Work Text:
Three years earlier
Phil stared at the barrel of the gun with a mix of trepidation and disbelief. He heard the shot but there was no pain as the gun pointed at him tumbled down to land in the dirt. The owner of the gun had a malicious smile on his face and blood gushing from the side of his head as followed the gun to the ground.
Phil looked away from the dead man to see Clint holding a smoking gun that should’ve looked wrong in his hands. Instead it looked right and Clint was completely steady as he stared at the dead body of his brother Barney. He eventually dragged his eyes away from his brother to look at Phil with haunted eyes.
Clint slid the gun back into its holster, “Better him than you.”
~~~~~~~
The dry acrid heat caused beads of sweat to gather but Phil ignored the discomfort as he watched the street with a neutral expression. The shadow from the brim of his Stetson kept the worst of the sun off his face and his boots rested on the dusty box in front of him. There was no one else outside until long after dinnertime and the sun had passed its highest point in the clear sky. He saw the cloud of dust being kicked up at least a couple of miles ago and he checked that his gun was loaded with efficient movements that spoke of practice.
The door behind him opened and Deputy Steve Rogers stepped out to join him on the porch. He looked in the same direction that Phil was facing and asked, “Trouble?”
“Probably not. Isn’t Peggy expecting you?”
Steve frowned, “You can’t send me off every time you’re expecting trouble.”
Phil chuckled once, “It’s self-preservation. Do you think I want your girl coming after me if you get yourself shot? Go on, head home and see your son.”
Steve hesitated, “Are you sure?”
“Natasha’ll be along shortly, I’m sure. Go home Steven.”
Steve relented, “Thanks, sir.”
Phil nodded once in response and gave Steve a brief smile as the young man left. It was true that Phil did have a habit of sending Steve away when he was unsure about what might happen but everyone knew what he was doing. Peggy always invited him to Sunday dinner as a thank you and Phil wasn’t going to leave their five year old son without a father if he could help it.
Everyone knew the story, Steve used to be a Captain in the army until he lost his best friend, Sergeant James “Bucky” Barnes, to the enemy. After almost self-destructing he met Peggy Carter who he’d not seen since the beginning of the war and he married her. They named their son James after Steve’s best friend and they’d both moved to Marvel, a small town in the middle of nowhere with an interesting mix of people.
Just as Phil had predicted, he was soon joined by Ms. Natasha Romanov whose red hair shone in the slowly dying light. Phil waited patiently for Natasha to speak and didn’t stand or tip his hat when he noticed her. She wasn’t the kind of woman who appreciated the gesture.
She watched for a moment, tension tight in her body, before she suddenly relaxed, “Damn. He came back. Stupid.”
Phil sighed, “I can’t let it go this time ‘round.”
Natasha looked at him sharply, “Fury’s still looking for him?”
Phil nodded, “Yeah, Fury’s still looking. Damn it.”
Natasha smirked, “Leave Fury to me. Don’t hurt your boy and I’ll take care of the rest.”
Phil looked at her warily, “Natasha...”
She arched a sharp eyebrow and cut him off, “Do you think that you could shoot him?”
Phil shifted uncomfortably, “If I had...”
She cut him off again, “You’re a crap liar, Sheriff. I told you, leave Fury to me.”
Phil relented, guilt and relief sitting heavy in his stomach, “You can’t make everyone in this town turn their heads.”
Natasha laughed sharply, “Can’t I? Relax Phil, I’m on your side and if he’s going to make your spine unbend a little...”
Phil almost blushed and by the way she laughed, she knew. Bowing to the inevitable, Phil told her, “You’d better deal with Fury now. He’s almost here.”
Natasha smirked knowingly and slipped away. Half an hour later, the horse was steadied at the foot of the porch steps and Phil was greeted with a boyish smile from outlaw Clint “Hawkeye” Barton.
“Evenin’ Sheriff.”
“You were warned not to come back.”
“Yeah, but that was before I earned myself a pardon.”
Phil’s jaw dropped a little in surprise. Of everything he’d expected, that had not been anywhere on his list. “You what?”
“A pardon. I helped a little... Did some good deeds... Helped out ladies to cross the street... That kind of thing.”
Phil thought about the countless posters offering rewards for Clint’s head that were rolled up in his drawer. The most recent one was only from the month before, “When did this happen?”
Clint swung himself down off his horse and handed Phil paper with the Governor’s seal holding it closed, “Five days ago.”
Phil quickly scanned the document, “Five days? You rode straight here?”
Clint shrugged, “I made a couple of stops along the way.”
Phil grabbed Clint roughly by his collar and dragged him inside, slamming the door behind him. He threw the letter onto his cluttered desk, not caring where it landed, and kissed Clint until their lips felt raw. When Phil pulled away slightly to look at the man he’d not seen for three years Clint was grinning dopily and he said dazedly, “I knew you liked me.”
