Clint groaned as he groggily tried to find his phone by slapping the nearby nightstand. He didn't want to open his eyes, and he was determined not to when it was likely an ungodly hour to be awake. He was even willing to ignore it but after hearing the ringing nonstop for the past thirty seconds, it had proven it wouldn't stop by itself. He just wanted to fall back into the sweet release of sleep...

Continuing to feel around his bedside table having no luck finding his phone, he let out a deep sigh when he realized luck wouldn't be on his side. Unwillingly, he flipped onto his stomach and opened his eyes just a crack to find its bright glow in the darkness of the bedroom. Trying to reach out, he heard Laura shift away from the struggle next to her. Clint could tell she had the same idea as him, she just wanted to fall back asleep.

Successfully picking up his phone after what felt like an eternity, he tried to shield his eyes from the burning light as he fumbled to find the off button. Before he could shut it down however, he noticed the number calling. It was an unknown number. That meant Fury.

Running on instinct in his half asleep state, he closed his eyes again and answered with his face planted back into his pillow. "Hello?" Clint annoyingly asked, his voice barely audible after being muffled from the barrier.

"Sorry to wake you," A softer voice than expected replied, "But I need your help."

Clint furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he didn't hear Fury's aggressive tone. After figuring out who the voice belonged to, he turned his head in the pillow just enough so his words could actually be heard on the other end. "Captain? Why the hell are you calling at this hour?" He questioned between a tired sigh, "I don't even know what hour it is. Can't it wait till morning?" Clint complained as sleep was slowly tugging at the back of his mind despite each second that passed caused him to be more awake.

Steve let out his own sigh on the other line. "No, this can't wait much longer. I know you're retired, but we need all the help we can get right now. Help isn't very easy to come by in our... current situation."

Clint didn't like the way this sounded as his foggy brain cleared just enough to remember what had happened on the news these past few days. There was a bombing at the Accords meeting in Vienna which resulted in the death of the Wakandan king among twelve others. To make matters worse, if appeared that Bucky was the one who set off the bomb due to surveillance footage. Clint didn't know all the details of what happened after that, all he knew was Steve and Sam were taken into custody for aiding Bucky's escape attempt, but all of them broke out within a short amount of time. All the information he had was from the news coverage, and there may have been a lot of it between these past few days, but all of it had been vague.

Clint raised his head from the pillow in an attempt to slowly start waking up his body up. He could tell whatever was wrong, it was important enough that he needed to make an effort to pay attention instead of giving in to his desire to call it a night. "What is it, Steve?"

There was a moment of silence before he answered. "You've seen the news, you know the situation with Bucky?"

"Yeah," Clint replied. "He caused the bombing in Vienna."

"He didn't cause the bombing," Steve instantly defended right after the archer spoke. He said it so surely that Clint immediately believed him despite not knowing the whole story. "He was framed, and there's something else going on. Something big." He continued, and Clint couldn't help but stiffen after hearing that. He could tell by the Captain's tone that he wasn't exaggerating. "Someone framed Bucky to flush him out of hiding and get information from him. The information they got… It could put the whole world in jeopardy."

"Steve," He asked, sensing his hesitance to spill the beans even after saying the world was at risk. Clint didn't blame him, if the news was at least partly accurate, his friends had been through hell and back in these past few days alone. He wouldn't have trusted anyone either if he was in their place. "What is it? If you want me to help, I need to know."

After a brief pause, he finally gave a straight answer. "There are more Winter Soldiers. Worse Winter Soldiers."

Clint's half opened eyes widened fully at that. He could only imagine the damage that could be done by a team of those powerful people, minus the morals of Bucky. "In summary, this really is bad news," Clint understood.

"Exactly. We need to stop the man who framed Bucky before he gets to them, but I doubt Tony will listen to us based on our current circumstances."

There was silence for a moment as Clint realized just how right his previous assumptions were. The team hadn't been the same since the Accords, Natasha called him before Vienna to discuss her decision, and by that talk Clint detected a divide growing between the now two teams: those who signed and those who didn't. Now that these various situations unfolded, he heard just how empty Steve seemed to feel having only a few people on his side when he was used to leading an army.

Letting out a breath in hopes to ease his own growing tension from the situation, Clint continued. "What can I do, Cap?"

"I don't want to drag you into this, Clint…" Steve started but didn't get to finish.

