Adopted Assassin [COMPLETED]

Chapter 5

.05
CLINT: VAN
PRESENT

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I watched Tessa slip in and out of consciousness the whole way to the jet. I tried to bandage her cuts more than once when she was conscious, so she could guide me (because I am really not an expert at first aid), but she wouldn't let me. I spent the last three months trying to find her and save her. I didn't give up. She apparently didn't either. Tessa just wouldn't let me help her.

"Why won't you let me do this?" I asked her the hundredth time, throwing down the gauze. "You're gonna bleed out, Tess. Come on, just let me do this." She laughed, but then winced from her rocket gash.

"Clint, are you a doctor?" She asked me.

I shook my head and replied, "Tessa, do you want to die?" She finally shut up and let me wrap up her scrapes. She slipped back out of consciousness when Steve yelled back at me.

"Clint, where's Natasha?" He asked. I explained to him that she had to find Bruce. "Oh, okay."

"Hey, Clint," Bucky started, "this girl saved your butt three months ago?" He said, smiling. I nodded. "And she is why you wanted to storm all of these HYDRA bases?" I nodded again. "Why is she that important to you, Barton? Why was she worth risking all of our lives for?" Steve tried to stop him, but I exploded.

"She saved my life, Barnes!" I said, defending her.

"Why do you care?" He kept going.

"I - " I started to say something about her being Stark's daughter, but I had to keep my promise until she was ready. "I really don't know, Barnes. She was a freaking 12 year old being tortured in a HYDRA facility, and she risked her life to save me from dying. She almost bled out by helping me." That shut him up, but I kept going on, too. "Tess was tortured since she was 4 years old to forget her da- everyone she met on missions, but she still remembered me." My voice was getting louder by the minute. "She was whipped and beat up because of it, but she didn't mind. She didn't forget about me, so I never forgot about her and my promise that I told her I would keep. She is the reason I saved your guys' butt out there. She is the reason I keep going. She inspired me to help others before myself. Is that enough of a reason, Barnes?"

"Clint-"

"What Barnes?" I interrupted him and I looked at him in the front seat. Steve had stopped the van. "Is it time to make fun of me now? By getting saved by a 12 year old assassin? By being inspired by her?  Steve was allowed to save you from that HYDRA facility all those years ago, but I can't save a teen that risked everything she had for me? Is that too much to ask for?" I spat, trying not to wake Tessa up.

"Clint, I'm sorry," Bucky said quietly. I sighed.

"I'm sorry too, Barnes, I wasn't thinking," I admitted. "I'm just a little irritated that she wouldn't let me take her with me in the first place. And now she won't let me help her." I put my head in my hands. Just then, Natasha threw open the back door of the van, hopped in, and screamed "DRIVE!" She slammed the doors shut as bullets hit the back. Steve slammed his foot on the gas and the van lurched forward.

"Get back to the jet, Steve," she said, panting. "Everyone's back there." She saw Tess laying down and she immediately pulled out a pistol. I put my hand on the gun and gestured for her to put it away.

"Who is that?" She asked me.

"Remember Chicago, three months ago, Nat?"

"Yes...." she said, unsure.

"She is the one who saved my butt."

"This is her?" She said, shocked. "You didn't tell me she was a kid." Bucky turned around.

"You told Nat, but not us?" He said with a mock look of offense on his face.

"She's an interrogator, Barnes. I kind of had to tell her," I said.

"We're here, guys," Steve said. Everyone got out, but Natasha pulled me back inside.

"When are you going to tell everyone that she is Stark's daughter?" She whispered to me.

"Not until she wants me to, Nat!" I whispered back as I picked up Tessa and headed inside the jet. I laid her on a blanket on the floor and I sat down beside her. Nat sat beside me.

"And when is that going to be?" She asked me, still whispering.

"When she's ready to do it!" I whispered back, getting irritated.

"Clint, if she really is Stark's daughter, then, dammit, Stark should know that! He spent years trying to find her, and if she is here now, then he should know that it's her!" She said, hitting the seat.

"Hey guys, how many butts did we kick out there today? I think it's way over 50," Stark said coming in the room, almost stepping on Tessa.

"Watch it, Stark!" I said, pushing him back. He stole a glance at Tessa as I picked her up and tried to find a spot to put her where no one would step on her.

"Who's the kid?" Stark asked as I laid her down on a table.

"She saved my butt three months ago, so I saved hers today," I said as I put the blanket over her when she shivered.

"Why?" Tony asked.

"Because she's fricking 12 years old and she's an assassin," I said. Tessa screamed, saving me from talking to Tony any more. I ran back over to her and tried to wake her up.

"Tess, wake up," I said, shaking her.

"Tessa?" Tony asked. "You're kidding me."

"Shut up, Stark," I muttered, still trying to coax Tessa awake.

"Clint, no!" Tess screamed. "Please, don't!"

"Hello, my fellow Avengers!" Thor said, walking in. He jumped back when she screamed again. "Why is this girl screaming?"

"She's asleep, Thor," I explained over Tessa's screams. The rest of the Avengers finally walked in, probably wondering where the screams were coming from.

"Clint!" Bucky said, running over next to me. "What's happening?"

"I think she's having a nightmare!" I said. Tessa started to cry, but she still wouldn't wake up. She kept screaming.

"Clint!" She cried out. Bucky put his hands on her shoulders.

"Clint is okay, Tessa," he said quietly. "Open your eyes to see, okay?"

She opened her eyes and shot up like a rocket, panting heavily. She groaned because of her gash, but she still looked around he room for something. Her eyes fell on me.

"Clint," she said quietly. I wrapped my arms around her as she cried.

"It's okay, Tess, I'm here," I said, patting her back. I didn't care that everyone else was watching. I didn't care if they made fun of me for this. I held her until she stopped crying. I looked at her.

"Please, don't leave me Clint," told me. "Promise."

"I promise, Tess."

I'm not losing her again. Ever.