Archive of Our Own ^beta

Kate’s life had been a whirlwind the last week and standing in her Mother’s office as the police tore it to shreds searching for evidence really seemed to sum it up pretty well. Slowly but surely they began to leave with their arms full of boxes of evidence, the once sophisticated room now a mere shred of what it once was. 

And yet, Kate remained frozen, unable to follow as this was the first time she had entered the office since her Mother’s arrest. 

Her mother had been arrested and was surely going to jail for the rest of her life and Kate was scared and resigned, and some part of her even felt vindicated that this is what her Mother deserved. The other part? All it wanted was to turn back the clock to the start of the week when her largest concern was her lack of credit cards. 

Overall, Kate just wanted her Mom- she didn’t want to be alone. 

A clang of a metal drew Kate from her stupor as Lucky came barreling into her legs. Bending over she laid her knee on the ground to rest her forehead against the dogs’ in a gentle gesture of comfort.

“Hi buddy.” She whispered.

“Thought you could use some company,” said a voice from the hallway. Kate looked up from her position on the floor to see Clint leaning against the doorway. 

“Clint?” She said, standing up and brushing invisible dust from her knees, “What are you doing here?”

“The kids thought we needed to continue our New York trip and who was I to disagree? They even convinced Laura to come.” He said as he crossed the entryway, officially joining her in the room in disarray.

“They needed to see Rogers again that soon?” She joked, avoiding his eyes as they searched the room before landing on her.

This wasn’t supposed to happen, Clint was supposed to go back to his family and celebrate Christmas with them and she was supposed to be an adult and spend the week straightening her life out before she had to get it together and be ready to lead Bishop Security. Who cared if she finished college? There was a whole company of people relying on her decisions and if she made the wrong ones the company would flounder, stocks would drop and hundreds would be without work. 

So, it was time to be an adult. 

She must have missed his reply and spaced out for a few moments as the next thing she knew she was sitting at her mothers desk chair with Clint on his knees in front of her talking about some movie the kids made him watch last night and how obnoxious Cooper and Lila had been to one another the entire time.

She looked down and saw he was running his thumbs over her hands soothingly as they rested in his own as he spoke.

“You back with me Katie?” He questioned as she started to pull her hands away before he gripped them tight and looked up at her, a tight smile on his face.

“Yeah..” She muttered out, as she stood up, pulling her hands away from him gently, glancing around the room. The walls needed repainting, maybe something purple. A new desk off to the side of the room as well and her Mother’s could go into storage for the time being.

She started pacing across the office, ignoring the looks he was shooting at her as she started to make a mental list of things that needed done once Clint left.

“Anyway, you should be getting back to your kids and I have about a hundred emails I need to get a head start on before everyone is back in office come-”

“Kate.” Clint said, cutting her off before moving to stand in front of her once again, “I’m exactly where I need to be. You need to stop thinking and breathe for a second and then you need to relax. No one is going to be back at work for a few days and you need to take a second to process everything, you are going to run yourself into the ground if you don’t slow down.” He finished, hands reaching across the gap between them to rest gently on her shoulders.

The gentle touch seemed to be the last straw because before she knew it there were tears welling in her eyes again and Clint was pulling her head down to rest against his shoulder.

“Let it out Katie, it’s okay, I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got you.” He said on repeat, running his hands up and down her back, the first comforting touch it felt like she had received in days.

“I’m scared,” She whispered into his shoulder, not sure if she could voice the thought that hadn’t left her alone for days any louder. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do without her Mom, she was always there, a layer of safety that protected her from the world and now there was only Kate to face the world head on and she wasn’t ready. She didn’t want to be alone.

Clint continued to rub her back as she began to calm down, the nerves setting in when she realized she would have to look him in the eye after she sobbed into his shoulder. 

“Hey,” Clint said before she could try and brush the whole thing off. “Let’s get Lucky and we can hop on the subway for old times sake and you can join the kids, Laura and I at our hotel for the week? You need a break and Nathaniel really wants to meet Lucky. Besides, you won’t be able to figure anything out until the police finish up and you get some sleep. “I don’t want to impose-” She argued, she didn’t want him to think he had to be responsible for her, she wasn’t his a child- she didn’t need to be coddled despite what a slim part of her wanted. 

“You aren’t imposing and I’m serious, let’s grab your stuff and get out of here. I’ll come back with you in a few days and help you straighten this all out, but you need to think about something else besides work for a bit, kid.” He said, looking straight at her so there would be no confusing his words. Without waiting for a response he slung his arm over her shoulder and began leading her out the door, grabbing her duffle from the floor just outside the office before letting out a quick whistle, summoning Lucky to her other side. 

“Let’s go home.” He said, leading her further down the hall towards the elevator and out the building.

It was a short walk to the subway and a few people had done double takes when they had seen not Clint’s face, but her own, as it had been blasted all over the news the last few days next to her Mother’s.

Kate was grateful that once they were at the platform everyone seemed more engrossed in themselves and ready to ignore her, it had only been a few days and the starres were already on her last nerve. It seemed like everytime she went outside she had someone taking her photo or looking at her like she was some alien anomaly here to eat their young.

The downside to the subway was the mass amounts of people, but in a way it made it slightly easier to blend in. As their train came to a stop at their platform and a few people hopped off, Clint started to shuffle her forward, a steady hand on her back as she held tight to Lucky’s leash. Stepping on the train she glanced around before letting out a small sigh. There were no seats in sight, standing it was for today. 

“We should have taken a Taxi,” She muttered, hoping to lighten the mood a bit with a quick joke. It appeared to have had the intended effect as Clint let out a small laugh under his breath before shuffling closer to the doorway.

He nodded at her before motioning towards himself and the space he had seemingly emptied for her so that she could stand a little closer to him instead of the strangers she was surrounded by.

She returned his nod with a quick one of her own before stepping into the space and letting out a sigh of relief at the feeling of having a bar to her back instead of a stranger's gaze.

As she began to relax, the emotions of the day starting to overwhelm her she stepped into his space once more to lean her head against his waiting shoulder. 

“I gotcha Katie.” He said.

And, finally, a part of her was starting to believe it. They may have started out rough, but now Clint was all she had left.