Episode 8: The Things We Bury


Sara held a phone to her ear as she juggled Jonathan in her arms.
"What do you mean he evaded you, Bobbi?"
"I mean, he had a bomb. He's smart, Sara."
"I never said he wasn't."
"Auntie Sara!" Lilia cried. "Come play with me."
"Coming, Darling," Sara called back. "Where is he now, Bobbi?"
"Hunter's got him in a bar in Boston."
"Which bar?"
"Goldbrix Tavern."
"Shit."
"You need to pay the swear jar," Cooper called to her.

Sara tossed him her wallet. He pulled out a bill, putting it in the jar as she tuned back to Bobbi.
"Tell Hunter to stand down," she ordered Bobbi. "It's an old hangout of Garrett's. That means it's gonna be teaming with HYRDA."
"I'll tell him. May, Trip, and I are on our way there now. May wants to speak to you..."
"Absolutely not. Let me know when he's escaped you."
"You think he will?"
"It's Grant Ward. He'll escape. He's only there because he wants something."


A few hours later, her phone was buzzing as she was settling in for the night. Jonathan was nodding off beside her. She rolled her eyes when she saw Hunter's profile. She'd been gone two days. How much longer were they going to bother her with work? She quit after all.
"Hello?" she asked quietly.
"Hope I didn't wake you," he said.
"Not at all, Hunter. What do you want?"
"Ward's escape."
"Again?"
"Yep. He left us a present though. Bakshi. He left him with a note saying, 'For Coulson'."
"Not my problem, Hunter… Uh, hold on, someone's calling."
"I'll let you go. Sleep well, Princess."
"Thanks, cowboy."

She frowned at the unknown number that was flashing across her screen. Who the hell was calling right now? She answered it, "Ello?"
"Hey, Sara." She sat up in a rush, startling Jonathan, who flailed his arms.
"Where are you?"
"Did Coulson get my present?"
"I wouldn't know. We aren't talking."
"Really? Well, I promised him a face to face with Coulson. Probably not exactly what he had in mind."
"Promised who?"
"Bakshi. I'll be sending a few other gifts your way now and then."
"Like a cat bringing in dead birds? Didn't peg you as pathetic, Ward."

At being ignored, Jonathan started to fuss, and Sara forgot momentarily that Ward was on the phone as he started to cry.
"Shhh," she soothed, picking up her son. She cradled him in her arms.
"What was that?" Ward questioned.
"A kitten," she lied.
"Sara."
"A kitten, Ward, nothing else."
"If you say so." She could hear the suspicion in his voice. "Oh, I met the new recruits. I don't think they need to hang around much longer."
"Is that a threat?"
"A suggestion. Coulson could do better. Then again, we're hard to replace."
"Tell me where you are, Ward."
"I can't do that, but I'll be in touch soon. I promise."
"Don't—" She tossed her phone off to the side when he hung up.

She glanced down at Jonathan, who was tugging on a piece of her hair.
"I love you, Buddy," she murmured, kissing his forehead. Jonathan babbled to her, and she sighed. "I wish you could hear me," she whispered. "Then again, I'd have to watch my language around you." He giggled as she rubbed their noses together. She stood, walking him over to his crib. "Night-night," she told him. She set him down and he started to fuss before quieting down when she dimmed the lights.


In the morning, Sara danced around the kitchen, prepping breakfast. Lilia was entertaining Jonathan in the living room and Cooper was playing video games. Saturdays were chill days in the Barton household. Zoë and Clint didn't even bother getting up until after nine. Seemed they were enjoying their forced retirements.

Instead of sleeping the night before, Sara spent most of the night trying to figure out where Ward was. She thought of many places and crossed them all off after thinking on them. Sure, Coulson had seized most of Ward's dead drops, but who knew how many he really had.
"Morning, Sara!"

Startled at Clint's voice, Sara jumped, dropping the piece of bacon she was handling into the grease. It splattered over her arm, and she grimaced, rushing to the sink to clean it up.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Clint asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"Didn't get much sleep last night."
"Yeah. I bet. So, when do you head to New York and Stark?"
"Are they still in New York? I thought him and Charlie went back to Malibu."
"You didn't hear? Stark's place was decimated."
"No, must've been busy with my assignment."
"What was your assignment, Sara?"
"Fury had me put a team together and we've been checking out 0-8-4s and stuff. Nothing big."
"Ah. Okay… So, I heard about Ward…"

Sara shook her head, pulling pancakes off the griddle.
"Did Z ask you to speak to me about it?"
"Yeah." Clint clicked his tongue together. "Jonathan looks like him, y'know."
"He does, yeah?"
"I was just wondering how you're handling it all. Ward being HYDRA and stuff."
"Oh, you know, I'm handling it…"
"And?"
"I got a call from May last night, by the way," she lied.
"May?... Melinda May?"
"Yep."
"And?"
"I feel like that's your new favorite word, Barton." Clint laughed, shaking his head.
"And?" She laughed at that. "She needs me to head somewhere. One last mission." Clint pursed his lips.
"Sara, you know… it's never gonna be "one last mission" if you keep going on them."
"I know. But this one is personal."
"Okay. Need us to watch Jon?"
"If you can."
"Zoë loves him. I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, he's helping her learn what it's like to have a baby around."
"Is she pregnant?"

The question made Clint shake his head quickly.
"Nope! Sorry if I gave you that impression. No. But one day."
"Hey, you're retired, you've got all the time in the world." She winked at him, and he chuckled.
"Start packing, Reyes-Fitz. I'll finish breakfast."

