Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all a wonderful 2016!
Some inspiration for parts of this chapter did come from the 2014-15 Black Widow comic series, which I highly recommend. So in other words, I don't own Liho, the cat.
Hawkeye
By the time Bobbi and Isabelle—mostly Isabelle, with Bobbi a few disgruntled seconds later—woke up in the morning, the base had been completely transformed by the Black Widow and Hawkeye's presence. Most of the good food in the refrigerator had been eaten, and it was replaced with smoothie glasses of sludge-like green drinks which Bobbi surmised were some blend of kale. The gym was a mess—all of the treadmills were set to top speeds and the climbing bars looked like a monkey had gotten to them and then decided they weren't challenging enough. On the floor below the start of the ladder was a small, scattered pile of screws, and all over the walls the bars had been moved to odd, awkward angles. Some were even trick bars, as they came out of the stone when one placed any significant amount of weight on them—thus the smattering of leftover screws. Bobbi felt bad for Mack, who'd made this discovery the hard way while trying to repair the damage. He was in the med lab getting his shoulder looked at now.
Three of their five punching bags had been taped up over what looked like arrow-holes, and the Netflix account in the den had been inundated with new shows in the previously watched list, some of which—Fitz protested loudly when he found out—they hadn't had the chance to see yet. To Simmons's dismay, all the chemicals and boxes of things in the lab were in the wrong place or helter-skelter around the room—"Barton had a papercut and needed a band-aid," Natasha would explain later.
And perhaps worst of all, for the sake of the team's sanity at least, someone had broken into Hunter's secret stash of alcohol and left nothing but a sealed bottle of cheap champagne behind.
Three guesses who.
Oh, and don't forget the small pawprints all over the floor of the living space. That was the one part Bobbi didn't even want to know about at breakfast the next morning.
"Thanks for the heads up, Bobbi," May said, her voice low and sarcastic as she finished detailing the status of the base.
"Sorry," she apologized. "I should have woken you last night, apparently."
"Where's Isabelle?" May asked.
"With Hunter. Apparently now that she's done it once with him she's decided he's better at helping her pick out clothes to wear," Bobbi answered with a roll of her eyes. "Go figure."
"Do they know?" May asked quietly, running the water to wash her hands at the sink. Bobbi shook her head and the specialist stepped away, back to the table as if that conversation hadn't existed at all.
"So Fury sent you?" Coulson asked Barton. They were seated across from each other with Romanoff next to Clint. "That would explain how you found our super secret base."
"It still amazes me that he keeps coming up with new ones," Clint nodded, breaking apart a waffle with his hands and dipping it in the small puddle of syrup on his plate. Natasha glanced at his unused fork and then shot him a disparaging look, but he ignored her. "We're only here until Fury calls us in again, which should be in a couple days."
"Why did you come in he first place?" Skye asked, then ducked her head. "Not that I'm complaining."
Simmons jumped in. "Not complaining at all! It's an honor to have you here, and to meet you, really. We expected you'd be out sniping people with arrows and killing them with bits of string..." She suddenly grew alarmed. "Oh, that came out wrong, didn't it? I shouldn't have said that! I'm sure you two don't do as much killing as the old S.H.I.E.L.D. rumors say, and when it did happen I'm certain they were very bad people—couldn't be helped, no, not at all…" Simmons trailed off, looking at Fitz and mouthing Help me!
Luckily, Natasha decided to put her out of her misery. "Going home wasn't safe, and the next best place was here. We're all on the same side anyway."
May sat down next to Coulson. "Must be bad if you're here. How do you know we're not bringing them to our doorstep?"
Romanoff smiled. "We know."
"All right, all right, we'll run!" Hunter's voice interrupted them. Less than a second later he was coming around the corner into the kitchen in a stunted run, dragged along by Isabelle, and almost tripping over her when she skidded to a stop at the sight every face—including the new ones—turned to look at her. "She couldn't wait to meet 'Mommy's friends,'" Hunter explained, putting air quotes around the words. His gaze hardened at the sight of Barton, but he didn't say anything.
"Wait...Mommy?" Natasha asked, twisting around to look at Bobbi.
Bobbi gave a nervous smile, nodding. "Yeah." She went over to stand by Isabelle, placing a hand on her opposite shoulder. Isabelle's arms snaked around her leg. "Clint, Natasha, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Isabelle." For probably the third time in her life, Bobbi thought Natasha Romanoff looked shocked. Clint recovered first, a massive grin sprouting on his face, he stood up from the table, coming over and kneeling down in front of her so that their faces were at about the same height.
"Hi Isabelle, I'm Clint," he said, holding out his hand.
"You're Mommy's friend?" she asked, not taking it.
