-CHAPTER 1: The Letter-

When Laura Barton decided to get the mail that day, she expected nothing strange to happen to her. And while getting the mail was indeed normal, sorting through it was another matter. To keep the little (but apparently still growing) family a secret from the world, the house was listed underneath Laura's maiden name, Laura Rudell. That meant all the mail was typically for her or the Rudell family. So needless to say, it was a huge shock to suddenly see a simple normal looking letter addressed to one Clint Barton. Laura's shock was so great that she nearly dropped the letter and the rest of the mail where she stood. Instead though, she was able to bring it inside her home. While still focused on the one letter, she was able to put the rest down to finish sorting later and pick up a phone to dial a number she had only called a handful of times before. It rang once.

"What's wrong?" was the first thing Laura heard. The voice was filled with worry and fear. Laura sagged in relief at hearing this voice. Last she knew, she wasn't supposed to try and contact him but it had been a gut reaction to call. To have him answer right away and to seemingly not care for his own safety. It was a big deal for her.

"Uh, I'm not entirely sure," she admitted, suddenly feeling terribly silly for calling over a letter. But she had been warned. No one knew they lived there and anyone who did, didn't know about Clint Barton. To the nearby town, Laura was a single mother with three children and a male friend who sometimes dropped by to help out. If anything about that ever changed, she was to tell him, immediately.

"What's going on?" the voice pressed knowing there had to be a reason for Laura to call this number and not their normal number even if he had asked her not too.

"A… A letter came to the house today," Laura stated before pacing the room, placing the letter on the table nearby as she did some. Now she sounded really foolish. There was a half laugh of relief from the other end of the line and Laura couldn't help but smile as well. Honestly she was seriously debating just telling him it was mistake and hang up. But there was just something. She needed to tell him what was going on.

"That typically happens with mail."

"Addressed to you," Laura retorted, her original fear slowly creeping back. A long pause followed that statement. One in which Laura began to fear that the phone had been disconnected. "Clint?"

"I'll be there soon," the archer replied in what Cooper and Lila loved to call his 'mission voice'. They heard it often enough whenever S.H.I.E.L.D or now the Avengers tended to interrupt his 'vacation' time. Laura breathed a sigh of relief. So she hadn't messed up in calling him.

"Should I do anything?"

"Pack… Just in case," Clint warned, his voice still in mission mode. Laura nodded even though she knew Clint couldn't see her. It wasn't the first time the archer had done this and she was sure it also wouldn't be the last. But something about this time made it seem almost more permanent. "I'm coming."

"Kay," Laura answered as she shifted further into the kitchen to start packing a large bag with food for the kids and the animals that would come. They had long ago packed 'go-bags' that Laura kept updated with correct size clothing and essentials for their age groups. As she continued to pack non-perishables and baby food, Cooper entered the room with Arrow hot on his heels. But once he entered the room, Arrow froze, knowing that something was worrying Master's Mate. He glanced over the situation to determine if he needed to move Little Big Master from the room.

"Hey," the boy greeted before pausing at the sight of his mother on the phone with someone and packing up the food in the kitchen. His eyes hardened. While the family never actually had to leave the farmhouse, Clint would randomly call and ask Laura to test the family's preparedness in case of an actual crisis. Thankfully Arrow figured that Little Big Master was fine to stay but something big was going on. He'd need to wait for direction. Slowly, he moved to his food and water bowl out of Laura's way and sat down, waiting for an order. "Dad?"

"Something like that," Laura told him as she heard Clint telling someone that he was stealing a jet. A female voice began asking him why and Laura could tell the female was suspicious. Laura could only assume it was Natasha. She frowned as Clint denied the woman the ability to come with him before she pulled the phone slightly away from her ear to focus on her eldest. "Go pack baby, and tell the others."

"Yup," Cooper said, nodding in understanding of the situation. Laura smiled lightly at him even as he spun out of the room and rushed off to start what she had ordered. They had this down. Arrow huffed and moved a foot to follow but decided that he didn't need to. His attention focused on Laura once again.

"You guys know what to do, right?" Clint asked, coming back to the phone stronger. Laura shifted it back into place as she chuckled lightly.

"We'll be fine. The go-bags were last updated a week ago and Pietro has packed some things up as well," Laura soothed, knowing the archer was more worried about the speedster being ready than his family. It wasn't that Clint wasn't worried about his family just that... The Barton Family had had years of practice to get this type of thing down and Pietro was new to the household. He hadn't really had time to learn or deal with the same things that the rest had. In fact, this would technically be Pietro's second time ever preparing to leave the Barton House and the first time Clint had basically stood over him.

