fiction | Part of the journey is the end

2. Never meet your heroes - 2

At a restaurant, Nate moved his eyes crazily. Clint laughed and said he looked like a maniac.

All of them chuckled.

"It's too late for that," Natasha teased.

He asked the kids if they were hungry. Nate happily said yes, while Lila and Cooper said no. "You're going to puke if you have any more," Lila sternly told Nate.

"Wow, Lila's responsible," Bucky said.

"She's always had a good head on her shoulders," Clint said. "I have no idea where she got it from."

She said if Nate puked, Cooper and Clint were cleaning it up.

Clint and Natasha snorted.

Bucky looked at the kids fondly. They were Natasha's godchildren.

Clint said the biggest Christmas tree was right down the street and asked if they wanted to see it after.

"I love that tree!" said Peter. "Swinging over it is the coolest thing!"

Nate excitedly said yes. Clint got a call from Laura and told everyone to say hi.

"Oh, there she is," Clint said. "I was wondering why she wasn't there."

"How was the show?" "It was, uh... It's over. It was big."

The group winced.

"It was awful," said Steve. "Worst play ever. Zero stars."

"Ten stars," Sam and Bucky protested.

Nate said they left halfway through.

Scott chuckled. "Little kids always end up exposing you."

Clint said it was easier if she was there as he would be less likely to strangle the kids.

Tony, Scott, and Clint chuckled.

"I always have that urge," said Tony.

"Hey!" Peter said, offended.

Clint snorted. "Tell me about it."

Scott laughed. "I love Cassie to bits, but sometimes I just wonder what goes through her head. You know, the other day she said she wanted to be my partner. I would be a terrible father if I let her do that."

All of them smiled.

"That's cute," said Natasha.

"Like I'm always amazed by how they end up doing the dumbest things possible—" Tony said.

"I know!" Clint said, happy someone finally understood his troubles.

"—And then I start to think if I was that stupid at their age."

"The answer is yes," said Rhodey. "You were that stupid."

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Okay, is your dad meeting over?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Vision isn't here, so the dad club wasn't having a meeting," Scott replied.

Wanda beamed at knowing that the others considered Vision a part of their dad club.

The kids and Clint told Laura they missed her and ended the call. Clint said there were six days until Christmas, and they were going to do a lot of activities. The kids suggested a gingerbread house, a Christmas movie marathon, and ugly sweaters.

"Sounds pretty fun," said Sam.

Clint felt a wave of sadness knowing that his variant was trying to make up for the five Christmases they all lost during the Blip.