Growing up Hawkeye: Another Avenger story
(SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME) Takes place immediately after Infinity War. Lila Barton's world is about to change in a huge way. Her family is gone. How far is she willing to go to get them back?
Chapter 1: The Snap
Today was going to be a good day for Lila Barton. She just knew it because today was her eleventh birthday. She'd wiped the sleep from her eyes, threw her covers aside and hopped out of bed, her bare feet slapping across the hardwood floor as she scrambled down the stairs following the scent of fresh cooked waffles to the kitchen where her parents and brothers were waiting for her. By the time she made it to the kitchen her eyes landed on a silver banner that read Happy Birthday, pink and purple streamers strung from the ceiling, balloons and confetti scattered around the living room leading into the kitchen.
"Happy Birthday, Lila," her family yelled and Lila's smile only grew further. She certainly did not expect this.
"Thanks!" Lila then hugged both parents and her brothers before being ushered into the kitchen to sit down and devour the plate of waffles that sat before her. After breakfast, it was time for presents. She wasn't sure what she was going to get, but she was excited as the first present was placed in front of her from her oldest brother, Cooper. It was small and wrapped in newspaper with a pink ribbon and ripping off the wrapping revealed a small box. Inside the box was a black beaded necklace with what looked like a white arrowhead pendant, no doubt because of her love of archery like her father. "I love it. Thank you." She crossed the small distance to give her brother a hug…whether or not he actually wanted a hug from his sister was a different story, and laughter filled the room as Lila hugged him anyway.
The next present was also small and wrapped in a sheet of red construction paper from her youngest brother, Nathaniel and upon opening it she discovered what appeared to be some sort of animal crafted rather crudely out of clay but Lila loved it anyway. It was priceless and she crossed the small distance to Nathaniel and hugged him too.
"We have one more present for you." Laura spoke once Lila had returned to her spot on the couch. "It's outside."
Lila wasn't sure what her last gift was, but she was intrigued as she followed her father outside to a small table on the porch where a long black case was laid out just waiting to be opened. Her brothers and mother crowded around to see her reaction to whatever was in the case and as she opened the case, her jaw dropped. Her eyes travelled to the sleek and shiny looking bow and arrows that were tucked inside and she couldn't help but reach up and pull the new bow from its case.
"This is amazing! I love it!" Lila exclaimed and turned to hug her parents tightly. "Thank you so much! Can I try it out? Please?"
Clint was never one to deny his children of anything, so of course he said yes and Lila began dancing around in excitement. Like Clint, Lila had shown an interest in archery from an early age and took every opportunity to learn from her father to be one of the best young archers in the state. She wasn't quite as good as "Hawkeye" but was getting there and upon seeing the new bow and arrows she just couldn't wait to try it out. She loved watching Clint practice with his own bow and would sometimes have contests with him to see who was better. Clint would usually let her win, but even if she wasn't competing with Clint she still looked up to him and wanted to be the best.
It was while her brothers were playing and her mom manned the grill during lunchtime that Clint had allowed her to practice with the new bow. Clint had set up a target against a tree for her to practice with. Lila stood with her bow in her hands her arrow pulled back and aimed at the target.
"You see where you're going?" Clint asked as he studied her form.
"Uh huh," Lila answered, her eyes still on the bullseye, her arm still pulled back ready to release at a moment's notice.
"Ok. Now let's worry about how you get there." Clint slid up behind his daughter and nudged her foot, correcting her stance as she lowered the bow, turning her body slightly as he reminded her of her posture. Once satisfied he took a step back and to the side, "Okay. Are you ready?"
Nodding, she raised her bow again and took aim. She was just about to release her arrow when her mother's voice reached her ears.
"Hey! You guys want mayo or mustard or both?"
Lowering her bow again she glanced at her father. "Who puts mayo on a hot dog?"
"Your brothers." Clint simply replied as Lila's face scrunched in disgust. "Two mustard, please. Thanks mama!"
Clint turned back to Lila as she raised her bow for a third time. She focused on her training and listened to her fathers' advice as she aimed for the center of the target, finally releasing the arrow as it flew through the air and landed directly in the center of the bullseye.
"Excellent. Good Job, Hawkeye." Clint beamed giving Lila a high five and smiling at just how good of an archer she was. "Now go get your arrow."
Lila smiled to herself as she strode the few feet to the target and with a small tug freed the arrow before turning back to her father.
That's the moment that everything changed. The second her eyes landed on her father's confused face as he stared at his hand she instantly knew something was wrong.
"Dad?"
The sound of her voice caught Clint's attention for a fraction of a second as his eyes flicked between her and the rest of the family a few yards away, his eyes widening in horror as Laura and his sons turned to ash right before his eyes.
Lila followed his gaze and watched as piles of ash began to settle where her mother and brothers were just moments before and widened as she turned back to her father just in time to see his hand begin to crumble to ash and spread throughout his body until he too was nothing more than ash. For a moment she wasn't sure what to do. Tears began to form as fear crept over her. She was alone and confused. What on earth was going on?
Through her blurred vision she collapsed to the ground and stared at her hands waiting for the same fate as her family suffered to happen to her but nothing happened. Why? Her family was gone. Where did they go? Why did she survive and her family didn't.
She wasn't sure how long she had been out there, but eventually she pushed herself up off the ground and raced inside. She needed help and she knew exactly who to call. Through her blurred vison, she searched through her house to find her fathers' cell phone and scrolled through the list of contacts to find the one she was looking for and dialed. The woman on the other end sounded confused.
"Clint? Is everything ok?" When Natasha Romanoff didn't hear a reply she strained to hear what sounded like crying. It took a few deep breaths for Lila to regain her composure enough to speak.
"He's gone. " Lila sobbed. "They're all gone."
Instantly Natasha was on high alert. If Lila was calling her, what happened to Clint?
"Lila? What happened?"
"I don't know. They just sort of disintegrated into ash and vanished." Lila choked out, clutching the phone tightly, sniffling. "I don't know what to do. I'm scared."
"Hang on, sweetie. I'm coming to get you. I'll be there soon, okay." Natasha assured, getting to her feet in an instant. Hanging up, she gathered her things and raced through the Avenger compound to board a plane to Missouri where Lila was waiting for her.
Knowing that "Aunt Natasha" was coming to get Lila helped comfort her a little and she knew she just had to keep it together for a little while longer as she made her way to the couch and collapsed onto it. Lila pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs tightly as she waited for Natasha. Lila must have drifted off to sleep because the next thing she knew, Natasha was gently waking her up and Lila wrapped her arms around her Aunt almost immediately.
"I'm here." Nat crooned as she embraced Lila. "Everything is going to be okay. I promise."
And somehow Lila knew those words were true. That somehow, someway, everything was going to be okay.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading this story. It's something I thought of when I first saw Endgame and it really inspired me to get back into writing. This will be a multi-chaptered story as this story will follow the events of Endgame from Lila's POV. If all goes well, I'm already planning on making a sequel to this story featuring Lila and Peter Parker/Spiderman beginning from where Endgame ends. Let me know what you think? Thanks!