No Longer Home

By

Nicole

Disclaimer: I don't own The Avengers, that'd be cool though.

Summary: During a mission over a year ago, former Agent Natasha Romanoff/Barton went missing, leaving Clint alone to raise their two children. Is Natasha truly gone? What happens when Clint thinks he sees her again?

No Longer Home

Chapter 1: Single Parenthood

Clint Barton woke up to the annoying buzz of his alarm clock. Turning over, he hit the off button, making him sit up and rub his eyes. Getting up, he pulled on his track suit and went out for his usual jog.

Jogging over the Brooklyn bridge, he didn't have ear buds in his ears like the other joggers, he just listened to the soft "pat, pat" coming from his sneakers as he ran over the bridge, past a few of the joggers that were going too slow for him. Just as the sun was beginning to rise, he went back to the house he lived in, stopping on the doorstep to catch his breath before he opened the door and went inside.

Removing his sneakers, he tossed them next to the wall with the other shoes before heading upstairs to take a shower. This was his normal routine, jog, shower, and then get the kids up for school. Walking into the bedroom, he glanced at the king size bed that was obviously too big for one person, one side of the bed was completely unmade while the other side looked barely touched except for the pillow that laid crumbled up from being in Clint's arms. Diverting his eyes from the bed, he walked into the bathroom and got into his shower.

As the hot water washed away the morning sweat, he leaned his forehead against the tile and let out a deep breath as he rested his hand against the wall. The sound of his titanium wedding ring hitting the wall was the only other sound made besides the water running. Letting out a deep breath he ran his hands over his face as he finished showering and got out, wrapping a towel around his waist as he looked at the time on his alarm clock. It was going to be 6:00 on the dot again, the right time to get his kids up for school. Pulling on his clothes, he made his way down the hall as the annoying sound of an alarm clock went off.

Opening the door, he found his thirteen-year-old son still passed out in his bed. A videogame hung from his hand telling Clint that he was up all night playing with his games even after he checked on him before bed. Sighing, he grabbed the handheld game, putting it on his son's nightstand. "Sasha, wake up," he told his son.

"Go away," the teenager muttered.

Clint rolled his eyes as he grabbed Sasha's blankets, ripping them off him. "Up, now," he ordered, "Or I'm getting the bucket again."

"Alright, I'm up," Sasha muttered as he sat up.

Sasha rubbed his emerald green eyes before he dragged his fingers through his sandy-blond head. "Get in the shower, I'm not going to have you be late again," Clint told him.

"Whatever," the teenager muttered.

Clint rolled his eyes as he left his son's room and went down the hall into another room. He hated waking her up early, but at least she didn't throw things at his head like Sasha normally did whenever Clint went to wake him up for school.

Walking into another room, he smiled to see a halo of red curls on a pillow, the rest of his daughter was buried under the blankets. "Morgan," he whispered softly, kissing the top of his daughter's head, "Time to wake up sweetie pie." The little girl stirred, making Clint smile and touch her disheveled hair as her grey eyes popped open, the only trait she got from him.

"Hi daddy," she whispered.

"Hi there, munchkin, time to get up okay?" he asked.

She nodded, rubbing her eyes as Clint grabbed the clothes he and Morgan had picked out the night before as Morgan got out of bed and he left her alone to get dressed that morning.

As he stood in the kitchen getting things ready, he rubbed his forehead because of a headache that was starting to form. "You know, would be nice to actually have a house that had a working shower," Sasha muttered as he walked in.

"Maybe if you didn't stand in the bathroom for ten minutes while the hot water's running it'd be warm when you got in," Clint answered.

Sasha rolled his eyes as he propped his feet up off the coffee table. "Hey, feet off the table. Told you a million times now," Clint scolded, "You wouldn't do that if your mom was around."

"Well she's not around," Sasha answered.

"Where is mommy?" Morgan asked as she walked into the kitchen.

Clint sighed as he crouched in front of his daughter. "Mom's dead," Sasha answered bluntly.

"Sasha!" Clint snapped.

"What? You walk around here like she's going to come home any minute, when you screwed up and she's now dead," Sasha answered.

Morgan's eyes grew wide. "Mommy died?" she asked.

"No, no," Clint answered, lifting his daughter up into his arms, "Mommy's not dead, we talked about this remember? Mommy's been lost and we're trying to find her."

Morgan hugged her daddy tight with a trembling bottom lip as Clint hushed her softly, pacing the floor with her to calm her down again. He set her into her chair so she could eat her breakfast and he walked over to the chair his son was sitting in. "Hey, stop talking like that around her," Clint told him.

"You keep walking around here like mom's going to come home any minute, when you screwed up and she's gone now," Sasha answered.

The two Barton men were squaring off and Clint glared at his son. "You just sit down and eat, we're leaving in twenty minutes," he told his son coolly.

"Whatever," the teenager answered before going into the kitchen.

"Don't you dare talk to Morgan about death again, if I come back downstairs to finding that girl crying you're going to get it," Clint warned him.

While Sasha went to sit down and eat, Clint went upstairs and went into the master bedroom again. He and Sasha always butted heads, ever since Natasha disappeared they did nothing but argue. This wasn't the first time the young man blamed Clint for her disappearance. He was the last to see her before the entire mission went south and he blacked out because of the sonic arrow he had released. Woke up with his ears ringing and Steve standing over him.

