Never | Steve Rogers x OC

Chapter Forty

Twenty Years Ago

"Brianna Barton for check out!" The nasally voice of the front office lady sounded through her classroom.

That was odd, Brianna thought to herself as she closed her textbook and gathered her things. She didn't remember either one of her parents mentioning that she was going to leave school early. She didn't ponder the thought much longer as she walked up to the front of the school. Confusion filled her as she looked around. Neither one of her parents or grandparents were waiting for her. The only person that she saw out of place was some red haired woman.

The woman looked at Brianna. The young girl froze. Was this lady there for her? Her suspicions were confirmed when she started approaching her.

"Are you Brianna?" The woman asked.

"Depends on who you are." Brianna said with narrowed eyes.

The woman leaned down to her height. "Your dad sent me to pick you up."

"My dad also said not to trust strangers." She retorted.

The woman was suddenly annoyed. She supposed that she should be glad that the girl wasn't willingly wanting to go with her. "Your dad's been hurt. I was going to take you to the hospital to see him."

Brianna pretended that the words didn't have an effect on her. Every internal alarm inside of her was going off. "That's something a kidnapper would say."

"Brianna. Come on." The woman said annoyed.

"If you really know my dad, what's one thing that no one else would known about me?" She asked.

She thought for a moment. "You still sleep with your baby blanket. You call it blinkie. You refuse to give it up even though it's tattered."

Brianna's eyes widened. That was definitely something only her father would know. "Fine. I'll go with you, but I want to see your badge in the car."

The woman nodded in agreement and shuffled her outside. Out on the curb was a two door, all black car. The woman leaned forward and opened the passenger door for her, but Brianna wouldn't move.

"My mom said I wasn't allowed to ride in the front seat." She said.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Do you want to go see your dad or not?"

Brianna hesitated before getting inside the car. She threw her backpack in the small space behind her seat and buckled her seatbelt.

"Who are you?" Brianna asked.

The woman smiled at her. "Natasha Romanoff. I'm your dad's partner."

****
When Clint walked back inside the compound from speaking with the others, he found Brianna curled up on the couch clutching a tissue. He could hear her sniffling. His heart broke. He knew how much his daughter admired Natasha. As did all his kids. He realized that he was going to have to tell Laura and the kids about her death as well. He walked over to the couch and sat down next to Brianna. He could see her bloodshot eyes and tearstained cheeks.

"Hi." She said weakly.

"Hey. I wanted to check on you." He spoke quietly.

Brianna shrugged her shoulders. "I'm okay. I was just thinking about the first time I met Natasha. I had no idea how much she would influence me while growing up. I-I saw her as an older sister. I'm just really going to miss her."

Clint could see fresh tears forming in her eyes and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders before kissing the top of her head. "I know, Bri. Me too. Me too. We're going to do this for her though, okay? We're going to win so she didn't die in vain. Are you ready to be an Avenger one more time?"