Chaos & Joy (and everything in between)

Fandom: Marvel 616 [Mostly Hawkeye and Generations: Hawkeye & Hawkeye (2017)]
Main Pairing: Clint Barton/Kate Bishop
Characters: Kate Bishop, Clint Barton, Lucky, America Chavez, Barney Barton, Simone, Natasha Romanoff, James "Bucky" Barnes, Bobbi Morse, Jessica Drew, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Alpine
Background Relationships: Tony Stark/Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanoff, Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse
Rating: Explicit
Length: 21,629 words
Written with wild abandon for: Iddy Iddy Bang Bang 2022!
Notes: This story begins with the events in Generations: Hawkeye & Hawkeye (2017) and asks what if Kate and Clint hooked up at the end of that comic?
Summary: Kate teams up with a temporarily time-displaced younger Clint Barton on a crazy jungle island lousy with expert marksmen. Once the bad guys are all taken care of, there's a little flirting and she gives into temptation because what's the worst that could happen? A couple of months and several positive home pregnancy tests later, she finds out. But maybe worst = best, when it comes to Hawkeyes?
Originally Posted: September 14, 2022
CW: unexpected pregnancy, past child abuse, implied/referenced child abuse, angst, blood, explicit sexual content, and a brief mention of Bobbi's canonical miscarriage.

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They'd managed to send all the other wayward marksmen back to their own times, leaving just her and Clint alone on the mystery island together.

"Do you have any idea how you're supposed to get home without one of these belts?" Clint held up the teleportation belt Eden Vale had given him to get back home to his own time. It was the type of belt they'd used to send back the last of the villains.

"Eden said it would just happen, she didn't say when or how." She leaned back on her hands. "I still can't believe your shirt got ripped like that. Why does that always happen to you?" Usually, Kate tried to avert her gaze whenever Clint ended up shirtless or nearly shirtless. There was just too much temptation there to let herself indulge. But here in this place, it didn't really matter, did it? She could let herself look and not feel weird about it. So, she did.

He shrugged. "It just happens." Clint pulled off the tattered remains of his shirt and tossed them in the fire. "Where did you get those marshmallows?"

Kate speared a marshmallow with one of her arrows and held it over the fire. "Emergency marshmallow stash."

"Right, that sounds like a totally normal thing." Clint grabbed the bag of marshmallows. "Have you given any thought to what you're gonna change your codename to?"

"What? Oh, from Hawk-ess, right." Kate bit her bottom lip. "The thing is, that's not really my codename."

Clint loaded up one of his arrows with marshmallows. "And you lied because?"

Kate sighed. "I'm not sure I should tell you." Things got tricky when time travel was involved, at least that's what watching movies had taught her.

"You should definitely tell me now." Clint turned his arrow full of marshmallows over the fire.

"Yeah, okay." Kate sighed. "Thing is, I'm kind of from the future. Your future, anyway." Kate looked down at the smoldering fire. "I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to risk messing up the timeline or whatever. Honestly, I'm not really clear on the particulars."

"Yeah, not really my field, either. So, I'm guessing we know each other from whenever you're from?"

"You could say that." Kate looked up and was distracted by Clint's abs. She really could not deal with him shirtless.

"Are we related?" Clint popped a nicely toasted marshmallow into his mouth.

Kate grimaced. "Definitely not."

"Are we sleeping together?"

"No!" Why were they even having this discussion?

"Tell me we've at least kissed. Maybe under the mistletoe during the holidays?"

Kate shook her head. "Nope"

"What the hell is wrong with me in the future?"

"You told me you didn't want to sleep with me." Kate rubbed the back of her neck. "It's just not who we are together, I guess. Plus there's the age difference. I'm still in my twenties, and you're -- not." She didn't want to tell him exactly when in his future she was from, just in case it messed things up. What if she said something that made it so they'd never met? What if he was never her mentor, and she never became Hawkeye?

"Oh, sweetheart, I was definitely lying to you. There's no way I don't want to sleep with you."

"I don't think that's true." She'd often wished it was true, but their relationship had always stayed firmly on the friendship side of things.

Clint put the arrow skewered marshmallows down. "Would you like to see how much I want to sleep with you?"

"Really, does that line usually work for you?" Kate almost laughed but the heated look in Clint's eyes undid her. Apparently, that line did work, even on her.

"Come on, it'll be fun."

She was staring at him now, of course. He was sitting there all shirtless in the blue pants and those ridiculous boots. Old-timey Clint's costume was a lot, but underneath it all, he was still Clint. Her Clint. A good man, an amazing archer, and hella sexy. He was staring back at her, and she realized that maybe she'd been ogling him for a bit too long.

Clint grinned. "Like what you see?"

Yeah, she'd let her gaze linger too long. It was on the tip of her tongue to say something flippant, to brush off his advance, and stuff another marshmallow in her mouth. Instead, she said, "And what if I did?"

Clint moved in closer. "Then, I'd have to remedy future me's obvious stupidity and kiss you." He reached out and slid his hand across her cheek.

Kate's breath caught. She'd been waiting for a moment like this for so long. "Is that right, Hawkeye?"

"That's right." Clint's lips hovered just above hers for a moment until Kate couldn't stand it any longer and she had to kiss him. Oh God, yes. This was what she'd been wanting and waiting for, for so very long.

Kate's hands wandered all over the strong familiar muscles of Clint's chest and back. She paused to strip off her costume leaving her underthings on for the moment. Clint pulled off his boots, peeled off his pants, and lay back with his arms folded behind his head and a cocky grin on his face. Kate let her gaze settle briefly on his erection before she slipped her panties off and straddled his hips. He wanted her, there was no denying that. He fondled her breasts as she ground against him. He easily unhooked her bra and slid his rough fingertips against her nipples. They were really doing this. Part of her wanted to draw it out, make it last as long as she possibly could, but she didn't know how long she had before she was zapped back to her own time. She leaned forward, positioning herself just right before slowly taking his cock inside her. He felt so good, she wanted to cry.

Sometime later, Kate opened her eyes. The sky had grown dark, the fire had died down, and she was sprawled on the ground, limbs tangled up with Clint's; their clothes strewn all around them. "You're right that was totally fun."

"Told you." Clint's voice sounded soft and sleepy.

Kate sat up and quickly gathered her clothes and gear. She didn't want to get teleported back home in her birthday suit. That would be embarrassing. She kissed Clint and he sleepily kissed her back. A moment later she felt a tingling sensation wash over her and then she was suddenly standing on the sidewalk outside her place. She was home. Yay?

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Kate sipped her coffee, grimaced, and spat it out into the sink. What the hell? She sniffed what was left in her mug and gagged. Covering her mouth, she made a run for the bathroom.

Did coffee beans go bad? She thought they just got stale, not this kind of gut-wrenching awfulness. It'd even been a fresh pot. She checked the bag the beans came in and the date was well within the freshness window. Was it her? Was she coming down with a cold or something? Ugh. She'd been feeling kinda run down the last few days, that was probably it. Maybe she'd feel better after a nap.

She did not feel better after a nap, not even with Lucky snuggling up next to her the whole time. If anything she felt worse.

Two days later when she still wasn't feeling any better, she texted America. I'm sick. Send soup. Plz!

After a few minutes Kate’s BFF texted back. On it, Princess.

Fifteen minutes later America stepped through a star-shaped portal with a bag from their favorite East Coast Chinese food restaurant. "I got three different kinds of soup: hot and sour, egg drop, and, shredded pork with vegetables; along with spring rolls and two orders of pork buns."

Thankfully, the smell of the food didn't set off another bad reaction. "You are the absolute best," Kate said. She decided to try the shredded pork and vegetable soup first.

"I know." America smiled and took a bite of a pork bun. "So, what's up, you don't look sick. Maybe a little tired, but not sick."

"Coffee betrayed me." Kate sniffed at her soup. It smelled good. Kind of garlicky with a touch of sweetness. Tentatively she sipped some from her spoon. She smiled. It tasted good too.

"Uh, huh." America dipped a spring roll in some sauce. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"I made coffee a couple of days ago and it tasted so wrong, and then I barfed."

"A bad batch?"

Kate shrugged. "I don't know. I made a fresh pot a little while ago, and same thing."

"Is it still out in the kitchen?" America finished off her spring roll and got up.

"Yeah, but you don't have to try it. I don't want you to get sick too."

"Hey, that's what friends are for."

Kate took another sip of her soup.

America stood in the doorway with a mug in her hand. "Tastes fine to me." She took a sip. "Maybe on the burner too long, but drinkable."

Kate covered her mouth and nose with her hand. Apparently, the doorway was too close. "Please take it away. I really don't want to hurl again," Kate begged.

America disappeared into the kitchen. Kate could hear the water running. Hopefully, her friend was dumping the rest of it out. She came back to the room with a digital thermometer. "Here stick this under your tongue."

Three electronic beeps later, America declared her normal. "Your temperature, anyway." She put the cap back on the thermometer. "Food poisoning?"

"Maybe?" Kate shrugged and blew on her soup.

America frowned. "You seem to be doing okay with that soup."

"Yeah, it's only some things that bother me."

America crossed her arms in front of her chest and bit her lip. She looked like she really wanted to ask Kate something.

"What?" Kate put her soup down. "What are you thinking?"

"Don't get mad, but do you think you could be pregnant?"

Kate leaned back. "Of course no--" She chewed on her bottom lip. Could she be? No. She shook her head. She hadn't had sex since -- Oh. Shit.

"By the look on your face, I'm guessing that it’s at least in the realm of possibility,” America said.

Kate sighed and picked up her soup. "It's possible, I guess?" She decided to forgo the spoon and just drink the rest from the container.

"When was your last period?"

"Er..."

"Check your app."

Kate put down the soup and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "Can you hand me my phone?" Kate pointed to the other side of the room. "It's over there by the lamp."

America tossed her the phone while rolling her eyes. Kate swiped, scrolled, and frowned. "Shit. A couple months and change."

"When was the last time you.." America waggled her eyebrows. "...did the deed?"

"A couple of months ago, I guess." Kate put her half-full soup container down on the end table. She needed to think and she did that better when she could move around. The last time she'd had sex was in the jungle during the weird time travel shenanigans. Before that she'd had a several-month dry spell. Not that there was any shame in that or anything. But it did make one thing clear, if she was pregnant, it was definitely Clint's. "Dammit."

"How about you sit and enjoy the rest of the food, while I go pick up some of those home pregnancy tests? When I get back you can pee on a stick, sound good?"

Oh yay, it sounded so awesome. Kate groaned. What the hell was she going to do if she really was pregnant? It only took a few minutes for America to come back with supplies, a few hours later Kate was peeing on her third stick.

"So, how many of those you gonna take before you believe you're pregnant?" America said through the door.

"As many as it takes." Kate set the stick down on the edge of the sink and set the timer on her phone.

"Another positive?" America asked when Kate emerged from the bathroom.

Kate flopped down on her bed. "Yup."

Having already put away the leftover food, America sat on the floor, Kate's laptop balanced on her knees. "So, is the situation one where there are multiple viable candidates or do you already know who the baby daddy is?"

"Oh God, please don't use that word. Ever."

"Are you dating him? Was it a one-night stand?"

"It's so complicated, I don't even know where to begin."

"You can start with a name."

Kate really didn't want to say it out loud, so instead, she used sign language to fingerspell his name. Not being all that fluent, it took America a minute to figure it out. "Holy shit, Clint?" She put the laptop on the floor and jumped up. "When did you two do the deed? And why didn't you tell me about it?" She sat down on the edge of the bed. "I thought I was your best friend."

"You are my best friend," Kate insisted.

America gently nudged her. "Then, dish."

Kate explained about being poofed to the jungle island with all the other marksmen -- err -- people, about meeting a younger version of Clint, and how she taught him the word asshat before finally admitting to him that she was from the future.

"And then you decided, since you already introduced him to a new word, might as well bang him?"

"When you put it that way, it sounds stupid."

"Oh come on, Princess. I know what a huge crush you have on Barton." America put her arm around Kate's shoulder. "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't sleep with him sooner."

"I didn't, I don't," Kate sputtered.

"I don't care how many times you make grossed-out faces when anyone mentions you and Barton together in that way, I know you."

Kate covered her face with her hands. Had it been that obvious? She'd thought that she'd pushed those stupid squishy romantic feelings she felt for Clint, way down deep inside. Yeah, she knew she was in love with him, had been forever but what were those feelings likely to get her? Heartache, longing, and disappointment? No, thank you. It was better for everyone if the two of them remained friends and partners. Nothing else. At least that's what she kept telling herself. "I figured the island was sorta liminal space and therefore kinda like Vegas."

"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?" America asked.

"Exactly."

"Yeah well, it doesn't look like what happened in the crazy jungle, stayed in the crazy jungle."