He wished he could remember what happened that day, it was just bits and pieces. He remembered seeing Natasha, the sonic arrow, and then Steve standing over him. He had no memory of what happened in between even though Tony told him that he been awake the entire time and was fighting Hydra agents that had surrounded him.

Running his hand over his face, he let out a deep breath as he adjusted the hearing aids around his ears. The sonic arrow destroyed 80% of his hearing. The hearing aids were an adjustment for little Morgan who kept trying to pull them off and look at them. At the moment Tony was working another type of hearing aid so they wouldn't be as noticeable as he walked around the city. For now, they did their job he could hear.

Walking downstairs, he saw that Sasha was standing by the door. "Ready?" he asked. The young man just opened the door and went outside. Clint looked at Morgan to see her putting on her Velcro sneakers making him smile as he picked her up. "Ready princess?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, her little arms wrapping around his neck.

He kissed her cheek as they left the house, closing and locking the door behind him. He hit a button on his keys that armed the house while they were gone for the day. Making his way over to the car, he set Morgan into her booster seat. "We set?" he asked after getting her in.

"Set!" she replied, giving him a thumbs up.

Chuckling, he kissed her cheek again before getting in the driver's side and drove off. "Where's your game tonight, Sash? He asked.

"Doesn't matter," Sasha replied, "Are you gonna be there?"

"I haven't missed a game all season," Clint replied as he glanced over his shoulder before changing lanes.

"We're playing at the school tonight," Sasha muttered as he kept writing in his notepad.

Clint nodded his head slowly and the rest of the car ride was silent.

Driving up to the school, Clint got out of the car to get Sasha's gym bag out of the back. "Hello, Mr. Barton," a voice called out. Clint handed Sasha the bag.

"Have a good day, Sasha. I love you, kid," he told his son, saying the last part quietly so not to embarrass him.

The teenager didn't answer and just went up to the school. "Mr. Barton," the voice called again making him sigh and turn around.

"Miss Lloyd, hi, how are you?" he asked putting on his best smile.

"I am doing great, how are you? How are you taking care of the kids and everything?" she asked.

"We're doing alright. Getting into a routine now," he replied.

Miss Lloyd smiled, her brown eyes shining as she flicked her blond hair over her shoulder. "You know if you need anything you have my number," she commented.

"I did, threw it with the other twenty thousand numbers," he thought to himself, "Yeah, we're doing alright though thank you."

"How are the kids adjusting?" she asked.

Clint walked over to the driver's side of the car. "We're doing fine, aren't we, Bug?" he asked, looking at his daughter.

"Right!" Morgan replied beaming.

Suddenly he felt a hand slide into his jacket pocket and it was Miss Lloyd's hand. "Just in case you lost it, remember, I'm around if you need me," she said in a flirting voice before she walked away. Clint watched her walk away and took out the scrap of paper that had her number on it.

"Daddy, why do these ladies want you to call them?" Morgan asked.

"Because they are trying to get in a friendship with me like your mommy and I were," he replied as he got in the car, throwing the number into the ashtray and closing it, "Ready for pre-school?"

"Yeah," she replied smiling as he drove off.

(Avengers Tower)

Clint walked onto the top floor of the tower, rubbing his face. "I swear if I get another number slipped into my pocket I'm just going to start sewing all my pockets closed," he muttered as he sat at the table.

"Coffee?" Pepper asked.

"You goddess you, yes, please," he answered a she handed him a full cup.

"Another rough morning?" Bruce asked.

"I'm a single father raising a teenager and a five-year-old on my own until my wife is found. When are my mornings never rough?" Clint asked.

Pepper gave his shoulder a squeeze before she sat across from him. "Sasha again?" she asked.

"Yeah, had to diffuse another "mom's dead" bomb he dropped on Morgan again," he replied.

The entire room was silent and Tony cleared his throat. "You know, Clint, it's been a year and we've been going back all of the evidence, it wouldn't be too farfetched to…" Steve started to say.

"My wife's not dead, alright?" he answered, looking at all of them, "She's missing, someone has her."

He got up and rubbed his forehead as a headache started to come on. "Natasha's alive, I know she is," he added. He looked at Tony. "Have you been working on the new hearing aids so I can stop wearing these things?" he asked.

"Yeah, they're in the works, I just want to be sure they don't electrocute you when you put them in," Tony replied.

"Great, I'm going to practice," Clint muttered as he went down to the gym floor to practice his archery just so he could forget his rotten morning.

The team looked at each other as he left the room. "He's getting worse," Jane commented as she leaned against Thor.

"He has faith, gotta give him some credit," Tony answered as he sat down.

"Yet obviously it's affecting his children," Betty commented.

Steve shook his head slowly as he looked in the direction Clint had disappeared to. "We just have to be there and be his friends when we do find something, good or bad," he answered making the team agree.

Author's Note: I just wanted to let you guys know that this story along with "Can Never Run Away" will be one of the two final stories I will be writing. I have been accepted to the New York Film Academy and I have to provide 100% of my time to the school. I hope you guys love this story and the many more to follow. Thank you guys so much for the support!

Sincerely,

Arwennicole