Fated Marks

I woke up early the next morning. I was curled up against Tony’s side while he laid on his back snoring softly. I slipped out of bed and headed to the kitchen, knowing that the best way to wake up Tony was with coffee and maybe breakfast. I opened the fridge and saw that while it wasn’t as full as when we all lived there was everything needed for omelets. So I cracked a few eggs and cooked them up. I also chopped a bit of fruit as the coffee being made.

“What’s all this?” Tony said as he walked in.

“Breakfast.” I said popping a strawberry into his mouth.

“Mhmm, I missed you.” He said kissing my cheek.

“Eat up.” I said before pouring us both some coffee and sitting down next to him. “What are you going to do today?”

“Uh… I’ll be in the lab for a bit before I go down to R&D see how things are going there. There’s a few projects we want to roll out at the start of next year. Then I have a meeting with the foundation about some new programs we want to fund. Which means for galas and fundraisers.” Tony said.

“I remember those meetings.” I said. One of the things I did not miss about my old job.

“What about you?” Tony asked.

“Well it’s Wednesday so normally I get in an early morning workout with Lucky, shower, water the plants in the garden and then go to the compound and pick up Bucky to go to the farmers market.” I said.

“How is terminator doing?” Tony asked.

“Bucky.” I corrected. “Is doing well. Still adjusting but he’s good.”

“You two spend a lot of time together?” He asked.

“We hang out.” I said. “He has a huge sweet tooth so we have that in common. Also a huge fan of sci-fi.”

“So you two have movie nights and get ice cream together or something?” Tony asked.

“Why? Does that seem weird to you?” I asked.

“Well Hales he was an assassin.” He said.

“So were Nat and Clint.” I reminded him.

“Yeah but Natasha and Clint never tried to kill you.” Tony said.

“He was brainwashed Tony.” I said.

“I know it’s just… you don’t feel scared that he’s going to lose it?” He said.

“No. I grew up surrounded by people who hurt me, Bucky is nothing like them. He’d never knowingly hurt anyone. He’s a guy that got dealt a shit hand and is trying to figure out how to move on from that and he needs a friend.” I said.

“That simple?” Tony asked.

“That simple.” I said smiling at him as I finished up breakfast. “I’m going to head out soon.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow right?” he said.

“Yeah, heading out of JFK, going straight to Florence.” I said.

“You sure you don’t want to borrow a jet?” Tony said.

“We’re sure. Besides this is a vacation. If you make us take a jet, Clint’s going to want to be the one flying it.” I said.

“So you’re really doing the whole tourist thing. Even the commercial flying?” Tony said in disbelief.

“It’s first class, we’ll survive.” I said putting my arms around him. “Don’t lock yourself in the lab the entire time I’m gone. Go out. Take a walk in the park. Eat something other than takeout and coffee.”

“Yes dear.” He said before kissing me. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“I’ll be back before you know it.” I said. “Oh and no blowing things up.”

“Aw no fun.” Tony said with a smirk. I kissed him one last time before heading out. I made a quick stop in Brooklyn to pick up some Cannoli because I remembered mentioning them to Bucky. Then I drove back home.

Clint wasn’t there when I arrived. He was probably at the compound sparring with Nat or shooting. That’s what they normally did on Wednesdays.

I greeted Lucky at the door and headed upstairs to change clothes. I settled on a beige flower printed sundress with a thin brown belt at the waist, tan wedge heeled sandals and a grey hat.

“Okay Buddy, I’ll be back later.” I said petting Lucky and giving him one last tummy rub before I headed to the compound.

I parked in the garage and saw Clint’s truck as well as Nat’s stingray and Steve’s bike. I walked into the compound going straight to the common room. If I had actually wanted to see Steve he would be impossible to fine but there he was sitting down in the kitchen laughing at something the blonde sitting next to him was saying. As soon as I walked in he stopped.

“Hayley.” He said.

“Hey…” I said awkwardly. “Just going to drop these off. Feel free to help yourselves.”

“Oh uh… this is Sharon. Peggy’s niece.” Steve said.

“Nice to meet you.” Sharon said offering her hand.

“You too.” I said politely. “Uh is Bucky around?”

“Yeah he’s in the gym I think.” Steve said.

“Great.” I said “I’ll leave you two to it.”

With that I walked out. It was obvious I was interrupting something. Apparently I’m the last person he wants to talk to right now. What a surprise?

I found Bucky lifting weights in his usual corner of the gym. I made enough noise for him to know I was there but didn’t say anything letting him finish his set. Routine was an important part of his recovery. I wasn’t going to mess that up.

“Hi.” Bucky said when he was done.

“Hey.” I said. “Good workout?”

He nodded. “Are we still going to the Farmer’s market?” he asked.

“Yeah. Or is there something else you want to do?” I asked.

“No. Just checking.” He said. “I need to shower.”

“Okay. I was going to check in with Clint and Nat.” I said. “Meet you in the garage in 30 minutes?”

“I only need ten.” Bucky said.

“Did I mention I stopped by that Bakery in Brooklyn I told you about. Brought back a few boxes of cannoli.” I said and Bucky’s eyes widened.

“Cannoli?” He said.

