Backup
CLINT POV:
Laura and I had been in a rough place for the last couple of days. She was angry that I was lying to Wanda about Nat but I tried to explain to her that we didn't really have a choice. We had stepped away from Wanda to have another discussion and were currently in the middle of it.
"You need to tell her the truth eventually," she hissed. "What if Nat is gone? We haven't heard from her in 3 days, there's a good chance something went wrong," she told me. I sighed, trying to ignore the fact that Laura could be right.
"We don't know that Laura and we can't tell Wanda the truth. Would you rather her be panicking right now? She's fine, she just thinks Nat is busy, everything will be fine," I tried to convince her.
"But everything might not be fine!" Laura snapped. "Natasha could be dead Clint, dead, and the longer we keep that from Wanda, the harder it's going to be."
"She's fine Laura," I told her, trying to blink back tears. Nat couldn't be gone. It was a dangerous mission but she would make it through, she always did.
"I want to believe that Clint but listen to me. We haven't heard from her or Steve in days, that's not good."
"I know that," I sneered. "Their phones could be turned off though."
"All the time?" she asked and I knew she was right.
"Maybe," I sighed. "She's probably just focusing on the mission."
"She wanted me to constantly keep her updated on Wanda, she wouldn't just drop her. I'm not saying she's gone yet, I'm just saying that something may have happened and we have to be honest with Wanda about that. Keeping her in the dark won't be helpful if Nat never comes home."
"But we can't do anything about it," I told her. "If we tell Wanda, all we'll have is a panicking kid, we won't get anywhere with anything."
Laura sighed.
"Maybe her phone is damaged," I suggested, wanting to believe that she was fine, regardless of what happened.
"Couldn't she use the jet to contact us?" Laura asked. I knew that Nat could and I couldn't come up with any reason as to why she wouldn't. I just had to hope that she was okay.
"She's fine Laura, she should be home soon and then we'll see," I told her, wanting to stop this conversation. I knew it was hard for Laura to lie to Wanda but I think she knew deep down that this was probably better for Wanda, at least for right now.
"Clint-" she started but quickly got cut off by Wanda calling my name. She sounded angry and I briefly wondered if she had heard us.
I walked out of the laundry room that Laura and I were hiding in to see Wanda standing at the bottom of the stairs, her red power flowing around her hands. The two older kids were at school so we didn't need to worry about them walking in and Nate was napping right now.
"Wanda," I said, bringing my hands up in front of me in an effort to calm her. She looked absolutely murderous right now and I knew I needed to figure out what was going on before this got out of hand. "What's going on?" I said. I wasn't afraid of Wanda but I did slightly step in front of Laura, just in case.
"You lied to me," she said lowly with venom in her voice.
"What are you talking about Wanda?" I asked, being very calm and gentle. She had been upstairs, how had she heard the conversation.
"You know what I'm talking about," she said. She reached into her pocket, pulling out my phone. She threw it in my direction, narrowly missing my head. I heard Laura gasp but Wanda continued. "Natasha hasn't texted you in days, you lied!" she said, her voice growing. She walked closer, her powers still flowing.
"Wanda, listen to me," I said. "You need to calm down so that we can talk about this."
"What is there to talk about?" Wanda asked. "Tasha could be dead!" her voice hitched and I could see the unshed tears in her eyes. "I killed her! I sent her on that mission! She never ignores me, something has to be wrong!" I could tell that she was starting to panic but I took a step closer to calm her down and her powers flared as she yelled, "Get away from me! Don't move!"
I immediately stopped, stepping back slightly, my hands staying up in a placating gesture. "Wanda, it's going to be okay, I'm sorry for lying to you, please talk to me," I tried.
"No! Mama could be dead, I don't want to do it, I can't," she said, panic fully setting in for her. She was looking around wildly. "I need to go, I can't do this, please," she said, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed. "It's my fault, I never should have left, I never should have gone, I made her go, she went because of me. We need to get her Clint, please," she said.
"Shh, calm down," I tried, moving back towards her.
