Time to catch up with some more old friends/colleagues.
During the trip back home, Clint's phone rang. Without looking at the display, he answered the phone. "On my way back, Katie-Kate."
A voice that definitely wasn't Kate's came through the car's speakers. "Is that the girl who was kicking ass at Rockefeller Center?"
"Calling just to annoy me, Cap?"
"Is it working?" Sam asked. "If so, then yes."
"How bad has she kicked your ass, Barton?"
"Not as thorough as I can kick yours, Barnes."
"Name the time and place, and we'll see about that."
"I'm not taking advantage of a senior citizen."
Bucky snorted. "Face it. You couldn't keep up with me on your best day."
"In your dreams, Robocop. Need help with something, Sam?"
"Nah, we finished chasing down some not-so-nice people, so I'm giving Barnes a ride back to the city before going back home. I thought I'd check in on you after seeing the news. You good?"
Clint wanted to ask him his definition of good, but he didn't. "Yeah."
Unfortunately, Clint forgot Sam used to be a counselor with the VA and could spot a lie from the moon. 'He would've made a good SHIELD agent and given Nat a run for her money,' Clint thought to himself. "Not buying it, Clint." Sam's voice returned Clint to the present day. "It's been a while since we've seen you. Meet us at Bucky's place. We'll order pizza, get drunk, and get caught up. You know, guy stuff."
Clint sighed and rolled his eyes. Why not? It would give his body a chance to recuperate from all he'd been through lately. "Fine."
"I'll send you the address. See you in a couple of hours." The call ended.
Clint shook his head, trying to wrap his thoughts around the events of the past week. He'd gone from trying to show his kids a New York Christmas to being served with divorce papers and trying to find a place to live. "I can't keep living in Kate's aunt's apartment, and the hotel is too expensive. Clint thought about it on the drive back, then came up with an idea. "Hey, Grills?"
"Clint, man! What's up?
"Do you happen to know if your building has any vacant apartments? I'm kind of in need of a place to live."
Grills smiled. "There is. Aimee said the apartment above her is vacant. It's on the top floor, with lots of room. I can get you the landlord's number."
"Great, thanks. Just text it to me."
"Will do, man." Clint disconnected the call. He spent the rest of the trip making lists in his head of things he needed to do after the holidays.
Arriving back in the city, Clint glanced at the address Sam had texted him. He drove around until he found a parking space in the vicinity. Convinced no one had followed him, he locked the SUV and headed up to the apartment. Clint knocked on the door, and while waiting for someone to answer, he thought about what he knew of Sam, now Cap, and Bucky after the battle. He'd heard they'd been fighting a group known as the Flag Smashers. Steve would be happy to know his childhood friend had been given a full pardon by the government for his actions while the Winter Soldier. Clint and Bucky had not had a lot of contact since Wakanda. There had been a deal worked out after Steve broke them out of the raft to send Scott and Clint back to their homes on house arrest, while Bucky went back into cryo until the Wakandans could get the programming out of his head. Of course, after that was Thanos, then Ronin, the battle, the deaths, and then the moving on from all of that. Whether Bucky ever knew about Loki, he didn't know. He assumed Steve had told him at some point, but then maybe he didn't, knowing it was Clint's story to tell.
"Good God, I could hear you thinking from behind the door," Bucky commented, opening the door. "Get your ass in here, Barton. This is a no thinking zone." Bucky ushered Clint into the room, shutting and locking the door behind him.
"Hey, man." Sam looked up from his seat in a chair, handing a beer bottle over to Clint. "Have a seat. Pizza should be here any time." Clint made himself comfortable at one end of the couch. Bucky sat down on the other end, taking a sip of his beer. Sam dived right into it. "How are the wife and kids?"
Clint sighed, running a hand through his hair, knowing he wasn't getting out of this conversation. "On the way to being an ex-wife."
Sam and Bucky both frowned. "She served you during the holidays?" Sam asked, getting up when the doorbell rang, signaling the pizza had arrived.
Clint waited to answer until Sam returned with several boxes of various types of pizza. "Yeah. I was supposed to be home for Christmas, had already sent the kids back, then the shitstorm you saw on television appeared." Clint filled them in about Kate, the Tracksuit Mafia, Echo, and Kingpin. "I went up to see Pepper. She gave me the name of a good attorney. She's at least willing to share custody of the kids. Pepper's willing to watch them if I'm ever working when I have them." Clint stood and went to grab some pizza, returning to the couch with a few pieces on a plate.
Bucky had grabbed himself some pizza while Clint was talking. "Have you talked to the kids yet?"
"Not yet. They're pretty observant, so they're probably not surprised." Clint took several bites of pizza.
"That's a damn shame, Clint," Sam said, taking a sip from his beer. "Anything we can do?"
"Nah, not yet. I've got a lead on an apartment, so I'll probably be furniture shopping soon." Clint sipped his beer.
Bucky spoke up. "If you need some help, I don't have anything going on. I'll go stir crazy with nothing to do since Sam's headed back home."
"Yeah, gotta go check on Sarah and the boys."
"Thanks, Buck, appreciate the offer." The trio sat and finished the pizzas and drank some more beers until Clint looked outside and noticed how dark it had become. "Aw, weather, no."
Sam and Bucky looked out the window and saw the sky, which had turned a shade of purple, signifying a storm was imminent. "Don't worry," Bucky said, "I've got room for everyone. I've got another bedroom, and someone can take the couch." He glared at each of them. "I'm not taking no for an answer."
"Fine. Let me text Kate." Clint looked up at them. "She's like 12. I'll never hear the end of it if I don't check in with her." Clint pulled out a phone and sent off a quick text, hoping to head her off at the pass so she wouldn't flood his phone with texts and calls. He didn't want to have to block and delete her again.
