Categories > Movies > Marvel Cinematic Universe

The End of All Things [Avengers: Endgame]

by -lizzieolsen 0 reviews

AVENGERS: ENDGAME SPOILERS INCLUDED IN THIS FIC!!! Parker is Clint Barton's little sibling. Yes, sibling - they're non-binary. This story is from their perspective during Endgame. Parker is ...

Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe - Rating: PG - Genres: Angst,Humor - Warnings: [!!!] [R] [?] - Published: 2019-05-04 - 4605 words

-1OOC
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Clint smiled positioning Lila’s arms and legs and moving her shoulders to get her aim right. She laughed as he moved her hair into her eye, batting his hand away. I chuckled slightly at my brother, turning back to Laura.

“I’m sorry I’m such a picky eater, Laura,” I said, running a hand through my short hair. She smiled politely, dishing up hot dogs for the rest of her family.

“It’s fine, Parker. Anyway, the boys will have some chicken nuggets too,” she paused, watching Nate and Cooper pass the ball between them. After a while, I got up and headed over to where Clint and Lila were practising archery. As I approached, Lila let go of the arrow and it pierced the middle of the target. I raised my eyebrows and clapped.

“That was a good shot, Lila,” I said. Clint smiled at me, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

“I have a good teacher,” she exchanged a smile with her dad.

“Go get your arrow,” he said, giving her a grin, “then we’ll go get some food.” As Lila walked away, Clint pulled me in for a proper hug. I leant against his chest, trying not to let tears come to my eyes.

“You’re ok, Pax. I gotcha,” he mumbled quietly.

Ok, you’re probably wondering why I was nearly crying. Let’s start with a bit of backstory. When I was 6, I moved schools, and Clint had just left school completely. I was always alone, and I got picked on because I was an easy target. It didn’t last long; I made some friends. There were 3, Amelia, Derek and Cedrik. We were always together. Fast forward 9 years to this year. I’m 15 and so are my friends. We were as thick as thieves and loved to mess around.
4 months ago, Derek called me over to his. Amelia was already there when I arrived. We went up to Derek’s room, which was perfectly normal. No-one minded. Just… this time turned out differently.
He’d kicked me into a corner while Amelia laughed in the background. He beat me up for hours, making sure no blood showed so that he’d get off easy. Even though I’d limped home, he’d blackmailed me into keeping quiet. “With what?”, you may ask.
It was easy blackmail. I handed it to him. A week before he started beating me up, I’d come out to him, Amelia and Cedrik as non-binary.
They never seemed like they cared. Apparently, they did. That was the last time Amelia was there when he did anything.
Anyway, this went on for over 3 months before it got a whole lot worse. He’d make me undress, and then he’d just sit there and stare at me. At this point, my body was littered with bruises and scratches and scars. I had thin white ones covering my wrists. Everything ached.
There was one time, back at home, when I’d locked myself in the bathroom and just cried. For probably hours. Clint and Laura had taken the kids out for the day, so I’d assumed I’d be alright to get it all out.
Clint had been trying to call me to let me know that Cooper had slipped off the climbing frame and broken his ankle. I’d left my phone in the lounge, so I wasn’t answering any texts or calls. He’d got a taxi back, and left Laura at the hospital. Lila was keeping an eye on Nate.
He heard me crying in the bathroom and hammered on the door. I insisted I was fine, but he wouldn’t stop until I opened it. He sat on the floor with me, and I told him everything. It all came flowing out.
Since then, I hadn’t talked to Cedrik or gone to school. I don’t know what had happened. Laura didn’t know; she just knew that something had happened with my friends.
Next week, I was gonna start school again. I’d have to go back and see everyone. I’d have to see Derek. I wasn’t looking forward to it. I’d already had panic attacks and crying fits over it. But I was going to try, for Clint.
I didn’t realise I was crying until Clint pulled back from the hug and wiped the tears from my cheeks. I shook my head a bit and furiously scrubbed my cheeks dry.

“Chill,” he said. It sounded slightly stern, but his tone was gentle. “Parker, you aren’t ready to go back. You definitely know you aren’t, and you know I know it too.”