"It would appear not." Kate let America pull her into a hug, holding her until her tears subsided. Stupid hormones.

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America slurped her soda and reached for one of Kate's fries. "You gonna eat all that?"

Kate gently pushed her friend's hand away. "Mine," she growled as she dug into her bacon double cheeseburger topped with onion rings and extra pickles. She was so hungry. "Get your own fries."

America laughed and leaned back in her chair. "Maybe I will." She disappeared for a bit before returning with a large order of fries and another drink. "Glad to see your appetite's gotten better."

Kate made a so-so gesture with her hand. "Depends on what it is." She put her burger down and wiped her mouth with one of those all too inadequate paper napkins restaurants always gave out. "Apparently the baby is a-okay with pizza, burgers, and spicy fries." She popped a french fry into her mouth. "Coffee is still a no-go, sadly." She pouted.

"A travesty." America dug into her fries. "So, what did the doctor say?"

Suddenly Kate's plate got a whole lot more interesting than it had been five minutes ago.

"You didn't make an appointment, did you?"

"I've been busy. There was that case, and then um..." Kate racked her brain trying to come up with some other excuse, preferably one that was actually plausible.

"What? The weather was ominous? There was something good on TV? You forgot you were pregnant?"

"There's hardly ever anything good on TV." Kate picked a sesame seed off of her burger bun. As if she could forget she was pregnant. Her jeans no longer fit, and she desperately needed to buy some new bras. She was spilling out of her current ones.

"Uh, huh." America gave her a knowing look. "I love how you're half ignoring this whole being knocked up thing, while at the same time planning your white picket fence life with Barton and baby."

"Am not." She wasn't the white picket fence type. "I haven't even talked to Clint since before this whole thing went down. How am I planning a life with him?"

"I know you, It's all over your face." America dipped a fry in ketchup and tossed it in her mouth. "You still haven't told him he got you pregnant?"

"How exactly am I supposed to do that? He probably doesn't even remember us having sex. It was ages ago for him."

"You are planning on telling him eventually though, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. Eventually. I just need to figure out the right way to do it first."

"Just try to do it before you go into labor, okay?"

Kate picked up her burger. "No promises."

"Now, about that doctor's appointment," America sipped from her straw. "It's been like two months since you took the home tests, you know?"

Had it really been that long? "Ugh, fine. I'll make an appointment after lunch, okay?"

"Promise me."

"You'll go with me?" She didn't really want to do this alone. Especially not with her first appointment. She wanted Clint to go with her, but she couldn't stomach the idea of telling him about this whole situation yet. It was too much.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it."

Kate smiled. "Okay then, I promise I'll make the appointment after lunch."

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"We driving, walking, or do you want me to open up a portal?" America asked.

"We're walking, it's not far and I don't want to chance the portal thing right now." Kate dumped some extra food in Lucky's dish, grabbed her bag, and headed out.

"It looks like a funeral home." America looked up at the drab three-story building in front of them.

Kate winced. She wasn't wrong. It was painted in three equally boring shades of gray and while it looked well taken care of, it had a seriously somber feel to it. "I'm sure it's fine."

"You didn't just pick the nearest place, did you?" America asked.

"Of course not, I picked the place that had a coupon in the paper. Fifty percent off the first visit." Kate smirked.

"Seriously?" America sounded horrified.

"Of course not, that's how you end up with HYDRA or A.I.M. as your OBGYN." Kate shook her head. "I called Jessica Jones to see if she knew of any good Doctors here on the West Coast." Jessica was the first person besides America she'd told about the pregnancy.

The building's insides were a lot more cheerful than its outside appearance let on, thankfully. The walls were painted blue, with wispy clouds, rainbows, suns, and the occasional bird. It was exceedingly cheery. Kate checked in with the excessively perky receptionist, sat down with the many papers they wanted filled out, and waited for her name to be called. She'd just finished signing the last page when they called her in. Kate grabbed America's hand and pulled her along. There was no way she was facing this alone. She might be a super hero, but she still needed backup.

"Okay, I just need to ask you a few preliminary questions."

"I filled out all your papers." The questions had been rather extensive.

"Of course, but there are a few things we like to cover that might be a bit delicate in nature and we find it best to keep them out of the paperwork."

Kate wasn't sure how she felt about that. "Um, okay?"

"Do you have any superpowers?"

"I'm really amazing at archery, super-heroing, and I'm pretty okay at being a detective." Damn, that nurse gave some fierce side-eye. Kate sighed. "No, no powers."

"To the best of your knowledge, does the father--" The nurse glanced down at Kate and America's interlocked hands. "Or sperm donor, have any superpowers?"

"No, he does not," Kate answered.

The nurse tapped something on the tablet she was reading from. "At any time during the window of conception were you off-world, in space, or in some other dimension?"

The window of conception? Kate scratched her chin. "Does a mysterious jungle or The Vanishing Point count as off-world?"

The nurse peered over her glasses at Kate. "Yes."

Kate held up an index finger. "Oh, one other question - what if the father was from this world but of a different time period?"

"Past or future?" The nurse asked.

"Past. More than five but less than fifteen, years ago."

The nurse sighed, put her tablet down, and went over to the opposite wall. She put her hand on the wall and a keypad popped out. The nurse punched something in and a red phone --the old kind, slid out of the wall. She picked up the receiver. "I've got a code T21Z, we'll forward the paperwork, and send her downstairs. Do you have an opening now?" The nurse glanced down at her watch. "Okay, that should work. Thank you."

Kate squeezed America's hand.

"Sorry about that, we'll be sending you downstairs to the special floor, is that all right?"

"The special floor?" Kate asked.

"What the hell?" America stood up.

The nurse put her hands out in front of her. "There's no cause for alarm. Downstairs is where we send patients with more complicated histories. Most super heroes end up sent there, we thought maybe it wouldn't be necessary given your normalcy, but --"

"But here we are." Kate shook her head. Awesome.

"You can just go downstairs tell them your name and they'll take you right in," The nurse patted her on the shoulder in a way that was probably supposed to be comforting but was anything but.

Downstairs turned out to be the basement. "Well, isn't this reassuring?"

"Hey, maybe you should have picked the coupon place after all." America nudged her shoulder. Kate groaned. Right now she just wanted to go home and pretend none of this was happening.

She gave the new, and much less perky receptionist her name and was quickly ushered to an exam room.

"Hi, I'm Twyla, I'm your nurse. I see you were referred to us from upstairs, could you tell me a little about your situation?"

Kate explained about the jungle island and the weird time travel element of it all. It took a while to explain everything and when she was done the nurse pulled out a high-tech-looking gadget.

"You said something about the father being an Avenger in the past."

"Also the present," Kate clarified.

"Okay then, this here is a DNA scanner. It's completely safe for both you and the baby. It will scan and compare their DNA with what we have on file for past and current members of the Avengers, as well as a couple of other databases we have access to."

"O-kay?" Kate felt more than a little out of her depth. The nurse left for a moment so Kate could change into one of those hospital gowns that always flashed a bit too much skin. When she returned Twyla had her lie down on the exam table. Thankfully, the scan was both quick and painless.

"Huh." Twyla sounded perplexed.

Kate tried not to sound freaked out. "What, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing to worry about. You really did get knocked up by an Avenger." Twyla put down the scanner. "It's not infrequent that someone comes in claiming that, but it's almost never for real. Well, congratulations."

"Does it say which Avenger?" America asked.

"I don't have access to that information at this time. For that, we need the Avenger in question's consent. Don't worry a notice was automatically sent when the scan confirmed paternity."

"So, now Clint knows I'm pregnant?" Kate was definitely not freaking out. Not at all.

Twyla put a hand on her arm. "Oh, no, of course not. That would breach your privacy. The message tells him that someone is pregnant, but it doesn't tell him who that someone is. That's up to you."

"Oh, good." Crap.

"If he gives his consent, we'll be able to see his file and use his information to screen for potential genetic issues and such."

"How long does that usually take?"

"We're told to expect a wait of up to several weeks, sometimes longer but honestly I don't know. It’s almost never an actual Avenger. Usually, it's a Skrull, or an LMD, or just wishful thinking."

Oh God, she hadn't even considered the possibility that old-timey Clint might not have actually been Clint.

"The good news is that this automatically makes you and the baby eligible for Avengers Heath Insurance throughout your pregnancy and until the child turns six years old."

Kate sat up. "Really?"

Twyla nodded. "So, now we'll just do an ultrasound to date the pregnancy, take some blood, and do the usual first visit stuff."

"You're sixteen weeks along now, so that means you're past the first trimester already, congratulations."

Was it her or was the nurse nicer now that she knew Kate was financially covered? "Cool?"

A beeping sound erupted from the DNA scanner now sitting on a table across the room. Twyla retrieved it, looked at the screen, and smiled. "Well, will you look at that, he consented already."

"So you have all his info now?" Kate bit her lip.

"Yes indeed, the father is one Clinton Francis Barton, also known as Hawkeye. Does hat match with your recollection of things?”

"Yes, yes it does."

Kate left the clinic with a stack of papers, two books on pregnancy, a list of pregnancy do's and don't's, and an appointment for the following month. Apparently, she was doing this thing. Now all she needed to do was tell Clint. She'd already called him and left a message but she was probably going to need to be a bit more proactive than that. She knew from past experience that it might take a while before he got back to her.

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Clint looked down at his phone. Tony had been droning on about something or other for the past twenty minutes and for the past fifteen Clint had been tuning him out. Trying to, anyway. He considered turning off his hearing aids but Natasha and Bucky were there too and he didn't want to be rude. He was playing one of those little games where you swiped at rows of fruit when he got an odd message notification. "What the hell is this?"

"Let me see," Tony said and plucked the phone out of his hand.

"Hey!" Clint protested. He turned to Nat for a little support, but she was currently curled up on the other couch with Bucky. They were talking softly and obviously oblivious to the rest of the room. Apparently, that was happening again. Whatever. "Gimmie my phone back, Stark."

"You haven't gotten one of these before?"

Clint shook his head. "Do you know what it means?"

"You're DNA's been pinged, probably a paternity thing, don't worry about it, I've gotten plenty of these and it never pans out."

He had no idea what the Hell Tony was talking about. "Paternity, what?"

"Likely someone is either claiming to be your kid, or a woman is saying she's pregnant with your kid. Something like that." Tony shrugged. "It's not a big deal. You don't have to consent to have it run if you don't want but it'll be more of a pain in the ass if you don't. Believe me."

"How do they have access to my DNA in the first place?"

"All the Avengers have their info on record. Don't you read the paperwork you sign?"

He didn't. He skimmed it, but that was usually the extent of it. Clint held out his hand for his phone and Tony finally handed it over. The screen thanked him for his consent. "What did you do?"

Stark flashed him a smug grin. "I consented for you. You're welcome."

"Asshat," Clint muttered and the word conjured up a memory of the first time he'd heard that wonderful expletive. It'd been years ago, on that crazy jungle island lousy with archers, most of them villains, except for this one young woman who'd helped him out. "Shit."

"Clint, did you get someone pregnant?" Oh, now Nat was paying attention?

"No!" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't think so." It couldn't be. It'd been years ago, and yeah the woman had said something about being from the future, but honestly, he hadn't paid that much attention to the conversation. He'd been kinda busy seducing her. What had been her name? Something that began with a K, maybe?

"Hey, when I had your phone a minute ago, a message came through, from the other Hawkeye. She wants you to call her, it seemed kind of important."

"Stop reading my messages." Clint covered his face with his hands. It had been Kate, hadn't it? The black hair and blue eyes. The purple costume with the ridiculous hip holes. "Shit, shit, shit." He'd slept with Kate.

Natasha knelt by him. "Clint?" Her voice was soft and sympathetic.

"You remember that weird mystery island with the marksman contest I told you about?"

"That was quite a while ago, but yeah, I remember." She put a hand on his knee.

"Did I tell you about the woman? The amazing archer, the one who helped me?"

"I think so, did you mention something about roasting marshmallows with her?"

Tony laughed. "Is that a euphemism? I haven't heard that one before. Huh. I think I love it," Tony so helpfully chimed in.

Clint moved his hands away from his face and glared up at Tony. "No, it's not a euphemism. We really roasted marshmallows." He scooted over as Natasha moved to join him on the couch. "The sex came after."

"Was it Kate?" Nat asked. She knew him too well.

Clint nodded.

"You slept with your sidekick?" Bucky asked.

"Kate's not my sidekick, more like a protege but she wasn't even that then. I didn't even know her, she said something about being from the future, but I didn't think much of it at the time."

"Don't listen to Barnes. Kate is hot, I don't blame you for hitting that," said Tony.

Clint clenched his hands into fists. He didn't like the idea of Tony thinking Kate was hot. She was, but that was beside the point.

