A/N: So much has happened since I last updated this story. And when I say a lot, I truly mean that. But that doesn't matter all that much at the moment. I hope you are still around for the ride on this story!
A/N2: I own nothing but my characters and plot...
Twelve
"Hi," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper as she slowly stopped crying. "I really wish you were here. You were always so good at guiding me when I didn't know where to turn."
Taking a deep and calming breath, she put her hand to her forehead as she waited a moment before continuing. "Ever since I lost you things haven't been the same. Clint was there for me. But everything with him has been a lie. It was his job to get close to me because someone found out who my father really was. He was spying on me and I just don't know if I can believe that he felt anything for me. Clint Barton is a spy. And the part that hurts the most is that he proposed to me and I told him yes. I love him and he didn't even tell me that he has another family."
"I would have told you," a voice said from behind her. "I just wanted to spare you the pain of that drama."
"Go away," Running her hands through her wet hair, she didn't want to look at him. Looking at him just brought more pain that she couldn't make disappear. No matter what she said she knew the truth and that was that she still loved him. Taking a deep breath and then another, she stood up and faced him. She knew that she couldn't hide from him, he would just track her down and find her eventually. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
"I had planned on telling you after I asked you to marry me," he told her honestly. "I didn't want that secret to be between us. I didn't tell you about Laura and the kids only for their safety. With what I do I couldn't take a chance with someone getting to them and wanting to hurt them because of what I do."
"Were you ever security?" Emma asked him, needing to know the truth as badly as she needed to breathe. "Or was that all a lie? Did you even want a nine to five job?"
"You don't even have a nine to five job." Clint said pointing out the small fact.
"Answer the question!" she said raising her voice slightly, before lowering it again. "Please."
"No," he said looking at her. He could see that she was hurting and that killed him, but she needed to know the truth before someone else tried to use her to get what they wanted. He would lay his life down if it ever came to that. "It was never an option for me."
"Why couldn't you be honest from the start? You are always saying you love me and that you care, but if you really did, then why continue the lie?"
"Because your mother asked me to."
"You are a liar!" she yelled at him. "My mother wouldn't keep something like that from me."
"She saw me with Natasha and I had to explain myself and your mother was a hard person to fool and so I didn't bother. I told her who I was and who I worked for. The only reason she allowed me to be with you still was because I didn't lie when I told her that I was in love with you."
"Did you tell her about the family that you already had? Because there is no way in hell she would have wanted me to be the other woman in a relationship no matter if I loved you or not!"
"She didn't know about Laura or the kids," Clint told her as he walked closer to her. "All she knew was that I wasn't who I was portraying."
"Was it worth it all?" Emma asked him. "Having me run away from you, having me lose our baby? Where does the lying end Clint?"
"Emma…"
"Please," she said, her voice breaking as she put her hand up to block him from coming any closer to her. She knew if he wrapped his arms around her that she would just give in and that was something she needed to avoid at all costs. "Just leave."
"No," he told her. "I would give you the world if you asked for it, but asking me to leave and telling me important information and not giving me a chance to process? That shit stops now Emma. I love you and I'm not stopping anytime soon so you are going to have to deal with it."
Looking at him in the eyes, Emma knew this was the Clint that she had fallen in love with. Stepping towards him, she watched his reaction before taking a few more steps until she reached where he stood. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she just held onto him as she cried. Feeling him wrap his arms around her felt as if all her worries could float right out of her.
Waking up, Emma slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She wasn't home, no this was definitely not her home or any place she had been to in the last few months. Taking a deep breath, she stretched out before finally sitting up. Looking down at herself, she noticed that she wasn't in the clothes she left the hospital in. Instead she was wearing a pair of sweats and an old shirt that belonged to Clint. This must be one of his little hiding places that he used while doing his job and watching her to make sure she wasn't a threat. That was just something she couldn't wrap her head around.
Her job was to help save people, not to harm someone. It did make her curious how someone could think that she was capable of helping those that worked for Hydra. Especially after what she went through. Running her hand through her hair, it was dry, which meant she had been asleep for awhile. Looking around the room, it seemed like she was alone, but she knew better. Clint didn't take chances like that, especially if he wanted to talk to her about something as important as this.
