Spider-man: Christmas with Two Hawks

Drained

"We should get you to a doctor," Clint said as he eyed the vigilante on the couch. While he couldn't hear at the moment, he could still read, and New York's largest spider was like an open book.

Spidey shook his head and muttered, "No doctors." 

On the way back to the 'Safe House' the effects of the poison began to worsen. Without the adrenaline to distract him and running on fumes, Spidey had minimum protection from it. Sure his healing factor had prevented the worst of it, death, but for now, he was no different from a sick dog.

He ordered Kate to go to a nearby restaurant and get something with as many calories as possible. When she questioned this, Peter answered, "Healing factor fuel." That was enough to win her on board. Now all he had to endure was until she got back.

Clint sighed and walked over to the freezer to grab another ice pack... Or rather a bag of frozen peas.

"This is not how I wanted to spend my Christmas this year," Clint muttered as he pressed the cold bag on the back of his neck. The cold numbed the pain.

Kate entered the apartment, the dog on a leash in one hand and a bag of KFC in the other. "Hey, guys," Kate called as she closed the door behind her.

Clint didn't hear her but Spidey answered, "Hey Kate."

As Kate placed the bag of fast food on the coffee table for the more experienced yet younger vigilante, Clint noticed his phone vibrating with a call. He answered it and assuming it was Laura calling said, "Hey, hey, babe."

He didn't hear the voice on the other end, but Peter and Kate did.

"That doesn't sound like his wife," Spider-man said, voicing their thoughts between bites of his. chicken wing. Kate nodded, grabbed a few fries and walked over to help.

"Hey, listen, I can't really talk right now, uh, 'cause look... Maybe... Do you have time to text? Can you text me?"

Kate poked Clint's shoulder to get his attention and when he looked up at her, he saw that she was holding a notebook that read, 'Little Boy'. The highly trained super spy quickly solved the puzzle of what she meant and corrected himself, "Nathaniel. Nathaniel, what are you... What are you doin', buddy? Is everything okay? Where's Mama?"

He looked up at Kate hoping for another clue and saw she was still writing, "Look, there's a... there might be a delay, buddy. It's kind of a bad connection."

Kate showed him the new summary of Nathaniel's words, 'Everyone's asleep. He's bored'.

"You're bored." Clint chuckled, causing Kate to smile. "You're the early bird. Hey, bud, I miss you. Hey, bud, I miss you. Why don't you go get breakfast and read a book or something until Mama wakes up?"

'Home tonight for movies?'

"Uh, yeah, it's movie night. Um... I really wish I could be there with you buddy. Uh, you know how much I love that. Um, but I'm not gonna make it. Um, but I'm not gonna make it but I think I'll be back in the next day or so. Yeah, we'll be in time for our ugly Christmas sweater party. You ready for that?"

He looked at Kate but she simply shook her head and shrugged as Nathaniel hadn't said anything yet. Getting slightly worried, Clint spoke into the phone again, "Nathaniel? Buddy?"

He remembered the first few minutes of the Blip. How he had been talking to his family moments before only for them to vanish without him realising.

He breathed a sigh of relief when Kate began to write so he filled in the silence, "Oh, boy, I'm... I'm telling you, I miss you so much."

'Says it's okay if you can't be home for Christmas.'

Sadness filled Clint's heart, as he suddenly became very interested in the counter. He didn't notice the guilt on Kate's face.  "Um, I'm gonna be there, buddy. I... You know I'm gonna be there, like I said, right? Um, I'm so happy to hear your voice. Daddy's gotta go, okay? I love you."

"I love you, Daddy."

"I love you more. Bye-bye."

Clint looked up at Kate and gave her a grateful smile, "Thank you."

Kate nodded and looked away, walking out of the kitchen while fiddling her thumbs. You didn't need to be a psychiatrist to be able to tell that Kate was feeling guilty. 

'Well, that was depressing.' Peter thought to himself as he slurped his soda. 

Meanwhile, the Trcksuits were packing up their things. After all, you can't operate your illegal business when two Avengers know where you live.

"I was just getting used to this place." One of the thugs muttered as he and one of his coworkers exited an office carrying boxes out. 

"Well, now it's compromised," Kazi stated. He noticed that Maya had entered and signed to her, 'We should be cleared out in a couple of minutes'.

Maya nodded, and right as she was about to walk away, Kazi grabbed her arm and asked, "I wanted to talk. Can we do that now?'

Having read his lips, Maya understood him. She looked around in case anyone was listening in but Kazi signed, 'None of these idiots learned ASL in the past 24 hours'.

'Fine. Let's talk.'

"This morning got out of hand. Do you realise how dangerous this is if we keep going after Ronin? We were supposed to be keeping a low profile. Instead, we got two Avengers on our tail. One of whom has been attacking every criminal organisation in New York before he even hit puberty.  I just hope Uncle won't find out."

Maya wasn't happy to read this. With a sour expression and a raised eyebrow, she signed, 'If it were my father, would you be questioning him like this?'

"Your father always put the crew first."

Maya raised her hand, signalling him to shut up. She gave him a very intense look and signalled, 'Remind me. Who's in charge?'

Kazi sighed. He knew Maya. She was stubborn. He should've known he wouldn't be able to talk her out of this. Reluctantly, he signed, 'You are.'

'Right. Look into Clint Barton and Spider-man. Figure out exactly what their connection to all of this is. And see if you can get our guest some new upgrades.' Maya ordered before exiting the room.

Kazi sighed as he leaned against the desk. He was feeling seriously drained.