"Do you think she could be pregnant?" Natasha asked gently.

Clint shrugged. He had no idea what to think.

"I believe that what Natasha is so delicately trying to ask, is did you wear a condom?" Tony asked.

"No, but --"

"Idiot," Bucky muttered.

Nat turned to look at Bucky and gently shook her head. "Let's not throw around accusations just yet, okay? She took Clint's hand. "Why don't you call her?"

"Yeah, I should probably do that." Clint scrolled through his contacts but just as he was about to make the call, Cap poked his head into the room.

"We've got a mission, all hands on deck,” Steve said before taking off down the hall. The phone call was going to have to wait.

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The mission lasted a week and some change. After another week passed, Clint was still bruised and sore when he sat down for a team dinner at Avengers HQ.

"Hey, Barton, how did that paternity thing turn out?" Tony asked. Fuck. He'd forgotten all about that. He checked his phone to see if he'd gotten any new messages. Nothing.

Cap looked up from his plate. "What paternity thing?"

Natasha put her fork down. "Did you ever find out what Kate wanted to talk to you about?"

Fuck. He'd never called her back. Feeling like an ass, Clint shoved a forkful of rice into his mouth so he didn't have to answer anyone's questions.

"You didn't call her back, did you?" Bucky said, the glare he gave Clint was full of disappointment.

Clint turned to Nat but she looked disappointed in him too. Damn Tony for deciding to bring this up in front of everyone. He so didn't want to deal with this right now. He pushed his chair back and left the room.

He'd forgotten all about those messages. The DNA thing and Kate's call coming so close together. It'd been more than two weeks ago. She hadn't tried to contact him again, though. Usually, when she really wanted to talk to him she kept calling and leaving him messages until he finally got back to her. Maybe her call had nothing to do with the paternity thing. The timing could've been coincidental. Or, maybe she was pregnant but it wasn't his. He knew he should feel relieved at that possibility but he didn't. Instead, the idea that Kate could be pregnant by someone else, left him feeling miserable. What the hell was wrong with him?

Clint shook his head. Kate would’ve called him if she was pregnant with his kid, right? Except she had called him, he just hadn't called her back. Because that's who he was. He was the guy who didn't call his best friend and partner back when she needed him. He was a broken mess. No wonder she hadn't bothered calling again. He sighed. Speculation wasn't gonna get him anywhere. He needed to call Kate. He scrolled through his contacts and made the call. She picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, sorry it took me so long to get back to you. You know how it is, I'm an asshole," Clint babbled.

"It's fine Clint. It's only been a couple of weeks. How've you been?" It was good to hear her voice.

"The usual, busy with Avengers stuff. You know how it is." God, he was such an ass.

"Yeah, I've been kinda busy too," Kate said.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Kate hesitated a moment before answering. "This isn't really an over-the-phone kind of conversation."

"I'm sure I can get Stark to fly me over to the West Coast today if it's important."

"It is important, but I've got a better idea than Tony. Get ready."

"Ready for what?" Clint asked just as the star-shaped portal appeared in front of him. America reached in, grabbed him roughly, and pulled him through. Then he was standing in Kate's apartment. America glared at him before walking out the door, leaving him alone with Kate. Everything in him was screaming for him to turn around and run out the door. He was pretty sure America would kick his ass into the sun if he did.

He found a wall to lean against and looked Kate over. She looked good. The sundress she was wearing really clung to her curves. He tried not to stare at her chest but it was really hard. "How's the detective gig going?"

Kate scrunched up her face. "Eh, not as great as I'd hoped."

She was defiantly pregnant. There was no doubt in his mind about that. It was more than obvious even if you didn’t know what to look for. Her face was a little rounder, her breasts were a lot bigger, and there was a gentle but pronounced slope to her belly that she wasn't bothering to hide. "You look good," Clint said and turned up his hearing aids. He should probably be giving this conversation his full attention.

Kate huffed a laugh. "I look pregnant, you can say it."

He shifted uncomfortably. "Figured it was probably best if I didn't."

"Wow, this is a lot harder than I thought it'd be. Maybe we should've done this over the phone after all.”

"So, I got that paternity test notice thing." Clint rubbed the back of his neck. "How'd that turn out?" Wow, that sounded stupid, didn't it? Way to go, Barton. You're totally nailing this.

"It's you, Clint. You're the father. There's no question. There wasn't really a question even without the DNA test. The island for me wasn't that long ago." Kate put her hand on her belly. "A little over five months ago, actually." She sat down on the edge of the desk. "I hadn't been with anyone for a while before that and no one since." She shrugged. "There was never any doubt, even with the whole time travel weirdness."

The island was only five months ago for her? That whole thing had been years ago for him. He wasn't even sure how many years. It felt so surreal. "Why do the test then? You don't need to prove anything to me. I trust you."

"I know, but apparently when you say things like 'time travel' and 'the Vanishing Point' in a doctor's office it raises all sorts of red flags and they send you to a specialist with some seriously high-tech gadgets, and they insist on things like DNA scans." Kate shrugged. "Also, since you're an Avenger, I guess me and the baby are eligible for the Avengers insurance plan all throughout the pregnancy and until the kid's like five or something. I don't even have to marry you, or anything."

"Oh cool." What was he supposed to say to that? He should probably be relieved that he didn't have to feel pressured into marrying her. Instead, he felt rejected. Let down. All weirdness aside, he wanted this. Wanted Kate, the baby, the whole Hawkeye family package. He hadn't even known how much until now. Shit. How long had he felt this way?

Kate showed him around the neighborhood, they ordered a couple of pizzas, and she offered him the couch, which he gladly accepted. He didn't want to be away from her right now. He had no idea what the future would bring, but he knew whatever it was, he wanted to be here for it. For her. For them.

→→→→→→→→→→→→→

Clint woke up while Lucky was slobbering all over his face. He rubbed the dog's head before pushing him off his chest. "It's good to see you too, boy but lemme get some coffee first, okay?" He stifled a groan. His back was all tied up in knots from sleeping on the sofa. His phone vibrated.

Nat had sent him a message. Where are you?

Kate’s place. Clint hadn't considered that maybe him disappearing like he did, might have worried anyone.

West Coast? Nat texted back quickly.

Yeah, hitched a ride with Chavez. Clint was much slower to type.

Kate is?

Clint ran his hand through his hair. Was it okay to tell her what was going on? Would Kate be upset? He didn't want to lie to Natasha. Pregnant.

She sent him three exclamation points and Clint shook his head. He was still reeling from the news himself.

How far along? Natasha asked.

5 months.

Wow! And you’re…

the father? Looks that way.

U OK?

Need coffee. Call later?

Congratulations!!! There was a little fireworks emoji next to that last text that kinda mirrored the way his heart felt inside his chest.

He found the coffeemaker on the counter under a layer of dust. Not only did it look like it hadn't been used in a while, but there were no coffee beans to be found anywhere. He knocked on the door to Kate's bedroom. She opened it wearing only panties and a tank top, her burgeoning belly on full display. Damn, she was gorgeous. A memory flashed through his head -- his hands on her hips, his dick sunk deep inside her. Had he always remembered this, or was it some weird time travel side effect? As if his memories were catching up to him or something?

Kate ran her hand through her messy hair and with one hand signed, "What?"

How had he not known it was her all these years? One fist on top of the other, Clint made the sign for "coffee".

"No more," Kate signed. "I can't drink it."

He raised his eyebrows. "Since when?"

Kate pointed to her belly. He resisted the urge to reach out and touch her.

Oh shit. "I am so, so sorry." Holy shit, he'd ruined coffee for her.

"It was how I knew -- coffee tasted bad -- wrong. And the smell?" Kate shook her head and covered her mouth like she was about to barf. "Luckily, the smell doesn't bother me anymore. Still can't drink it though."

"Is it okay if I go out and get a coffee, or would that suck for you?" He didn't want to make her feel bad, but he really needed the caffeine.

She waved him off. "As long as you pick me up some donuts while you're out, it's all good."

Clint put his hearing aids in before heading out and returned with a large black coffee and a dozen assorted donuts. The shop guy had had some very strong opinions on what donuts to include in the assortment. Apparently, Kate was a frequent customer and beloved customer.

Kate took the box from him and hugged it to her chest. "I've missed you."

"Me or the donuts?" He was pretty sure she was talking about the donuts.

Kate smiled at him before shoving a chocolate donut in her mouth.

Clint looked around at the various boxes scattered all over the apartment. “What's with all the boxes?" Either she still wasn't unpacked or she was planning on going somewhere.

Kate glanced about. "Well, first it was because I never got around to unpacking everything, and now it's because I've started packing up all the stuff I did unpack when I first moved in."

"You're leaving?"

"I want to head back to New York. I love it here, but it doesn't feel like home. I want to go home."

"Back to New York?" Clint liked the sound of that.

Kate nodded. "That's the plan."

"Did you want to um...stay with me?" Maybe she could move in and they could be a family for real.

Kate shrugged like it was no big deal. "Lucky would probably dig it."

Lucky barked.

"See?" Kate said.

"So, you're moving in then?" He sipped his coffee.

"If it's really okay? I can eventually get my own place but for now, it would probably make some things easier."

Clint wanted to argue with her about getting her own place at some point but figured it'd be better to cross that bridge when they came to it. "It's more than okay."

"Cool. I'm going to stick around here for at least a few more weeks. I've got my 20-week scan coming up, so I want to be around for that, at least." Kate finished off her donut. "It's next month, you wanna come with me?”

"Uh, yeah, definitely." He was gonna need to ask someone what the hell a 20-week scan was. Who did he know with a kid?

After Kate grabbed her phone, a bottle of water, and headed out for a run; Clint scrolled through his contacts until he found Jessica Drew's number. There was probably some kind of etiquette bullshit he was going against by calling his ex for advice about his current girlfriend-like-person, but since when did he let that kind of thing stop him? Surprisingly, she took his call.

"Hey, Jess, do you know what a 20-week scan is?"

"Hi Clint, I'm doing well, thanks for asking. How are you?"

Oh cool, he'd managed to piss her off already. He rubbed his hand over his face. "Sorry, sorry. How are you and Gerry doing?"

"Did you just scroll through your contacts looking for someone who had a kid?" He could hear the exasperation in her voice.

"No?"

"Okay, who'd you go and knock up?"

He really hadn't thought this through, had he? "It's a long and complicated story." This had definitely been a mistake.

"You're not denying that you got someone pregnant? Interesting. So, who is it? Anyone, I know?"

He didn't want to tell her but it wasn't like he could hide it forever. "Kate."

"Kate Bishop? Your sidekick, that Kate?"

"Um...she doesn't like to be called my sidekick and technically she wasn't that when I slept with her." He really should've googled the scan thingie.

"How is that even possible?"

Clint sighed. "Okay, to make a long story short -- years ago I was transported to some weird island with some kinda marksman competition, as were a lot of others, mostly bad guys, all pulled from different time periods, apparently."

"And Kate was one of them?"

"Yeah, but it was Kate of now - or well, Kate of approximately five months ago or so."

"So, you're telling me that several years ago you slept with current-day Kate and now she's pregnant with your kid?"

"That's the gist of it." They were going to have to explain this story to everyone, weren't they?

Jess laughed. "You're right, that does sound complicated."

"Thank you." Clint felt vindicated.

"Okay, the thing you're asking about is the big ultrasound they generally do between 18 and 20 weeks, they check the development of the brain and all the organs and count the fingers and toes, all that good stuff. They'll even tell you the sex if you're into that."

"So, it's like a normal thing?" He hadn't even realized that he'd been worried that something could be wrong.

"Yeah, totally normal. How far along is Kate now, did you say five months?"

"Yeah, she said something about being 18 weeks along and in her fifth month."

"18 weeks already? Wow, congratulations, Clint. Really. I'm happy for you. Tell Kate to call me if she has any questions, or needs any baby stuff. I've got tons of stuff that Gerry's already outgrown." She actually did sound happy for him. Weird. Usually, she just sounded pissed off at him.

"Thanks, I'll let her know."

→→→→→→→→→→→→→

The second night he stayed at Kate's place, she asked him if he wanted to sleep in the bed. "Seems kind of unfair to keep making you sleep on the couch if you're going to be sticking around. Are you? Sticking around, I mean?"

Clint rubbed his lower back and looked back at the couch. He really didn't love the idea of another night on that thing. He'd do it if he had to, but if she was offering, he'd be a fool to turn her down. "If you really don't mind."

"I really don't mind." She seemed like she wanted to say something else, but left it at that.

"Okay." After he settled into bed beside Kate in her tiny little shorts and too-short t-shirt he started to doubt the soundness of the plan. "Is this weird? This is weird." It definitely felt weird.

