The Hunters and the Prey - Chapter Forty-Four
Author: Milady Dragon
Author's Note: For those of you coming to this from the Torchwood fandom, Happy "Let's all deny Ianto Jones is dead" 10th Anniversary. On this day, in 2009, Ianto Jones didn't actually die and is still living happily ever after with Jack in Cardiff, with a dog named Untitled, and is still catching aliens with his team (including Tosh and Owen, who also really didn't die in "Exit Wounds." If you're going to deny, deny big.).
I am now going to go listen to the Big Finish audio, "Serenity", and enjoy living in my personal land of denial. Later on, I may read some fic as well.
Clint got the biggest kick out of telling people about Lucky.
Anyone who didn't know him would have probably assumed he was just another Wizard. Sure, he wasn't, he was unique in all the world, and it made him feel that everything he'd been through as a child and as an adult had been totally worth it. All the shit from his father…Barney's jealousy… yes, all completely worth it. Maybe not losing Phil, but at least he got him back.
And, alright, the brainwashing by Loki would never be worth it. He never wanted to feel that way again, to have absolutely no control over his actions and thoughts and bent to the will of a maniac bent on domination.
Which, when it came down to it, was why he'd killed Raina without hesitation. The very idea of someone he cared about being sucked in with her voice chilled him to the bone. There had been no way he'd have let anyone else suffer that fate. Phil had been bad enough, back in that Hydra hideout.
Killing the dragon had been collateral. He still wasn't sure why he'd been forgiven for it so completely that Idris had gifted him an actual dragon.
It had been hilarious to watch Mistress Maria's reaction, especially since he didn't actually like her all that much. She was attractive, but the Elf didn't get why Marcus wanted to marry her, for Gods' sake. Still, there was no accounting for taste, and he'd laughed himself silly when she'd began cursing…until Nick had told her to stop, there was an impressionable child in the room, and the last thing anyone needed was for Phil to come and given them shit about teaching his newest daughter language he'd have to correct her for. Which was really the pot calling the kettle black, because Nick could out-curse a sailor…and did it every day.
And yes, he'd actually used the word shit when telling her off. It had been hilarious. A part of him hoped that Crystal would actually use it at some point in front of Phil, because his lover would know immediately who to blame.
Natasha had been happy to come along on their shopping trip. Daisy had been ecstatic, and when she wasn't carrying Crystal she was quizzing his partner about the dress she'd worn yesterday and had it come in purple.
Daisy showed excellent taste in colors.
Once Crystal got a little too heavy for Daisy to cart around – she may have been underweight for her age, but lugging around that extra weight would have grated on anyone – Clint had taken over. Crystal seemed to trust him already, which touched him in ways he'd never considered before. After all, he'd been raised by an abusive shithead whose idea of affection was giving Clint an extra smack to the back of the head that, in the light of distance, the archer had to wonder why he hadn't walked around with a perpetual concussion back then.
Really, he and that little girl had far too much in common. It kinda broke Clint's heart a little.
The first place they'd gone was a shop with all sorts of children's clothes. He'd put Crystal down, who seemed to be content just to stand and boggle at the sheer amount of outfits there were. At that point, Daisy and Natasha both went a little crazy, asking Crystal what she might like and then bustling the child into a changing room, where there began a parade of clothing changes and feminine cooing that had Clint standing back and hiding his chuckles. He'd learned a long time ago that laughing at Natasha, no matter how ridiculous she was being, was a really bad idea.
No one would ever have guessed that this was the Widow, the bane of bad guys everywhere, acting like an indulgent auntie and suggesting outfits for Crystal to try on, the smile on her face lighting her eyes and making Clint's own eyes a little teary. No one had ever seen this side of Natasha, and he was unbelievably touched that he could witness it. And this was from someone who'd once sworn she couldn't handle children.
Well, Clint knew better than to call her a liar to her face.
