gosh let's try 17 for the rescue whump for clint please
“It’s never going to be the same!”
//
Clint looks up from the paperwork he's filing with a frown. He's got a headache and his vision is blurring because of it. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighs. There's a knock at the door, and he barely audibly huffs a response before the door opens.
Nick Fury. Clint feels the headache get worse.
"What brings you in?" he asks, before Fury closes the door behind him.
"Wanted to see how you were faring, is all, Agent Barton." The reply is purposeful.
Everyone's been walking on eggshells around Clint, ever since Vormir, ever since they beat Thanos, ever since Tony and Natasha died, ever since Steve went off and chose to speedrun getting old-
The world moved too fast for him, and Clint resents that the five years lost to the Blip went by so slow.
"I take it that you're filling out-"
"Why do you care?" Clint interrupts. "You- you won't get it. It's... they're gone."
He slams his hand down onto the paper, before swiftly sliding it off the table and onto the ground, grabbing his head and hiding his face behind his forearms. "It's never going to be the same, Nick," he says, from behind.















