~Broken Family~

The Return of the Princess and the Iron Lad

"Did he have any family?" Clint asked softly. Harley shrugged.

"His mom moved back to Mexico, I think, and...and he had Ellie and their baby."

A heavy sigh was forced from Tony's lungs as he gazed out at the river from the dock they were standing on, his gaze scanning the water as if he could still see Morgan playing in it, Peter and Harley having cannonball competitions.

"I don't understand why he would do this," Harley pressed, turning to Clint. "He had so much to live for. What exactly happened? How could he sacrifice himself like that?!"

Clint gave his head a shake. "Look, kid, I know you guys were close, but maybe there were some things that you don't understand about---"

"I'm twenty years old." Harley tried to smack Clint's shin with his crutch, but he moved it out of the way. "I've been through a lot of family stuff before and after the Snap, a traumatic bus accident, and I've been through HYDRA. Don't talk to me about stuff I don't understand."

With an unintelligent grumble, Clint crossed his arms and relented. "I dunno much. Kid said he'd made a lot of mistakes in his past and wasn't sure if he could live up to them, to live up to raising a son or a daughter. Wanted to 'make things right for once,' do some good in his life that would actually benefit people."

"He never told me any of that," Harley insisted. "Are you---"

"I know what I heard!" Clint snapped. "Look, the guy was clearly emotionally unstable or something, 'cause..." He suddenly trailed off and shook his head.

"'Cause what?" Harley pressed, but Tony shook his head.

"Just let it go, Motorcycle," he mumbled. "Clay sacrificed himself for the good of not just us, but the entire universe. Don't ruin it by---"

"I'm not going to stand by," he seethed, "while literally every single person close to me either dies or turns away."

Clint sighed. "Something came over him, okay? I don't think he was in his right mind. His eyes were all bright green, almost white, actually, and he--he just dove right off..."

"And you didn't stop him?!" Harley was almost screaming now. "How could you?!"

"Somebody had to do it! As soon as that floating head hinted at it, that's what he did. I'm sorry, kid, he didn't even give us a chance to stop him."

Harley shook his head. "I don't believe you."

Clint dipped his head, grimacing.

Was that guilt?!

He's hiding something, Harley decided.

"And you're sure..." Harley ventured, "that this had nothing to do with you and Nat be---"

Clint had taken a fistful of Harley's shirt and hoisted him off his feet before the sentence was even out of his mouth, Tony, Bruce, and Thor all sprang to their feet and tensed.

"There is nothing," he snarled. "Nothing. My heart will always belong to my Laura. I love Natasha like I loved my little sister. You got that, punk?"

Harley nodded, too freaked out to do much more until Clint set him down. His bad leg stiffened and he gripped his crutch for support. Tony rushed to his side.

"Clint, take it easy," he demanded. "He just lost his best friend."

Just lost his best friend.

The words finally sank in, and a colossal weight latched onto his chest.

"Well..." Harley cleared his dry throat and righted his baseball cap, pushing his hair behind his shoulders. "Let's go and make sure his sacrifice was worth it."