"Steve," Clint interrupted as he finally took off the covers and sat up properly in his bed, legs hanging off the side. "If you called me then you clearly need help. What can I do?"

"I need some help at putting together a team. We're currently outnumbered, Bucky, Sam, and I, and since we are currently being hunted down we can't gather the help we need to stop this man without being taken in." Steve explained.

"Who do I need to pick up?" He instantly responded.

Steve hesitated. He didn't know how much Clint knew about each member of the former Avengers, but he could already guess his reaction to their first recruit idea. "First off is Wanda," He finally began before giving a necessary update. "She's being confined in the new Avengers Training Facility, Vision's making sure she stays put."

"What? She's on house arrest? Why?" Clint raised his eyebrows in disbelief. Due to his outburst, Laura stirred awake, unable to ignore the chatter any longer. When she turned to face her husband, she tried to decipher the conversation even while he had his back to her.

"Tony thinks he's protecting Wanda," Steve sighed. "But he's just keeping her in a cage, no matter how luxurious a cage it is."

Clint turned as he heard Laura sit up in the bed. They shared a worried glance when she realized who he was talking to and who they were talking about. The archer could see where Tony was coming from, as much as he really didn't like it. With the Accords on the news, if Wanda was recognized in public she might get some unwanted attention.

But the methods Tony used to prevent that, was not Clint's favorite option. It was his least favorite. It was like she was imprisoned with a 24 hour guard, no kid deserved that.

Wanda was their family, and if she needed to stay low Clint was willing to help without keeping her locked up. He was an expert at it after all. "Don't worry, I'll break Wanda out. What's my next stop?"

"A man named Scott Lang," He replied, the name sounding unfamiliar to Clint. "According to Sam he has some unique abilities that could prove to be useful. We need to ask him if he's willing to help."

Steve sighed on his end of the line. If he was being honest, he had no clue who this man was either or if he would even want to assist, but all of them were out of options. These were the only few people with the potential of helping.

But he didn't like it. Captain America was recruiting people to break the law and that never completely sat right to him, even if he firmly believed he needed to bend the rules. He mainly hated having to drag a team down with a decision he made, so before Clint could ask any more questions Steve continued. "After you drop them off, you can feel free to leave before you are associated with helping us. I don't want you to suffer the consequences of going against the law on this one. Tony will likely catch up with us soon and if you're imprisoned… Who knows how long it'll take before you can see them again." He discretely referred to his family. "They still need you, Clint."

"Steve," Clint let out a breath when he and Laura shared a silent conversation as she scooted next to him onto the bed, "I'll worry about us, but you forget that the team is part of my family, I'm not going to abandon you. I'll get the two of them to you, just tell me where to find Lang and where to meet. I'll worry about the rest."

"Thanks, Clint." Steve said before there was a loud rumble on the other line. Clint could barely make out Sam's voice in the background saying, 'they probably caught our signal. We have to relocate.'

The Captain's voice suddenly returning, he quickly finished the conversation. "I'll contact you later, we have to keep moving."

"Stay safe guys," Clint wished immediately before the line went dead.

As he looked down at his phone, he briefly contemplated the situation that unfolded in the past two minutes. Finally dropping it onto the bed next to him, he buried his face in his hands and took in a deep breath. Uncovering his eyes, his hands seemed to rub away the sleep when they traveled to the back of his head and firmly latched together. As if he was laying against his hands like they were a pillow in mid air, he faced his wife again. They stared at each other for a prolonged minute, both of them understanding the situation and both of them not enjoying it.

"They need you, don't they?" She asked, disappointment scattering her tone as they both knew that Clint would never be able to fully retire. The Avengers would always need some extra help, they'd always need Clint to come back in.

Letting his arms fall from his head, he gently reached out for Laura's hand. "They do. Wanda does. I'm sorry."

This time, Laura sighed while she lightly squeezed his hand in hers. "You know I understand, it's just... I know you need to go but... I worry. With the news, if you get wrapped up in this mess too deep…" She couldn't bring herself to finish. She also knew the consequences of disobeying the Accords, the news made it clear with their man hunt for their friends even after Clint spelled it out from his retirement meeting with Thaddeus Ross. She just didn't want that to happen to him as well.

"I will be back. I promise you." There was a break in his thoughts as he quickly tried to make a hard decision. "If I get a chance to head out before a mess starts, I promise I'll take it. Right now, they just need me to pick up some help."

