nep

Kate confronted a friend of hers who worked at the local library about the issue. Well, not upfront. More like asking her at the desk, ‘hey, you have any books on romance?’ and then Kate checked out as many books as she could carry. Now here she was at her desk, books littering the area all around the defeated woman in the midst of it.

Valentine’s Day was only a few days away and Kate didn’t know what on earth she was going to give Yelena. What did Yelena even like? She never talked about such mundane things. Maybe how the rain was annoying, or maybe how that person was a bit sketch, but never about things she liked. Did Yelena like chocolate? Flowers? Big fluffy animals?

Kate really doesn’t know why she went to the library at all. It’s not like she was going to find a big book of gift ideas for your girlfriend, but she was expecting at least something more than the books she held in her hands. These were all cheesy as hell; they didn’t come close to what her relationship was like in actuality. And now Kate was panicking about her gift not being good enough.

Kate crossed off the last present idea on her list with a frustrated sigh, shutting the cover of a thick hardback book closed and shoving it aside so she could rest her head on her arms. She felt completely fucked.

It wasn’t like Yelena was going to dump her girlfriend of a year and a half over a shitty gift, but it sure felt like it. Kate wanted to create something meaningful like all those videos she sees on the internet, but she just didn’t have the ideas or the money. It was a frustrating ordeal to be at odds with.

With her head still resting on top of her arms, Kate pulled a thin book covered in a layer of dust towards her. It took effort to lift her head up again, but she did nonetheless, opening the cover to meet with a white piece of paper folded neatly in half, a contrast to the yellow pages waiting to be read. An intruding thought of curiosity made Kate pick it up.

There was a brown wax seal with a L stamped on it, keeping the paper closed. Actually, there were quite a few pieces of paper judging by the weight of it. Did someone accidentally leave this here?

 Kate knows she shouldn’t open it, but it is so tempting. What are the words that rest inside? How long has this been here? She had to read it.

Well.

What can she say? Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Kate slid a finger through the crease of the paper, tearing right through the wax seal. She unfolded the pieces of paper, eyes met with messy cursive. At the top of the paper the date was smudged, but Kate was sure she could make out a 2019.

May as well read now, right?

To the eyes who see this particular letter, 06.11.2019

Out of billions of people, you are the one who received it. This must mean you’ve picked up ‘The Art of the Pale.’ I wonder why. Is it the title? Is it how thin the book is? Is it the yellow pages that have been read over and over and over again throughout the years?

I won’t pester you with my talk. I’m just here to deliver a message.

Write a letter.

To anyone, really. Write a letter to your father, your hero, your favorite teacher– you can even write a letter back to me. “Why?”, you may ask.

Words on a page can mean the world to someone. A simple, “hello, how is your day going?” or a, “your smile brightens up the sky!” could do much more than you can ever imagine. Tell someone how much you appreciate them. Tell someone why they are such an important person in your life. Tell someone their impact on the world through your eyes.

They might not be here forever. So tell them now.

- Lila ♡

Kate read over the last line over and over again, like it was an enticing line of poetry.

Tell them now.

Maybe she will.

–

“Kate Bishop~”

“Yelena Belova~” Kate mimicked, embracing the woman into a warm hug. Yelena kissed the top of Kate’s head through a smile, running her hand through her hair. Kate leaned into the gesture, enjoying the soft fingers that caressed her skin.

“How’s Lucky?”

Kate pulled away with a smile, nodding to the golden boy. “Ready to go on a walk.”

Yelena hummed, squinting her eyes at the animal. “Typical dogs,” she mumbled before putting on her best smile towards Kate. “Ready to get some coffee?” 

Kate dramatically fluctuated her arm to her chest. “I thought you’d never ask.”

With their arms interlaced, the two (or rather, three) walked to the coffee shop mere steps away from them. Linking arms may have been pointless given such a short walk, but it didn’t stop the warmth Kate felt when being near Yelena. It was comforting, knowing they were so close.

Yelena opened the door to the shop, unlinking their arms to let Kate and Lucky go through first. Kate bowed dramatically in thanks, not missing the roll of eyes Yelena gave before she was up at the counter.

Yelena was so pretty when she ordered coffee. Her voice went down a tone, she always lent a smile to the employees, always thought about Lucky. Every time Kate brought Lucky along, Yelena always insisted he get a treat. And alas, here they were, ordering a cup of whipped cream for a dog with one eye. 

