As much as Kate had wanted to stay with the Barton's, she still had school and a security company to return to. So after a couple of days of sampling the country side life, she made her way back to the hustle and bustle of New York city.
It was a hate/love relationship. She loved the city and all the distractions it offered but hated all the bad memories it now had. She hoped one day they would be outnumbered by better ones but knew it would be a long time coming. Kate had three more semesters left at Uni and would need to decide what her next steps were going to be. Would she take complete control of Bishop Security or would she give control to someone else and simply remain a board member?
What about all the training she needed to do in order to take over for Clint when he retires for good? There were so many things she had to consider and hated that no one else could do it for her.
She was all alone.
Alone, just like her home now was. All alone. With her mom now in jail there was no one to welcome her home with a warm hug and a scolding to keep her humble. Was this what her dad thought life would end up looking like? Is this the future her parents had in mind when she was born? It was depressing to wonder how everything would have been different if Loki had just gone to therapy instead of throwing a temper tantrum. Kate hoped the new Asgardian ruler would encourage proper mental health.
Stepping into the elevator and pressing the penthouse button Kate mentally started a list of everything she needed to do before term started. Her stomach gave a loud grumble as she reached the penthouse, reminding her of the light breakfast she had because she had overslept and almost missed her flight back to the city.
It was nearing eight at night, perhaps she would order a pizza and that would be her breakfast as well. She wasn't sure if anyone her mother had hired to clean and cook were still around. If they weren't under contract anymore she would simply just take care of things herself until she went back to school. It would be just like living at her old apartment, just bigger and with more expensive things.
The doors opened and instead of a dark and cold house, Kate walked into a lit foyer with the smell of something amazing drifting from the kitchen.
In a blink of an eye her bow and arrow were in her hands at the ready. Kate was certain it wasn't her mother. The detective had been firmed that her mother wouldn't taste freedom for years, so she knew it wasn't her.
Yelena perhaps? It wouldn't be the first time the Black Widow broke into a home she wasn't invited to. Though what reason she would have to invite herself to Kate's home would be anyone's guess.
As Kate quietly walked into the kitchen the last person she imagined to be there turned away from the stove facing her.
"Darling, you're home!"
"Jack?!"
With a beaming smile he walked towards her with arms wide open and engulfed her in a warm hug; neatly avoiding her arrow that was aimed at his chest.
It- it was nice.
As always Jack was Jack and she was at a loss for words.
"I don't understand, " Kate said as she pulled away from the hug. "Why are you here? I didn't think you'd want anything to do with us after…well you know…"
"Your mother framing me for a crime I didn't do and nearly dying trying to protect you both during an ambush to kill her?"
Jack chuckled and walked back to the stove to give the pot one last stir before turning it off. He pulled two wine glasses from a cupboard pouring from a bottle Kate knew belonged to his family. She had a feeling everything that would be consumed that night came from his pocket and nothing from the Bishop pantry had been touched.
After pouring a very generous serving into each glass, Jack pushed one towards Kate while pulling the other to himself.
"I won't lie," Jack said as he took a sip from his glass and leaned against the counter. "What your mother did, it hurt me. I know it was hard for you to believe but she was my everything."
Kate watched as Jack became lost in memories, his eyes becoming sadder as the silence continued. Guilt. She realized she was feeling guilty seeing him in that state. Jack wasn't ever sad. Jack had always been the life of the party. The cheerleader to push you on. The one who always stood in your corner.
The man had been all smiles as he was carted away in handcuffs, for crying out loud! Kate found that she hated that look on him and would rather have the annoying golden retriever energy back.
"Jack? I'm so sorry. It's was all my fault." Her words come out as a whisper but seemed like a scream in the silent kitchen.
Jack looks up startled, as if he had forgotten where he was. "I refuse your apology," he says coldly.
Kate's stomach gives a lurch at his words. She had never heard him speak like that.
"Oh…." she stampers, "that's fair. Yup, totally fair. I was a jerk to you the whole time. I should have been happy that you made my mom even happier but no. No, I had to question everything!”
"Kate, that's-"
"Everything needed to be Kate's way!" Her voice continues to rise with a tremble and she knows she probably looked hysterical. "But I swear, Jack, that's not me anymore. I'm not going to be selfish like that anymore. I need to put others before my selfish needs!"
"Kate, please lis-"
"KATHERINE ELIZABETH BISHOPP SWEARS TO THE WORLD THAT SHE'S GOING TO BE A BETTER HUMAN! THAT SHE IS GOING TO LISTEN TO ALL SIDES BEFORE SAYING OR DOING SOMETHING STUPID!"
