Chapter 12 ~ Clint's POV:
I lay in the bed with the twins curled up between Natasha and I in the room that Stark offered for us to have in his tower since everyone was too tired to go home. I watch Aliyah and Lucas sleep peacefully wishing I could turn my mind off from the insane battle that just happened hours ago and from the horrible thoughts of being controlled mentally by a god of mischief. I shake my head and sigh getting up as carefully as possible to keep from shaking the bed. I go sit by the window staring out to the half destroyed city of New York and frown as I think that I technically brought this to past by aiding the man who caused all this.
"You cannot hide, Barton. I will find you and you will suffer for defying me. You cannot hide those adorable children and lovely wife forever. Like I said I will kill them painfully and make you watch…" Loki's voice hissed in my head and I shake my head clutching it with my hands.
"No…" I mutter and clinch my eyes shut just trying to clear my head from the past few days. I sigh beginning to drift into a sleep and my imagination begins to run wild due to all my fear for my family bottled up beginning to explode.
I see myself standing on a platform above Natasha who is guarding the children the best she can and her eyes meet mine in pure fear which is something not most people ever see from the infamous Black Widow. I shake my head trying to clear it as flashes of my previous life go through my mind as those green eyes continue to bore into my ice blue ones that match the color of the Tesseract. I draw an arrow back to take my aim at the little girl who is staring up at me with the same blue eyes that I had and I swallow feeling the guilt rush over me as I my fingers shake.
"Do it, Barton…Remember that this isn't your life anymore. You are my servant now and will obey me. Kill them and you shall live in glory by my side." Loki whispers at my side and sends me visions of how I will live in riches, fame and hero by doing this. "Kill them…"
I look at Natasha and the children one more time and let the arrow fly at the woman who I once called my wife.
"NO!" I wake with a jolt and my heart pounds heavily in my chest as I pant trying to erase the last images I saw of my nightmare. I shake violently as I see Natasha, Lucas and Aliyah laying on the ground with my arrows sticking out of their limp bodies.
"Oh god, no…I-I killed them…" I mutter and jerk around swinging my fist around as a small delicate hand lands on my shoulder. I am on my feet in a flash and my eyes meet Natasha who is standing about a foot away from me with her Glock 26 aimed at me.
"Look at me, Clint. In the eyes." Natasha says in a strained whisper and I do as she said holding my hands up to show I am not a threat.
"It's me, I swear." I say and she flicks the safety back on the gun placing it on the end of the bed before stepping close to me.
"You were muttering in your sleep and then cried out just as you woke. What happened?" Nat whispers and gently places a hand on my cheek. "Clint, you're boiling and shaking. Sit and talk to me, hawk."
I look at her as she sits on the window seat and pats the seat next to her gently reaching the free hand to me. I sigh and sit down staring over at the bed where our babies are fast asleep oblivious to the danger that surrounds them.
"I-I dreamed that Loki made me kill all of you…" I whisper in a tight voice and continue to stare ahead not wanting to look Nat in the eye. "He controlled me again and made me kill you, Aliyah and Lucas…I-I was weak and listened to him."
I close my eyes and cover my face with my hands trying to just keep calm but my emotions are screwed from the past few days. I feel Nat get up from the seat and she kneels in front of me removing my hands from my face gently. Her green eyes are glistening with unshed tears that I only have ever seen and she cups my face with her delicate hands I know so well.
"You, мой ястреб are not weak. You're the strongest man I have ever met…you saved me from myself, you showed me how to love and be the woman I wanted to be, a wife, mother and so much more. You didn't kill our children, it was a nightmare and even if you were put in that situation…I know deep down that you would never harm me or our babies." Nat whispers tears falling from her eyes and she leans up to kiss my forehead.
I sigh as her lips meet my feverish brow and pull her into my lap sitting back to hold her close. I rock gently back and forth like I do to calm the children but instead it's to calm both of us after the past weeks of hell we've been through.
"Hey, come back to bed. We've dealt with nightmares for years, Clint. We can get through this too." She whispers to me and I nod standing with her to go back to the large bed. I lay beside Aliyah and wrap my arm around her protectively drifting to sleep quickly due to exhaustion.
I wake in the morning with the kids jumping on the bed and laughing loudly. I groan and turn on my back catching Aliyah as she falls on top of me.
"Daddy, wake up! I'm hungry and so is Lucas." Aliyah says and looks at me as I sit up with her in my lap.
"Yeah, we're hungry." Lucas says still jumping on the bed and Natasha grabs him pulling him down with her.
"Alright but stop jumping, you two monkeys." Nat mutters and sits up hugging Lucas to her tightly still just needing to touch them. "Let's all get up then."
Nat uncovers herself and gets up with Lucas right behind her like always. I grin as he stops to look out the window with a gasp at how high up we are.
"Ali, come look!" He turns to look at his sister and she runs over to press her face to the window as well with a giggle.
I get up and chuckle at them kneeling behind them to look too. "You like it, guys?"
They both nod and Lucas turns to me with his bright green eyes curious just like Nat's when we get a new mission or face a new enemy.
"What is that big thing?" He asks and points to big creature that's sprawled out on the top of a building where it crashed landed during the battle.
"I'm not sure, bud. Some kind of Asgardian creature." I shrug and he nods turning back around to keep looking around.
I chuckle and stand back up to see Nat come out of the bathroom dressed for the day. I smile and kiss her cheek as I go by to get ready too coming out to sit on the bed to pull on my boots. The kids are changing clothes that were brought up by Barney last night after we laid them in bed late.
I smile when Aliyah comes to me to help tie her shoes and she kisses my cheek hugging me tight. "I'm glad you're back, Daddy."
"I am too, princess but I never left you. I was always thinking of you and your brother wanting to keep you two safe." I hug her close and kiss her head gently. I smile and stand with her in my arms as Nat follows Lucas quickly.
"Mr. and Mrs. Barton, Ms. Potts would like you to come to the kitchen floor to have breakfast with the rest of the team." JARVIS suddenly says as we head down the hall to the elevator and the kids literally freeze.
"Thank you, JARVIS. We're on our way." Nat answers and Lucas looks up at the same time Aliyah does with wide eyes.
"What was that?" They ask simultaneously and we chuckle.
"That is Stark's artificial butler." Nat answers and goes to the elevator with all of us. The twins stand in front of us as we go down a few levels and the doors open to begin our day with this superhero family.
Again, I know it's been a long time but writer's block is a terrible thing. Tell me what you think! Review!(:
