"You're going to need to talk to her soon," Bucky mentioned, relaxing against Clint's couch. Natasha, sitting in the chair beside it, glared fiercely at the archer. Clint was busy in the kitchen, making them dinner. He was actually enjoying having company here. Typically when he was here all he ever did was order pizza. Too lazy to try and make a meal for one person. Especially when it was so much easier to simply order a meal.
"She deserves to know the truth," Natasha added.
"I know that. I just..." Clint trailed off with a heaving sigh. "I don't really know how to start the conversation or even have her seriously believe me."
"Well, she isn't expecting you for what, another two weeks?" Natasha wondered. Clint paused, trying to remember how long Fury had originally set his station with the Tesseract.
"I guess. I don't really remember," Clint admitted, sheepishly bring a hand up to rub the back of his neck. Heck, he likely would have forgotten even without the entire situation. He wasn't all that great at knowing mission times basically because they typically never were right.
"Either way. Wouldn't hurt to talk to her sooner," Bucky suggested. Clint sighed, turning to look at the Sergeant. "We'll be there to help."
"I'm not sure how helpful that is," Clint grumbled as he already began picturing Laura yelling at him and possibly attack Bucky. Certainly Clint would at least be kicked out of the house.
"Clint, we've been here for nearly a week now. I'm not sure how much longer I'm willing to wait before I tell her," Natasha huffed. Clint looked at her in a mild panic. Things would be so much worse if Natasha told Laura over him. There would be no coming back from that. That still didn't mean he wanted to do it now. He felt better to delay it. Maybe until after the threat from Thanos was over? "Laura is my friend and I don't want to lie to her about this."
"But-"
"Clint," Natasha interrupted. It took the archer a moment, looking back and forth between the duo before heaving a giant sigh. Natasha smirked, knowing she had won. Bucky even cracked a small smile. Since they had gotten to the apartment, near a week ago, Bucky refused to basically touch Clint. No matter how much Clint begged and whined. Bucky refused. He wasn't going to allow the archer to cheat. Even though technically to them it wouldn't be. But to Laura, Natasha and everyone else, it would be.
"We'll go tomorrow," Clint muttered, turning back to finish cooking.
"We should just go tonight," Bucky countered. Clint winced. It would take them around seventeen hours to travel from Bed-Sty to Homestead. If they left right after dinner, they'd be there by noon. An early enough time for Laura to be able to set up rooms for Natasha and Bucky. All and all, it made more sense doing it that way over Clint's delay.
"Agreed," Natasha concurred. Clint growled, mostly to himself. Likely if he tried to refuse again they'd just drag him to the car. So, the discussion was over. Not that he blamed them. Left up to him, Laura likely wouldn't find out for a year or two. "Now, we just need to plan on what to say."
"Say that I'm from the future and we're divorced and this is my new lover, Bucky Barnes," Clint snarked as a timer went off. Bucky and Natasha gave him a bland look. "Food's ready."
"That's bare bones and rude if you plan on saying it exactly like that," Bucky pointed out, getting up from his seat. Natasha got up as well and they both headed to the kitchen. "We should plan a better way of saying it. Maybe explaining that something happened while on your last mission."
"Something that involves time travel? Yeah, I doubt she'd believe that," Clint huffed.
"Laura is very open minded. She might tolerate the news better than the rest of us," Natasha stated, grabbing the plate that Clint had been nice enough to set up for each person (the timer meant for warming some rolls). Bucky grabbed his own and they headed back to their seats.
"But, it's not just her. Cooper and Lila are gonna have to understand," Clint mentioned. Natasha and Bucky made a face. They had forgotten that the two kids would be involved in this whole mess. Never mind what would happen to Nathaniel. Would he still be born? Maybe earlier than 2015? Clint actually honestly wasn't sure he'd be able to even kiss Laura, never mind anything else. "I don't know. Maybe we actually should just wait."