"No!" she said, her hands coming up as more power flowed out of them. "I can't breathe," she said, her voice sounding breathy as her fingers clawed at her throat.
"Yes you can Wanda, I need you to take deep breaths," I tried. Laura glanced at me and I knew we both felt helpless. There was absolutely nothing we could do to comfort the panicked girl in front of us. She only wanted one thing and right now, we couldn't give it to her.
"No," Wanda said, shaking her head. I could see her recently healed leg shaking. Her hand that was still casted was also shaking as it experienced her powers. I just hoped that it didn't hurt her to use her powers with a broken hand. "I can't do this, I need to go," she mumbled, mostly to herself.
I took this moment to move closer. She didn't see me until I was right in front of her and unfortunately, only caused her panic to increase.
"Get away from me!" she cried as she moved backward. She tripped on a toy that Lila left out but managed to right herself.
"Nat's fine," I told her calmly.
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. "You don't know that!" she cried and a ball of her powers shot into the bookshelf right next to us. Laura let out a small scream of surprise as the books flew off of the shelf and onto the ground. Wanda looked in that direction and looked horrified.
"No, no, no," she mumbled as she tried to contain her powers. She was panicking though. I just wanted to hold her to calm her down but anytime I moved closer, she freaked out more. She looked confused and lost and I decided I would take my chances, moving to pull her into my chest.
It didn't work out too well and before I knew it, I was being thrown back with her powers. I flew into the wall and saw my vision fading to black. The last thing I saw was Wanda running out of the house before I lost consciousness.
LAURA POV:
I had known that it wasn't going to be pretty when Wanda found out that we were lying to her but I had never imagined it would be this bad. I wanted to comfort her so badly, she was like another daughter to me, but I knew that in her state, she wouldn't let me anywhere near her so I let Clint take the lead. That ended up not turning out so well when Clint tried to hug her.
As soon as Wanda threw Clint into the wall, I could see her losing her composure even more. She looked extraordinarily panicked and started mumbling under her breath as she took off running for the door. She threw it open and I was torn between following her and getting Clint. I also heard Nate crying upstairs but he would have to wait.
I dropped down next to Clint, pushing the hair out of his face as I mumbled his name. "Wake up Clint," I said, tears streaming down my face. I just had to hope that Wanda didn't go anywhere or do anything but I needed to make sure that Clint was okay first. I couldn't contain Wanda on my own, I needed help. I also knew that she would be beating herself up over hurting Clint and we both needed to be there to reassure her that we weren't mad. She barely even looked like she knew where she was, let alone what she was doing.
It took a few minutes but soon, Clint opened his eyes, grunting as he pushed himself up into a seated position. "Where's Wanda?" he asked, making to get up.
I put a hand on his shoulder and said, "she's fine."
"Are you okay?" he asked, probably noticing the tears.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I told him.
"Good, where is she?" he asked again. He noticed that the door was still open and stood up, despite the fact that I continued to try to push him down. He was injured, he had gotten thrown into a wall, he shouldn't be moving that much yet. "We have to go find her Laura," he told me. "She could be hurt and I can guarantee she's scared."
"Hold on Clint, she'll be okay but if you have a spinal injury, you won't be," I tried to convince him.
"My spine is fine, Wanda is not, please," he looked at me and I nodded, letting him leave. I needed to get Nate and the kids needed to be picked up from school but I knew that Wanda also needed support.
I was on my way down the stairs with a sleepy Nate when I heard Clint yelling for me. "Laura, get out here now!" he yelled and I could hear the fear in his voice.
I held onto Nate a little tighter as I ran out of the house, stopping when I saw what he was pointing at. Wanda wasn't anywhere to be seen but it didn't take long to realize where she went. Directly in front of the house, in the tree line, the trees were rustling as red power stripes were flying everywhere. There was a huge red bubble forming from within the trees.
"Shit," I mumbled under my breath. "What do we do?"
"I don't know but we need to get to her," I heard him say. He turned to me.
"The kids are at school," I said, not really knowing what else to say. We fucking needed Nat.
