I fall asleep about half an hour into the journey. Apparently, fighting an army of evil robots and then nearly dying is exhausting. When I wake up, Pietro has moved from opposite me to next to me, and Clint is coming out from the cockpit.
"We're here," he says. I can sense his excitement, and it makes me nostalgic for a time when I would have been that excited to go home after school.
After the bombings, everything lost it's appeal. Everything except Pietro. He was one of the few who could make me smile, and the only one who could make me laugh. He was the reason I didn't go crazy, although I came very close.
Pietro helps me unbuckle, because my fingers are still clumsy from sleep, and we follow Clint out of the Quinjet and onto a large farm. There are chickens running around loose, sprawling fields, trees. In the middle of it all are the farm house and barn. The house has light streaming out of the windows, and, as we approach it, the smell of baking bread reaches my nose, making my mouth water. I realize I'm starving.
"Wait here," Clint says when we reach the front door, "I won't be long."
He walks in, leaving the door open, and we hear whispered conversation, followed by the squealing of kids hugging a returning father. I glance at Pietro.
"This could be ours," I think to him, "If we can make this work."
He takes my hand, "We will."
"Remember those kids I told you about?" I hear Clint say, and turn my attention back to the house.
"Clint," a woman's voice says warningly. This must be Laura, "What is this about?"
"Well..." his voice fades, then he calls out, "Come on in!"
Squeezing each other's hands, we walk in. The scene that greets us is one of a whole, happy family, the likes of which we haven't seen for eight years. Two kids, a girl and boy, hanging on their father's arms, a wife standing at his shoulder, all four staring at us.
"Guys, meet Wanda and Pietro," Clint smiles. Do I detect a faint hint of pride in his voice? He indicates each member of his family as he says, "This is Laura, Cooper and Lila," his hand goes to Laura's round belly, "And this right here is little Nathaniel."
"Hi," Pietro says confidently, and I give a little wave. My brother has always been the confident one, forever climbing trees and, occasionally, stealing food and clothes when we were a bit tight on cash.
"Clint, can I have a word?" Laura says calmly, and the two head into the kitchen.
Word count: 433
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Two New Bartons (completed)
FanfictionWhat if Pietro never died? They've lost their parents. They've lost their country. At least they still have each other. And their new family. Now, all they need to do is get a hang of being the two new Bartons. I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS...
