Disclaimer: I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.
Warnings: This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Please utilize understanding of personal sensitivities before and while reading.
Author's Note(s): So, this is another fic inspired by Avengers: Infinity War Prelude. In case y'all haven't noticed, I've got a few problems with the fallout of Civil War that it presented. Between it, Black Panther, and what I'm seeing in the trailers, I'm having lots of feelings about Infinity War.
Fem Power Challenge:
Fill Number: 15
Representation(s): Laura Barton; Military Spouse
Bonus Challenge(s): Not a Lamp
Word Count: 895 (Story Only); n/a (Story & Epigraph)
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Not Easily Done
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Laura washed the dishes as Clint put the kids to bed. She hated this, just everything about it. She had been okay with raising the kids on her own while Clint went off to save the world. It wasn't her preference, because it was always going to be her opinion that children deserve both their parents in their lives. It was just the life of a military family, and she had known that when she married Clint. A laugh from Lila came from above as Laura rinsed the last plate.
She had been fine with everything Clint had needed to do, so long as he was saving the world.
Laura hadn't really believed him when he had announced his retirement. Clint wasn't the type to let others fight while there was anything he could do to help. That wasn't his nature. She loved it as much as she hated it, really. Again, she had known the man she had married, and as much as it frustrated her sometimes, it really wasn't any more frustrating than being a regular military spouse. Clint was what Tonya over at the post office called a lifer, and Tonya would know since she had one of her own overseas getting shot at. Laura had known that Clint wasn't really retiring, just taking a longer break than normal, when he had made his grand proclamation.
So she hadn't been surprised when the phone had rang in the middle of their vacation and Clint had disappeared into the night with barely a goodbye.
She had married a lifer and that was just the way of it.
Then Leipzig had happened, and she had realized that her husband hadn't been called away on a mission to save the world. Clint had gone to help Steve Rogers become a terrorist. There was nothing involved to save the world. She had followed the creation of the Accords, knowing their future importance to the global community and understanding the ways the US were likely to respond. There was no doubt in her mind that the Accords themselves were a good thing and were likely the only thing that would keep certain countries from mandating conscription for anyone who gave even a hint of special abilities.
Having a parent with them, regardless of how they were acquired, was a hell of a hint.
Laura had been confused when Clint had shown up only a day after he had destroyed an airport with Rogers, all smiles and good cheer—as if nothing had been wrong. She had asked, as the kids ran off to finish unpacking, what conditions 'they' had given for his release. Clint had simply said that Cap had taken care of it. She had wanted to believe that Clint had meant that Rogers had negotiated a pardon of some sort, something like the incident would be forgotten so long as Clint truly retired.
She had wanted to believe that her husband was still the hero that she had married.
Instead, he had come home after breaking out of prison and before even being tried for his crimes.
Instead of being a hero, someone the kids could look up to, he had become an unrepentant villain.
Laura sighed as she began drying the other dishes while the casserole dish soaked. Her options were limited. Sheriff Dodd would not be able to take Clint in if he didn't want to go. The old man was close to retirement and no matter what worries Laura had, Clint was able to keep up with gods and super soldiers. Most of the Avengers had sided with Rogers when he had decided to break the law, making them useless, and the few who remained were probably not available due to injuries. (That fall had looked so bad, even from as far away as the camera had been. She hoped Rhodes was okay, though she couldn't imagine how he could be.) She stacked the last plate as she knew that she had no other choice.
She had to make the Call.
She just hoped that Melinda didn't bring Phil with her when she came to take Clint back into custody. Clint probably wouldn't be able to handle the double shot of 'betrayal' after everything that has happened the past few years. It wouldn't be good for Phil either, because Clint got mean when he was angry. Words could be weapons just as easily as actual arrows.
No one deserved to have their willingness to work within the law to save lives attacked simply because someone else wasn't willing to do whatever it takes to save the world.
Laura closed her eyes as that thought went through her head. She had never figured she would be the one forced to make these decisions. When she had married Clint, she had done it because she had loved him, not because she had wanted to control him. When Nick had taken her aside and told her that he was counting on her to know when to reign the asset in to save the man, she had thought it was just a weird spy-version of a shovel talk. Yet here she was, readying to reign in the asset she had married at the same time as the man.
It wasn't an easy decision to make.
There would be no turning back.
Laura still made the Call.
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An Ending
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