Boy, was Lucky excited about his whipped cream in a cup. Yelena tried her best to suppress a laugh at the sight of Lucky getting the substance all over his mound; she crouched down and used two fingers to swipe the whip cream off the top of Lucky’s nose. Kate smiled softly at the sight.

Add it to the list of little things Yelena does.

Kate let out a quick ‘thank you’ to the barista who delivered their drinks. It shouldn’t be a surprise to Kate that Yelena remembers her order by now– it was rather simple, but it didn’t stop the warmth of her cheeks. God, was she glad she didn’t turn red easily. She’d probably get made fun of constantly.

Kate motioned the hot drink to Yelena, the blonde reaching for it blindly as she wiped her fingers on a napkin.

“We go to park now, boy,” Yelena grinned, rubbing Lucky on the head. She looked up at Kate before pushing herself up, offering her arm out for her to hold. Kate took it gladly.

“Here.” Kate passed the leash to Yelena once they were outside. “One sec.”

Kate used her left hand to pull her scarf tighter around her neck, switching the coffee to her other hand so she could wrap the longer length of the scarf around the blonde next to her. Yelena tried to protest, but Kate ignored her comments; she wasn’t actively trying to take it off anyways. Kate pulled back for as much space that allowed them apart and grinned at the unamused face inches away from her.

“This is unnecessary.”

“Come on,” Kate beamed. “You gotta stay warm.”

Yelena merely raised a brow before rolling her eyes. It was a battle they both knew she would lose. And besides, Kate is sure that the extra warmth is appreciated; she just wouldn’t admit it because she was ‘raised from the mighty grail of Russia.’

On the walk to Central Park, Kate brought up the fact that Lucky didn’t have a scarf of his own every two minutes. They were arm in arm and connected by a big wool scarf and Lucky was bare, she said. The dog has fur, Yelena retorted. But think about how he must feel embarrassed being so naked in front of all these clothed people, Kate whined. He is a dog, Yelena said. He does not feel embarrassment. You don’t know that, Kate fought back. If you looked closely, you could probably see Yelena’s eye twitch.

They ended up getting a scarf from a street vendor.

If anything, Lucky certainly looked happier. His scarf was red and gold, complimentary to the color of his fur. Kate seemed happier as well. And that was all that really mattered to Yelena.

–

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

Yelena squinted at the brunette whose hands were behind her back. “Are you regretting not bringing your gloves?”

“... Perhaps.”

Yelena rolled her eyes with a sigh, motioning for Kate to come closer. “Give me your hands.”

“No.”

“Kate. Give me your hands.”

“It’s fine really, they’ll warm up when I get home and-”

“Kate, if you don’t give me your hands, I’m going to make you trade drinks with me.”

Kate let out a groan, taking her rather purple hands from behind her back and holding them out.

“This is because of your fucking iced latte,” Yelena accused, taking Kate’s hands into her warm ones and rubbing them together.

“Shut up. It’s good coffee.”

“It tastes the same when it’s hot!”

“It does not!”

Yelena grumbled, blowing a breath of hot air on the hands in hers. “At this rate, you’re going to die with an iced coffee in your hands.”

“I will not,” Kate huffed. “You’re just jealous that I have a drink that tastes good no matter the season.”

“Oh my god,” Yelena moaned. “Kate Bishop, you are going to kill me one day.”

“I thought we passed this stage.”

“You kill me in many different ways,” Yelena kissed the top of her knuckles. “And I think I’m just going to have to make peace with that.”

Kate grinned sheepishly, pulling her hands back to herself to stuff them in her pockets. Yelena slipped her own hand inside one of the pockets and interlaced their fingers together. The two shared smiles; the warmth in the small space was comforting when they saw their breaths.

The two women sat side by side in the chilly weather, watching Lucky play with the other dogs. It often looked like his scarf was about the fall off, but the two were proved wrong every time. That dog seems determined to make it his mission to not let it fall.

They eventually walked home hand in hand, mindless chatter emitting from their lips. It was evening, the sun setting to the ends of the Earth. They did their regular routine whenever one of them stayed at the others; take showers, borrow clothes, eat. Oh, and a bunch of kisses here and there.

As Yelena was taking her shower, Kate sat at her desk and looked at the unfinished letter that stared back at her. Without sitting down, Kate leaned over to begin writing.

