Getaway Car; N. Romanoff✓

Five.

➶ ｡˚ ° ➶ ｡˚ ➶ ｡˚ 
(𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐑)
CHAPTER FIVE----

"Think about your sister."

It was a humid, summer day in Iowa, the year was 1984. Rosalie was just a baby at the time, their mother, Edith Barton, was going about her usual schemes. Using her ten year old son as a distraction while she stole from various people and places. Edith had promised Clint, time and time again that it would be the last time.

The gas station worker held their mom in a chokehold, and Clint had the gun pointed at him. "Please think about Rosalie." Edith pleaded, and he did, he thought about the house that his mother promised, and he thought about the life they could live. 

But murder. That was wrong.

He didn't want Rosie to know him as a killer, he wanted her to have someone to look up to. And their mother was not that person. He shifted the weight of the shotgun to the left, pointing it out the window, and shot at the cop car, gaining the cop's attention.

"Mom." Clint said as the cops lead her out of the gas station in handcuffs, she paused turning to look at him, "I'm sorry. I missed." he spoke, holding his little sister, the blonde woman paused, "You never miss." That much was true, he never missed. It was completely intentional to get the cop's attention.

They moved from foster to foster home until Rosie was five, and Clint was 15. That was the year that a couple tried to adopt only Rosalie, but Clint wasn't going to lose his little sister. So they ran. 

Sometimes when things got rough, he wondered if it would've been better for her if he had let them be separated. If he had let that couple adopt her, maybe she would've lived in a big house with lots of rooms, just like his mother had always promised.

1988

"It's ok, you're ok." Clint whispered holding his little sister close, Rosalie was now 4 years old. The small brunette was sobbing, and felt like the walls around her were closing in as loud heavy footsteps approached.

It was the third set of bad foster parents they had in two months, it was moments like these when Rosalie was shaking and crying that he wished he hadn't made the decision to get the attention of those cops. Clint always knew deep down though, that it would not have been any better had he, made a different decision that day.

2000

Rosalie Barton was sixteen years old when she made the decision to see her mother for the first time in years. Clint had been working for Shield for three years at this point, and she had just started at one of the academies. 

The brunette attempted to sneak past her brother to the door out of the apartment, "Where you going?" she froze midstep, "Out?" she spoke, her voice more questioning then firm. Clint narrowed his eyes at his little sister, "Hmm. Intresting....Out where?" 

Rosalie exhaled sharply, weighing her options, "Too....the grocery store. We need milk. Love you bye." she rushed out grabbing the keys, and rushing out the door. Clint stared at the spot where Rosalie had been standing, "She doesn't even drink milk." he muttered to himself, he would've gone after her, but he was still physically recovering from his last mission, and what was the worst that could happen.

Rosalie was a naturally curious person, most of the time, this just got her into trouble, but it didn't stop her from making the same mistake. So, being the curious, stubborn, sixteen year old she was, she went against Clint's advice and did some digging on her mother. She remembered almost nothing about the woman, Clint had taken her to visit Edith once, but that had been a long time ago. What she found wasn't extremely surprising, Edith had been in and out of jail for years. Most recently though she had landed herself in a nearby prison, one just outside of D.C. 

The teenager had plenty of questions for the woman, and didn't care how much the answers would hurt, she just needed them. So, instead of going to the grocery store, a very clear lie...in her defense, Rosalie was terrible at lying to the people she loved, she went off to the nearby prison. 

"Name?" Rosalie nervously tapped her fingers against the metal counter, "Rosalie Barton."

Soon enough she was sitting across from her mother, glass separating them, she picked up the phone, and held it to her ear, "You're Edith Barton?" her voice was shakier then she'd like to admit, the woman across from her nodded, "I uh...I..I'm Rosalie. Rosalie Barton."

Recognition flickered in Edith's eyes, "Wow, look how big you've gotten. You're all grown up." the woman noted, "Oh, uh yeah, I'm sixteen." Rosalie spoke, "I uh...I," she took a deep breath, "Why?" 

"I'm sorry?" Edith asked confused, "Why didn't you ever come looking for us? For me?...I know," she exhaled sharply, "I know you were out for a while, and uh I was spending that time in the worst fucking foster homes."

"I couldn't support one child...let alone two." Edith said, and Rosalie shook her head, the tears now free falling, "You..you could've tried. You could've done...." she took a deep breath trying to steady herself, "You could've done something." 

Edith shrugged, "I had no desire to. You and your brother stopped being my problem the second he got me arrested." Rosalie was crying at this point, "I was a baby!...I was a baby. It wasn't...it wasn't my fault."

"Does it really matter who's fault it was or wasn't?" Edith asked, "How could you say something like that when you JUST blamed Clint. I..This was a mistake." she scrambled to her feet, "I should've never fucking kept you." Edith spoke lowly, "I hate you. I really do. I never..ever should've come here." she placed the phone back on the stand, and rushed away.

----

"Rosie? You've been gone for hours? Did you get the mil-" when he turned to face the doorway, he saw Rosalie holding the brown paper grocery bags, tears streaming down her face. He pushed himself up off the couch, "You were right," she whispered, "She's so awful, she's so, so awful." she cried, "You saw Edith?" he asked, taking the grocery bag out of her hands setting them down and wrapping his arms around her. She nodded leaning into the hug, "Why do I always have to do this? It only ever causes pain, I just..I just wanted to know why." she cried, "

I just wanted to know why."