baby monitor
Clint doesn’t make it a habit to reach out to work while off the clock. In fact, when he does end up calling, it’s usually because there is an emergency.
However, this time, Clint calls because he was mad. He paced the length of his bedroom as he talks on the phone with Phil.
“Yeah, I know that!” He simmers in frustration. “And Melinda can set boundaries. I’m not telling you to force her to do anything. I’m saying that her having this whole issue with Yelena’s age and then going around and training a child even younger than Yelena is pretty shitty!”
“Calm down, Clint,” Phil said, his tone stern. “It’s not like that.”
“So she’s not doing tai-chi with your kid?” Clint demands and upon hearing Phil give a tired sigh, marches on. “I can’t believe this!”
“The situation is complex,” Phil tells him. “There are two sides to every situation, you know that.”
“Yeah, and I’m seeing the side of a kid with horrible attachment issues thinking she’s not good enough because Melinda can’t even look at her while simultaneously training some other kid!” Clint snaps into the receiver.
“She’s not training her,” Phil takes a deep breath. “Take a moment, Clint.”
Clint takes a moment to inhale sharply, holding it for a moment before breathing out, suddenly away of his heart beating rapidly.
“Melinda wants to hang out with Yelena. She really does. The relationship she formed with Skye was all because of my meddling. Melinda is Skye’s emergency guardian and I trust her,” Phil starts to explain. “Skye was lonely and upset by Yelena leaving. Melinda just wanted to help her take her mind off of things.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll just tell Yelena that she wasn’t sad enough for Melinda to bother to keep a relationship with,” Clint can’t help but snap. He feels Laura slide up behind him and wrap her arms around his waist. He relaxes slightly under her gentle touch.
“It’s not like that,” Phil insists once again.
“Can you just-- just take a moment and think about this from Yelena’s view?” Clint questioned. Yelena acted aloof and cool about the whole thing but Clint knew better. He could see just how much Melinda’s actions hurt her.
“The phone really isn’t a good place to be having this conversation,” Phil murmurs. “Clint, please. Do you think I want Yelena to get upset? Do you want me to tell Skye that Melinda is going to cut contact with her too because I say so? Do you want me to tell Melinda to either hang out with both of them or neither of them?”
“You know that’s not what I’m saying!” Clint squeezed his eyes shut, tension flooding out of him as Laura kissed his cheek. “I just-- I don’t want to bring her back and have her spiral. She’s making real progress here and if I had it my way then they could stay.”
“I know,” Phil said softly. “I can’t promise anything but I’ll speak with Melinda about it.”
Clint sighs and by the time the phone call was over, he still felt just as angry about the whole situation.
“No answers?” Laura questioned, nuzzling her nose against his collar.
“No,” Clint sighs, wrapping his wife up in his arms. “Damned it. He didn’t see the look on her face when she told me. I don’t even think she was going to tell anybody about how hurt she was until Nat told me about changing her name.” With Natasha’s permission, Clint told Laura about the new name.
“They’re good kids,” Laura hums, carding her fingers through his hair.
“They are,” Clint agrees, pressing a kiss to Laura’s hair. “Shame they have to return soon.”
“They’ll always be welcome here,” Laura smiles up at him. “You sure know how to pick them, hmm?”
Clint chuckles. “It was about time I picked up a puppy of my own.” He can still remember the dressing down he got from Phil, Maria, and Nick. He doesn't regret his choice to offer his hand instead of an arrow to the head.
Clint wakes up that night to the sound of Cooper crying. He shifts to get up, reaching out to stop Larua who had sat up and was sleepily rubbing her eyes. “I’ve got him.”
Laura sighs in relief, laying back down to go to sleep with no protest. Clint takes a moment to wake up a little more as he shifts to push his sheets back.
He paused when he hears the door to Cooper’s room open over the baby monitor. For a brief moment, there was a stab of fear surging through him before he remembers the occupied guest bedroom at the end of the hall.
“Hey.” The sound of Yelena’s voice startles him slightly. He can hear Laura shift in surprise to glance at the baby monitor. “You’re gonna wake everybody up.”
“Lee!” Cooper wails. Clint reaches out to grab the tablet where the baby monitor’s feed was displayed. The night vision allows him to see Yelena standing right next to the crib.
“Are you lonely?” Yelena questioned, reaching a hand out to hesitantly run it over Cooper’s hair. Clint remembers telling Yelena that Cooper cries at night because he was lonely.
“Should I go?” Clint questioned his wife, unsure of whether to intervene or not.
Laura pats his arm, rolling over to cuddle into his side which gives him his answer. Clint glances back down at the feed.
“It’s okay.” Yelena’s voice was low and soft. “You’re safe. Nothing’s gonna hurt you.”
“Up!” Cooper raised his arms toward Yelena and Clint can see her eye the door. To his surprise, Yelena reaches out and hoists Cooper up into her arms. Cooper doesn’t hesitate to curl his tiny fingers into the fabric of Yelena’s shirt.
It was quiet for a moment other than Cooper’s noisy sniffling before Yelena spoke. “I’ve got you.” She said softly.
Clint watches Yelena sway the same way that Laura did with Lila, one hand cupping Cooper’s head to her shoulder as the other held him close. Cooper calms down quickly with her actions.
“I was only a little older than you when I got a mom and dad,” Yelena continued and Clint suddenly had the urge to put the tablet back and mute the baby monitor but Yelena would hear the beep the monitor made when it was muted. “I was three years old.”
Yelena continues to sway slightly, Cooper moving one finger into his mouth.
“They’re the only parents I ever remember. They weren’t quite as good as your parents, though. You’re lucky. Your daddy loves you a lot,” Yelena’s thumb gently caressed the side of Cooper’s head. “He wants you safe and happy. Mine didn’t want that.” Her head moves to rest her cheek on the top of Cooper’s head. “You are so very loved and you have two agents for parents that I don’t doubt will do anything to keep you and your sister safe.”
Clint feels Laura shift to peer over at the tablet, reaching up to rub the sleep from her eyes.
“The Red Room takes children when they’re three to six years old,” Yelena said quietly, the grip she had on Cooper tightening slightly. “And if anybody ever dares to try to take you or your sister then I will find you and I will bring you back home no matter what. You’re gonna grow up like normal kids. I won’t let you turn into me.”
Clint swallows hard at the statement. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on the conversation that Yelena was having with his two-and-a-half-year-old son.
It was quiet for another few moments as Yelena swayed side to side.
“A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile,” Yelena’s soft voice startles Clint as she sings. “And I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance.”
Clint recognizes the song as the one that Yelena hummed along to in the truck. He hadn’t realized the significance to her but here she sings it, something she hadn’t had the courage to do back in the truck.
“And maybe they’d be happy for a while but February made me shiver with every paper I’d deliver,” Yelena continues, slowly moving around the room in what Clint thinks is a soft waltz. “Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn’t take one more step. I can’t remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride but something touched me deep inside the day the music died.”
Clint can see Cooper falling back asleep in her arms.
“So bye-bye, Miss American Pie, drove my chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry and them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye singin’,” Yelena has a soft smile on her face. “This’ll be the day that I die. This’ll be the day that I die…”
Clint finally sets the tablet to the side, the sound of Yelena’s soft voice still coming out the speakers as she dances with Cooper. He settles back down with Laura, pulling her into his arms.
Yelena sings the whole song, all eight minutes of it. It’s the fastest time Cooper had been put back to bed after waking up wailing like that. Clint tries not to think of what Yelena had told the toddler in confidence, knowing that the boy would likely not understand.
Yelena and Natasha deserved more than what they got.