In technical terms, perhaps this could be called a love letter. Yet in Kate’s terms, this was merely an appreciation letter. An appreciation letter of all the little things Yelena did. Holding her hand when she saw it turn purple, kisses at the right moments, encouragement through their training sessions, remembering her orders.

It was easy writing about all the ways she loves Yelena. Yelena took rather fast showers, but Kate listing the ways on how much she loves her girlfriend? Even faster.

Kate gave her letter a once over before folding it in 3 halves and sticking it closed with a piece of tape. She wrote Yelena’s name on the outside of the paper before capping her pen closed with a smile.

The shower stopped running.

Kate immediately sprinted to the black bag sat on the chair in her room, placing the letter inside before jumping on the bed and turning over to innocently pretend she was asleep.

She could hear Yelena start a sentence but cut herself off at the sight of Kate. Kate had to suppress a smile; if only she could add this to the list of things Yelena does.

Within minutes, she heard the click of a lamp and felt shuffling on the bed before a hand swept Kate’s hair across the pillow rather than lay against her neck. She felt a kiss against her cheek and a soft ‘good night’ hushed near her ear before Yelena leaned back to settle into the mattress.

It was the little things she does.

-

Yelena wakes up first.

She intended to do the usual whenever she stayed over at Kate’s. Get up, brush her teeth, make coffee. However, it’s quite the ordeal, trying to free yourself from sleeping Kate’s grasp.

It was like a game of tug and war; Yelena bet Kate didn’t even know there was a pout and furrow of her brows when she slept. Kate held a death grip on Yelena’s arm as the latter tried to tug away, but she soon realized that to unclasp her fingers around her wrist was all that it took.

 Yelena ran a hand through her hair, taking the hair tie on the nightstand to pull it up. She checked her phone's notifications, a hand rummaging around her bag for a change of clothes before she heard a ‘crinkle.’

She looked over in curiosity, pulling out a folded piece of paper sealed with tape. A few pieces of paper, actually.

Yelena looked back to the sleeping brunette whose cheek was squished against the pillow. Was this from her? There wasn’t any ‘from’ on the paper, it just said ‘To, Yelena.’ It did look like Kate’s handwriting the more she stared, though. How long has this been here?

With a change of clothes, and a well deserved head scratch for Lucky, Yelena took the letter with her to the kitchen and tossed it on the counter. She poured coffee grounds into the coffee maker, refiltering the water, and turned it on like a pro. She rested her face on the palm of her hand, eyes falling to the letter.

Perhaps she’ll read it as she drinks her coffee.

Speaking of, Yelena took the freshly brewed delight, taking a refreshing sip before she went to sit by the big window parallel from where she was. Lucky sat by her feet, resting his head atop of her toes as Yelena set down her coffee and grabbed the letter.

She carefully removed the tape and unfolded the pages.

Dear Yelena, 02.14.22

Hi. I don’t know how to start this off, really, so I’m just going to get right into it.

I really, really appreciate you. Is that weird to say?  I really do. You’ve made me feel comforted when I felt the most lost and wiped my tears when my mum went to jail. You’re such an amazing person, Yelena. You make me feel like it’s okay to be damaged goods, y’know? Everyone sees me as the girl who has everything but you don’t. You see me as Kate Bishop. Who also has shit going on in their life. And you make me feel like that’s okay. Each day, I adore you more and more and I want you to know that all the little things you’ve done for me? They were so much bigger than what they seem. 

So, Yelena Belova. Here’s all the little things you do that make me fall more and more in love with you.

–

“Kate Bishop!” 

Yelena pounced on the lump under the sheets, a hearty laugh erupting from her lips. Kate shot up alert, a moment of confusion clouding her thoughts before processing that the attacker on top of her was in fact, just her girlfriend.

Kate blinked the spots from her eyes a few times before making an attempt to speak, only to be interrupted with a kiss that tasted of bitter coffee. 

Yelena and her black coffee.

Kate returned it hesitantly, confusion still evident in her sleepy demeanor. Yelena perked up with a giggle, smiling down at the confused brunette before her.

“Hi.”

Kate cleared her throat. “Hi?”

Yelena rolled off Kate’s lap, settling down next to her. She wrapped her arms around the brunette’s waist, pulling herself up to fit her head just under her chin. “I found your letter.”

Yelena felt Kate hold her breath. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Yelena hummed, nuzzling further into the warmth of her girlfriend.

“What did you think of it?”

