Join the Avengers, they said...

"This is not the kind of fun I signed up for," you mumbled, almost incoherently if there were anyone nearby to hear you. You had been on what was going to be a quick day trip kind of mission, though you had serious doubts about that given who your teammates were. Tony thought it would be funny as hell, and would serve you right for an ill-timed prank, to put you on a mission with Clint, Sam, and the 'Reserve Avenger' Wade Wilson. It was a triple threat that definitely left you rethinking your career choices. With the other two boys there, you couldn't even count on your husband to keep the shenanigans at bay for too long; Sam could get into just as much trouble as they could at any given moment.

On this particular day of sudden introspection, the mission had literally been blown to hell; during the survey of a building thought to be owned by Hydra, that suspicion was confirmed before anyone stepped more than two feet inside. Someone must have stepped on a trigger, but you had no idea who, and it didn't matter. What mattered now was that the force of the explosion levelled the building and threw the four of you in all directions; leaving you to now wonder who survived, and how far your body had travelled. It also left you with a debilitating injury, that you prayed to be temporary.

You couldn't see. The flash of the explosion was too close, and you had stared right into it.

"(Y/N)?"

"Clint?" You pushed your voice to try to carry over the chaos burning around you, but the soot and smoke that billowed was seeping into your throat and lungs to leave a charred burning with even the softest whisper. Tears streamed down your cheeks, trying to wash away the debris in your eyes and to soothe their corneas from the sting of heat. "Barton...where are you?"

"Right here," he answered. There was a shift in the debris next to you, and you worried that you were about to be buried beneath it from the sounds he made as he moved, but once you registered his voice in your mind, you calmed at his tone. He was struggling with his own injuries, and you could hear the small wince of pain beneath his voice as he moved. "Status?"

"Afraid to move. Hard to breathe. Blind."

"Blind?"

"Yeah, as in can't see," you snapped, harshly and not meaning it the way it came out. But now that you had said it, there was a reality attached and it freaked you out like a bolt of lightning, brighter than the explosion that took your sight; you would give nearly anything to see something even that destructive again.

"Stay there," Clint commanded, reaching up slowly to touch the comm in his ear. "Wilson? Do you copy?"

"Yeah...which one?"

"Pool? What's your status?"

"Let me tell you, Arrow Guy, this is the worst trip that I've ever been on," Wade began. "If I'm gonna fly, I expect first class, not this grow your own wings bullshit. What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, but I need some help over here. Any idea where Sam is?"

"You know, if you wanted the other Wilson, then you should have said so! This Reserve Avenger bullshit is...bullshit!"

"Oh my god, Wade, now is not the time," Clint snapped. "(Y/N)'s losing it and I'm not exactly in the best position to help. I think I popped a lung, and I can't move. The blast blinded her and I think she's pinned. Can you get here?"

"I can try, yeah, but you guys aren't paying me enough for empathy."

"We're not paying you at all."

"What the shit?!" Wade gasped, his tone shrill. "Then what the fuck am I doing here? I didn't join up with the mutant brigade because the funding is about as impressive as the CGI they used to de-age Patrick Stewart a few movies back. With the bank that Marvel's pulling in these days, you'd think we could at least get fed before they fuck us over."

You could hear both Wade and Clint arguing back and forth over the comms, but the one voice you needed was still missing; Sam's. It didn't do much to help the panic that was already building inside of you when your mind took the idea and ran with it that Sam was obviously dead after the blast and you would have to live blind without him. It would be unheard of for your imagination to come up with any other alternatives; like his comm simply fell out of his ear or that your blindness was a temporary side effect of flash burns. Nope, all was definitely lost. "Guys, I really need Sam," you tried to break in, though your voice was failing, "I don't think I can do this."

"One catastrophe at a time, PLEASE," Wade snapped back, "I'm almost there to provide absolutely no support whatsoever, so calm your tits."

Wade passed by Clint first, seeing that the archer was likely right; he probably did pop a lung for how much blue had spread into his lips. He was still awake and pretty alert though, so with a quick wave of agreement, he hurried over to you instead. "Barton, you called for a ride?"

