Only You

Chapter Two

"Clint?"

    "Mm?" He took a long drink from his coffee mug, closing his eyes and inhaling the rich and distinct smell. His eyes were red and the bags under his eyes were dark and puffy. Wanda frowned at him.

    "... are coming for a week." Clint caught the last few words of what she said.

    "What?"

    Wanda rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Long night?" She asked, clearly sympathetic but not wanting to push into business that wasn't hers.

    "Something like that," Clint replied, staring into his coffee. He looked like Hell.

    "The others are coming for a week," Wanda repeated calmly, glancing rather hopefully at Clint over the rim of her cup of water.

    "A week? Why so long?" Clint asked. A small light returned to his eyes.

    Wanda retained a smile as she spoke. "They said they wanted to check in on you. And Stark and Banner need to use the labs here for something."

    "'Something'," Clint repeated skeptically. Wanda laughed lightly. She had her worries too, but she had found some speck of trust in Tony Stark. As for Bruce, he was a smart man when he kept level-headed. She'd had her issues with both men and her trust wasn't won over entirely, but she felt safe in the headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D. "That's promising."

    "They're supposed to be here soon," she said, standing up from the chair in Clint's room. "Do you want me to take the kids?"

    Clint laughed and nodded his head. "Thank you. Really." He gave her a small but genuine smile. "I'd be worn down if it was just me with them."

    "You already are worn down," Wanda said smartly, a bit like her brother though with the best of intentions. "I'll see you later."

    Natasha, Steve, Tony, and Bruce arrived at the headquarters in their own individual fashions, for the most part; Tony in a sleek new car, Nat and Steve in a nice-but-not-as-nice-as-Tony's-car car, and Bruce via jet plane. In a surprisingly organized fashion, they arrived within minutes of one another.

    The process of navigating headquarters was a long one and it took several minutes for the team to assemble together in one place, though they roughly met in the room at the same time.   

    "Barton," Tony said with a little grin, "good to see you. Look like Hell, buddy." Steve offered a soft smile and expressed his condolences. Late, but appreciated nonetheless — beyond belief — by Clint. Bruce, in a combination of comforting and awkward, patted Clint's back.

    Nat, the last to greet Clint, punched him affectionately on the arm. "Long time no see. How are you holding up?" She asked, in a manner as genuine as a person can get.

    "Not so bad," Clint said, surprising himself in the truth of the answer. Nat looked a little skeptical at the answer — it didn't match up with how exhausted he looked. She raised her brows but voiced no questions. She'd save it for later. "You and Bruce," he started, "when did that happen?"

    Nat glanced at Clint again and then Bruce, conversing with Tony and Steve. She smiled a secretive smile. "Not too long ago. I'm surprised you caught on. Who let you in on it?"

    "Laura," he admitted. "When we went to the farmhouse, back when we were up against Ultron." He looked a little pained at the mention of her, but managed to accept the feeling of grief as it came and went. "I'll admit I didn't see it coming," he added at the look Nat gave him.

    She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Clint," she said, unable to keep up with the humor Clint was trying to initiate. It was too hard — Clint was a close friend; the closest. Seeing him like this wasn't easy, and she wouldn't pretend it were any different. She looked ready to say something else but the doors to the room opened. Clint's kids came bursting in.

    "Sorry!" Wanda called, trying to look apologetic and failing miserably. Clint can't bother to be annoyed by the interruption as his kids practically flung themselves at Nat, their arms grabbing around her middle and looking like they'll never let go. Wanda rushed towards them but Clint gently grabbed her shoulder.

    "They were dying to see Nat," he said, and Wanda beamed at the look of content Clint had on his face. She nodded and moved off, punching Tony Stark (playfully, but with an intentional addition of a little force) in the shoulder. She smiled brightly at Bruce and pulled Steve into a hug. Clint was glad to see her growing comfortable around them, coming to view her somewhat like a daughter of his own.

    For a moment in time, Clint feels like he finally scrubbed free the guilt trapped under his skin. He felt okay — the losses of Pietro and Laura were wounds on his heart but were not so fresh, instead beginning to scab over. His shoulders relaxed and he let out a long, long sigh. He smiled and grabbed his two kids, laughing as he struggled to peel them off of Nat.

—

    "We've got two hours to do this," Tony Stark says.

    "You said we had three!" Bruce says incredulously, looking at his fellow scientist with a look of annoyed, shocked disbelief.

    "I was telling two-thirds the truth," Tony says, setting up the needed tech and supplies.

    "You lied," Bruce said flatly, pulling on his lab coat.

    "I tweaked the truth," Tony corrected him.

    Despite the tweaking of truth, the two resembled kids in a candy store — except the store is a lab, and the candy is... well... it's difficult to say which part of this was the candy.

    "Do you really think we can pull this off?" Bruce asked, making sure everything was in place. Two hours was cutting it tremendously close. The cradle was an incredible piece of technology, able to recreate tissue. Combined with the power of other modern technology and sciences, it seemed unstoppable. But Bruce had his doubts about doing this, especially with someone as daring as Tony. He felt a bit like Doctor Frankenstein.

    Tony Stark looked at Bruce, raising his eyebrows. "We're mad scientists. We have to live up to it."