“I know. But I’ve already made this a big enough deal, I…” I glanced around, looking behind Clint, “Where’s Lila?” Clint spun around and I looked over to where Laura was cooking. “Laura and the boys are gone too…”

We started to run back towards the farmhouse, shouting. I headed straight for the barn, and Clint checked the house. I pushed hay around, shoving it into messy piles. I checked the tractor. I even climbed into the claustrophobic little back cupboard. After finding nothing, I walked back to the house to see if Clint had found them.
When I walked in, he was sat on the floor in the dining room. I slumped down next to him and he leant against me heavily.

“They aren’t here,” he said, and although his voice was quiet it wobbled and shook. I slipped my arm around his back, feeling a lump in my throat.

2 DAYS LATER

We’d been all round town and found out everyone had seen people go missing. It was on all the news channels; everywhere in the world people had been seen turning to dust. Clint and I had sat on a bench and watched people plaster lampposts in missing posters.

“We should probably call them,” I said quietly. Clint didn’t look at me, his eyes staying closed.

“I don’t want to get involved in that stuff. It’s almost killed me. Last time, in Germany, you nearly died,” he said. Over the last couple of days, his eyes had become more tired. He’d lost the bounce in his step. I wasn’t surprised. Neither of us had slept a wink. Clint had just lost his family.

“They can explain it. They can tell us why it’s happened. Don’t you want to know?” I knew my mood was getting worse, but it always happened when I lost sleep.

“Of course, I do! Why wouldn’t I? This is my wife and my kids. I want to know who the hell hurt them so I can personally kill them,” his breathing was heavier, and I could see tears forming in his eyes when he jolted his head up. “I don’t want to get involved, Pax. You know I don’t.”

I rested my head in my hands. “I know, Clint. But… we might need to. Even if it isn’t now. I know you aren’t ready to get involved but there isn’t a lot more to lose.” There was silence for a few moments as we both sat in my words, before Clint moved to bump his leg against mine for a second.

“I’ve got you to lose. I’ve known you your whole life, so yes, I know you aren’t that small little kid who always sat on my shoulder anymore but… you’re still my lil sibling. I still need you there to tell all the stories about my awkward 20s. You aren’t gonna be much up for that if I’m gone, are you?” he was quiet and, after a minute of sitting silently, I could see tears running down his cheeks. I hated seeing Clint cry, I hated it. Before I could start crying myself, I wrapped my arms around him, and he leant his head on my shoulder.

5 YEARS LATER

I yawned as I walked into the old conference room. It was 3 in the afternoon and I’d just woken up. I knew Natasha would be on a call with everyone. She’d told me yesterday. I said I wouldn’t come in wearing pjs, but I can’t predict the future. So here I am. I wandered behind her after grabbing a piece of toast, waving at everyone. Rhodey grinned.

“Nice to see you eating something. Maybe you’ll get some fat in those bones of yours,” his smile became gentler and I rolled my eyes.

“Fat doesn’t go in bones, old man, it goes… somewhere else in your body.” Rocket smirked, and I nodded when I caught his eye. “Any luck with you, rabbit?” I laughed as his smirk fell. He opened his mouth to reply, but Nat interrupted.

“OK, enough. This line’s always open. If you get anything, you report back here to me. Got it?” People (and aliens) nodded and walked away. Rhodey stayed where he was. At the same time, him and Natasha turned to look at me, as if to say, “go away, it’s the grown up’s turn to talk.” I stuck my tongue out. They didn’t reply and I rolled my eyes.

“He’s my brother. I’m staying,” I said as my face fell serious. Nat looked back at Rhodey.

“Where’re you?” she said.

“Mexico. Bunch of guys, all dead before they could even touch their guns,” he moved his focus to me, but I don’t know if he noticed the tears forming. I could feel them burning my eyes, “Part of me doesn’t want to find him.”

I tried to blink away the tears. Clint had been doing this for 4 and a half years now. He said he wouldn’t be too long. But I’d seen him once in that time, and that was 3 years ago. Even then, it was only for 20 minutes. He’d run off almost as soon as I saw him. He’d drifted.

"You know what he’s doing. He’s just trying to –" I started arguing, but Rhodey’s expression made me stop.

"He's gone too far on this, Parker. He really has, you know he has," he said. His voice was quiet. I looked at him, and the tears started falling freely down my cheeks.

"You know what happens if you hurt him," I said. My tone was rough, but it wobbled.

"You kill me. I know, Pax," he said. His eyes didn't leave mine.

"If you find him, I want to talk to him about it. I know what he's been doing, he told me it all before he left," I let my voice shake.