"Mrs. Laura," Pietro's voice called, breaking Laura's train of thought. She huffed a laugh, speak of the devil. Slowly, she turned to face the boy. His silver hair looked brighter in the sunlight shining in from the kitchen window and his silvery blue eyes sparkled even though he looked meek and worried. "I, uh, got the go-packs in the camper and I packed most of Nate's room. Lila is still trying to decide which stuffed animals to take and Cooper is packing up some books... Can I help here?"

"Yes, thank you," Laura replied, smiling brighter at the boy to try and make him feel better. Pietro smirked back and shifted his feet in nervous energy. The boy was still trying to get used to having a mother figure around and she was trying to get used to an enhanced teen hanging around. Pietro nodded. "Grab the baby's things and bring them out to the camper. Then get Arrow's bowls and food as well."

Pietro nodded and in a blur, the mostly filled bag Laura had been working on was suddenly full and then vanished from sight. Arrow huffed in annoyance as he tried to figure out where to sit and wait now that his bowls suddenly went missing. Mostly he just moved back a bit and still waited for an order. Laura chucked and started to just place items on the table instead of worrying about putting them in a bag. The camper that Pietro was packing now was really an A class RV with multiple slid-outs, a bunk house to hold all the kids and a washer and dryer hidden in the main bedroom. It had been uniquely designed for the family and can actually hold over 15 people. To keep it as secret as the house, Fury had actually bought it under one of his aliases and no one knew the Barton's actually had it. It's deed had been handed over with an easy name change and Fury had made the registration in a long unused alias for Clint.

Normally the RV sat hidden in the barn but since the Sokovia Accords started getting mentioned, Laura made sure it was ready for not only being driven but also ready for long term use. She got it inspected, a full check-up for an outrageous price, and started getting it more comfortable for the family to live in long term. Many items were prepacked in it like water, canned food, and even more clothing for the family. Clint also stocked it up with hidden weapons that everyone but Lila and Nate had been trained to use. Pietro had just started learning how to use some of the weapons but was a quick enough learner that Laura and Clint trusted him with at least a simple handgun.

"Done," Pietro announced. Laura paused and looked over, the phone slipping down her shoulder a bit as she did so. "And everything is put away in as many proper places as I could find."

Laura blinked rapidly in surprise. She hadn't expected Pietro to do that as well. Slowly she nodded and looked about the room. The RV was prepacked with cooking utensils and even dinnerware so they didn't need any of that. In fact, what would have taken Laura and the Barton kids the rest of the day to do, Pietro had done in thirty minutes or so. "Wow... Uh... Help Cooper and Lila?" she suggested as the next option for the speedster.

"They said they were all set. How bout I pack some movies?" Pietro countered as he had already checked on the kids and grabbed their full boxes. Laura frowned, unsure what exactly to do now. Clint and her had never been able to pack this fast and so had never discussed the idea before. It had always taken too long to get everything else set. Slowly, nearing cautiously, Laura nodded.

"Did he say movies?" Clint wondered, having been half paying attention to the noise of Laura packing up everything to go. Even as he had prepared a jet to leave.

"Yeah. We're... We're almost ready here," Laura told him in a disbelieving tone as she went to check on her children upstairs. Arrow whimpered for a moment before realizing that most of Master's Mate's anxiety was dwindling. Figuring things were fine, he rushed off to find a child to play with. Nate had been napping before she went to check the mail and she assumed he might have woken when Pietro blitzed through but the boy was still napping away, a stuffed yellow dog curled under one arm and the little pig, Pua, from the upcoming movie Moana, under the other. Relief flooded through the woman before she looked around. Other than the furniture and the toys in his crib, the room looked empty. Some of the drawers were still partly open and completely empty and the closet doors were wide opened showing empty shelves and racks. Laura smiled at the thoroughness of the speedster before moving on. Lila had a suitcase filled with toys, stuffed animals and some books. It was so disorganized that it didn't look like it'd be able to shut. Arrow was sitting beside the girl, looking highly bored. "Need any help?"

"Nope, just trying to decide if Mr. Fluffbottom or Sassypants should come with us," Lila retorted as if this was the biggest life decision in her life. Laura chuckled. For a girl her age, this probably was the toughest decision she'd have to face. And considering their lifestyle, Laura was glad that it might be.

"I'll be home in about ten minutes," Clint informed over the phone, keeping his wife partially updated. Laura hummed at his voice before suddenly the connection died. She frowned at that but assumed it had to do with the fact that he was now flying and might not always have perfect service.