“Left them on the kitchen counter. Though if I were you I’d make noise before I walked in. Steve might be having a moment.” I said.

Bucky scrunched his eyes in confusion, tilting his head a bit but nodded. We walked out of the gym and split up. I found Nat and Clint exactly where I expected them to be. The shooting range.

Nat was the first to notice me. She smiled and put down her gun. I approached and hugged her kissing her cheek.

“Hey you.” I said.

“Hey. Did you just get in?” She asked.

“Yeah. Stopped by the house for a change of clothes.” I said. “Also left cannoli in the kitchen.”

“Cannoli? From Bertoli’s?” Clint said just as he let an arrow go.

“Yes.” I said.

“Did you by chance…” Clint started.

“There’s a box in our fridge.” I said.

“I love you.” Clint said kissing me.

“So you two ready for Italy?” Natasha asked thought she was giving Clint a weird look.

“All packed up and ready to go.” I said. “Thanks again for staying with Lucky.”

“Oh yeah, your welcome for making me stay at your house giving me an entire house to myself for more than two weeks.” Natasha said.

“You know you’re welcome to stay over anytime even when we’re there.” I said.

“I need me time.” She said. “Or you and me time but we can have more of that when you get back.”

“Have I ever told you how hot it is when you tell me exactly what you want? Because it is like so so hot.” I said making her smirk before she leaned in and whispered something in my ear.

“When you get back I’ll show you exactly what I want.” She said making me blush before she kissed my cheek and went back to cleaning her gun.

“Wow I don’t think I’ve ever seen you get that red.” Clint teased.

“Uh… I should… Bucky’s probably waiting for me.” I said. “Want me to pick up anything for dinner?”

“We still have a bunch of Kale so… anything but that.” He said.

“Bistro?” I suggested.

“Tuna melt.” He said.

“You got it.” I said kissing him. ”See you later.”

“Yeah.” He said before I left. I walked down the hall and saw Steve walk down the hall.

“Hayley!” Steve called out.

“Nope.” I said as I kept walking but he decided to run after me.

“Wait hey!” he said grabbing my arm. “Hey can we talk…”

“We can talk when I get back from Italy.” I said.

“Really Hayley you get mad at…” he started.

“Don’t you dare try to take the high ground here. I’ve been trying to get you to talk to me for months and you’re talking to everyone else but me. So no Steve. Now you get to wait until I’m ready to talk. Go to therapy sort yourself out and I’ll see you in three weeks.” I said before walking away.

Bucky was waiting next to the car.

“Ready to go?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He said as I unlocked the car and we got in.

I let Bucky pick out some music. We had slowly been going through decade by decade. So far he was a fan of early rock and the blues. I didn’t think he was ready for heavy metal or punk yet but we were making progress.

“The sixties were a time of huge civil unrest and you can hear it in the music.” I said.

“It’s different but not bad.” Bucky said.

“I made you a playlist so you can listen later. You can pick out which songs you like most and Friday can recommend more songs you’ll probably like.” I said.

“How would she know that?” Bucky asked. “I thought computers weren’t people… except for Vision. He’s kind of… human.”

“Vision is an android which is a computer but with more human characteristics and a powerful stone from outer space which we still have no idea how that will effect his development or any other long term…” I said going on a huge tangent. Bucky just stayed quiet listening to me rant. “He’s a special case. As for Friday she is a computer though Tony programed her with more personality than I thought was possible. Pretty sure he does that on purpose. He puts a bit of himself into everything he builds. Hence the snarky wit. But the way it works is based on your preferences, your likes and dislikes Friday assigns a value to each of your choices and from there it uses an algorithm, like a math equation in its programming to find the similarities in the things you like and identify it in other things which she’ll recommend to you.”

“So Friday is really all numbers?” Bucky asked.

“Not entirely but a big part of her is.” I said.

“Hmm.” Bucky said deep in thought as I parked the car.

We walked through the farmer’s market making small talk with a few of the vendors we saw every time we were there.

Bucky picked up his plums and I was starting to get hungry so I bought a mango on a stick with a bit of chili lime powder.

“It never tastes this good when I try to make it at home.” I said as we kept walking. “First thing I’m going to do when I get to Italy is get some gelato. I’m going to gain so much weight over the next couple of weeks.”

“Hmm.” Bucky said with a blank look on his face.

“What about you? What you going to o while I’m gone?” I asked.

Bucky just shrugged.

“Workout I guess.” He mumbled.

“You can come to the farmer’s market or maybe go into the city. Coney Island’s open.” I said.

“I don’t think I’m ready for that.” He said.

“That’s okay… You know if you need to talk to someone you can call me at anytime.” I said.

“I’ll be okay.” He said. “I guess now’s a good a time as any to try talking to Steve.”

“Or you could just play Uno.” I said and Bucky looked at me surprised. “He’s really bad at it. Forgets to say Uno before putting down the last card.”

“I’ll remember that.” He said.

We kept walking through town and got some ice cream before sitting down in the patio area watching people pass us by.

I picked up dinner and headed back dropping off Bucky on the way home. Clint was back at the house already watering the tomatoes we were growing in the garden.

“Honey I’m home.” I called out when I walked out of the house to the garden making Clint chuckle.