"This whole thing is weird, Clint. Get over it and go to sleep." She rolled over so that she was facing away from him. Following her lead, he rolled over so that she was no longer in his line of sight and soon fell asleep.

A few nights later when he was just starting to feel less confused about their sleeping arrangement, things changed. Kate was tossing and turning and just generally not falling asleep. "You okay there, Hawkeye?"

"Can't sleep," Kate muttered.

He didn't like the distress he heard in her voice. He wanted to do whatever he could to make her relaxed, comfortable, and able to fall asleep. "I noticed, is there anything I can do?"

She turned towards him. "Maybe?" She sounded unsure, or maybe nervous?

"Well, share with the class," he said lightly, pushing the desire to reach out and touch her aside.

Kate rolled over on her side, scooted closer to him, and rested her leg on his hip. She was wearing a nightshirt with apparently no panties on underneath. He swallowed. She took his hand and placed it above her clit.

He took a sharp intake of breath. This, he hadn't been expecting. At all. "Kate, you sure?"

She bit her bottom lip and nodded as she rubbed herself against his hand. "I'm sure."

He slid a finger inside her while circling her clit with his thumb. Kate was making the most delightfully eager noises as he slid another finger inside of her. She bucked against him and dug her fingernails into his skin as she came.

After a few minutes, he withdrew his fingers and slid them into his mouth. She tasted amazing. "Do you want me to stop here, or keep going?"

Kate pushed him onto his back and slid off his boxers. "Definitely keep going." Straddling his hips, she pulled off her nightshirt fully exposing her gorgeous body to him.

He pulled off his t-shirt and let his hands wander all over her soft curves and hard muscles. Their first time was a distant memory to him. He hadn't known her then. She'd just been this beautiful woman that he found attractive. This time he knew her. She was his best friend, his partner, and now finally his lover. As she slid herself onto his hard cock, he groaned. Yes, this was exactly where he wanted to be.

→→→→→→→→→→→→→

He tossed his empty paper coffee cup in the trash. Kate still couldn't drink the stuff. "There's something I'm a little confused about," Clint said.

"That must be such an unfamiliar feeling there, Hawkeye." Kate smirked and put a spoon full of cereal in her mouth. Her snark game had been especially on point lately.

"Ha, ha." Clint rubbed his face with his hand. He was going to mess this up, wasn't he?

Kate's expression softened. "What's on your mind?"

He shrugged. "I'm just wondering where we stand."

"Well, at the moment, you're standing in my kitchen in your boxers and I'm sitting at my table dressed in my best robe and eating this super nutritious chocolate cereal."

Clint looked to the ceiling and shook his head. "I meant us. Where do things stand with us?"

"What exactly is confusing you about us?"

Why was this so hard? He rubbed the back of his neck. "We had sex." There he said it.

"Um yeah, that's how this happened." Kate pointed to her rounded belly.

She really wasn't making this easy on him, was she? Not that he deserved it. "I was talking about last night, and the night before that, and that same afternoon twice, and..." She'd said something about the second trimester being super-horny, but damn. Not that he was complaining. He was definitely not complaining. At all.

"I don't need an itinerary of our sexual activities, I was there." Kate put her spoon down and slurped the remaining breakfast directly from the bowl.

"It was kinda seeming like you needed a little refresher there, Hawkeye."

Kate rolled her eyes. "So what's confusing about us having sex?"

"Where do we stand? Are we dating? Are we just having sex? What's going on?"

"Where do you want to be standing?" Kate stood up and brought her bowl to the sink.

Images flashed through his mind. Him and Kate sliding rings on each other's fingers while saying their vows, the two of them super-heroing together, and then going home to their kids. "What are my options again?"

She shook her head and started to walk away. He grabbed her arm. "With you, Kate. I want to be standing with you." He pulled her into his arms.

She rested her cheek against his chest. "Good," Kate said softly. She kissed him, then took a step back. "One thing though." She hopped up on the counter and pulled him close.

Anything. "Yeah?"

"No sleeping with anyone else, okay? I'm not sharing you."

"Not a problem," Clint said.

"Good to hear, Hawkeye." She wrapped her legs around him and pushed down his boxers. "Now that we've gotten our relationship status cleared up how about we move onto more pressing matters?" He liked the sound of that.

→→→→→→→→→→→→→

Steve looked at the piece of paper in his hands. "Clint's asking for a leave of absence?" Usually, when Clint needed a break from the Avengers he just took off, usually without saying anything.

"That's what the paper says," Tony said.

"Do you have any idea why?" Tony always knew what was going on but he rarely shared unless Steve asked. He knew he didn't approve of gossip.

"I do. Do you want the dirt?"

Steve sighed. "You know how I feel about that sort of sensationalism.”

"Don't think of it as sensationalistic gossip, think of it as intel." Tony sat on the edge of the bed.

"Fine. What do you know?"

Tony rubbed his palms together. "So, picture this--" He got under the covers and scooted closer to Steve. "A jungle island outside of time, a gaggle of archers--"

"A gaggle?"

"That's the official term for a group of archers, didn't you know?"

Steve shook his head and motioned for Tony to continue. He knew He was pulling his leg but figured that was one battle that didn't need to be fought. Not tonight, at least.

"The best of the best all pulled from different places, and get this -- times."

Steve groaned. "Time travel?" That was rarely good.

"Eh, sort of? The island being outside of time meant that while everyone was pulled out of their own time period, they didn't actually travel to a different time, just a different place outside of time. But this allowed archers from different points of time to interact with each other."

"And I'm taking it that Barton was one of these archers?"

"He was, but it was Clint from a few different costume changes ago. Most of the others were the assorted bad guys we all know and hate, but there was also the other Hawkeye."

"Kate Bishop?" He remembered her. “Nice girl. A bit impulsive and somewhat resistant to authority.”

"That's the one." Tony's hands wandered under the covers. "And it was the current model, or rather the one from about five or six months ago." He slid his hand under Steve's t-shirt.

"Okay, but what does this have to do with Barton needing time off?" Never mind the official notice thing.

"I'm getting to that, don't rush the story."

Steve chuckled, leaned over, and kissed Tony. "Fine, continue."

"It gets a little R-rated, you sure you can handle it?" Steve asked, his hand high on Steve's thigh.

"Clint slept with Kate? Isn't she like sixteen or something?"

"Nah, more like twenty-three, completely legal."

Steve rolled his eyes. Tony was incorrigible. "He's still her mentor."

"And you're still my boss, doesn't stop me from doing this--" Tony slid his tongue in Steve's mouth and slipped his hand under his boxer briefs.

"Tony--" Steve said when they finally came up for air. "Stop trying to distract me and tell me what Barton did that requires him to take a break from the team."

"Yes, sir," Tony smirked. A few minutes and several kisses later, he finally told Steve the rest of the story.

"So, she's pregnant - like already six months along now, and wants to move back to the East Coast, but the doctor said no planes, or teleportation, or portals." Tony pushed a wayward lock of hair away from Steve's face. "So, road trip!"

"California to New York?" That was a long way to drive.

Tony nodded. "From what I've heard, they're planning on taking a couple of weeks to get here, but knowing them, they’ll take the scenic route, save a few fellow tourists along the way, and finally show up in New York a few months later.”

“Do you really think they’ll chance the long way around when she’s due in a few months?”

Tony hesitated for a moment. “Have you met them?”

“Fair enough.” Clint at least had a knack for finding trouble even when he wasn’t out looking for it. He suspected that Kate was much the same way. "So he's stepping up then? Being there for her and the baby?"

Tony shrugged. "That's what I hear."

Steve nodded. "I'll let Clint know his leave is approved for as long as he needs."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that." Tony pulled Steve down on top of him. "Now where were we?"

→→→→→→→→→→→→→

It took Kate five weeks to finally get things squared enough away to be able to start her trek back to New York. She hadn't planned on making it a road trip. Especially not one with such frequent stops to stretch, rest, and use the bathroom. But then the 20-week scan happened and plans changed.

The baby looked appropriately shaped and sized, and everything was fine development-wise. Really, there were only a couple of issues of concern. One was that in the past Clint had used Pym Particles on more than one occasion. It had been a while and no one was entirely clear how it lined up with when she'd actually been with him, but they wanted to err on the side of caution, especially with the information that Natasha Romanoff had dug up on Kate's dad. Derek Bishop was, as Kate had suspected, working with Madam Masque and was now in a clone body that looked barely older than Kate (ew...gross) and according to Natasha, he had some sort of mind whammy powers that he was claiming was in his DNA. Awesome. Kate didn't have anything against powers, it was just that the idea of her dad with powers scared the shit out of her.

Thankfully the doctors didn't believe that her baby was in any danger. The only issue was that between her own potential filled DNA, Clint's past use of Pym Particles, along with the strange location and circumstances of the conception, there was a very slight chance their kid could end up with powers, which was all fine and dandy, unless it happened while still in the womb. Then there was the chance (depending on the type of powers) that it could put Kate's life at risk. Clint had not taken that bit of news well, at all. Not that she blamed him. She didn't love hearing it either. In the end, the doctors recommended that she avoid portals, teleportation, magic of all kinds, and air travel. So, she trashed her previous agenda and made plans for a road trip adventure.

"It's going to be fine," Kate said for the eleventy billionth time. She secured her seatbelt and patted Clint's hand. He'd volunteered to do the first leg of driving and she decided to just roll with it. He'd been a tad overprotective ever since seeing his daughter on the ultrasound, and it had gotten even worse a couple of weeks ago when he first felt her kick.

"I know, it's just that it’s a really long drive. Anything could happen." Clint looked behind him before backing out of the driveway. He'd borrowed a van from someone or other that owed him a favor. It was the kind someone had already made alterations on. Comfortable seating that converted for sleeping, a mini fridge, small sink, and microwave oven. There was even plenty of room for Lucky to stretch out in back, which is what he was currently doing.

"Try to think of it more like several short little drives linked together," Kate said. She didn't bother to remind him that anything could happen anywhere, she knew from past experience that it wouldn't help and would likely make things worse.

Clint looked at her over his sunglasses. Kate laughed. Damn, she loved this man more and more every day. She set an alarm on her phone and leaned back in her seat. The doctors wanted her to take stretching breaks every two hours or so and she didn't want to forget.

→→→→→→→→→→→→→

They'd barely made it out of California when the storm started. Flash flood alerts pinged on both their phones. "Did you want to pull over and get a room for the night?" Kate was driving despite his multiple objections.

"Yeah, I think I saw one of those motel chain signs a little ways back." He was just glad he didn't have to try and convince her to stop.

"I saw it, I'll take the next exit." Kate put her directional on.

Clint saw the sign and an idea blossomed. They were almost in Vegas. "We should hit Vegas," he said.

Kate turned the wheel. "It's not on the itinerary."

"You could put it on."

Kate sighed. "I really don't think I'm up for all those flashy lights and loud noises. I just want to curl up and go to sleep."

"We don't have to do the casino bit, they have other things."

"Other things?" Kate shook her head. "What other things?"

"Restaurants, entertainment, wedding chapels."

"Wedding chapels?" Kate frowned and Clint started to second guess his plan.

He leaned forward and pointed to the left. "The motel's right there, after the gas station." Clint didn't say anything else until she parked the van in the motel parking lot and turned to him.

"I'll go get the room," Kate said.

"Wait." Clint put his hand on her thigh. "Just gimmie a minute."

"O-kay..." Kate took her hand off the door handle. "What's up?"

"Let's get married."

Kate's jaw tensed. "What are you talking about?"

Clint started to rethink his plan but pushed ahead anyway. "We're close to Vegas, we could just pop over, exchange rings, and make it official."

"Clint, no. Not like this." Kate shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Do I really have to say it?"

She didn't love him. He knew she hadn't said it yet, but he thought -- well, okay then. Apparently, he thought wrong. Clint shrugged.

"Clint, look at me." He turned and Kate reached out to caress his cheek. "I can't marry you just because I'm pregnant. I won't be anyone's obligation." There were tears in her eyes. He hated himself for putting them there.

"You're not an obligation."

"You say that now, but what about after the baby's born, or in a year? What about five years from now and you realize that you've made a terrible mistake, but you still stay with me for the sake of our daughter? I don't want that for us, Clint."

"It won't be like that," Clint insisted.

"I'm not saying no forever, I'm just saying it for now. Okay?" Kate reached out and he pulled away.

"Yeah, fine. Whatever." Clint got out of the van. "I'll take Lucky for a walk, while you get us a room." Lucky jumped out of the van and Clint shut the door, leaving Kate behind.

Lucky whined. "Yeah, I know boy, I'm a shit, you can say it." The dog whined again. He'd left her alone in the car, on the verge of tears because he got his ego crushed. Fuck. He kicked at a can on the side of the road and it went flying over to the other side of the street. The rain started to really come down shortly after that and Clint turned around and headed back to the motel. He started to run, eager to get back to Kate but then he saw the car on the side of the road. It had a flat tire and there was a woman standing there in tears, a baby balling its head off in her arms.

