My eyes burned, I hadn't slept in days and I couldn't take my eyes off of him. From the crying to blankly staring at the hospital wall my eyes had been through the works in the past couple of days. I tried not to blink too often because the fear of seeing that… image over and over again played every single time I was faced with darkness. I could hear the blood in my head pounding against my skull; my body ached from sleeping on chairs for the past two nights.
My eyes were trained on him… not moving- hooked up to a hospital bed with wires and tubes connected to him trying to save his life. The person in the bed seemed like an imposter, usually he was talking nonstop about movies, missions, school and the future, running around and jumping; now he laid motionless in a bed.
Flint run! You have to get out of here! I won't lose you too. His words played on repeat over and over again in my head like a scratched record- seared into my brain like a brand.
A soft hand was placed on my shoulder which caused me to flinch. Turning around I looked up and saw Tony Stark, looking a little rougher than usual standing behind me. His usual glossy tamed hair was a bit out of place and messy, his signature personalized suit was replaced with black slacks and a wrinkled long sleeve button up shirt with the Stark logo on the chest and his eyes weren't hidden behind mysterious black glasses, I could see the dark purple bags that were forming under his eyes.
"Flint…" he started.
"Don't…" I snapped. Everyone at this point had tried to console me in any way possible, but nothing in this world could help the growing rock in my gut every minute he laid unmoving in the hospital bed. Nothing anyone said could help me keep food without throwing it up hours later or give me easy sleep. "Please don't try and comfort me because it won't work." I hissed, I felt my mother's temper inside me that my father had always warned me about.
"He knew what he was getting into," Tony tried anyway, that's one thing I'll give the man, he never stopped trying. "You couldn't have predicted what Doctor Octopus was going to do."
"He's my partner… I'm supposed to watch his back. I'm the veteran here and I knew… or was supposed to know…" I chocked back words. I wanted to cry but I think my body couldn't produce tears fast enough at the rate I was shedding them. "I'm sorry Tony… I failed." My voice quivered.
"We both did." Tony's hand tightened on my shoulder.
Together we both stared at Peter Parker, Spiderman, lay lifeless in his bed with no solace on when or if he would wake up.
-One Week Earlier-
I spat blood out of my mouth and smiled. Adrenaline ran through my veins with pleasure, I felt alive and ready for more.
"What's the matter Wanda? Your magic juice running out?" I taunted, picking out the shard of glass that had dug it was into my lip. Despite everyone assuming Wanda was always in control of her emotions I knew how to easily get under her skin. She cursed something in her native language before flicking her hands in her usual way causing cars to fling towards me.
Smiling, I dodged the cars with ease; she was losing her focus and it showed. I just had to keep this charade up for a few minutes longer and I'd have her pinned. My equipment gave me a comforting weight on my leg; nothing lethal of course but enough to give you a warranted trip to the ER.
A truck flung over my head, while in mid-run I flung myself onto my back sliding along the concrete floor. Reaching down into my mini arsenal attached to my left leg my fingers trailed down onto the electric pulse chips that would send out enough electricity into the victim it would easily knock over a lion, although Wanda was no ordinary human. Grabbing two chips I easily flung them over towards Wanda.
She let out a scream, more aggravated than pain and the truck above me suddenly lost its red glow surrounding it and fell lifelessly towards the floor. Jumping up I saw Wanda on her knees huffing angrily. Looking at me she had a red glow in her eyes.
Shit. I had really pissed her off. Automatically I reach onto my left leg and brought out a mini ball that didn't look like much. But once I clicked the top button and threw it aggressively towards Wanda, a net sprung free whipping it's way over to Wanda. It would have been a perfect wrap up to this battle… if only she had stayed distracted.
Using her telepathic powers, she held the net in midair, no longer flinging towards her. Now it was her turn to grin satisfactory. My jaw clenched, it was late in this fight and I didn't have a lot of weapons to call upon.
Don't always rely on your artilleries. You will not always have them and hand to hand combat is the best back up you can have. My mom's voice ringed in my head. Before it happened I could tell what Wanda was going to do.
I read her movements just as easily as reading a book. She used her powers to fling the net towards me- it would have gotten me too if not for my split-second acrobatics, flipping to miss the net by mere millimeters.
"Running out of ideas Flint?" She mocked me. I gritted my teeth, Wanda had the advantaged when fighting from a distance but she lacked at hand to hand combat. I bolted towards her in a split second. Within a blink of an eye I was up in her face and we were fighting hand to hand. I could see in her eyes how she was out of her element.
I jabbed her in the side, hard enough for her to grunt in pain. She returned to a swift grab and twist of my arm that cause me to lose my footing but only for a second. By jumping up and twisting I ended up kicking my foot that connected with her shoulder. She let go of my arm and stumbled, that gave me enough time to sweep her legs. Just as my foot was about to knock her feet out from under her I heard her voice.
"Enough!" She yelled with determination and at that moment my momentum stopped dead. I felt something strange happen to my foot, looking down I saw Wanda's familiar red glow surround my leg.
