Author's Note: Final Chapter time!
Read it. Enjoy it. Goodbye.
EPILOGUE
Someone was pinching his nose. Tony cracked open one eye, spotting the culprit and she just giggled before releasing him.
"Wake up daddy!"
Tony opened his eyes, and he slightly frowned at the child staring back to him before he quickly sat up looking over to her, before glancing over to a sleeping Pepper.
"Pep?"
"I can't hear you because I'm still sleeping." Pepper muttered before rolling over and nuzzling her cheek against her pillow. "Now, go feed your daughter." Tony's furrowed brow turned back to Morgan who just giggled before running out of the room. Tony turned away, letting a hand slide across his face because he's not completely sure what just happened. One minute he was standing in that house, looking at...wait.
"Hey Pep,"
"You're not getting out of this, now go before she attempts to make her own breakfast." Pepper said, kicking his leg to push him out of the bed. He huffed, before tossing the covers and standing from the bed before heading for the kitchen.
Soon Tony sat staring down to his daughter who happily ate her cereal and he couldn't help the smile that came to his face. Soon she stopped and looked up to him with a furrowed brow.
"You're staring daddy."
"I know I'm staring. I'm sitting here marveling at my greatest creation." the man said before standing to his feet and walking over to grab a mug for his coffee. It wasn't until he was near the sink did his eyes just so happened to glance out the window. And the moment he did, a smile curled at his lips. "Hey, light of my life," the girl lifted her head and looked over to him as he pointed outside. "There's a man asleep outside in a hammock and-" before he could even finish the sentence the girl was laughing and he smiled. "Something funny?"
"Daddy, you made uncle Mattie sleep outside until he found Mr. Bunny." Morgan said and Tony chuckled before turning back to look at the window.
Matthew felt someone watching him and so he cracked opened one eye to see the annoying face of the man who forced him to sleep in this stupid hammock.
"That damn bunny is in the house." Matthew muttered as he turned about to nod back off asleep. "And it wasn't even that bad out here." Matthew expected some sort of annoying remark because it was the Tony Stark way, and yet nothing and so he opened his eyes and looked over to see the man still staring at him. "You're being creepy, what?" Tony just shook his head, but that smile was still on his face.
"Just a strange dream about your sister." Tony said and he looked down to the confused look on Matt's face and suddenly he became worried.
"I hope you didn't tell your wife you're dreaming about Rinny, because if you did, then I'm sure you'll soon have a hammock out here beside me." Matthew said, and Tony's smile only got wider. "Dude, what's with you, you're being weird."
"You have no idea, Mattie." Tony said before turning and heading for the house, before stopping and glancing over to the man. "And you can't hide out here anymore. Go home to your wife and admit whatever dumbass thing you did or said was wrong and apologize."
It was just a nightmare. A terrible, stupid nightmare that Tony was glad he had woken up from. Pepper eyed him suspiciously at his sudden chipper mood. He was humming as he got dressed and so she finally decided to ask him.
"Why are you in such a good mood?" she asked, and the man smiled as he stopped his fingers on his buttons and turned to his wife. He inched toward her, and she knew that look in his eyes. "Tony Stark, don't you even-" he scooped her up in his arms and she squealed with laughter as he pushed them onto the bed. Tony hovered above her for a moment and she placed a hand on his cheek. "Seriously Tony, what's going on?"
"I'm alive. I have a drop dead gorgeous wife, a miniature, adorable genius of a daughter." he brought his lips to hers. "I'm just happy. Let me be happy."
"Ok," she smiled wrapping her arms around him as his lips once again inched toward hers. "Just make sure we're not late. I would like for us to be on time for once in our lives." Tony paused and pulled himself back.
" Late for-"
"Now you're really being weird, because I know you didn't forget about the party." Pepper says still eyeing the man. Tony turned away, closing his eyes and a smile curled on his lips. "Tony-"
"Of course I didn't forget. It's her birthday!" he looked back down to Pepper's eyes as he lips once again neared hers. "We won't be late."
They were late. It wasn't Tony's fault though. It was that damn bunny that once again disappeared and Morgan wouldn't let them leave before they found him. Tony found the bunny under a bush behind the house. Morgan's eyes lit up the moment he walked over and she saw the bunny in his hands. The way she looked at him, Tony had never felt more like a hero in his entire life and he wasn't even wearing the suit.
