The call came in the middle of Avengers movie night, Tony was steadily getting more drunk, Steve being confused about the movie-Maze runner- and Bruce being devious tells him that it's a metaphor for life, a maze with no apparent out unless you have a differently wider brain. The escape is death, everyone looks at the screen in horror and Nat is quick to switch movies to Percy Jackson and the sea of monsters. Clint yells at the screen at each inaccuracy, having read the books.

Thalia's death plays out and Thor, drunk off his feet starts singing a ballad to a great soldier's death which Clint rolls his eyes at "at least this scene is correct. Nevermind. Demigods and technology do NOT work together you idiots!" He yells, Nat laughing at him as he throws a piece of popcorn to hit Clarisse in the eye. The phone rings, loud but not clear over the music so nobody pays attention, focusing on the screen where Percy and Clarisse are battling it out on the weird structure until Jarvis pauses the movie "Agent Barton it will appear that your phone is ringing and has been for the last 5 minutes" he informs and Clint sighs, draping himself over Steve and Thor's lap's to get to his phone which is still playing best friend's brother into the night.

Nat eyes him and softly says "glad I don't have a brother now". Tony's laughter is undeniable as it echoes through the practically silent room. Clint presses the phone to his ear and waits for someone on the other line to speak, when they do Clint is left speechless "Major Barton" is said into his ear and it feels like the floor has been swept out from under him as he takes deep breaths. It takes him a moment to answer and when he does his voice sounds rough "yes?".

The man on the other side breaths deeply before answering with a curt "you are being deployed to Iraq in 10 hours, be ready at the helicarrier" he says and hangs up. Clint holds the phone to his ear for a while more, the movie and team falling into silence once more in his mind. As the shock of going back into battle settles in his eyes go blank, his muscles relax and he instinctively reaches for his side-arm, a dessert eagle usually at his hip.

He ignores the rest of his team in favor of going to his room to get ready, he pulls his army uniform from the back of the closet and irons it, eyeing his hair which is NOT up to standard and sighs. He grabs a pair of scissors and heads back to the common room where the tv is turned off and everyone is just chillin "I've got an op tomorrow" he informs, shoving the scissors at Bucky. Metal clinking against metal. Bucky looks at him confused, eyes that shine without the hostility of the Winter soldier but a look that Bucky didn't have but Clint just smiles at him and goes to sit on a bar stool, angling himself so Bucky can easily cut his hair "military standard" he says quietly so the rest of the team don't hear.

They don't need to know that Clint is going into a war zone for an unrepresented amount of time, it would just worry them. Bucky raises an eyebrow but runs his fingers through Clint's hair and the gentle snip-snip of the scissors is surprisingly loud in the basically silent room. Clint looks down at the counter top and thinks back to his days in the army, before SHIELD. A body count, bombs, gunfire, blood, bodies, dead comrades. It all flashes in front of him and he shudders, Bucky runs his Metal hand down Clint's jaw in a move that could be adjusting his grip or moving his head to cut hair but it's gentle and it's all Clint needs to bring him back to the present.

The team eyes the tv screen with interest and Clint smirks as he lightly turns his head to see them, Bucky tightens his grip on Clint's hair and gently yanks his head back in position. Clint rolls his eyes in amusement and lets out a small sigh as he tilts his head back, seeing Bucky and almost involuntarily waving sarcastically. Bucky raises an eyebrow and smirks around the scissors where he has them clamped between his teeth. Clint feels Bucky tap on his shoulder and looms back at him where he's holding the scissors out toward him.

He takes the scissors and stands up, ready to leave but Bucky grabs his arm and as Clint looks at his eyes, seeing resentment as he glances to the hair falling into his eyes. The rest of the team have finally put on a movie and are now watching The Lion King as Simba sings about how he's going to be a great king "-I'm gonna be a mighty king so enemies beware. Well I've never seen a king or beast with quite so little hair" Clint sings along while raking his fingers through Bucky's hair. The irony is unprecedented. He eyes the hair and remembers how Bucky used to look during the war. He starts snipping away "I'm gonna be the main event, like no king was before, I'm brushin' up on lookin' down, I'm workin' on my ROAR" Clint sings as he combs Bucky's hair.

Bucky smiles in amusement as Clint sings along , Bucky's hair falls on his shoulders, his lap and on the floor as the continuous snipping is overpowered by the chorus of the song. Clint spins Bucky's chair as he sings, pausing in his cutting for a while "no-one sayin' do this,no-one sayin be there, no-one sayin' stop that, no-one sayin' see here." Clint sings, going on his knees in front of Bucky which draws a quiet laugh from the soldier. Clint counts it as a win as he spins the chair and starts finishing Bucky's hair " free to run around all day, free to do it all my way.
I think it's time you and I arranged a heart to heart.

Kings don't need advise from little horn-bills, for a start.

If this is where the monarchy is headed count me out.

Out of service, out of Africa, I wouldn't hang about.
This child is getting wildly out of wing.

OH I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO BE KING!
Everybody look left. Everybody look right.

Everywhere you look I'm standin' in the spotlight!
Let every creature go for broke and sing.

Let's hear it for the herd on the wing.

It's gonna be king Simba's finest fling!