She darted upstairs, to grab her bag. There was only one place she could think of that he would go. With all the trouble with Christian, he was probably heading to the summer house. Where the well was. She hurried back downstairs.
"Where are you going?" Cooper asked as she swooped down to pick up Jonathan.
"I'll be gone for a few days. Keep Jon safe yeah?" Cooper puffed out his chest.
"I will!"
"Thanks Coop." She gave him a fist bump before setting Jonathan back down. He grabbed his toy, barely noticing she was leaving.
"Bye, Clint."
"Bye, Sara. Stay safe."
"Will do."


The next afternoon, she pulled up to the Ward's Summer Home. She climbed out of the jeep and looked around. It was eerily quiet. Even the birds were silent. She walked around, hearing her leaves crunch under her feet. She paused when she heard the sound of digging. She slipped through the woods, stopping a few yards from the sound. She peered around a tree, pulling out her gun.
"I don't understand," Christian was saying. "What do you want out of all this?"
"I want the truth… about this one event from my past. Admit, you made me push Thomas down the well."
"No! you forced him. He was terrified and you wouldn't pull him up. You enjoyed it."
"Keep trying to put thoughts in my head," Ward sneered. "Like you always have. You used to convince me they were my own. Not anymore."
"You lie to yourself. You want to know why? It's simple. You can't reconcile all the ugly, horrible things you do with the hero you so desperately want to become."
"Ward."

Sara stepped out behind the trees; gun trained on him. He lifted his gun until he saw her.
"Sara? How did you—"
"I used to think I knew you pretty well. Nice to know I still do. Let the Senator go."
"You don't understand—"
"What I understand, is that you escaped and instead of doing the right thing of disappearing for the rest of your life, you decided to continue to ruin your name. Let him go."
"You said you didn't mean it."
I didn't. I don't. Do the right thing, Ward."
"Not until he tells the truth."

He grabbed at Christian, shoving him away as he pulled off the cover of the well. Christian tried to take off, but Ward grabbed hold of his shirt, dragging him to the well.
"Don't do this," Sara warned. "I'll shoot you."
"No," Ward shook his head. "I know you better than you know yourself, Sara, you don't have it in you." He glanced down at his brother. "Sorry to see it go down this way."
"No, no!" Christian yelled. He looked to Sara in desperation. "Save me and I'll protect your son."

His words made Ward snarl.
"Stop lying, Christian. She doesn't have a son."
"She does!" Christian shouted as Ward held him over the well. "His name is Jonathan!" Sara took a step back when Ward met her eyes. Ward's forehead creased, but he focused on the man in his hands.
"Admit it," he snapped at Christian. "Not to me—to yourself."
"No."
"It's dark down there, Christian. You'll have plenty of alone time to think."
"Don't do this Grant," Sara said, stepping closer again.
"Please, I'm your brother," Christian begged.

Holding Sara's gaze, Ward let Christian lean further into the well. His brother let out another scream.
"No! All right! I did it! I did! I know! I wanted him dead! I'm sorry! I wanted him dead." Ward dragged him back, tossing him to the ground. He sat down beside him, throwing his gun to Sara. He buried his head in his hands as he listened to Christian sob. Sara picked up Ward's gun, tossing it down into the well where it landed with a splash. "Thomas was the only one mother didn't torture," Christian sobbed. "And dad always let her do it. She loved him so much. It had to end. I wanted her to feel our pain. But I didn't have the courage to do it myself. I'm sorry. Grant, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

Ward nodded at him, speaking in a whisper.
"It's okay." Both Christian and Sara looked at him in shock. "That's all I wanted to hear." He got to his feet, holding out a hand to Christian. Christian took it hesitantly, eyes widening when Ward pulled him into a hug. He whispered lowly into Christian's ear. "If you ever talk about Sara, or her kid, ever again and I will kill you," he warned quietly. Christian nodded quickly and Ward pushed him away.
"Anything else?" Christian asked.
"I want my named cleared," Ward replied. "You made up the lie about HYDRA to protect yourself from some higher ups."
"Deal. It'll take a while."
"Go and start then. Get out of here, Christian. Go back to your wife."

The Senator took off running, leaving Sara and Ward in the woods.
"I knew you wouldn't shoot me," he said flippantly.
"I never could," she muttered. "It's my weakness."
"I wouldn't classify it a weakness, after all, I'm still alive."
"You owe me a favor, Ward." "And what is that?"
"Promise me you'll disappear until your name is cleared. Then come find me."
"What if that takes a while?"
"Then it takes a while."
"Tell me about our son, Sara. Then I'll go." She laughed sadly.
"His name is Jonathan Grant Reyes-Fitz. He's the sweetest little thing. No idea where he got that from. And he's deaf."
"He sounds nice," Ward shrugged.
"He's definitely yours," Sara promised. "He looks like a miniature you."
"As soon as Christian clears my name, Sara, I'm coming home."
"Okay."

Reaching up, Sara pulled off her necklace, tossing it to him. He caught it, eyes widening at the engagement ring that hung off that.
"Sara?"
"When we're both ready again," she said quietly. "I still want to marry you."

She walked off, leaving him with the ring.
"Wait! Sara!" She turned back to him, a quizzical look on her face.
"No past tense?"
"No past tense."
"I never stopped."
"I know." She gave him a small wave and left him standing there. She had a son to return too, a home to look for, and a better looking future ahead of her.


If you are interested in learning about Zoë Aetos and her relationship with Clint Barton, I would suggest reading "Zoë Aetos: The Gentle Agent". It goes through Avengers and I have the second story for her in the works. Also, for those confused about the "past tense" things. If you read the finale of season 1, Sara says she "loved" Ward. He asks her if she means the past tense version of the word. So when she yells after him in the previous chapter, she can't bring herself to say she loves him so she says she didn't mean the past tense.
-Amy Thorton

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