The drive wasn't too long since the house they were going to was only about ten minutes away. Tony hummed as he drove and Pepper once again glanced over to him.
"I think I should lay down the ground rules now before we all get out of the car." she said and Tony looked over to her with a quirked brow. She looked over her shoulder to her daughter in the backseat. "You will be on your best behavior because we will not have a repeat of what happened the last time."
"That wasn't my fault! CJ dared me and daddy says Starks never turn away from a challenge." Pepper turned her eyes to Tony who kept his eyes on the road ignoring the look.
"There will be no small explosions today." Pepper says sweetly to her daughter. "Or mommy will have to send you to Grandma's for the summer." Pepper wanted to laugh at the look of horror that shown on her daughter's face. She looked just like her father. "And you, mister-" she turned to Tony who glanced over to her with a look of innocence. "We will go home at before the next sunrise."
"I say we play it by ear Pep." Tony says turning onto the path toward the house. The place was already filled with people, and music playing from somewhere. "Barton is a dead man."
"I can't believe he invited all of these people. She's going to kill him." Pepper says laughing as Tony pulled the car to a stop. The moment the car was off, Pepper turned to give her daughter one last warning, but the girl was already out and running off. She sighed, before turning back to Tony about to warn him, but he too was about to step out of the car. He stopped and glanced over to her. "Tony-"
"Play it by ear, honey." he says slowly stepping out of the car as her eyes do that scary stare she's gotten so good at. She just shakes her head as he steps out of the car.
Tony walked into the house without knocking. He can't remember the last time he knocked on this door. The house smelled of grilled foods and something else he couldn't decipher. He glanced around the house, not seeing anyone immediately before heading for the steps.
"She's not up there." called a voice that made Tony stop. He turned to see Clint walking from the kitchen, beer in hand, barbecue fork in the other. "Have I told you how much I hate how comfortable you are casually strolling strolling into my house and up to my bedroom to find my wife."
"I don't think you have." Tony says walking back down the steps and over to the man, and there's a bit of an awkward silence Tony really wants to fill but he's not sure he should. "So...you're still alive?"
"I won't be when everyone leaves." Clint laughs as he takes a sip from his bottle. "She woke up from a nap to find people already rolling in. She's going to have a good time. I mean if she can come out of hiding."
"Where-" Clint pointed a thumb behind him and Tony glanced over to a door and his eyes widened. "It's finished?" Clint laughed with a shake of his head. "She didn't-" Tony smiles before looking over to the man. "I'll get her out of hiding."
"You won't, but I'll send your better half down when it's time to eat." Clint says before walking toward the front door, but he stops and Tony does the same as the two men look back to each other. "Hey Stark-" Clint drops his head for a moment as if he's not sure of what he wants to say. Honestly he isn't.
"Nightmare's over, Legolas." Tony says and Clint looks back up to the man. "She's back." neither was quite sure the event that plagued their dreams the night before was real or what, but both found relief in those two words.
"Right, well make sure she's sitting and nothing extreme." Clint says knowing he'd be better off talking to a wall at this point.
"Yeah, sure thing." Tony mutters already rushing off. The house was big, so he had to continue down a hall and then another before he appeared outside of a door. A smiled curled at his lips when he reached for the handle, but it was locked. "How-" he looked around the door before spotting the keypad. The man quirked a brow.
"May I be of assistance sir?" A voice spoke and Tony lift his head glancing around for the source. He expected to see Vision lurking around because that voice belong to him and...wait.
"JARVIS?" Tony asked.
"Actually my name is J2." the system spoke and Tony couldn't help but laugh. He actually missed his old buddy JARVIS.
"So, yeah, J2, if you didn't mind letting me in." Tony says turning back to the door. Tony watched as a holographic keyboard appeared above the one installed in the wall and Tony just shook his head. "She's so paranoid." there was a beep and then a click, to which Tony grabbed the nob and this time when he turned it, the door opened. Tony couldn't contain his giddiness as he walked inside. This place had been under construction for months and she refused all of his input. He wasn't even allowed down here. And he's tried, numerous times, but she always catches him. He stops for a moment and smiles as memories of the here and now push the nightmares of what could've been further and further out of his mind.
