Work Text:
Prologue:
It was going to be easy, so easy. All she had to do was stay calm, collected and in charge. She could do this. A quick glance in the mirror to make sure everything was set; hair was good, make-up perfect, cleavage in place. Back out there, meet someone, find someone, and take someone. Easy.
The bass was pounding from the speakers. She scrutinized the club. A group caught her eye, muscular, young, loud. Drinking, looking for a good time, definitely wanting to party. And there he was, on the edge of them, laughing with his head thrown back. He was perfect, at least he looked perfect and that was truly all she wanted.
She walked over, dodging the drunks, avoiding the leering men, focused on him. He looked over as she neared the group. He had obviously been drinking but his eyes, his beautiful eyes. They were amazing, focused, intelligent, and perfect.
She smiled, “Hi there, handsome. What’s your name?”
Present Day:
Clint flopped onto the couch, reaching for the remote. Normally he would be lounging in their apartment, but with Phil finishing up a last minute mission, the rooms were too lonely even with the holiday decorations. At least in the common room, there was a chance of someone wandering in. He flicked the TV on and began scrolling through the channels.
“Agent Barton, I apologize for the intrusion but there is a call for you.”
“Is it an emergency Jarvis?” His phone hadn’t gone off and Phil would have contacted him if anything was going on.
“No sir, but Ms. Collins would like to speak to you.”
“Go ahead and put her through.” It was unusual that Cari would ask to speak to one of the Avengers directly. The lobby staff usually just routed through Jarvis and rarely asked to speak to anyone on the upper floors personally.
“Agent Barton, I’m sorry to disturb you but I have…” A voice in the background cut Cari off. “No! I don’t want to talk to Agent Barton! I said I want to talk to Mr. Coulson!!” The receiver was covered and only muffled voices could be heard. He asked Jarvis to pull up the video feed of the lobby just as Cari came back on.
“I’m so sorry. There are three children here demanding to speak to Mr. Coulson. When I asked if they meant Agent Coulson, they said no and showed me your picture.” Again, the voices in the background began clamoring but he couldn’t make out what they were saying, just that they were increasing in volume. “Could you please come down and speak with them? They are getting insistent and I don’t want to have to call the authorities to have them removed.”
Looking at the video, Clint could see the kids. He thought one of them looked familiar, maybe from the community center. The other two were younger and looked upset.
“I’ll be right down.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Exiting the elevator, Clint strode over to the lobby. There were holiday decorations all over and Christmas music playing softly over the speakers. It was very tasteful, nothing like the decorating chaos of the Avengers levels. He could see the counter but Harlan was behind it, no sign of Cari. “Agent Barton, Cari took the kids over to the visitor’s lounge. She thought it would be more private there since they were attracting some attention. She’s probably stuffing them with cookies as we speak.” Thanking him, Clint headed there.
Entering the room, he saw Cari setting up cookies and bottled water on a side table. Seated on the couch were three children, a boy with a younger boy and girl. The oldest was from the community center where he taught archery. The other two must be siblings then, there was some family resemblance in their features.
“Agent Barton, thank you for coming down. This is Daniel Cervantes, his sister Mari and their cousin Ben.” He looked at the group, Daniel clearly uncomfortable, the younger ones blatantly staring. “I’ll be waiting right outside if you need anything.” He nodded to her as she went out the door. He kept his eye on the kids, all three still bundled up in coats and scarves. Maintaining eye contact, he moved over to the table. “Alright, take off your stuff, get cookies and tell me why you’re here.”
Once everyone was settled, Daniel started. “I’m sorry, Clint, I didn’t want to come over here but they said they were going no matter what. If my mom found out I let them take the train alone, she’d have killed me! They wouldn’t listen to me! I even told them that Santa wouldn’t come if they took off!” He spoke with the serious intensity only found in a twelve year old. The younger ones glared at him, obviously unhappy with being blamed for anything.
