The Barton Sniper

Chapter 2: Tension

Previously:

"Well... you ready kid?"

"No not really," giving a humorless chuckle

"Ummm you don't have much of a choice now"

"Wh..." the word died in her throat as she saw everyone come out of the house and onto the porch "Shit.."

Now:

There was a slight possibility that she looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she was staring at the occupied porch through the windshield, and she was 100% sure that her passenger could hear her heartbeat racing.

"Well? You gonna unbuckle and open that door?" She knew there was a hint of sarcasm hidden in his voice but she didn't acknowledge what he had asked her.

"Just a rhetorical question, but do you think I have time to still haul ass out of here and never look back?" Yeah, it was a dumb question to ask, but either way she asked it and took a wary glance at LJ

Tiredly he rubbed his face and answered her with the utmost sarcasm ," Nah CJ, it's not too late," he took a brief pause gauging her reaction before harshly continuing, "Are you that dumb?! That's like someone playing hide and seek asking if the seeker found them when they're standing right in front of them!! Now just by looking your dad's face over there," he paused long enough to point in Clints direction,"hes confused."

Narrowing her eyes into dangerous slits she whipped her head over to look at her friend, "You know sometimes I fucking hate you! Rhetorical means that I don't need or want to hear smart ass response from you!" Letting out a harsh breath she took a risk, looked out her dusty windshield and locked eyes with not one but both of her parents. She definitely saw love and joy in their eyes along with another emotion that couldn't be quite placed. "What do you think they'll say when they see the uniform LJ? God knows if they already saw it they'd charge over here."

"Well.. They might be mad but hey at least you're alive right?" Not once in the 4 years that she's known him has he ever been able to say something without a smart ass remark but... that's what she loves about him.

She rolled her eyes  playfully and gave a small smirk, "Yeah, that is until Aunt Nat gets a hold of me."

"I'm assuming she's the redhead"

"You my sir would be correct." She was preparing for the rage she'd receive from Natasha once she got out of the jeep. "Well, I gotta face the crowd sometime right?"

LJ, being the man that he is patted her cheek and gave her a heartfelt smile, "I won't leave you, I promise" He nodded his head, a motion for her to get a move on.

Taking a final moment before she faced the explosion that was about to happen, she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her car door. Once she realized it was too late to turn back now, she fully exited her vehicle and slammed her door shut. She felt everyone's eyes on her as she started to walk up to the porch, making her pounding heart hurt her chest, but that wasn't the only thing she felt on her. She felt the little hands of someone, more like a certain someone, wrapped around her leg. As she looked down she saw the big brown eyes staring up at her.

"Well well isn't my favorite little sister in the whole wide world?!" She picked Lila up and spun her around just like she did when she was still living at home. This brought the little Barton girl into a fit of giggles and the sound was like music to CJs ears.

"CJ! I'm your only sister!!" at this point Lila had already situated herself on CJs hip so that the 2 sisters were eye level.

"And that squirt is why you're my favorite" She tapped the end of Lilas nose and hugged her tight, "I missed you squirt, have you been behaving for our parental units?" she knew all the adults were walking down the stairs towards them but she didn't care at the moment.

Lila nodded ridiculously fast earning a genuine smile from her big sister, and that's when Lila noticed the scar on CJs face, carefully she reached up to run her tiny finger over it as if inspecting it, "what happened?" the genuine concern her baby sister had just melted her heart.

"I got hurt, but I'm okay now." she tried to smile convincingly for the sake of her sister but she knew that everyone else saw right through it.

"Well how did you get hurt?" Ah, to be young, curious and full of questions.

"That.. Is a story for when you're a little older squirt." Lila pouted but understood, as soon as CJ had put Lila down her parents pulled her into a suffocating hug, not expecting this at all she wrapped both of her arms around her parents and relaxed.

All of a sudden she felt Clint grab the back of her neck and he murmured, "You owe us one heck of an explanation young lady." It wasn't a request, it was a demand and one that left her with no room to argue. Right then and there she wanted to disappear but she should have seen this coming, so she closed her teary eyes and nodded solemnly.

Once they had all pulled out of the hug Clint and CJ were staring each other down, and not in a loving way. Laura had no idea what to do in this situation, it came as a shock to her as well as everyone on the farm to see her daughter in a Navy Seal Uniform instead of normal clothes a college kid would wear. Laura decided to break the tension and cleared her throat, "How about we all go inside, sit down and have a good meal and conversation?" God bless this woman for wanting peace.

Clint finally caved first and broke eye contact with his eldest daughter, "Sounds good, and while we're at it she," pointing to CJ, "can introduce her little friend and explain everything to everyone."

This made her heart stop, what the hell was she supposed to tell everyone even though it was pretty obvious on what she'd been doing all this time. Giving a nervous chuckle she looked her father straight in the eyes, "Dad explanations take time."

"Well it's a good thing we have it then right?" Clint didn't even wait for a response, he just stalked back towards the house with everyone close behind. CJ could already tell just by her dads demeanor that she was in for one hell of a night.