Kate knows she's cracking, the weight of all that happened during the last couple of weeks crushing down on her. The tears she had kept at bay falling freely now. Because for whatever reason, Jack's rejection hurt.
It shouldn't have. He was no one to her. His opinion didn't matter.
And yet it was her breaking point.
Desperately trying to gather herself and wiping the tears that wouldn't stop, she didn't fight the arms that engulfed her in a tight hug.
"Darling, I refuse your apology because you have nothing to be sorry about," Jack says and he holds her as she clings to him crying like a small child. "You didn't make your mom work with those Tracksuit thugs, you didn't ruin our relationship, she did. If she had only confined in us we would have stood by her and we would have figured it out as a family."
Kate's sobs were the only thing you could hear throughout the kitchen and she swears the whole building can hear them too. She was so tired and for once wanted a quiet life. She knew deep down that it would have never happened. If her mom had said the truth about her dad's life, eventually he would have put them all in mortal peril and most likely they would have been casualties of his mistakes. She wasn’t stupid, she knew her mom had been very cunning in order to have kept Kingpin away for as long as she did. Eventually though, they both would have died.
Her tears lessen but her hold on Jack doesn’t and she relishes being held. He wasn’t soft like her mom, or solid like her dad had been. His hug wasn’t like the one Clint had given her as a good-bye before she had walked into the airport. But it was strong. Somehow, in a way only Jack knew how, his hug was the reassurance to let her know that she did have someone still in her corner. The question was, did she want to keep him there? Kate thought back over the years to when he would catch her off guard and win her over.
It wasn’t often, mind you. But he was always so excited to see her show off even if it meant she was trying to prove she was better than him. He never took her animosity personally. If anything, he had always seemed amused by it. Seeing that in his eyes always set her off even worse and her poor mom had to be the referee between them.
With a slow breath in and out, Kate pulled away. She was emberrased she had lost control like that. She was a future Hawkeye, she couldn’t just lose it. But it had felt nice to let all that tension go and have someone be there for her.
A small smile graced her features and she wrapped her arms around herself.
“So, what’s for dinner?”
Walking towards the cabinets and pulling down two plates, Jack opened the oven door pulling out a tray with breaded chicken. It looked and smelled delicous making Kate’s mouth water as the smell reached her nose.
“Something simple,” Jack said, serving each plate. “A Chicken Cordon Bleu with an almond and mushroom cream. On the side is a ceasar salad. I know it’s a bit late to eat this, but I didn’t want you coming home and ordering pizza.”
Blushing as she realized how well he knew her, Kate picked up her plate and took a seat on the kitchen island.
“I wouldn’t have eaten all the pizza,” she mumbles.
Jack gives her a knowing look and takes the seat across from her. “If you say so, darling.”
“Wait, how did you know I would be coming home tonight?” She takes a bite out of her chicken and it took all her will not to scarf it down like a savage.
“Your arrow friend told me,” he said as if it explained everything.
Far from it.
With a full mouth she exclaims, “Clint told you?! Uhm, why were you - how were…what?!”
Grabbing his glass of wine to wash down his bite of chicken, he gives her a scolding look to remind her of her manners and wipes his mouth with a napkin.
“I know I’m not your father or guardian. AND I know you’re of age and so on, but you didn’t think I would just let you uptail it off with some stranger, did you?”
Silence falls again as Kate takes in what he had said. Trying to hold back laughter she asks, “Uptail? Do you mean, ‘hightail it’?” It’s taking all her strength not to burst out laughing.
With a shrug of his shoulders Jack says, “Uptail. Hightail. Eloping. What’s the difference?”
“Une grosse différence,” Kate replies with a slight pause.
Jack’s face breaks out into one of his beaming smiles and replies, “Et pourtant on se complend, ma cherie!”
Kate can’t help but laugh with him and on impulse reaches out to grab his hand. “Thank you,” she says. “I know everything has been complicated and all. I really didn’t expect to see you again but I’m honestly glad you’re here.”
“I will do my best to be an ally to you, Kate”, Jack says. The intense look of concentration in his eyes was something she had only seen once. When they had their sparring match weeks ago, she wasn’t scared though. It’s was a declaration that he would always be around. “Unless something drastic happens and I suddendly turn evil - not likely - I will be more than happy to help you in anyway possible.”
With a laugh and a drink from her glass, Kate replies jokingly, “Yeah, your evil villain name would be the Swordsman!”
That comment send both of them into a fit of laughter. Kate didn’t think she would have such bad luck that even Jack would turn on her.
The universe just couldn’t actually be that twisted.
Right?