Laura shook her head, knowing that he was promising that for her sake even if it meant bad news for everyone else involved. "No, just do what you need to do. If they need you, you need to stay. If you believe you need to fight, do what feels right. I trust your decision. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine."

Clint slowly nodded, not exactly liking how he had to agree but he knew Laura was right. She always was. Still holding hands, he rested his forehead against hers with closed eyes. They both felt slightly comforted but they couldn't help but notice how eerily quiet the dark room was. When they moved to embrace each other in a hug to drown out the uneasy air, she seemed to melt into Clint's shoulder when she laid her head across it. Enjoying their embrace even if it was an uneasy one, Laura whispered into her husband's ear, "Keep Wanda safe, okay?"

Clint silently nodded while carefully rubbing her back. Wanda was family now, the kids adored her, Laura took her under her wing, and Clint always made sure she was doing okay. Even if he didn't want to get involved in Ross's situation, knowing Wanda may need an extra helping hand was enough motivation to throw himself into the scurry.

Pulling away, they looked each other in the eyes and he lightly planted a kiss on the top of her head. "I will. I promise that much."

Sharing a full kiss before hesitantly pulling away, they knew that Clint had to get going. He stretched away his longing for sleep and headed to the closet to change out of his pajamas into a grey T-shirt and jeans.

Crossing her legs as she continued to sit on the bed, the couple couldn't seem to keep their eyes away from each other for very long. The room felt cold, colder than any other night when Clint got a call to go into work. A situation like this never happened before, it felt like they were in a childish fight between choosing friend groups as their circle broke to pieces, except this instance didn't have childish consequences. They couldn't help but feel deep down that something bad was going to happen no matter what they did in this situation because no outcome seemed good with the team split apart. They couldn't help but continue sharing nervous glances as Clint picked up his leather jacket and mission ready bag.

As he started to walk out of the room, Laura soon trailing behind, he didn't even open the door before stopping.

"What?" Laura asked when she noticed his hand gripping the door knob without twisting it.

"It's just…" He drifted back into reality. "The kids are sleeping and I don't want to wake them…"

Laura placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, letting him know that everything would be okay. "Wake them. They won't mind."

He nodded when he realized what she really said. This may just be the last time he could see them if he got too deep into this. He had to take this chance to say goodbye, just in case.

God he hoped that wouldn't be the case, but he just could not shake the feeling that this mission was going to end differently than the others.

Finally gathering the courage to open the door, he proceeded to walk into Nathaniel's nursery first. Laura let him have a moment alone as he silently watched the one year old sleep from the doorway. Seeing how peaceful the child rested helped ease some of Clint's worries that he walked closer to his son's crib. Arms resting on the edge of the railing, he noted how Nate had tossed the blanket aside as he now laid on his back. Giving out a barely audible chuckle, Clint gently tucked the blanket back around him to keep his small body warm. Also noting the teddy bear that had been pushed away, Clint brought it closer to carefully nuzzle up against Nate's face.

He did his best not to wake him, but it was to no avail as the child sensed the plush bear closer to his cheeks and wrapped his arms around it with a smile. A couple seconds later, Nathaniel opened his eyes and noticed his dad hovering over him. As if instantly awake, he babbled some unknown words before reaching out his small hands towards his dad.

Clint beamed as he took the child and the bear he clung to in his arms. He had a few silent moments bouncing him before Laura came up and hugged his side, also smiling down at the child.

Feeling the need to fill the air, Clint spoke to the child who wouldn't understand what he was saying. "I have to go, Nate. I'll be back soon, but I expect you to be on your best behavior while I'm gone. Don't be too fussy for mama."

The child simply laughed and reached out to touch Clint's stubble goatee. Feeling the tiny hands on his unshaven face made him laugh. "I'll take that as a 'yes sir,'" He responded for the toddler.

Clint continued to hold the child until he started reaching out to Laura. He took that as his sign to keep moving and transferred the child into her arms, but not before he gave his son a kiss on the head.

With three of the five family members exiting the nursery, Laura and Nate split off to wake Cooper while Clint headed to Lila's room. He opened the door carefully and watched her from a distance because he still didn't want to interrupt his kid's slumber knowing they wouldn't be able to go back to bed after this news. He soon moved to sit on the edge of Lila's bed however, hesitant to nudge his soundly sleeping daughter awake even if he knew he had to.