"You're going to have an big head about all of this." her voice filtered from somewhere. He continued down the steps, only now noticing now familiar this stairwell seemed. "You're going to think this song is about you, because you're so vain." he laughed when he finally reached the bottom of the steps to another door, this one made of glass. He saw her on the other side, arms folded over her chest as she looks at him. His hand reaches out, mindlessly entering the code he'd entered hundreds of times, and the smile on his face widened the moment the door clicked open. He doesn't say anything when he walks in, his eyes scanning over the room and he couldn't quite believe it. It looked like very good replica of his Malibu workshop. She was right. He was going to have a big head about this. He turned back to her, and she could tell from the smug look on his face what he was thinking.
"This is kind of weird. Like fan-girl stalker weird." Tony says walking around a bit more. "Am I going to find a off brand version of Dum-E and U around here?" he glanced around a bit as if they would suddenly appear. He looked over to her and she just shook her head and so he walked over, closing the distance between them. "You know, I think I'm flattered. Happy Birthday, Kitten." she rolls her eyes before walking over to stand beside him.
"Thank you, Iron Ass." She says. "J2, show me the backyard." soon a large holographic screen appeared on the wall showing her the backyard and she groaned before dropping her head to Tony's shoulder. "I'm going to kill that man. He knows I don't like parties." Tony chuckled bringing an arm around her and placing a kiss to the top of her head. "You didn't know he was going to do this, did you, because if you did and didn't warn me-"
"Trust me, Kitten, Barton wasn't looking for birthday party advice from me." he said, once again letting his eyes scan over the place and it really was like he'd stepped through some wormhole back in time. He smiled and Katie looked up to his face and she just knew what he was thinking. "What made you pay homage to me?" he looked down to her and she let out a snort. "Hey I'm still flattered."
"Like I said before, this has absolutely nothing to do with you." she said pulling from his grasp and walking over to sit at her desk. He looked over to see her let out a heavy sigh as she sits and he narrows his eyes before walking over to sit at the desk on the other side of her.
"Fine, then tell me why." he says leaning back in his chair as he looked over to her.
"I-" her words got caught in her throat at the sudden kick to her midsection, and she groaned as she sat back in her seat.
"Are you-" Tony quickly sat from his seat and hurried to her side.
"Tony, I'm fine, I-" she groaned again and Tony's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You can not be this damn high strung. Geez, just sit down, I'm fine."
"No you're like ridiculously pregnant and-"
"And the baby is just giving me birthday kicks to my kidney. Sit down please!" she snapped and he rolled his eyes before walking back over to sit, but he watched her warily. "Now as I was saying before, I would never admit this to your face, but I liked it here." she shook her head. "Back in Malibu, your weird workshop-" she looked over to the man and smiled. "My weird blackmailer who gave me the key to his kingdom and let me run loose."
"You keep saying blackmail, but how I remember it-" she reached into a drawer beside her and plucked out a rubber-band ball and tossed it at him. "Ow! Hey! No throwing things at the face!" he pointed a finger toward the woman. "The truth is that if you didn't want to come back to Malibu with me, there was nothing to stop you from leaving."
"The picture-"
"And you broke my firewall with a Red Bull and some crap PC. You could've had that picture if you put your mind to it." he said and Katie looked at him for a moment silently sitting back in her seat as she stared at him. "Ok, so that time I interrupted you and I'm sorry. Please continue-" she smirked and turned away because she knew he was right. He knew she knew he was right, but it would just be a silent understanding between the two of them. She opened her mouth to continue, but the interruptions just continued.
"Honey?" Bart's voice sounded from somewhere, and Tony whipped his head around wildly to find the source. "Do you think you're going to come up any time soon? I mean this is your birthday party and everyone did come here to see you." Katie lifted her head and reached forward and typing a few keys on the keyboard in front of her, and soon an image out side of the workshop's door appeared where they could see Clint. "Dear-"
"You knew I wouldn't like a party with all of these people who I barely even know."