"Do you think Jennifer could get them?" he asked. "We need to get her before she hurts herself," he said and I knew he was right. There was only a matter of time before she killed herself. She was probably stuck in some form of flashback right now but as soon as that was done, it wasn't going to be good. I looked back at the huge red bubble that was pushing the trees away and listened to the snapping of tree trunks as the bubble got larger and made my decision.
"You go to her, I will go drop Nate off at Jennifer's and then head back. Please be careful," I told him, knowing that although Wanda wouldn't do anything to purposefully hurt us, she might on accident due to the current circumstances.
I shared a quick kiss with Clint before I took off running to the car, not even having time to grab a diaper bag. Nate was wailing in his car seat and I tried to comfort him as I sped to Jennifer's. I knew he was picking up on my stress, causing him to be upset but he would be okay. There was a very real possibility that Wanda wouldn't be if we didn't get to her soon.
Jennifer was just about to leave her house when I pulled up. I threw the car in park before grabbing Nate and running up to her.
"Laura?" she asked, seeming confused by my panicked expression.
"Jennifer, I'm sorry for such short notice but could you please pick up Lila and Cooper from school and bring them here? I also need you to take Nate. I promise I'll explain everything later but I really need to go."
"Of course," she said, her expression full of worry as she took a screaming Nate from me.
"Thank you so much, I owe you one," I told her before turning to Nate quickly. "Love you baby," I said, blowing a kiss as I ran back to the car. I didn't wait to see if Nate calmed down before I took off back to the farm. I felt horrible for throwing this on Jennifer but I couldn't lose Wanda and Nat, assuming that we had lost Nat.
I was glad to see that the bubble hadn't gotten much bigger by the time I got back. I drove as close to the trees as I could before getting out, running the rest of the way to Wanda.
I stopped when I saw Clint standing a couple hundred feet away from Wanda, right next to the edge of the bubble.
Wanda was curled in the middle, red power shooting out of her. I had barely seen her use her powers, this was insane. Even from our distance away from her, I could see her body racking with sobs.
"She can't hear us," Clint said, looking sadly at Wanda. "I don't know what to do. She probably thinks that Nat is dead and I can't do anything to stop her from thinking that. We need to help her. We need Nat," he finished.
"Can we call Fury?" I asked.
"He may lock Wanda up," he said and I immediately lost the idea of calling him. We couldn't let that happen. "He was fine with her on the team, mainly because Natasha was fine with it, but if he finds out how Wanda is handling things right now, he'll know that we can't control her and he may want her to be locked up," he continued.
"Okay, so we can't call Fury. What about Tony or Pepper?" I asked. I didn't know either of them well but I did know that we needed backup.
"That might work," Clint said. "Do you have your phone on you?" I nodded yes as I pulled out my phone.
Clint grabbed it, dialing a number, before putting it up to his ear.
"Hello?" I heard on the other end.
"Tony, this is Clint," I heard him say.
"Clint?"
"Yes, do you know anything about the mission Nat and Steve are on?" he asked, most likely wanting any information that we could give Wanda.
"Not really, I heard that they were on one and that we may be called in for backup but I don't even know where it is or what it's about."
"Okay," Clint sighed. "We need help, Wanda is having a hard time and can't deal with Nat being gone," he summed it up, being hesitant with his words.
"Can you bring her here?" Tony asked.
Clint looked at Wanda and responded with, "Not at the moment."
"Um, okay? Do you need me to come there?"
"Yes, as soon as possible," Clint replied with. "Do you think you could bring backup? She's going to need some emotional support."
"Who'd you have in mind?" Tony asked.
"Pepper," came his reply. I listened in while I watched Wanda, feeling my heart break with every passing moment. I felt absolutely helpless, I couldn't do anything.
"Yes, I'll be there soon, couple hours tops."
"Please hurry Tony," I heard Clint say. It was weird for him to be so emotional and I think Tony picked up on that.
"How serious is this?" Tony asked.
Clint took a deep breath but replied with, "Pretty serious. We are gonna need everyone we can get."
