Try and Catch Me

Evangeline Barton | Part 1

Evangeline was sitting on the carpet with her younger siblings; Cooper and Lila Barton, playing with the new figurines Cooper got for his birthday one month earlier.

At 15 years old, Evangeline supported her family since her father was constantly on his "business trips". It was blatantly obvious that his trips were types of missions since every time he left, he had his 'Hawkeye' uniform with him.

Aunt Natasha isn't very quiet with secrets when it came between Evangeline and her as well. I know, a secret agent is bad at keeping secrets?

Evangeline found out about her dad's job a year ago when Aunt Nat came over tugging her father onto the couch requesting for the medical kit. She remembered that moment like it was yesterday...

The sun was high in the sky on the day of September 27th. Momma was out in town leaving Evangeline to babysit her younger siblings. The 4 year old, Cooper was upstairs playing with his action figures and Lila, the 2 year old, was upstairs napping.

The quiet atmosphere was perfect for Evangeline to finish up her book. 'Reminder; go to the library next week and check out more books' she thought to herself.

The peaceful aura in the room abruptly disappeared when a sharp knock sounded from the front door. Slowly getting up, the knock sounded more urgent the second time. Moving a bit quicker, the door burst open to show a panicked Natasha Romanoff holding a severely injured Clint Barton.

Before Evangeline could say anything about her father, Natasha gave strict orders to the teenager. "Go grab the medical kit and once you have it bring it to me. After that, I need you to get a bucket, fill it with water, grab a towel and bring that to me as well, is that clear?"

Still in shock, Evangeline nodded her head before scurrying off to retrieve the items. Running into the kitchen, she grabbed the medical kit and brought it to the older woman. After a curt nod and a thank you, the girl ran off again to grab the bucket and fill it with water. Nearly tripping over her two feet, she dropped the bucket, ran upstairs and grabbed a washcloth from the cupboard.

Sprinting back down the stairs, Evangeline picked up the bucket and rushed back to her aunt. When she got back to the living room, her eyes widened at the scene in front of her. Natasha threw Evangeline's father's shirt across the room, preparing the stitches. The young girl gasped at the sight of her father's torso being covered in many gashes but one stood out the most. It was a gun wound, she concluded and looked around to see the exit point to find none. That was a problem.

Realizing a major tool that Natasha would need to fish out the bullet, Evangeline ran the the bathroom and grabbed tweezers. After giving the tool to her Aunt, the girl picked up the cloth and dipped it into the bucket, wetting it to help clean the injuries. Her father, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, groaned at the pain of the pressure being put into the wounds. After cleaning the other scratches and the scene looked less bloody, Evangeline took out the bandages and gauze. While she got to work on the minor injuries, Natasha gave Clint a shot of alcohol to numb his body a bit. When Natasha lifted the tweezers, Evangeline's father held his breath until she tapped his face telling him to breathe.

"Dad, if you hold your breath that can increase the feeling of pain. Remember, mum said to breathe slowly when you think you'll feel the pain. Inhale and exhale. It's not that hard, even Cooper can do that." When his daughter said that, he couldn't help but chuckle at how much she sounded like her mother.

Slowly but surely, Clint slowly inhaled and exhaled while Natasha got to work getting the bullet out of his torso. Throughout the excruciating pain, Evangeline never let go of her hold on his hand reminding him that he wasn't alone. Although his grip was tight, she didn't care, she was more focused of the fact that her father was going to be okay...and that her mum wouldn't be home anytime soon.