Title: The Tape Chapter 2
Summary: Natasha delivers the Tape to Clint's family and they learn what it means to be an Avenger
A/N: Hey everyone I'm back! So here's the finale of my two-parter. Like I said in the previous chapter, Clint means a lot to me and I wanted to write a story about him for a while now. To be honest with you though, this isn't really my best work. I'm still new to all this but with time I'm going to improve. I haven't really been in a writing mode lately with school taking up most of my time, but I'd love to keep working at it. It's a little rushed since I want to move on to do other things, but hopefully you all enjoy it. Again like I said before, if there's any feedback on the writing and characterization please I'd love to hear from all of you. I'm always looking to improve. Again what do you all think of reading a comic script? I'm thinking of writing a few and would love to hear what you all have to say about them. There's tons more Easter eggs from Fraction's run on Hawkeye in here, I hope those who've read it like the little nods. So without further ado, enjoy the story and thank you so much for your time!
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The fresh country air brushes past Natasha's face as she drives to Clint's farm house on her motorcycle, refreshing her and washing away her worries. She can see why he kept his family out here. Peaceful, relaxing, everything their job wasn't. But this kind of peace is what they were all fighting for. Maybe I should get a house out here, Nat thought to herself. She needed this ride after everything that's gone down the past few days. But she remembered why she was taking this ride, and her mood became a bit more somber. Although their fight had ended, Clint's family would just start theirs. Laura would be heart broken, and the kids would grow up in a world without their father. But she'll be there for them. She saw the farm house in the distance and prepared herself for the ordeal to come.
Natasha pulls up to the farm house, thinking fondly of all the good times she spent here. Clint was so excited when he first bought it. It was perfect. But she felt as tho she was about to destroy that peace. She stepped up to the door, but hesitated to knock. She had to do this, she reassured herself. So she took a deep breath, and knocked. Loud barking and the sound of little feet scampering on the floor could be heard from behind the door.
"Alright alright calm down everyone, don't scare him away".
Natasha recognized that calm, joyful voice. Poor Laura. Laura Barton opened the door and was a bit surprised, but pleased none the less that it was Nat on the other side of the door.
"Nat, hey what a surprise. Come in come in. C'mon you rugrats let Auntie Nat in."
Laura ushered her in with a compassionate and familiar hug.
"Thanks Laura."
Natasha said with a slight grin. As she stepped into the quaint home, she was met by two young, eager kids who wanted to see her.
"Auntie Nat is here!"
Little Kate Barton exclaimed.
"Yay Auntie Nat! Did you bring us back Thor's hammer?"
Little Barney Barton inquired.
"Hey you little monsters how are you doing?"
She knelt down and gave them the biggest hug.
"Auntie Nat, look at this toy Daddy brought me back one day. I wanna be as strong as you."
And Kate handed Natasha a Black Widow doll. Natasha was surprised and delighted to see this. A little weirded out that she was holding a miniature her, but happy that she could inspire little girls like Kate. These two were the sweetest kids Natasha had ever met. Clint and Laura raised them well. Then out from the other room came running the family dog, Pizza Dog. Pizza Dog jumped up at Nat with buckets of enthusiasm and gave her a slobbering kiss. Pizza Dog was a golden retriever that Clint had rescued from the rubble after the Battle of Manhattan and taken in as his own. He got the name because the first thing Clint fed him was a slice of dollar pizza after the clean-up.
Clint's house was a place of warmth, a place of happiness in the sea of darkness that Natasha faced on a daily basis. It reminded her why she fought.
"Not saying I don't love your visits Nat, but where's Clint been?"
Laura cut through Natasha's daydreaming.
"I haven't heard from him since you all went on the mission to take down Ultron. I figured he's been busy with the clean-up and the mountains of paperwork, but it's been a while."
Laura began to look downcast and became more serious.
"Give it to me straight Nat."
Natasha rose to her feet, looked Laura in the eyes, and said the most heartbreaking sentence she's ever spoken.
"I'm sorry Laura, he didn't make it."
Laura was shaken but not as much as Natasha thought she would be. Natasha embraced her like the dear sister either of them never had.
"Y'know, no matter how much you prepare yourself for the day, you can never imagine how much pain it'll actually bring"
Laura pushed her words out through choked tears. Natasha held on tighter and tighter, afraid she may slip away.
"He went out swinging. Just like the doofus wanted to. He saved us all with that stupid bow and arrow."
She pushed herself away a bit and put her arms on Laura's shoulders, chuckling a bit and smiling through the tears.
"Before he ran off and saved all us, he told me to give you something. It's a tape he made for you and the kids. Let's watch it together."
Kate and Barney saw the two women crying and questioned them. Laura looked a little bit relieved and composed herself.
"We're gonna watch a tape daddy made for us kids. Daddy couldn't be here so he had Nat deliver it to us."
She turned to Natasha.
"Thank you. For being here."
