Chapter 3
Once they had reached the lake, Clint knew he and Laura had to talk to the kids before they went off to play. Setting the cooler down, he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. “Uh Coop, Lila mom and I have to talk to you two about something real quick.” Clint called before the two kids could take off towards the water.
“What is it dad?” Cooper asked, walking over to Laura and Clint, Lila trailing behind her older brother.
Clint glanced at Laura before speaking. “Well, uh, we need to talk about my work. Because something happened yesterday that might make what I do known to the world.” He started.
Cooper looked up at his father in confusion. “You fight the bad guys with auntie Nat right dad?” He asked, looking for clarification.
“I do, Coop but the thing is I worked for a place called S.H.I.E.L.D. It was a really secret job that no one was supposed to know about. Your mom knew because she married me and my boss helped make sure you guys would be safe from any bad guys. And auntie Nat knew because she worked there as well, she helped me fight bad guys. I’m telling you this because the secrets are out now, and I wanted you to hear the truth from me instead of your friends or the internet. I’ll answer any questions you guys have if I can.” Clint knew he was rambling but he wanted to make sure he said what he had to in a way that was child friendly.
“Have you ever killed someone?” Cooper asked, his voice quiet.
Clint sighed once again looking to Laura for help. When Laura just looked back at him just as uncertain he paled. “I, uh yeah Coop I have. But I only did it if someone was going to hurt me, or auntie Nat, or someone on my team.” Clint watched Cooper nod as he took in his father’s words.
“What did you do?” He asked, sounding more curious this time.
Clint grinned at his son. “I was a spy. I used to gather information and give it to my boss.”
“Is that what auntie Nat is doing?” Lila asked suddenly, her own curiosity peaked as her red haired aunt was brought up.
“Yes, auntie Nat’s a spy as well. A really good spy.” Laura answered, finally joining the conversation. This was going better than they thought it would.
Lila looked thoughtful for a minute before she grinned and shouted. “I wanna be a spy just like auntie Nat!”
Clint paled at the thought of his daughter ending up in a situation like Natasha had. No one should ever have to go through the torture that the Red Room had put his best friend through. A sentiment Nat agreed with. The two of them had been tracking down leaders of the Red Room and destroying the programs they were trying to launch as a replacement. There was still one leader Natasha longed to bring down that they had been unable to find. Madame B was the worst of all the ‘instructors’ at the Red Room and also the one that had seemingly disappeared. Shaking his head to dispel those thoughts he turned back to his daughter. “I’m sure if you asked, auntie Nat would teach you some stuff about being a spy and how to protect yourself.” He told her. He knew Nat had been wanting to teach both kids self defense but was weary about bringing it up, afraid she was overstepping. If he was being honest he’d rather have her teach them self defense like she had with Laura than send them to take classes. He knew if Nat taught them, no one would stand a chance at hurting his children.
“Really?” Lila cried bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement.
Clint laughed. “Yup! I’m sure she’d teach both of you if you wanted to learn. You’ll have to ask her next time she comes to visit. Alright, how about we table this discussion and have some fun?” He asked, before the kids could start badgering him about when their aunt would be home.
The kids cheered as they kicked off their shoes and raced to the lake. “Well they took that better than I thought they would.” He told Laura.
Laura wrapped her arms around Clint. “Of course they did, you told them their auntie Nat was a spy. To them that’s the coolest thing their aunt could be.” She chuckled.
“Technically I didn’t tell them that, you did. But you’re right. I’m starting to think the kids love Nat more than they love us.” Clint joked, turning to press a kiss to the top of Laura’s head.
Laura smacked his arm with a laugh. “Come on, we should go make sure the kids aren’t drowning each other.”
“That’s funny, you aren’t that concerned about Nat and I drowning each other when we come to the lake.” Clint whined playfully.
Laura looked over at her husband with a playful smile on her lips. “That’s because I know Natasha could drown you without trying, before you could even think about trying to touch her.”
“I take offense to that!” He cried. “I have knocked Nat on her butt on occasion when we spar!”
Laura snorted while wading into the lake. “Nat letting you win so she doesn’t have to hear you whine about your wounded ego doesn’t count.”
Clint stopped walking, spluttering nonsense as he tried to piece his pride back together. “That was cold Laura. Nat doesn’t let me win.” He paused, then asked. “Does she?”
Laura let out a laugh at the mock look of betrayal written across his face. “Oh babe. It’s okay. I’m sure one day you’ll beat her all on your own.” She teased watching her husband pout.
“Dad you know no one beats auntie Nat!” Cooper called, smiling at his dad.
Clint let out an exaggerated sigh. “I suppose you're right, bud. Auntie Nat is in a league of her own.” He said splashing water at the boy. Cooper squealed as he tried to dodge the onslaught of water his father sent his way. Lila joined in trying to help Cooper in dunking their father. Laura stood watching the three of them rough house in the water, her mind drifting to thoughts of their missing family member and her well being for a brief moment before another squeal brought her back to the present. Moving to help free Clint of the weight of both kids laughing at their antics.
As dusk started to settle over the lake, Clint and Laura herded the two kids back towards the house with a promise of a bonfire. Cooper shuffled along the path attempting to catch crickets and lightning bugs, Lila followed behind her brother squealing every time he turned to her and showed her another bug that he had caught. As the family of four reached the edge of the trees and the house came into view Clint became tense. On the front porch was a figure slumped to one side leaning heavily on the porch step railing. Clint gently pushed the kids back towards Laura. “Stay here.” He said his voice was tight with tension.
Laura nodded, sinking back towards the trees a bit more Cooper and Lila at her side. Clint made his way carefully to the porch, pulling out the knife he had tucked away into his boot. As he crept closer Clint realized exactly who the figure was. “Nat?” He breathed taking in his partner's bleeding form. “Shit, Nat.” He tucked the knife into the waistband of his pants surging forward to help his friend.
“Clint?” Natasha asked in confusion, picking her head up and flinching as his hands came into contact with her shoulder.
Clint retracted his hands quickly, holding them out in front of him to show that he meant no harm. “Hey Tasha, what happened?” He questioned, taking in the darkening bruise on her cheek and the dark spot on her side that looked an awful lot like blood.
“I’m fine Clint.” She said weakly shoving at him as he attempted to help her stand.
Gently swatting away her hands Clint slung one of her arms carefully around his shoulders, gesturing to Laura with his other hand before wrapping it around Nat’s waist. Clint pulled her up on her feet and led her into the house, settling her on the couch before heading out to meet Laura and the kids. Leaving Nat behind on the couch as she slipped further into the memories currently plaguing her.
Meeting Laura at the steps he took the cooler from her. “Laur, it was Nat. She’s in rough shape. I’ll handle the kids, you mind taking a look at her?” Clint asked, already moving past Laura to tend to the kids.
“Of course, I’ll be back when I’m finished.” She said before hurrying into the living room.
“Laura, be careful she was slipping when I got her into the house.” Clint called quietly so as not to alert the kids to their aunt’s presence. Laura nodded continuing on into the house.