"Yep," he answered, glancing up at Bobbi amusedly. That glance was his downfall, as he was immediately engulfed in as giant a bear hug as Isabelle could muster, nearly bowling him over.
"Hi, I'm Isabelle!" she chattered, releasing him. "Mommy's friends are the best people ever, so you must be too!"
"Hey, what about Daddy's friends?" Hunter teased, smiling in spite of himself.
She looked at him. "What friends?" she asked innocently. Skye nearly choked on her mouthful of food and had to be pounded on the back by Fitz. Isabelle just looked around, confused about why they were all laughing.
"Isabelle, that's not very nice," Bobbi tried to admonish, still chortling. Looking around, it was true—she had introduced Isabelle to everyone here.
"Why?" the girl tilted her head. "Daddy, you're Mommy's friend, so you're the best too."
"Thanks, love," Hunter said, kissing the top of her head. He turned to the two Avengers. "Before I forget, thanks for New York."
"Four years old, almost five?" Natasha asked Bobbi quietly. She hadn't even noticed her get out of her chair, but she nodded.
Looking almost reluctant, Natasha squatted down in front of Isabelle too, Clint moving silently out of the way. "I'm Natasha," she said quietly. The girl seemed a little discomfited by this less-than-warm—less than Clint's anyway—greeting, so she cautiously held out her hand. Natasha shook it and then stood up, returning to her seat.
"So Isabelle, what do you like to do?" Clint asked, patting the seat next to him on the opposite side from Natasha. "You can come sit next to me if you want."
Isabelle took Hunter's hand and tugged him over to the table with her, scooting in next to Clint. "I like to draw," she informed him.
They continued talking as Bobbi got Isabelle some food, coming back in time to see Natasha leaning over to May. "Spar in the gym?" she asked in a low voice. "I haven't had a good sparring partner in a while except for Barton. The Cavalry could—"
"Never call me that," May growled. She pursed her lips and then nodded. They both stood up from the table in tandem.
"Are you—" Simmons began.
"—going to fight?" Fitz finished.
"And can we watch?" Skye asked. The three of them quailed under the combined gazes of the specialist and the assassin. "Or not…"
"Come along," May said. The young scientists and hacker grinned, following happily.
"I'd love to stay, but I have work to do," Coulson said, gazing after them. "And so do they, but...I won't deny them a once in a lifetime opportunity." He bused his plate before heading out, leaving just Hunter, Bobbi, Isabelle, and the archer.
"Clint, if you're done with breakfast and want to catch up, we can," Bobbi offered, nodding her head slightly toward the lounge about ten minutes later. Hunter gave her a less-than-happy glance, but she ignored him. His rivalry with Clint...well, she'd been putting up with it for years; it wasn't going to prevent her from talking alone with a good friend.
Clint looked up from a deep conversation with Isabelle over the merits of crayons vs. colored pencils. "Sure, Bob." He addressed Isabelle. "See you again later, princess."
"Bye!" Isabelle chirped.
"So how long have you…" Clint asked as they sat down in the lounge.
"A few weeks."
"Why didn't you tell me you had a daughter?" he asked.
"Says the man who took three years to tell his partner about his two kids," Bobbi scoffed.
Barton smiled. "Guilty. But I told you after three years, Isabelle is, what, four? That's longer."
"Yes, well...after giving her up, telling people about her was the last thing I wanted to do. Even you," Bobbi admitted. "But now we're here, and we both have a kid or two. How the hell did that happen?"
Clint's lips turned upwards, "I think you're old enough now. When a man and a woman love each other a lot, they—"
"Shut up!" She hit him in the shoulder, laughing.
He fended her off, eventually raising his hands in defeat. "But really, congratulations. Isabelle's adorable. And she looks a helluva lot like you, Bobbi—she's gonna be a real heartbreaker someday."
"Lila too," she told him with a laugh, "with those big brown eyes and—"
"Lila is not going to be around any boys but me and Cooper until she's thirty," Clint said flatly. "I'll shoot them before they get to the door."
"We can't keep them locked up forever," Bobbi sighed. "Didn't you see Tangled?" She stopped. "Oh shit, I've started referencing Disney movies while talking to an adult."
"There's some debate on that front—my adulthood," Clint joked, "mostly from Laura and Nat."
"Naturally," Bobbi teased. "But really, we must be crazy—you with your Avenging, me with the spying and rebuilding of S.H.I.E.L.D.…"
"Hey, we didn't sign up for the easy life," he reminded her. "You're not thinking of having another one, are you? You and Hunter I assume are…" He made a little twirling motion with his hand.
"We're back together, mostly," she told him. "...It's complicated. But hold your horses, Barton, another kid? No. We're hardly handling one; we definitely would not have another any time soon."
