Duyên || Clint Barton

046 || assemble

•••

We moved as one, battle cries echoing around the battle field as we thundered towards the enemy. I exchanged a charged look with Clint, seconds before colliding with the aliens.
We had got this.

"Are you insane?" I screeched, dodging a hit from the alien in front of me.
"No! I'm not!" Clint huffed back, shooting one of the aliens in the head with vigour before turning back to face me, "I'm actually very much not insane"
The two of us fell into silence as we concentrated on the large group that had just descended upon us, working in tandem to take them all down effectively, passing the gauntlet in between the two of us as we moved.
"You can't tell me that asking me that question right now isn't anything less than insane"
"It's not a weird thing to ask!"
"Clint! Talking about sex whilst fighting an army is not a normal thing to do!"
Our conversation was cut off by Pietro and Wanda whizzing by, moving over to where Thanos stood in the middle of the destruction.
"Should we-?"
"They've got this"
Clint huffed a laugh, narrowing his eyes at the next approaching wave of aliens.
"You get the gauntlet away" I shouted, throwing it into his arms, "I'll hold them off"
"What? No!"
Natasha came to stop next to me, sending Clint a wild smile, "we can do this"
Side by side, Natasha and I worked flawlessly, our movements reminding me of the dances we did in the studio.
Hit. Evade. Strike. Block. Repeat.
We eventually worked our way through the horde, my eyes immediately snapping to the twins, a proud smile growing on my face as they overpowered him.

The first shot from above landed just an inch shy of my foot, the heat of the plasma dancing across my cheek.
"Holy hell!" Nat cried, grabbing my arm and pulling me over to the sanctum wizards who were creating shields to guard from the ship firing at them from the sky.
"Did you see the twins?" I shouted, voice muted by the gunfire.
"Over by Steve" Wong replied, equally loud, face scrunched in concentration.

•••

When I reached the main fight, I watched in rage as Thanos started to close in on the gauntlet, throwing off everyone's attempts at thwarting him.
With a desperate growl I launched myself at the Titan, who was still distracted from Carol's attempts.
"Idiot child" he snarled, another stone detaching into his hand and crashing into my temple, vision instantly fading to black.

The floorboards creaked under the little girl's bare feet, stained red with recently shed blood.
She cried for help.

The others at the orphanage were cruel, they pulled her blonde hair and stole away her bunny toy. She had learned by now to hide her things under the bottom plank of the wardrobe. They sneered at her, laughing at cruel whispers of things Grace didn't understand. Why she was left alone. Why her parents hadn't come back for her.

School was a relief, Dalia's house an escape from the harsh realities of the bullies at the orphanage.
"Best friends forever"
"Promise?"
"Promise"

Graduation saw the two stand side by side, high school diplomas clutched proudly in their grasp, eyes shining with hope for the future.

"Mary's dad owns the coffee shop in downtown New York" Dalia said, car keg swinging jauntily from her index finger, "They have spaces open. On that wage we could probably find a box of an apartment-"
She was cut off by Grace's form engulfing her in a hug, excitedly squealing.
"Let's fucking go!"

Having her own space was weird, and Grace was overwhelmed with the small bedroom. It was hers. Only hers. She could decorate it however she wanted, because fuck you that's why.

She was in the news yesterday, a small article about how she caught the wanted man. Grace had really just pepper-sprayed some creep that tried to touch her up in an alleyway, but she'd take the heroics anyway.
(Dalia would later hang the newspaper clipping up on the walls of the cafe, claiming to be best friends with a famous bounty hunter)

Grace waited until the jet left before starting to look around the house, exploring for any hidden secrets that Clint may have 'forgotten' to tell her.
His month's leave was up, Natasha taking him off on his first mission back to a classified location (they said Spain) for an also classified mission (terror plot). 
A small sound of victory escaped her mouth as she looked up at the roof, her body half-hanging out of the second floor window. Using some surprising strength, she hauled herself up on top, being met with a small nest of pillows, blankets and snacks, all covered with a tarp in case it rains.
"Clint's nest" she giggled, shaking her head at the absurdity of her boyfriend.

Natasha eyed her up and down, a sharks grin appearing on her face.
"I like your spirit"
The blonde sighed in relief, a smile coming to her lips.
"And you're totally not terrifying" Grace replies, "but I like that about you"
She thinks she got the stamp of approval.

"Grace?"

The baby's cries were quickly hushed, rocked to sleep in Grace's arms. Clint was gone on another mission, Cooper only just turned a month old.
Her soft singing drifted through the room, shrill screams slowly turning to mindless babbling.
"We've got this" she whispered, pressing a kiss to her sons forehead, "We've totally got this"

"Grace?"

Cooper's eyes widened in awe as Clint placed Lila in his arms, making sure to hover just in case the toddler lost interest.
"Baby!" Cooper cooed, head flying up to look at Grace, a grin on his face.
"Yeah, it's your baby sister"
"It's Lila"
Nick smiled softly from his place in the corner, watching the domestic scene with innate fondness.
"They're not so bad, are they?" Nat said, shoulder knocking against his, a knowing smile on her lips.
Nick simply nodded.

"GRACE!"

I shot up with a gasp, head throbbing. Clint stood in front of me, hand shaking my shoulders violently.
"I'm here! I'm here."
"Thank god" he breathed, voice shaky, "You were out for a few minutes - Nat and I had to drag you over here"
I glanced over his shoulder.
"She went back in" he explained, following my gaze, "Though now you mention it... it's quiet"
My stomach dropped, "Too quiet"
I exchanged a confused glance with Clint, before scanning the area for the disruption.

Suddenly, the twins appeared behind Clint, eyes wide.
"Pietro what's happening?"
"Tony..."
"Fuck - take me to him"
He picked me up and ran over to the huddle in silence, Thanos disintegrating in front of our eyes.
No one was celebrating.
Tony fell to his knees, collapsing against a fallen beam of the compound.