"Hey, did you need some help?" Clint asked.

The woman flinched at the sound of his voice. "Um, the tire's flat, but it's fine. I'm fine." She patted the baby's back.

Clint saw a pair of eyes watching him from inside the car. He took a step closer. "I'm Clint, I’m an Avenger and I'd like to help you, if you’ll let me.”

→→→→→→→→→→→→→

Kate sat down on the edge of the bed. Clint had left her. He'd taken off with her dog and was just gone. Okay, he said he was going for a walk, which shouldn't have been a big deal except for the conversation directly preceding it when he'd asked her to marry him and she'd said no. The look on his face before he shut all that down almost broke her. He'd looked devastated. Like she'd crushed his heart in her hands right in front of him.

Her phone buzzed and she flipped it over. Clint. She picked it up. "Clint, are you okay?"

"Can you pick me up? I'm just outside the entrance from the motel, there's a woman here with her kids - their car broke down and they need help." He sounded wrecked.

He'd stopped to help someone. Kate smiled. That was her Clint, even in the middle of his own turmoil, he was still a hero. She really did love him. "Yeah, I'll be there in a couple of minutes. She sniffled. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah -- just, you know?"

"Yeah. I'll see you soon." She closed her eyes. "I love you." She ended the call without waiting to see if he'd say it back.

Kate grabbed her bag, bow, and quiver. Just in case. She found the car exactly where Clint had said. The woman had her light brown hair pulled back in a messy bun that exposed multiple bruises along her neck. She had a baby in her arms and was rocking back and forth. Clint knelt on the ground next to a little boy that looked to be about five or six. He had messy reddish-blond hair and was hugging a stuffed rabbit that looked like it had been around the block a few times. As she got closer she noticed the gash on his forehead and the bruise starting to blossom on his cheek.

Lucky greeted her as she got out of the car. She let him lick her face a bit longer than usual so they'd know the dog considered her safe. "Hi, I'm Kate."

The woman hesitated for a moment before introducing herself and her boys. She was called Josie, the baby was Matthew and the little boy was Jack.

Clint said something to the woman and ushered them all into the van. He got into the seat next to her after helping everyone get situated in the back, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek before saying, "I love you too." She smiled to herself and drove the short distance back to the hotel.

Kate fished her first-aid kit out from her bag and set everything up on the small couch while Josie got the baby settled on the bed. Clint seemed to be doing something with his hearing aids. The rain must have messed with them. It was still coming down fast and heavy. She'd gotten soaked in just the short time she'd been outside. Everyone else was in even worse shape. Kate filled a bowl with water, grabbed a washcloth, and patted the space beside her. "Hey Jack, is it okay if I help clean you up a little?" The little boy nodded and hugged his rabbit tighter.

On closer inspection, she saw that the bruise on Jack's cheek was in the shape of a hand. It broke her heart, but she did her best to keep a smile on her face. She didn't want to frighten him or make him feel self-conscious. She washed, disinfected, and bandaged him, before sending him back to his mom. Clint sat down, taking Jack's place next to her on the couch.

"Hearing aids aren't working,"

"Do you think they'll dry out?" Kate signed as she spoke the words. She didn't want this shellshocked little family to think they were keeping secrets from them.

"I don't know, maybe?"

"Text Tony?" Kate asked.

Clint groaned but pulled out his phone. Kate got up to let him have a little privacy and to check in with Josie and the kids.

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"Tony says he'll come by sometime tomorrow with a new pair of hearing aids for me to try." Clint said.

"Here?" Kate signed. He loved that he didn't even have to ask her to use ASL, she just did it.

Clint shrugged. "Apparently?"

"So, we're staying for another day?"

"Yeah, we should probably stay at least another day." Clint scratched the back of his head. "Is that okay?" He probably should have asked her first, huh?

"Yeah, it's fine." Kate got into bed. "I could use the rest, it's been a long night."

Clint glanced at the clock. It was almost two in the morning. Getting Josie and her boys to safety had taken a while, though not as long as it would have if it weren't for Kate. She'd been amazing. Concerned that Josie's husband might be able to track her down at one of the more local shelters, she called in some favors and got the family in a shelter on the East Coast. Kate even had Chavez open a portal to shorten the trip. Clint smiled. Jack had loved that. He was pretty sure the kid would be okay. His cuts and bruises would heal, and he'd have a new life away from his abusive fuckwad of an old man. He was lucky, he had a mom who loved him enough to get them out before it was too late.

He joined Kate in bed. She'd told him she loved him. It made the Vegas foolishness matter a whole lot less. Kate didn't want to marry him now, but that didn't mean she wouldn't want to later. He just needed to be patient. Not something he was great at outside of archery, but she loved him, so he could do it. Watching how she was with Jack made him all the more in love with her. She was so sweet and caring. He didn't see a trace of pity in her eyes, just kindness with a hint of anger at the kind of jackass who would do that to a kid. "You were amazing today, Hawkeye," Clint said.

"You weren't so bad yourself, Hawkeye."

"I'm sorry about before, I shouldn't have taken off."

"I know, and no, you shouldn't have."

"I'll do better," he promised. She snuggled closer to him, he kissed her and put a hand on her belly. "Is it stupid that today had me missing my brother?"

"It's not stupid, when was the last time you heard from Barney?"

"I don't know." Clint tried to remember when the last time was, but the day's exhaustion was catching up with him. "It's been a while, when was the last time you heard from him?"

"I got a holiday card from him back in December," Kate said.

"My brother sent you a Christmas card? We weren't even together back in December." Clint shook his head. "He never sends me shit."

"He called me his favorite Hawkeye."

"Of course he did." He brushed a lock of Kate's hair out of her face. "How is Barney doing these days?"

"He seems to be doing well. He's still with Simone and the boys. He wrote something about maybe buying an RV and going on a little family road trip this summer."

"Huh." That sounded oddly domestic. Barney really seemed to be taking to the whole family thing, good for him.

"Wouldn't it be funny if we ran into him?" Kate asked.

Clint liked the idea of seeing his brother again, sharing this whole weird impending fatherhood thing with him, but it probably wasn't going to happen any time soon. "Summer's still a couple of months off, we should be in New York before then."

Kate mumbled something incoherent and several minutes later she was fast asleep. Soon after, so was he.

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Kate had just finished her morning yoga when someone knocked on their hotel room door. She turned to see that Clint was still sleeping. For a moment she considered changing into something a little less revealing, but then decided that she really didn't care enough to waste her time. Her sports bra and shorts left her belly completely bare and exposed, but what did it even matter at this point? She looked out the peephole, saw Tony totally overdressed in a fancy suit that probably cost more than her entire wardrobe these days, and opened the door.

Tony flashed her a big smile and held his arms out like he was expecting an embrace right out the door. "Hey, Tony." Kate let him pull her into a hug.

"Kate, you look amazing."

She huffed and shook her head. "Thank you, Tony. You don't look so shabby yourself." She glanced back at Clint sleeping in the hotel bed. "He's still sleeping, did you want me to wake him up?"

"That would be great." Tony stepped inside the room. "I'd like to talk to him about a few particulars."

Leaning down, Kate kissed Clint on the cheek. "Tony's here," she said close to his ear.

Clint opened his eyes. "What?" He was kind of adorable when he was confused.

Kate fingerspelled T-O-N-Y and Clint sat up. "Did you bring a new set of hearing aids?"

"I did, do you have the pair that got wet? I want to do a few experiments with them."

"Yeah, they're over there on the table." Clint pointed at the opposite wall.

Tony slipped the small plastic case with the old set of aids into his pocket and pulled out a much newer and shinier box. "Here, this set should hold up to inclement weather better than the last one."

Clint took the box and slipped one of the new hearing aids in. Kate picked the other one up. "Oh nice, I really like the shade of purple on this one," she said.

"I aim to please." Tony winked at her.

Clint held out his hand and Kate dropped the other hearing aid into it. "Thanks for these, Tony. I really appreciate it."

"So, what were you doing out in the middle of a downpour?" Tony asked.

“A woman and her kids were broken down on the side of the road and they needed our help," Kate said. Tony didn't need to hear about their fight.

Tony stayed just long enough to get the rundown on the night before, then headed out to do whatever Iron Man did when he had a day off.

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Natasha was already at the club tucked into a corner booth with a drink. Bobbi spotted Barnes a few feet away. He gave her a nod as her eyes landed on him. She turned to Lance, gestured towards the bar, and sat down opposite Natasha.

"Is Jess coming?" Bobbi asked.

"I told her to meet us a little later, there was something I wanted to talk to you about in private first," Natasha said.

Bobbi looked up as Lance approached, placed a glass of Chardonnay in front of her, kissed her on the cheek, and then faded into the crowd. She took a sip of her wine. "Is it Clint?"

"He's not dead." Natasha fiddled with the umbrella in her drink.

So, it was about Clint. "Is it bad?" There was a lot of middle ground between dead and not dead, a lot of it not good.

Natasha gave a small, nearly imperceptible shrug. "Not objectively."

"Do we need snacks? I feel like we need snacks." Bobbi snapped her fingers, Lance came forward, gave her a nod, and then disappeared again. A few minutes later he returned with a plate of buffalo wings, a plate of sweet potato fries, and a basket of soft breadsticks with little packets of butter. All likely pilfered from the kitchen. Bobbi felt a little bad for whoever was going to have to wait a bit longer for their food, but not that bad. She had the feeling she was going to need the sustenance.

Natasha broke a breadstick in half. "Are you ready now?"

"Sure, hit me with whatever all this is about." Bobbi took a bite of one of the wings.

"You might want to finish swallowing that first."

Oh, please how bad could it be if he wasn't dead? They hadn't been together for a long time, and while she still cared for Clint, she wasn't in love with him anymore. Even so, she finished her wing before gesturing for Natasha to continue.

"He got someone pregnant." Natasha picked up her drink and took a long sip.

Huh, okay that hurt a little. A tiny distant echo of pain. She'd have to examine that later. She picked up a breadstick, slathered it with butter, and took a bite to give her time to figure out how she wanted to react. They sat in silence as they drank their drinks, and picked at the food. After several minutes passed, Bobbi finally asked the question. "Anyone, I know?"

"Yes," Natasha said with a slight upturn of her lips.

"Come on, dish. I don't think either of us has all night, and if I have to guess, it's probably going to take a while." Bobbi signaled Lance for another drink. "At least give me a hint."

"I might as well tell you, any hint I give you would likely give it away." Natasha waited for Lance to put the second glass of wine down and move away from the table. "It's Kate."

"Kate Bishop, that Kate? His sidekick Kate?"

"I don't think she likes being called his sidekick."

Bobbi rolled her eyes. "When did this happen?"

"Well, that's the complicated bit."

Of course, it was. Bobbi drank her second glass of wine while Natasha explained about the marksmen competition, the jungle island, and the time travel elements of the two Hawkeyes' hookup. "So, this was Kate from our time hooking up with past Clint?"

"Yes."

"So, he didn't know who she was, but she knew who he was?"

Natasha nodded.

It made sense. "It was like a free pass, Kate got to sleep with someone she's been obviously in love with for a while, without it being wrapped up in the whole mentor/mentee weirdness."

"If only someone had remembered that birth control exists," Natasha said.

Bobbi snickered. "So, do they have a plan? Is she keeping it?" She put her glass down. "Do you know?" And why did she want to know so badly?

"She's keeping the baby and moving back to New York according to my sources." Natasha jingled the ice in her empty glass and Bucky appeared out of nowhere to bring her another one. "Would you like to see a picture?"

"Sure, show me a picture."

Natasha took out her phone, make a few swipes, and showed her a photo of a very pregnant-looking Kate Bishop. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun and she was wearing shorts and a sports bra. "Wow, she looks pretty far along, when was this taken?"

"Three days ago, just outside of Vegas."

"Vegas?"

"My intel says they did not get married. They stopped to help a family escaping a domestic violence situation."

"Who took the picture?"

"Stark."

"What was Tony doing there?"

"It was raining and Clint's hearing aids stopped working, he called Tony for a replacement pair."

Bobbi studied the photo. She could see Clint in the bed behind Kate, apparently sleeping. "Are they together-together?" They looked it.

"Stark thinks so. They were affectionate and familiar with each other, and their room had only one bed."

"Who had only one bed?" Jessica Drew stood next to the booth holding a rainbow-colored drink with not one but three umbrellas in it. Bobbi scooted over so she could sit down. Jess took the phone from her and glanced at the photo. "Is this recent?"

Natasha nodded. "It's from a few days ago. You knew?"

"About Kate, Clint, and the whole baby thing? Yeah."