“How was the farmer’s market?” He asked.

“Good, got some ice cream and a mango on a stick.” I said. “How was your last workout before vacation?”

“Fun, I tried out the new bow and fighting with it as a staff. Tony did a great job.” Clint said. “Like always.”

“You have no idea.” I said kissing his cheek as he wrapped his arms around me.

“I’m so ready to go.” He said.

“Me too.” I said hugging him.

“We should say goodbye to all of this.” Clint said. “Doubt any of the plants are going to survive two and a half weeks with Nat taking care of them.”

“We can have Friday remind her to water them.” I said. There were moments I still couldn’t believe this was my life now. Sometimes I pinched myself to make sure I still wasn’t in the coma. I couldn’t believe I went to running for my life constantly looking over my shoulder and cutting deals with mob bosses and illegal arms dealer to going to weekly farmer’s markets and growing on my own vegetables. “Let’s go eat before the food gets cold.”

“Yeah.” Clint said whistling to call Lucky back in.

The next day was pretty uneventful. I mostly meal prepped for Nat leaving her enough cooked meals in the fridge so she wouldn’t accidentally burn down the house trying to cook. I also made a batch of brownies Bucky and covertly dropped them off at the compound having Friday navigate my way to the kitchen and out so I wouldn’t see Steve. No way I was going to start off my vacation in a bad mood because of him.

Once that was done we headed to the airport, waited in the first class lounge until it was time to board and enjoyed our flight. We slept through most of it which was great because there was turbulence the entire flight. Clint was tempted to get into the cockpit and fly us there himself which was probably an excuse for how anxious he was for some weird reason.

When we finally made it to Florence it was around mid day and we were starving. Of course our first meal in Italy was pizza because well… pizza. Then we passed by a gelato shop and how could I say no to that.

By the time we got to our villa outside the city it was almost sunset. The villa was part of a resort but it was separate from the main resort, each villa being offered to celebrities or anyone else who wanted as much privacy as they could get. We had a car service included in the package we got along with 24/7 concierge service. We probably weren’t going to use that much but the car service would be great for getting to and from the city.

“You know I kind of feel bad we’re hardly going to be here. This place has everything.” Clint said. “They even have a Playstation.”

“We also have a private saltwater pool and a hot tub.” I said. “We have time.”

“Well there’s a lot to do.” Clint said. “Pisa, Venice, Rome, everything Florence has to offer and then Paris.”

“Don’t forget Naples.” I said

“You want to go to Naples?” He said.

“Sweetie we can’t come to Italy and not visit the birthplace of Pizza.” I said.

“I love you so much right now.” He said.

“Just right now?” I teased as he kissed me.

“Okay right now I’m hungry.” Clint said. “So how about we go check out that buffet at the main resort. Tomorrow we take a day trip to Pisa, see the leaning tower…”

“Venice the day after.” I said. “I heard it’s more of something you can do in a day and it’s not like we’re going to be there to go to every single museum and church.”

“Gondola ride, pasta, gelato, walk around a bit and head back.” He said.

“I mean that’s pretty much all there is to do. It’s more of a walking city.” I said.

“Then Florence, we can just check out the sights, all the best views.” Clint said.

“Plaza de Michelangelo has the best view of the city, and the Da Vinci museum’s pretty cool.” I said.

“I’m pretty sure half of the city is either a museum or historical landmark.” Clint said.

“Same can be said for most of Europe. But let’s go check out the buffet.” I said. “I wonder if they have tiramisu… or gelato.”

Clint chuckled and shook his head but followed me out.

Meanwhile-

While Natasha had been enjoying her alone time at the house even if Friday had reminded her daily about having to water Clint’s tomatoes and Hayley’s strawberries she still had to work. Well mostly train.

The only good thing about Steve being a workaholic is she hardly ever had any paperwork to do which meant she had plenty of free time to do things like run a thorough background check on her friend’s new boyfriend including running his prints through every criminal database in the world and checking to see if his DNA matched up to any found in any crime scene anywhere.

“Hey Natasha I’m trying to fill the roster for the…” Steve said walking in when he noticed her on Facebook and Instagram. “Am I interrupting something?”

“I’m looking into something for Hayley.” Natasha said not really elaborating or even looking at him but Steve glanced at her desk and noticed the glass in the plastic bag.

“MacLaren’s.” he said reading the logo. “Isn’t that the bar downstairs from Will’s apartment?”

“It is.” She said noticing what Hayley said when she said Winn seemed too perfect. Everything about his profile, his photos, even his comments and captions were all exactly what would make Will fall for a guy. It was like this guy was made for him.

“Who’s he?” Steve asked noticing the profile photo.

“Someone Hayley asked me to look into.” Natasha said.

“I thought she didn’t do that anymore?” Steve said.

“She doesn’t which is why she asked me to do it.” She said. “I thought she was being over protective but she might be onto something. She has great instincts about things like this.”

That made Steve scoff and Natasha arched an eyebrow.

“Something on your mind?” Natasha said.

“I finally told her. How I was feeling and everything told her how the way she acted made me feel and now she won’t talk to me.” Steve said.

“Is that really a surprise?” She said finally turning her attention to him.

“What?” Steve said offended.