Dammit. I knew it was over. However, just to show who really won- Wanda manipulated the control over my foot to swing high into the air and stay there leaving me upside down hanging five feet from the ground. I had the perfect view to see her smug face.
"Let her down Wanda." A commanding voice rang through the training room. Steve Roger, Captain America himself, came trotting down the stairs. Wanda gave me one more satisfying smile before dropping me a bit too harshly onto the ground.
"You ok?" Steve reached down and offered his hand. Reluctantly I grabbed it and he helped me up. "Wanda, you're finished with training for today." Steve told Wanda who promptly exited the room.
"Was it that bad?" I asked Steve while rubbing the shoulder I landed on.
"Not that bad, trust me holding your own against Wanda is a feat in itself." Steve smiled that perfect white toothed smile. If he wasn't a super soldier he could have made it as a movie star no doubt. "Getting into her head is something to be proud of; not the most noble choice of winning but a victory is a victory." He nudged me a bit.
"You could see that?" I felt my face grow hot. Manipulation and getting inside people's heads was something I was good at, although not necessarily proud of.
"I've known your mom for a while, I can see where her training comes through." Steve gave a small laugh which I returned. "Now, go get cleaned up-Tony has an announcement later." Steve waved me off to the rooms and turned to go down another hallway.
Walking down the pristine white of the Avengers Headquarters I felt even dirtier than I was- covered in blood, cuts and oil. There were nameless workers that scurried around in lab coats and business suits, always trying to keep the Avengers up to date in the good graces of all of the world governments.
It had been 3 years since the whole Avengers Civil War era and personally I was thankful for that, but then again I wasn't really around when all of that went down.
I should probably give you the full backstory.
My name is Flint Masha Barton, only daughter to the one and only Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow and Clint Barton aka Hawkeye. Yes, my name is Flint and his is Clint trust me I've heard it a millions times. Honestly what ran through my parents' head when naming me I'll never know but let's just roll with it.
When I was born my parents, for obvious reason, were afraid for my safety. They had massive amounts of enemies who would love to get their hands on their child to use as leverage. After talking with Fury who agreed to hide me away, they let me live with my Uncle Barney in Waverly, Iowa. For 14 years I was kept in the dark about who my parents were. My Uncle Barney, would make up stories when I was younger about my parents being great heroes who saved the world and kept me hidden because I was their treasure.
As a kid that was great to hear, but as I got older the stories weren't enough to satisfy. Their secret identities consumed me until eventually I threated to run away from my uncle unless he told me everything… and he did.
No more than a week later, after 14 years of being in the dark I met my parents. I saw myself in them, I had my father's dirty blond hair that no matter how many times I brushed it, the hair never stayed where I wanted it too. I had my mother's emerald greens eyes and her high cheekbones. You should have seen the looks on their faces; my father said it was the first time he had seen Natasha cry out of happiness.
Over the next several years they came around and kept in touch, sometimes they would be there for several weeks but then I wouldn't hear from there for half a year. It wasn't the most nuclear family dynamic but it worked.
It took me years of begging, pleading and training before I could prove to my parents that I could train with SHIELD. At first they were stubbornly opposed saying that the reason they hid me away was to keep me away from this life. All of that changed once Captain America brought down SHIELD. All the files were leaked, even the ones that were buried deep inside SHIELD's archives, including the documentation of my birth.
They both knew it was a matter of time before someone shifted through the hundreds of thousands of files to find me, so they agreed training me was the best option. And nearly 5 years after I met my parents, I was working with them with the Avengers.
Given I wasn't a technical 'Avenger' but they did allow me to house here for my own safety sake. My parents were very gun-hoe about me becoming an Avenger anytime soon but I would get my own small mission every once and a while.
The missions I got were mostly to keep me out of trouble or getting involved in something I couldn't handle. The routine mission often involved some low level criminal that needed to be put in his or her place and I was more than happen to do it.
Now, waking into my own little room I was reminded about how much my life had changed so quickly. A few years ago I was a girl who was convinced that her parents left her and she wouldn't amount to anything- now I was training with the superheroes of the world.
Recalling Steve's words about Tony's meeting I quickly showered off all of the grim of the day, watching the red and brown colors mix down the drain. After toweling off I threw on my regular soft black leggings and a red t-shirt. I didn't bother brushing my horrible tangled hair and let the wet stands seep into my shirt.
Exiting my room, I was greeted with probably my personal favorite Avenger, Sam Wilson aka Falcon.
"Hey Sam!" I called. He smiled wide enough that I could see the gap in his teeth. He was in his regular cloths which was a casual gray active wear shirt with gym shorts.
"Hey there kid," He gave me a pat on the back. We grew to like each other shortly after I moved here. He was the first one to really open up with me, plus we had a shared habit of friendly teasing Steve. "You headed to Tony's announcement."
"Yep, any idea what it's about?" I kept his quick pace down the hall.
"I have an idea…" He trailed. I had the feeling that he knew more than he was letting on. "But let's just get there first." He quickened his pace even more before I had time to argue.