"Well you're going to think I'm crazy then—Laura just told me a week ago; she's pregnant." He leaned in slowly, dramatically, and then whispered, "They're going to outnumber us."
"That's amazing, Clint, congratulations!" Bobbi hugged him. "You'll be fine; you're a great father."
"Laura's a great mother," Clint said, reclining back in his chair again, shaking his head but smiling broadly. "I couldn't do it without her. Whoa!" It was more a command than a shout of alarm. His head twisted to the right and he sprang out of his chair. Bobbi had to admit she jumped at his sudden movement, unable to do anything but watch as he sped over to the entrance to the hallway and scooped up a black shape that gave a small yowl in protest.
"What the hell is that?" Bobbi asked as he stood up with it in his arms, turning back around.
"Natasha's cat," Clint grumbled. He yelped and looked down at the furball in his arms. "Liho! Yeah, I know you might think kneading your claws into my muscle is a sign of affection, but it isn't. Why can't you just lick me to show your love like a normal pet?" he said sternly to the cat.
"I take it you're more of a dog person than a cat person?" Bobbi asked, trying not to laugh.
"Yes—ouch—" He dropped the cat, who took off into the kitchen and out of sight. "Fine, go where you want, you dumb cat!" He looked at Bobbi. "Yes, dogs are much better than cats. I offered to get one to help protect the house but Lila's allergic."
"Since when does Natasha have a cat?" Bobbi questioned. "She doesn't seem the type to take on something that relies on her to be around...especially one that's small and furry."
Clint nodded, agreeing. "Feed it...pet it...wake up to find it sitting on your chest in the middle of the night with a cold, wet nose poking yours…" He shuddered. "As you maybe can tell, I don't crash at Natasha's much anymore."
"The story of how she got the cat," Bobbi prompted.
"Right. Natasha says Liho was a stray, hanging around outside of her apartment all the time...I don't know how, but he eventually got her to cave. She seems to have this deal with him—no biting, scratching, clawing, mewling, you name it—but when she's not around apparently it doesn't apply to the rest of us. Who she asks favors to feed the stupid thing on occasion," Clint complained. "And the litter box, don't get me started—"
Bobbi smiled. "You've gotten fond of the cat, haven't you?"
He sighed. "Yeah. Don't tell Nat."
"Your secret's safe with me," she chortled. "Speaking of Lila, do you think she would want a playdate with Isabelle sometime? Hunter and I want to get her playing more with other kids than just adults as soon as possible, but we can't risk her saying something outside the base that she's not supposed to. With your kids—"
"—it wouldn't be a problem," Clint nodded. "Laura and I deal with the same thing with Cooper and Lila. We'd be thrilled to do something like that as often as possible. Just call up Laura when you want to do it."
"We might be able to keep it a secret from the team, but I'd have to tell Hunter about you guys," Bobbi told him. Clint made a face, and she rolled her eyes in response. "He's a lot more mature than you remember; I promise."
"This is the man that after your divorce got booked after a bar fight and the only thing he would tell the cops was that 'if the bloody apocalypse comes, government agents and their secrets are what caused it'?"
"Not one of his finer moments," Bobbi admitted. "But it's been four years, Clint. He's changed, for the better."
Her old partner sighed. "Probably in large part because of Isabelle." He paused, clearly thinking it over, and Bobbi remained silent. She didn't want to influence his decision any more than she already had—this was his family they were talking about, one layered in about as much secrecy as the nuclear codes for their protection. "Fine," Clint agreed finally. "But only once we've actually got this thing set up."
"Do you think Laura would be okay having Isabelle stay at the farm in the case of an emergency?" Bobbi asked.
"I'm sure she would be more than happy to," Clint said. He looked around the room at the dark walls and artificial lighting, but almost the many sets of armchairs and couches in the room. "You definitely made a different choice than I did, Bobbi, raising Isabelle here."
"Is it a bad one?"
"Just different. If I hadn't had Laura in my ear telling me there was no freaking way I was raising our little boy in a tiny S.H.I.E.L.D. apartment, I'm not sure what I would have chosen."
"Did you have your kids learn self-defense?" Bobbi asked.
Clint nodded. "Cooper started when he was six, Lila at five and a half. It's a good idea even for kids who aren't the children of spies."
"Do you teach them or do they go to a dojo-type-place?" Bobbi asked curiously. "Hunter and I...we aren't sure what we're going to do for schooling yet, in any subject."
"They go to a dojo, but I help them practice at home if they want it," Clint said. "It's important that they like it too, though. It's not just a survival skill we're forcing on them. They do need to learn it, but we try to make it as fun as possible." He stopped, thoughtful. "Normally I would be against keeping things in house, but in this case I don't think you should ignore the incredible resources you have around you, especially given Isabelle's current state of development emotionally. This is all still new to her, so those bonds need to be forged first. But Bobbi, you have people for everything."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"You have May, who's along with you is the best martial artist we know with standard training. You have the two lab techs, Fitz and Simmons—" Bobbi wasn't surprised he could remember names from brief introductions; Barton was a spy after all. Either that or he had done research on them before they had arrived. "—can teach her basic academics, easily. So keep it in house, for now. The self-defense in particular."