“You’ve been avoiding talking to her for months and when you finally do you blame it all on her when all she’s ever done is try to be there for you.” Natasha said.

“Of course you’d say that.” Steve said.

“When you told her did she immediately attack you or did she let you talk and explain before she told you her side of things?” Natasha said.

“Well yeah…” He said.

“That’s called working through your problems. Took you long enough.” She said.

“We didn’t work through anything she just got mad at me.” Steve said.

“Because you blamed it all on her.” Natasha said. “You talked to all of us instead of talking to the one person you should have been talking to.”

“So she told you.” Steve said.

“No, she doesn’t talk about what you two do or don’t do in therapy with anyone. She doesn’t talk about what she does with anyone else either because she wants everyone to feel like there are some boundaries even if it doesn’t seem like it sometimes.” Natasha said. “And I know this because we talk about things.”

“Well we’re right back to where we started. Except now she doesn’t want to talk to me.” Steve said.

“She’s on vacation and she probably needed space to cool off. Wait until Hayley gets back from her vacation when she’ll obviously be in a better mood and ready to talk to you.” Natasha said not mentioning the reason Hayley was probably going to be so happy when she came back.

“In the meantime I have to go to therapy by myself.” Steve sighed.

“Not a bad idea.” Natasha said. “You have things you need to work on too. You have to put in the work.”

“So I’ve heard.” Steve said before he walked out only making it down the hall before he bumped into a familiar blonde. “Oh excuse me… Sharon!”

“Hi, looks like you’ve got your hands full.” Sharon said looking at the stack of files in his hands.

“Paperwork.” He said.

“New Shield but still the same paperwork.” She said.

“Yeah, how are you settling in?” Steve asked.

“It’s good,” She said. “I was actually just on my way to grab some coffee would you like to join me?”

“Uh sure. I could use a good cup of coffee.” He said following her to the cafeteria.

Pisa, Italy-

It was a beautiful day in Pisa. The sun was out but it wasn’t uncomfortably hot. Since we took the train here I had opted for a comfortable outfit. Just some blue skinny jeans and a wrap cropped top in mustard yellow with blue and white flowers printed onto it.

“Mhmm, so far best Gelato I’ve had.” I said sticking another spoonful in my mouth.

“The cheesecake flavor is good.” Clint said as we walked down the street following the signs that led to the Tower.

Once we got to the plaza where the tower was we stood outside and looked up at it. It was definitely leaning. We were quiet for a minute just admiring it. Well I admired it. Clint on the other had was just staring at me. Thinking about what a perfect day it was weather wise and how he didn’t want to wait. So he reached into pocked and took out the scratched and scuffed velvet box starting to get down on one knee as he opened it. Then I just had to open my big mouth. Though in my defense I hadn’t even noticed what he was doing.

“I thought it’d be bigger.” I said and Clint froze looking down at the ring. Was it small? Natasha said it was the perfect size. He thought it was big. Then again compared to the jewelry and gifts Tony and Thor had gotten her maybe it was too small. So he quickly put it away and shook it off.

“That’s what she said.” Clint said and I laughed. “Do you want to go in?”

“UH… It doesn’t really seem worth it?” I said awkwardly as I stared at the line.

“Yeah.” Clint said noticing it too. “You know what we can do?”

“Cheesy pictures where we try to straighten the tower?” I said.

“Yeah.” Clint said as I took out my phone and we started snapping photos of him. I laughed at all the poses he made before we swapped spots and then took one together.

“So we can have lunch or head back unless you want to go to church?” I asked.

“uh… I’m good.” Clint said. “maybe we can hit a few of the sites in Florence?”

“Or take advantage of some of the resort amenities?” I suggested. “Like that PlayStation.”

“I mean if you want to…” he started.

“They have halo.” I said.

“Game night. Love you.” He said kissing me.

“Love you too. Though we need to grab lunch on the way back.” I said.

“Yeah.” He said as we started walking back to the train station.

Later that day…

We had played halo all day. Apparently the serum didn’t just enhance my brain but my gaming skills. I got tired of staring at the screen after a while and decided to go swim in the pool for a bit.

He decided to stay in for a bit and try to pass the level he was stuck on. At least that was what he told me he was doing. Once I was out of earshot he took his phone out and facetimed Nat.

“Hey.” She said.

“Hey, are you busy?” Clint asked.

“Well I’m supposed to help break in the new recruits so I’ve got time.” Natasha said before looking behind Clint. “I thought you two were going to Pisa today?”

“We got back a while ago. There wasn’t really a lot to do.” He said.

“So why are you calling… wait did you ask her?” She said.

“I almost did…” he said.

“Almost?” Natasha asked.

“I was getting on one knee and about to say it when she said she thought it’d be bigger…” Clint started.

“Hayley said that?” Natasha said surprised. “It’s a five carat ring.”

“I mean she was talking about the Tower but I started thinking maybe this is the wrong ring for her.” Clint said.

“Clint stop being an idiot.” Natasha deadpanned.

“But I want to get this right.” He said. “I mean Tony buys her stuff all the time. Like a solid gold tracking bracelet and Thor’s ring is made from a space emerald and stardust…”

“And Hayley doesn’t care about that. She likes that stuff because of the thought behind it. She doesn’t take off that necklace you gave her. The one you made for her out of metal scraps?” She reminded him.