"You know everyone here!" he was silently for a moment. "They're old friends-"
"Clint Barton." Katie said and Tony watch in amusement as the archer stiffened his wife's use of his whole name.
"Clear 'em out. Read you loud and clear. But we still have a crap load of food and-"
"Clint Barton!" she says and Tony actually laughs when he sees Clint jump at her voice. "A party is fine, but I'm at the point in this pregnancy where I don't want to fake smile, or have pointless conversations with people I don't really care for. If I come to that party, I'm going to hit someone. That's not the type of example I want to set for my children." Clint dropped his head on the door and Katie smiled as she watched him, before turning to Tony who just shook her head. "I'll be up soon Bart." he lifted his head with a quirked brow. "You don't have to send anyone home, but when I come up, you stay at my side the entire time."
"That was the plan anyway, Babe." he smiled before turning to leave, but he stopped and came back to the door. "You should probably hurry, uh, CJ and Morgan have a look."
"What kind of look?" she frowned and looked over to Tony who slid a hand over his face.
"I don't know, but I don't like it. I'm going to get the fire extinguisher just in case." He says with a nod before walking away.
Katie looked over to Tony who was laughing and she couldn't help but smile.
"What?"
"It's us." he says and Katie looks over to him in confusion. "Your son, my daughter, it's the next generation of us." he continued to laugh and Katie just couldn't stop herself from lightly chuckling as well. "I've already got an account for the bail money they're going to need." she shook her head when she heard the sudden sound of silent giggling from the corner of the room. Tony watched her with a quirked brow, and she simply pointed to that corner and Tony stood to his feet and walked over. There was a hall toward that corner, and the moment he turned, he stopped looking down to the brown eyes of someone he'd also been dying to see since he arrived.
"You got a squatter." Tony says and the girl sitting in front of him rolls her eyes as she stands to her feet. "And she now rolls her eyes at my jokes! What have you done to my protege?" Katie's leaning as far back as she could to see who he was talking about. She heard the foot steps before the child turned the corner.
"Tai, I thought you were helping your dad with the party?" Natalia looked at her mother with a shake of her head and Katie just gave a snort in response before seeing Tony sneak behind the girl and lift her from her feet, tickling her into a fit of laughter.
"Look whose not too cool to be ticklish!" Tony says still grasping the squirming girl in his arms.
"Fine!" she says trying to breathe and laugh at the same time. "You're cool! You're cool!" Tony finally places the girl on her feet and she glares up to him, trying to hold back a smile. "That was low, even for you." she shook her head before walking over to hop up on the desk in front of her mother.
"You know kid, I remember a time when you thought I was the sun and the moon. You even liked me more than your dear old dad." Tony says walking over to sit, only to be struck with two glares from faces that looked freakishly identical. " Don't that, it scares me when you do that." Natalia turns back to her mother.
"None of my friends could come and the only kids here are the babies."
"Morgan and your brother aren't babies, they-"
"They're babies with big brains. They're weird, and I'd much rather hang out down here." Tai says before slipping a phone from her pocket and leaning her back to the desk. Katie looked over to Tony who looked down to the girl before lifting his eyes to Katie.
"She doesn't like parties, or science-" Tony says with a furrowed brow. "Are you sure she's your daughter?" Katie shook her head at the man before looking down to her daughter. "Maybe there was some sort of mix up on that helicarrier?"
"Oh, no she's mine. She just loves hanging out with her godmother." Katie says before looking back over to Tony. "Before someone else interrupts me, what I was saying before, this place was the beginning. Forget everything that happened before with adoptive parents and shady government agencies, for me this is where it began." she glanced over to Natalia before glancing back over to the man who returned the smile.
"Ditto," he replied leaning further back in his seat, his eyes still on the woman across from him.
"Hey Uncle Tony, could I borrow your jet?" Natalia suddenly asked looking over to the man who perked up at the request. "There's this concert in Vancouver that's totally trending right now."
"Anyone I know performing, because I'm down if-"
"No," Katie says pushing herself to her feet. She looked down to her daughter. "How many times do I have to tell you not to ask for his jet?" she looked over to Tony. "And how many times do I have to tell you to stop appeasing her."
"She's my god daughter, if I can't shower her with the finer things in life, then what's the point of living?"