"We've already begun doing some of that," Bobbi told him. "But I just wasn't sure about the fighting...she's so young…"
"You're having her live in this base, Bobbi," Clint said seriously. "She needs to know it."
"Okay," she agreed reluctantly. "I'll discuss it with Hunter." Bobbi's mouth twisted into something akin to a smile. "Do you think he'd be willing to live out on a farm somewhere with Isabelle?" Barton smacked her in the arm, shaking his head. "Kidding, kidding," Bobbi muttered. "Do your kids know what you do?"
"Parts of it. I have to explain why I go away, and why I don't know when I'll be back."
"And they understand that?"
"As much as they can. More so as they get older, I think. Having their mother helps," Clint said. "You're not going to be able to hide the nature of your work from her while she's here. My best advice is to make it a part of her life, like it's natural. She won't remember anything else, and I know for a fact you can still show your kids how much you love them while working for S.H.I.E.L.D. While putting in double time with the Avengers, even."
"Cooper and Lila...I can only hope Isabelle grows up as amazingly well-adjusted as they are," Bobbi said.
Clint laughed. "There will be hard times, trust me. Remember when I was kidnapped two years ago, a couple months after New York? The kids didn't take that so well. Cooper took it out on Natasha even over Christmas when she still hasn't found me. Told her he hated her and never wanted to see her again." He was sober now. "So, another word of advice: they don't really mean it. But you definitely should take a good hard look at what's making them react that way, and decide if it's really worth it."
"It was after that that you walked into Fury's office and told him you couldn't work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers in double shifts," Bobbi remembered. "You said he had to choose one or the other for the time he had you, not doing S.H.I.E.L.D. work and then tacking Avengers duties on top of it."
"And he listened," Clint smiled. "After much shouting on my part. But I suspect Coulson will be much more amenable initially than he was."
Bobbi nodded. "He's been very fair about the whole thing."
Clint grinned. "Sounds like the Phil Coulson I know." Footsteps hurried toward them and they stopped talking, looking expectantly towards the door.
Skye, Simmons, and Fitz walked quickly into the room, faces slightly flushed and hair somewhat helter-skelter. The huddled together, eyes bright with excitement. "They're coming!" Skye said, looking toward the door. "Be cool, guys." They immediately straightened out into a line, Fitz and Simmons trying too hard to appear interested in something else. "I said be cool," Skye hissed again as May and Natasha walked into the room. May had a split lip and Natasha a reddening bruise on her forehead near her hairline, but other than that they seemed relatively unharmed.
"So, who won?" Bobbi asked, standing from her chair to greet them.
"It was a tie," May said, removing some blood from the corner of her mouth.
Natasha nodded. "You'll get your official invitation to join the Avengers soon." Bobbi couldn't tell whether she was joking or not.
May's mouth twisted into something akin to a smile. "I'm good here, Romanoff. I've found my place."
Isabelle came running in—Hunter in fast pursuit—holding a fistful of coloring implements and stopped in front of Clint. She held them up so that they were inches from his nose. "Want to draw with me?"
"Sure, princess," Clint grinned, plopping down on the floor with her somewhere out of the way as the younger agents continued to silently gawk at the Black Widow, still astounded that she was actually in their presence. Bobbi stifled a laugh, turning to Hunter.
"I'm surprised Isabelle took to Clint so easily," she murmured, watching her daughter happily begin a drawing of a butterfly. "Coloring with him, and the bear-hug greeting she gave him before...She nearly bowled him over! I know Clint was always great with kids but he'd barely even said four words to her at that point."
"I might've, you know, told her to do that," Hunter twisted uncomfortably. "The bear-hug." She gave him a scandalized look. "You know how I feel about Barton! I just wanted to see him get...knocked on his arse, or something…"
"And you used our daughter in your nefarious scheme," Bobbi said, tone changing from disapproving to teasing. "Well, she certainly showed you, didn't she?"
"Don't remind me, Bob," Hunter said, shaking his head. "The next cool introductions we get to do with her..."
"Okay, okay," Bobbi laughed. "I'm sure she knows my friends are your friends too though."
"Don't care," he said obstinately. "When she figures out who Iron Man and Captain America are...you can pull the strings, but the introductions are mine."
She rolled her eyes, giving him a quick kiss. "Deal."
More focus on Natasha next time, but for now a large dose of the Hawk ;) As always, thanks for reading!