fyeahlilbitoeverything:

SPOILERS FOR SECRET AVENGERS #21.1

Context is he was “testing” Clint to see how he reacts to being angered, but wow.

This is a part of Steve and Clint’s relationship that is rarely shown anymore, really they been doing the tough love thing ever since Clint joined the Avengers. Their relationship pretty much started by fucking solving a lot of their problems by resorting to fisticuffs and by verbally attacking each other, mainly because Clint was a cocky ass who liked to challenge and troll Steve for every single little thing and Steve just started responding to him (they toned it down though).

And Clint has said some pretty nasty stuff to him too in the past (some things he regrets) the worst I can think about was him making an offhand comment about Bucky dying because Steve wasn’t good enough to save him, pretty much hitting a major PTSD trigger there.

Granted they ended up loving each other as the Avengers comic went on and that aspect of their relationship diminished but it is still there, Clint and Steve make each other angry and duke it out, when they are having an argument, to prove a point, or get the other out of their funk. It’s not a healthy aspect of their relationship but that’s how they roll.

What Steve is testing is Clint’s anger but he’s also trying to tell Clint that it’s time he needs to get rid off his little authority problem and the fact that he doesn’t need to get Steve’s validation for anything.

Because that last panel is so true. Clint has daddy and authoritative issues (among other things) and he transferred them all onto Steve. Nowadays he’s more at ease with following Steve into battle (and it helps that Steve follows him into battle too) but he will still lash out or immediately go into fighting mode if there’s something he doesn’t agree with Steve.

And Steve for his part needs to stop worrying over Clint and let him do his own decisions , Steve tends to fuss over his teammates a lot and has a severe case of being stubborn when he thinks he’s right, he needs to stop that too.

IMO at this stage in their life they both need to start finding better ways to communicate, or fucking go see a therapist or something.