*Thhhhhhhhh*

"Mind your elbow…"

*Swish*

*Thunk*

Bullseye.

Lila grinned up at her dad, who was laughing approvingly. The two exchanged a high-five.

"Good job, Hawkeye. Go get your arrow." Clint patted Lila on the back.

Most people who were under house arrest for committing treason would be unhappy with their current predicament. Not so Clint Barton, better known to the world at large as the avenging archer Hawkeye. Matter of fact, Clint was happiest he had been in years. The past two years he had been helping around the house more, seeing his family every day, and just taking the time to explore his favorite hobbies.

Did he miss avenging? Sure. It'd be nice if they visited every now and then. He hadn't seen Cap or Natasha since she had busted Sam and Wanda out of jail. Didn't even know where Bruce and Thor were these days. But Rhodey and Vizh had come over last Christmas, and they had said good things about Black Panther and Spider-Man. As for Iron Man, as far as Clint was concerned, Tony knew where he lived. He was just afraid to see the results his futurism had on the little guy. Oh, and speaking of the little guy, he had made a great new friend over the past few years in Scott Lang.

Clint and Scott had a very similar wavelength. They were both ex-cons. Both fathers, although Scott only had one kid. Both small-time heroes who weren't always shown the most respect, but were just happy at the end of the day to go to sleep knowing they had done the right thing. When Clint's stint on the farm was over and Ross agreed to take off the ankle monitor, he had plans to go visit the Langs in San Francisco for Christmas. Their kids already got along great doing the hours-long video conferences Scott and Cassie had spent with the Bartons. Although the farm was pretty expansive in terms of land, at the end of the day there was nothing like just taking a stroll to nowhere in particular.

"Hey guys!" Laura called over to Clint and Lila. A breeze had begun to pick up. "Enough practice. Soup's on."

"Alright, Mom. We're coming, we're hungry." Lila said, retrieving her arrow and turning around. "Dad, let's go."

Hawkeye.

Lila's fist closed around her arrow as her arm fell to her side.

"DAD?" She called out. "You in the barn?"

Lila walked over to the barn and peeked inside. Clint wasn't there. Time seemed to slow down, and yet move faster at the same time as she walked over slowly to her mother and brothers.

"Hey, kiddo." Laura said. "Put the arrow away. Time to eat. Where's your Dad?"

"I don't know." Lila said.

*Crack*

The arrow had been split in two because Lila had been squeezing it so hard. The jagged edges had cut the palm of her hand, and caused blood to trickle out between her fingertips. But Lila still held onto the arrow nonetheless.

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