Chapter 10 – Keep Holding On

Steve usually liked to rise early, get a good run in the morning, before coming home again, and making breakfast to him, his mother and his grandmother. Especially Sundays were days he would take care to make a real breakfast, with eggs and bacon and an omelet if he found the ingredients for it. That wasn't the case today.

When Steve finally woke up, it was already past 9 AM and he could hear his mother down in the kitchen, singing to herself an old tune Steve couldn't name. He guessed she thought he looked like he could use the extra sleep, 'cause his mother usually woke him up, if he wasn't up by the time she started her day.

Today, Steve couldn't disagree that the extra sleep had been good. It had been late last night, almost midnight when he had gotten a phone call from William Brandt, asking if he could give them a ride to the police station. Steve hadn't even asked what had happened, or who it was they were picking up. It could have been Ethan for all he knew (the rumor said that he had a temper, and Steve still hadn't forgotten what happened just a week ago) but he didn't really care. The Watsons lived just a few blocks from him, and he had known Richard, Ann and John for as long as he could remember, and he had become fast friend with all the boys they took in as well, even though he couldn't say he was that close to James and John.

When Steve left the house, both his mother and grandmother was fast asleep, and he didn't bother to wake them, just to tell them he had to a friend a favor. When he arrived at their house, Richard and Will was waiting outside. None of them said a word as they claimed into the car, and so Steve didn't say anything about is, trying not to let his thought get away from him. Both he and Will waited in the car while Richard walked into the station.

"What's going on?" Steve asked after about ten minutes, not really hoping to get an answer, and at least not an answer to what he really was wondering. That was why Will's reply shocked him, in more than one way.

"Clint got arrested for vandalism. They say he threw a stone through a window at a shop downtown. Last I heard was that Clint was hoping to get to an agreement with the owner."

But since Richard hadn't come out yet, Steve guessed it wasn't working out that way. At least not yet. Steve knew that they had talked more, and that Clint and Richard came out at last, and that he drove them home without as much as a word, but he couldn't remember any of it.

They all knew that Clint had done bad thing before, as Tony would put it; that was no secret. They used to laugh about Clint going rough on them, leaving them for another gang of friends, but none of them really believed that would happen. As much as the others might not see it, it was clear to Steve that Clint was terrified just by the thought of getting kicked out by Richard or Ann. And unlike Tony and Bruce, who tended to hide in a lab somewhere whey they were scared or angry, and himself, Thor and Natasha, who liked to work it out physically, Clint had a tendency to shut himself up and don't talk to them about anything.

Steve had tried for several years to get Clint to talk to him, build up trust between them, but it was still true that Natasha was the closest to Clint, and it didn't look like it might change in the near future.

From Steve was pretty young, his mother had used to joke about that Steve had a thing for bad boys. Not those how were really bad, but those who seemed troubled and too much work for anyone else. And as he grew up, Steve had come to realize that she was partly right. He wanted to help. Had a burning wish that all people could live happy and without fear (Tony referred to this as his childish dream that would never come true, which he knew intellectually, and it was also the main reason Tony had called him Captain America through most of the last five years).

And so, when Steve had eaten the breakfast his mother had made, and helped his grandmother down the stairs and made her ready for church, Steve quietly asked his mother if he may take a walk. The weather was nice, and him mother didn't force him to come with them to church anymore, seeing him as capable of deciding for himself what to do. He still went sometimes, finding it relaxing in a way not much else ever felt. And so he was out the door, walking the short distance to Clint's house.

It was a good day, sunny and fresh, but still with a hint of the winter that was on its way. Many of his neighbors used the day in the garden, fussing with something or another, as was Ann apparently. She and Will was busy raking leafs off the ground, both in thick, sweaters, and their noses red from the cold. James and John was in the garden as wall, washing the bicycles and the car that was home.

None of them noticed Steve at first, as he was standing off to the side, not really trying to get their attention, but rather just watching them and smiling to himself. He and his mother had done the same thing just a few days ago, and even though it might be hard work, it was something that was to done as a family. Steve figured Richard was probably at work, and Clint was … well he assumed he was inside, but he wasn't completely sure.

"Hello."

Ann looked up first, being the closest to him, and smiled at him. "Hello, Steve. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, that you. Um… I was wondering if I might be able to talk to Clint?" he didn't knew what he would say to him, but he knew that he needed to talk to him, see him, show him that he didn't judge. Steve wanted to know what happened, sure, but he respected and trusted Clint more that to believe anything he might hear, other than from his own mouth. He needed to … needed to be there for him, help him any way he could.

Ann's face fell, and he knew before she answered that her answer would be negative. "I'm sorry, Steve, but Clint is grounded and isn't allowed visitors for some days." She did seem sorry, and somehow it lifted something off of Steve's shoulders that she didn't like to punish her kids. 'Cause that was what Clint was. Her son, and she acted like it. It proved once again that Clint couldn't have asked for a better foster home, and while Steve thanked her, and asked her to give Clint his hello, it lifted yet another weight that Clint knew it as well.