"How did you find out?" Bobbi asked. It was obvious that Natasha didn't tell her.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Clint called me to ask what a 20-week scan was."

"Oh my God, he didn't," Bobbi said.

"He did," Jess confirmed.

"Did he tell you the circumstances?" Natasha asked.

"The whole younger version of him hooking up with Kate on a mysterious island bit? Yeah, he told me that too." Jess grabbed a chicken wing, dipped it in some sauce, and took a bite. "They're giving the relationship thing a try, huh?"

"Looks that way," Natasha said.

"Well, good for them," Jess said in-between bites of food. "I think she's good for him."

Natasha and Bobbi both nodded in agreement.

"I do have one important question though." Jess wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Do you think they call each other 'Hawkeye' in bed?"

Natasha smiled. "Yeah, I do."

Bobbi put her hand over her mouth and nodded. She could totally see them doing that. All three women burst out laughing.

Eventually, they procured more food and drinks and moved on to conversations that did not revolve around Clint Barton. However, Bobbi's mind did continue to wander back to that subject. She was happy for him. She knew he'd make a good dad, despite the doubts she suspected he still had. Did it make her sad about what she once lost? What they'd lost together? A little but she had few regrets and she was more than happy with the way her life was now. She'd moved on and was glad to see that he had too.

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Their travel route had meandered a bit outside of what they'd originally planned. Not that he minded. Being on the road with Kate was surprisingly easy, even with her having to stop every ninety minutes or so because the baby was somersaulting off her bladder. He loved spending time with her. Lucky had taken to the road better than expected too, though he seemed to appreciate their frequent stops as well. So, they took their time seeing the sights, and eating surprisingly good diner food along the way. It wasn't like they were in any hurry, they still had months before the baby came.

About two weeks after they didn't get married in Vegas, they passed a small traveling circus setting up their tents just outside of Waverly Iowa, of all places. Clint was tempted to stop and check it out, but Kate was driving and he didn't want to make a big deal out of driving through his hometown. She'd grown up a lot differently than he had.

Kate put her hand on his knee. "Hey did you wanna stop and check it out?"

Clint shrugged. "Yeah, if you don't mind."

"I don't. It's cool." Kate pulled into a small parking lot on the edge of where they were setting up. "I needed to get up and stretch anyway."

The baby was certainly getting big in there. The first time he felt her move had been incredible, and kept getting more so with each punch, turn, and kick. It was just so intensely real now. In a few months, he'd be able to hold his daughter, and wouldn’t that be something? It scared the shit out of him of course. How could it not with how he grew up? His old man had been the kind of monster who thought that hitting his wife and young sons was his right and privilege.

Clint thought he'd be a good father, hoped he would be — but he was also scared that he wouldn't be. He desperately wanted to talk to Barney. He'd know what Clint was talking about. He must have felt that way at least a little when he became 'Uncle Barney' to Simone's kids, right? It was natural to have doubts. Shit. He ran his hand through his hair.

"Hey, you okay?" Kate bumped his shoulder with hers, snapping him out of his doom spiral.

He brushed off his worries for the moment. "Yeah. How're you doing?"

"I'm good, other than starving again." Kate patted her belly.

Clint smiled. "Didn't you just finish off that bag of potato chips?" It had been one of those family-sized bags, and she'd refused to share.

"Don't judge." She glared at him over her sunglasses.

Clint held his hands out in front of him. "Not judging, just pointing out facts." She looked at him disbelievingly. Clint shook his head. "I'm just gonna have a quick look around here, then we can stop at the next fast food place we see, deal?"

Kate looked up and bit her lip. "Oh, I could really go for some fries right now."

"I'll get you all the fries you want, after, okay?"

"I'm gonna hold you to that, Hawkeye." She winked at him.

He walked around the grounds a bit. It didn't seem like a big operation. Their flyer said they'd be open this weekend. He passed a couple of clowns that gave him dirty looks and decided he'd had enough of a look around. Probably best not to linger too long here anyway. Too many memories. Too many ghosts.

They were just about to get going when Lucky cocked an ear and tugged his leash in the opposite direction. The leash snapped and he took off. “Dammit!” Clint said.

"Lucky, no!" Kate called out. The dog ignored them both and took off through a small patch of woods behind the parking lot.

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Barney Barton stretched his arms above his head as he exited the RV behind Simone. They'd been on the road for a while and he really needed to get up and move around. Simone linked her arm with his and smiled up at him. He'd seriously lucked out when he met her and the kids in his brother's building a few years back. They'd left the kids with their Aunt for this part of their trip. Both he and Simone had been craving a bit of time for just the two of them. They'd swing by and pick up the boys when summer kicked into full gear, until then it was just the two of them.

"So, this is Iowa?" Simone said.

"Impressed?" Barney took a deep breath. Even the air smelled familiar. It had been a while since he'd been back here. Couldn't really say he missed it, but there was still a feeling somewhere there in his gut that he couldn't quite pin down. Nostalgia? Nah, not that.

"Not exactly the word I'd choose, but sure, let's go with that." Simone chuckled.

"Don't worry, we don't have to stay here too long. Just wanted to have a look around and breath the air for a little while."

"You still have that feeling?"

"Yeah, it's still lingering." Barney scratched the back of his neck. "It's probably nothing." The feeling had started when he was flipping through the postcard rack at the rinky-dink gift shop they’d swung by earlier in the day. He'd picked a 'Welcome to Iowa' one out for the boys and another with a giant tractor for Kate Bishop, his brother's too good for him protege. He'd sent her a card last Christmas in hopes that Clint would see it and get pissed off. It was the little pleasures in life that kept Barney going. But this morning he'd picked out a postcard for his brother too and found himself missing him a bit more than usual. Maybe he was getting soft in his old age? That's when he was hit with the feeling that something was about to happen. A useless bit of intuition, but it never turned out well when he ignored those kinds of feelings.

"Hey, if you think it's something, then it's something." She pulled him down for a kiss. "I trust you." Damn, what the hell had he done to deserve this woman?

He'd spotted the traveling circus setting up a little way up the road but decided to approach it from the wooded area in back of the highway. He didn't want to spook any of the folks, just wanted to have a look around. He was about to lean down and kiss his woman again when he heard a dog bark and then suddenly burst through the trees to stand in front of him and Simone, all while wagging his tail.

"Is that you, Lucky?" Simone asked. The dog wagged his tail harder.

It couldn't be. What would his brother's dog be doing way out here? He should either be in New York with Clint or Los Angeles with Kate. Was something wrong?

Simone bent down to check the dog's tags. "It's definitely Lucky," she said. She held out her hand so the dog could sniff her, then scratched behind his ears. Simone looked up at Barney, a worried look on her face.

"I'm sure they're both fine," Barney said with more conviction than he was feeling at the moment. His brother was lucky, but luck ran out. He should know.

Simone stood up. "It looks like his leash broke." She reached out and squeezed Barney's hand.

While dark thoughts spiraled in his head Barney heard a rustling sound and a moment later Clint trampled through the underbrush, quickly followed by Kate.

"There you are Luck, why’d you run off like that, boy?" Clint bent down and the dog greeted him with a whole lot of saliva to the face.

Barney stood there, waiting for his brother to notice him, but Kate beat him to it. "Barney? Simone?" Kate glanced between the two of them. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I could be asking you two the same thing," Barney said. She was wearing a casual-looking sundress thing with a too-big purple hoodie. Clint's? Were they wearing each other's clothes now? And that's when he noticed that the sweatshirt was covering up a very pronounced baby bump. Holy shit. Did his brother knock up his partner? Nah, couldn't be. He watched as Clint turned to Kate and slid his hand along her lower back, and say something in her ear. Huh, maybe he had.

Clint stepped forward and pulled Barney into a hug. The tingly feeling disappeared. Apparently, this was what he was here for. "I thought you guys weren't going to be traveling until the summer," Clint said.

Barney ran his hand through his hair. "We decided to take two trips, an early one with just the two of us and later in the summer one with the kids."

"That makes sense." Clint bent down, unhooked the broken leash from Lucky's collar, and hooked a new one to it while pocketing the old one.

Barney turned towards Kate and she wrapped her arms around him. "I see you've been busy," he said.

She looked adorable when her cheeks got all flushed. "I guess you could say that."

"Can I?" Kate nodded and Barney placed his palm on her belly and was quickly rewarded with a tiny little kick. He could feel the smile stretch across his face. "What are you doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"I'm moving back to the East Coast."

"And where's the father of this little bundle of joy? Shouldn’t he be helping you? Do I need to kick someone's ass?" He was pretty confident he already knew who the father was, but he wanted to be sure.

Clint shook his head and mumbled something under his breath.

"No one's ass needs to be kicked, and I can fight my own battles, thank you very much." Kate took Clint's hand in hers and it was all the confirmation that Barney needed.

He looked at his brother and he seemed -- happy, proud, and nervous. Yep, he'd definitely fathered that kid. "I didn't even know you two were together."

"We weren't." Kate gave a one-shouldered shrug. "We are now though, it's complicated."

Wasn't it always? "What, did you guys hook up on that jungle island during that whole marksman contest disaster?"

The two of them looked at each other all wide-eyed and pink-cheeked. "Seriously?" Barney asked.

"How do you know about that?" Clint asked, his voice laden with suspicion.

"All the best marksmen are pulled to a mysterious island and you think I'm not one of them? Really?" Barney shook his head.

"I didn't see you!" Clint said.

"I saw you two getting cozy while toasting marshmallows, I thought about saying hi, but it looked a little too much like foreplay, so I decided against it." Technically he'd only recognized his brother. He'd seen Kate but he hadn't known her back then to recognize. Shit. That probably meant that Clint hadn't known who he was hooking up with, though he'd bet Kate knew perfectly well. That was a hell of a loophole there. Sleeping with her mentor without really sleeping with her mentor. He was impressed, even if it was Clint.

"I didn't stay long. Tagged myself out early. Figured that kind of scenario was likely to end up with me bagged, tagged, and forced onto some sorta team with a kill switch in my head. No, thank you."

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Barney and Simone went to pick up the kids a few days later and a few days after that they all met up again and started seeing the sights together. They even backtracked a little to slip in a visit to the Grand Canyon. Which had been pretty freaking amazing. Traveling as an extended family was cool too. Kate's parents had rarely brought her along on any of their trips, and it had never been like this. It had never been fun. Clint seemed happy to have his brother around, and Kate liked seeing him happy. He deserved happiness, even if he didn't always seem to believe so.

They'd swung by Yellowstone National Park up in Wyoming. A little out of the way, but so worth it. She'd posted some photos from their travels including a few that Barney took of her and Clint, which got her some surprised texts from Billy and Teddy because apparently, she'd forgotten to tell them she was pregnant. In her defense, she really hadn't told anyone besides America and Clint. They hadn't cared, they were still a little hurt for being left out of the news. She ended up calling them and talking on the phone for a couple of hours one night on the road. It reminded her how much she missed her friends.

Eventually, she started losing track of how long they'd been on the road. Then she realized she'd missed her month seven prenatal appointment and was on her way to missing her 8-month one. It probably wasn't that big of a deal though. Other than the weird time-travel thing, she wasn't high-risk. She was only twenty-four. Everything was fine. Which is what she kept telling herself up until she woke up with the headache from hell that wouldn't go away.

It was raining, so she blamed the headache on the humidity. Summer had officially arrived and the weather had turned hot all too quickly. They'd just gotten done spending several days eating amazing food and seeing the sights in and around Chicago and were driving through Indiana when she realized that something was wrong.

"Kate, you don't look so good," Simone said. They were washing up in the restroom at a rest stop just outside of Indianapolis.

Kate splashed some cold water on her face. Her reflection in the mirror was pale and the skin around her eyes looked sallow. "I just can't seem to shake this headache." Kate squeezed her eyes shut against the throbbing pain.

"How long has this been going on?" Simone's voice was kind and motherly.

"Just since this morning, I think." Kate's thoughts were kinda fuzzy at the moment. She gripped the edge of the sink and took a deep breath.

Simone rubbed gentle circles along Kate's back. "Do you have anything you can take for it?"

"Yeah, already took it though." Kate let go of the sink and rolled her shoulders back. "It didn't do anything."

"Okay, how about you come sit down in the RV, I'll get you some water, and we'll see if that helps, okay?"

Kate nodded and they made their way out of the restroom. Unfortunately, before they made it to the RV, Kate's head began to swim, her knees buckled, and she started to fall. Luckily, Clint caught her before she could hit the ground.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Kate said, trying to wave everyone off. They were hovering. "I didn't pass out, just got a little dizzy there for a minute."

Soon she was reclining in one of the RV seats, Simone next to her holding her hand, while Clint made some phone calls. Kate's head spun with all the things that could be wrong.

