. He reached out for a hug, but you recoiled at the touch, not yet ready to accept it. "What's that about? You know I don't like it when you say no."

You reluctantly gave him a hug, feeling a bit nauseated at the sensation of his body against yours and his breath in your hair. It's just my head messing with me, you told yourself, trying to focus on the current and real moment rather than the images of the past that were still flashing through your mind.

"I'm gonna grab a shower before I have to head to work," he said, pulling away and taking your chin in his hand, "I expect you to be here when I get home."

You nodded silently, hurrying to your bedroom to bury your head under your pillow and shut the world out. His clothes were laid out on the bed, so you moved carefully as to not disturb them, but when you pulled the blanket back, his pants fell to the floor. You looked towards the bathroom and sighed with relief when he hadn't heard the commotion.

"What the...?" you mumbled, grabbing the pants and noticing his ID tag fall from the pocket. You flipped it over and gasped at what you saw, covering your mouth so that you wouldn't draw his attention. You shoved it back into the pocket, your body again filling with anxiety at your discovery, but now your fear was different.

He was HYDRA.

Jumping back into bed you tried to act like nothing had happened as you texted your father as fast as you could. You hit send only a second before your boyfriend appeared and snatched it from your hand, dropping it to the ground and smashing it with his foot.

"Well, we can't have this, now can we? You know I feel about bad behavior, (Y/N)."

Part 2 

Waking up, you felt as if you had slept for a week in the deepest sleep you had ever known, but you were still tired somehow. You stretched your arms over your head and yawned, slowly rubbing the sleep from your tired and stinging eyes. Once you opened them and they adjusted to the dim lighting of the room, you realized that you had no idea where you were. You tried to sit up and swing your legs over the bed, but they wouldn't move. The shock of immobility quickly brought you fully awake, now confused and scared, unable to remember how you had gotten there.

"Relax, sweetheart. Everything is just fine."

"It sure doesn't seem fine," you called out to the voice that echoed through your room without a face to claim it, but knowing exactly who it was. "I don't know where you've taken me but I'm feeling pretty confident that this won't end well."

"I'm not going to hurt you, (Y/N). I love you."

"You sure have a sick way of showing it, Grant." You again tried to move your legs but there was still no response from them, only heightening your anxiety. "So where are we, exactly? Not the comforts of home, that's for sure."

The door to the room finally opened, producing your boyfriend, who looked both sad and frustrated as he watched you. "Now (Y/N), you know we couldn't stay there after you told your dad about me. I had this place built last year when you made the mistake of joining SHIELD. For things like this."

He reached down and pulled his gun from its holster and walked towards you to sit on the edge of the bed as close to you as he could get. The look in his eyes was dark and cold, but his touch was gentle in a way that made you uneasy and made your skin crawl. "Now listen, baby," he whispered, lifting your chin with the end of his gun, "here's how this is going to work. You will stay in this room, for as long as it takes, until you come to your senses and join us, where you really belong. Your skills would put you at a very high rank, and together we could lead all of HYDRA the way it was meant to be."

"If you claim to love me so much, then why are you armed when it's just the two of us here and you've all but immobilized me?"

"Yes, I do love you, (Y/N)," he chuckled, "but I'm not stupid. Right now, as long as you're breathing, you're a threat to us."

You pulled your head away sharply until he lowered his weapon, turning back to him with fury in your eyes and your jaw set firm. "Then you might as well kill me now, Grant, because there is no way in hell that I'll join HYDRA. When my dad finds me-""

