He knew it was the only choice when he'd made it, but that didn't mean he'd enjoyed hurting Clint. Quite the opposite, really. He'd needed to do it and he had.

"If I put a GPS tracker in you, I would only activate it in situations like this. Alternately, I could just not let you out of my sight, but I think that will infringe on your space more." He was mostly joking, even if he wished he could put a GPS in Clint in case this ever happened again. Not that he planned to let it happen again.

He smiled, leaning his head against Clint's gently. "Who else is going to remind me to eat? I nearly starved without you here to bother me." He'd nearly starved worrying about Clint, but Clint didn't need to know that. Agent Hill had made sure he didn't actually starve, so it was okay. "We already have a buddy system. You stop bothering me and I notice you're gone and start looking for you." Even if during the first few days, everyone had thought he was crazy, he had known and he had been right.

"He's not getting you again. I'll kill him myself if I have to." Not that he knew how, but he'd find a way.