"I'm taking the suit, I'll be there in 15 minutes." He could push that suit to be pretty fast and for that, I was grateful.
"Thank you Tony." They both said their goodbyes before Tony hung up.
Now we waited, we had eyes on Wanda, she wasn't currently doing anything to hurt herself, she would be okay, we just needed to wait for the bubble to go down.
True to his word, 15 minutes later, Tony and Pepper landed next to us. Both of their eyes were wide watching the bubble. We hadn't needed to give them our location, they found us easily.
"What happened?" Tony asked, lifting the faceplate of his suit.
"We haven't heard from Nat, she may be hurt, or worse," Clint started. "We hadn't told Wanda, lying to her and telling her that Nat was just busy but she took my phone and found out the truth. She panicked and here we are," he summed up and I noticed how he left out the part about her throwing him into a wall.
"Shit," Tony mumbled.
"What do we do?" Pepper asked.
"I have an idea," Tony said. "I can tell her I heard from Natasha and that she's fine but that she can't contact you guys for safety reasons," he suggested. I didn't want to lie to her anymore but if it got her out of this emotional state, then I was all for it.
"She can't hear you in the bubble," Clint told him.
"I could try using my suit, it projects," he explained.
I thought it over for a second but quickly responded with, "go for it," and Clint nodded, agreeing with me.
Tony closed the faceplate, flying into the air until he was directly above Wanda.
"Wanda," we heard him try and I was glad that our neighbors were far enough away that they wouldn't be able to hear him. "Wanda, I heard from Natasha, she's okay," he said. I saw Wanda lift her head as the bubble flickered.
"You're lying," she cried.
"Wanda, I promise, she's okay, please, you have to trust me," Tony said and I regretted telling him to lie to her. We had just gotten her to trust all of us, this was going to put her back majorly if she found out we were lying.
"Why didn't she call us then?" Wanda sobbed.
"It wasn't safe for her or for you," Tony said and the bubble started shrinking. It didn't disappear though.
"How do I know you're not lying?" she asked, her voice small.
"Why would I lie to you kiddo?" Tony asked and my heart clenched. We were lying to her, causing crazy manipulation. If something really did happen to Nat, Wanda would never forgive us. I tried to tell myself that this was keeping her safe though as I watched the bubble get even smaller.
"Is she coming home?" Wanda asked.
"She is soon," Tony continued. "She is almost done but she should be home in a few days tops."
Wanda's entire body was shaking, no doubt as she tried to decide whether or not she could trust us. She looked in our direction and then the bubble disappeared, leaving just her lying on the ground.
We all slowly moved toward her, not wanting to scare her. Tony landed, stepping out of the suit, as he joined us.
Wanda was curled into a ball and we moved closer to her. She was looking at us but looked too exhausted to even lift her head, most likely from the large amounts of power that she had just used.
"I'm sorry," she cried, tears dripping onto the floor. "Please don't hurt me, I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry," she spoke, barely above a whisper, and my heart broke.
"Wanda," Clint started as he knelt down, a few feet away from her. We all stood nearby but let him talk to her. "It's okay," he said, holding his arms up to show that he wasn't mad at her. "We aren't going to hurt you. I'm not mad, I'm okay. You're gonna be okay," he reassured her.
She tried lifting her head but she couldn't lift it. I watched as her eyes fluttered. She must've been exhausted.
"I want mama," she mumbled, tears still dripping down her face.
"I know, she'll be home soon," he replied, reaching his hand out to gently brush away her tears.
With that action, Wanda closed her eyes and they didn't reopen. She had passed out. Clint's back was in no condition to pick her up and he looked back at us.
"I've got her," Tony said, moving towards her before scooping her up into his arms. Thank gosh he had figured out that Clint needed help and didn't say anything, instead jumping in to help.
Clint got up and pulled me into his arms and we stayed that way for a second before I pulled away. "This isn't over yet," I mumbled. We still had no idea where Nat was.
"I know," he replied and we both sighed before following Tony back to the farm.
