A/N: I don't own the Avengers or Mission Impossible characters. Jeremy Renner is my ultimate bias currently, so I thought, well, why not bring them together and make them twins who can't live with each other? Categorized under Avengers because it's AU either way, and the fic is going to be in Tony's 3rd person limited narrative, anyway.

Tangle of Red: Chapter 1

To be completely honest, Tony enjoyed public school. There was a reason why he had practically begged his parents to let him attend a public school instead of a private boarding school like they were planning. Public school was so much more interesting, full of actual people with actual personalities. There were no stuck-up rich bastards (even if being richer than Tony was rare) and the occasional geniuses here were genuine.

He looked around at his tried-and-true group of friends. There was Steve, who was strangely old-fashioned. Tall, good-looking, moderately smart, who flocked all the girls to him. There was Thor (what kind of mother did he have, naming her son after a Norse god?) who talked a little weirdly and was basketball-player-status-tall, with shoulder-length blonde hair that made girls swoon. There was Natasha, the only female in their group, redheaded and busty and gorgeous in every way, except that she was probably the strongest out of them and could drop-kick any guy who tried to grope her before he could even move a finger her way. There was Bruce, one of the occasional genuine geniuses. He always looked tired and hassled, but Tony had to grudgingly admit the possibility that Bruce might be a little smarter than he was. Just a little. And maybe just at physics and math.

And then there was him, the genius billionaire-to-be that flocked girls everywhere. Their little posse was the most desired clique in the entire high school, except they didn't exactly take new members. Tony grinned proudly at his group of friends.

Yup, he loved them. To pieces.

"Tony, the way you're grinning at us is beyond creepy." Natasha muttered, rolling her eyes over the apple she had filched from Steve's lunch. Steve was eating from Thor's bag of chips, Bruce was munching at Natasha's salad, and Thor was digging through Tony's pasta. Tony himself was gulfing down Bruce's sandwich. Because Bruce's mom made the best fucking chicken wraps. He'd even brought Bruce's sandwiches to their mansion cook, but none of them could replicate it. It was some kind of magic Bruce's mother worked.

Bruce's mother had been incredibly amused when she found out Tony was obsessed with her sandwiches and started packing two in the morning, so now Tony had two sandwiches to have a mouth orgasm over. Who cared if Steve or Thor or Natasha wanted to have a bite, too.

It was normal lunch, where they all sort of spread their lunches out on their table and ate whatever they wanted. "Natasha, I saw you walking in with two boys, about our age, today." Thor declared once he'd swallowed a mouthful of pasta.

Natasha nodded. "You saw that? You were daydreaming through History again today, huh?"

Thor laughed loudly, as he always did. "I always do so. I happened to notice these two boys looked identical."

"Yeah. Clint and Will, they're identical twins." Natasha shrugged and reached her fork into Tony's pasta that Thor was hogging. "They were getting their paperwork in today. They'll be coming here starting tomorrow. Tony, Bruce." She lifted a spaghetti-rolled fork and pointed it at Tony and Bruce. It was intimidating because Natasha was pointing it at them, and they both flinched. "Will should be in all your classes. Take care of him, all right?"

"Clint and Will? As in the two you always talk about?" Steve wondered, taking half of Bruce's sandwich before Tony could stop him. "I thought they lived in another state."

"They do. Did. Now they live across the street from me. Their guardian decided to move closer to my family because he's gonna get really busy soon, and he wanted us to keep an eye on the two." Natasha shrugged. Tony remembered that every time Natasha talked about the two twins, she talked about them as if they needed to be protected. "Whatever. Just take care of Will. He's a little quiet before you get to know him. Steve, Thor, you'll meet Clint tomorrow. Clint is normal, like the rest of us, and doesn't need to take all the advanced senior classes." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "BY the way, Tony, Will has a boyfriend, and I don't want to see you try to get into Clint's pants, either. Because they're pretty attractive."

Steve groaned. "Great. At least they can't get pregnant, like that girl before."

"Hey, it turned out that it wasn't even my kid!"

Bruce rolled his eyes. "I think the problem is that you're 16 and sleeping with all the girls around you anyway." He finished the last of Natasha's salad. "Natasha, I forgot to leave you the tomatoes."