“Yeah but this is different it’s…” He started.

“A ring you picked out for her, that you’ve been holding onto for years because she’s it for you. That you dug through the wreckage of the Triskelion for days looking for it?” She said. “She’ll love it because it’s from you and she loves you.”

“You’re right.” Clint said looking at the ring. “Thanks Nat.”

“Now go propose already.” Nat said.

“Not yet, I have it all planned out.” Clint said.

“Just do it. I already have an eye on my best woman dress.” Natasha said before she hung up.

Venice, Italy-

One of the perks of the resort, they rent very decked out busses to take guests to places like Milan and Venice where they have other similar resorts. So we almost didn’t mind the three hours we had to sit around to get to Venice. We did get a good nap in.

Almost immediately after we got off the bus I felt the hazy sticky heat of summer. The sea breeze doing almost nothing to make it feel cooler than it already was. I was glad I decided not to wear jeans. Instead the light blue chiffon pleated midi skirt and the asymmetrical one cold shoulder white cotton knotted cropped shirt kept me comfortable.

“Oh gelato!” I said looking at a cute shop.

“Wow how about we hold off on that… I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to wait 45 minutes before going into the water after you eat.” He said.

“I think that’s only if you’re going swimming.” I said. “But you’re right we should wait a bit. Walk around not go into the first shop we see.”

We did some walking around, getting lost at one point because everything looked like a church or just some really old building. We found a bookstore that kept all of their books in actual bath tubs and small boats for when the city flooded.

Then we found a small pasta shop, that had handmade pasta takeout. It didn’t look like much and the shop didn’t even have anywhere to sit down so everyone was eating outside or on the bridges.

“Mhmmm.” I said digging in.

“This is the best pasta I’ve ever had.” Clint said.

“How’s the tomato sauce?” I asked.

“Here.” Clint said offering me a forkful. I took the bite and moaned.

“Mhmm, so good.” I said we leaned against the railing of the bridge as a gondola passed by and the rower was singing to the couple riding with him. “Aww they actually sing.”

“Who knew.” Clint said giving himself a mental high five for booking a ride with a singing rower.

“You got a little bit of sauce.” I said gesturing to the corner of his mouth. Clint stuck his tongue out trying to get it but missing it. I reached over and wiped it off with my thumb. He took my hand and licked my thumb before leaning over and kissing me.

We kept walking finding a small shop hidden in an alley which was actually a street because when you don’t have cars all streets look like alleys.

“These are pretty.” I said looking at all the blown glass jewelry.

“All hand made here in Venice.” The shop keeper said.

“These would make great souvenirs for Natasha and Wanda.” I said picking up a pair of green glass beaded earrings and a red pair.

“I’m sure they’ll like that.” Clint said as I went around picking out a matching necklace to go with each of them.

From there I couldn’t wait any longer and we stopped for some gelato which I ate as we walked to where we would get on the gondola. Clint had apparently set it all up ahead of time which was sweet of him and a bit of a surprise since we had agreed we weren’t going to plan anything specific just wing it.

“Okay here we go.” Clint said as he helped me get onto the gondola.

“Whee!” I said sarcastically.

Slowly the boat started moving and we went down the small canal. Clint seemed kind of anxious. Maybe he was getting seasick. Was it possible to get seasick on a gondola? We weren’t even going that fast. I reached over and took his hand giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“So…” Clint started but before he could get anything out the guy rowing the boat started singing… badly.

“Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole
N'aria serena doppo na tempesta
Pe' ll'aria fresca pare gia' na festa
Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole” he sang enthusiastically.

“Oh wow.” I said as he practically shouted in a screeching grating voice and he was standing right behind us.

“Ah… should’ve turned my hearing aids down.” Clint said putting a hand on his ear. “Uh excuse me?”

“Ma n'atu sole
Cchiu' bello, oi ne'
'O sole mio
Sta 'nfronte a te
'O sole, 'o sole mio
Sta 'nfronte a te
Sta 'nfronte a te” He said.

“Excuse me?” I said waving a hand to get his attention and just smiled at me continuing even more enthusiastically.

“Hey!” Clint said waving his hand signaling him to stop but he just kept singing his heart out.

“Mi scusi signore?” I said loud and clear enough for him to hear and he stopped. “Excuse me sir?”

“Signorina, vuoi un'altra canzone?” He asked. Miss would you like another song?

“La canzone è meravigliosa ma ti dispiacerebbe forse cantare un po 'più piano il mio ragazzo ha orecchie sensibili.” I said. The song is wonderful but would you mind maybe singing a bit softer my boyfriend has sensitive ears.

“Ovviamente qualsiasi cosa per amore.” He said. Of course anything for love

“Grazie.” I said thanking him before turning to Clint who was just staring at me. “Better?”

“Uh Since when do you speak Italian?” He asked.

“Oh I asked Tony to teach me a few things. Did you know he speaks fluent Italian?… and I read an English to Italian dictionary. Guess somethings stuck.” I said.

“We’ll come back to that later.” He said putting an arm around me as we enjoyed the rest of the ride. Admiring the twinkling lights and the paper lanterns contrasting the sunset sky.