“Santa wouldn’t do that! We only wanted to meet Mr. Coulson and take a picture for Aunt Isa! We weren’t gonna do anything bad.” Mari indignantly flopped back against the couch. Ben didn’t say a word, just stared at him with wide hazel eyes. He never looked away from Clint, barely blinking. The boy looked familiar, probably also from the community center. That didn’t seem right though, the kid didn’t look like he was from there, out of town then? Maybe. The escalating argument between brother and sister pulled Clint’s attention from the younger boy.
“I told you! Clint teaches archery Saturday. We could take his picture at the center but noooooo, we had to do it today! When they figure out where we went, we are going to be in so much trouble.”
“Your parents don’t know you’re here?” The guilty looks from all three answered his question. “Alright, we’ll call your parents, go upstairs, do the picture thing and wait for them to pick you up. Fair?” Three heads nodded in unison. “Alright. Let’s go.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarvis had handled the phone calls and the adults were on their way. Now all that was left was signing some photos and keeping them entertained. Exiting the elevator on the communal floor, Clint herded the kids towards the couches. “Pick a spot, settle in and let’s get you those photos! Jarvis, pull ‘em up. Which one do you think your aunt would like?” The holo screen floated in front of the kids, showing Hawkeye in all his varied glory. Daniel and Mari started pointing at shots, debating which one to pick. He looked at Ben, who hadn’t said a word.
“Which one do you think your aunt would like?” Ben gaped, his mouth falling open and then closing. The other kids were completely silent. “Tell him!”, Mari hissed, leaning over and giving her cousin a sharp poke.
“Um, I, uh….”, he trailed off into mumbling, clearly uncomfortable. Clint watched him, waiting for a response.
“Come on kiddo, there’s gotta be one you like. It’s a group thing right? You can’t just let your cousins pick it out.”
“Yeah, Ben! Aunt Isa’s your mom! You should pick it out!” Daniel hushed his sister, “Stop bugging him, you’re making it worse.”
“Making what worse?” Now Clint was getting concerned. Between the niggling recognition and the behavior, he was starting to feel that Ben wasn’t just here for a picture. Something else was going on and he just hoped it wasn’t something that involved putting arrows in bad people.
“Are you going to tell him?” Ben glared at his cousin as she poked him again. His eyes narrowed, “No! Now leave me alone!” Mari’s expression was just like Natasha’s when shit was going to go down. “Fine. Then I’ll do it.” She sat up and faced Clint, exactly like Natasha when she called bullshit. Somehow, he felt just as nervous facing her mini-me.
“Ben is too scared to ask you for a regular picture for his mom. He doesn’t want one of you in your super suit. He wants one of just you, Mr. Coulson not Hawkeye.”
Clint blinked. He wanted a photo of Clint Coulson? His legal name was used outside of official SHEILD and Avenger business. Clint Barton and Hawkeye attracted too much attention, making it nearly impossible maintain anonymity. Clint Coulson, husband of Phil Coulson, could teach archery, work with at-risk kids, and spend time at group homes without having to worry about paparazzi or enemy agents or super-villains interfering.
“Why would your mom want that picture?” He was confused. Ben looked guilty and nervous. Mari poking him in the side didn’t seem to be helping the situation. “Ben, is there something going on? Is there something you need to tell me? You can tell me, I can help you. I’m Hawkeye remember? I help people, that’s my job.” Ben wasn’t talking, if anything, he was withdrawing even more.
“Agent Barton, Ms. Collins wanted to inform you that the children’s parents have arrived. I am directing them to the common floor. Also, Agent Coulson notified me that he is en route and will be arriving shortly.” Clint had never been so thankful for Jarvis interrupting something in his life.
“Thanks Jarvis. We’ll just have your mom pick the photo when she gets here, okay?”
“No! I want the picture to be of you and me! It’s supposed to be her special gift! Please!!” Ben seemed to be on the verge of tears.
“Okay, we can do that but you need to tell me why. Why just me and you?”
The boy sniffled, straightened his shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Because she only has one picture of you. We have tons of her and me and Gramma, but just one of you. And it’s really old and fragile! We’re not even in it, just Gramma and you. I wanted to get her one of you and me, a new one. It’s the first Christmas since Gramma died and it would make her happy. I just want her to be happy.” The last word ended on a wail as he burst into tears, throwing himself into Clint’s arms.
