𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙳𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚂𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚍

ʙʟɪɴᴅ

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ:Clint finally has to confront his choices and the consequences of them.

Along the way, he makes some disturbing discoveries.

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"I don't even know who you are anymore!" Laura screamed at Clint, tears running down her cheeks. Their 'civil discussion' had rapidly devolved into a shouting match. "I don't recognise you anymore Clint. The man I married wouldn't have abandoned his family for a man on a selfish crusade and a Hydra terrorist bitch!"

"Don't talk about her like that Laura! And Steve was doing the right thing!" He was so angry, why couldn't she understand?! "This is Stark's fault isn't it? He's filled your head up with lies and turned you against me!"

She gave a slightly hysterical laugh. "You idiot! Tony is the only reason I haven't divorced you yet!" the words hit him like a bucket of ice water. "He begged me to give you another chance when everyone else was telling me to dump your ass and get a divorce filed in abstentia. I could have had it all done before you got back since you were a fugitive! I would have had full custody of the kids and I would NEVER have let you near them again." She took a shaky breath. "But Tony convinced me not to. He said it wasn't right to do that without hearing your side of the story." She wiped her eyes and smiled bitterly. "And the story turns out to be that you followed Captain America because he's Captain America and can't make mistakes. That you abandoned your family for a Hydra bitch. And don't argue with me! She joined them willingly! And she never got punished!"

"She lost her brother Laura."

"That sounds more like his punishment than hers," she replied coldly.

Laura stood up abruptly. "I can't do this. I-I can't talk to you when you're being this blind." That hysterical laugh made a reappearance. "Isn't that ironic? Hawkeye being blind." She covered her mouth and Clint finally noticed that she was shaking. She was thinner than he remembered with dark bags under her eyes. "You haven't even asked how the kids are," she whispered. "You didn't even ask if we were okay after Ross found us."

His blood turned to ice. "What?" he croaked.

"What did you think would happen? You broke the law and made dangerous enemies. And then you hid. They couldn't get to you so they went after your family instead."

"They shouldn't have been able to find you!" he argued desperately. Did Stark...

She looked at him incredulously. "Romanoff dumped our fucking address onto the internet during the DC disaster Clint. It didn't take them much digging to find it. And then they came for us. The only reason Ross didn't get us, was because Tony got to us first. He got us out of there and to the Compound, and the kids and I watched as that bastard bombed the house we'd been in minutes before." She choked on a sob. "Lila and Cooper still have nightmares."

Clint stared at her in numb shock. Natasha did what?

"And now you're back and you don't even call us. You don't ask about us. And every time I call you that bitch of a witch hangs up on me with a smug 'Clint is busy'." She clenched her hands into fists.

What was she talking about? He called her.

Didn't he?

And what was that about Wanda hanging up on her? Stark had mentioned it but he hadn't believed him...

"I can't do this," Laura whispered, turning to leave.

"Wait, Laura!" he jumped up in a panic but she ignored him.

"No Clint. Until you figure out your priorities, I can't handle seeing you. And if you take too long..." she stared straight ahead, her back to him. "I don't think Tony would be able to talk me out of it again."