WANDA POV:
The only thing that registered in my mind was panic as I took off running. I could feel my powers under my skin, raging through my body as it begged to be released. The only thought I had was 'what had I done?' as I sprinted as far into the woods as possible. Maybe an animal would find me and that would be the end. I definitely wouldn't be allowed back at the house. I had thrown Clint into a wall. What if their kids had been home? I would have hurt them by accident.
Nat was probably gone now. I was all alone. Laura and Clint would never take me in after what I did and they would tell the other Avengers how I lost control. What if they sent me back to HYDRA? I didn't want to go back there.
I kept running, as far as I could, but I tripped over a branch, going crashing to the ground. I didn't bother getting up as I sobbed, letting my powers flow out of me now that I wouldn't hurt anyone else.
I barely knew what was going on. If Nat was dead, where would I go? I wanted to die. My body felt like it was on fire as I cried, hoping above all that Nat was okay and that she would come home soon but I didn't have high hopes. Why else would she have completely ignored me?
My mind barely registered Tony's voice, telling me that Nat was okay. He was lying, this wasn't right. Why was he here though? I was exhausted, I didn't know what to believe anymore. I had thought that Clint was honest with me but turned out that he had been lying for days. Was the same happening with Tony?
I didn't have enough mental power to consider any more thoughts so I let my powers stop. If Tony was lying, so be it, there was nothing I could do anymore. Once I had stopped my powers, I couldn't get them to start back up. A deep exhaustion filled my bones and I turned my head, resting it on the damp ground.
Four blurry figures moved towards me. Only one came into focus as he moved closer to me, Clint. He was here to kill me. I didn't want him to hurt me but I also didn't think I could keep living without Nat. He didn't kill me which probably meant that he wanted me to suffer. I tried to beg him not to but I couldn't move so I probably wouldn't be super successful in convincing him. He was gentle but I was still scared.
My vision was fuzzy and before long, I found myself giving in to the dark pull of unconsciousness, deciding that I no longer cared what happened to me.
TONY POV:
I walked into the farm, carrying an unconscious Wanda, and stopped when I saw the mess. The wall next to the living room was cracked and crumbling and there were books and papers scattered over the floor.
"You can just set her down on the couch," Laura told me. I nodded, moving further into the house until I got to the living room, gently setting Wanda down on the couch. I made sure her casted arm was set on a pillow. Laura moved over to the couch, sitting next to Wanda as she ran her fingers through Wanda's hair, most likely in an attempt to comfort her in her unconscious state.
"What happened in here?" I asked, taking another look at the damaged wall and bookshelf.
"Wanda panicked," Clint was quick to answer. "Is there any way that we can get to Nat or Steve?" Clint asked and I knew that he wanted to move on. He grunted as he bent over to grab the books from off of the floor and I had a feeling that whatever was causing the grunting had something to do with why this room was a mess.
"I can ask Fury," I started but Laura cut me off.
"No!"
I looked at her, wondering why she was so adamant about not calling Fury.
"Okay?" I said in a questioning tone but didn't push. "I could make some calls, try to figure it out."
She nodded. "She'll probably wake up soon and we have no idea how she'll react," she told us. "We need to give her some space but also make sure that she doesn't hurt herself."
"We could restrain her," I suggested, remembering what I had done before when Wanda was a danger to herself.
"I don't want to do that unless absolutely necessary," she replied. I didn't know about Nat's promise to Wanda but Laura did.
"We won't be able to control her if she does the bubble thing again," I continued, wanting them to know the severity. I didn't want to tie her down but I also didn't want her to hurt herself or others.
"I don't care, we don't restrain her yet." Laura was sharp. "You just worry about finding Nat, I've got Wanda."
I rolled my eyes but nodded, moving into the kitchen. Pepper passed me and walked over to the couch, resting a hand on Wanda's shoulder. "She probably shouldn't be down here when she wakes up," Pepper said, gesturing to the wall and the books.
"Tony, can you bring Wanda upstairs?" Laura asked, getting up from the couch before coming into the kitchen.
