The Cosmo Wolf: (Avengers x Male Reader)

Chapter 60: Grief

"Okay, hold on, don't shoot." Clint showed his daughter how to aim a bow. She held it perfectly, aiming towards the target that was across from her.

"You see where you're going?" He asked, eliciting a hum of acknowledgment. "Okay. Now, let's worry about how you get there." He patted her on the back, moving to stand on her left as he showed her how her footing should be.

"Gotta move your foot here." Clint tapped the back of her heel with his foot, making her slide her foot further to the left. "Your hips here." He turned her to stand in a better stance.

"Okay. Can you see?" He asked.

"Yeah." She responded simply.

"Are you sure?" He got another yes. "How about now?" He moved her hair in front of her eye, earning a giggle from her.

"No." She laughed at him. He then placed his hand over her eye.

"How about now?" The two laughed again before he retracted his hand and stepped behind her. "Cmon. Three fingers."

Cooper and Nathaniel threw the ball between themselves while their mom made hot dogs. Cooper congratulated his brother whenever he would catch well, making the sight all the more adorable.

"Hey, you guys want Mayo? Or mustard? Or both??" Laura called out to her husband and daughter. Lila looked at her father in confusion and disgust.

"Who puts Mayo on a hot dog?" She asked, finding the concoction to sound horrible.

"Probably your brothers." Clint shook his head, turning around to look over at Laura. "Two mustard, please! Thanks, mama."

"Got it." Laura said in response, turning to Nathaniel next. "Nate, Mayo or mustard?"

"How about ketchup?" Nate asked in his quiet voice.

"Or ketchup. Ketchup works, too." Laura shrugged. Lila went back to aiming at the target, finally firing the arrow and hitting a bullseye. Clint laughed, high fiving her.

"Good job, hawk-eye." He praised her. "Get your arrow." He tapped her back as she began walking to the target.

"Hey, guys! Enough practice. Come grab food!" Laura called to them.

"All right. We're coming. We're hungry." Clint smiled, turning to look back at the target where he expected to find his daughter. "Lila, let's go." He looked around the area, not seeing her. "Lila?"

Clint slowly turned to look over at Laura. "Hey, babe!" He called, before seeing that she wasn't there, nor were the boys. A feeling of fear began to quickly rise in the pit of his stomach. He dropped the arrows in his hand, his head spinning around as thunder began to boom in the distance.

"Babe?" He began running down the hill to look for his family. He gave a shrill whistle with his fingers, trying to somehow catch their attention wherever they were. "Boys!"

Where were they?

"This is a nightmare." Steve mumbled, staring at the global count for missing persons. It just rose and rose and rose.

"I've had better nightmares." Natasha admitted. She spared a small glance at the nearby chair, looking over (Y/N) as he leant forward in his seat, a dark aura seeping from him.

"Hey," Rhodey walked into the room. "That thing just stopped doing whatever it was doing." Steve and Nat looked at each other, then followed Rhodey into the lab where Bruce and Link were already stood.

"Whatever signal it was sending, it finally burnt out." Bruce told them, looking at the pager behind glass.

"I thought we bypassed the battery? Why isn't it working?" Steve asked.