"Oh, no, sweetheart. Your dad is never going to find you. I've made certain of that."

~~~

When you didn't answer your phone, Clint went into a panic mode, racing to your apartment and knocking down the door without so much as a knock first. When he found that it was empty, he went into a rage, returning to the tower as fast as he could to gather everyone at his side to find you. Tony and Natasha were working to track you from the standard issue pin that all SHIELD agents were given and were to wear at all times, but it was nowhere to be found on any continent searched. Clint and Steve searched file after file from your service record, and then any information they could find on Grant, only coming up with his prior SHIELD service. Each member of the team was coming up empty, and Clint was growing more afraid by the minute. His only solace was that Wanda believed that she could still feel a connection to you, wherever you were.

"I don't know what else to do, Laura. The whole team is doing everything they can. We're all losing sleep over this. Yes, we've done that already. Yes. Yes, that too."

Tony stood a few feet away, trying not to eavesdrop on the conversation, but not leaving to give Clint any privacy either.

"I understand how long it's been, don't you think I know that? No, I'm sorry, I'm just tired and scared of what's happening. Yes, I'll tell you the minute I know anything. Love you too."

Clint hung up the phone and leaned back against the wall, sliding down to sit on the floor, holding his head in his hands. He made an attempt to rub the fatigue from his eyes without success, only making them feel worse. "How long have you been standing there?" he asked without looking at Tony.

"Not long," he said, taking a seat next to Clint on the floor. "How is she holding up?"

"About as well as you could expect. I just don't have anything new to tell her."

"We'll find her."

"I knew that guy gave me the creeps," Clint said through clenched teeth, gently banging his head against the wall in frustration. "I should have done more. It's my job to protect her. Ever since the day we took her in, I've done all I could to protect her, and now I've just erased everything that I've ever promised her."

"Don't do that, Barton. You guys are the best thing to ever happen to that kid, even we all know that." Tony turned to look at his friend when he heard a small sniffle and a clearing of his throat, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hold it together, man."

"Tony, she was going to tell me something on the day she disappeared. Something about her life before us," he paused when his voice cracked and tears began to well in his eyes. "So I broke into the records at the adoption agency and found it all. Page after page of hospital records, therapist notes, bouncing from one foster home to another...police records."

Clint shook his head and stood quickly, surprising Tony at the sudden shift in both position and attitude, with his voice turning angry. "She went through daily terror at the hands of a man who was supposed to protect her and just be her father. And then here I come, telling her that I'm going to protect her too, and now I'm failing."

"No, you're not," Tony huffed as he stood, "not even close."

"Guys, we got something," Steve called out excitedly as he turned the corner to find them, quickly leading them back to the conference room to set up a plan of attack.

~~~

"If you don't eat, I'm going to shove it down your throat, (Y/N)."

"I'm too tired."

"Well if you would just cooperate with us, then I wouldn't have to sedate you so much. We're all just trying to work together here, sweetheart."

"You have a sick idea of love, you know that?" you mumbled, your words slurred from the forced fatigue making it hard to speak, let alone move or keep your eyes open. "You don't love me, Grant."

He swept the tray of food from the table, sending it crashing into the far wall. You were so exhausted that you didn't even flinch at the sudden noise. "Don't you ever say that to me again, (Y/N). That hurts me. After everything I'm doing to take care of you."

"Go to hell."

"Alight, that's it. If you can't cooperate, and certainly if you can't appreciate-"

"I swear to god if you so much as look at her again I will drill this arrow through the back of your skull without a second thought."

Grant closed his eyes and sighed, very slowly standing and turning to face Clint with his hands held up in front of him. "Hey, dad."

"Move away," he growled, wanting to look at you but resolved to keep his eyes on your insane, newly ex-boyfriend. "Now."

"Sure, no problem," he said with a small smile, taking only a few steps and stopping. "But there's something really important here that I think you should know before we go any further."

"And what would that be, you piece of shit?"

"If anyone other than (Y/N) or I enter this room, it's rigged to self-destruct, and there's no fail-safe. Even I can't stop it."

Clint could feel his palms begin to sweat as his heart pounded in his chest. "You're bluffing."

"Try me," Grant sneered, a clear look of evil now in his eyes. "What's your move now, Mr. Barton? Your whole team of do-gooders will go with you if you don't hurry."

Clint couldn't hesitate or take any further risk that he was telling the truth, slinging his bow over his shoulder and lunging towards you, allowing Grant to escape behind him. "Come on, baby, grab onto me," he said urgently as he lifted you from the bed. "Guys," he called into his comm, "we gotta clear out, this place is rigged to blow!"

"Do you have (Y/N)?"

"We're on our way out now!"

He had you tightly pulled against him as he ran, gripping you so forcefully that his fingers dug into your skin and would likely leave bruises when you would look later. He was impressive in his speed and agility at reaching the door, making his way out and towards the jet where the rest of the team had just arrived. "We're gonna make it, (Y/N). We're gonna be home soon, okay? Stay awake."

Steve ran forward and reached out to take you from his arms, but as you felt his hands slip under you, a blast from behind roared and hurled the three of you towards the jet, sending debris to land on top of you as you fell.