"Sure," I replied, moving back into the living room, grabbing Wanda and bringing her up into her bedroom, setting her down gently on the bed. She looked exhausted and I knew that she hadn't released that amount of power in a while. It made sense that she was tired.
"She'll probably be out for a while," I told Laura when she sat down next to Wanda. "She overexerted herself, she'll probably sleep for at least a few hours if not more."
Laura nodded but didn't say anything, opting to stay right next to Wanda. I gave her a tight smile before walking out of the room, heading back downstairs to where Pepper and Clint were.
"What the hell happened here?" I questioned, mostly to myself, as I ran my finger along the crack in the wall.
"Nothing!" Clint snapped and I turned around to face him. I held my hands up in fake surrender, moving over to where Pepper was. By the way Clint was moving around, his facial expressions, and the way that he avoided the topic, my best guess would have to be that the little witch upstairs threw him into the wall. I knew not to pry anymore on this though and sat down, resting my head in my hands.
"When was the last time you heard from Romanoff and Rogers?" I asked, wanting to map out a timeline.
"Sunday night," he replied. It was now Wednesday afternoon so it hadn't been too long but it had also been enough time to be worrisome.
"And you're sure you've heard absolutely nothing?" I questioned.
"Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot about that phone call," Clint said sarcastically, his voice laced with death.
"I'm just checking," I sighed, pulling out my phone. "I wasn't highly involved in the planning of this mission so I really don't know any additional information. Hill might know though," I mentioned, racking my brain for anyone who was involved. I had been to one mission regarding this mission and I zoned out for most of it. It didn't really matter though because the only thing I was told was that Rogers and Romanoff would be gone and that I needed to make sure I kept my schedule clear in case I also got called in. I hadn't heard anything so I was hoping that meant good news but that could also just mean that they were either already gone or some other piece of information that escaped me.
"I don't care who you check with as long as it isn't Fury," Clint told me.
"Okay, Fury would make this go a lot faster though," I mumbled.
"Not an option Stark," Barton hissed and I nodded, not wanting to get into an argument right now.
I messaged Hill, asking if she had heard anything about the mission. I also messaged Bruce, Thor, and Rhodey.
After about half an hour, I got responses back from everyone. Unfortunately, no one had heard anything, still leaving us in the dark.
"I know you said no about Fury but-"
"I said no Stark," Barton growled.
"Just hear me out!" I tried. He glared at me but didn't stop me from continuing. "The only thing I was told was that I needed to be available in case I got called into the mission. Now, this could mean one of a few things. Either they are totally fine, which means that I don't need to go in for backup. On the other hand, it could mean that there is no more reason for backup because it is too late," I said, speaking lowly at the end. "I contacted Rhodey, Bruce, and Thor, and none of them have heard anything either which means that none of them have been called in. We'll just have to see how this plays out if you don't want me to call Fury. I won't do it unless you ask me but if I do, then he could probably tell me what is going on and whether or not they are doing okay."
Clint seemed to contemplate it before saying, "No," and then trudging up the stairs.
"Well, that went well," I grumbled, turning to Pepper. "How're you doing?" I asked. I know that if I was feeling overwhelmed, she must be feeling crazily overwhelmed as she was much closer to Wanda than I was. Don't get me wrong, I was close, just not as close as Pepper.
"I'm okay," she sighed. "I just wish we knew that everyone was okay. What if Nat really is gone?"
"Then we'll have one distraught girl to deal with," I mumbled, hating it but knowing that it was true. It also meant that Steve was probably gone and although that wouldn't affect Wanda as much, it would still change the dynamic of our family forever.
"We can take care of her," Pepper said and I looked at her. "If anything happened to Nat, we can take Wanda," she said.
"I guess we can but my guess is that she'll want to stay here with Clint." That's when I remembered that he had kids and I briefly wondered where they were. It was a weekday but if I remembered correctly, his wife had just had a baby not too long ago, surely he wouldn't be out of the house yet.
"Yeah, but if she wants to come back to the compound, we have to take care of her," Pepper continued, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah, she'll be seriously messed up though," I replied. It felt weird that we were discussing what would happen if Natasha had died. Unfortunately, all signs right now were pointing to the idea that this may be happening sooner rather than later.
