Silence Speaks (Book Two to Silence Series)

Twenty-Eight

I pulled Loki into a tattoo shop, one that I had made an appointment with beforehand. "Peter are you absolutely sure?" Loki questioned for the gazillionth time. "Yes baby I'm sure." He smiled and we walked up to the front desk. "Tattoo appointment for Parker." Loki and I had agreed a long time ago that we wouldn't publically announce our marriage, but we also wouldn't hide it. "And you want six tattoos in total?" I nodded and the guy at the desk hummed. "Okay, let's get you set up."

Eight hours later
"That fucking flower." Loki cursed when I stood up and I laughed. "You love it." I shoved his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around my waist. "Pepper invited us over for dinner." I nodded and we walked to the car. "I want kids." I muttered and he stopped for a second. "I thought we agreed that we would wait until you were twenty?" I sighed and nodded. "I know. Its better that way, but I still want them." Loki tightened his grip on my waist and I leaned into his shoulder. "We'll talk about it later okay? I'm not saying no, I'm just saying that I would like you to be healed more before we decide to look more into the kids decision." I smiled and we stopped at the car. "I can respect that decision."

"Peter!" Cooper jumped into my arms and I winced at the impact to my chest. "Cooper careful!" Clint shouted and Cooper shied away from him. "Woah, what was that?" Cooper tried to get down and I only held onto him tighter. "I'm okay Cooper. Are you okay?" He nodded and I looked at Clint. "Does he shout a lot?" I whispered and Cooper took a sneaking glance at Clint. "Only when I do something I'm not supposed to." He whispered back and I sighed, setting Cooper onto his feet. "Go with Loki okay? I'll talk to your dad." I looked at Loki and he nodded slightly, taking Cooper's hand and walking them into the hallway. "Clint." I called out and he turned, a beer halfway to his mouth. "How many have you had?" He scoffed and I walked over, gently taking it from him. "You have to stop shouting at Cooper and I bet if I talk to Pietro, he'll tell me you shout at him too." He rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me how to raise my kid or talk to my boyfriend." I gave him a once over. "Give me the gun." He gave me a challenging look. Steve and Natasha walked into the kitchen. "That's an order Barton, give me the gun." I said with authority in my voice. He grumbled and pulled the handgun out of his pants. "Friday lock out Clint Barton from accessing his weapons and suit." I didn't look away from him and he gave me an incredulous look.

"I want you sober before you are allowed to put your suit on, train and go on missions again. And I'm taking Cooper, I don't want him around you when you're becoming sober." Clint pushed up his shirt sleeve and threw a punch, which I caught and pinned his arm against his side. His yell attracted more attention into the kitchen. "You want to try that one more time Barton? Do as I ask and you can keep Cooper, get your act together." I shoved him away from me and he glared. "You can't tell me what to do! You're just a kid." I rolled my eyes. "A kid that holds your paycheck and your job. And just like every other job, I can fire you for being a drunk. You're a danger out there when you're putting away drinks like its candy." I snapped and he pointed at Tony. "He drinks all the time!" Tony started to protest and I held a hand up. "Tony doesn't shout at his partner, Tony doesn't shout at his kid for being a kid. Don't think I haven't seen the bruises on that kids wrist, its not hard to write it off as him just being a kid. This is not a path you want to go down, you can and will lose everything." He was silent and I unloaded the gun on the counter. "Get your act together or I am taking Cooper away from you. Do I make myself clear?" He didn't say anything. "Barton do I make myself clear?" I repeated and he nodded.

I walked down the hall to Cooper's room and opened the door. Loki stood up and I nodded to the hallway. "What happened?" I sighed and pushed a hand through my hair. "We're going to take Cooper in while Clint sobers up. I gave him an ultimatum and if he doesn't meet his end of the deal, I'm taking Cooper away." Loki nodded and put his hand on my shoulder. "I trust that you are making a good decision. Are you opening an investigation?" I nodded, looking through the door at Cooper. "I'm going to talk to Pietro too and see what has been going on on his end." I slipped through Cooper's door and sat down next to him on the floor. "Would you like to stay with Loki and I for a little while, just until I clear your dad?" He nods and I pulled him into my lap. "Cooper I need you to be completely honest with me, does your dad hit you or Pietro?" He was silent for a second before his shoulders shuddered. "Loki lock the door." I ordered and I cradled Cooper against my body. "He only hit me once and he swore it was an accident. I h-had got out of bed for a dr-drink of water and he was fighting with Pietro. He hit Piet and I pushed him back and he hit me." I set my jaw. "He shouts when he's drunk and he's always drunk. Him and Piet fight all the time and he gets angry if Pietro talks to me without someone else in the room. He's a good dad when he's not drinking." I pulled up the sleeves of his jacket and examined the bruises on his wrists. "He has a tight grip."

"Dinner!" I picked up Cooper and put him on my hip. "He can't hit you Cooper. I promise." I carried him out to the kitchen and set him on his feet. I looked at Tony and pointed to Cooper, making a motion that he keep his eyes on him. He nodded and I grabbed Natasha's hand. "What's up?" She asked when I led her into the living room. "How much have you noticed?" Her face hardened. "Clint and Pietro fight a lot. I do my best to keep Cooper out of it and I guess that has minimized a lot of the damage on him. Cooper sleeps in my room or with Sage when they fight, mainly because we don't want Clint going into his room." I rubbed my forehead. "I have to open an investigation. You know that right? That's not something I can look past." Nat nodded and rubbed my shoulder. "We'll work to get Clint sober, but I think it might be best if you take Cooper. He needs someone who he can trust and can support him." I thanked her and we went back into the kitchen. "Cooper eat." I encouraged when I found him eyeing Clint with wariness. "I want to talk to you guys about some stuff I've heard over the grapevine." I announced, sitting on the counter with a plate. Loki positioned himself between Cooper and Clint.

"There's been some rumors of government involvement in our group. I'm pushing against it and it seems to be taking, mainly because I've offered to share some technology with the military. You all have nothing to worry about, I'm handling this but I don't want anyone getting cold feet from rumors. As of tech, Fury and I are currently making plans to develop a stealth jet for covert missions. Umm..I think that's it." I looked to Loki and he shrugged. "Oh! Next week, I'll be going on a mission. I cannot say where and I am not at liberty to discuss it just yet, just know that I will be going on one." I set my plate aside and checked the time. "Shoot, we've got to go. Cooper come here." I got off the counter and picked up the kid, carrying him with me to his room. "Let's pack some stuff for my house."