Natasha nodded to her and grabbed the tape out of her jacket pocket. It was an old, worn out VHS tape. Clint was a sucker for antiques, probably why he stuck with a bow and arrow. The Barton family and Natasha gathered together on the couch and watched as the tape began to roll.
The static fizzled on the screen and their eyes were transfixed. Then the static faded and Clint's face appeared, a little too close to the camera. He was adjusting it and making sure it was alright.
"It's Daddy! Look Nat It's Daddy!"
Kate exclaimed.
"What's Daddy doing on the screen mom?"
Barney was puzzled.
"Just watch dear"
Laura reassured him.
"Alright, is this thing on? I hope I didn't break it again. I don't want to confess to Stark that I need his help again. Ok there we go."
Clint was sitting in front of the camera in civilian clothes and waved to the camera with his usual grin.
"Hey guys, I'm here. Hope you're all doing well. Laura, you probably look as beautiful as always. Barney, Kate you two better not have burned the house down. Make sure to take Pizza Dog for a walk too. He gets antsy."
Pizza Dog barked in approval.
"So let's get down to business. You're probably wondering why I'm on your tv screen and not sitting there next to you."
Clint's face became more serious. He began to rub his hands together and rub his neck.
"It's...well...it's because...I'm gone...for good. No crazy alien serum or Asgardian spell bringing me back. I'm gone."
Tears began to well up in Kate and Barney's eyes.
"Mommy, is...is he really..."
Barney stuttered.
"Yes baby, daddy's gone. Keep watching the tape."
Kate and Barney embraced each other while they watched the screen, the day they dreaded finally washing over them. Laura wrapped them in her arms, their security blanket in their time of need. Tears welled up in Clint's eyes as well but he looked at the camera with his usual goofy grin, almost flustered.
"Look I'm...I'm sorry to do this to you guys. I knew this day would come. One day my dumb luck would run out and I'd bite the bullet. Something out there in my crazy line of work got me. A bow and arrow doesn't mean much when you're going up against alien gods and death machines. But I knew this day would come. And every day I went out, I knew I ran the risk of never coming home to you all. But I was ready for that. I knew me going out, putting my life on the line out there meant a better world for all of you. That's why I did it. For all of you. Now, I taped a little something for you all to put it in perspective. I'll let the rest of the team do the talking"
And with that Clint waved to the camera and it then quickly cut to Tony working attentively on a suit of armor in his lab, sweat dripping down his face. He speaks without looking up from his work.
"Why am I an Avenger? Well you're looking at it Clint. Wait, that sounds kind of self-centered. What I mean is I do it so that we as humans can make things like my armor. So that we can invent and explore and evolve and become the best society we can be. I do it so that we can reach the heights that we're destined for. The sky's the limit for us and I'm gonna make sure we don't get shot out of the sky"
Tony then looks up at the camera and chuckles.
"But seriously Clint, I don't know why you're using that dinosaur to record all this."
Then the video cuts again and we're taken to the inside of a soup kitchen, where Captain America is serving food to the community in his civilian clothes, a blue sweater over a shirt with an American flag design, greeting everyone with warmth and gladly taking pictures with kids and adults alike when they ask.
"Why am I an Avenger? I do it for this" pointing at his shirt " And I do it for them" and then points at the people eating food. "When I became Captain America, I vowed to fight for the ideal America stands for. What America should be. What the world should be. A land of the free. But of course we're far from it, so we have to stick together. They can't do what I can, so I go out there every day to fight for that dream, to fight for them. Because they deserve a world like that. We all do. When they're out there struggling to make their dreams come true, I make sure they have a clear path"
Then Cap began to make a plate for Clint and smiled.
"Here, the mashed potatoes are to die for"
The video cuts to the observation deck at the top of Avengers Tower, Thor overlooking Manhattan as the sun rises over the horizon, glistening off the tops of the buildings.
"Why am I an Avenger? I do it for all this"
He motions to Manhattan with his hammer, a look of pride in his eye.
"In Asgard, we tell our children the story of the Yggdrasil Tree. This tree makes up the entire universe and each world, including Midgard, is a branch of it. So when something wrong happens in one part, it effects the rest of the tree. Everything affects everything else. As vast as it seems, everything matters. There is beauty in that connection. And I aim to protect it."
Thor then begins to swing his hammer getting ready for flight, and smirked at Clint.
"Now if you'll excuse me, there's frost giants to crush. Fair well Clinton." And then he flew off into the sunrise tinted sky.
The video cuts yet again, this time to a serene wooded area in Central Park, Bruce Banner meditating in the grass.
"Why am I an Avenger? You aren't seriously asking me this question, are you Clint? It's like you're trying to make me mad. If I had to give some arbitrary reason as to why I'm still here and haven't busted out yet, it'd be for the security. For me and the rest of the world. I feel like a time bomb some days. I'm always worried that I'm going to explode in the wrong place. But being an Avenger, I can explode in the right place at the right time and do some real damage for the good of everyone. And if things get hairy, I know you all will keep me in check. You are Earth's Mightiest Bomb Squad after all. I could be really bitter about this whole situation, but what good would that do?"
