LEO WAS HIDING IN HIS ROOM. Dinner had gone smoothly enough, Tony had kept the conversation going and the answers posed to him were easy enough to answer, most being about his childhood and how he had gotten to work at S.H.I.E.L.D.—he didn't tell the complete truth, but it was enough to placate—and he had received a semi-apology for Dwayne who had thoroughly shamed himself for breaking the code of honor he had learned in karate class, and Leo had to talk him out of burning his purple belt.

But now it was morning and he wasn't going to leave his room unless he had to. So he would be leaving his room, but he was going to wait until the afternoon to do it.

But just because he wasn't leaving his room didn't mean that people weren't going to come in.

There was a knock on his door, and before he could call out to the person, they were already calling in a, "It's Clint!"

Leo turned to find Clint Barton walking into his room, giving him a small wave as he closed the door behind him, and the younger man watched as Clint moved to jump onto the bed, settling down next to him, folding his hands in his lap.

According to word of mouth, Natasha and Clint were both at one of their many safe houses for some particular reason that wasn't explained—Leo had a feeling no one quite knew what they were doing—so he hadn't been expecting to meet the man any time soon, as he had retired from the Avengers for some particular reason; he wasn't even that old, but Leo wasn't sure if he wanted to hear that.

But there Clint was, and if Clint was there, that meant that Natasha Romanoff was most likely also returned, and Leo emotionally steeled himself in the event he would meet her later that day.

But back to the matter at hand.

Taking a deep breath, Leo reached towards the side table closest to him, holding out the bag. "Jollyrancher?"

Clint raised an eyebrow at the offering, and Leo didn't blame him. Most people didn't accept offered gifts of food, though an exception was always with gum, and most were confused as to why he had so much with him. Clint didn't even know the half of it.

"Don't you know these things slow you down?" Clint joked, but he popped one into his mouth anyways, because he was never one to turn down free food, even if it was candy—or rather especially because.

Leo popped one into his mouth, immediately looking around for water to make sure that he wouldn't get a sore throat. "I don't have my mints on hand or else I would've just pulled out those."

"Cool," Clint said, nodding, and the two quickly fell into an awkward silence, Clint taking a look around Leo's still non-personalized room, the redhead wringing his hands uncomfortably.

Leo hated silences, but he was the worst at filling them, which was another reason he liked to have something in his mouth at all times, so he decided to just accept the silence that settled between them, but it wasn't comfortable, it was quite the opposite.

"Was there any reason why you wanted to swing by?" Leo asked, and Clint nodded, holding up his hand for a pause.

Leo watched as Clint sloshed the jollyrancher in his mouth for a few moments before pushing it into his cheek, his words only party obstructed as he replied, "Besides Wanda, I'm the closest to the little twerp, and I wanted to see how you were holding up with him. He's a good kid, he's just really defensive."

Leo sighed as he slipped down from where he was leaning against his pillow, staring up at his ceiling as he tried to think of where he stood with Pietro.

Their relationship was practically non-existent, their conversation when Pietro helped him back to their part of the facility was surface level at best, Pietro refusing to open up further than his comment about his leg, and Leo was without his sweets and thereby rendered immobile and incapable of social interaction.

"I don't think this is gonna work out," the young man sighed, and Clint reached out to pat his back.

"Listen, Leo," the older man sighed, shrugging, "I know I don't look it, but I'm not that old, so I get where you're coming from, you're still trying to find your place in the world and I get it, you're surrounded by the best of the best, people who saved the world on more than one occasion. But listen to the guy who carries around two quivers and a bow to a fight. You have a place here."

Leo couldn't respond, wringing his hand and avoiding eye contact as he nodded along to what Clint was saying, glancing up at him to let him know he had heard. The man added as an afterthought, "I'd like to hear your comments, I had to rehearse this with Steve for an hour this morning and I put in my hearing aids and everything."

Leo choked, unsure whether to laugh, but unable to help himself, falling onto his side while Clint laughed next to him, and it was a nice feeling, laughing with someone, even if he had only known Clint by the times Agent Phil Coulson would sigh and groan his name with varying degrees of fond exasperation and all the times his uncle would shout on the phone to someone about making sure Barton was given all the access he needed, he was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best agents.

"Just give him some time, he'll warm up to you," Clint said, but there was something about the way he said it that made Leo think that wasn't incredibly likely.

"He hasn't warmed up to the others yet," he pointed out, and Clint shrugged, sighing as he sank down farther in Leo's bed.