"If that's what you want. I'll go move in with Stevie or maybe back to Tony," Bucky retorted, taking a large bit of food. Clint turned and looked to him, panic beginning to form. Bucky finished his food and sighed. "Clint, if you stay with Laura, you can't stay with me. And I'm not going to torture either of us by staying in tight quarters with each other."
"But-"
"Clint. Think it through," Bucky told the archer. Clint lowered his plate onto his lap and stared down at it. Bucky was right. It was one or the other and Clint... He loved Laura. Loved her nearly to death. But, he had been without her for so long. That wasn't to say he had been with Bucky that long either... Laura deserved to know the truth.
"Fine. I'll go talk to her."
"Who's car is that?" Natasha wondered as they slowly pulled up the drive. Clint frowned. He could see Laura's car and he knew they didn't own a second car. Maybe she had a friend over? It wasn't like she hadn't been allowed a life or anything. Natasha pulled up next to the car and Clint couldn't help but look inside. There was a travel bag in the passenger seat filled with clothing. Enough clothing for the person to have stayed for a long while. Like possibly the entire time since Clint had last come home. Bucky traded a look with Natasha in worry. Already things didn't seem to be likely to be good.
"I don't know," Clint muttered, unbuckling. Quickly the trio got out of the car and headed to the porch. Inside Laura suddenly laughed at something. It was quiet enough that Natasha wouldn't really have heard it with the door closed. Clint glanced to Bucky, making sure the other man had heard the same thing. Considering the pursed lips, Clint was sure. But maybe it was a friend from town? Unsure on what else to do, Clint opened the door and headed in. "Laur, I'm back."
"Shit," was his muffled response from the woman. Clint frowned as Natasha stiffened. Bucky winced, beginning to understand what had been going on. The tone of Laura's voice was more than startled. It was also worried. Another voice, a male's, whispered a quick good-bye that only Natasha couldn't hear. And then there was the sound of a peck on the cheek. Clint's face fell as Bucky stepped back out onto the porch with narrowed eyes. No way in hell would he allow Laura's 'friend' to just vanish. This needed to be talked about just as much as his relations with the archer. Laura came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands over her outfit in a nervous tell. One that had Natasha frown. "Hey, hon."
She moved forward to give him a kiss but he backed away, twisting so she couldn't reach him. Laura paused before looking to Natasha for a sign as to why her husband wouldn't want to kiss her. When Natasha's face gave no hint, Laura turned back to Clint. "Who's car is outside?"
"A friend's," Laura replied, confused. Though her hand twitched a bit and her eyes refused to make contact for a second. Clint pursed his lips. "Why?"
"A friend that you'd share a kiss with?" Clint countered, his voice stiff. Laura frowned. There was no way he had heard that.
"What?" she asked. Clint huffed as Bucky returned, pushing an embarrassed man inside before him. Laura looked to them surprised. Clint hardly even needed to look to see what Bucky had done. "Who? What is going on?"
Natasha turned and looked the man up and down. "Who are you?"
"Laura?" the man called out to the woman, unsure what was going on. Laura winced even as Natasha looked back to her and then back to the man. She shook her head and moved to stand in the living room, giving Clint a better path to Bucky's side. In doing so, she also opened the path for the strange man to slip through everyone and off to Laura's side. Clint's eyes narrowed on the man for a second before focusing on his wife. This should have just been between her and him. Of everything that could have happened, he never thought this could happen. "Who is this?"
"Please," Laura begged, looking between Clint and Natasha, knowing what both of them could do if they so wished. Clint sighed, the anger draining from him until it was just hurt and betrayal. Par for the course of his life at this point.
"Laura. Just... Tell me what is going on," the archer stated, his voice dry. Laura looked to the man quickly before back to Clint. She knew now that there was no way around this. Might as well attempt to fix it?
"This is Hal. He's a friend," Laura introduced and none of the three spies missed the fact that Hal gave her a quick hurt look. "Hal, this is Clint and Natasha and..."
