Nothing Will Ever Bring Us Back Together
Chapter Seven- Permission Slips
STARK HOUSEHOLD
"MUM!?" Ella Stark shouted as she ran up the stairs, the stairs only she used. Everyone else used the lift.
"IN HERE!" Pepper Stark shouted back but Ella knew where she was, the office. She would always be in there.
"Mum can I go, please?!" Ella said as she appeared in the doorway. She crossed the room and handed Pepper something. It was a permission slip to visit her pen pal in Mexico. Pepper read the letter which said,
"To Mr and Mrs Stark.
Your child, Ella Stark, has been invited to spend a week with her pen pal, Lilly Banner, and her family as part of the pen pals programme currently running in school. Your child will be spending three nights in Mexico from the 1st to 4th of October. Please return the slip below by TOMORROW if you would like your child to take part. Sorry for the short notice regarding this trip.
Yours sincerely,
Señora Ramones.'
"Why do you want to go El?" Pepper asked, "You don't even speak Spanish."
"I know but her whole family speak fluent English." Pepper read the letter again. This time two words stuck. They were 'Mexico' and 'Banner'.
"Ellayouaregoingwetheryoulikeitornot." Pepper said signing the letter. She had wanted to bring the Avengers back since day one when Natasha and Clint left. Except none of them were traceable and there was no way of contacting any of them. And she had become pregnant before she could convince Tony to go to Mexico. She remembered reading Bruce's note 'I'll be in Mexico if you need me.' Ella was going.
"Ok mum, I will." Ella replied, kind of freaked out.
"Tell me if her dads name is Bruce or her mum's is Betty."
"'Kay."
"How are you writing these letters? Don't your teachers have to read them?"
"Yeah they do. My boyfriend translates them for me."
"BOYFRIEND?!"
"Yeah mum, I do have a life,"
"Since when?"
"Week after we went back to school, I think."
"Name?"
"Ethan…"
"Surname?"
"Barton." Pepper smiled.
"Don't tell your father about that last name. Or that you have a boyfriend. Or your pen pals last name, come to think of it. I want to meet him. Week after you get back would be good." Pepper checked her calender.
"Ok, I'll tell him. Don't freak him out though"
"Text Joe, will you?"
"Why?"
"He's nervous."
"'Bout what?"
"Track meeting."
"How come I didn't know?"
"You did."
"Oh, I'll text him." She skipped off texting her brother.
BARTON HOUSEHOLD
"Mum? Dad? Are you home?" Ethan asked as he walked through the front door.
"Yep. Come on, let's go." Natasha replied, grabbing her coat.
"Where are we going?" Ethan asked.
"To watch Katya." Natasha said.
"In what?"
"Athletics."
"WHAT? NO WAY. I am not coming to watch my stupid, friendless, pathetic excuse for a sister in an athletics meeting." Natasha raised an eyebrow and looked at Clint who shouted,
"ETHAN! DON'T SAY YOUR SISTER IS FRIENDLESS," Natasha backed out of the door, "OR STUPID," They heard the car door slam, "OR PA- she's gone. I know I shouldn't thank you for this but thanks I really did not want to go to that. I had to go to my brothers once. They are so boring. No offense to Katya though."
"It's ok dad but you are protecting me when she gets back, mum will have told her."
"I will but do never call her friendless again, she does actually have friends."
"Yeah, I know. They wait for her to go into school together. And she sits next to some boy on the bus."
"Oh, Ok. That's good, for her."
"Yeah dad will you sign this permission slip?"
"Ok, where's the letter?" Ethan slid the letter to him and Clint read,
'To Mr and Mrs Barton,
Your child, Ethan Barton, has been invited to spend a week with his pen pal, Lewis Banner, and his family as part of the pen pals programme currently running in school. Your child will be spending three nights in Mexico from the 1st to 4th of October. Please return the slip below by TOMORROW if you would like your child to take part. Sorry for the short notice regarding this trip.
Yours sincerely,
Señora Ramones.'
Unlike Pepper, Clint only really took in the 'Week with pen pals in Mexico'. He didn't know that Bruce went to Mexico, or that he could even have kids. As he signed it he said,
"Yeah you can go but the week after you get back she's coming round and you are never calling Katya friendless again. Understood?"
"Yeah."
"Anyway, This boy Katya sits next to on the bus, he is just a friend who happens to be a boy, right?"
"Yeah, I think. They only talk on the bus and I don't have the pleasure of seeing then in school. What's the worst they could be doing? She's what 11? 12?"
"Ethan, do you not know your sisters age? It's 12 and I suppose. Wait- if your suggesting that, what are you 15 year olds doing?"
"Nothing you need to know about."
"Ok." They stared at each other in silence for a minute until Ethan's eye caught on a slight bulge in Clint's top pocket.
"What's that?" He asked pointing. Clint pulled out a very collapsed bow. You couldn't tell it was one though.
"In your mother's words... A good Agent will always have a weapon." He expanded the bow, too quickly for Ethan to see the trick, and pulled a few arrows out of his trouser pocket that Ethan didn't know was there. They weren't Natasha's words. They were Phil Coulson's. Phil was dead and S.H.I.E.L.D. was as good as to Natasha and Clint.
"Dad... Will you teach me archery?" Ethan asked.
"Sure, kid. Let's go in to the woods." Clint grabbed another bow and some more arrows and they left. Clint smiled. He was finally teaching his son archery. He'd wanted to do that since Natasha had given birth. Ethan had never asked before and Clint had never pushed it. Katya asked, Clint obliged.
"So, Ethan this is how you hold a b-" He looked over at Ethan who had his bow nooked and held correctly. "Never mind that. You have to pull the string back a right up to your cheek." Ethan did, "And let go." As he did this he looked over at his father, and though he was looking away he still hit it right in the bull's eye. "Must be your Hawkeye bones." Clint muttered. He'd been a quite lax these last few days, half forgetting that they were on the look out for signs, half wanting them to figure it out. He didn't want them to know but felt like they should. He knew he could never convince Natasha though.
"You don't think I never watched you teach Ka- Wait what about Hawkeye?"
"Nothing," Clint quickly replied, not wanting to die today. "Absolutely nothing, Ethan, Do you want to try blind folded?" Clint spent the next few hours trying his hardest to keep Ethan from wondering about Hawkeye. No matter how good Natasha was at hacking and finding out, they couldn't brainwash them to make them forget. As they walked back to the house, Clint said,
"Ethan, stay behind me." Ethan started to walk behind him but asked
"Why?"
"The cars out front and I don't want you dead. I'm sure your mum's already taken her weapons though. Just in case."
"Ok." Clint opened the door and braced for a verbal 'Where were you, I was worried about you.' Attack from Natasha and a physical 'How dare you call me friendless?' Attack from Katya.
