A Family of Flaws

Chapter Twenty-Five; The Worried Thoughts Of An Ex-Spy

*Clint's POV*

  Clint scowled as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents scurried around the disastrous scene that the team had just finished dealing with. The whole fight had been a shit-show from the start, but he was glad that it was finally over.

  A familiar presence was suddenly behind him, he turned to see Natasha standing beside him, arms crossed over her chest as she smirked at him. If he hadn't known her for as long as he did, he wouldn't have noticed the dark look in her eyes, but he had know her for a long time. He nodded towards an alleyway, asking a silent question. She nodded slightly, just enough that he knew that she wanted to leave. The fight was over and S.H.I.E.L.D. was handling everything now, so the duo snuck away silently into the alleyway.

  They scaled the wall together and came to a halt on top of the roof, looking out across the damage that the explosions from the fight had caused. That was a lot of property damage. Thankfully, Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. would be able to handle anymore lawsuits and expenses.

  "That was a rough fight, huh?" Clint said as he looked over the damages. Natasha sighed from beside him, seemingly just as tired as he was. "Do you wanna go back to the tower or do you wanna walk around for a while?" He asked instead of waiting for a response to his first question.

  "I don't feel like having to act all emotionless right now." Natasha mumbled, it wasn't technically an answer but Clint knew what she meant, they were going to walk around for a while.

  "Y'know you can let your guard down around the team, Tasha." He used the personal nickname that he reserved for serious talks like this, when he really wanted her to listen. She sighed again and hopped across an alarmingly large gap between two buildings, looking back at him expectingly.

  He shook his head softly but took a few steps back and ran forward, clearing the gap swiftly. "Okay, I get it, you aren't feeling very chatty today." Clint mumbled, hands behind his head as he walked beside Natasha, the duo falling into comfortable silence as they hopped from building to building.

"So, how do you feel about this kid that Stark is hiring?" Clint asked as casually as he could. He might get a little too excited at the thought of having a kid around again. He missed his kids all the time even if he knew that they were safer at the farmhouse. Thankfully, they got to FaceTime every night and he visited them at least once a week, it wasn't enough to stop the homesick feeling from washing over him every time that he saw parents getting to spend time with their kids, but it was better than not seeing them at all.

"Don't get your hopes up, Clint, Tony said nothing will be decided until the kid spends at least a month in the lower labs." Natasha replied in a clipped tone that made Clint wince, he knew all too well what was bothering her. Unlike Clint, Natasha hadn't even gotten to have kids. That choice had been taken from her. And adoption could be really hard for someone with such an intense background as her, even if Stark's lawyers helped.

She had never tried to adopt, her life had been far too busy and dangerous as of recent years, but she had wanted kids for as long as he had known her. She always flinched, just enough that he could notice, when kids were mentioned. And this kid was no different. If this kid ends up being a permanent intern, then things were going to go one of two ways. Natasha will love this kid more than anything in the world or, worriedly enough, he might just bring all her painful thoughts to the surface. Clint truly hoped that the second scenario wouldn't happen, Nat had been through enough and he just wanted her to finally be at peace with herself and the life she's living.

"Tasha..." Clint started, voice low and understanding. Natasha jumped across to the other roof and froze, he followed closely behind and turned to her, trying to catch her gaze. "I know you're upset, Nat, but—" Natasha turned a deadly glare in his direction.