"Done. I'll take the couch. No arguments, Sam."
Sam held up his hands in mock surrender. "Fine. It's a pretty comfortable couch. I have to say."
"You should know. You've slept on it enough times when you couldn't drag your lazy ass back home."
Sam snorted. "On that note, I'm off to bed, and I'll be sure to use all the hot water." He stood and headed off down the hall.
Bucky shook his head, chuckling. "I swear he gets more like Steve the longer I know him. Punk was always doing that."
Clint nodded, having been on enough missions with Steve to remember that. "Nat was the same way. She'd soak in the tub until all the hot water was gone, said it was to make up for lost time, for all the hot water she'd missed in Russia. I started taking showers in the morning, and that seemed to solve the problem." Clint tried not to get morose thinking about his best friend, kicking himself when he realized Bucky had lost his best friend as well.
"How are you doing with that?"
"I have my moments. I went and talked to her the other day. I keep thinking it'll get easier. I guess it will. How about you?"
Bucky leaned back into the leather couch. "It was rough at first. I couldn't figure out why Sam had given up the shield so easy until he explained it to me." He filled Clint a little about Sam's struggles. "Once I understood that I knew I needed to work on finding my place, so I'm working on that."
Clint nodded. "Working on that myself." After a brief pause, Clint looked over at Bucky. "Thanks for letting me stay. I'm not that far from, well, from where I'm staying."
Bucky shrugged his shoulders. "What are friends for? Plus, if there's anything I've learned from the past few years, it's to keep in touch with friends and not take them for granted." Clint nodded in agreement as Bucky stood. "Bathroom's second door on the left. Go ahead and leave the pizza out. It'll be easier to find if someone gets hungry during the night. I'll grab some blankets and pillows." Bucky disappeared, returning a short time later carrying a pile of linens, a few pillows, a t-shirt, and sweatpants. "Didn't figure you'd want to sleep in your clothes." He set the items on the couch. "Night, Clint."
"Night." After Bucky retreated to his bedroom, Clint stretched out on the couch, working on getting his mind to shut off enough to rest. His last thought before going to sleep was planning to call his kids the next day.
Clint woke up the following morning to the scent of coffee wafting through the apartment. "Morning." Once his eyes focused, Clint blinked and saw Bucky leaning over him, holding out a coffee mug, steam emanating from it.
"Thanks." Clint sat up, stretched, and took the mug from Bucky, quickly downing the contents. He put the mug on the coffee table, then stood, cracked his back, and headed for the bathroom, noting Sam had already left.
"Towels are in the linen closet!" Bucky shouted at Clint, then turned around and continued making pancakes. After plating up the pancakes along with bacon and sausage, he carried the plates over to the small, round dining room table. He picked up Clint's empty mug, refilled it, then set it on the table as well.
After several minutes, Clint returned to the living room, having changed back into his clothes. He put his hearing aid back in and joined Bucky at the table. Clint fixed himself a plate and took another sip from the coffee mug. "Sam take off?"
Bucky nodded. "Wanted to get a head start on getting back home. He's helping his sister get their family's boat up and running." Bucky filled Clint in on Sarah and her boys. "I think they may be doing well enough to hire some help and start running a second boat. Being Captain America is good name recognition."
"Speaking of kids, I need to call mine." Clint stood, picking up his empty plate.
Bucky waved him off. "I'll clean up. Go, call them."
Clint nodded thanks and went into the living room, pulled out his phone, and called. "Hey. Yeah, I got the paperwork. Yeah, it looks fair, but I'll have an attorney look it over. Have you told the kids? No, I understand. As soon as I can get a flight out, I'll be there. Can I talk to them? Thanks." Clint switched to the video feed app and talked to them as Bucky quietly cleaned up the kitchen and dining room. "I'll see you soon." Nate signed 'I love you.' Clint signed back, 'I love you more,' then the call ended.
"You're deaf?" Bucky sat down in the living room chair. "Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"No worries. Yeah, after all the years in SHIELD, then with the Avengers, I lost the hearing in my left ear. I had hearing issues from earlier in life, but the explosions over the years didn't help any. I didn't need the aid until recently. Taught the kids basic signs, never thought to learn any in detail."
"I can help with that." Clint looked puzzled at Bucky. "HYDRA. One of the few good things they taught me. They figured it would be easier to sign during missions."
"Thanks. You don't have to do that."
"It's no problem. Like I said last night, I'm free right now."
Clint's phone flashed. He glanced down and read the text. "Kate reminding me to call the attorney." "Great, I have my own annoying secretary now." Clint looked over at Bucky.
Bucky smiled. "Well, she's not wrong."
"Aw, Barnes, no. Not you, too." Clint shook his head, pulling the attorney's business card out of his wallet and scheduling an appointment with him later in the week. "Since you're bored, up for a road trip?"
"Sure."
Clint picked up his phone, began searching for flights, and booked two seats on a flight leaving Monday. He called and gave his family the information, then relayed the information to Bucky. "One more call and that should be it." He pulled his texts back up and found the number for Grills' apartment manager, called, and made an appointment for later in the day to see the apartment. Once that was done, he tossed the phone onto the coffee table, collapsing into the cushions on the back of the couch. "I'm too old for this shit. Fifty years old and having to start over, again."
"Try being 100, man."
"Good point. Shutting up now."
"Nah, don't worry about it. You're only as old as you feel."
"After this past week, I feel older than you are. But, enough complaining. Tell me how you finally took care of Zemo and about the fake Cap.