Yelena was quiet for a few moments in thought, anxiety slowly seeping through Kate before she saw the blonde lift her head up with a sleepy smile.

Yelena brushed the stray strands of hair out of Kate’s eyes before settling her hand down to cup Kate’s face. Yelena’s expression was soft, as were her lips.

Yelena’s kiss was gentle and sweet; Kate relaxed into it, fingers running themselves through the ponytail of blonde hair. The kiss lasted for a long minute, neither of them wanting to pull away from the warmth. Yet alas, Yelena pulled away first and Kate was greeted with a smile that made her heart skip a beat.

“I love you.”

Kate’s eyes softened at the declaration, straining her neck to leave a quick peck on her cheek. “I love you, too.”

“Happy Valentine's Day.”

Kate scrunched her nose with a pout.. “Aren’t you going to say it to Lucky, too?”

“What?” Yelena huffed with suppressed laughter. “That dog doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

“Yuh-huh!” Kate let out a whistle. “Lucky, come here!”

The jingle of the dog’s collar could be heard as he pranced into the room, jumping up on the bed. Kate gave him a head rub, before talking to him in her best baby voice. “Do you want to tell Yelena about your little girlfriend at the park or should I?”

Yelena turned to the dog and gasped, eyes going wide. “Nooo!”

“Yup!” Kate grinned, scratching the dog under his chin. “He’s got action.”

The two fell into a comfortable silence, both petting Lucky, who was obviously having the time of his life. The three of them cuddled like that for a while, the sun getting higher in the sky as the minutes passed on before Kate spoke.

“Wanna go see Lucky’s new girlfriend?”

“You know it!” Kate winked, shooting an arrow up at the hallways ceiling, a cloud of intoxicating smoke surrounding the oncoming men. The two archers fought back to back, calling shots whenever one of the tracksuits got too close. They were a good working pair; Kate was able to keep her voice steady on the side of Clint’s hearing aid; he never once missed an important call from her.

He also didn’t miss the dink! of something hard and metal falling onto his partner.

Clint looked down to see Kate on the floor, blood seeping through her hair and a metal rod laying next to her, as if it was innocent.

Well, shit.

Clint protected Kate with his own body the best he could, but with more area to cover, he needed more range. So he took some of her trick arrows and did his best to gently push Kate underneath the desk in a cubicle.

A metal pipe taking his partner out certainly wasn’t on the list of possibilities, but with the job comes surprises. Best he could do now is take all of the oncomers out little by little.

–

Ringing.

Kate. Kate, can you-

The ringing is becoming overwhelming.

There’s noise, but it sounds muffled. Are those gunshots?

Kate. Kate, you need to-

God, this is a horrible headache. I want to sleep.

Kate!

Her eyes opened.

“Kate, thank god,” a voice sighed in relief. “Come on, we gotta go.”

Kate tried to speak but nothing came out. All she could do was observe.

Clint seemed to pull her out from under a desk (when did she get there?) and hoisted her up so he could put his arms under the back of her knees and put a secure hand behind her back to carry her. Kate looked around; multiple men on the ground, lights busted out. It seems like Clint collected some of the arrows she shot earlier, based on their missing presence. Her gaze drifted down to the floor where her eyes met a metal pipe.

So that’s the fucker that knocked me out. Didn’t know an inanimate object was on their side.

Kate swallowed, her voice hoarse. “What…”

“We’re leaving before any more come, kid. You hit your head pretty bad.”

“I didn’t hit it,” Kate mumbled. “It hit me.”

Clint chuckled, planting a zip hook to the carpeted floor before carefully shuffling out the window with Kate in his arms, letting the wind lead them down the stories of the building.

“It’s like I’m flying!” Kate cheered woozily, a cheesy grin on her lips.

“You get a lot of that with the job!”

Kate beamed in response, giving a thumbs up. Clint rolled his eyes before his feet met the ground. Unclipping the connection to the zip-wire, he readjusted his grip on Kate.

“Let’s get you home, kid.”

–

“We should really take Lucky out for a walk.”

“Nuh-uh. You will stay put.” Kate’s arm was around his shoulder, feet moving sluggishly through the hallway of the apartment. Clint slid her off his shoulders into the recliner, Kate practically melting into the comforting cushions. “You hear me?”

“Whatever you say, Dad.”

Dad.

Clint turned his back to Kate, headed towards the kitchen, a tug on the side of his lips. Dad.