It actually became a little too much for Crystal after a while. The girl wasn't used to that sort of mothering, not after all she'd been through, and eventually she became too shy to come out of the changing room. Daisy seemed to understand the quickest; after all, she'd been in Crystal's shoes at one point, and had to have figured out that the near-constant attention and encouragement would start to freak her out some point. Still, when it did happen, Daisy looked crushed, although Clint could tell it wasn't because she was being rejected; it was just because Crystal just wasn't used to so much caring.
The little girl only opened the door enough to let a very worried Lockjaw in; then she closed it once more, the unmistakable sound of the door lock engaging echoing like a stone being thrown into the wall.
"Alright, you two," Clint decided to intervene. "Give her some space."
"We got carried away and didn't think," Daisy whispered sadly. "I should have known better."
Natasha didn't say anything; but then, she didn't have to, since her past was just about as fraught as Clint's own, or Daisy's. And her eyes told the tale, anyway.
Since he'd been staying out of the way, Clint figured he should be the one to talk to Crystal, to make sure she was fine.
He made his way toward the closed and locked door, one of the shop girls hovering nearby, looking worried as she wrung her hands. "I'm sorry," she gasped, "I don't know what happened…"
"I do, don't worry," he assured the poor girl. "It's just been a little too much for her. I'll handle it."
He waved her away, and she moved quickly, having been given permission to escape. Clint slid down the door, resting his back against the plain wood; Lucky curled up next to him, sensing his upset, his head on Clint's knee.
It was wonderful having a dragon, even if it was going to take him a little time getting used to feeling him in his head, especially when Lucky was bound and determined to make him feel better by projecting calming emotions directly into his brain.
He gave Crystal a few moments, then asked softly, "It's alright, you know, to be scared."
There was a sniffling on the other side of the door, as if the little girl had been crying. "I'm sorry."
"No need to be sorry." Clint couldn't help it; his heart went out to her. "It's all a bit much, isn't it?"
"Why are they so nice to me?" The question was almost too faint for him to hear. "I don't deserve it, I'm bad."
Clint wished he could hug her right then; but he wasn't going to demand she open that door until she was ready. "You deserve it. You deserve everything we can give you."
"But why?" Crystal sniffled again.
"Because no one should have to go through what you did. And because we love you."
The thing was, Clint did. He'd only just met this child that morning, but she'd been through so much and yet she was easy to love. He knew that Phil already did, and would be moving the two Heavens and the three Hells in order for her to become his daughter. He had to be seeing himself in her, in that her parents had rejected her for being Void.
They hadn't really talked about this yet. Clint knew they would, because if he and Phil were to be in any sort of relationship then they would have to. At the moment, they were lovers, but it was a new thing, so any decision Phil made was his own, and he didn't need Clint's input into a damned thing. However, he also knew that his lover wanted that deeper relationship, and they would be raising Crystal together if that did work out.
He really wanted it to work out.
Just in less than a week, Clint had gone from a loner who did the odd job for Nick when he needed something vaguely dirty done, a one of a pair of mercenaries who loved traveling and kicking random ass…to being ready to settle down with the man he'd loved for what seemed like forever and to raise a child with him.
He'd planned on doing the whole child rearing thing some other way, but this one worked just as well.
Although, to be fair he hadn't expected Phil to go out and adopt someone. Not that he disagreed with that decision one single bit. Crystal needed someone who would love her unconditionally, and she would certainly find that with a man who'd once done the exact same thing with another lost, little girl. And look how Daisy had turned out.
There was no response to that, and Clint figured she was busily chewing over his little declaration. He let it slide, and instead said, "You don't have to come out until you're ready. I'll even tell Daisy and Nat to calm themselves down a little bit. I'd have been overwhelmed by them, too, so don't worry about it. I can't promise they won't want to take you all over town and buy you lots of things, though, especially since your new Dad told them to. And your Uncle Nick, because we all do what he says."