"Why not take both?" Laura suggested, knowing it was against all their packing procedures. But then again, they had never nearly been this done before Clint returned home. Lila snapped her head around to look at her mother in surprise.

"Can I?" she innocently inquired. Laura nodded, making the girl whoop for joy as she picked up two stuffies. One was a little bunny that Coulson had gotten the girl for her third birthday and the other was a long haired cat that Natasha had gotten as an apology for Clint getting injured on a mission. Not that Lila understood that part of the gift just that Auntie Nat had come to visit with the cat and her daddy wouldn't be home for a few weeks.

"Daddy will be here soon," Laura informed before moving onto Cooper's room. Cooper was a bit more organized than Lila. He had books packed in a pre-approved sized box and the rest sorted into two stacks on either side of him. Most of the toys had already been messily tossed into a box down the hall. Laura smiled at the sight. "Having trouble?"

"Kinda. I don't wanna take too many," Cooper said even as Pietro suddenly appeared behind Laura.

"Movies packed. Hey Coop, this good to go?" the speedster asked. Cooper nodded, not even looking at the box that Pietro pointed too. Laura felt the breeze of Pietro taking back off before her eyes noted that the box of toys was gone.

"I think we have the room for one of those stacks," Laura suggested, knowing Cooper had set the stacks as one being 'want more' and the other as 'would like to bring'. The ones already packed were either his favorite or never read. Cooper looked up at her in surprise.

"Really?" He questioned. Laura nodded and moved into the room.

"Honey, we've always had the space for more items. Limiting down before was about the time needed to pack everything," she explained. Cooper's eye widened as Pietro blasted into the room. He focused on the speedster for a second before looking back at Laura.

"Because of Pietro, we can pack more?" the boy called in amazement. Laura nodded not knowing that Pietro was now standing in the doorway again.

"Um, is that a good thing?" the teen wondered. Laura chuckled, taking his sudden appearance in stride. After living with him now for a few months, she had gotten used to his speed. It was still a challenge to sometimes get used to like asking him to do chores and having them done seconds later (unbelievable for any other kid) but they worked through it all.

"Yes Pietro, a very good thing. Thank you," she told him as she turned to look at the boy. Pietro blushed lightly before nodding and rushing off to grab a few more things.

Knowing that Pietro was allowing for more things to get packed, Lila and Cooper began grabbing more and more items to bring out to the RV. Pietro would come in, collect a box or bag and head out to the RV, unpack it wherever needed and then run back to grab another. Even Laura started grabbing some things to pack like more clothes for her and Clint and even some more weapons and ammo as a just in case. Arrow patiently waited for orders but soon understood everyone was packing so he also joined in and started collecting various dog toys, bones and other such things he had hidden throughout the house to bring to the RV.

Nearly seven minutes passed before Pietro finally announced that the RV had basically no more room to pack anything else. It had more than enough items to cover what the family needed. Nate had finally woken from his nap and so Laura was feeding him on the porch, waiting for Clint's Quinjet to finally arrive. Pietro, Cooper and Lila all worked to neatly sort all the items in the camper to see if there was more room for one more movie, or book, or toy. Arrow was off digging something up in the yard and whatever it was, he then brought to the RV before he rushed off to dig up another thing. Laura hadn't been this relaxed during an evacuation since before Cooper was born.

The roar of a jet engine had Laura looking up from Nate's last spoonful of lunch. Pietro suddenly appeared by the woman as Cooper (armed with a bow and quiver of arrows on his back) and Lila appeared at the barn door. Arrow even stopping in his digging for a moment. Everyone waited, praying that Clint was the one coming and not someone else, as the jet spun around on to land with it's rear facing the house. There was a moment of jerkiness before it fully landed and moments after the loading bay area opened. Clint was already walking down the ramp and Laura couldn't help but notice the rather large and fresh red hand print on his cheek. Still no one moved, waiting to see how Clint would call this. Did they need to leave now or could it wait for a tearful greeting? They were all shocked when someone else appeared. Behind the archer came a tearfully happy and angry girl. Red sparks appeared at her finger tips but got no further.

"Wanda?" Pietro breathed, knowing that Clint hadn't wanted him to see her before. By the time Clint and Pietro had realized that the teen was here to stay in this reality, Wanda had seemingly gotten over the loss of her brother. And whenever Clint tried to bring up the subject of Pietro, Wanda either shut him down or someone bothered them. So right now was the first moment Wanda knew that Pietro existed. Distantly, Pietro wondered if Clint had informed her of their one issue. He wasn't actually her brother. While he may look, sound, and even partially act like her brother, Pietro was from a different reality. Not even their genes matched.