"James," Bucky added, his voice dark. He was beginning to regret telling Clint that he needed to speak with his wife. Laura and Hal winced. When the room seemed to drop into silence, Laura looked to Hal with a pleading look. He frowned at her before looking to Clint and then his eyes widened.
"Oh! Clint, Laura's husband," Hal greeted, slowly holding up a hand and moving closer as if to accept Clint's unmoved hand and shake. Clint narrowed his eyes at the man. Hal was basically shaking in fear but there was a small undercurrent of confidence and ire. "It's great to finally meet you."
"You sure about that?" Natasha questioned, making the man jerk away from Clint a bit in surprise. "You seemed pretty keen on getting out of here before Clint could even see you."
"I can explain, please. Let's all just calm down!" Laura cried, holding her hands up in defense as she moved to block the spies from Hal. Clint huffed. If she seriously thought he'd... Well, no, she was likely attempting to hold Natasha and Bucky back.
"I am calm Laura. I just want one answer. How long have you been seeing him?" he asked in as bland a voice as he possibly could. Hal gave Clint a surprised look even as Laura cringed. There was a long pause as Laura looked to the ground.
"Before Cooper." Clint gave a dark and very quick scoffing laugh before looking away from her a bit and to the ceiling. Laura's attention snapped upwards to Clint, pleading. Like she had any right at this point. "Clint, please!"
"Do the kids know?" he countered. Laura winced but after a moment slowly nodded her head. Clint then let out a strangled laugh as Natasha's face darkened and she crossed her arms over her chest. The leather of Bucky's glove squelched a bit when he tightened his hands into fists. "I'll grab my things."
"Clint! No! You don't understand!" Laura cried, rushing to grab Clint when the archer turned to walk away. Natasha snarled but moved quickly, ready to collect all the weapons in the place. Bucky did nothing. Just watched. He didn't want to leave his lover alone. Nor did Clint need to stay here that much longer. Hal winced.
"No. I understand," Clint told her without even turning to face her. There was another soft and dark laugh that came from him. The archer shook his head as Hal glanced to Laura. "I wasn't here. You got lonely. It's fine. Just, let me get out of your way."
"No, Clint," Laura muttered. "It's not like that."
"It's not?" Hal whispered, stunned. Clint barked out a laugh before shaking his head. He yanked his arm away as gently as he could. Laura squeaked at the motion and Hal stepped forward. Both apparently ready for Clint to beat them. Clint sighed and headed off, ignoring his soon to be ex-wife. Laura whimpered at his vanishing back but didn't move to go after him. Bucky shook his head before storming past, going to help Clint pack up. Of everything, this was not what he expected to have had happen.
"Natasha, I need to explain." Clint and Bucky heard from up the stair well. Bucky caught up to Clint at the door to the master bedroom. When the Sergeant drew close he paused. The air smelt of sex. Fresh sex.
"Clint," Bucky murmured, suddenly worried for his lover. Clint said nothing. Just stared in the room. "You okay?"
"I just wanna get the guns, bows and knives," Clint forced out. Bucky nodded and headed into the room. While Bucky hadn't visited Homestead in 2012, he had seen Clint's main bedroom before. And had snooped around enough to have found them all. And trust me, Natasha quizzed him on it.
"I know where to look. You get the other things," he told the archer before heading to the closet and grabbing one of the duffel bags inside. Clint looked to him before nodding, taking the bag and turning around. Cooper's and Lila's room had a few knives hidden in areas that the kids wouldn't be able to reach yet but had been hidden as a just in case. Clint had once debated a gun in the rooms but felt that was going a bit too far. So, he hid them in secret panels in the wall. Downstairs, Clint could hear Natasha arguing with Laura over her relationship with Hal. Hal at least seemed to understand that he should stay quiet.