"All you need to do right here in this moment, Kate, is breathe. Just breathe. That's it." Simone squeezed her hand gently. "Can you do that?" Kate squeezed Simone's hand, took a deep breath in, and nodded. She could do that.

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"Nat, I need your help, something's wrong." Clint paced outside the rest stop while Kate rested in the RV.

"What do you need?" Nat sounded calm and matter of fact.

Fuck, what did he need? He forced himself to relax for a moment, took a few breaths, and then started again. "We need a doctor, preferable one who already knows about the circumstances surrounding Kate's pregnancy." Kate had started complaining about a headache earlier in the day but neither of them thought much of it until it started to get progressively worse and and didn't respond to the over-the-counter pain meds the doctor had approved.

"Where are you?" Natasha asked.

Clint moved the phone away from his mouth and looked up at his brother. "Where are we?"

"Indiana." Barney showed him a map on his phone.

"Indiana, just outside of Indianapolis," Clint told Natasha.

"I'm sending you coordinates now, someone will be there to let you in. I'll get the doctor and I'll get Chavez to open a portal, so we won't be far behind you." Natasha ended the call and Clint checked the coordinates.

Barney took his phone from him. "You take care of Kate, I'll drive. Okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." Clint rubbed his face. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Shelbyville," Barney said.

What the hell was in Shelbyville? Maybe Nat had some kind of safe house there? Whatever, at least it didn't seem too far from where they were. That was lucky. Hopefully, that luck would hold.

It looked like an ordinary house. White paint, grayish-green roof, two stories, and what looked like a two-car garage. There were even neighbors. It didn't look like a typical safe house at all. It was appallingly normal. He scooped Kate out of the vehicle and headed to the door.

"I can walk, it's just a headache." Kate squeezed her eyes closed.

He hated that she was in pain. Hated that something was wrong and how much that worried him. "You almost fainted. I'm carrying you," Clint insisted. He'd read too many pregnancy books and articles over the last couple of months and his head was filled with all the many things that could go wrong.

Someone opened the door and walked towards him. "Bucky?" Clint shifted Kate in his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here.” Bucky took Kate from his arms, turned around, and headed back toward the house. "Come on, Natasha's already here with the doctor."

Clint followed them up the stairs and into a small bedroom where both Nat and the doctor waited. Bucky put Kate down on the bed, the doctor strapped something to her wrist, and then another device to her abdomen. Clint sat down in the chair next to the bed and held Kate's hand as she explained to the doctor about the headaches and how she'd nearly fainted. Vitals were taken, an IV was hooked up and Clint did his best to stay a calm and reassuring presence for her, all while he was internally freaking the fuck out.

Sometime after Kate had fallen asleep, Clint felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. He nodded at his brother. "Hey."

"Come on, take a break and grab something to eat while she sleeps," Barney said.

He didn't want to leave her. What if she woke up and needed him? What if something happened? "I'm not hungry."

"Come on anyway."

Clint found himself sitting at a sturdy wooden table in the center of a cozy little kitchen, a freshly made grilled cheese sandwich in front of him. He hadn't had one of Barney's grilled cheeses in ages. He took a bite. Damn, he'd forgotten how much he loved these things. "Thanks, Barn."

His brother shrugged off the thanks and looked around the room. "So, this is the Winter Soldier's digs? Not what I pictured at all."

"Yeah, I mean I haven't exactly seen much of it but it seems -- a little too ordinary." Clint noticed a white cat on the counter staring at him. "Hey, kitty kitty." The cat hissed at him, twitched her tail, and stalked off. He turned to his brother. "Bucky has a cat?"

Barney nodded. "Yup, she's not exactly friendly either."

"That seems a bit more on-brand, I guess," Clint said.

A little while later he was back by Kate's side, holding her hand as the doctor told her that she had been severely dehydrated and needed to take a break from all the traveling they'd been doing.

"You mean, after I get back to New York, right?" Kate asked.

"No, I mean now. Mr. Barnes has graciously offered his home for you to stay as long as you'd like, I suggest you take him up on it," The doctor said, firmly.

"But we're almost home," Kate whined. She looked better and the relief he felt was almost palpable. She was fine. The baby was fine. They were all going to be fine.

"You're almost eight months along now, Kate. The third trimester is a lot harder on the body than the second. You need to rest."

"How long?" Clint asked.

"At least two weeks, preferably longer." The doctor slipped his tablet into his bag. "If I were you, I'd consider having the baby here in Indiana."

Kate groaned. Clint felt strangely okay about staying here for a while. "Let's stay a couple weeks and then see how you feel, okay?"

"Fine, now where can I get some food?" Kate said.

Clint smiled, bent down to give her a kiss, and went off to find her something to eat.

→→→→→→→→→→→→→

After almost two and half months on the road, being in one place and eating home-cooked meals on a regular basis, felt truly indulgent. Kate bit into Bucky's latest sandwich creation made with roasted chicken, avocado, lettuce, and tomato on toasted sourdough bread that he’d baked himself that morning. "This is so amazing, thank you," she said to Bucky between bites. She turned to Natasha and smiled. "You are such a lucky woman." Natasha smiled knowingly, while Bucky let out a low chuckle.

"Hey," Clint said, obviously feeling a little left out and slighted.

She shoved her sandwich in his face. "Here taste this."

He took a bite and his eyes went wide. "Okay, yeah Kate's right. This is a really good sandwich. If the Windy Soldier is half as good in bed as he is at making sandwiches, I can definitely see why you're with him."

Bucky shot him a withering look, and Natasha rolled her eyes.

Kate had been really lucky. Everyone was taking such good care of her. The doctor was coming tomorrow to give her the all-clear to get back on the road and head home if she wanted but she wasn't sure she was ready yet. Bucky had said they could stay as long as they wanted, even have the baby here in Indiana, if that was what she needed. It was a tempting invitation. The summer was in full gear and she had about eight weeks left before the baby came. Did she want to spend some of that on the road and the rest of it getting set back up in New York, or did she want to take it easy here surrounded by people who cared about her?

Barney and Simone had taken the boys on a couple of short trips but hadn't strayed far from Bucky's house. They slept in the RV so as not to crowd the house too much, but it’d been nice to have them around. She kind of wished they still lived in Clint's building. It would be nice to have family around that could help with the baby.

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Bucky sat down next to Kate on the sofa and handed her a brownie. Oh my god, it was still warm. "How'd the appointment go?"

She took a whiff of the brownie, it smelled like chocolate, butter, and everything else that was right in the world. "Good, good. Everything is on schedule, the baby is a good size and looks good. Not in position yet, but it's really too early for that, so no biggie." Kate took a bite of the brownie, closed her eyes, and moaned. It was so good.

"How far along are you now?"

"Thirty-four weeks. I'm in my eighth month now." It was all a little overwhelming.

"Homestretch then, huh? Did the doctor clear you for travel?"

"Yeah," Kate said reluctantly.

"But you're not ready?"

Kate shook her head. "I like it here, it feels safe. Does that sound silly?"

"No. I think safety's underrated, especially in our line of work."

Kate laughed. "I've definitely been underrating it, but now with the baby coming soon -- I don't know."

"The offer to stay as long as you want still stands. I really do mean that. I won't always be around, but it'll be nice to have someone to look out for Alpine. She tends to be a little prickly, so it's hard to find someone to watch out for her."

"She seems to get along fine with Lucky." Bucky gestured over to where Lucky and Alpine were curled up together in front of the window. They were adorable.

Kate smiled. Lucky seemed to get along with everyone, he was good like that. "I noticed that."

She took another bite of her brownie and looked over at Bucky. Dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and currently barefoot; he looked almost ordinary like this, even with the whole cyborg arm thing he had going on.

"What?"

"You look normal." Kate turned her full attention to him and smiled. "Like some ordinary hot guy who has a beautiful fluffy white cat, makes amazing sandwiches, and bakes orgasmic brownies."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Orgasmic?"

"Pretty damn close." She took another small bit of the brownie. "Can I ask you for some advice?" Bucky had been around close to a century, which put him in wise elder territory, right?

"As long as it's not orgasm or sex-related."

"It's not -- at least not directly."

He waved his hand at her. "Ask."

"Back at the start of this whole road trip thing, when we were driving through Vegas, Clint suggested that we get married."

Bucky quirked an eyebrow. "And after his stellar proposal, you somehow said no?"

"I told him I didn't want to be an obligation." Kate sighed.

"And now you're having regrets?"

"Yeah, I guess I am." The truth was, that she wanted to marry Clint. Even though it sounded a little old-fashioned and goofy, she wanted to be his wife. And yeah, sure he'd been married before and that hadn't worked out, but sometimes things just didn't work out. That didn't mean you should stop trying, right?

"Do you want to sit around waiting around for him to ask you again?"

"Er...no?" She was a super hero. She didn't have to wait around for Clint to ask her again. Who knew if that was even gonna happen? He hadn't taken it very well when she'd said no the first time.

"Then why don't you do the asking?" Bucky said.

A grin broke out on her face. "Bucky Barnes, you're a genius." She kissed him on the cheek, stood up, and stuffed the rest of the brownie in her mouth. She needed to find Clint and ask him to marry her.

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Clint fiddled with the box in his pocket. "Can I ask you something?"

Barney looked up from where he was tinkering with the RV. "Well, I am your big brother."

"I want to ask Kate to marry me." Clint rubbed the back of his neck.

"Didn't you already try that?" Barney wiped the sweat from his brow with his arm.

"Yeah, but I don't think the timing was right then."

Barney leaned against the side of the RV and gave Clint his full attention. "How did you ask her the first time?"

"I don't know, something about hey, look we're close to Vegas, let's get married."

"Oof."

"Hey, you're my brother, you're supposed to be more supportive than this."

"Am I?"

Clint thought about the many things that had gone down between the two of them over the last several years and laughed.

"Do you really need to get married?" Barney asked.

"I guess not. But I do want to marry Kate."

"Why? Because she's having your kid?"

"Not just that. Sure that's a big part of it, but I want us to be together."

"You are together."

"So you don't think we should get married?"

"I didn't say that. I'm just saying that you don't have to overthink it. You're together, you're having a kid, why do you need a ring?"

Clint shrugged. He'd already bought the ring.

"Is it because you're afraid she'll leave without one?" Barney rubbed his chin. "You got Bobbi to marry you, it didn't stop that relationship from imploding."

Clint scowled. Like he needed that reminder. "I want her to want me enough to marry me."

"What the fuck does that even mean? That's some pretty insecure bullshit" Barney threw his hands up into the air.

Scrubbing his face with his hand, Clint started to pace.

"Did you get a ring?"

"Yeah." Clint took the jewelry box out of his pocket.

Barney held his hand out. "Let me see it."

Clint hesitated. The ring wasn't anything fancy. The diamond was pretty small. The white gold band, simple and understated. He handed Barney the box and waited for his reaction.

"Not bad, bro."

"Really? I thought you'd give me shit about the size of the diamond."

"Nah, it's Kate. She's not like that. I know she grew up like that, but she doesn't need the fancy stuff. She's cool."

"You know her so well, do you?"

"Well enough."

"And?" Was he asking for his big brother's approval?

"I like her, I think she's good for you. She might be too good for you, but for what it's worth, I think you two work despite all the weirdness."

"What weirdness?"

"Really bro?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"She's like fifteen years younger than you, for some reason, she put you on some heroic pedestal, and then when she actually got to know you she still liked you. She uses the same super hero code name as you, and practically dresses up in your clothes."

"You're not exactly the one who should be throwing stones over that."

"True, I'm man enough to admit that I've gone through my own weird Hawkeye obsession phase, but honestly your girl takes it to a whole other level." Barney was smiling in a way that let Clint know that his brother was fucking with him.

"You do like her," Clint said.

"Yeah, I do. She's -- real. And she's kind. She treats me like the man I'm trying to be now, not who she knows perfectly well that I've been in the past. So, yeah, I like her. So don't fuck this up."

"So, your advice is don't fuck it up?" Clint asked.

"Fuck yeah! Now, aren't you glad you asked me?"

Clint shook his head, pulled his brother in for a quick embrace, and headed back into the house. He had a proposal to figure out.

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It took her a few minutes to find him, but finally, Kate caught up with Clint in the kitchen. "Hey, can I talk to you about something for a minute?"

Clint grabbed a mug from the dish rack and set it on the counter. "Yeah sure, just let me get a cup of coffee first." He sniffed the stuff in the pot, nodded, and filled his mug.

Kate smiled to herself, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and led the way to the back steps. "Come on," she said. It took her some maneuvering to sit and get settled on the steps because the third trimester definitely wasn't fooling around. She cracked open the water, took a sip, and gathered her courage. She could do this.

"Everything okay?" Clint sat down with annoying ease and blew on his coffee.