“We need pictures of this.” I said taking my phone and snapping a few of the canal before switching to some of us. Clint kissing my cheek, me kissing his and then one of us just kissing. I was totally going to frame that them side by side. I was too busy looking through things on my phone I missed Clint reaching into his pocket to take out the ring box. He started moving and moved to stand in front of me.

“Signore…” The gondolier started and I looked up just as a boat sped by us and rocked the gondola.

“Woah!” Clint shouted losing his balance and falling overboard.

“Clint!” I shouted. I was freaking out. Not only were we in the deepest part of the canal but the busiest so boats were speeding by constantly. Not to mention Clint was taking his sweet time coming up for air which was freaking me out. What I didn’t know was that he was under water trying to find the ring and was freaking out because he couldn’t find it. What neither of us knew was that the ring wasn’t in the water, he dropped it in the boat as he fell without realizing it.

So In the middle of both out freak outs, Clint had to come up for air and I had decided to jump in after him. I was standing up just as he popped up from the water, grabbed the edge of the gondola tipping it to the side making me lose my balance because my sandals couldn’t get any traction and knocked me into the water.

“Ah!” I shrieked.

“Hayley!” Clint shouted.

“I’m okay.” I said swimming up. The water was freezing just as I started swimming towards the gondola the police showed up. We got back into the gondola before we were towed to a dock. As they were helping us back onto the boat Clint noticed the ring and swiped it back into his pocket without me noticing.

“Are you okay?” Clint said checking me over.

“Yeah I just picked a really bad day to wear a white t-shirt.” I said and he looked down noticing how see through it was. Then another gondola passed us by and someone whistled at me. Clint grabbed his jacket and wrapped it around me. The cops held us up for an hour lecturing us on how dumb it was to stand on a small boat and then proceeding to fine us for obstruction of traffic before letting us go. Of course we were late and missed out buss back to Florence so we were stuck in Venice for the night.

“Guess we should find a hotel.” Clint said.

“Yeah but first we need to find new clothes. No way anyone’s going to let us in looking like this.” I said.

“We don’t look that bad.” He said.

“Clint I flashed half the Grand canal.” I said.

“We need new clothes.” He agreed. We walked into the first store we saw which was a high end boutique. The attendant was about to try to kick us out when I took out my Black card and they immediately changed their tone.

“We need new clothes.” I said.

“Of course ma’am, if you’ll follow me our newest collection just arrived. Can I get you both anything to drink?” She asked.

Twenty minutes later Clint was in grey slacks, a white dress shirt, and the comfiest shoes they had which were still dress shoes.

I on the other hand tried to go with the first thing I saw that wasn’t a black tie gala dress. The only things I could find was a strapless white lace dress that went down to my ankles and matching heeled sandals.

I paid and we were out of there.

“What’s the closest hotel?” I asked Clint.

“Uh… well the resort’s hotel here in Venice is that way passing two bridges right off the canal. It’s also where our shuttle can pick us up tomorrow.” Clint said.

“Which way?” I asked.

“That way.” He said pointing straight ahead.

“Maybe we can find a place to eat or that sells gelato I’m starving.” I said.

Another thing I didn’t know was that Clint was planning on this being an overnight trip so he already had a hotel reservation at said hotel. So when we passed by a restaurant that had a huge line and he asked me to wait while he got us a room he was actually going to check us in. I also didn’t think anything of it when I walked into the room and there were flowers everywhere and champagne because he told me the only thing they had left was the honeymoon suite.

In hindsight I should’ve known. It was pretty obvious what was going on but I bought it.

It was a quiet night. We were both exhausted from the rollercoaster of a day and just wanted to knock out but since we were already dressed up we went out for dinner and then walked around ending up at a jazz bar where we started drinking and dancing. Then we drank some more…

Somehow we got back to our hotel and made out in bed until we knocked out.

Florence-

Back in Florence things were a lot easier. There weren’t any canals for us to fall into. There was a lot to see and do.

On our last day we decided to take a walking tour of the city to learn the history. We were obviously going to do a lot of walking to I opted for all white tennis shoes to wear with a cap sleeved midi dress in light blue with white dots and a thigh high slit.

Ten minutes into the tour we got bored and decided to walk from the Duomo to Plaza de Michelangelo. It didn’t take too long and once we were there we were astounded by the views of the city.

“Best views yet.” I said.

“I don’t know the Venice canals were pretty great. Even got flashed by this really hot girl” Clint teased.

“Really?” I said with a smirk.

“Too soon?” he asked. I didn’t say anything just kissed his cheek and hugged him as we looked out. We were there for a while just chatting when he excused himself for a minute.

I was taking a photo and sending one to Nat to check in.

Clint had gone to go buy flowers from one of the vendors and had the ring box in his hand. He was going to do it. It was the perfect time. Of course just as he took his last step in front of me a kid fell of his skateboard and it happened to pass exactly where Clint was about to step and he slipped and the ring flew off landing in a bush.

“Clint!” I said immediately seeing him on the floor.

“I’m okay.” He said with a groan as he sat up.

“You sure?” I said eying him up and down for injuries. Besides a few scrapes and a few bruises he might have later on he was okay.