"We'll get her through it though," Pepper said.
"Yeah," I sighed. "Let's just hope Red is okay and can come back to take care of her daughter."
Pepper nodded and we sat in silence for a bit, both of us deep in thought as to what may happen.
Clint came back down about half an hour later. "Is she awake yet?" I asked, moving to meet him in the kitchen.
"No," he sighed. "Could I ask you a huge favor?" he asked and I nodded.
"Of course." He was going through a rough time right now. Everyone knew that Clint and Natasha were close, hell, before I knew about his family, I had thought that there was more going on between them than just a good friendship. Now that I know more about their backstory though, I've realized that I was way off.
"My three kids are at our neighbor's house which is a little less than 10 minutes away. We dropped them off there earlier and she should have gotten my two older ones at work. You can take my car, can you go get them?"
"Yes," I told him. He gave me the address and told me that Laura called ahead and let them know that I was on my way to get the kids. I brought Pepper with me because she was way better with kids than I was.
We both headed to the house, pulling up into the driveway. Four kids were playing with a ball in the front yard and they all looked up when I came in. Pepper and I got out, walking up to the adult overseeing their activities.
"Hi, I'm Jennifer," she said and I shook her hand. "You two must be here to get the kiddos," she said and I nodded.
"Laura said she called ahead and let you know we were coming?" I phrased it as a question for her to confirm.
"Yes, Lila! Cooper!" she called. Two of the four kids looked over and then all four came running over to her. "You guys are going home with them, your mom called and told me so they're safe."
"I remember him," the little girl said, pointing at me. I remembered them from a few months ago during the fight with Ultron but they were older.
"Good!" Jennifer said. "Go grab your backpacks," she said lovingly. The kids ran inside to go grab their bags and she led me over to the porch where there was a baby in a bouncer.
She picked him up and went to hand him to me. I grabbed him but held him away from my body, I wasn't exactly good with kids. Pepper quickly swooped in and grabbed him from me, placing him against her chest.
"Lila and Cooper had a snack when they got home from school but they haven't had dinner yet," she told us and I nodded. "Nate had some applesauce but again, no dinner."
"Perfect, thank you," Pepper told her.
"Clint or Laura should call you soon with details from today," I told her.
"Are they okay?" she asked and I found myself nodding.
"Yes, they are and they really appreciate you watching the kids," Pepper told her warmly.
"Oh, let them know it's absolutely no problem, they are welcome anytime." Pepper smiled at her right as the other two kids came running back out of the house.
"You got all of your stuff?" she asked and both kids nodded. "Perfect! See you guys later," she said.
Both kids crawled into the back while Pepper strapped the baby into his seat. They waved to the other kids as we headed back to the farm.
"Where are mommy and daddy?" the little girl asked. I decided to just let Pepper take over.
"They're at home, they were just a little busy so they couldn't come get you," she told them.
The little girl nodded, seeming to accept that answer while the boy asked, "Is Wanda okay?" I glanced at Pepper.
"Yeah, she's okay, how was school?" Pepper asked, trying to switch the topic. I looked in the rearview mirror and could tell that the boy didn't quite buy it but he answered by saying that school had been good.
We soon got home and the two older kids quickly climbed out of the car and rushed into the house. Clint was there to meet them outside. Pepper grabbed the baby and we headed to meet Clint.
"Thank you guys," he told us.
"No problem, Jennifer said that none of them have had dinner but each of them has had a snack," Pepper told him and he nodded.
"I really appreciate it, thank you," he said, looking at both of us. I smiled at him and watched as he led the kids inside.
"How's Wanda?" the boy asked Clint. "Mr. Stark wouldn't tell us anything." I watched as Clint glanced up at me but luckily, he didn't seem mad.
He turned back to the boy, saying, "She's okay, going through a rough patch right now but she'll get there."
"Can I go see her?" he asked.
"She's sleeping buddy but maybe later, okay?" He nodded and I was surprised he agreed that easily. The little girl was not as understanding.
