"Who?"
"It's Ororo. The weather controlling meta, remember?"
"Oh! White hair with the blue eyes. Hard to forget. That's one lucky catch. How the hell did you manage to get a girlfriend like that?" We were already at a noisy bar which was the best place to get that drunk feel, even when you haven't even gulped a pint.
"Well it's nothing special and I've known her for like three years now so it just happened." We were at a table near the bar where we could get the gist of everything that was happening around us.
"That basic huh? Not like I expected anything different when it comes to you. I can stake my next glass that you didn't even know when you entered a relationship." He said with a loud laugh that drew some temporary gaze at us.
"Okay, that's uncalled for. I'm not that dumb."
"I'm not saying you are. I'm just saying that I thought you wouldn't have cared. It's hard imagining you being committed to someone. Nat and the others don't count, they are basically family so that's different." Clint explained. "I figured you would be that type of guy that would rather go and get laid at a motel than allow someone inside. Seeing you willing to accommodate Nat and Yelena and even take care of them like some sort of sibling was a good surprise for us though. You're changing man, I'm glad."
The way he said it made me think if I was ever like that. Sure I knew I changed a lot, which was normal, considering I went from a 40 year old man to the peak of my youth and also with HYDRA and my powers. Everyone was bound to change drastically if they were put in my shoes.
Clint had once mentioned that the reason I joke a lot was to cover up the trauma I received from HYDRA, which was wrong.
I think the reason why I mellowed down was because this was a second life. One more dangerous, more exciting, more thrilling… more fulfilled than any dream I could have dreamt.
It was one of the reasons why I gave my romance with Ororo a chance. It wasn't a way to live, brooding all day long for the rest of my life.
This was my Marvel re-do and I was trying to live it the best I can. I still took things seriously, but it was all hidden under the façade of calmness and nonchalance.
I've changed, yes. But I wasn't that different than I used to be.
"I have to. The world keeps spinning, me not changing with it would be redundant to myself. It's basic human biology after all." I said while signaling for a waitress to bring more bottles.
"I don't think it has much to do with biology but more to do with being a man. It's something to be proud of bro. I ever told you I got a son?" Clint seemed intoxicated but it shouldn't have affected him to the point where he would be blurring out his secrets like this. So whatever he was saying, he was well aware.
I shook my head. "No, you never mentioned it."
"Well I got this little boy, a real bundle you know. It changes everything man. First it starts with the little glances and the occasional jabs, then it balls up to a date… and a few years later, she's the most important person in your life. That's the moment you think 'this is it! This is the life!', but it's not, at least not fully. A few years go by and then you make the decision and a few months later, one of the toughest you've ever lived, he comes by. A very small life that you can squeeze out with your hands, but you can't. You won't. Because that right there is all the proof you need. Who you are, who you could ever be, the culmination of your life: that's what he represents. Your child."
"That sounds beautiful." It honestly did.
"It is. And then everyday after that, all you can think of is how you'll go home and look at him, hold him in your hands above your head, because that's where he belongs. It's the life I tell you. The last thing you would want is for him to know about all the fucked up things you did. I'm not talking about you failing a test or stealing some cash, I'm talking about you being contracted to kill 12 people because all their life meant to you was just target practice and a reputation boost." He was hurting. Not because of what he did but because he knew that that was the life he lived, the life he was living until the foreseeable future, and the life he hoped to get out of.
"But… you still read him his favorite bedtime story because it's the least you could do." The soft smile on his face was already enough for me to know that he put his family above all. "You do all that because that's what it means to be a father." He looked at me as he said that.
"I'm not ready for that yet. I still have a long way to go before I get a picture as beautiful as that I'm afraid." I said.
He nodded at my words but his eyes didn't leave me. "I know. You have a long way to go, but you are getting there."
"I don't think so. I don't think I can settle down currently. I have too much to deal with." I wasn't looking to get tied down anytime soon, it wasn't worth the trouble. Though I had plans of settling down, I wasn't going to do it now.
"Oh I know. But the thing is, it's not something you plan for… it just happens. And trust me, when it does and she says yes, nothing else at that point would matter. Not even if the world crumbled."
We remained in silence after that, just drinking and immersing ourselves in the lively atmosphere of the bar.
Clint ended up becoming drunk and as the sober one of us two, I had to take him home.