"I mean...I hear you're...I think...yeah, but Fury trusts you and this is your job now, so do it right, I guess," Clint said, and Leo smiled, laughing softly as he stared at the older man who seemed completely dejected at not having anything concrete to say.

"Well, thanks, Clint," Leo said, popping another Jollyrancher into his mouth, "I'll try my best."

º º º

Wanda and Pietro were in the kitchen, Pietro sitting up on the counter while his sister tried to cook something for Sam, as the man had been teaching her how to cook and she wanted to surprise him with food when he returned from wherever he disappeared to with Rhodey on a bi-weekly basis.

"What do you think of Leo?" Wanda asked, trying to read the recipe, frowning at the various measuring cups she had in her hands.

"What do you think of him?" he countered, and she raised her eyes up to give him an unimpressed look, and he huffed, puffing his cheeks out.

"He is...unimpressive," Pietro said, shrugging, and Wanda sighed, setting down her things to put her hands on her hips.

"You saw what he did last night," she pointed out, and she watched as Pietro continued to let his legs swing, stretching his arms and back.

"Yes, but—" he tried, and she gave him a stern look, and he sighed, resting his elbows on his thighs, leaning forward with his hands on his chin, "Fine. He is not the worst person in the world."

Wanda only seemed slightly appeased, and Pietro didn't know what she wanted from him, In fact, he didn't know why she wanted him to even be with her in the kitchen. He loved his sister dearly, more than himself, but he just wanted to be left alone.

"He seems like he wants what's best for you," she pointed out, and she watched as he glared down at the floor.

"He doesn't know me, no one here knows me but you, and no one knows what is best for me, I am fine," he began, jumping off the counter to march off, but Wanda grabbed his hand, holding his gaze.

This was something the two did at times. They hardly ever fought, but if they were upset with each other, they would often stare each other down to refrain from saying anything they would regret. Ever since Pietro grew taller than Wanda, she had to work twice as hard to stare him down, because his height was always intimidating.

Pietro, however, didn't feel like he had much power over her. He was older, so every thought and action he had was based around her. He wanted to be left alone, but he would stay out for hours if he knew she needed him to. She needed him to accept this.

If he thought about it hard enough, he didn't have any problems with Leo. He had a problem with his being there, with what he was there to do, but Leo himself wasn't anything to be upset with, but nothing to care about either. He wasn't like what he was used to, with his big smiles and nervous behavior.

The last friend he had was more inclined to roll his eyes and scoff at him.

He sighed as he continued to look down at Wanda. They've been through more than most, and she's seen him at his complete lowest point, and he knew how emotional she was, he knew how empathetic she could be, and the last thing he wanted was for her to be hurt because he was being stubborn.

"Let's go find him," Wanda suggested, shaking his arm, and he nodded, because she had won, there was no way to continue arguing with her.

The two made their way around for some time, hand in hand, Pietro trudging behind her, Wanda humming a tune that he didn't recognize; he could hardly recognize her.

He made a face at his own thoughts, hating himself for thinking it. She was his sister, and she could be whatever she wanted, and it would never change that he loved her the most, no matter what. She would always be his sister.

After a few minutes of wandering, the two found Leo with Clint and a few others, all of them watching the young man going around and showing off.

Pietro brightened at the sight of Clint who was standing next to Natasha and Steve, all of them watching with interest as Leo did one handed pushups, falling into splits, doing cartwheels, and generally being entertaining.

He raised his eyebrows as he watched the older man jumping off raised walls, Clint saying something about "park-our," causing the younger man to laugh. Leo caught sight of Pietro and the younger man watched as the redhead nearly looked away, before forcing himself to give an awkward smile.

Wanda nudged Pietro who had been watching for some time, making a sound in the back of her throat.

Rolling his eyes, Pietro sighed, shrugging and relaxing his shoulders as he continued to watch Leo workout. Everyone else seemed to like him well enough, and if Wanda wanted him to like him, maybe he could swallow his pride and try.

"The tiny buff man...he is not so bad."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 09.16.18 )

I have been waiting so long for me to get it together to write this chapter because Tiny Buff Man is the description I initially had for Leo as a person, he is a tiny buff man and I love him so so so much.

I don't know if I really mentioned it, but Clint in my fics is more comic Clint than MCU Clint (or as  and I like to call him, Clont) so he has the farm but it's not his and the family is his brother's family like they actually are, so etc etc etc and so Clint is way younger than who he is in the movies and and etc etc etc.

Also, there was a small call to my fic Left Behind about both of the twins that had love interests that was set pre-Ultron, so check that out if you're so inclined

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!