OH I just can't wait to be king" he sings softly into Bucky's ear as he pulls a mirror from Nat's handbag, without her noticing which is quite a feat and reflects Bucky's new look as well as his.

Both styles are military standard and both of them DO look good in it but Bucky's expression absolutely stumps Clint, he looks lost in memories but at the same time he looks so...HAPPY. Still laying his head on Bucky's shoulder Clint sees Bucky wipe at his jaw and his eyes sparkle with wonder as he looks solely at the reflection, meeting Clint's eyes and the look in his eyes is something Clint can't describe. It leaves Clint speechless and hoping he comes home from his supposed op.

Bucky stands up abruptly, his hand raking across Clint's as he heads to the couch and taps Steve's shoulder. Steve, unsuspectingly turns around only to freeze and stare wide-eyed at Bucky which attracts Tony's attention and a comment " man Barnes, you look HOT" which pulls a feeling that is definitely possessiveness from Clint but he isn't sure why. One by one the team turns and stares which makes Clint smile, he did well. The last thing he heard while leaving the room was presumably Steve tackling Bucky in a hug and hitting the floor with BOTH their weights and Pepper asking "why can't you react like that to my haircuts Tony?" as a joke.

The next morning Clint wakes up at 8:30 AM. 1 1/2 hours before he's supposed to leave. He heads to the kitchen and Nat hands him a cup of coffee, cold and black just like he likes it. He grabs the cup and downs it, much to Tony's horror, he hates the cheap, cold, black coffee Clint thrives on. Steve and Bucky enter, both sweaty after their morning sparring session along with Thor and Bruce who are debating science against magic. Again. Thor winning. Again. Clint smiles and pulls his feet onto the counter to balance on the balls of his feet and as Bucky passes him he ruffles his, now short hair, smiling when all Bucky does is swat at his hand, not remove it.

Clint sighs as he looks at the clock "I gotta go in an hour" he murmurs, loud enough for the rest to hear as he stares at the clock, fully well knowing he may never return. That thought has him gulping and he looks at Natasha and back to Bucky "I'll see you guys when I see you" he declares as he walks out the door to go grab his weapons and uniform and rifle. The intentions of his statement, that he didn't specify and said 'whatever' would alert Nat but she was a bit...distracted.

Nearly an hour later he stands on the hellicarrier and sees a helicopter descend but instead of landing it just drops down a rope for Clint to haul himself onto. He grips the rope, ignoring how it cuts into his hand as he's dragged along behind the helicopter until it comes to a slow and he starts climbing. A hundred feet above the city, dangling from a rope attached to a helicopter as he climbs he spots Stark towers and vows to write to the team. He keeps climbing despite harsh winds and once aboard he pulls the rope up to bundle at his feet. He doesn't greet the pilot and just sits down, careful not to let any weapon stab or shoot him. Though his gun digs into his hip just a bit.

He unlocks his phone and opens up a group chat with the Avengers, starting the conversation by saying 'I'm BORED'
Stark: then do something
Clint: like what?
Steve: reports?
Clint: yeah right. Seriously though

Honestly he was just doing this to annoy them and keep his mind from the possibility of dying 'BUCKY' he types, going for a more whiny feel
Bucky: CLINT
Clint: I'M BORED
Bucky: uh oh last time you were bored enough to whine the entire helicopter interior was painted purple
Clint: good idea but I didn't bring my paint
Bucky: oh thank god
Natasha: AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
Clint: keep me updated

He turns to the view and watches as the scenery changes from city to beach, to open ocean. His thoughts derail and change and he falls asleep a few times before the dessert heat sets in and Clint subtly changes into his military uniform. Well worn and well fitting it makes the heat all that more easy to handle. Only when they land does a reply come from Nat 'all safe, minor injuries' is all she says, it's all Clint needs.

Clint exits as they land, his rifle bag slung over his shoulder and bumping into his back. Nobody speaks to him, all of them lower ranking and the higher ranks know not to speak to him. He heads to his barracks and flops down on the inconceivably uncomfortable bed as he pulls out his phone 'hey' he sends as he gets up to go greet his unit. The unit knows he's coming and waits outside his barracks until ushered in where things get much less formal. Clint smiles at his unit and they smile back, Clint missed them all.

The special ops unit only has 4 members, a commander and a dog. Beachhead was the first to greet and steps forward with a confident smirk with Daisy, his Alsatian. Clint greets the blond haired, blue eyed trainer with a smile and handshake and shares a fist bump with Daisy. Next is their resident bombs expert, Albert with his glasses, brown hair and generally Bruce-like features who is greeted by a courteous nod since he's not the touchy type. Next is fox, the medic of the group with his brown hair and green eyes, one of the only open gay soldiers on base and lastly is Miranda, the weapons expert and very Peggy Carter like attitude but with blonde hair.

Each person is greeted with a smile and familiarity as a friend would greet another but this bond was deeper and better forged. This was family. The unit left to their barracks before dinner and Clint looks at his phone, perking up when he sees a reply from Bucky 'still bored?' 'Very'. He looks around the barracks which was only a bed and dresser with no personality which was to be expected in a way and took one picture out of his rifle case, standing on the bed to tape it to the ceiling, very sentimental to say that it would be the first thing he sees in the morning. The picture was of the team on the couch and smiling in a giant dog pile with Natasha on top.