“Alright,” Clint muttered under his breath with a crack of his knuckles. “Let’s see what we got here.” He swung open the freezer door. Frozen beans. Frozen corn. Frozen peas.

He grabbed the frozen vegetable bags, picked up the gauze laying on the counter, and pulled in a chair to sit directly in front of Kate.

“Lift your head up.”

Kate swiveled her head to the side before she adjusted her neck to stand upright, sarcastically smiling. Clint placed two frozen bags to each side of her head with a scoff. “Hold these.”

Kate held the packs loosely, Clint pushing one to the back of her head and wrapping gauze around it with his elbow on her head. “Do you have a headache?”

“Not anymore.”

“Tired?”

“Yup,” Kate dragged out, popping the p at the end.

“Nausea?”

“If I keep talking, yeah.”

“Shit,” Clint sighed, finishing the gauze off before leaning back in his seat properly. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to stay out of the light and sleep, alright?”

Kate hummed in affirmation.

“Once you wake up again, we’re washing that wound.”

“Dude… that’s going to hurt like a bitch.”

Clint huffed in amusement, giving Kate’s knee a pat as he stood up. “I’m going to take Lucky out for a walk and get some supplies while I’m at it. You need anything?”

Kate hummed a no, tucking herself in between her knees.

“That posture isn’t good for your back, y’know.”

“I can do what I want.”

Clint rolled his eyes, picking up a knit blanket on the side of the couch, unfolding it, and placing it gently over the figure.

What did he get himself into now?

–

“Nuh-uh.”

“Kate, get in the tub.”

“Why can’t we just do it over the sink,” she whined.

“Alright,” Clint held up his hands in surrender. “Be my guest. But I will not be held responsible for how sick you’ll feel after hanging your head sideways.”

Kate let out a huff of annoyance, shutting the door to the bathroom. “What am I even supposed to wear?”

“A t-shirt!” Clint called, grabbing a few towels from the closet. “Look, I promise as soon as I clean your wound, I’m going to leave you to the bathroom. But if you don’t come out in ten minutes after that, I’m going to presume you fainted and I’ll come in and get you myself.”

A sigh of defeat could be heard from behind the doors, an ‘Alright, Jesus,’ following along with it. “You can come in.”

Clint pushed the door open with a nudge of his foot, setting the towels in his hands on the sink. Kate was in the tub already, hugging her knees. Her head lolled to the side; the fatigue was obvious in her posture. He’d have to make this quick.

Clint turned the faucet on, checking the temperature with his hands before pulling the tap up to initiate the water out of the head. “Stick out your hand.” Kate raised it from the bottom of the tub to let him run the water over her palm.

“This good?”

Kate nodded sleepily. “‘ts good.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Clint said, not giving Kate time to process his words before he ran the water on top of her scalp. Kate huffed an exhale of pain letting out a small ‘ow’, grabbing her knees tighter.

Clint pushed Kate’s hair aside as best he could to see the wound properly. Through the dark hue of her hair, he could see a purplish blue around a red cut, already scabbing over.

“You’re gonna need to go to the hospital for this, kid,” he sighed, grabbing the yellow bottle of shampoo from the side of the tub. “Hold this.”

“What?”

“The shower head,” Clint repeated. “Hold it for a moment.”

Kate raised an arm moving at sloth’s pace, the water facing down to spray on her toes. Clint poured the shampoo into one of his hands, clipping the cap shut of the bottle with the other to put back. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

Clint gently lathered the shampoo around the bruising, careful to not let any drip into the cut. Kate wasn’t reacting as bad as he thought she would; she seemed to focus her gaze on the water spraying onto her toes, mumbling something.

“What’d you say?”

“I said that’s not what banana shampoo should smell like.”

Clint chuckled. “You’d know.”

Clint lathered the shampoo through Kate’s scalp, gently massaging the bruised area around the cut. He loosely ran his fingers down to the ends of her hair, carelessly running through the tangles. That wasn’t his main concern; it was up higher.

Once Clint was done, he aimed to grab the shower handle, but Kate (thankfully) motioned for him to put his hands under the water and rinse the soap off. He hummed in thanks before taking it and gently rinsing the soap off her hair.

The wound was small but seemed to be deep. He could easily push the two disturbed pieces of flesh together and have that be that, but there’s no method of cleaning out any potential bacteria in such a thin wound that he knew of. She was definitely going to have to go to the hospital.