Natasha waved her hand. "Whatever, Bruce. I forgot to leave you a meatball from Tony's pasta, too."

Yup, normal lunch. But he couldn't wait to see the twins. Natasha never said anyone was attractive. Hell, she used to tell them Tony and Steve were gorillas and that Thor's hair was nothing. If she was saying someone was attractive, they probably looked like fucking gods.

The day after, Tony was parking with Thor snoring next to him, Bruce teaching Steve some last-minute chemistry for his test first period, when he saw Natasha in his usual spot, grinning at him with her hands placed on her hips. She had told him the day before that she didn't need picking up, and he saw why. A sleek Audi was parked in the place right next to his. One boy was sitting on its hood and the other was talking to the driver. When they turned to face him he could see they were exactly alike.

And as Natasha said, fucking attractive. It wasn't that they were extremely good looking like he or Thor or Steve. In fact, they looked pretty average, but something about them, the way their carried themselves, attracted Tony. They weren't tall, either, only slightly taller than Natasha and therefore probably an inch or so shorter than Bruce, and they weren't overly muscular, but both were well-built and looked strong. The one sitting on the hood – and even Tony wouldn't sit on the hood of an Audi – smirked confidently at him, and he was just that much more attractive.

"That's it." Steve muttered. "Tony, you're definitely going to fuck one of them, aren't you? At least make it the one that doesn't have a boyfriend."

"God, are they attractive to you, too? Cause I have no idea why. Wait, you're straight!"

Bruce chuckled lowly. "Get your act together, Tony. Don't want to come out all blabbering and flustered for a first impression. Steve, here, this is important, too…"

"I'm never blabbering and flustered." Tony shot quickly, but Steve and Bruce ignored him in favor of 10th-grade-chemistry. For good measure he ran a hand through his hair before he stepped out. Steve shook Thor awake and they stayed a little longer in the car. "Natasha." He greeted, and Natasha grinned at him. "Are you gonna introduce us?"

Natasha jerked her head at Tony. "This is Tony Stark."

"The filthy rich bastard?" The one on the hood quipped, and the one that had been talking to the driver laughed quietly. The laugh traveled straight to Tony's brain and made it a little mushy. "That was a direct quote from Tasha."

Tony looked at Natasha, who shrugged. "It's true. The one with the long hair is Thor Odinson. Steve Rogers is the one right behind him, and Bruce Banner is the one with the brown hair." She pointed each one out. "This is Clint. Clint Barton. That's Will Brandt."

Steve blinked. "Wait, I thought you two were twins. How do you two have different last names?"

Clint shrugged. "Actually, the full name is Clinton Barton-Brandt and William Barton-Brandt. But something got fucked up in our paperwork back at the orphanage and we became Clint Barton and Will Brandt. Doesn't change anything, though." He pointed to the driver. "This is Ethan Hunt. He's Will's boyfriend."

The dark-brown haired and quite good looking man laughed. "I'm your guardian, you retard. Now get off my hood before I drive with you still on it." He squeezed Will's hand – it was quick, but Tony caught it – before he rolled the windows up, calling, "I'll pick the three of you up after school. I might run a bit late, but don't go home without me."

And then he was pulling out with Clint still on the hood, so Clint had to jump off. Will came to stand next to Clint, and that hit Tony more than anything how identical they were. Except Clint was slightly taller, slightly broader, and he carried himself with a confident air, while Will was slightly shorter, slightly smaller, and looked shy and unsure. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the dominant twin was. Will's hand brushed over Clint's elbow and Clint caught it, squeezing firmly and keeping their hands together. "Wow, you two look identical." Thor breathed.

Clint laughed. "Yeah, we get that often. We are identical twins, though, you know?"

"Who's older?" Bruce wanted to know.

"Older? As in born first? Will was born a few minutes earlier, but they do say that the one born after was the one made first, you know?" Clint was all laughter and confidence. And fuck, it was attractive the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. And their eyes were something else. It was a mix of green and gray and blue and never stayed the same color. What the hell, Tony thought desperately. No human being is supposed to have this affect on me.