“Yeah.” He said looking around.

“Here.” I said helping him up. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m okay… though your flowers aren’t.” He said handing me a bouquet of lilies.

“Aw.” I said kissing his cheek and hugging him. “We should go, it’s getting late. We still have to check out that bridge shop with the best gelato.”

“Uh actually mind if I meet you there?” Clint said surprising me. “I just want to take in the view for a bit more.”

“We can stay for a bit more.” I said.

“No it’s okay.” He said. “You got to get your gelato and you wanted to check out that other shop before they closed. I’ll be right behind you promise.”

“You sure you feel okay?” I said putting my hand on his cheek.

“I’ve taken harder falls Hales.” He said kissing me. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“Okay.” I said letting go of him and making me way down. Clint waited until I was far enough away before he jumped over the raining into the bushed on the slope and started looking for the ring.

When we finally did meet up he was covered in dirt and mud and there were leaves in his hair.

“Whoa!” I said. “What happened?”

“Oh I uh… slipped over the railing into the bushes.” He said. “Not a big deal.”

“You’ve been falling a lot lately.” I said. “Is your hearing okay? I heard sometimes when your aids aren’t set right they could affect your balance.”

“I’m just accident prone you know that.” Clint said putting an arm around me. “So what did you get?”

“Oh just some art books for Steve I thought he might like.” I said.

“Sounds like he will.” He said.

“Also got some Biscotti Tony loved last time we were here and got some for Bucky while I was at it.” I said. “Feel like grabbing dinner?”

“I could go for pizza.” He said.

“Pizza it is.” I said.

Paris-

If I thought Florence and Venice were hot, Paris was even hotter. Good thing I over packed and brought outfits for everything that could possibly come up.

Clint was also acting really weird. Had to tie his shoelaces a lot. Though that had helped him not fall anymore so that was good.

Dad also happened to be in town so we were grabbing dinner with him.

“I thought it’d be cooling down by now.” I said coming out of the bathroom in a backless red ruffled a-line dress that came down to mid-thigh.

“Well it’s summer.” Clint said. “Wow.”

“What? Too much?” I asked looking down at the dress.

“No just… feel like I’m really underdressed now.” He said.

“Well your overdressed in my opinion.” I said putting my arms around him. “Like you’re wearing too much.”

“Really?” He said with a smirk. “What can I do about that?”

“I have a few ideas.” I said smiling at him as I kissed him.

“Mhmmm as much as I want to and I really really want to, we’re meeting your dad for dinner and if we don’t go now we’re going to be late.” Clint said. “But later…”

“Later.” I said kissing him one last time before I let him go. We headed out and met dad at the restaurant he had picked out.

“Cal!” he said greeting me with a huge hug.

“Hey dad.” I said returning it. “Hope we didn’t keep you waiting.”

“I just got here.” He said. “Clint.”

“Marcel.” He said shaking his hand before we all sat down. “I ordered a bottle for the table. So how was Italy?”

“Italy was great.” I said. “The food, the art, so much to see and do.”

“We even got to go swimming.” Clint said.

“It was an unforgettable vacation that’s for sure.” I said. “Retirement is great.”

“It sure is.” Marcel said sipping his wine. We ordered food and laughed at dad’s stories.

At some point I had to excuse myself to visit the ladies room leaving the two of them alone for a bit.

Third Person’s POV-

Once Hayley was out of earshot Marcel casually swirled his glass a bit.

“So can’t help but notice there still isn’t a ring on my daughter’s finger. What’s going on there?” he said.

“I’m working on it.” Clint said.

“I’m just asking. I mean you asked for my blessing months ago and I’ve been waiting for a call, or a wedding invitation, hell I’d even be okay with hearing you two eloped…” Marcel said. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve been trying to propose for months but the moment’s always ruined.” He said.

“How hard is it to ask one question?” He said.

“You have no idea.” Clint said with a sigh. “I planned out the perfect date night, learned to make pasta from scratch just to make her her favorite dinner and right when I was about to pop the question she starts telling me about her day and the fight she was having with Cap so it wasn’t the right time, I was going to keep it simple and just propose over pizza that had marry me spelled out in bacon and she decided last minute to sleep over at Tony’s. I was going to propose on a gondola in Venice and I ended up falling into the canal then I knocked her into it with me. Then in Florence I almost lost the ring because I tripped on a skateboard and had to dig through a bush and fell off the side of a big hill getting it back so yeah it’s really hard to ask one question.”

“Maybe you’re just going about it all wrong.” Marcel said. “Cal isn’t one for grand gestures even when she was a kid.”

“I know she doesn’t want them but she deserves it and I want to do this right.” He said.

“Well you’re in Paris…” He said.

“Yeah Paris is more Hayley and Tony’s thing. I got Italy though, birthplace of pizza.” Clint said.

“Just don’t wait too long.” Marcel said in an uneasy tone.

“Why do I get the feeling there’s something you’re not saying?” Clint said just as Hayley walked back to the table.

Hayley’s POV-

“What did I miss?” I asked as I sat back down.

“Uh well I guess now’s a good a time as any. I did some digging into what your mom’s been up to the past seven years and…” he started.