** Shift in Story**

Being caught had not been part of the plan, obviously. He knew better that to think it was anything more that dumb, bad luck. He had thought, back when he was sitting in the back of Djaq's car, that it all had seemed too clean. Kurt had been too nice, had run too fast, too soon for Will to shake off the feeling that it didn't seem like a coincident. Paranoia had saved him many times before he moved in with Robin, but he liked to think that things had changed. And somehow, they had too. Now people were yelling at him when he had done something wrong, instead of just saying it was what he did best (his mother had never said that, but many of her "boyfriends" had said it enough for him to get the idea), and there had been actions taken to assure he didn't do it again, other than beating him, or kicking him out. It had been a few hours, sitting in an cell in the police station that Will thought that was what Robin was gonna do. Just throw him out, get rid of the problem while he was ahead, it was bound to happen sometime anyway. But, no, Robin had been angry, so angry that he hadn't even talked to Will when he took him home, hadn't said a word, just told Will to go to his room, and stay there until Robin came and got him.

He had thought about just climbing out the window, run away before they could get rid of him, but all the times of being told he was a coward caught up to him, and he figured he might actually owe it to Robin and Marian. They had given him more of a home then he could have hoped for, and more of a family he ever had had or wanted really. So had waited, tried to get out of his own body, tried to burn off all the energy he suddenly had. The first thought was that he really had wanted a joint, something to disappear into, but the deal hadn't been sealed, and John had searched him anyway.

He had tried to work off what little he could manage in his room, tried to go to sleep, but ended up throwing his phone at the wall, seeing as Nate wouldn't stop sending him messages, telling him that they would watch a movie, or do something else, if he was up to it. (Most of the messages was already in his phone, since Nate actually had a normal sleeping pattern, but it didn't irritate Will less, even so.) He had ended up with a book, tried to get through a few pages, since he had given up on sleeping, but ended up with throwing it against the wall, both out of anger and frustration (he had never been good at reading).

On Sunday Robin had yelled at him, told him he was grounded for at least a month. That he could just about forget hanging out with his friends or doing anything he liked to do. Will had sat through it all expecting Robin to ask him to pack his bags and get out. It hadn't happened, he should have known, and when Robin was done, and sat down in the other side of the kitchen table, he looked about as tired as Will felt, and also a lot older that he was.

"I'm gonna come with you on Monday and inform principal Fury about the situation."

And that was how he had ended up here, in the principal's office with Fury's intense eye on him. They were just about done, and Will was told to get to class. He had no idea what Robin and Fury would talk about, why Robin had wanted to talk to Fury in the first place, but he figured he either would find out soon enough, or it would be something that wouldn't affect him (not likely at all).

This was the reason he was about half an hour too late to his first class, which happened to be history, which he was failing, just like every other subject he took. The only subject he didn't fail was math, and he wasn't great there either. Ms. Lang followed him with the eyes, from he entered, and even after he gave her the note telling her, he had been with Fury. It wasn't until he was seated that he noticed that the rest of the class was sitting in groups of two or three, and working together.

"Mr. Scarlett, as you may have noticed, I have given the class a group task, to be handed in in two weeks. You may join Mr. Brandt and Mr. Hunt's group." For about half a second, Will debated just running out, and never turning back, but since Robin was in the building, and he had no illusion that Ms. Lang wouldn't call Fury right away, and then more or less chase him back into the class room. So instead, he just slumped over to the desk Brandt and Hunt shared, and sat down, not even bothering looking at them. The subject was history, not his favorite, he only liked math but was only about average there, not terrible as the other subjects. (He was lucky if he passed this year, and if he didn't he didn't look forward to telling Robin, that was for sure).

Both Hunt and Brant was looking at him, as if they expected him to do something, but he did his best to ignore them for time being, instead focusing on the book in front of him ( it wasn't even his) before turning over a few pages without really trying to read anything out of it.

"Ok, so the subject is the American Civil War and each group is asked to give their point of view on what happened, and whether it was a fair war of not, specified down to one special event, or important happening. The word should end in a paper and a presentation for the class." Brandt didn't sound like he wanted to be the one to do all the talking, and Will was a bit surprised that Hunt didn't take charge, that was usually what Hunt did. Be the leader and do what he thought was best, no matter who he might hurt while at it. But no, it seemed both the other boys understood that the tension between them was too high to ignore, and anyway; this wasn't a task that needed something to go horrible wrong or to insult someone, so Hunt wasn't really needed.

Will felt bad about that last thought for about two seconds, long enough for it to register, but not long enough to turn into something more, like remorse.

"I would suggest that we all read through chapter 4 and 5 till tomorrow, and then start working on it after school tomorrow, since both I and Ethan won't have time before the weekend." A break, as if to see if they would object, before Brandt continued, "I was thinking we could meet at the library, since I have a angel in mind, but we would need more info than what is in this text book."

That had Will's thoughts stop and his head rose and looked over at Brandt and Hunt. The timing for this stupid task couldn't have been more wrong. He was grounded, and even if Will suspected he could ask Robin to go out because it was a school task, he didn't want to. The feeling was placed somewhere between 'don't want to beg for anything' and 'want to show I can be good as well', and neither of those thoughts were to comforting, really.

"I'm grounded," he mumbled, hoping none of them hear him, so that he could just ignore the situation for a while longer, before not showing up tomorrow, have them do the whole task, and him failing. Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

Unfortunately, and he had no idea how Brandt had heard him, but he clearly had, and before Hunt could open his big mouth ( which he was about to do, Will could see it in his face) nodded and made new plans, just like it didn't matter.

It did.