Clint looked down at the sobbing boy, then over at his cousins. They were panic-stricken, clearly unsure what to do or say. Daniel finally swallowed, clearing his throat.
“Aunt Isa and Uncle Ed were looking at the paper with Mom yesterday. There was a picture of you and the Avengers on the front page. Aunt Isa pointed at it and said that you sure looked like the picture she had of her dad. She never met him and her mom never really talked about him. Her mom died around Valentine’s Day. Aunt Isa’s been pretty sad and Mom was saying that this trip would be a good way to get her mind off things. Ben heard them talking and looked at the picture. He asked me how to find you and I told him how you teach archery at the center. I said we could talk to you on Saturday but he wanted to see you before then.” He lowered his gaze to his cousin, who was snuffling against Clint’s shoulder. “He just really wanted to get a picture for her before Christmas.”
Everything clicked together for Clint; the boy thought he was his grandfather. Well, that was impossible. He had never been interested in women, hadn’t even tried to see what the fuss was about.
“Ben, I’m sorry but I’m not your granddad, there’s no way that could happen.” He hugged the boy tight, rocking him a little to help soothe him. “Tell you what though, you and your family can hang out here tonight. We can have dinner, watch Christmas movies and eat popcorn till we explode. How does that sound?” Ben gazed up at him, his eyes still wet and shiny. “Can I still get a picture though?” Clint laughed, “All the pictures you want, little man.”
The elevator chose that moment to ding open, Jarvis’ voice directing the occupants as they disembarked. He recognized Mr. & Mrs. Cervantes; the other couple were obviously Ben’s parents. Isa ran over to them, Ben still cradled in his arms.
“Ben! What were you all thinking? Coming all the way over here by yourselves? Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in?” She was young, not much older than thirty. Not beautiful in a conventional or stunning way, but definitely attractive. Her eyes were quite amazing, a clear blue, almost like the ocean. They reminded him of… holy shit.
“What paper was the photo in?”
“I’m sorry, what are you talking about?”
“The photo you were looking at yesterday, what paper was it in?”
“It was the Bugle, Mr. Coulson.” Mari piped in from her end of the couch.
“Jarvis, pull it up for me.” He handed Ben over to his mom as he stood up, walking over to the holo display. The picture was on the front page, him and the team at the tree lighting for Stark Industries. They were all there, him, Tony, Steve, Natasha and next to him was his husband, Phil. It was rare for them both to be in public photos; rarer still were the ones with clear shots of their faces. This photo was even in color, perfect. “Jarvis, enlarge here please.” Phil’s face took up the screen, his blue eyes dominating the shot. Clint turned towards Isa, her own blue eyes immense in her pale face.
“Oh my God, it was him,” she was trembling, barely noticeable but still there. “Who is he? “
“That’s my husband, Agent Phil Coulson and he is going to have all kinds of explaining to do when he gets home.”
“Explain what?” The man himself walked into the room, taking in the group of complete strangers surrounding his husband with barely a flicker of concern. “What do you think I’ve done now?”
“Oh, I know what you’ve done. Obviously it was before we met, so I’m not mad or anything.” Clint was grinning like a loon; this was going to be spectacular. “This is Oscar Cervantes, Karen Cervantes, their kids Daniel and Mari.” Everyone nodded hello, Phil nodded back. “This is their cousin Ben and his dad Ed.” More hellos, more nods. “And this is Isa, Ed’s wife, Ben’s mom.” She was standing in stunned silence. Phil glanced at Clint, concern in his eyes. “Oh, yeah, forgot to mention, she’s your daughter.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once the dust settled, Clint moved the group down to their private apartment. After setting the kids up with a movie, the adults gathered at the dining room table.
“Well, this is definitely unexpected.” Phil toyed with his coffee cup, definitely still surprised. Isa sat across from him, clutching her cup. “That’s one way to describe it”, she smiled weakly.
“I definitely want to hear this story.” Clint grinned at Phil over his own mug, clearly enjoying seeing his unflappable husband at a loss.