All he could manage now was a brief nod, leaning back onto the debris that was holding him up so that he could focus on breathing. He couldn't do any more for you anyway, and if Sam was still alive, he'd just have to find his own way back now. Wade probably wasn't the best choice to try to soothe anyone's nerves, but he was all he had. The quinjet was on the way, so Clint took this time to try to prepare himself for the pain that was about to come with his extraction from the pile around him.

As he approached you, Wade took a quick survey of the debris that surrounded you, finding that you weren't pinned physically; he couldn't explain why you were unable to move until he actually looked at you. Your body was trembling and your breathing was fast, leaving him at even more of a loss as to what to do; he usually made peoplemoreanxious, not less. "Hey, honey," he tried, leaving a grimace of distaste at the pleasantry rolling over his tongue, "I'm here, okay? I know that I'm the wrong Wilson, but I'm the only one who's showed up to this party."

"Wade, please," you begged softly, "please, go find Sam. I'm okay."

"I would agree with you if you weren't shaking the rocks around you. (Y/N), we gotta slow this down or you're gonna pass out. I don't think that's a great plan when I don't know how hurt you are."

"Do you see blood anywhere?"

"Uh...no?"

"Then go."

"Hey," he retorted, with a sharp point at you that you couldn't even see, "listen here, smartass. Barton isn't covered in blood either, and I'm pretty sure he's down an air bag."

"If he's dead-"

"He's not, (Y/N), okay? Until we either find a body or little bits of him scattered around this hell hole, he's not dead. Now come on, let's focus on something else."

"Like what?" you scoffed. "How I couldn't even see my own husband's face if you found him? Yeah, Wade, that's helping the panic."

"That blindness is temporary. Trust me, I've been there before. Once we can get you guys to the hospital-"

"Where's (Y/N)?" Sam broke in, his voice still distant, but it was there. You were pretty sure that you hadn't hallucinated it, and once you heard the sound, it was like everything stopped and you could finally allow yourself just one deep breath. Until you could feel him next to you that was all you dared to take.

"Over here," Wade called out to his teammate, "and if you could move your fine ass a little faster, that'd be fan-fucking-tastic. Your wife's been losing her shit and I suck at this comforting stuff."

When you felt his hand take yours, you didn't need to see it to know it was his; the two of you had always fit together perfectly, and it gave you immediate comfort. The way his fingers wove their way through yours, and the strength that held them steady was all you needed to find a little hope again. The tears of relief that came with it left a sting in your eyes, but you tried to play it off as to not upset him anymore than he already was. "Sam, you're okay?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart, I'm fine, don't you worry about me," he answered. "You're going to be fine too, alright? I'm going to lift you up and get you out of this mess. Are you ready?" With a simple nod in reply, he didn't waste any time, sliding his hands under you and lifting him to you with one quick motion. "I've got you, baby. I'm here."

"I was so worried. I don't know what I would've done-"

"Shhh, hey, none of that. You know that I'd never leave you, right? I promised that a long time ago, and I meant it."

"I know."

Once Sam had you held securely, he stopped and turned back to Wade, glancing over to Clint with a nod in his direction. "Do you think we can get Clint clear on our own?"

"Hell no, you can't," Barton answered instead, "I'm not moving until I can get a shot to numb my brain from how bad that's gonna hurt. Don't you dare touch me."

"I've got a hypo in my pack," Sam tried, but he was again quickly halted.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm waiting for Stark and that suit of his. It's not that I don't trust you guys, but I'd like something a little more foolproof."

"Pfft, who you callin' a fool?" Wade laughed dryly. "I mean, me, obviously, but Sam is the brains of this outfit. I don't know what the hell Iron Daddy was thinking by sending his four most troublemaking children out on this trip. We might just have to teach him a lesson for this."

You gave Sam a gentle tap on the arm to stop him, pointing to turn you towards Wade so that you could at least give him your best exasperated expression, even if you couldn't see his response. "Wilson, what do you think this was, exactly? We were the ones getting the lesson. It was you and your stupid prank that got us all into this."

Wade stopped and slapped his hands to either side of his face, the eyes of his mask widening in shock, "that son of a...! Oh, he thinks he can mess with us? He doesn't even know the half of it! If he thought that beard trimmer prank was bad, just wait until he finds out where I'm gonna use it next. Pool's gone native down south and I need that gold trimmed, sparkly weed whacker to cut through the bush, if you know what I mean."

"Yes, Wade," Sam groaned, "unfortunately, we all know what you mean."