“No.” I said cutting him off.

“Cal I found something.” He said.

“I don’t want to know.” I said.

“Hales maybe we should hear him out?” Clint said.

“She…” Marcel started.

“Not another word.” I said to dad.

“Cal I know you got out of the life and you finally got the life you deserve but you can’t just ignore what’s going on.” Marcel said. “You know better than anyone what she’s capable of.”

“It’s because I know what she’s capable of that I’m staying out of it and so should you.” I said. “We got lucky. We all got to retire like actually retirement without getting a bullet in our brains something that never happens to people in our line of work.”

“I know but ignoring her isn’t going to make her go away. Just because she hasn’t made a move yet doesn’t mean she won’t. The best way to stay out of trouble is to stay one step ahead of it and the best way to stay ahead of your mom is to figure out what she what she’s done and what she’s planning.” Marcel said. “It’s why I’m here. I found her house, where she’s been living this whole time it’s right here in Paris.”

“She’s been here this whole time?” Clint asked.

“It looks like it. There have been rumors of a new player operating behind the scenes only dealing through middle men and it all started up months after she disappeared but she couldn’t have started up as fast as she did without help.” Marcel said.

“Dad…” I said with a sigh.

“Cal I get it okay and I’m not asking you to do anything but you need to know and be ready for when she does make her move.” Marcel said before taking out a piece of paper and sliding it over to me. “That’s the address of the house. It’s outside of the city, very isolated. I already checked it out and it looks like it’s been abandoned. I didn’t find anything but maybe you will. Just think about it.”

Dinner was just awkward from there. I lost my appetite and small talk wasn’t really doing it for me.

When we got back to the hotel Clint didn’t say anything just watched me as I sat down and slipped off my heels.

“Are we going to talk about it?” He finally asked.

“Nothing to talk about.” I said getting up and taking my earrings off.

“Hales.” Clint said.

“Clint there’s nothing to talk about.” I said. “We’re not going there.”

“Hey.” Clint said putting an arm around me and pulling me onto his lap. “Talk to me,”

“We agreed we were going to live a normal retired life. No more hacking, black mail, mob deals, frame jobs, tracking down assassins basically anything close to being illegal and here we are on what is supposed to be the perfect vacation and we’re getting pulled back into this mess.” I said.

“Hales this vacation has been anything but perfect. We fell off a gondola.” He said and I frowned. “And I’m okay with that. All I wanted was to have a good time with you and for you to be happy.”

“And I am but this is… Uh!!!” I groaned.

“This doesn’t change anything.” Clint said. “We’re still retired.”

“yeah but this is me we’re talking about once I start digging it’s like I have a one track mind and all the progress we’ve made just…” I started.

“Hales… breathe.” He said pressing his forehead against mine. “No matter what we’re still us. This doesn’t change anything and if you want to throw that piece of paper in the trash and never talk about it again you can or of you want to go that’s okay too. I’m with you no matter what.”

“What do you think?” I asked and Clint just stared at me confused. “If we’re really in this together we should make this decision together.”

“I think that we’re already here and we have nothing to lose. If we find something we have another lead for the team and if we don’t then well nothing happens.” He said. “We go home and continue being happily retired.”

“I kinda regret not letting you bring your bow now.” I said.

“We’re not going to need it.” He said holding me.

The Following Morning…

We got up early to just get it over with. I didn’t really know what to expect to see. Growing up our houses had ranged from overly lavish or decorated like a hotel. Should have guessed she would have gone for the former though.

Huge entry way. marble flooring and staircase. Gold accent similar to what you would see in Versailles. Wallpaper and expensive rugs and then there was the giant portrait of herself above the fireplace.

“Wow that’s like something out of an old bond movie.” Clint said.

“Well now we know where Hadrian got his confidence from.” I said. There she was in a floor length down and a fur coat sitting on a chair decorates like a throne.

“I’m getting major Cersei vibes.” Clint said making me laugh.

“If we’re going to find anything it’ll be in the study.” I said as we walked through the house and finally found the study. There was a dark wooden desk with gorgeous detailing. All the furniture was covered in white sheets and by the way my nose was itching it was already very dusty.

I walked on the afghan carpet stomping on every inch of it loudly.

“Hales what are you doing?” He asked.

“Checking for any loose floorboards or hidden safes.” I said as I kept going but there was nothing. I walked to the desk and started checking each and every drawer but there was nothing Clint meanwhile was looking through some books on the bookshelves when he came across a photo album.

“Hales is this you?” Clint said taking out a photo and showing it to me.

“Yeah.” I said recognizing bailey my stuffed elephant toy that I was clutching in my hands. I couldn’t have been older than one year old in that photo. I started pulling out all the drawers and checking them all for false bottoms but nothing.

Clint meanwhile was very entertained at looking through photos of me as a kid and some of Hadrian before he became a murderer. Apparently he always looked like a psycho and there was proof.

“There’s nothing here.” I said as Clint flipped to the last photo of one of the photo albums he was going through when he froze.

“Uh not nothing.” Clint said taking the photo out of album and offering it to me.

I was confused as to why one photo would get a reaction out of him like that but then I saw it. It was a photo of my mom looking very cozy with the last person I ever expected.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I said.