After about a minute, the door was unlocked and it cracked open a little, to reveal a little sliver of Crystal's face, including a single blue eye that was bloodshot from crying. "What about you?" she whispered.
Clint cocked his head a little in confusion. "What about me?"
"Why?"
Well, that could be a question with a lot of different answers. He chose the first one that came to mind. "Because, if you don't mind, I'd like to be your Dad, too."
She was staring at him, and the archer let her, hoping she could read his truthfulness in his own gaze. Up until that morning, he'd been happy to be some sort of father figure for Daisy, so this was just a little bit strange for him, but he'd meant every word he'd just said.
"I can't promise I'll be a good Dad," he murmured, "but I'd certainly like to try."
He certainly couldn't be any worse than the bastards who had dumped her like trash.
"Now," he gave her a smile, "why don't you come on out whenever you're ready, and I'll do my best to protect you from Daisy and Nat's well-meaning yet overbearing attentions?"
"I…don't know what that means," Crystal admitted reluctantly.
"It means those two want to go nuts and smother you with kindness. Now, if you really do want that, I'll back off, but it can be a little hard to deal with if you're not used to it."
Crystal's face vanished and the door closed, but the lock didn't engage this time. There was a rustling sound, and then the door opened fully, revealing Crystal in a pretty yellow dress that looked a little worse for wear, and was just a hair too big in size for her thin frame. Lockjaw peered out from behind her, and the Elf could see him in the reflection; his tail was practically wagging.
"Oh, that's pretty," he said, wanting to give her a little positive reinforcement. While he wasn't usually a yellow person, it did look nice on her. "You think you like that one?"
Crystal nodded, shyly. "It's really nice. Do you think it's okay for me to want it?"
"You bet it is. You can have pretty much anything you want. We want you to be happy."
"I don't need anything to be happy, cause I have you and Dad and Daisy and Uncle Nick and Aunt Nat."
Clint's eyes welled up, and Gods' be damned his tough persona, he didn't care who saw it.
Crystal's eyes widened fearfully. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, sweetheart," he choked a little, "you just said something right."
The little girl gave him a dazzling smile. Then, she launched herself into his arms, almost knocking Lucky away; the dragon didn't seem to mind at all, too busy doing the same to Lockjaw and pinning him to the ground so he could lick him.
Clint hugged her for all he was worth. It was humbling that this child, who had no reason to trust anyone, was trusting him. Of all people, she was trusting someone who'd once been a deadly mercenary who'd killed more people than even he could count. There was something in him that had her believing in him, and while Clint didn't understand, he wasn't about to question it.
He'd done a lot of wrong things in his life.
But this, he was going to do right.
"Hey," Daisy's voice broke into their quiet moment.
Crystal pulled away slightly so she could look at her. Daisy's expression was anxious, and she said, "I'm sorry if it got too much for you."
"It's okay," Crystal said, giving the older girl another version of that brilliant, happy smile. "You were only doing it because you love me."
Now, it was Daisy's turn to get teary-eyed. "That's right, and it was too much." She knelt down beside them. "I should have remembered how it was, when it's all too much and you just don't understand it. So, if you ever want to ask why I'm doing something, you go right ahead. I'll keep on telling you that I love you until you believe me."
Crystal's smile turned shy. "I believe you now. Honestly. I just…no one's ever loved me before, so I'm not sure what to do."
"You've got plenty of time to figure it out." Daisy held out her own arms, and Crystal accepted the hug. "We'll help you in whatever way we can. And, if you start feeling like it's too much, let us know, alright? And we'll go home. We don't have to do all of this today."
"I…was having fun, but…"
"I getcha, kiddo. It's fine." Daisy released the hug. "Come on, let's get whatever you want, and we can send it back to the castle. You don't have to accept everything, just what you like."
Crystal was looking at her with eyes that were far too old, and yet she was smiling. "I'd like this dress, please."