"Any other leads, Rhodey?" Nat said, interrupting and letting me relax a bit. I moved round to the other side of the desk and sat on a chair, crossing my legs and leaning on my hands. I tuned out what Nat and Rhodey were saying and just let the tears run down my face. I didn't notice Rhodey leave the call, or Cap walk in. I didn't notice Nat leave.

"Parker," I didn't move, even though I hadn't heard him come in, "Parker."

"What?" I said sharply. Cap sighed a bit, raising his eyebrows.

"What's up?" I leant my head back against the wall, sighing in annoyance.

"I think you can guess. I mean, I've just been talking with Nat and Rhodey, and I haven't seen Clint in 3 years and he's my brother so I miss him a whole damn lot and I just want to sit outside, in the rain, crying, and listening to Panic At The Disco. Is that really too much to ask?" I slumped down in the chair, my hands shaking slightly. Cap sat on the chair next to me.

"I know you miss him, but Rhodey's trying. You know he is, Parker. He's doing his best," he paused to look at me, "We all are."

"I know. Clint told me what he's doing, but he never seems to actually do it," I paused, sighing.

"I wouldn't expect him to. I mean, he's avoiding us at all costs. You'd expect him to go off plan," I shot him a concerned look as the computer chirped, "He'll be alright, Pax. He hasn't turned to dust."

Cap got up and pulled up a message as Nat walked back in. It showed a video from the front door.

A video of Scott.

"What? Scott's missing. He can't be at the door. That's impossible," I caught Nat's eye, "I'll go."

As soon as I opened the door, Scott turned and sighed, hopefully in relief.

"Parker. Hey," he said. I smiled a bit, shaking my head, and walked over to hug him.

"Hi. You were missing, so everyone assumed you were… well, dead," I said, dragging him inside.

"Yeah, I was stuck inside the Quantum Realm for however long. The thing is," he paused, slowing down, "it only felt like 5 hours to me. So, I don’t know what happened, but I'll say this: I'm starving." I laughed.

"I'll get you something in a minute, but Cap and Nat are waiting," he followed me through to the conference room, nodding.

"Hey, Captain America. Remember me?" I smiled and left Scott to freaking Cap out, heading back to the kitchen to get some food.

3 DAYS LATER

I walked down the ramp with Nat, keeping a few steps ahead of her. It was tipping it down with rain, and I was already soaked to the bone and near shivering, but it was all overridden by the adrenaline and the excitement of seeing Clint for the first time in 3 years. My mind was racing, and I felt sick, but in a good way. Nat grabbed me and pulled me back underneath the umbrella raising her eyebrows slightly.

"You'll catch pneumonia," she said quietly. I smiled.

"I'm excited. I have too much energy," I said, and she laughed.

"You've had too much coffee."

"Shut up," I whined, grinning. I was completely soaked but still not that cold. Or maybe I was, and I just wasn't noticing it because I'd had so much coffee.

"When we find him, you can't just run up to him. I know he's your brother, but we need to talk to him and get you both somewhere dry before we do all the sappy hugs and 'I missed you' 'I missed you too' stuff," she said. I giggled.

"You know you're gonna do the I missed you stuff. You know it," I teased. I loved teasing Nat; she was like my sister, and I teased Clint so technically I had a right to tease Nat too.

"You won't run up to him, though?" she said, and I could see genuine concern in her eyes.

"I can't make any promises. I haven't seen him in 3 years, and the last time I saw him he ran away from me for who knows what reason. I've missed him. A lot," I said quietly. Nat put a hand on my shoulder and opened her mouth to say something when a body landed a few feet away. A figure jumped down from the building after it and I inhaled sharply.

It was Clint.

He drew an arrow and shot the guy I guessed was the one he came to kill. Then, he spun around and drew the bow, aimed at us. I jolted back slightly, stumbling. My breath shook, producing a little white cloud in front of my face. He must have noticed who we were, because he lowered his bow and hood, taking off the bandana.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, his face soaked. I swallowed the lump in my throat and moved closer to Nat.

"Neither should you," she said. I felt the tears coating my cheeks already, but the rain covered it up.

"What're you doing, Clint?" I said it quietly, not expecting him to hear me, but his eyes latched onto me..

"You know," he said. I shook my head and walked backwards. I could see his face drop, becoming sadder, but I turned and headed back to the ship. He could catch up with Nat… if he was joining us. I heard him call me, but I just kept walking.

