Silence Speaks (Book Two to Silence Series)

Thirty-Three

Two weeks later
I sighed in relief when I stood up from the med bay bed. I stretched my legs and jumped up, testing the stability. "Thanks Bruce, I'd stay but I have someone coming to the house." I grabbed my stuff, squeezed Bruce into a hug and ran from the compound, stuffing my helmet on my head.

I got to the house just as a car was pulling into the drive way. "Karen let them through." The perimeter separated and a woman walked through, staring around in slight awe. "So this is where the famous Spiderman lives." I chuckled and unlocked the door to let her in. "I'm sorry for the mess, I had to rush out this morning." I turned to face her and she looked around. "Its quaint. How many people live here?" She grabbed a notepad out of her pocket. "Cooper, my husband and I." She looked up with a slight smile. "You're married?" I nodded and grabbed a picture off the wall. "Going on three months now." I handed her the picture and she hummed. "Congratulations, now onto the real questions. How do you know Cooper?" I nodded and scratched my arm. "He's my adoptive father's biological kid. I was emancipated earlier this year, Clint was not the greatest dad and I was living on my own. Uh..I am at the compound a lot because I'm a part of the team and when he's not at school, he's running around there. I started noticing little things, him flinching when Clint yells, the bruises that are not in places you'd find bruises on a kid and he'd constantly apologize for things that he had no control over. I sat him down and asked him what happened, he told me everything in the report and I told Clint that I was taking Cooper out of there. I suspended him, took away his ranks as an agent and demoted him. His custody was revoked and Cooper's mother has agreed that Loki and I are more capable of taking care of Cooper than she is."

She nodded and had me take her to different rooms in the house. "And his room?" I brought her upstairs and showed her the messy room. "We're in the process of buying him more personalized stuff and moving him in here." She looked around and looked across the hall to the room Loki and I were making up for Laura's new kid. "And this room?" She stepped in and I slid in behind her. "Cooper's mother is pregnant with Clint's kid, she has agreed to finish out the pregnancy and give us the baby. This'll be her room, once we finish that is." She wrote it down and walked back downstairs. "How much do you make a month?" I bit back an amused smile. "Thirty thousand at the moment, its expected to raise at the end of this year." Her eyebrows shot up. "And your husband?" I hummed, smiling slightly. "He makes three hundred a month, he works with Matthew Murdock, when he's not in school. He's pursuing a degree in law and I'm just finishing up my degree for Quantum Physics." She chuckled and smiled. "I don't know why I was expecting you to be younger." I bit back an amused grin. "I'm only eighteen, Loki's twenty four, respectively." She nodded and was silent for a moment. My phone started to ring and I grabbed it, seeing if I could ignore it. I sighed and answered, standing up and apologizing to the woman. "Peter you're supposed to be in today." Steve reminded me and I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I know and I'll be at the compound later, right now I'm with someone." Steve gasped and I knew he took that badly. "Steve, we'll talk about it later, I'm in a meeting so please." I hung up and walked back, shaking my head. "For someone who works for me, he acts like a mom." She laughed and asked a few more questions.

I walked into the compound, swinging my keys around my fingers. "Are you cheating?" I stopped in my tracks and my eyes widened. "Rogers! Why would you think that?" He gave me a 'bitch please' face. "You said you were with someone! That immediately sounds suspicious." Everyone stared at me and I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "Please God give me strength to not smack this man where he stands. We were having our house checked out by CPS." He turned red and I rolled my eyes. "Is this about Cooper?" Nat asked worriedly and I nodded. "He will be Cooper Odinson in just under a month." Everyone breathed out equal sighs of relief. "And what of the other one?" Tony whirled around. "The other one? There's another one?" I chuckled and patted his arm. "Lila Odinson is due sometime in July next year." Nat grinned and clapped happily. "God I love seeing you grow up." I chuckled and pulled her up. "I'm gonna do a blood test okay? To test for any abnormalities in his blood." She nodded and I set her up on the counter, pulling my stuff out. "Stark how is the thing we talked about going?" He rose an eyebrow. "The thing we talked about...the teleportation technology?" I shook my head. "No, that was...actually I can't say that. Umm, the other thing." I looked at Rhodey and back at him. "Ohhh, yeah no he's on board." I nodded and finished talking Natasha's blood. "Great, Rhodey we'll start the procedure next week. Bits at a time and remember, this is still being tested and I don't want to get your hopes up, but I also hate seeing you walk around without the use of your legs." The man nodded and offered a strong smile. "If I can have my legs back, then I'll gladly try it."

The elevator opened and Cooper ran out, latching onto my legs. "Dad!" I froze and a wide smile broke out on my face. "Hey bud." I muttered softly, pulling him up into my arms. I hugged him tight and he wiggled when Sage entered. I let him go, kissing Sage on the forehead before going to see my husband. "Hey handsome." He greeted and I felt my eyes tear up. "What's wrong?" I smiled and put my head on his chest. "He called me Dad." Loki awed and wrapped his arms around the top of my back. "I take it the house check went well?" I nodded and tilted my head back, pushing up on my toes. He smiled and kissed my nose. "Meanie." I scrunched my nose and he laughed, pressing his lips to mine. I hummed happily and gripped his shirt, pulling him closer to me. "Guys knock it off!" Sam shouted and I flipped him off, pulling away from Loki. "Cooper wants to sleep over here with Sage this weekend." Loki whispered and I smiled. "That's a great idea. Clint is staying at a SHIELD issued apartment at the moment." Loki winked and I chuckled. "If you play your cards right..." I trailed off and pulled away from him, going into the kitchen. "Hey Sage, you up for a sleepover with Cooper this weekend?" Sage grinned and nodded excitedly. "I can sleep over?" I reached over and ruffled Cooper's hair. "Of course bud, but you have to listen to the adults okay?" He nodded happily and buried his face in my chest. "Thank you Dad." Everyone looked at me and I bit my lip to keep from crying. "Anytime bud, now how was your day?" He jumped into an animated retelling of his day.

Since it was Friday, Cooper just stayed after dinner while Loki and I went home. "It's so weird to not have him home." I commented and collapsed onto the couch. Loki laid on top of me, his head on my chest. I ran my hands through his hair and he hummed in content. "Yeah, but I'm not complaining. He's been begging to see Sage for days." I nodded and looked at the TV. "I was thinking of taking Cooper with us on the San Francisco check up." I mused and Loki tilted his head to look at me. "I think that'd be a good idea. I'm sure Cassie'll love him." I smiled fondly and he leaned up, kissing me softly. My fingers tangled in his hair and he tilted his head, deepening the kiss.