Clint carelessly ran the water over the ends of her hair, bringing it up again to focus on keeping the wound clean. As soon as he thought all was well, he handed the shower head to Kate and pushed himself up off his feet with a grunt, patting her on the shoulder.

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it. Remember, ten minutes or I’m getting your ass.”

Clint could practically hear her eyes roll in her words. “Okay, dad.”

Dad.

Clint leaned on the outside of the bathroom, listening to the water run.

She kept calling him dad.

It had to be because of the concussion, right? She must be mistaking him for her actual dad. That’s the only logical explanation to come out of this. Or is the concussion letting all the words she thinks flow out of her mouth freely? He really needs to get her to the hospital.

Oh god, is he going to take on another stray?

Clint opened the door to the fridge, pulling out a water bottle and pulling out a glass from the cupboard above it. He flicked the cap of the bottle into the recycling bin and poured the water into the glass before leaning against the counter. He crossed his arms in a thinking manner.

Dad.

Clint called Lucky and poured his empty bowl full of food, running his hand along his back before bringing the bag of supplies to the coffee table. He began taking things out of the bag, setting them nicely in order of importance, just as Laura did. It made him smile, thinking about his wife. He couldn’t wait to go home and see her again, but now, he has a more important task at hand.

He checked his timer.

“Kate?” Clint called.

“Don’t come in! I’m almost done!”

Clint prepared a tiny wash rag and gauze at the coffee table, still standing so he wouldn’t struggle to get back up.

Kate opened the door to the bathroom only for Clint to see her still in the t-shirt she wore in the bathtub. The shirt was soaked and making a mess on the floor, something Clint definitely wasn’t happy about having to clean up later.

“Ah,” Clint pointed his finger at Kate. “You, stay.”

He swiftly grabbed a led zeppelin shirt from her closet and some shorts and undies from her wardrobe before coming back and tossing them at her.

“Aw, dude,” Kate huffed. “You went through my underwear drawer?”

Okay. Maybe that was something Clint didn’t think about thoroughly.

“I have three kids, Kate.” Clint raised a brow. “I do laundry daily.”

Kate just shrugged. “Fair point,” she said, shutting the door.

She came out again shortly and sat down on the couch, bouncing a bit from the rebound. “The light hurts my eyes.”

“I know,” Clint sighed, sitting down on the coffee table. ““It’ll just be for a moment so I can see. Turn around.”

Kate turned around, back facing him. He took a hair tie (where did he even get one?) and put her hair up in a bun on one side with skill. Half of her hair was let down, split just where the wound was.

“This is gonna burn.”

“Just get it over with.”

Clint looked down to apply rubbing alcohol to the handkerchief in his hand, before going over the wound and dabbing it lightly. Kate visibly flinched, hands clenching in her lap. He swiftly applied a thin bandage to the cut; once he was satisfied, he let Kate’s hair fall. “Tada. All done.”

Kate turned back around with a lazy grin. “Back to the chair.”

Clint helped her up, making sure she stepped carefully around the table. She didn’t need much help, though– Kate moved dexterously to the big recliner, plopping down into the comfort of it and melting instantly.

Clint watched her adjust herself to a comfortable position in silence, placing a blanket over her once she settled. He finished patching her wound; what was he supposed to do now?

“You need anything else?”

Kate shook her head and mumbled under her breath.

“What’s up?”

“Thank you,” she repeated. “I really ‘ppreciate it.”

Clint's eyes softened. “No problem, kid.”

“Y’know,” Kate started. “I bet you’re an awesome dad to your kids if you did this all for me.”

“Kate,” Clint sighed, sitting on the couch where Kate previously was. “You’re my partner. Partners are family.”

“But I caused so much mess and problems for you.”

“Kate.” Clint turned to her, making eye contact. “We’re in this together, alright? Your mess is my mess.”

Kate closed her eyes with a smile. “‘M gonna sleep now.”

“Goodnight, kid.” Clint smiled though she couldn’t see it. “There’ll be coffee in the morning.”

“Woooo,” Kate cheered softly. “You’re the best dad ever.”

Dad.

Clint looked at the figure, face half obscured by it melting into the cushion. She was well passed out by now; Clint’s sure she’s been fighting sleep this entire time. As soon as she wakes up, likely tomorrow, they’re going straight to the hospital.

He pet Lucky behind the ears, leaning his head back. He cared for her as if she was one of his own and didn’t even think twice about it.