"Pietro?" Wanda cried before running off the jet to get to her 'brother' faster. Clint tried to grab her in an attempt to stop her and explain fully but she slipped right on past with a quick blast of red power. Pietro stayed frozen, unsure what to do. This girl had lost her brother. Lost the last part of her family and now here he was, having just lost his own sister to an alternate reality. While it seemed clear that the duo should just accept each other at the lost sibling they needed, Pietro couldn't do it. And he didn't realize such fact until she was already at the steps. Pietro couldn't fake being her brother, even for a minute. This Wanda needed to know. He side stepped her hug and she froze, stunned that he'd do something like that. "Pietro?"

"I'm... I'm sorry," the speedster mumbled, seeing the hurt and rejection in her eyes. He couldn't handle it. Clint would have to explain. He ran as fast as he could to Cooper and Lila, who stayed at the barn door as a just in case. Arrow must have sensed something was wrong with Pietro as he finally abandoned his hole to go sit by the teen. By that time, Clint had made it to the stairs after Wanda and stood there, watching.

"Wanda, I'm sorry," Clint started to say. Wanda spun and slapped the archer again before he could say anything more. Clint allowed the hit and recoiled before looking back at her to see tears streaming down her face.

"WHY!?" she shouted at him. Clint winced. Maybe he should have said something on the flight over. But he had been so worried about his own family that the thought hadn't accord to him.

"He's not Pietro," Clint muttered. Laura grabbed Nate then and nodded a hello to Clint even though her eyes showed that she was disappointed in how he handled this situation. Slowly and quietly, she slipped past the two Avengers and headed to the barn. Pietro already shuffling Cooper and Lila out of view. Arrow took a forlorn look out at his hole and whatever treasure was buried there before shaking his head and following after the family.

"What?" Wanda hissed, unsure how to feel about that statement. Clint sighed and waved a hand to the seats on the porch. Slowly they both moved and sat down. Wanda could tell that she would need this and Clint just needed something to ground him.

"Remember how I mentioned an alternate reality?" he asked, not sure how else to start. It had been a while since anyone talked about it. Most of the Avengers thought Clint had gone nuts. Himself included for a while. Sometimes Steve had a distant memory of the events but Bucky had started leaving more clues as to where he was. Clint wanted to assume it was cause Bucky remembered just like he and Pietro did but… There was no chance to ask the man during everything that happened. "This Pietro, he... He came from there."

"What?" she said again, her voice softer this time. Clint sighed and looked out to see Laura driving the fully ready RV out of the barn with Pietro's and Cooper's help. Lila was keeping Arrow distracted a safe distance away.

"When I used the Reality Stone to fix the world, somehow Pietro came through. He isn't the same Pietro who died in Sokovia. In fact, he's not even related to you," Clint explained. Wanda frowned and before she could even ask, Clint groaned. "We did a blood test. You and he have no genetic relations. Not even a single percentage, which Tony found strange but I refused to let them do anymore tests."

"But..." Wanda started to say. Clint nodded, he had this same talk with Pietro right after the tests completed and he had seen a picture of his once twin. Pietro was tougher though cause the teen kept running off in favor of hiding himself rather than listening to anymore of what Clint had to say..

"Trust me Wanda, this is not the Pietro you knew," Clint repeated. "He's had different experiences from you. Knows different things and has a sister, who is not you. It'd be wrong of either of you to expect the other to be the one they want."

"Clint," Wanda finally sobbed. Clint pulled the girl into a hug, knowing that was the issue now.

"I know. It's okay. He's not your brother, but he could always be a friend," the archer suggested. If anything that made Wanda cry harder. Clint sighed. Oh, escaping the law now will be sooo much fun.


HAHA! New story! YAY! Can't wait for everyone to try it out. As warned in After Death Comes a Knocking, this is a slow build story. At least 5 chapters meant as just background setting up the correct scenes. Last through those and we all should be good to go. Hopefully you will find this story just as interesting as my previous ones or maybe even better.

In other news, my boys Clint and Darius are doing really well. Their behavior is mostly the same but I've changed some things in my life that has made it easier for me to not be bothered by it. The biggest issue I have with them is their inability to share toys with each other (Clint) and their inability to express their emotions without abusing someone (Darius). Thankfully I have Early Intervention which should help me with the proper techniques to get them to stop roughly soon.

In more news, I have sent out an original book to be edited and hoping that once it is back in my hands I'll be able have it published later this year. Who knows though. I will keep everyone posted on it with each chapter of every story I put up. Other than that, I hope everyone enjoyed and can't wait to hear your feedback!