Sighing, Isa pulled out her phone. “I guess I’ll start with the photo.” She slid the device over to Phil, photo selected. It was a much younger Phil, Ranger days most likely from the haircut, and a beautiful brunette. “That’s my mom.”
“Val.” Phil whispered, touching the image gently. “I haven’t thought of her in years.”
“Mom rarely talked about you, wasn’t till after she died that I found out why.” Isa paused, sipping her coffee before she went on. “When I was little, Mom always said I was a blessing, a gift to her. I knew that my dad had been a soldier and had gone off to fight in Iraq. I asked all the questions, what was he like, where was he from, where did they meet; her answers were always vague, never anything solid. She promised to tell me the whole story when I got older, that I would understand then. The right time just never seemed to come. When she died, I found an envelope with the photo and a letter from her to me. She explained everything, it was like some bizarre soap opera.”
Clint watched her, saw the little hitches in her breath, how her fingers dug into the cup. There were so many emotions rolling beneath her calm features but her eyes remained steady, holding Phil’s as she spoke.
“Mom was an only child, no cousins or other relatives. She had no one after her parents died, she was alone. She decided that by the time she was thirty, she would have a family, come hell or high water. Even if she wasn’t in a relationship at that point, she would go out and make it happen. She planned to find someone, take them to bed, tell them bye in the morning and hopefully end up pregnant afterwards.”
“We were all out at some bar, on leave before deployment. A bunch of Rangers living it up for a week before heading off to Desert Storm. Val walked over, smiled at me and sat on my lap. She was gorgeous. We spent my entire leave together.” He looked over at Clint, frowning as he explained, “I was still figuring things out then, not sure if it was not finding the right girl or just something with me. Val didn’t seem to care, just wanted to have some fun and wasn’t looking for any strings.”
“She met you the week of her thirtieth birthday. You being deployed worked perfectly. She didn’t want a partner, just a child. You were perfect.” Isa sadly smiled at him. “Gone after a week, never to be seen again and all that was left was a polaroid from some bar and me.” Ed clasped his wife’s hand, giving it a small squeeze. Clint’s own hand wrapped itself around Phil’s, reminding him that he was there.
“She loved Christmas. She started decorating Thanksgiving night and kept everything up till nearly Valentine’s every year. When she got sick, all she wanted was one last holiday with us.” Her voice, fairly steady before now started to falter. “I finally put all of her things away in September, luckily the tree was fake.” The tears were streaming down her face, but she kept talking. “We came up here for the holiday. Mom always wanted to see New York done up for the season. You know, it’s the first holiday I’ve spent without her? The very first one.” Overwhelmed, she crumpled in her seat sobbing. Before Clint had a chance to move himself, Phil was next to her.
“Hey, it’s okay”, he soothed as he gathered her in his arms, “it’s okay. I know it hurts but we’re all here, we’re all here.” Phil locked gazes with Clint over his daughter’s hair, an unspoken dialogue flying between them. At Clint’s firm nod, he took a deep breath.
“I am not going to say this whole meeting hasn’t been a tremendous shock for everyone. I realize we all just met and know nothing about each other, but how about you visit us while you’re in town? You don’t have to say yes right now, but I would like a chance to talk to you and get to know my family.” Isa breathed in shakily as she looked at her husband. His wide grin seemed to be the only answer she needed. “That sounds like a great idea. Thank you.”
“Alright!” Clint clapped his hands together as he stood, “Pizza all around for dinner and then family share time before heading home! Jarvis, pull up the delivery menus and I’ll round up more drinks.” He moved towards the kitchen, followed closely by his husband. Strong hands encircled his waist, pulling him back against a firm chest.
“Thank you.”
“You are more than welcome. Not every day you meet your kid, you know? And besides, kids at the holidays? More family? Always the best!” Clint turned, placing his hands on the back of Phil’s neck. “I love you, even if you aren’t a shiny gold star.” He grinned as Phil kissed him.
“Jackass.”
“Your jackass. Merry Christmas babe.”
“Merry Christmas to you too”, Phil whispered as he kissed him again.