Ficlet, Instinct
Title: Instincts
Word Count: 422
A/N: Written for Deep Cover at avengers_land.
It’s three in the morning and Clint’s, unusually, wide awake. It’s unusual because, even with the job he does, he normally manages to get a decent night’s sleep when he has the time for it. More than that, he’s trained himself into sleeping well. Tonight, though, is different. Tonight, he hasn’t been able get more than half an hour’s sleep before he’s been waking up for some invisible reason. It’s not nightmares - his nightmares are never usually kind enough to let him wake from them - but something else. Something he’s not sure of and that, more than anything, worries him because it’s like his instincts are telling him that something bad is coming and he has to fight the urge to get up out of his bed and prepare for battle.
The sirens go off at ten past three in the morning. Clint’s sitting on the edge of his bed at this point, wondering whether it’s worth doing a perimeter check, just in case, but he’s too late and all he can do now is jump up and move as quickly as possible. Shoes on, weapon located, as ready as he can be to face whatever has happened.
It’s an attack on SHIELD’s main headquarters, Steve tells him as they head for the plane, and that in itself has Clint tensed up because that’s how it started last time, how he ended up controlled by Loki. He doesn’t say as much but Steve must know what he’s thinking because he claps him on the back.
“Not this time, Clint. We’ve got your back. Let’s just control the damage as much as possible, okay?”
And that’s faith in him, right there, and it’s just what he needs to be confident in himself for this. He’s got the Avengers at his side and he’s going to do what he can to prove he deserves his place in the team with them because an attack against SHIELD headquarters is personal and significant but it’s also a chance to make right what was wrong last time. And Clint’s always been one for grabbing opportunities, especially when, with Steve and the others with him, his odds are better than ever before.
It’s almost like he’s known, all night, that this is coming, his chance at redemption. He’s going to take it; his instincts are never usually wrong.
Word Count: 422
A/N: Written for Deep Cover at avengers_land.
It’s three in the morning and Clint’s, unusually, wide awake. It’s unusual because, even with the job he does, he normally manages to get a decent night’s sleep when he has the time for it. More than that, he’s trained himself into sleeping well. Tonight, though, is different. Tonight, he hasn’t been able get more than half an hour’s sleep before he’s been waking up for some invisible reason. It’s not nightmares - his nightmares are never usually kind enough to let him wake from them - but something else. Something he’s not sure of and that, more than anything, worries him because it’s like his instincts are telling him that something bad is coming and he has to fight the urge to get up out of his bed and prepare for battle.
The sirens go off at ten past three in the morning. Clint’s sitting on the edge of his bed at this point, wondering whether it’s worth doing a perimeter check, just in case, but he’s too late and all he can do now is jump up and move as quickly as possible. Shoes on, weapon located, as ready as he can be to face whatever has happened.
It’s an attack on SHIELD’s main headquarters, Steve tells him as they head for the plane, and that in itself has Clint tensed up because that’s how it started last time, how he ended up controlled by Loki. He doesn’t say as much but Steve must know what he’s thinking because he claps him on the back.
“Not this time, Clint. We’ve got your back. Let’s just control the damage as much as possible, okay?”
And that’s faith in him, right there, and it’s just what he needs to be confident in himself for this. He’s got the Avengers at his side and he’s going to do what he can to prove he deserves his place in the team with them because an attack against SHIELD headquarters is personal and significant but it’s also a chance to make right what was wrong last time. And Clint’s always been one for grabbing opportunities, especially when, with Steve and the others with him, his odds are better than ever before.
It’s almost like he’s known, all night, that this is coming, his chance at redemption. He’s going to take it; his instincts are never usually wrong.