"(Y/N)? Barton?" Steve yelled, frantically pulling himself free to look for the both of you. Tony and Natasha were quickly joining him, throwing pieces of wood and brick as they dug into the debris to find you. "Guys, I've got Clint!" Steve called out, lifting him from the pile, unconscious but alive, and ran to the jet.

"I see her!" Tony hollered as he grabbed your hand and Natasha pulled the broken pieces of building away. "Is she alive?"

"I think so," she grunted, removing the last panel of heavy wood from over your legs. "She's breathing! (Y/N), can you hear me? (Y/N), come on!"

Tony moved in to lift you up and bring you to the jet with Clint, laying you on the floor next to him and kneeling at your side. "You guys can't do this to us, alright? You stay with us, you hear me?" He glanced up at Natasha, who was kneeling on the other side next to Clint and frantically applying an oxygen mask to him and handing Tony yours. He brought himself down to your ear and whispered so only you might hear him, if you were even able to.

"I don't want you to go."

Part 3 

"You guys really do make a lot of noise, don't you? Covert missions not your thing?" you groaned, lying on a gurney next to Clint, with Natasha, Tony and Steve standing nearby anxiously.

"Go big or go home," Clint said with a pained tone, trying to laugh but coughing harshly with each deep breath. "Don't blame us for your bad choice in boyfriends."

You pulled down your oxygen mask and turned to look at him disbelievingly, "not really the time, dad. I'm feeling bad enough as it is."

"I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean that."

"If you two could maybe stop talking for just a minute," Bruce sighed and moved to stand between you with his arms folded across his chest, doing his best to appear authoritative. He reached down and put your mask back over your mouth and nose, pointing at you harshly, "I can maybe work on getting you out of here and you can argue all you want on your own time."

Steve and Tony were talking about something, but you couldn't make out what they were saying; they were turned away just enough so that you couldn't even try to read their lips and make your best guess. Natasha passed by and gave you a quick kiss on the forehead and a supportive hand on your shoulder, moving then to Clint to do the same before she quietly left the room. She was never very good with seeing teammates injured, particularly her best friend and you, her favorite niece and close friend as well.

When Bruce finally removed your oxygen and allowed you to talk again, Steve took a seat next to Clint and Tony sat next to you. "Hey, thanks for not...dying. I really appreciate the effort," he joked. His expression was pensive and restrained, like he had something to say but didn't have the words he needed. You felt a finger gently graze the top of your hand but you pulled back reflexively, unsure of what he was doing.

"Honestly, I hadn't planned on today being my day, but you're welcome, I suppose." You glanced down at your hand and back to him with a questioning look, "Tony...what are you doing?"

He pulled his hand away quickly, as if he were suddenly embarrassed that he was caught doing something wrong, looking at Clint before his gaze shifted to the floor. "I'm sorry, I'm just relieved. I didn't expect to feel so...to be..." his voice drifted away and he stood hurriedly, placing an awkward kiss on your cheek and left the room without at word to anyone else.

"What the hell happened? Is he okay?" Bruce asked rhetorically, seeming equally uncomfortable as Steve and Clint were now too. He followed Tony into the hallway and you watched as they walked away together, neither of them looking back.