When Clint had finished clearing out Lila's and Cooper's room, he dropped to sit on Cooper's bed. He wasn't sure what to make of this entire situation. Honestly, he had been coming here with the possible idea of divorcing Laura so he could be with Bucky. Not once did he expect that Laura would be more likely to do it. His mind flashed through all the years he spent with his wife. Trying to look for signs that he missed. Signs that called out the fact that she was cheating. Admittedly, once or twice he thought he heard the kids asking about someone. He had always assumed it was a friend. Not a lover.
"Clint?" Clint looked up to see Bucky was standing in the doorway, a bag by his side. It looked about the size that it should have been for the amount and size of weapons that had been in the bedroom. He held out a hand for the bag, intent on counting it to make sure it was set. Bucky came in and handed the bag over, sitting beside the archer. "You wanna talk?"
"No," Clint told him just as he finished counting, Bucky had gotten everything. He got to his feet and started to walk out. Bucky took a moment to follow and then they were walking back downstairs. Natasha was in the living room with a mostly full duffel bag at her side. Clint stared at it, mentally thinking of how much had been hidden downstairs. She didn't get everything. Sighing, Clint headed to the kitchen.
"Clint! Please!" Laura whimpered, chasing after him. He looked to her.
"Laura. I'm not in the mood to deal with this. I'll... I'll send you an e-mail with information. After that, the ball is in your court," Clint told her, his voice dark. Laura reared back and Clint had to force himself to sigh. Wouldn't do good for this to get any worse then it was. The faster he got out of there the better they'd all be. "Let me just get my things."
"Okay," Laura sobbed, backing up a step, tears in her eyes. He turned back and started removing weapons from the kitchen, being sure to stare at the knives as he questioned if it belonged there in a kitchen or if it was seriously one of his weapons. Laura said nothing and Clint distantly heard her sobs cutting down a bit as if she was sobbing into something. Given who was still in the house and not upset with her, Clint figured she was sobbing into Hal's chest. When done with the kitchen, Clint headed out into to living room again. The bag Natasha had packed was now gone. Bucky was standing beside the spy, arms crossed, a small slit of metal showing around his wrist. Not that Laura or Hal would understand the significance of the sight.
"Who are you?" Hal grumbled, looking at the bags of weapons. Clint scoffed but didn't answer. He just kept moving and headed right out of the house. Bucky was seconds behind him and together they headed to the barn. Clint was able to pack up one of the two bags with stuff before it finally hit him and he just froze.
"Clint, come on. It's okay," Bucky called the second he noticed, pulling Clint into a hug. Clint let out a barking sob as he tried to answer that it wasn't but just couldn't. That broke the dam and suddenly he was crying. A moment later, Clint returned the hug. They stood there for nearly five minutes before Clint finally was able to calm down. When he pulled away, Bucky let go and looked at him. "You good to keep packing?"
Clint nodded and they got back to it. By the time they were done and heading back to the car, Cooper and Lila were walking up the drive. They both didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary before they looked up toward the house. At the sight of the archer, excitement grew all over their faces.
"DAD!" they shouted. Clint dropped his bag and kneeled on the ground, catching them when they ran full force into him. He pulled them into a hug, making sure to watch his strength as he felt so out of control at the moment. Bucky grabbed the bag Clint dropped and headed off to the house just as Natasha, Laura and Hal exited. Cooper pulled away from Clint first with a big smile.
"Aun-" the boy started before cutting off and his eyes widening in stunned surprise as he turned to see who else was standing there. Lila pulled back quickly with a smile but it dropped the second she saw Natasha by Laura and Hal. Cooper looked to Clint. "Dad?"
"Bud, it's okay," Clint told him. "I'm just getting some things and then I'm gonna go back to New York."
"But, Dad," Cooper started, confused and sad. Clint shook his head. He didn't want to get into anything right now. He wasn't in the right mindset to try and explain to his young son and daughter.
"I'll ask your mother if I can take the two of you in a week or so," he interrupted unwilling to discuss anything else. Cooper gave him a pained look as Lila looked to the archer. It was clear the boy was understanding what was happening. His parents were breaking up.
