Chapter Text
Parker does have living family
Once upon a time there had been a happy family, a father, a mother, two older brothers, a sister and a younger brother. Mrs. Barton had been a nurse and Mr. Barton had been a mechanic. Their Daddy may have ignored his children for the most part but their Momma had more than made up for it with her fierce devotion. Barney had been the oldest, Clint the second oldest, little Grace the only girl and little Brian had been the youngest. When the children were twelve, eight, five and four their parents were killed in a car accident. They had no other living relatives so the children were put in foster care.
Barney and Clint were placed together being older and less sought after than the younger two they were moved around a lot until they were finally placed in an orphanage. Little Grace and Brian with their blonde hair, blue eyes and chubby cheeks were placed with a nice family little Brian was killed in an accident. Barney and Clint were brought from the orphanage to the funeral. Teary eyed Grace had held on to her brothers and the stuffed Bunny Clint had won her during their last family outing before their parents had died the entire time. For the next year little Grace got moved from one family to another until she’d had enough and blew up the last foster home and made her way to Barney and Clint.
Together the three had run away and ended up in a circus. Gracie and Clint had been so happy there. They fit in the circus as if they’d been born to it. Little Gracie with her fearlessness and natural ability had quickly joined the high wire acrobats while quick-witted and unbelievably coordinated Clint had found a place with the marksmen but Barney lacking the natural talent and grace of his younger siblings remained a roustabout and second string archer. He grew jealous and angry over the years and fell deeper into a life of crime. The last day all three Barton siblings had been together was the day Barney had left Clint for dead. He’d told fourteen year old Gracie that Clint was dead and he was leaving with Bullseye. She’d packed up Bunny, slipped away from Carson’s and headed to New York. She’d already become Parker the Thief when Archie found her and honed her skills.
A few years in the criminal underground later found her hearing rumors about Barney. He’d taken the name Trickshot and was still working with Bullseye. They’d become hit men for hire before forming a crew of their own. She’d stayed the hell away from him because she might be a criminal but she didn’t kill people. That had been the deal she made with Clint when they had to steal or starve before the circus. As long as they didn’t hurt or kill anyone it was okay to be a thief. A few more years passed before she heard that Trickshot had gotten himself killed by Bullseye over some silly dispute. She mourned the death of the brother that had taken care of her and protected her the best he could as little more than a child himself but she was also slightly relieved. The brother she’d loved had been long dead and the killer he’d become couldn’t hurt anyone anymore.
Another few years had her hearing rumors about a new player calling himself Hawkeye the world’s greatest marksman which had been Clint’s stage name during their circus days. It wasn’t just his stage name that the imposter was using either. She couldn’t help trying to find out who was using her brother’s identity. It didn’t matter that he was dead. No one was allowed to use him like that. It took sneaking into a literal who’s who of the criminal world party hosted by Damien Moreau to finally get a look at the imposter. It might have been eight years since she’d last seen her brother but she knew it was actually him the second she saw him. She hadn’t been prepared to actually see her not dead brother chatting pleasantly with a man she would later learn was named Eliot Spencer so she booked it out of there before he could spot her. She wasn’t sure she wanted to invite Clint into her life if he was just following Barney’s example even if his eyes had still held warmth that Barney’s had lacked as he left her.
Years later when she answered the call from Dubenich she hadn’t expected to work with the man her brother had been talking so animatedly with but for all his gruffness and violence Eliot had a kindness that reminded her of the Clint she’d known. She’d latched on to him as a life line to her brother in the hope that Clint was like him not like Barney even if he had no idea about it. She never mentioned that she’d known that Eliot had worked for Moreau and she’d never willingly brought up her brothers. Eliot didn’t seem to have a problem filling the big brother roll she’d shoved him into.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the others. She did but she knew Sophie, Nate and Alec wouldn’t be able to help themselves. They pry and dig until they find everything they can, damn the consequences (more Alec and Nate but Sophie wouldn’t stop them) which is normally not a problem. It would be bad here because she’d watched the news broadcast of the invasion of New York four months ago. She’d recognized her brother fighting alongside the other super heroes even if all the footage of him was either grainy or taken from too far away to accurately identify him. As Eliot would say Clint had a very distinctive stance and odd preference for any shade of purple that she thought he would have outgrown by now. Leverage Inc. didn’t need any attention from the Avengers or their bosses’ (or their enemies’ for that matter). Also, she’d stolen a few, technically five but two were ones she’d already stolen and fenced which he reacquired, very expensive pieces of art from Tony Stark back before he made himself a super hero. She was starting to feel a little guilty even if she was pretty sure he knew and hadn’t cared if the fact that he’d gotten the first two back and hadn’t upped the security on them was anything to go by.
Eliot was the only one she’d been tempted to tell on the off chance he might still be in contact with Clint. Plus he could be trusted not to pry. He’d watched the news just as anxiously as she had back then and both of them had cringed when Clint had jumped off the building with only a grappling arrow to catch him. They hadn’t called each other out and both of them had been relieved that the other three were too entranced to notice their unusual behavior. Things got back to normal a few weeks after the failed invasion but for the last two months Eliot had been disappearing regularly for a few hours a day when they didn’t have a job. It was starting to drive her a little nuts even if the others A) hadn’t noticed (Alec), B) noticed but wasn’t interested (Sophie) or C) noticed but didn’t care because he trusted Eliot (Nate). It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Eliot she just wanted to know what he was up to. It was a little sister’s (Parker’s) prerogative to find out what big brother (Eliot) was up to especially when Mom and Dad (Sophie and Nate) weren’t calling him out and little brother (Eliot’s little brother definitely not her little brother) was being oblivious.
Most mornings Eliot made them (mostly just her) breakfast before heading to his office (mostly a gym but it had a desk he used sometimes it counted) around lunch time he’d cook for whoever was present (mostly her and Alec. Sophie was usually handling her theater while Nate did Mastermind things). After lunch he’d been disappearing until dinner and coming back relaxed (not his hey-I-just-I-got-laid relaxed but his I’ve-been-hanging-out-with-friends-I-trust relaxed. She’d known him five years now she knew the difference) which was the part that was driving her a little bit nuts.
She was kind of surprised she’d held out as long as she had, two months was definitely a new record for her. He could have told her to go back inside when she followed him to his truck but he opened the passenger side door for her so she grinned and hopped in. She didn’t bother asking where they were going she just listened as Eliot sung along with the radio. Eliot drove them to a two story farmhouse outside the suburbs with a white picket fence in the front yard and an apple orchard in the back. The nearest neighbors were two miles away and the place looked cozy and well-loved with fresh paint and tidy lawn. There were two vehicles parked in front of a detached garage, a pale blue ’57 Chevy pickup next to a newer hard top jeep. The garage was open and the same song that had been playing before Eliot turned off the ignition could be heard emanating from inside. Parker followed Eliot towards the garage and saw a royal purple ’67 mustang with a pair of legs sticking out from under the chassis.
Eliot’s friend was singing along, his voice rough but melodic and so familiar that it almost hurt. She couldn’t help grinning and closing her eyes to listen better when Eliot joined in on the chorus. She loved it when he sang. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she opened her eyes as the song ended and Clint was standing almost but not quite close enough to touch. She was a little nervous but Clint was looking at her like she was the Holy Grail.
Clint opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. His mouth closed and he swallowed a few times before trying again. A reverent and choked, “Gracie,” was all he managed.
She met his hopeful blue eyes with tear full eyes of her own before pouncing on him.
Eliot was definitely her favorite.