"Yeah mom," Natalia said sitting up and turning to Katie, hating that look she was giving her. It was a look she knows Tony taught her. "What's the point in living?"
"You're not going to a concert, you're going to take your butt upstairs and suffer through this party just like I have to, now go." Natalia groans before hopping off the desk and stalking out of the workshop. Katie sighs before looking over to Tony. "You too, lets go do this." Tony lets out a dramatic sigh before standing to his feet and heading over to her, but stops half way there. She looks over to him with a quirked brow. "What?"
"I uh—I had a nightmare last night." he says and he pauses for a moment, waiting for her to say something. "A real doozy of craziness. You were gone, and no one remembered who you were, but me." she smiled before walking over to him. "I had to get you back."
"Why you?"
Tony closed his eyes and let out a deep breath before stepping forward, and bringing his arms around her in a hug. Katie returned the embrace, letting out a sigh as well.
"You tell me."
"Well if I had to guess I would say that in the event that I suddenly got swallowed into none existence, only one person could save me." she smiled. "My best bud, my amigo, my-"
"Oompa to your loompa," Tony says smiling as well, before pulling back to look down to the woman.
"The peanut butter to my jelly. I'm awesome, you're awesome and together we're-"
"Fucking awesome." Tony says chuckling before they turned and began walking toward the door. They stopped at the door, and Tony turned to her and she looked back to him. "So this dream-"
"Just a dream, now come on and let's get this over with." Tony just laughed before they went upstairs.
It still felt like a dream. Tony found Pepper, stuck by her side as they mulled about talking to some familiar faces and some unfamiliar faces. He found himself glancing over to her, just to make sure she was real. Just to make sure people were actually seeing her, actually talking to her. Just to come to grips that she really was here. Maybe that dream that felt too real was just in fact a dream.
"Just give it to her." Pepper's voice's brought Tony back to the moment, and he turned to Pepper before looking over to Wanda and Sam who were both looking over to him in amusement. "Your gift, just give it to her."
"Can't," Tony says once again glancing over to Katie before turning back to his wife. "Not the right time."
"Ok, I don't get it." Sam said looking from Tony to Pepper. "I still don't know what your deal is with Katie. I think Natasha said something about blackmail-" Tony scoffed.
"There was no blackmail. I enticed her to work for me." Tony said and Pepper laughed with a shake of her head and Tony looked over to her. "You have a different recollection of events, honey?" Pepper smiled wildly before looking back to Sam prepared to tell the version of that story she knew her husband would disagree with.
Clint Barton loved this new life. This life where he could do something as normal as throw his wife a birthday party she hated. This party where he also had to clean up after a bunch of eat and run moochers, and yet he still smiled.
"So I think everything's pretty much cleaned up out there." Pepper says carrying in a few gifts from the table outside. "Wanda and Natasha are attempting to clean up, Bruce and Sam are carrying the tables and chairs back into the barn, while Rhodey and Rick are planning on some sort of race to see whose faster. Oh and Matthew and Darcy at each other's throats." she chuckled with a shake of her head. She glanced over into the living room where she saw Morgan and CJ sitting on the floor in front of Vision who seemed to be telling a story. She quirked a brow before looking over to Clint. "I don't know why, but that worries me." Clint looks over and glances into the living room and laughs.
"I have no idea how he did it, but he was able to put a stop to whatever those two were planning." Clint says and Pepper just sighed, glancing over to them once more before heading into the kitchen to help Clint with washing dishes. "Oh you don't have to."
"Yes I do, because if I help you, I won't be forced to try to pull my husband from downstairs." Pepper says walking over to grab a towel. "You clean, I'll dry." Clint gave a nod before handing the woman a plate. "So how long have they been down there?"
"I'd rather not answer questions that might upset me." Clint says eyes glancing out the window, and shaking his head at his friends making fools of themselves. "No need to get upset about things we can't change."
"Right," Pepper looks down to the glass in her hands. "It will never change." Clint stopped and glanced over to the woman who looked over to him and just shook her head. "I think I get it now."
"Get what?"
