➶ ｡˚ ° ➶ ｡˚➶ ｡˚ ➶ ｡˚ ➶ ｡˚
(𝐑𝐔𝐍)
CHAPTER TWELVE -----▹ 

A house somewhere in Ohio

Maria pulled into the driveway of the secluded house, she was hoping that Iskra already made it home, but knew that was probably unlikely. She parked the car and sighed, sitting there unmoving for a moment, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in one of the mirrors, she wasn't looking too good, a deep cut on her forehead, and dark bags under her eyes. 

Snow crunched under her boots as she walked around the house, not quite ready to go inside, Melina opened the front door, and Maria gave her a nod, and Melina understood where the younger woman was already heading, soon she found herself at her wife's grave. She took a deep breath brushing some snow off the top of the headstone.

It kind of hit her all once, Natasha was gone....and she was still here. Alone. Maria still had two kids to take care of, one who is only in first grade, and another who might be an adult, but still needs her more than ever. 

Maria choked out a sob, suddenly the air was so heavy, and everything seemed almost frozen in time, she just cried. 

New York

The day prior had been exhausting, Iskra overused her powers, not that she would ever admit that they had gotten back, she and Kate took Pizza dog out for a walk, and then she took a shower and passed out on the couch, she slept the rest of the day away. 

Now they were sitting outside of a place waiting so Clint could get his hearing aid repaired, they all kind of just sat there in silence, Kate had typed something into her phone, and moments later Clint's phone buzzed, sitting between the two, Iskra leaned over reading the message that popped up on the screen.

FROM: KATE
Good thing they call you
HawkEYE and not HawkEAR

Iskra chuckled, and Clint laughed dryly, sending an eye roll in Kate's direction, "Block. Delete." Clint said stuffing his phone back in his pocket. "Morning," Kate greeted the lady as they all began to stand up from the metal steps. "What are you waiting for?" the woman asked, "Uh you. You're the doctor right?" Kate asked, "I'm very busy." the woman said waving her off, "Oh well," Clint handed Kate the smashed hearing aid, "We really need this fixed." Kate said with an over-exaggerated smile, "Please?" the woman looked at it, "Give me five minutes. Cash only." she said, "Thank you." Kate smiled. "Told you we'd get it fixed." Kate said to Clint, "Yeah Uncle Clint." Iskra added on. 

Once the hearing aid was fixed, the three of them went to a diner for breakfast, "Look, I know this may sound weird, but I've dreamed of this...for as long as I can remember." Kate said, Iskra and Kate had taken the side of the booth across from Clint, "My dad was fearless, and his whole life was about helping people. When I put that suit on, I thought "this is it, this is the moment I become who I'm supposed to be.'" Kate said, "I remember the day I thought that very same thing," Clint glanced down, "You know, it's uh, it comes with a price." he said. 

"What does?" Kate asked, Iskra had a feeling she knew where this conversation was going, "This life you wanna live. To really help people. I mean, try to help people anyways. Comes without a lot of sacrifices." Clint said, Iskra abruptly stood up, and motioned in the general direction of the bathroom, before rushing off. 

"And some things you'll lose...forever," Clint said to Kate who looked down at the table, "Is she ok?" Kate asked motioning towards where Iskra had been sitting, Clint sighed, "At the end of the day, this life wasn't completely her choice, losing..." Clint took a deep breath, "Losing her mom, really hit her hard, she blamed me for a while I think, and uh, it wasn't a great patch of time..." his voice trailed off, they sat in silence for a few seconds before Kate spoke up again, "Well...You gain some things too." she paused, "Like trick arrows, and cool costumes."

Clint put his head down wishing he could escape this conversation, "Speaking of which, I've been thinking about your branding issue." Kate said, "When have you had the time pretty eyes?" Iskra asked with a laugh, as she sat back down next to the brunette, Kate and Clint pretended not to notice her red-rimmed eyes. "It's magic, Romanoff." Kate replied, "Anyways, you need a more recognizable costume..." Kate said sketching something out, "You realize that my job for the last twenty years was to be not recognizable, right?" Clint asked.

"Well, you've officially failed at that." she showed him the sketch, "Picture this in purple."Iskra let out a laugh, and Kate whacked her in the shoulder, "As if you could do any better." Iskra put her hands up in surrender. "My wife would divorce me if I wore that," Clint said, "You can't tell me who Ronin is because it's someone close to you right?" Kate said.

Clint brushed off the statement, "There are several reasons, I would never wear a flashy costume. My job is to be number one, a ghost. And number two, as I said, my wife would divorce me if I ever put something like this on." Clint said, "And number three, uh, I'm not a role model." he said flatly, "I'm sorry Kate, I'm not a role model to anyone." he paused, "Never have been." Kate shook her head, "What? Yes, you are. You left your family, at Christmas, because you thought some stranger was gonna get hurt. You stuck around even though, I screwed up." Iskra watched as the conversation played out, "And you're stuck. Whether you like it or not," Kate paused, "The Tracksuits have connected all of us to Ronin, and it's pretty clear they're not just gonna drop this." Kate finished.

"Well that, you are not wrong about." Clint agreed, "Not to mention the fact that my mom might be marrying a murderer." Iskra was trying to give Eleanor the benefit of the doubt, but something did not feel right about that woman. "And then there's that." Clint said, "Also, My little sister might be planning your murder if I'm not back by Christmas." Iskra added on jokingly, "Well, as far as I'm concerned," Kate began glancing at Iskra, "We're all in this together." the waitress dropped off the receipt, "but, uh, I'm gonna need you to get that, my mom canceled my credit card." Clint sighed, "Yeah, I got it."

Iskra looked at her, "What's that about anyway?" Kate looked down nervously, "There may or may not have been a dare involving a bell tower, it didn't go so well..." Kate's voice trailed off, "What?" Iskra laughed, "I don't wanna talk about it."