He watched – they all did, sort of mesmerized – as Clint tugged on Will's wrist to bring him closer and brush his fingers lightly on his waist and then arm. Steve was the one who broke out of it first and offered to tour the two around school before it actually started, and they walked a little ahead. "Are they always this affectionate toward each other?" Bruce wondered softly.

Natasha snorted. "What, the touching? You haven't seen anything." She started walking, so they followed. "They've been through a lot where they only had each other. They're pretty dependent on each other. The only reason Clint hasn't kissed Will yet is because everyone else is around. If it was just me he would've kissed Will already. Will doesn't like new people. It makes him nervous." Her tone made it sound like there was a back story to it, one that they wouldn't get even if they asked.

"That's a little weird." Tony said instead.

"Yeah, but you get used to it." Natasha shrugged. "It sort of becomes an everyday thing."

Steve could only give an outlined tour, but Natasha had shoved Will's schedule in Bruce's hands with the demand, "You two take care of him." Clint had looked reluctant to leave Will, and Tony saw Clint squeeze Will's wrist before letting go, handing him a notebook and a pen from his bag, and leaving with Natasha, Steve and Thor. "We'll see you at gym class before lunch."

"Well," Bruce spoke up when Will turned his attention to them, looking nervous. "The good news is that your schedule's identical to Tony's and mine, so you can just stick with us for the entire day. The bad news is that you're not going to survive with a notebook and a pen." He looked pointedly at Tony's own bookbag, full of six different notebooks for each class.

Will smiled shyly. It was completely different from Clint's confident smirk, but Tony found his insides melting. Okay. He had no idea which twin he liked better. "I'll be okay." He hugged his notebook. "I'll see how it is today and then decide what I need starting tomorrow."

"Fair enough." Bruce nodded, and they started walking toward their first class. "Natasha talked to us often about the two of you."

Will nodded, blushing faintly. "She told us a lot about you guys, too. She has a high opinion of all of you. It doesn't happen often."

Tony couldn't help but laugh, and Bruce chuckled. "How long have you guys known Natasha?"

Will looked thoughtful for a second. "Hmm. Since we were six. Tasha's family was close to Ethan's family when Clint and I got adopted." He sat down to Tony's left and Bruce took Tony's right. Tony noted that Will and Clint called Natasha 'Tasha.' He would've liked to try it, but it might have meant a fork thrown at him. He settled for watching Will as Bruce opened his textbook and started to read over the notes from the day before. Will didn't even bother opening his notebook as the lecture started. Instead he got an intense, focused look on his face. He glanced over to smile shyly at Tony every time Tony made a mumbled joke under his breath and even Bruce laughed quietly, but otherwise he sat quite still, staring at the board.

It happened the same way in the next few classes. The only time Will's notebook flipped open was during Multivariable Calculus when they were asked to solve a problem. And Tony noticed that the problem itself was done within the first ten seconds, and then Will would stare into space until the lecture continued. "Are you some certified genius?" Tony asked when they were done with class and Bruce paused to talk to the teacher. "I mean, that's coming from me. And I'm an actually certified genius."

Will flushed a bright red that colored the tips of his ears. "N-no. I just have good memory." He smiled uncertainly. "If I was a genius, I wouldn't need to focus so much, like you or Bruce. It seems to just easily come to you." They waited for Bruce to finish talking to the teacher, and then headed out. "We have gym class now, ri-"

He was cut off mid sentence and whirled away. Purely on instinct, Tony reached out to grab a wrist, but stopped when he saw that it was Clint, with Natasha, Steve, and Thor in tow. Clint was frowning lightly. "You didn't feel me?" Will looked alarmed for some reason and shook his head. Clint reached out and slid a hand under short dirty blonde bangs. "Maybe you shouldn't have taken so advanced classes."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "I think he'll do fine in all the classes, if you're implying that's stressful for him."

Clint glanced his way and grinned. "No, I don't mean that. Of course Will's going to ace all his classes. He's a genius, don't you know? I just meant he'd be stressed out without me. He's not good with new people."

Will mumbled, "Don't talk about me like I'm not here." He was glaring at his twin, but didn't make an effort to push him away and instead waited until Clint lowered his hand to cup his cheek gently and then finally to take a hold of Will's wrist again. "I was just nervous, I guess. Your class is far away, isn't it?"