"I think Tony and Katie were meant to be in each other's lives." Pepper's brow furrows as she turns and leans her back against the counter. It was the first time she'd said the words out loud. Though there were many times she'd thought them. Times she'd see the pair engaging in some animated conversation, or using technical words she'd think they'd made up. She glanced into the living and smiled at the sound of Morgan and Cj's laughter. Clint followed her eyes and sighed at the pair of laughing children and he couldn't help but understand her words. Pepper looked back over to Clint and sighed before turning around to continue to help with the dishes.
Katie tapped her chin as she stared in what a mild state of confusion and shock. Tony stood beside her waiting for her to say something.
"C'mon, you've had plenty of time to digest this." he said nudging her shoulder. "So, best birthday gift ever, or-" Katie glanced over to him with a quirked brow. "I told you I was working on this!"
"Yeah, but I only half believe the things you say." Katie turned and just shook her head. "Tony you built me a suit."
"I did."
"I'm eight months pregnant."
"I'm not telling you to put it on now. This is for a just in case there's another end of the world catastrophe." Tony turned to her. "That way everyone will come to you and not me and I can stay blissfully happy with the wife and kid." she turned to the man with a smile and just shook her head. "I mean I'd help if you couldn't hack it, but-" she swat his arm before turning back to the suit.
"J2, structure scan for me." Katie ordered and soon they watched a light appear from the ceiling and scan over the suit before Katie reached forward and swiped the image to the screen on the other side of the workshop. "I'm not saying I'm going to wear that thing, but I'd like to know all the bells and whistles you added." she looked over to see the man with the cocky smirked as he rubbed his hands together.
"I thought you'd never ask." Tony says and she just laughs before turning and preparing to be amazed. Which she was. After he was done, he looked over to Katie, and noticed that she'd turned away from his presentation and wasn't actually paying attention. "I think I'm offended." she turned back to him with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry, Tony, I'm just-" she shook her head and that's when he noticed the slight frown. "Have a lot on my mind."
"Did you want to talk about it?"
Katie turned away, before walking over to take the seat at her desk. Tony frowned before walking over to sit on the edge of the desk,
"I can't-" she looks up to him and he can see that whatever this is, really is something serious. " Not yet. I have to talk to Bart first." she turned away from him and he let out a sigh.
"So tomorrow?" he asked and Katie laughed looking over to him before lifting her head at the sudden voice of the man's wife.
"Tony?" Pepper said and Katie turned to the man with a smile as she saw the man visibly deflate. "Can you hear me?"
"I can dear." Tony says before Katie types a few keys and suddenly the image of Pepper near the door to the basement appears and Tony turns as well.
"We have to go. CJ and Morgan somehow conned Vision into taking them outside."
"I'm almost afraid to ask." Tony says looking to the image of his wife as she just shook her head. "What's the damage?"
"Someone's cat." Pepper just dropped her hand to her palm. "They somehow built some sort of device out of the baby monitor and attempted to use it to get the cat to actually talk." Tony turned to Katie who eyes brows rose in intrigue that he seemed to share.
"Did it work?" Tony asked and they turned to see the glare Pepper had fixed on that door and he just knew he should probably quit while he was ahead. "I mean, I'll talk to her again." he looked over to Katie who stood to her feet. "Where exactly is the baby monitor now?"
"Really Tony!" Pepper said before turning and stalking off.
"You better leave before you're sleeping out on the hammock tonight." Katie says before nudging her head for the door. Tony walked along aside her as they walked up the steps.
"Why a cat?" Tony asked suddenly and Katie looked over to him and laughed.
Clint was glad the moment he walked into the house and only heard silence. All the guests were gone, his kids were asleep...or that's what he thought until he heard the sound of the television playing in the living room. That's where he found his eldest daughter sitting in front of the television as she enjoyed a slice of birthday cake. He walked and sat beside her and she glanced over to him before turning back to the television.
"You disappeared on me." he said reaching over and sliding a finger across the cake and taking a bit of frosting into his mouth. "I thought you were gonna be my partner in crime today, what happened?" she just mumbled something with a shrug as she continued enjoying her cake. He looked over to her, and he just smiled. This smart mouthed, snarky, tough, beautiful human was one third...soon to be one fourth of the reason his entire world spun.