I started to job to keep up with him and pulled ahead. I gave him a playful wink, Sam started jogging a little faster than me. I picked up my pace and pulled ahead, then he pulled ahead, back and forth until both of us were sprinting as fast as we could down into the meeting room.
My lungs with the clean air of the building, my legs burned but I didn't care, it made me feel strong. After less than a minute of racing I tapped the meeting door a second before Sam did.
"Sonofabitch." Same breathed as one word. He didn't want to show it, but he was slightly winded.
"You're getting too used to those wings Wilson," I teased. I didn't let Sam get another word out before I ducked into the door.
Everyone was sitting in a plain room around a white table that probably had some high-tech hidden within it just as everything Tony invents does.
Not all the Avengers were here today which wasn't a surprise, they usual aren't unless some horrible, world-ending villain threatens humanity. Today it was just myself, Sam (who was trying not to let his heavy breathing be noticed), my dad Hawkeye, Vision, Wanda, Steve, Scott Lang and Tony at the front of the room. My mom was currently on a mission elsewhere, Thor was helping Asgard and Hulk was with him. Black Panther was in Wakanda tending to his duties as king. Everyone was dressed casually, from the looks of it, this was probably just a routine meeting.
"Everyone," Tony said. "Now you all are probably thinking why I brought you here today…"
"We live here Tony," Scott piped up sarcastically.
"You are right Scott," Tony rolled his eyes. "But this is very important and I wanted the Avengers, plus Barton's spawn," Tony waved his hand and gestured to me. Tony rarely referred to me by my actual name, it was always Barton's spawn, Romanoff's spawn, spawn or just mini-widow.
"I wanted you all to hear this before the press release later today." Tony clasped his hands together excitedly. "After years of being my protégé and just being friendly and in his neighborhood, I am oh so ever pleased to announce that Spiderman has officially decided to before part of the Avengers. Peter!"
A slim boy walked out from the doorway looking so nervous and excited that it looked like he might throw up. He was wearing jeans and a shirt that had some kind of science pun on it from the looks of it. His hair was slightly curled at the end and swept to the side.
"Hi guys," He waved excitedly to all of us.
"You let the kid join?" My father was the first to speak up.
"Now Barton he's not really a kid, he's your daughter's age. And if I recall he did disarm Cap when we all had our little disagreement." My dad sat with an annoyed look on his face while Vision and Wanda hid a grin.
"I'm really excited to be here guys, and sorry about the shield Steve… I mean Mr. Captain America unless you want to be called Steve—" The poor kid was tripping over his words.
"Hey," Steve stood up and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Steve is just fine, and don't worry about the shield; the past is in the past. Welcome to the Avengers kid." Peter looked up at Steve like he had just given him a million dollars.
"Yes well we are all excited to have Mr. Parker here on the team with us. However, he does only have," Tony checked his watched. "About 40 minutes to get ready for a formal press appearance. Flint!" My named being called surprised me. I walked over to Tony and Peter with slight annoyance.
"Mr. Parker's room is just down the hall from your own, H4-11. Would you be so kind as to show him to his room?" Tony smiled. His tone was always relatively the same so I could never figure out if he was being sarcastic or genuine.
"Sure, common" I motioned for Peter to follow me. Just as I was exiting the room I heard my dad's deep voice get stern with Tony.
"You put his room just down the hall from Flint's? What the hell Tony?" I could imagine my dad's thick eyebrows scrunched together in anger.
"Don't worry Legolas I have this baby monitoring protocol…" And that was the last thing I heard Tony say before the door shut behind us.
Walking down the hall with Peter was like taking an already hyper kid to the candy shop that just happened to be attached to a toy store.
"Holy crap this is amazing! So do all of the Avengers live here or is it just on occasion? Does Thor come here when he's not on Asgard? What about Black Panther?" He was already forming new questions before the last one barely had a chance to get out.
"You're a wired one aren't you?" I joked.
"I guess you could say that," His faced got a bit flushed and he swallowed looking slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry I don't even know your name, are you a new Avenger?"
I laughed for a second. "I wish but no. I'm Flint Barton- daughter of Black Widow and Hawkeye." I introduced myself casualty but by the look on Peter's face you'd think I'd just pulled out a tooth. He looked slightly horrified but intrigued.
"I'm Peter. Peter Parker- but you obviously already knew that cause Mr. Stark already introduced me." He stuck out his hand politely. Shaking it I could see that the wires in his brain were short-circuiting.
"It's nice to meet you Peter Parker." I smiled. Despite his hyper puppy persona, I was eager to have someone my age in the building. Don't get me wrong Sam is a great friend to have around and pulling pranks with Scott is the best, but to have someone I can connect to on just an age scale- that was something I was looking forward too.
"Here's your room," I gestured to a door with the numbers H4-11 on it. The door slid open to reveal a basic room that was waiting to be personalized. "Have fun at your press interview Spiderman." I wished him luck and strolled down the hall into my own room.
If someone had told me that in less than a week I would be willing to lay down my life for that boy, I would have punched you in the face while blushing.