That was a great question that you had absolutely no answer to. In fact, you didn't even know where to start, but the feeling that it gave you in the pit of your stomach told you that the territory you were about to enter could be a dangerous one.

~~~

Your body had been pumped full of sedatives and paralytics to keep you captive and held in bed, and it was going to take some time to work them all out of your system. Sitting at the conference room table talking about how to find your ex-boyfriend should have been more exciting and able to hold your attention, but it was all you could do to just keep your eyes open. Clint was to your left, nudging you when he saw your head nod, Tony was across from you, kicking your foot when he saw your eyes begin to close. When your yawning began, you leaned forward onto the table, crossed your arms and laid your head down with a long sigh.

"Please tell me we're almost done, sir."

Fury set his tablet down and leaned back, swiveling his chair slightly as he looked at you. "(Y/N), I'm sorry. You know I am. I promise that the second I'm done you can go."

"I know, sir, and I'm the one who's sorry." You felt Clint's hand rubbing your back, and even though he was trying to be supportive it only made you feel more fatigued. "I don't know what else I can tell you. There isn't much that I remember; I was knocked out for a big part of it."

Tony stood and grabbed the wheelchair that you were using until you regained the strength in your legs, still struggling against the drugs in your system. He pulled it behind you and tapped your shoulder; when you sat up to look at him, he turned your chair and picked you up to move you.

"She's done."

Clint was genuinely surprised, looking up at Tony like he didn't know what was going on or who Tony even was in this moment. He was curious now as to what had happened so that Tony would be so protective of you and so forward in doing it.

"Stark, I have more questions here-"

"I said, she's done." The tone in his voice was clear that you shouldn't protest and allow him to remove you from the situation; he wouldn't likely be swayed anyway. Tony looked at each team member around the table, waiting a few seconds for anyone else to have the nerve to argue, then pushed you out and towards the elevator.

"Tony, you don't have to do this," you whispered, holding your head in your hand and barely awake. "I can...finish..." you said with a long yawn.

"Obviously."

You were pretty sure that you had actually fallen asleep between the conference room and one of the guest rooms, only two floors away, but startled awake once you reached the destination.

"Hey, come on," Tony whispered, hooking his hands under your legs and an arm around your back. "It's easier if you're not playing dead weight here," he chuckled.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm putting you in bed so you can take a nap. Thought that was kinda obvious."

"No, Tony," you paused, waiting for him as he pulled your blankets up and took a seat next to you on the edge of the bed, "what's going on? With you? You're different."

Visibly uncomfortable, he straightened and turned away; if this wasn't Tony Stark, you would have called him embarrassed. He sat in silence for several minutes, the only sound in the room being his slow and even breaths as you waited patiently for his response. He took so long, in fact, that you had almost given in to sleep again.

"When Clint told us you were missing," he began quietly, "something happened. I have feelings that I didn't realize until then. And when I finally saw you again...and when I carried you to the jet, it all shifted, you know?" He leaned forward and began to wring his hands together nervously, "I don't expect you to feel the same, I honestly don't. But I can't seem to make it go away."

"Tony..."

"No, it's okay. I'm working on it. I guess I've got some progress to make," he laughed, pushing the wheelchair slightly with his foot. "But I will, I promise. You've been through too much for me to put this on you, I'm sorry." He stood to leave, thrusting his hands into his pockets and turning towards the door as he continued to talk to himself. "And there's the age thing...and Clint...and I might have to kill your ex...that would make things awkward for sure..."

"Yeah, there are quite a few complications," you called out to him, trying to keep him from leaving. "But are there too many?" You struggled to push yourself up on your elbows so that you could see him more easily, but you could feel the muscles in your arms begin to shake slightly under the fatigue. "Are they insurmountable?"

Tony rested his hand on the door but didn't turn around to look at you, knowing that if he did, he would be completely gone. He would be so lost in his feelings that no matter how many reasons there were to not be with you, it wouldn't matter. He knew that if he looked at you, he would give up everything if he had to, and would destroy anyone or anything that stood in his way.

"Maybe."

"Tony, look at me."

"No."

"Fine," you grunted softly as you tried to swing your legs over the edge of the bed, "then I'll come to you." Your head spun slightly with the shift in position, but you were determined to not let him leave until you worked through this.

"Like hell you will," he said sternly and turned to stop you, grabbing your legs, pushing them back into the bed and tucking the blanket around them as if that would be enough to hold you there. His gaze moved to your eyes against his better judgment, realizing immediately what a mistake he had just made. "Shit," he mumbled, "how old are you anyway?"

"Does that really matter?"

"Ha! Are you kidding? Your father will kill me," he laughed, but his smile didn't reach his eyes, "he will kill me and I'll never see it coming. Worth it or not, it's something to consider."

"I'll protect you," you said calmly with a smile, trying to reassure him. You jumped slightly at how quickly he returned to your side, sitting again but much closer than before, pressing himself against you just enough to make it clear that the tone of the conversation had just changed dramatically.

"You're going to be the end of me, (Y/N)," he growled softly, his gaze fixed on your lips. "But what a beautiful way to go." He took your chin in his hand and lifted you towards him, leaning in but stopping just before his lips touched yours. You kept your eyes open, watching him struggle with the decision he was trying to make. You felt a slight tremble in his hand and your nerves began to respond, not sure if this was going to happen or not, and not sure if you wanted it to. He sat this way with his eyes closed and his breath warming you for several seconds before releasing you and standing suddenly, turning and walking towards the door.

"The complete end of me," he whispered as the door shut behind him.

