Hawkeye: Agony

Laura Barton

After 24 hours of the Avengers attempting to leave the building, all in vain, my wife Laura walked in the door of the facility - a baby in her arms.
Thor tried to make a run for the door when it opened but magic threw him back.

Nat looked scared to see Laura - not wanting to explain where I was and how they couldn't possibly return me to her.

"Where is he? Where's Clint...?"
"Laura... Please..." Nat guided her to a chair, glancing down at Nathaniel. Her usual smile at seeing him was absent.
Laura was used to the tone Nat gave her. She'd seen me use it on Agents before, "...Is he dead...?"
"No! ... No..." Nat couldn't meet her gaze.
"We are doing all that we can, Ms," Steve said, not knowing who she was.
"What's going on? Where did you leave him?"
"Look, Ms.Laura but your constant questions aren't helping. You're not supposed to be here. Leave us to it and we'll tell you when Clint is next available to save your cat from a tree," Tony said impatiently.
"I have every right to be here! He's my husband!"

Everyone looked at her then. No body knew. I hadn't told them. Not yet.
Tony was quiet, "I'm sorry..."
Steve's eyes trailed to the baby, knowing now that I had a family. Children. A wife. Everything that he lost after going in to the ice.
He rubbed his face and looked back at the map of the facility - looking for an alternate way out.

Wanda walked slowly up to Laura and Nathaniel, "What is his name...?" She tickled Nathaniel's palm gently - which resulted in a cheerful giggle.
"Nathaniel-Pietro."
Wanda's smile faltered, "Pietro..?" She looked from Laura to Nathaniel.
"A man that saved Clint's life... He was very shook."
"...Pietro was my brother..."
There was silence as Laura gave Wanda the baby and she hugged him gently.
She spoke after a moment, "We need to help him..." A tear rolled down her face as she kissed Nathaniel's head - wanting her brother desperately.
Her magic burst and the hold over the facility was released.
Tony cautiously poked the door and it swung open, "Problem solved. Good job, kid."

Wanda stood shock still, holding the baby against her.
Laura looked at her, "We can get him back..."
"You can't... No one can promise me that..." She slowly returned Nathaniel to his mom, "You should both stay here..."

The Avengers all ran out of the building. But Laura didn't stay. She got in her car and followed closely behind.

**

{July 30th, 2008, when Iron Man showed his identity to the public}
"So Tony Stark is now as worthy as a SHIELD agent? Me and Nat have been here, for like, forever, Nick. He's just a guy in a suit. What's he going to do?" I said stubbornly, reading through all of the files we had on Tony Stark.
"You were a kid in a gymnastics costume, and I recruited you."
Nat laughed and then smirked at me, "A gymnastics costume? What were you doing?" She looked at Fury, "You just walked in to the nearest building with a trampoline and picked him up?"
Fury was silent. His answer was a shrug, clearly seeing she didn't know as much as she thought about me.
Nat gave me a look, "Why's he zipped his mouth? He always does that when he doesn't want me to know something."
I shrugged too and she gave me an even more pressuring look than the one she gave Fury - that one where she tries to make you feel hot under the collar, but it never seems to work for me.    ...This made her look annoyed.
"Would you two just tell me already?"
I laughed slightly at her giving in, "I was in a circus."
Then she laughed harder than I did, "You picked him up from a Circus?" She looked up at Fury, "Why we're you in a Circus anyway? Did you and Phil just think it'd be  a nice idea to go get some cotter candy on Corny Island?" She smirked and then it slowly dropped as she looked between us both.
"Something like that," Fury said calmly with a nod.
"... What aren't you both telling me?" Nat looked slowly concerned, seeing she had touched a poor subject.
"Nothing," I said as I smiled slightly and looked back at the computer and started typing. 
Nat grabbed my hand and exited the file and searched 'circus' in to S.H.I.E.L.D's files. She saw everything with a glance. The circus, the death files, the news reports, and all of the court cases I had gone through for my arrest.  
"You_..?" She looked at me as I closed the files quickly, "Why didn't you tell me?"
I didn't say anything and Nat started to walk away in hurt.
I grabbed her wrist, "In case they came back," I paused again and said sadly, "I didn't want them hurting you. You're my best friend."
She smiled slightly and hugged me, "I can handle myself, Mr.Barton. I won't let anything happen to me, you... Or Fury and Phil..."
She knew me well, and that made me smile. They were like a family to me. I couldn't let them get hurt because of my past. Any of them.

Why didn't I think about that this time around?

This is all on me. And I'm not letting them take the pain.