"Sweetie…" Clint whispered as it took a few shakes of her shoulder before she actually started to wake.

She let out a groan in slight annoyance, trying to bury herself under her covers but her father persisted in pestering her. "Dad… What are you doing?" Lila complained before rolling over to face her father. She frowned as her eyes focused and noticed he wasn't in his pajamas. "Why are you dressed?"

Clint gave a comforting smile to his nine year old as he gave her the news he knew she didn't want to hear. "I have to go to work."

She frowned in confusion. "I thought you were done with work?"

"I technically still am, but something came up. Uncle Steve needs my help, and so does Wanda. I need to go help them."

Lila instantly worried at that statement and quickly sat upright in her bed. "Are they okay?"

Clint nodded to reassure the frantic child. "Don't worry, they're fine. I just need to help them with a situation before it gets out of hand."

Seeing Lila let out a sigh of relief, she put that worry into the back burner of her mind before asking about another worry on her mind. "Will this be a dangerous mission?"

He wished he could give her a straight answer. "I don't know, it depends on how it all unfolds. But it won't be all dangerous, right now I just need to pick up Wanda."

He could tell she wasn't completely happy with that answer of uncertainty, but she was at least happy it wouldn't be like one of his super dangerous missions. Instead of dwelling on the uncertainty, she tried to get some more definite answers from her father. "Do you know when you will be back?"

Clint couldn't help but frown knowing he couldn't help answer her many questions. "I'm sorry, I don't know that either but I'll try to be back soon, okay?"

Clearly disappointed and still worried, she responded, "Does that mean no water skiing this weekend?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry," He replied as he ran a hand through her hair in hopes to sooth her. "I'll make it up to you guys when I return though, promise. After all, I'd hate to miss out on water skiing too, so we need to reschedule," He smiled.

Glad for her dad's attempt at distracting her, she gave a smile before catching him off guard with a bear hug. "Okay dad."

Gladly hugging back just as big, Clint embraced the moment as long as he could. He could tell she didn't want to let him go either, but it eventually had to end. Smiling brightly at Lila with a comforting hand still on her shoulder, he coaxed her out of bed. "Come on, let's go see if Cooper's up."

They followed each other into the hallway, Lila holding on tightly to Clint's hand as they saw the other three outside of Cooper's room. Cooper had a worried look on his face too after Laura updated him on the situation, however, he put on a smirk when he saw him.

"Be careful out there, Hawkeye," Cooper joked only to regret it when Clint used his free hand to ruffle his son's bedhead. "Hey! That'll be impossible to comb out tomorrow!"

"Well," Clint laughed when he pulled his son into a hug instead. "You should know better than to mess with me, mini Hawkeye."

Nathaniel noticed the embrace and wanting to be included, the whole family seemed to join together for a group hug. Despite how amazing it felt for the whole family to be together like this, they all had a sinking feeling that this would be the last time they saw Clint for a while.

But that only meant they cherished this moment even more, right up until Clint had to grab the last of his gear with the family trailing behind. As they stood together on the porch with nothing but the porch light to see him off in the dead of night, Clint turned around to give one last reassuring smile. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Looking at Lila and Cooper, an idea suddenly crossed his mind. "Hey, can you two do something for me while I'm away?"

They nodded almost excitedly as Lila was the first to ask, "What?"

"It's a pretty big assignment, but I think you two can do it," He said to prolong their curiosity for just a moment more. "Look after the deer for me. I expect a full report when I get back."

After hearing that, Cooper groaned sarcastically. "Not more homework."

"Oh you'll survive." Clint said and gave his son's shoulder a light slap. Before stepping off the porch and onto the gravel, he gave Laura one last kiss. Hearing the kids mutter a little about how disgusting kissing was, with a smirk he got into his beat up truck and plopped his bag and bow in the passenger seat. "Take care of each other." Clint said out of the open window before waving to his worried family. He could have sworn he even saw Nathaniel give him a small wave before he drove off.

Once he was off of his property, he let out a breath he had been holding. Sometimes, Clint hated his job. Sometimes, it felt like each time he left tore his family apart with fear. Sometimes, he didn't want to get involved in situations like this one, but he knew he had to in order to keep his family safe.

He just hoped that this time, he wasn't getting involved in a situation he couldn't swim out of.