"Stop staring, dad, you're being weird." she said, still not even looking over to him. He chuckled before placing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Finish the cake and then go up to bed." Clint says standing to his feet. "Where's mom?"
"Swing." Natalia said nudging her head toward the front door. Clint nodded before heading toward the door. "Did you hear what the babies did to Mrs. Louise's cat?" Natalia laughed at the groan that escaped her father.
Clint walked out the front door onto the porch, glancing out to see his wife swaying back and forth on the swing in front of the house. He smiled before walking over. She glanced over to him as he took the seat beside her. He lifted his arm and she slid closer to him, dropping her head to this chest.
"The party wasn't that bad." Clint says pleading the case he knows he's going to have to defend for a while. "I saw you smile and laugh a few times. Admit it, you had a good time."
"No such words will ever escape my lips, Mr. Barton." Katie says and Clint smiles down to her, placing a kiss to the top of her head. They soon find themselves swaying in a comfortable silence when Katie finally speaks.
"What if it was a mistake?"
"What if what was a mistake?" Clint asks and Katie hesitates to answer the question. Clint notices and pulls back a bit to look down to her and she sighs before turning back to him. "Kat?"
"Everything changed. I changed it and I'm not sure I should've...I'm not sure I had the right." Clint looks down to his wife still unsure of what she was talking about, but he sees the concern in her face and knows whatever this is, it's actually upsetting her.
"Hey Kat, I need you to tell me what's going on?" Clint said, and Katie turned away, still afraid of this conversation. She let out a sigh before standing to her feet and turning to Clint who still watched her. "You're really scaring me, right now." Katie's eyes look to the seat of the swing, and Clint follows her eyes to see a sketch book. He reach over picking it up, looking down to see Natalia's name written on the front of it.
"She said she was having weird dreams." Katie says and Clint looks over to her and she shrugs. "So I gave her that figuring that putting the dreams on paper would help her understand them." Clint stares at his wife for a moment before looking back down to the sketch book, flipping open the first page with a furrowed brow at the sight of something he really didn't expect to see. There drawn was that gold glove, those colorful gems aligning across it. He looked back up to his wife with a frown before looking back down to the sketch book and flipping the page, gasping at the sight of the accurately drawn picture of the Red Skull. Page after page, a picture of Loki holding the Tessaract, a scribbled drawing of the Time Stone being ripped from Stephen's neck. The very last page a was the figure that doesn't have a face. It's just the scribbled image of a cloaked figure, that's completely black. The words "Mistress of Death" written below it. Clint looks down to the image for a few moments trying to piece together what all of this means before he returns his gaze back to his wife. He now understands the expression on her face because it soon takes over his own.
"What if I made a mistake?"
"We don't know what this is." Clint says tossing the book down walking over to his wife. "This is just the reason Tai needs to cut down on the horror movies before bed." he brings his arms around her, hoping to comfort her, to ease her worries. "Kat, we have it. Our life is good. We found it. The life that doesn't have to be about heroes and villains. Ok?" he looked at her for a moment, needing her to confirm it. Needing to see her tell him that she can accept that the dark dreams of a nine year old were nothing to disrupt their lives over. "Ok?" she looked at him knowing exactly what he needed to hear and so she smiled and gave him a nod.
"Ok, you're right." she fell into his arms, dropping her head to his chest letting out a heavy sigh. She opened her eyes, listening to the thump of his heart beat under her ear. "You're right." he placed a kiss to her cheek before pulling back.
"It's late, let's get to bed Mrs. Barton." Katie nodded before watching him turn and head to the house. She took a step to follow, but stopped and glanced up to the billions of balls of exploding gas lights that hung above her, watching her just as intently she was watching them.
"Whatever is coming, know that I'm done running." she whispered to whoever was listening. "I'll be right here." She dropped her eyes at something suddenly brushing against her leg, and she quirked a brow at the patchy furred cat and just shook her head before picking it up and letting out a sigh. She glanced up to the stars once more before heading inside the house.
The End
A/N: That's it. That's how it ends. I want to thank everyone who stuck around on this journey through this Running Series. I'm actually kind of sad to see it end. Thanks for your interest in this OC who I loved writing. If you loved her, hated her, she was who I needed her to be to escape my world into hers.