Clint laughed as he pulled Will along, and the rest of the group moved with them. "Yeah. You should totally see Tasha. She was just all, 'I think we've learned enough today.' And the teacher got all spluttery and let us out five minutes early." The twins soon fell into their own world, with Clint doing most of the talking and Will smiling softly and nodding along.

Natasha moved up next to Tony. "That was nice reflexes when you reached out for Will." She grinned. "You really took my 'Take care of Will' to heart, didn't you?"

Tony shrugged. "It was just instinct. What did they mean, before? When Will didn't feel Clint?"

Natasha gave him an equally indifferent shrug. "They're twins. Haven't you heard that twins have like telepathy or something? They sorta just can feel each other. It's kinda cool seeing it work. Like if you have one somewhere and set the other out, they'll find each other." She frowned lightly. "It's weird Will didn't feel Clint right next to him, though."

Tony raised an eyebrow. He'd heard theories of the twin-telepathy thing, but most of it was just some fantasy created by writers. He'd never actually seen it at work, and until he did he really couldn't believe it quite yet.

Clint did the talking to the gym teachers – no they didn't mind sharing a gym locker - and Tony noticed that Will's gym clothes came from Clint's bag as well. They changed quickly and Will laughed at Clint as he tried too hastily to stuff his bag into the narrow locker, and something black fell out. Clint swiped it up before Tony could actually see what it was, but he could have sworn it was a handgun. "Hey, was that a…" Clint turned to look at him, questioning. "Was that a gun?"

Clint burst out laughing, straightening his black shorts and shirt. "A gun? Seriously?" He reached back into his bag and tugged out his black leather pencil case. "I guess it could sorta look like a gun." Tony raised an eyebrow. Weird. He was pretty sure he'd seen a gun. He shrugged it off and led Clint and Will to the gymnasium, ignoring the way Will tugged on Clint's elbow and Clint gripped Will's wrist, brushing something invisible off the white shirt and blue shorts.

"Basketball." Natasha greeted them as they entered. Clint groaned. "And I may or may not have had anything to do with the teacher assigning the two of you to play with the basketball team's captain and their ace player."

Will looked pained. "Tasha, the point was for us to blend in. You know. Not attract attention."

Natasha shrugged. "So? The point is for me to get some eye candy. And for you to build some stamina, as always." Stamina? Tony'd have to ask Natasha about that later. Neither Will nor Clint looked like they needed any more stamina work. "Now off you go, he's calling you." She had a smug look on her face as Steve, Thor, Bruce and Tony sat down next to her. "I'm giving you guys a treat. Especially you, Tony." She jabbed at his knee.

"I thought I was supposed to stay out of their pants."

"You are. Doesn't mean I can't show my boys off."

Thor crossed his arms across his chest. "They are too short. Even Steve and I cannot beat the captain of the basketball team by ourselves. Even with Tony and you we cannot beat them." Tony nodded. Unlike Bruce, he liked sports, so he and the other three guys of their little group spent a lot of time on the courts. And Clint and Will didn't really look like much basketball players. They just looked like two guys who worked out just enough to keep themselves fit, but not overly athletic.

"Prepare to be surprised out of your mind, Thor." Natasha said pleasantly. The whistle blew, and Clint moved first, too fast for either basketball player. Will hung back quietly until Clint quite literally dove at him. And then in another moment the ball was in Will's hands and he was dribbling around the two opposing players, weaving his way in and out. He passed to Clint without even checking where he was. Clint snatched it out of mid-air, jumped, and the shot was cleanly in.

They moved again just as swiftly as they had before once the ball was back in play. Will looked like he had all but brushed by the captain of the basketball team, but suddenly the ball was back in his hands. The ball was passed to Clint, and then back to Will again for Will to swerve, duck under an arm, jump and make the same clean shot his twin had a few moments ago.

"They're playing with them." Steve muttered, sounding a little miffed. "They're good."

Steve was right. Now that the twins had scored a goal each, they made it a mission to weave the ball in and out, brushing just out of reach and passing gracefully to one another. The comment Natasha had made about twin telepathy came back to him when Will passed, again, without even bothering to look. After about ten minutes, Tony had differentiated their movements enough so he could sort of make a guess without looking at their clothes colors.

