Laura sits on the couch, chewing on her nails nervously. It's late, 2:18am to be exact, but she can't sleep. She's waiting for Clint to come home. He called her and told her that he should hopefully be back at some point tonight. She was thankful because he was still alive, but who knows what state he'll be in. He could have a missing limb, she doesn't know. But he's alive and that's all that matters.
A sudden noise from the field makes her jump. She struggles to get off the couch, grumbling about how heavy she is now because of the baby. She makes her way to the porch and squints to try to see in the dark night and eventually she can make out to figures limping over. One is Clint, she knows his profile so well she can immediately tell it's him. But the figure who's leaning against him she does not recognize. It's definitely not Nat and its tall enough to be Thor or Captain America.
Clint eventually reaches the porch, the first thing she notices is he appears relatively uninjured. The second is that there's a man leaning against him, with white hair and pale dirty skin. Laura opens her mouth but no words come, instead she just turns to Clint with a questioning expression.
"Honey, meet our new son, Pietro." He says with a sarcastic tone and nods at the man, who looks at Laura with a weak smile. She smiles in return and just nods her head.
"Welcome to our humble abode," she says and steps back so Clint can carry Pietro up the steps. She follows them into the house and up to the spare guest room, where Clint drops the other man on to the bed. He groans and his eyes squeeze shut, curling up into a fetal position. Laura glances over Clint shoulders and notices several bloody wounds littering Pietro's torso, which look to have been clumsily bandaged- most likely by Clint. You think after all his injuries, Clint would know how to properly bandage himself up, but he still sucks at it. He can barely put a Band-Aid on Nicole's finger properly.
"What happened?" Laura asks quietly as Clint covers Pietro with a blanket. The white haired man has fallen asleep and she doubts even an earthquake could wake him now.
"It's a really long story," Clint mumbles in response and stands up. He presses a kiss to Laura's cheek and she takes his arm and puts it around her shoulders, a habit she has. He can use her as a crutch instead of him being used as one. For once she can support him instead of him being a supporter. They make their way to their bedroom and Clint practically throws himself on to the bed, face first on the pillow.
"That bad, huh?"
"Eh," he whines, his voice muffled by the pillow.
"You'll tell me tomorrow?" she asks him.
"Mhm," comes his response, which means yes. She slides into bed beside him and turns off the light so they're left in the dark.
"Erm, what about Pietro? How long will he be staying?" she asks. This time, Clint actually glances up with his wide puppy dog eyes. She knows that this is him begging her to let the strange man stay. She simply smiles and nods and the decision is made Pietro to stay as long as he needs. She trusts Clint to know what he's doing when it comes to the strange white haired man.
The next day, Clint wakes to the sound of children running. He breaks into a grin and goes to sit up, but immediately he's reminded of the pain in his entire body. Fuck, being a hero is great but hurts like hell. Laura is gone, definitely downstairs making breakfast. He stands up, ignoring the pain because of the prospect of seeing his children. But then he remembers Pietro and quickly hurries to the guest room. Pietro is still asleep on the bed.
"Oh, thank God." He mumbles. He was worried that Pietro may have run off in the middle of the night. He goes to the bed and carefully shakes the white haired man's shoulder. Pietro's eyes shoot open and he lurches off the bed and is in the corner of the room in half a second.
"Calm down, it's just me!" Clint says quickly and holds his hands in front of him. "I brought you here so you can recover. You got pretty beat up. Thanks for that, by the way." Clint says. He's referring to the time when Pietro nearly died because of saving Clint and the little boy.
Pietro nods and looks around the small room. "Where is Wanda?" he asks.
"She's fine, she's with the rest of the team. You can join once you're better but I thought it might be better for you to stay here to heal because it's a calmer environment. Plus the food is way better," he jokes. He waits for a response but when none come he makes his way to the door. "I'll be downstairs, you can come down when you're ready." He says. He makes his way to the stairs but then a rush of air beside him makes him stop and then he feels arms around his torso and there's white hair suddenly in his face. Before he even has time to react to the hug, Pietro has disappeared back inside his room. He smiles at the door before going back. The little show of affection means a lot to him.
"I didn't see that coming." He murmurs then limps downstairs.