Bruce then plops down in the grass on his back and admires the sky.
"Hey, you ever go cloud watching? It sounds boring but it's a lot of fun. Clouds can mean whatever you want them to. It's simple. It all depends on how you look at them. Hey that one kinda looks like you."
Banner said with a smile, ushering Clint to join him.
The video cuts again, this time to a ballet recital, Kate's to be exact. Clint's in the audience with Natasha watching the girls dance gracefully across the stage. Natasha watched them with compassion and pride, like a mother to her daughters.
"Why am I an Avenger? Seriously Clint you've asked me this like a bazillion times. Alright I'll tell ya. I do it for them"
And she pointed to the girls on stage.
"I do it for girls like them, so that they don't have to become girls like me. I watched alot of my best friends get crushed under the weight the world had put on their shoulders in the Red Room, most of them were never the same. But I made it out. And i vowed to use what I learned in that hell hole to make the world a better place, to make a world where the Black Widow never would've been born. So that's why I fight Clint. Now enjoy the show or go get me a refill of popcorn."
She said gleefully as she shook the popcorn bag at the camera. Then the video cut for the last time back to Clint, holding a locket in his hand, a little amused that he's interviewing himself.
"Now, why am I an Avenger? Here, take a look at this" And he opens the locket and brings it close to the camera, revealing a picture of his family.
"Y'see those dorks? They're the loves of my life. I do it for them. I do it because I've seen how broken and dark the world is. But seeing them, seeing their smiling faces, it reminds me what the world can be. It reminds me that no matter how dark it gets, there is good in the world and I'm gonna fight so everyone can experience that good. Despite everything I've been through, I still believe in this world. And I'm not gonna stop believing."
Clint finished his speech with tears in his eyes, his family and Natasha's eyes filled with tears.
"Now before I sign off I have a few messages for you guys. Barney, Kate, you don't know how proud your old man is of you. You're going to do a lot of great things, and don't let anyone tell you that you can't. I love you two goofballs"
He put out his hand to the camera as if to reach out to them. They rushed to the screen teary eyed and reached out to him one last time, too distraught for words. Nat and Laura wrapped the children in a giant hug, being there for one another.
Clint's voice came out of the television set again. His eyes were red with tears at this point as well.
"Now this part is for Laura."
Laura looked up from the kids to the television, ready to hear the love of her life's final words.
"Hey you. Yeah you with the amazing smile, right there. I'm talking to you."
Laura couldn't help but laugh, joking until the end.
"God I can't imagine what I'd do without you Laura. You made me so happy when the world was hell-bent on doing the opposite. Just when I'd thought I'd seen the worst of the worst and there wasn't a shred of redemption in the world, you come along. You come in and dare to be happy in the face of it all. I couldn't help but be happy with you around, it was infectious. Every single day I fell in love with that smile over and over again. I love you so much Laura, and I'm sorry I gotta do this to you. Don't let this take that smile of yours away. Cmoooon lemme see it one more time"
And then Clint made the goofiest face he could. Laura could never resist that face, and burst out laughing. Even though he was gone, seeing that lessened the pain.
"I love you, Clint Barton"
She said to herself. Clint was visibly falling apart at this point. He noticed it himself and started to laugh.
"Oy vey, I'm a mess aren't I? Alright, one more goodbye and then I can go wash up. This one...this one goes out to the team. Steve, Tony, Bruce, Thor, Natasha, Nick, all of you. You made me who I am today. That day at the circus when S.H.I.E.L.D took me in and put me on the right path, that changed everything. I'm so glad I got to meet you all and fight by your sides. I'm a much better person for it. At a time when the world seemed unfair and cold, you taught me that it doesn't have to be that way...so thank you. Okay, I promise that's it for now. God I'm going to miss you all. So once and for all...Hawkeye out."
He waved everyone goodbye one last time, and he was gone. The screen turned dark, and the four of them were left alone together. Silence filled the room, everything that had been said sinking n, until Barney and Kate spoke up. Kate looked up at Laura and Natasha.
"I...I want to be like Daddy. I want to do what he did. I want to have the world."
Barney struggled to his feet, joining his sister.
"I do too. If Daddy can do it, then so can we."
Laura and Natasha looked down at the two children with pride in their eyes. aura snatched them up in the biggest hug his one filled with joy instead of comfort. She wasn't too keen on the idea of hem becoming Avengers, but she would work that out.
"Daddy would be so proud of you two."
Natasha looked on at the family with relief. This had not broken them. They would only be stronger because of him. She couldn't be happier. The world became brighter in that moment. Laura motioned for her to join the hug.
"Thank you Nat. For giving us this opportunity."
"You're welcome"
And that night, Natasha drove off into the night, the memories of her best friend close to her heart, ready to take on the world. Thank you Clint.