Quill, Parchment, & Ink

Title: Family Bonds
Characters: Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Darcy Lewis, mentions of Jane Foster and Thor, Will Brandt, Ethan Hunt, Jane Carter, Benji Dunn, Cynthia (OC)
Fandom: Mission Impossible 4, Avengers
Series: Double Trouble
Written For:
Prompt:
Summary: Clint and Will don’t see anything unusual with the fact that they look alike, but they’re sure going to use the ability when they realize certain people in their lives can’t tell them apart.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: MI4: Ghost Protocol, Avengers, earlier stories in this series
Warnings: the twins are definitely ‘double trouble’, boys are inherently trouble-makers, Natasha protects her own, Ethan is supposed to be an observant spy, everyone might be more trouble than they’re worth
Disclaimer: No one recognizable belongs to me, not making any money off this.
Author's Note: A little closer to finished, probably two more chapters after this…although I’m not quite sure. The outtake comes after this…hence the uncertainty of everyone with Ethan. And I’ll just wait for the fallout of what happens at the end of this chapter…


Will entered the gym, looking around. He wasn’t sure if he was actually looking for Clint or just seeing who was in the room. Confronting his cousin so soon after the other man had stormed out wouldn’t end well for either of them, but he did need to talk to him sooner rather than later. He was hoping it would be easy to track Clint down though so he didn’t have to search the entire tower.

He wasn’t surprised to find Natasha there or even Ethan, with Steve watching over them as they worked out on the bags. Jane was beside the former soldier as he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed as he watched their movements with careful eyes.

The former analyst crossed the room to where they stood, taking up a position next to Jane. “Should I ask what’s going on?” he asked in a low voice.

“Ethan opened his big mouth,” Jane replied. “Where have you been?”

“Having a conversation with my cousin,” Will answered.

Steve motioned to the bow in Will’s hand. “I wasn’t aware anyone other than Clint used a bow.”

Will smiled, shifting the quiver he’d slung over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t say use. I know how, but I’m nowhere near Clint’s level.”

“And unlike Barton, he’s willing to use a gun,” Ethan cut-in, turning from the bag he’d been pummeling.

“A gun is easier to conceal.” Will shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I can’t use a bow. And there are times when the bow might have come in handy. Quieter for one and more versatile in some instances, but it is more noticeable.”

“So why do you have it today?” Steve asked.

“Clint and I were shooting. I didn’t know what the rules were in the range or the passcode for the armory so I didn’t just want to leave the bow laying around,” Will explained.

“You were in the range?” Steve questioned. When Will nodded, he continued, “It would have been safe enough to leave the bow unattended, although I’m sure Clint will appreciate you not just leaving it. Only certain people have clearance to enter the room.”

“Understood. I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving it lying around,” Will explained. He motioned with his head towards Natasha and Ethan. “Do I want to know what Ethan did?”

“He might have implied that there was no way she as a woman could possibly fight as well as a trained male agent,” Jane replied.

Will winced. “Um. He does know who she is, right? Or has he not figured that out yet?”

Steve shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. She was just introduced to him as ‘Natasha’.”

“Ah. Maybe we should…” Will started.

“Oh, no,” Jane said, leaning over as if she was going to clap a hand over his mouth. “Ethan deserves this.”

Will glared at her, but kept his own counsel as the two stepped away from the bags and headed towards a ring not far from where the other group was standing. Natasha slipped gracefully between the ropes, stepping back as Ethan clambered into the ring after her. “Hey, Nat,” Will called to her. “We kinda need him in one piece. Ish.”

A smile spread across Natasha’s face and Will shuddered slightly. “I won’t injure him. Too much.”

Jane looked at Will. “Should I be concerned about Ethan?”

“You didn’t want me to warn him,” Will replied. “It’s a little late now.”

Natasha smirked at Will’s comment, which had just been loud enough for her to hear. Stepping back slightly, she balanced her weight on her back foot, then beckoned Ethan towards her. “Are you ready, Agent Hunt?” she questioned.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Miss Natasha,” Ethan responded as he paced around her, gaging her reactions.

“Twenty on Nat,” Will said as Ethan jabbed at her, causing Natasha to dance away.

“I’m almost insulted, Will,” Natasha called to him. “Only twenty?”

“It’s more I’m thinking no one here is going to bet against you,” Will called back. “How long are you planning to toy with Ethan?”

“You think he might be more of a challenge than Cap?” Natasha asked.

“Engh.” Will waggled his hand back and forth. “Depends on how much you…” He winced as Natasha slammed her fist into Ethan’s mouth. “Or that.”

Ethan shook his head, shaking off the strike. “That was a dirty trick!”

“How was it a trick?” Natasha asked mildly. She grabbed his arm as he threw another punch at her, using his momentum to push him away from her. When he stumbled away from her, she flipped her body, wrapping her legs around his neck.

Ethan grunted as she twisted, landing him on his back on the mat. She rolled out of the hold, landing upright and facing him; perfectly balanced. Ethan groaned in response.