When I reached the ship, I slowed down, coming to a standing stop on the ramp. I couldn’t go back in because then I'd have to explain to Cap that I'd chickened out. I didn't want to do that, not right now.

I walked to the edge of the ramp and sat with my legs hanging over the edge, running my hands through my hair. Maybe it was a bad idea. Coming to get Clint, I mean. We could've just left him to it. He would have come back eventually… or not.

While my mind raced, I just sat and cried. Thoughts kept rushing through my head and I couldn't stop them. I saw Natasha walking back out of the corner of my eye, and Clint following. I should have gone back inside earlier. Before I could move, he sat next to me. I stayed exactly where I was while Nat went inside.

"I'm sor-" he started, and I knew what was coming.

"Don't, Clint. Not now. I get it, you're sorry," I paused, waiting to see if he had anything to say, but he stayed quiet, "I'm sorry too, but you could have talked to me at some point. I haven't seen you in the last 3 years."

"I know. I am sorry, Pax. I really am," he bumped his knee against mine. I leant against him slightly, giving in.

"I thought you were dead this time last year," I said. My voice wobbled, and Clint put both his arms around me.

"I am so damn sorry, kid," he said quietly. I sniffled a bit.

"I missed you and all, but when did you get a mohawk?" he laughed, giving me a little shove.

"A few months ago. Now we should get inside before we both freeze to death," he said, standing up and pulling me up with him. We headed into the ship and I collapsed on a chair, feeling myself drifting off to sleep.

3 DAYS LATER

I slid Clint's old hoodie over my head and snuck out of his room, grinning to myself. He didn't notice me (he was still asleep on the sofa with an old bowl of popcorn next to him and Bad Moms playing on Netflix in the background. Typical).

I grabbed my phone from the worktop and headed into my room. Even though it was daytime, I closed the curtains and the door, submerging myself into darkness.

"FRIDAY?" I said, throwing myself onto my bed.

"What song would you like me to play?" the Irish voice called from above me. I scrunched up my face, thinking.

"How about Hall of Fame? The one by The Script," I said, smiling as the first notes played from the ceiling speakers and closed my eyes. But then it stopped, before anyone could even start singing. The door was bashed open and the curtains almost ripped off the wall. I sat up frowning. Clint turned around with his face covered in whipped cream and I immediately burst out laughing.

"This was you!" he said, his face burning red. I shook my head, laughing my ass off as he walked over and gave me a childish shove. Steve walked and stood leaning against the doorway, smirking slightly.

"It was… it was Steve," I said in-between laughter. He raised his hands in defence as Clint's head snapped towards him.

"Wasn't me," he laughed as Clint stormed past him out of the room, headed for… wherever.

"Was it you?" I asked, calming down from the laughing fit and catching my breath.

"No, it was Nat. She knows he won't even try to get back at her, so she always takes the chance when she can. And seeing as it's been pretty much 5 years… why not now?" he grinned, "C'mon, though, we're headed to get Tony. Well, try."

"You know he won't," I said, following him anyway, "He's got Morgan and Pepper. He hasn't been the same since space and Wakanda and everything," I paused, "Cap."

"Huh? Yeah, what? Sorry, I zoned out," he shook his head, blinking a few times, and I swear I saw tears.

"You alright?" I said, frowning. He kept walking.

"Yep."

1 HOUR LATER – TONY AND PEPPER'S CABIN

We walked off the ship as Tony picked up Morgan. I smiled, waving at her, and she grinned back. Tony frowned at us, and I raised my eyebrows at Cap. He gave me a pointed look and sighed, not staying focused on me for very long. Tony walked into the house with Morgan and we waited until Clint went in too to follow.

When we were inside, Pepper and Tony were in the kitchen and Morgan was playing in the lounge. I smiled and crouched down next to her and she latched onto me in a friendly hug. I laughed and stumbled a bit.

"Hey, kiddo," I said, "What mischief have you been up to, hmm? You been breaking your dad's suits again?"

"I took the helmet from Mommy's suit," she giggled, and I smiled at her mischievously.

"Is that the one you were wearing earlier?" she nodded, clutching the Wasp minifigure in her hand, "Well, it was very pretty. I'm sure your Mom loves it."

"She never wears it," I laughed as Pepper came over and picked Morgan up, giving me a polite smile.