The smile Daisy gave her was incandescent. "Then it's yours. Let's see what else we can find." She stood, holding out her hand.
Crystal took it, and let her new sister lead her back out into the shop.
Daisy glanced behind them, mouthing thank you at Clint. He nodded, smiling. He was just glad it worked, because the last thing he wanted was for that child to feel overwhelmed by the kindness she was being shown.
"You've grown up."
No, Clint didn't jump at Natasha's voice at his elbow, but it was only because he'd been around her for so long he was used to her popping up when he wasn't expecting her.
He shrugged, watching the two girls as Daisy kept pointing out things to Crystal, who either nodded or shook her head, accepting what she liked now instead of letting Daisy just pick clothes for her. Clint was very glad to see her speaking up for herself.
"It had to happen eventually," he commented.
"It certainly took you long enough."
"Hey!" he exclaimed without any real heat. Clint knew she was giving him grief; it was her way of showing affection.
"Love looks good on you."
His eyes darted to her. She wasn't looking at him, instead she was doing what he'd been doing: watching Daisy and Crystal. She had on her usual unimpressed expression, but the archer could see the peacefulness in it, the contentment. "You and I haven't talked about what's going to happen next," he blurted, then silently cursed himself. He'd meant for them to have this conversation in private, but it seemed as if he meant to do this now.
Really, his timing stunk.
Still, it seemed as if Natasha was fine with it. "We don't really have to. I know you mean to stay at Shield Keep with Phil." Her face turned to his, a small, happy smile gracing her lips. "It will be good for you. You need that stability, and the moment we found out that Phil was still alive I knew your days on the road were coming to an end. You forget…I was the one who had to pick up the pieces after Phil was killed, and you were free from Loki's influence. I knew how you felt about him, even if you hadn't at the time. So, when you got a second chance…" she shrugged, one-shouldered, "it was only a matter of time before you settled down."
Her eyes went back to watching Daisy and Crystal. Clint did as well; they were talking to the shop girl, the one who'd been upset when Crystal had locked herself in the changing room. The girl was kneeling down, looking Crystal in the eye, and it was apparent that she was asking questions about the little girl's preferences. Clint made a note to make certain she got a really good gratuity for her help.
"I didn't expect it to be with two kids," he pointed out.
"No, but I think you'll be fine. You're already well on the way to having Crystal love you; Daisy won't be far behind, especially after all the crap the pair of you have been through. She knows you'll be good for her Dad and will be more than glad to have you in their lives. Although, I expect there will be a bit of teasing."
Clint huffed a laugh. "That goes without saying." Daisy was the eldest daughter, and that came with the expectation of so much moaning and eye rolling at her Dad's antics. She didn't say anything about the affection now, but familiarity breeds contempt, so to speak. "She's already given me the 'you hurt my Dad I'll do unspeakable things to you' speech."
"Then she's ahead of the game." Natasha smirked. "I really do like her. She'd tough. Melinda's been doing good work with her, although I do think she needs more self-defense training. From what I've heard, she's relying on her magic too much and, when she doesn't have access to it, she doesn't quite know what to do."
Clint couldn't argue with that, although he wanted to. Daisy seemed to have done just fine while she was being held prisoner by Hydra, even though her magic had been muffled by the Void Point and she'd been under intense emotional distress. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have a word with Melinda about it. And he considered asking her if she'd want to learn to shoot, as well.
A sudden high giggle sounded, and Clint watched as Daisy picked Crystal up, trying to lift her and failing to get her high enough. Grinning, he strode over, grabbed the little girl, and did the lifting; Crystal laughed happily, giving him directions toward a hook on the wall, where a black and yellow dress hung on display. It reminded the archer of a bumblebee, but didn't say anything. If she liked it, then he wasn't about to tease.
She'd had nothing of her own – except her dragon, who was busily giving the dragon version of laughter at Clint's feet – so whatever she wanted, he was going to make certain she received it.