~~~

"Hey, man."

Tony came to a sudden halt and stumbled back into your door at the sight of Clint, standing against the wall across the hall from your room. His expression and anxious posture gave him away, that something was going on that he didn't want Clint to know about; at least not just yet. "Hey, Barton. Um...so...how did the rest of the meeting go?" he said, trying to take the focus off of where he knew Clint's mind to be going. "Do we have a plan to find the asshole?"

Clint nodded and took a few steps towards Tony; his hands were in his pockets, but the muscles in his arms were visibly flexed as he got closer to his teammate.

"It's being taken care of. Fury has a team taking over the search. Said they have some personal info on the guy, so they were better to handle it than we are."

"Okay, well, that sounds good. I should probably go talk to-"

"Me," Clint interrupted, "you should talk to me, Stark. I think you should talk to me about what happened back there, and what happened in there. I think it had better be something I want to hear."

"She was getting tired, so I decided to get her out of there."

"And?"

"And...I brought her here and put her in bed for a nap," Tony said quietly, with his gaze locked on his own feet, which were shuffling slightly with each word. "And now I'm here talking to you."

Clint took another step forward, closing the gap between the two men to mere inches, but Tony still didn't make eye contact with him. "What are you up to?"

Tony finally looked up, but when he saw how close Barton really was, he looked away and down the hall; anywhere to avoid him. "Not sure what you mean."

"You know exactly what I mean. You're a worse liar than Steve, if that's even possible. She's half your age, for Christ's sake! What do you think is gonna happen here, huh? Have you completely lost your mind?"

"I think maybe so," he replied, holding his hands up defensively in front of himself, "but I can't get this to go away. Believe me, I've tried. There are a million reasons why I shouldn't even be looking in her direction, but I don't want to look anywhere else." Tony cleared his throat and decided to pull himself together, to not let his anxiety get the best of him. He straightened his spine and looked at Clint, resolved to not back down. "I know what you're thinking. But it's not like that, I swear." He turned his hand and waved back towards your room with a new enthusiasm in his voice, "I didn't even kiss her!"

It was an instinct for Clint to reach up and push Tony back against your door, hard enough to make it rattle and catch your attention. You didn't care that your legs were weak and struggling to hold you up; you would crawl to the door if it came to it just to stop the childish behavior outside. You slid your legs over the side of the bed and took a deep breath, pushing yourself up and testing your balance before stumbling your way to the argument building just outside. You flung the door open and leaned against the frame, holding yourself up to muster your best commanding voice.

"People are trying to sleep, if you hadn't noticed!" Reaching up to grab Tony by his shirt, you pulled him back and through the door. "You, in here. And dad," you growled, pointing at him harshly, "you can go. I can handle this."

"But I just-"

"No," you sighed, "I love you, and I'm sorry, but please stay out of this." You took a step back and pushed the door shut, finally giving in to the demands of your legs to buckle under your weight. Tony was quick enough to grab you before you made it to the floor, lifting you and returning you to your bed.

"That was unnecessary, (Y/N)," he mumbled, "I can handle myself."

"Yeah, you looked like you were all over that. I'm sure it was a part of your master plan to let him get the upper hand and pin you against the door."

"Maybe it was," he smirked. "I can't fight for you if I win right away. It's not a fight then."

Leaning back against the pillow, you sighed and closed your eyes, trying to think of the right words to say but coming up with nothing. Even through closed lids you knew he was watching you and waiting for your words as much as you were.

"If we try to do this," you paused, opening your eyes with a small laugh at the sight of his eager expression, "then you need to earn his trust. And mine. I've heard stories about you, Stark, and given my recent luck with men, you can appreciate my apprehension."

Tony nodded quickly and pulled out his phone, frantically typing something that you couldn't see. "Okay, tomorrow, 8pm. It's a date." He tucked his phone away and grabbed your hand, "I think I'll skip the whole 'asking dad for permission' thing, but other than that, it's nothing but my best behavior."

"Wow, I've never seen that before."

"No one has, sweetheart. But for you, I'll give it a shot."