"Yeah, yeah. It is. I'm thinking we should stay here a bit longer though. I'm not quite ready to get back on the road just yet."

"I figured, you said you were leaning that way." Clint took a sip of coffee.

Kate put the water bottle down, linked her arm with Clint's, and leaned her head against his shoulder. After a minute she straightened up, shifted so that she was facing him, and took one of his hands in hers. He put his coffee mug down and took her other hand. "I love you so much Clint, no matter what happens you and me, we're a team, okay?"

Clint nodded and opened up his mouth to say something but Kate squeezed his hands and shook her head. "I'm not done yet." Why was this so hard? Maybe Clint had the right idea when he kept it casual back in Vegas. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "Clint, will you marry me?"

His eyes went wide. "Yes, wait what? Yes!" A smile broke out on his face.

Kate laughed. "Was that a yes, or --" She was pretty sure it was a yes.

"It was absolutely a yes, but wait I need to show you something." Clint let go of one of her hands, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small velvet box. The kind jewelry tended to come in.

Was that what she thought it was? "Clint --"

He opened the box and placed it in her hand. It was beautiful, simple, tasteful, and exactly what she thought it was. She loved it. "You were gonna ask me again?"

"I was working my way up to it." Clint took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger.

"I feel like I'm the one who should be giving you a ring."

"You can do that when we do our vows." He kissed her. "When were you thinking we should have the wedding?"

"I know it doesn't leave us a lot of time, but I was kinda hoping we could do it before the baby comes?"

"You sure?" He didn't sound bothered by the idea of getting hitched so soon.

Kate nodded. "Yeah. I'm good with a small impromptu wedding. The ceremony isn't the important part, you are." He kissed her again and for a while they sat on the steps like that, kissing and talking about their future. Until Barney interrupted them.

"So we're all good? No pieces to pick up, no tears for me to dry, or any depressing shit like that?" Barney asked.

"I said yes," Clint said.

Barney turned towards Kate. "So you asked him, huh? That works." He scratched the back of his head. "So, hey, I'm gonna go pick up a few things and when I get back we can celebrate over pizza and chicken wings. Sound good?"

Kate smiled. "Sounds good."

Barney began to walk away, stopped a moment, and then turned back. "And hey, Kate?"

"Yeah, Barney?"

A big grin broke out on his face. "Welcome to the family."

→→→→→→→→→→→→→

Kate was in the kitchen when she heard the knock on the door. "Are we expecting visitors?" Kate signed. It was still early and Clint hadn't put his hearing aids in yet.

"Tony said he was coming by sometime today to talk about wedding stuff." Clint leaned against the counter, waiting for the coffee to be finished brewing.

"I still can't believe you got Iron Man to officiate our wedding." Kate shook her head. What was her life? "I'll get the door, why don't you go put your hearing aids in?"

"As soon as the coffee's finished." Clint yawned.

Neither of them had been sleeping well lately. "Fine." She couldn't wait to be able to drink coffee again.

Tony stood on the doorstep dressed in a suit. The fancy kind, not his Iron Man getup. "Hey, Tony. Come on in." She stepped aside. "Clint's in the kitchen waiting for the coffee to be ready."

"I was hoping to talk to you about something first, if that's alright." Tony looked at her over his sunglasses and whistled. "You look just about ready to pop, you're not gonna give birth in the middle of the wedding or anything, are you?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "That's not the plan, but I guess anything could happen." Kate shook her head and led the way to the living room. She really needed to get off her feet. "I still have about a month to go, so I wouldn't worry about it." She sat down and put her feet up. That felt better. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" There were still a couple of weeks left before the wedding but everything seemed to be coming together nicely.

Sitting down on the edge of the sofa, Tony took off his sunglasses and slipped them into his jacket pocket. "Have you given any thought to who you wanted to walk you down the aisle?" Tony looked around a bit for a moment. "Or whatever passes for an aisle around here. Considering how your father is just a little bit evil these days, I figured you wouldn't want him to be giving you away."

Her father was more than a little bit evil, but she wasn't going to bring that up. "He's not invited."

Tony nodded. "Figured as much."

"Also the whole giving the bride away is an antiquated tradition steeped in patriarchal bullshit,” Kate added.

Tony laughed. "I thought antiquated traditions were your thing. You do run around with a bow and arrow, don't you?"

Kate put her hand on her belly, and shifted a little in an effort to get comfortable, something that had been getting increasingly difficult as the pregnancy progressed. "It's not the same thing."

"I understand. It's just that Steve had expressed some interest in stepping into that role for you, but if you're not interested --"

"Steve?" It couldn't be, could it?

"Rogers," Tony clarified.

"Captain America wants to walk me down the aisle?"

Tony nodded, a smirk playing on his lips.

"You're right, antiquated traditions and archaic weaponry are totally my things. Please let Captain Rogers know that I would be honored to have him give me away."

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Barney hung what looked like a garment bag, up on the back of the door and Clint eyed it suspiciously. "What the hell is that?"

"It's your suit, dumbass," Barney said.

Since when was he wearing a suit? "Kate said I could wear jeans if I wanted."

"So, you're gonna just wear your ratty old jeans and dirty t-shirt to your wedding. I understand it's not your first, but dude, it's Kate. Don't you think she deserves better?"

"It's not dirty, it just has a couple of stains on it." Clint lifted his shirt up to get a closer look at the stains.

"Pretty sure it's blood, bro," Barney said.

It wasn't blood. It was probably just pizza sauce. "It's not like I have my whole wardrobe with me here." They'd been on the road for months.

"Which is why I brought you this." Barney tapped the garment bag.

Why the hell did Barney even care what he wore? It wasn't like it was his wedding. Crap. Maybe Kate had said something to him about it. "Fine, show me the suit."

Barney unzipped the bag, revealing a pair of bright blue slacks, a matching blue jacket, a lavender dress shirt, and a plum-colored tie. Clint made a face. It all seemed really fancy.

Barney's eyebrows furrowed. "What's the problem?"

Clint shrugged. "It's kinda fancy, is all." It also looked reminded him of one of his costumes from back in the day.

"Baby brother, you've dressed up more for lesser situations. This is your fucking wedding."

Why did his brother even care? "Do you know what Kate's wearing?" Clint asked.

"I've seen her dress with my very own eyes, trust me this will work."

"Fine. I'll give it a try." Clint started stripping off his clothes. He was getting married in less than an hour, he might as well see how he looked in this thing.

Barney leaned against the door. "So, hey, um -- Simone, the kids, and I are moving back to New York."

Clint pulled off his t-shirt and tossed it on the floor at his brother's feet. "Really?" This was news to him.

"The boys missed the city and we figured the timing worked out, so, yeah we're gonna be neighbors." Barney crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Neighbors?" Clint slipped out of his jeans and tossed them in a ball beside his discarded t-shirt.

"Well, not next-door neighbors." Barney scratched the back of his neck. "we'll be a few doors down."

Clint stood in the middle of the room in his boxers as he stared at his brother. "In my building?"

"Uh-huh." Barney handed Clint the dress shirt. It was a nice shade of purple. "Already worked it out with your building manager and everything."

Wait, what? Clint buttoned up his shirt. "How'd you -- oh, Kate told you." So, he'd already talked to Kate about it, huh?

Barney looked down at his feet. "So, it's okay?"

Clint held his hand out and Barney handed him the slacks. "Yeah, it's okay." He liked the idea of having his big brother around.

"I figured I could lend a hand with the kid, you know? Watch her when you two are out doing your super hero thing."

"Really?" Having someone he trusted to help with kid stuff would come in really handy.

"Yeah, I mean -- I've been helping watch the boys for the last few years, so it's not like I'm wholly unqualified," Barney said.

Clint put the jacket on and grabbed the tie. "You know you could still do the hero thing too."

"Nah, I like being semi-retired or whatever you wanna call it. There're only so many times you can get shot and repeatedly break all the bones in your body before everything starts to break down, ya know?"

"Tell me about it." Clint knew this only too well. "I can't remember the last time I was completely pain-free." And it kept getting worse the older he got.

"You and me both, brother." Barney rubbed his lower back. "I can still watch out for the kids though." Clint fumbled with his tie for a minute before Barney stepped in to help. "And I can still do what needs to be done to keep them safe."

Clint liked the sound of that. "I'm glad you're going to be sticking around, Barn." He put his hand on Barney's shoulder. "Even if you are making me wear this damn monkey suit."

→→→→→→→→→→→→→

Stepping onto the back steps of Bucky Barnes' Indiana home, Kate looked out on the small backyard where her and Clint’s closest friends had gathered to see them get married, and smiled. She lifted the edge of her floor-length lavender dress so she wouldn't trip, linked arms with Captain Steve Rogers, and made her way across the yard to where Clint was waiting for her. His eyes lit up when he saw her and all she could think was — yes, finally, this was happening. Then she noticed he'd dressed up and couldn't help but smile wider. She'd told him he didn't have to, and honestly, she'd fully expected him to be standing there in his jeans and maybe a nice shirt, but there he was wearing a very spiffy suit in colors reminiscent of his costume from older days. The same costume he’d been wearing when they'd first got together on that crazy jungle island.

Steve handed her off to Clint and standing there in front of him she was hit with an overwhelming sense of rightness. This was precisely where she was meant to be and who she was meant to be with. She was absolutely sure of it.

Tony kept the ceremony relatively traditional and thankfully short. Barney positioned himself in Clint's line of sight and signed as Tony said his speech. Kate and Clint both spoke and signed their vows and were soon sliding rings on each other's fingers and kissing right there in front of everyone. She knew there would likely be pictures up on social media by the morning. Billy was recording everything but he'd promised not to post anything publicly until after the wedding was over.

Everything after the kiss was a blissful blur of cake, snacks, pizza, champagne for everyone but her, and their friends congratulating them while trying to touch her belly. After a while, someone cleared some space, put on some music, and declared that it was time to dance.

"I'm so glad I didn't wear the jeans, you look amazing." Clint gently caressed her cheek. "So beautiful," Clint said softly as he pulled her as close as her bump would allow, which at only three weeks from her due date was not as close as she would have liked.

"I'm glad you didn't wear the jeans too, you look seriously hot in that suit." Kate pulled away from him a bit so she could give him a good long look from head to toe. Damn, her husband was fine. Just the faintest hint of pink touched Clint's cheeks. It thrilled her that she could make him blush, even if just a little. She looped her arms over his neck and swayed to the music. "I am so glad I married you, Hawkeye."

Clint dipped down to kiss her and she was distracted by his lips for a little while before he pulled away. "I'm pretty damn happy I married you too, Hawkeye."

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Barney eyed his ex-sister-in-law suspiciously as she walked toward him. "Ya gotta watch that one sweetheart, she's trouble," he said to the tiny infant in his arms.

Bobbi rolled her eyes. "Like you're one to talk." She put a neatly wrapped box onto the coffee table. "Is Clint around?"

"He's upstairs helping Kate in the shower." Barney rocked his niece back and forth. Less than a day old and she already had very definite opinions on things like being put down in her crib or being away from her mother for more than a few minutes at a time. She wasn't a fan of either. She seemed pretty content to be in his arms though, as long as he kept moving.

"Really?" Bobbi raised her eyebrow.

"Not like that." Barney shook his head. "It was a long labor and despite her objections, no one thought Kate should attempt to shower alone just yet."

She nodded. "Can you let them both know that I stopped by? Tell them I'm sorry I missed the wedding, I just wanted to say hello and drop this off." Bobbi stepped closer and looked over the baby. "Does she have a name yet?"

"Nope, they still haven't decided. I told them I'd give them a couple of days before I named her myself."

Bobbi huffed. "She's cute. Tiny, wrinkly, and very pink, but cute." She reached out and brushed a small lock of dark hair off the baby's forehead. "Even with all this dark hair, she looks so much like Clint."

"I know, it's uncanny, right?" She reminded Barney so much of his brother when he was small.

"Nice meeting you tiny Barton," Bobbi said before turning around and heading back the way she came.

"Hey, was that Bobbi?" Clint asked. His hair was wet and he'd changed his clothes.

"It was, said she was sorry for missing the wedding and brought a gift."

"Who brought a gift?" Kate walked in cradling a mug of coffee in her hands.

"Bobbi," Clint said.

Kate nodded and took a tentative sip. Closing her eyes, she smiled. "This tastes so good," she said softly.

Barney thought about warning her that having too much coffee while nursing could affect the baby but he didn't really want to get stuck with an arrow, so he kept his mouth shut. He was pretty sure Kate knew what she was doing anyway.

Clint held his arms out. Barney placed the baby in them and ruffled his brother's damp hair. He was so damn proud of the kid. He'd done good. "I'm gonna get some sleep, wake me up when you two need a break." Maybe he was even a little proud of himself too.

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