Not the apartment where he lived in the city, but his house in the middle of nowhere.
I was half expecting Laura to put a gun to my head for just appearing in the middle of the field, but instead she just let out a sigh of exasperation on seeing Clint's drunken state.
"Sorry for popping up unannounced but I figured he would rather spend the night at home than his apartment. My name is Draul by the way."
I introduced myself to her after depositing Clint to the bed as this was the first time we've met.
"Call me Laura. Clint talks a lot about you. Beverage?"
"Water is fine. I'm guessing I'm one interesting study case right?" She laughed as I said that but shook her head.
"Not like that, no. Interesting is one word, though not one that defines what he speaks of you. I would settle for unique." She handed me the glass of water which I took with thanks and gulped it all down. "Unique, huh."
"You're not in a hurry are you? Make yourself at home while I whip up something in the kitchen for you. God knows you need it if Clint got drunk."
It's not like I had anything pressing on my plate these days but I agreed and sat on one of their couches, picked up the remote control and started flipping through the channels.
I was in the midst of flipping through the channels when a moving shadow caught my attention.
It was a boy, no older than three years old, hiding behind the stairs.
"Hey there little soldier."
He shrunk more into his hiding spot as if to hide from my view, which he was failing at, but I won't say that since he deserved some point for being cute.
Laura walked in with sandwiches and a glass of hot milk but paused as she saw the little boy.
"That's Cooper. We don't get visitors around here." She sounded embarrassed saying the last part out loud. Though not an ideal situation to raise a child, they had their reasons, valid ones. "Come here sweetie. This is Uncle Draul."
The boy, emboldened by his mother, walked out of his hiding place and came to meet me.
"How are you doing, Cooper?"
"Fayn." He replied timidly, not nearly enough to not take my outstretched hand for a shake.
"He's cute." I muttered to Laura as the boy climbed onto my legs.
"He is." It was the same tone Clint used in talking about him and Laura that she used in answering, making everyone who heard her know how dearly she loves her first child.
I ate the sandwiches while Cooper played on my legs, sometimes pulling on my beard only for him to be taken by his mother who patted him till he fell asleep.
"So, why is Clint drunk?"
"That would be my fault. I took him to the bar for a bros day out, we ended up talking about some stuff and he just took to the bottle." I said truthfully, not entirely.
"He told you, didn't he?" She asked in a soft voice.
"He did." I knew what she was talking about. Clint was a killer, yes, but not a cold-blooded one.
If it were the Clint he used to be, the one he had told me about, he wouldn't have even bothered about who his arrows killed as long they were conscious of their actions.
Clint was not for this life. What he was doing now was something no different than a tenure for the favor Fury did for him and Laura.
"You don't have to worry about him, he's okay. Frustrated, but okay."
"I know. But it doesn't change the fact that I would rather have him here than out there. I guess we can't have it all after all. We are trying all what we can to be the best for Cooper and his future siblings, but even that can't change what we used to be. Maybe this is our karma." She brushed the hair out of Coopers face and set him down on another chair in comfort.
"I don't think karma has anything to do with this. You both are already doing the best you can, which is a lot in my opinion, sure it's not how you would want it but at least both of you are trying. THAT is beautiful, regardless of what you or anyone else might think." Coming to this house made me realize something; I already had the perfect picture I wanted. Two soldier brothers, two assassin sisters and one Draul. It might not be the standard perfect picture but it was MY perfect picture.
"Clint was right when he said you were on hell of a conversation partner. Thanks for that."
"No problem. I should leave now. Tell Clint I said no drink for the rest of the month."
"Haha, will do. Do try and visit, I'm sure Cooper would love that."
"I will." And with that I was gone from the Bartons. Today had been more thought provoking than what I was comfortable with, but it was nice.
Unlike Clint, the enemies I had to deal with were more up the ladder in every category.
I already had a family, not related by blood but stronger than one. And like him, God knows I would do anything for mine.
All these were things I didn't have to think much about. What was is already past, what could be would depend on how much I could influence the future .
Time for me to go for the Power Stone and begin the assimilation.
I haven't experimented on how much energy I could draw out since, well there was no place for me to experiment on, but that would change soon.
There were hundreds of dead planets out in the universe. One getting destroyed won't be cause for alarm. It was fine as long as it wasn't anywhere near our galaxy.
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