The Flame (Avengers Fanfiction)

37-No Good Deed (Goes Unpunished)

My mother's words push me into another depression. Knowing that the child Ultron had ripped away from wouldn't have killed me at all  made me hurt all over. I could've had the child and all would've been fine. God it hurt me. It hurt me that I couldn't have my little family. It wasn't fair, but life wasn't fair.

I wander the halls of the large house aimlessly. Everything is too quiet and it is all too lonely. I've been alone before, I lived alone for so long. This type of lonely is different. I hardly eat, but I do force myself to eat. My clothes become loose on me. I can't help it. Tony visits maybe two months into this depression. He comes bounding in loudly, pulling me out of my daze. I sigh and walk towards him, my long dress brushing against the ground. It was a dusty rose maxi dress. Or was it baby pink. The colors blurred to me.

"It better be important, Anthony. I'm busy." I complain. Tony looks at me, pulling out his phone. My brother dearest knew that all I've been doing is wallowing in self pity. He taps on it a few times and a hologram pops up. I pick up his phone and read the floating text.

Clint Barton and those close to him have released a statement on the video that was released two months ago.

The video that was leaked two months ago that shows Clint Barton hitting Peyton Stark has been taken completely out of context. Miss Stark, who is a know alcoholic and drug user, instigated the fight. Mr. Barton shouldn't have hit Miss Stark, but it isn't as horrible as it seems-

I stop reading the utter bullshit and look up at Tony, who looks just as pissed as I am. I press my lips together and hand him back his phone. The nerve of that fucking man.

"Apparently, Mrs Barton made the statement, but Clint also helped with it. I thought you would like to know." Tony tells me and I sit down on the nearby stairs. I put my head in my hands, trying to calm my angry thoughts. The sadness I had been feeling for the past two months is put on the back burner as anger takes hold.

"I wasn't going to say shit. Now he's pushing my hand. If I stay silent, I look like the alcoholic druggie once again and I speak out and say what really happened, I'm the other woman and I ruin his marriage." I speak to both myself and to Tony as I lift my head to look at my brother. He nods, taking a seat next to me. Anger wraps around my body and settles against me, warming me.

"It's a Catch-22, Pey, but it's your choice. All I am going to say is that you have worked really hard to change your image and you shouldn't let him destroy it again." Tony tells me, looking at me. I nod in response, mulling over the choices. Both my mothers whisper to me, telling me to take hold of the situation. No man should speak for you. You should never let a man ruin you like this. I knew what I had to do.

"Call a press conference for tomorrow. I guess my vacation is over." I say as I stand, walking up the stairs. Tony stands up, watching me as I go, my long skirt gathered in my hands. I used my telekinesis to pack my bags as I wrote out a simple little note on thick card-stock.

-

Clint quickly noticed the gilded envelope in the stack of mail that he pulled out of his mail box. In Peyton's pretty handwriting was his name in red ink. There was no stamp on the envelope so she had put this in his mailbox by hand. He swallowed and carefully opened the envelope. Inside was a small note on a small piece of what felt like expensive paper.

Clint-

You shouldn't have tried to make me the bad guy. The truth is coming out.

The color drained from Clint's face as he reread and reread the note. Laura was the one that had pushed him to tell his "truth". She didn't want her husband to be bashed in the media so they had released a statement. Clint had known it was a bad idea, but he felt like he needed to clear his name in some sort of way. He hadn't expected Peyton to respond, especially since she had practically vanished into thin air over two months ago. Apparently, Clint was wrong.