The Brewing Storm

Welcome Back.

17.

Valentina's eyes shoot towards me with confusion. "You know him?"

"Not very well." I answer, sliding my blade back into my belt, and step closer towards him. "But I know he's not stupid enough to try and hurt anyone." I nod towards our housekeeper. "You can let him go." 

Jana growls the moment Valentina releases Clint from her grip. "Jana, no." Frank mutters in a threatening tone, lowering his gun onto the counter. The wolf like husky moves towards him, and sits at his feet. Clint examines everyone carefully, possibly in attempt to recognize everybody.

"Max?" Clint asks with a slight hesitant tone. I glance from one friend to the other, almost completely forgetting that the pair had both worked for SHIELD, they must have communicated with each other at one point. "Glad to see you made it out, buddy."

Frank scoffs, reaching over to grab Lucy's wrist, who had remained silent, staring at the ground since we had arrived. "I'm gonna take her to bed. You can tell us about it tomorrow." Without even a glance from Lucy, she let him guide her out of the room, Jana following behind. 

Max, Eugene and I move closer into the kitchen. I take a seat on the stool besides the island, and rest my head in my hands, exhaustion finally taking over. Max doesn't stand too close to me, no doubt Eugene is sending him a threatening glare. Clint remains stuck in the middle, wondering what the hell is going on. I sigh, "What are you doing here, Clint?"

"Are you not glad to-"

"How did you find me?" I interrupt, far too tired from today's events.

Clint's eyes catch Valentina's, but he looks away quickly. "I'm a spy, it's what I do."

"Then why hasn't Natasha found me?" I lift my head, shooting a challenging look towards him. Natasha Romanoff is one of the greatest and most talented spies I have ever met. If anyone could find me, she could.

"She's been busy."

"You mean she's been busy destroying Washington with Steve?"

"Like I said, busy." He grabs an apple from the bowl, and takes a bite. I dismiss Valentina, who has done nothing but shoot dirty looks in his direction the entire time. Eugene takes a long breath, but says nothing, allowing me to handle the situation.

"And you haven't?"

He smiles, leaning back. "I've been farming."

I shake my head in disbelief, and ask, "Why are you here, Clint?" 

"You're not happy to see me?"

"Now isn't really the best time for people to be finding us." I ramble, feeling my eyes drooping slightly.

"Yeah, I can see that." Clint's gaze lingers over to where Frank and Lucy had disappeared, but says nothing about it. His attention returns to me. "I just came to make sure you were coming back. I'm sure you got Stark's message too."

I roll my eyes, I've already heard enough about Stark's message coming from my own mind, hearing the words being spoken by someone else is a whole other ballgame. I whisper a barely audible, "Yeah." before jumping down from my seat. "I was planning on leaving tomorrow."

"Well, I'm glad that's settled. I'll just go with you." He takes another crunch from the apple, before tossing the rest away.

"Well, I'm going to bed, so you might as well stay and get some rest before we travel." I yawn, not wanting to ask anymore questions about why or how he got here. I bid them goodnight, before dragging myself down the hallway.