"She's been blabbing a load of nonsense, I'm guessing?" she said, poking Morgan on the nose while she giggled.

"Eh, it's fine," I said, smiling and standing to head outside with the others. She nodded, heading back to the kitchen with Morgan still clinging onto her Wasp figure in her arms.
Tony had already started his speech about how he didn't want to time travel because he was happy with his second chance. I sighed quietly, sitting on the banister thingy (h e l p) on the edge of the porch. Everyone continued to argue, and I just let my thoughts go wild, knowing I'd only need to get involved if Steve or Tony or someone else started physically fighting.

After a while, the crew started walking back to the ship, and I got up to follow. Tony put his hand on my arm to stop me and pulled me to the side.

"I meant to give you this earlier," he picked up a box off the table. It was no bigger than an A4 piece of paper, and no taller than 20cm. As he handed it to me, I felt that it was quite heavy and exclaimed in surprise.

"Whatever it is, it's pretty heavy," I said, giving him a puzzled look as I moved to open the top. His hand darted to hold it down, so I stopped.

"Wait until you get back to open it and don't let anyone else see it. Clint included," he paused, smiling a bit, "There's a letter inside which explains it all better, but don't get annoyed with me, ok? I've got another lot to finish that I need you to look after for me, but I'll come over at some point and drop it off. Anyway, I'll see you later," he walked inside, giving me a pat on the shoulder before he left. I frowned, slowly walking away, the box still clutched in my hands.

4 HOURS LATER

I collapsed on my bed, sighing in relief as the covers puffed up around me. 3 hours of watching Bruce try to build a time machine with the help of Steve, Clint, Nat and Thor – who have no idea how anything works, one of them's a god and one's from the 40s – can actually be quite tiring.

As my brain ran over the events of the day, I realised there was actually something I'd forgotten about. I reached under my bed and pulled out the box Tony had given to me earlier. The tape on top was already cut open so I just flipped the lid open and pulled out a piece of paper. It was the letter Tony had told me about.

"Dear Parker,
Don't get annoyed at me for talking about this like it's definitely gonna happen. I just want to be prepared.
In case I die at some point, I made these. They look like mints. No, they aren't mints. They're a ton of recycled mint tins and each one has a hologram of me in it. That may sound self-obsessed, and why would I be giving them to you? But part of me thinks you know why.
In case I'm wrong and you have no idea why I've given you these, they're holograms of me just… talking. Sometimes about random stuff – those ones have no colour on them - but there's ones for if you have anxiety attacks (the blue ones), and ones for when dysphoria gets overwhelming (yellow ones, and remember, you can talk to Pete about that. He's told you now, so make sure you help him, and he'll help you). There's a few for if you have just overall bad thoughts, which are the orange ones. I know that's rarer now, but it's in case you need it. You never know.
I'm making a few more boxes now. There's one for Morgan, one for Peter and one for Pep. I want you to look after them for me. I know you will. Just don't get pissed at me for doing this, cuz you know that if something does happen, they'll help.
- T"


I stared at the letter, folding it in half as I picked up one of the tins. I couldn’t see any colour on it. There was a small button on the side, so I pressed it, and a hologram of Tony was projected onto my bed.

"Hey kid. I was thinking. Dinosaurs were the first thing on Earth, right? Or so we think. That's a whole other thing. But if they were the first things, that makes Earth the planet of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs exploded, blah, blah, blah. That means, technically, that was an apocalypse. Y'know, with the meteorite and everything. Therefore, humans are just mutants that survived the apocalypse. Now, with experiments giving us powers, we're just becoming even more suited to that label of mutants. This one blew my mind. Damn."

The hologram cut off, and I smiled to myself. That was a damn good idea. He said he would drop off the other ones when he came by next time. He hasn't come here in over a year.
Thinking fast, I moved and put the letter in the box, slipping it back underneath my bed. Anyone could walk in at any time and even though I was used to it now, it was still annoying.

I laid and let my thoughts run wild whilst I waited for someone to come and tell me that I needed to eat something. Clint would probably come in after 10 minutes and drag me down to the kitchen, not that I was complaining. I was hungry. I just couldn't be bothered to move. Without realising, I drifted off to sleep before Clint could even walk near my room. He just moved the covers over my and slipped a pillow underneath my head, leaving me to sleep.
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