Silence Speaks (Book Two to Silence Series)

Thirty-Two

I clicked through months of footage, absolutely bored out of my mind. "Wait, oh shit never mind." I clicked again and paused the recording. "I never ever want to see that again." I laughed breathlessly and went upstairs for a drink. I hobbled into the kitchen and smiled at Steve and Nat. "I love you guys really, tell Friday to turn off your cameras fucking hell." Steve burned red and Natasha laughed. "How's Steve junior?" I questioned and Nat gasped. "We're having a boy?" I hummed and she yelled out, punching me lightly. "You can't just skip over that! Steve we're having a boy!" I chuckled and grabbed some poptarts from Thor's stash. "He'll kill you." Steve muttered, amused. "Nah, I'm his brother in law, he wouldn't. Especially because Loki gets...stabby." They laughed and I left the room, heading back down to the lab.

"Holy shit." I breathed out, pausing the footage. "What?" Tony questioned, standing up from his seat. "Clint was cheating." I pressed the play button and we watched as he brought someone into the tower. "The security hadn't been updated yet. I don't even recognize that person...Friday run facial scans." The footage changed to the next day and I winced when I saw him grab Cooper's wrist and yell at him. Pietro stood off to the side, holding his face. "Wait." I went back, frame by frame and watched Clint punch Pietro and then hit Cooper. "This is when Cooper got in the middle of a fight." I breathed out and marked down the time stamp, shaking my head. "Tony, he's going to lose his kid." I muttered through grit teeth and Tony patted me on the back. "Facial scans came back with Laura Barton, previously married to Clint Barton. Hospital records show she is two months pregnant with a girl." I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down her information. "I need to talk to her."

"Nat?" I knocked on her door and she looked up from her book. "Hey Pete, whatcha need?" I went in and closed her door. "I need you to take Clint out of the house for some time. He...he cheated on Pietro with his ex wife and she's pregnant again. Friday is finding records of her visiting adoption agencies and abortion clinics, and I don't want her to kill or get rid of the baby. I'm going to talk to Loki, see about taking her when she's born." She stood up and nodded. "I'll do that for you..I have to pick up Cooper soon, should Clint be allowed to see him?" I thought for a moment before nodding. "Make sure Clint doesn't try anything and if he says anything to Cooper that suggest ulterior motives, you tell me immediately." She nodded again and I hobbled out of her room.

"Laura Barton is outside of the perimeter." Friday informed me and I told Friday to let her in. I heard the elevator ding and I stood up, hobbling to meet her. "Peter?" I nodded and she looked down at my legs. "Accident in San Francisco." She hummed and followed me into the kitchen. "I want to ask you a few things about your ex husband, Clint Barton." She tensed and I could see smidge of fear in her eyes. "Is he here?" I shook my head and she calmed down. "Why did you guys divorce?" She put a hand over her small baby bump. "He was manipulative and he cheated often, mainly with guys. I didn't want kids, but I was too afraid of him leaving that I let it happen. We had Cooper and he filed for divorce a few months later." I nodded and wrote it down. "How is Cooper? Is he okay?" I smiled and pulled out my phone, showing her the homescreen of us and Loki. "That's my husband, we took him in a couple weeks ago because of Clint's drunken behavior. I'm pushing to get him in my custody." She nodded and put her head in her hands. "I can't be a good Mom, I'm just not financially or emotionally stable." I put my hand on her shoulder. "I know you're pregnant with a girl, Clint's right?" She stared at me. "No one knows about that, how did you..?" I chuckled lightly and pulled up her file on my watch. "I'm SHIELD and I am the leader of the Avengers, I know a lot of things about a lot of people. Like I know that you went into the hospital two year ago for a nasty cut on your forehead, one that suggested something was thrown at you and you stated you fell."

Her face fell and she nodded. "He threw a beer bottle." I grabbed her hand, looking her in the eyes. "Don't give up the baby, I'm going to talk to my husband and see about getting her into our custody. You are obviously allowed to see both kids anytime you want." She smiled and nodded, her eyes tearing up. "I'd be okay with that. What's going to happen to Clint?" I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "I'll demote him to desk duty, he's too valuable to be fired and we don't want an enemy, but I will talk to Fury about putting him at the headquarters and dealing with new trainees. Natasha has been doing that for two months now." Her eyes lit up with interest. "Natasha is here? How is she?" I smiled. "She adopted my baby sibling, their name is Sage and they're twelve now. And she's pregnant with a boy." She gasped and laughed happily. "That's great!" The elevator opened and Cooper ran in, Loki with him. "Petey!" Cooper yelled and jumped into my arms. "Hey bud." He turned and faced Laura. "Momma?" She nodded and pulled Cooper into a hug. "Laura do you have him?" She nodded and I grabbed my crutches. "Lo can I talk to you?" He nodded and I hobbled into the living room.

"Is she taking Cooper?" I shook my head and he pulled me into a hug. "Clint cheated on Pietro with her, that's his ex wife. She's pregnant again and has agreed to give us this baby if we are willing." Loki looked at me closely. "We'll do it." I grinned and pulled him into a tight hug. "I love you!" He chuckled and kissed me, his hands cupping my face. "I love you too." We migrated back to the kitchen, where Cooper had started his homework. "We'll take her." Laura clapped happily and stood up, crushing me in a hug. We exchanged numbers and she left, promising to let us know when the next appointment will be. "Natasha and Clint are coming into the elevator." Friday warned and I turned to Cooper. "Lo can you take Cooper to Pietro, he's leaving soon and I know Piet wants to say bye before he goes." Loki nodded and kissed me before picking up Cooper and walking them to the hall.

"Clint, we need to talk." He sat at the bar and I walked around to the other side, grabbing paperwork as I did. "First, any questions before I start?" He eyed me. "When is Cooper coming home?" I rubbed my forehead and shook my head, "He's not." Clint's eyes narrowed and I pulled out paperwork. "After some evidence has come into play and a testimony from Laura, you're custody has been removed. She trusts Loki and I to take care of and support Cooper, therefore we are adopting him at the end of the month. But that isn't what I want to talk to you about, you are suspended from the team for an indefinite period. Fury agrees with me when I say that you are a value to this team and this family, but you are just too dangerous to be around when you're destructive. You are going to a desk job and you will be tasked with overseeing training for the new agents, along with Nat, who's going to be too pregnant to participate in missions soon." Clint glared at me before sighing. "Will I ever be allowed back on the team?" I shrugged and handed him some paperwork. "Depends." "On?" I rubbed my neck. "On whether you can be trusted again, whether you can get your act together. You are walking on thin thin ice. This is the best I could do, you were going to be arrested for child neglect and endangerment, not to mention the reports of domestic violence. If you had been arrested, you would've lost your job and not been allowed near kids. I am helping you Clint, I would take it or soon you're going to learn to love the inside of a prison cell."