Slipping out of the bed, she opened a door that she hoped would lead to the bathroom. Grinning when she was right, she went in and closed the door to do her business. When she walked back in, she jumped back in surprise when she saw Clint sitting on the end of the bed.
"Do you ever make a noise?"
Grinning, he took in her appearance. "How do you feel?"
"How long did I sleep for?" Emma asked, ignoring his question.
"Sixteen hours," Clint told her. "The doctor said it was normal. It was your body's way of telling you that everything was catching up and you needed the rest."
"Where are we?"
"One of Natasha's hideouts. Completely safe," he assured her. "And no one knows we are here."
"No one?"
"That's right," Clint assured her. "I didn't think we should have this talk in front of everyone else."
"You think we still have something to talk about?" Emma asked, curiously. "I think that it is time to put all of this behind us. There is no point and no reason to talk about anything."
"I know that I messed up," he told her running a hand through his hair as he looked back at her. "But we deserve it to each other to figure out if not being together is what we really want."
"If?" Emma questioned him as she sent a glare his way. "I just went through hell because I wasn't told the truth from the start of everything! And I can't even go to the one person that I desperately want to talk to because she died and I can't even be upset with her. But I can be with you because since we first met you've been lying to me!"
"I was trying to protect you!"
"From what!?" Emma asked, her voice rising as her emotions started to poke through.
"From what you went through!" Clint yelled, his frustration clear as day. "I never wanted Hydra to find you or for you to lose our baby or to have you go through so much in such a short amount of time. Most of all, I didn't want you to stop trusting me."
Taking a deep, breath neither one of them knew what to say after that. Slowly walking over to the chair that was in the corner of the room, Emma sat down. She knew she couldn't sit down on the bed with him so close and still think clearly. Looking down at her hands, she knew that he wasn't at fault for the stuff she went through. The blame was at least partially on her. She ran away and didn't tell anyone where she had gone or anything.
Wiping away the tear that had escaped her eye, she looked at him. This was not the same Clint that she had been with. Everything that she had gone through and taken a toll on him as well as her.
"How did you know where exactly I would be?" Emma asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"After that explosion, Tony had the doctors put a tracking device in you. We didn't know about it, so when we got you back I made sure they took it out. He never should have done that. But Tony Stark doesn't think like normal people do."
Biting down on her lip, Emma nodded her head in understanding. As she was thinking of something else to ask him there was a knock on the door. Her eyes shot right to Clint and he could see the fear in them. Fear that someone had found them. Someone like Hydra. He hated that she felt that way.
"Natasha is here," he told her as he slowly rose up from his spot on the bed. "He brought someone that I believe can clear up things. She can explain things better than I have been. I just hope you'll listen."
"Natasha is your friend?" Emma asked as she walked behind him as he made his way towards the door. "I met her before the explosion."
"She's just dropping someone off," Clint told her. "Just promise me something."
"Depends on what it is."
"Just try and keep an open mind to everything," he requested. "For me, but more importantly, for you."
Nodding her head, Emma went to sit down on the couch in the living room area while he finally opened the door as they knocked again this time louder than the first.
Without even needing to say anything, Emma just knew what ever was going to happen right now with whoever was coming to talk to her was going to be draining. More so on the emotional side since she had yet to really deal with some of the things that happened to her. Steve offered his ear, but she couldn't do that to him. It was sweet of him to offer that, but he was her friend and she did not want to burden him that way. Technically she could have asked one of the staff members at the hospital to have the shrink that was there come up so she could talk to them, but she doubted that whoever the Avengers took orders from would appreciate her blabbing what she had gone through to someone that they hadn't approved of.
Hearing the door close, Emma took a deep breath. Instead of looking at the person that was walking into the room with Clint, she stared at her hands. She was nervous, but she couldn't understand why. This person could give her insight, but she didn't make the decision if she wanted to stay with Clint or break free and start all over in a city that didn't hold so many memories.
"Emma, I would like you to meet Laura," Clint said and no one missed how Emma's head snapped up at the name. This was the woman Clint hadn't told her about and now she was in the same room as her. "Laura, this Emma. Hopefully my fiancée still."
A/N: Let me know what you are thinking!