"What's going on Dad?" Lila asked, worried. Clint gave her a pathetic smile before pulling her in for another hug and kiss. He hated to have to do this to them. Had hated it before when Laura kicked him out and they were older.
"Dad's gonna go away like normal. And, Hal might start spending more time around the house." Lila frowned and looked to Laura and Hal before back to Clint. "Mom and I are just... We're talking about what's going to be happening from now on."
"You mean you're getting divorced," Cooper grunted. Clint sighed. It was beginning to look like it and as much as he had been planning on possibly ending his relationship with Laura, he didn't want to. He loves... Loved Laura with all his heart. Just as he loved Bucky with all his heart. But, it was all cracking apart and his love for Bucky and his kids was the only thing keeping him going.
"I don't know bud. We'll see," Clint answered. Cooper frowned. Sighing deeply, Clint got back to his feet and rubbed his children's heads. Slowly, he led them to the house. Natasha stepped off the porch and gave both kids hugs before heading to the car. Cooper and Lila didn't deserve negative treatment just because of Laura. Bucky was standing at the back end, looking everyone over.
"What's going on?" Lila wondered, looking Laura and Hal over and landing on Bucky.
"It's fine. Everything is going to be okay," Laura promised. Clint nodded, nudging the kids forward. Lila turned around and looked at the archer.
"You're leaving now? You just got home," Lila accused. Clint swallowed tightly and he looked up to Laura for a moment before inhaling a deep breathe and then looked back down to the young girl.
"Yeah. I'm leaving. I... Hal's gonna stay for a bit," Clint told the girl. "I'll-"
"I don't want Hal! I want you!" Lila shouted, surprising everyone involved.
"Yeah. Dad should stay!" Cooper announced, glaring at Hal who now looked extremely uneasy. Clint sighed deeply. This wasn't fair to anyone. He closed his eyes, attempting to hide back his tears.
"No. Hal is gonna stay and I'm gonna-" Those words caused an extremely high pitch crying fit. Laura moved forward and grabbed Lila, holding her back. Cooper let out his own cry of outrage. "Guys, guys!"
"COOPER! LILA! ENOUGH!" Laura screamed over the nonsense. Clint shook his head and stepped away. It was clear that him being there was just going to make this worse. He had said his good-bye. Wished it could have been longer but none of them could handle it. Meanwhile, Hal's face morphed to anger.
"He isn't even your father! I am!" Hal interrupted as loudly as possible. The whole area dropped into a sudden and shocked silence. Clint looked down to Cooper and Lila, who seemed just as stunned as he was, before back to Laura. She was cringing and Clint couldn't help but huff out a soft laugh of disbelief. Natasha stormed over, her eyes dark but when she went to go past Clint, he held out an arm and stopped her.
"Laura. We will be discussing this at another point. Cooper, Lila. We'll figure things out," Clint informed, his tone flat, before spinning on his heel and walking off, unable to handle any more. He still heard Cooper and Lila crying out for him again but he was emotionally shut down now and didn't fully care. He'll later regret not looking back to them and saying goodbye again but he just couldn't in that moment. Natasha and Bucky seemed to understand this fact as well as all they just simply helped him into the car and then got in themselves without another word.
Okay look. I like Laura. I like the relationship she has with Clint and I know previously I had them break up. But honestly, I felt that Clint shouldn't be with her and at this point in time, him just breaking up with her for Bucky didn't seem right. I needed another push. Also, the actors and actress that act as Clint's children are of course not really anything like him so it seemed to make sense in my mind.
I miss having time to write. My attention keeps getting drawn away by Darius, TV and other people speaking with me. It's aggravating.
Darius is good. Just demanding attention even when I'm on my computer and attempting to explain that I need to write. Need for my depression and because I really should work on the final book of my trilogy of original work. I'd also like to get a few more done. I have two that I've been actively working on every now and then and the start of like eight more waiting. Sadly, I have something like fifteen fanfictions I've been jumping around with. Otherwise, Darius has been basically acting like any other child.