From up above there was laughter and Natasha’s green eyes flicked up, before she shook her red hair out of her face. Will grinned at where Ethan was laying splayed on the mat. “Ethan Hunt? May I introduce you to Natayla Romanova aka Natasha Romanov aka the Black Widow?”

Ethan rolled slightly, moaning in reply, “Oooh fuuuck. What the hell was that?”

“Hurts like a bitch, doesn’t it?” a voice asked from up above them.

The group at ground level looked up to see Clint hanging upside down from a hole in the ceiling. “What are you doing?” Jane asked.

“Enjoying the show,” Clint replied. “I don’t think Tasha’s put someone down that quickly in a while. Even Happy lasts longer now.”

Natasha shook her head at the comment, reaching a hand down to help Ethan up. “Happy does not last longer than that.”

Steve tilted his head a little farther, looking Clint in the eye. “Will you please come down here and join the rest of us instead of lurking overhead?”

“Nope. I’m just fine up here,” Clint replied, crossing his arms.

“Peep,” Will responded.

“Fine,” Clint huffed. He bent at the waist, gripping the edge of the vent he was hanging out of, and flipping his feet down so he was hanging by his hands. A moment later he dropped, landing beside Natasha.

“Peep?” Ethan questioned from where he was trying to rub feeling back into his ass and neck. “What’s that from?”

Will made a motion towards Clint as the younger man growled at Ethan. “None of your business,” the archer almost snarled. “No one gets to call me that but Will.”

“Easy,” Will murmured, getting close enough to Clint to put a restraining hand on him. “Ethan’s got a compulsive need to know everything. He doesn’t always know when to butt out.” He turned to Ethan as Clint folded into him. “Bad timing.”

“What is up with him?” Ethan asked.

“You don’t know and you don’t have the right to ask at this point,” Will replied. He stroked an unobtrusive hand down Clint’s back. “Just back off.” He motioned to the bow that he’d set along the wall while they all watched the face-off between Ethan and Natasha. “I didn’t have the code to put the bow or arrows away, wanna give me a hand?”

Clint didn’t take his grey eyes off Ethan as he answered Will, “I’ve had enough of everyone.”

“Fine,” Will replied. “Help me put the weapons away and you can…” Clint interrupted him, speaking rapidly, although most of the group clearly had no idea what he said. “You’ll have to ask,” Will answered when the archer finished, “but it’s fine with me.”

Clint nodded, turning slightly to include Natasha in their conversation, “Will you?”

“I’ll meet you upstairs,” she answered. “After you help Will and I clean up.”

Clint spun around, wiggling through the ropes, and heading out of the gym; clearly expecting that Will would follow him. For his part, Will went the other way, scooping up the bow and quiver before following after Clint.

Ethan turned to Natasha as she accepted the hand Steve offered her, stepping out of the ring. “What is going on? Where is Will going?”

“This not your world right now,” Natasha answered. “You do not rule here. And it is none of your business.” Flipping a towel over her shoulder, she stalked off towards the female locker room.

“What’s her problem?” Ethan asked the room at large, although only Steve was left to hear him.

Steve shrugged. “Natasha and Clint worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. before the Avengers was formed. I don’t pretend to understand their relationship. And from what I understand Will has visited before. I wouldn’t push them. I personally wouldn’t want someone who could kill me without me even knowing he was there mad at me.” Without giving Ethan a chance to reply, Steve stalked from the gym.

By the time Natasha reached Clint’s quarters, the cousins were already there. Although Will was sitting in a chair, reading from a tablet; Clint was checking his quiver, although not with any intent to actually fix anything. Both of them looked up in unison as she walked into the room, pausing what they were doing. “Did Ethan cause any trouble after we left?” Will asked.

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Natasha answered. She brushed a hand through Clint’s hair as she reached him. “Come on.”

“You’re okay with this?” Clint asked, tipping his head back to look at her.

“Would I be here if I wasn’t?” she replied.

“It should worry me that your non-answer is actually an answer,” Will pointed out as he followed them towards Clint’s bedroom.

“It’s a Natasha,” Clint said, dropping into the middle of the bed as they reached it. “Come to bed.”

Natasha and Will crawled onto the bed on either side of Clint, who rolled onto his side, wrapping himself around Natasha. Will lay along his back, throwing his arm over the two of them as he relaxed. After a minute, Natasha sighed, informing Clint, “I am not your teddy bear.”

Clint chuckled in response, tucking his nose in against the top of her head. “No, you’re much better.”

Will stifled his own laugh, knowing better than to tempt fate with the two of them. “Feeling better, Peep?”

“Don’t think you’re off the hook for that, Dilly,” Clint replied, “but yes. Thank you.”

Will scratched along the top of Clint’s head in response, smiling at the noise Clint made. “We have you,” he whispered. “Stand down. No harm.”

Clint’s arms tightened around Natasha for a moment before he buried his head against her hair, muttering something. Within minutes the three of them were breathing in sync and it wasn’t long before all three of them had drifted off to sleep.