The Dark Archer

Chapter 23

Clint POV

I had been unceremoniously dropped back at the old farmhouse by the angry pair of my fellow Avengers. I stared fondly at the barn that held the archery equipment I'd used to train Kylie—though with her powers, she didn't exactly need it. However, after the incident occurred, she could no longer rely on her aiming powers.

I knew that the only place Kylie would have possibly teleported to was this one. She wouldn't go to Peter's out of fear for him and his aunt, she definitely wouldn't feel safe at the apartment, and she didn't know who she could trust at Avengers Tower. Kylie was always an intelligent girl, good at making strategic decisions, which makes me wonder why we never trusted her with the knowledge of her powers before she found them on her own.

I needed to find my daughter and explain everything to her. And I mean everything. SHIELD, her superpowers, all of it. She deserved to know exactly what had happened, no matter how upsetting it may be. She needed to know the truth, even if it drove her away from us—her family, broken as it may be.

With that thought in mind I approached the old farmhouse, reveling in its simple beauty. Though I'd been back there just a few months earlier to fix up things and restock the pantry, it still felt like I hadn't been back to the old house in years. I quietly opened the screen door, not wanting to alarm Kylie wherever she was. I crept across the threshold and into the living room, still teeming with Kylie's old toys. I made sure to avoid the dangerous Lego sets as I checked the kitchen for any signs of my daughter. When I saw nothing indicative of her presence, I made my way back through the living room and up the staircase, minding the third and seventh ones—they always creaked.

I made my way down the hall, passing my own master bedroom as I headed for Kylie's childhood bedroom. It was situated at the end of the hall, just as it had always been. The only thing that was different about it was that the door hung half open, though I'd closed it the last time I was here. Realizing for certain that my daughter was less than ten feet away from me, I froze, at a loss as to what I could possibly say to her to explain all that had happened to her.

Deciding that I would just have to wing it, I continued down the hall and quietly opened her door further to reveal her bedroom. It appeared that it was exactly the same as Kylie had left it all those years ago at first glance, but after a further sweep I discovered two things—that Kylie had cried herself to sleep in her little bed, and that she had also ripped her picture of me off of her family wall.

I felt hurt and guilt when I noticed these things, as I had damaged my daughter so much that she felt betrayed by me and decided I was no longer considered to be part of her family. I picked up the picture of me, drawn in scribbled crayon, and smiled wistfully at how lovingly Kylie had portrayed me. My smile fell with the picture as I remembered how much had changed since then.

No amount of apologies or explanations could fix this. Perhaps it would be better to leave things as they were rather than further push myself away from her. No, you can't just let her slip away! Besides, she deserves to at least know what happened to her. Whether or not she forgives me is entirely up to her.

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Kylie POV

It felt like I was floating in a sea of nothingness; a soothing calm washed over me like the feeling I get when I teleport. I was hovering, my consciousness outside of my actual body as I relived memories from an outsider's view.