"I wanna see Wanda," she whined.
"I know Lila but you have to wait sweetie. Once she wakes up, you can probably both see her but we need to let her rest," Clint tried convincing her.
"No!" she said as she stomped her foot. "I want to see her now."
"Lila," Clint warned and I watched as this played out. "You need to wait, don't make me call mama down here."
"No!" she yelled again, trying to run past Clint up the stairs. He was quick to pick her up and prop her on his hip. I watched as a grimace passed over his face and knew that he was injured. She wiggled as she tried to get out of his grasp but he was obviously stronger than her and managed to hold onto her fine.
I watched as she bit his shoulder and then as Clint lightly but firmly popped her backside. I didn't know that his family did that but he didn't do it hard. I briefly wondered if that's where Nat got it from.
"Lila, you do not bite young lady," he scolded her and she buried her face in his shoulder, the crying starting.
"Do you want me to go get Laura?" I asked.
"Yes please," he said and I nodded, heading up the stairs to get her. I gently pushed open the door that led to Wanda's room and saw Laura still sitting right next to her, her back propped up against the head of the bed.
She looked up when I entered.
"Clint wants you downstairs," I told her. "Your daughter is acting up."
"Can you sit with her?" Laura asked and I nodded, moving to go sit next to Wanda.
As soon as she left, I gently grabbed Wanda's hand. "You're gonna be okay little red," I mumbled. "Even if something happened to Nat, we've got you, you have a whole team here for you, I promise you'll be okay." After that, I sat where Laura had sat, gently rubbing my thumb over Wanda's shoulder.
She continued sleeping, even as Laura came back and switched spots with me.
"Everything okay?" I asked, noticing that she looked stressed.
"Yeah," she sighed. "Daughters can be hard," she laughed lightly.
I headed back downstairs where the girl was no longer crying but was sitting on the couch, kids show on the TV. I looked at Clint and motioned that I wanted to talk to him. "I've been thinking, I could go to Fury and leave out anything about your family. I could just pretend to be curious, see if he knows anything. I really don't want to start planning for what we do if Natasha and Steve are really gone."
"I know, I really don't want to either," he sighed. "Especially for Wanda, I mean, from just the thought that something might be wrong with Nat, she completely lost it and panicked, shutting down. I hate to think about what will happen if something is actually wrong."
"I can call Fury," I offered, not wanting to continue down the path of 'what ifs.'
"Not yet," Clint shook his head. "Nat isn't supposed to be back until the end of the week. If she's still not back by then, I'll have you call him but right now, we'll just keep Wanda thinking that she's fine."
"We can fabricate calls from her," I told him.
"No, I don't want to go that far," Clint said. "I already hate lying to her, I'm not going that far."
We both sighed but I understood, this was hard for everyone.
"What do we do when she wakes up?" he asked.
"I have no idea, I can bring her back to the compound if she does anything with her powers again," I offered. That's when I felt myself getting slammed into the wall, Clint's hand wrapped around my t-shirt.
"Daddy!" I heard the girl call from the living room.
"Woah, what's going on Barton?" I asked, trying to hold my hands up.
"You promised when she first came to stay with us that you would treat her like a human, not another experiment."
"And I'm keeping that promise, I just figured I could bring her where it's safer, more secure."
"She's not a prisoner Tony," he grumbled, letting go of me.
"I never said she was. I just don't want any accidents happening." I didn't want to say anything but if Wanda lost it again, we had no idea what she would do.
"Are you keeping her here if Natasha dies?" I asked, just wanting to know for preparations.
"What? Auntie Nat died?" I turned to see the little girl standing there, tears filling her giant eyes. She must have gotten up when Clint slammed me into the wall, she had heard everything.
Clint rushed past me, glaring at me as he did so, scooping up the girl for the second time this evening. "No, Auntie Nat is fine, you just heard Tony wrong."
"Why did he say that she might die then? Where is she? I miss her, I want Auntie Nat," she cried.
At that exact moment, the front door opened, a certain redhead walking in.