Phil rolled his eyes and started tugging off his clothes as he leaned in for another kiss, “Shut up Clint.”
Phil’s hands couldn’t stop moving as he dragged them across material and hot skin but Clint was just as greedy in his touches. They soon stripped each other down and stumbled through the office until they hit the cot that Phil slept on more often than not. Clint laughed happily when he landed, straddling Phil’s hips and nipping Phil’s collarbone with his teeth, “You don’t wanna do this in the jail for old times’ sake?”
Phil pushed Clint by the shoulders and switched their positions so that he was on top. He wrapped his hand around Clint’s hard cock, a tried and tested method to get him to shut up, and started jacking him. Clint’s fingers dug thick red lines into the meat of Phil’s ass as he yelped loudly. Phil worried for a moment about the amount of noise they were making and then Clint was coming all over his stomach and Phil’s hand while praising Phil to the gods and he didn’t care as much.
Clint took a moment to regain his breath and then he was pushing Phil onto his back and sliding down onto the dusty floor, “I’ve been waiting three years to get my mouth around your cock again and I’m not waiting any longer Phil.”
Phil grunted and sighed when Clint pushed his mouth down on his cock. He was nowhere near as loud as Clint but his hands kept stroking Clint’s hair and he couldn’t stop touching. He came with a grunt into Clint’s mouth who trustingly swallowed it all before he dragged himself back onto the bed and physically moved Phil around until he was satisfied and he curled around him. Phil trailed his fingers along Clint’s shoulder and said, “Three years?”
Clint grunted, “I was busy.”
“I can tell. So, you came straight here?”
“Well, Natasha is here.”
Phil smiled up at the ceiling, “Right. That’s why you’re here with me and not her.”
“I’m now a law-abiding citizen. I had to assure the town sheriff that I’m here with good intentions.”
Phil chuckled and wrapped his arm tighter around him, “Of course.” After a moment of quiet Phil told him, “Natasha is with Fury.”
Clint lifted his head enough to look Phil in the eye, “In what way?” Phil smirked and Clint groaned, “Oh god. I did not need that information. Now I’m gonna have nightmares.”
“Apologise to her and it’ll be fine.”
Clint grumbled but he settled his cheek back on Phil’s chest, “Am I staying?”
Phil froze, “... do you want to?”
Clint lifted his head, “Don’t look so panicked. Do you think I came all this way, to the middle of nowhere, for a quick fuck before I said goodbye? Jeez, thanks for having some faith in me Phil.”
“We haven’t exactly had time to talk about it.”
“You’re the one who jumped me and, hey I’m not complaining. Besides, there are so many other things that we can do besides talking.”
Phil smiled wryly, “Not without giving me some time to recover.”
Clint snickered and relaxed again, “Okay, no more talking. I need to sleep before Natasha finds us.”
Phil watched Clint go to sleep, worrying on an irrational level that he was going to disappear into thin air. When that didn’t happen, Phil let his own head fall back against the thin pillow and fall asleep with Clint in his arms.
All of their problems were far from solved yet Clint was greeted with open arms, more or less. Fury grudgingly backed off when he was presented with the evidence of Clint’s clean slate and Phil started sleeping more at home than in the office. Clint threw himself into town life as he learned who had showed up in the time he was gone and who was still there.
He had his moment with Natasha at the unmarked grave of his brother the day after he arrived. She’d led him out there without a word and apart from a grim joke about her burying his body he followed her quietly. They stood at the edge of the sunken dirt for a long time in silence before he said, “He was gonna shoot Phil.”
“I know.”
“I never thought he’d actually kill anybody. I knew that he was a thief but murder...”
Natasha turned to face Clint instead of the grave, “I would’ve shot him if you hadn’t done it first.”
Clint laughed dryly, “Yeah, I know, but I’d rather be the one on the run.”
“How’d you get the pardon?”
Clint blushed and rubbed a hand against the back of his neck, “I saved Thor’s life.”
“Thor Odinson?!”
“Yeah, it turns out that I’m not the only one with a crazy brother.”
“No wonder Governor Odin gave you a pardon. Did you tell Phil?”
“I didn’t tell him that part. Don’t worry, I will. Hell, I’m not gonna lie to Phil if I can help it. I actually like it here.”
After a long moment of scrutiny Natasha nodded, “Fine, but you have to tell Phil everything.”
Clint cringed, “Everything?”
“He already knows most of it. It shouldn’t take you very long.”
Clint sighed, “This is cruel.”
Natasha grinned sharply, “So was leaving me in the middle of nowhere.”
“Did I ever tell you that I was really, really sorry about that?”
Natasha looped her arm through his and started leading him back to town, “You and Phil are coming to dinner on Friday. You will dress nicely and be very polite.”
Clint groaned but he was smiling, “Yes ‘Tasha.”