Both moved incredibly similarly, of course, but Clint was more about a raw power sort of grace, like a tiger running after prey or a shark slicing through the water. Will, on the other hand, was a quiet sort of grace, like a panther weaving through thick jungles or a dolphin maneuvering itself in water. Both were masters at what they did.

The whistle rang after five more minutes, and Clint and Will were suddenly crowded with awed boys and blushing girls. It was Thor, not the teacher, who managed to pry the others off Clint and Will to bring them to the sidelines as the teacher called a late attendance. "You guys are very good." Thor gushed as he sat next to Clint. Tony was about to take the seat next to Will, but Natasha slipped into place, looking slightly worried. He did look a little winded.

Clint snickered. "Nah, just Ethan. He's the one that's good. The two of us together can't beat him." He pulled himself closer to Will and slung his arm firmly across Will's waist, huddling even closer. Will leaned over to rest his head on Clint's shoulder, closing his eyes and breathing slowly. It was something Tony had only seen couples do, but for some reason it wasn't weird to see the two brothers being so affectionate.

The rest of the day passed quietly without much ado, with Will still not taking any notes. Tony and Bruce walked with Will to the parking lot, where the others were already waiting for him. Clint ran up to tug on Will's wrist and they sat on the curb, smiling to themselves. All of a sudden Clint looked up and around, and then quickly planted a kiss on Will's cheek.

Will didn't even look surprised. In fact, his smile widened and he leaned into his twin, letting Clint throw an arm around his shoulders. Natasha was the one who stood in front of them, her foot tapping impatiently. "You couldn't wait like ten minutes for Ethan to come? I thought Ethan told you guys to knock off some of the affection display in public. It attracts attention."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Relax, Tasha. No one saw. And he's late, anyway."

Bruce sat on the curb next to Will. "We can wait with you guys. We're not in a hurry, anyway. Plus, I actually wanted to ask Will about this…" He pulled out his notes and glanced apologetically at Will. "I asked Tony earlier, and we sort of both missed this part."

Will looked over and chuckled lightly, letting Clint's arm slide down to his waist as he leaned over. "This was when Tony made the joke about the blonde in front of us, right?" He hummed lightly. "Right, so here…" He held out his hand and Clint fished a pen from his pocket to hand to his brother. Tony looked over and watched Will make little circles and notes and arrows as he explained the question to Bruce.

He was almost done when they heard a car pull in, and Tony looked up to find the same silver Audi as this morning. The window rolled down and Ethan chuckled when he saw the sight. "First day and already helping others, Will?"

Will smiled brilliantly at Ethan. Okay, Tony thought, I have no chance with Will. "Give me one second." He whispered, and ducked his head back to explain the question to Bruce and Tony again. To Tony's surprise, it was Natasha who slid in the front passenger seat. But that was explained later when Clint got up with Will and the two slid into the back seat, Clint gripping Will firmly by the waist again.

"Ah, Tony, right?" Ethan pulled his sunglasses up to his head and smiled at Tony. "Natasha told me you usually pick her up in the morning. Do you think Clint and Will would fit into your car tomorrow and the day after? It won't be an everyday thing, I promise, and we live right across the street from Tasha. I've just got to get to D.C. tomorrow early morning and won't be back until late night the day after."

It was Will who spoke up first. "Earth to Ethan, the day after is Saturday. We don't have school. And Clint and I can walk, it's not that far. We'll just get up early."

Clint snorted from somewhere in the back seat. "Yeah, right. Because Will getting up early is something that actually happens." Tony watched Clint nuzzle Will's cheek affectionately. "We're lucky to get you up right before we have to actually drive out. Maybe we should just skip school tomorrow."

Tony spoke up before he had even thought about it. "Yeah, I can drive them. I'll bring out the SUV tomorrow. It fits eight people. Steve and Thor won't mind squishing into the trunk seats." This brought a protest from the two, and Clint laughed. "I don't mind."

Ethan grinned and saluted Tony. "Thanks, kid." And with that they were gone.

That was longer than I really meant it to be, but I didn't really want to cut it off in the middle of Clint and Will's first day because it wasn't too eventful. Plus, imagining two Jeremy Renners being all touchy with each other makes me giddy. Heeeehe. Review? :3