The Untold Tales of the
Issue: 6 Author: Lonni Holland Graphics: Kevin Newburn & Chris Luna
In a place far removed from our reality.....
Bobbi Barton sat and rubbed at her swollen belly with a soothing aloe cream. She was late in the last trimester of her pregnancy now and was finding moving and doing day to day things more awkward in light of the bulk of her children (Children! she had know there were twins on her father's side but had never expected this). She had remained in Khonshu's world for almost five months now, assured that only a few short days would pass in her reality and that Ashley's memories would be altered to suspect nothing. She had reluctantly agreed to stay; although it had never been stated she feared that somehow her husband's life might be forfeit if she hadn't. The priests had been kind enough, and Khonshu hadn't returned, but she was lonely and grumpy and her back and feet ached today. Suddenly she became aware of a presence in her mind, like that she had felt, or heard, months ago.
"Barbara, wife of my Beloved, you are unhappy. Your time draws near and I sense you would wish to have your mate with you."
"What? Well of course I would, but that's pretty much impossible isn't it?"
"For a God, all things are possible. Even now, I bring you your husband. Not the Hawkeye of your time, but the Hawkeye of the future. I have reached forward to return him to you. He will be with you until the children, my Fists of the future, are born and will remain while you suckle them. I have no desire to discomfort you , love of my first Beloved. Will this please you?"
"Uhhh, well of course I want Clint here but..."
"Done!"
The door of Bobbi's chamber opened and a man entered. It was Clint. Not the Clint she knew, this was an older, somewhat sadder Clint, a touch of grey at his temples, the laugh lines around his eyes a bit deeper, and an old scar ran down his left cheek. He stepped in hesitantly, clad in jeans and a denim shirt instead of his familiar purple costume. He stopped in front of her and seemed to want to say something but the words just wouldn't come out.
"Clint! Is it really you?" Bobbi gasped, but as she looked at him, she knew the answer to her own question. She struggled to get to her feet, hampered by her now awkward shape. He leaned forward and helped her, pulling him close to him and hugging her tightly, and still silently. "Oh, how I've missed you, Clint. I needed you with me so badly."
She couldn't see the tears in his eyes as he held her nor hear him as he whispered, "And I've missed you Bobbi, so very, very much." He brushed at his eyes before she could notice and stepped back, his familiar crooked grin on his face. "Hi cutie. So, putting on a bit of weight, I see."
"What!?! Listen here mister, don't ever joke about weight to a pregnant woman, especially not one carrying twins." She noticed the amused light in his eyes and then smiled herself, just a bit. "Oh, you always could get me mad, and then change my mind just as fast. Shall we make up?"
"Sure, kiss and make up, just like the old days." He pulled her back to him and kissed her then stepped back, a surprised look on his face.
Bobbi laughed. "Aha, they kicked you didn't they?" He nodded and she took his hand and, slipping it under her loose tunic, pressed it to her stomach. "Wait a minute... there. Feel that? A pair of soccer players you planted in me I think." She smiled at the look of delight on his face and then continued, "Clint, if you are from the future then you'll know. Am I doing the right thing here? Shall I give my babies, our babies, to this Khonshu person?"
He led her over to a couch nearby and they sat together. "Bobbi, I don't know if it's right or not but, it has happened, or will happen, so I guess it must happen." He shook his head a moment. "Damn, you'd think after all the time traveling I've done I'd be able to figure out the right terminology wouldn't you?" He hesitated a moment, then continued, "The twins are there in my time, and they are fine, so what you are doing is what has to happen and it's gonna work out okay."
Bobbi leaned against him and sighed. "Well, I guess... it's just such a hard decision." After a moment of silence she continued, "Honey, I'm sure that you know this too... are we going to get back together? Every time we try it all seems to fall apart, but I've realized these past few months how much I don't want to live without you."
She couldn't see the look in his eyes but she wondered at the catch in his voice as he answered. "It's going to take a while, Bobbi. I guess we were both pretty stupid but we'll be together and apart a few more times before we finally realize we just can't live without each other." He stopped and buried his face in her hair. His voice muffled he continued, "We're gonna find each other again, and it will be just like we vowed... 'til death do us part. Then I'll be with you for the rest of your life Bobbi, for always, just the way it should be."
She sighed and snuggled closer to him. "I sure hope so, sport."
Bobbi leaned back and relaxed. For the first time in almost a month her back had stopped aching. Clint had propped pillows carefully behind her and now he sat on the floor beside the couch, gently massaging her swollen feet. She reflected that, for all that everyone talked about how wonderful a woman looked while pregnant, that she actually felt more like a blimp most of the time. But tonight she felt pampered, cherished, and when she looked at Clint all she saw in his eyes was how beautiful he thought she was. She sighed contentedly. This was what she had missed, not conversation, not even the care, just being in the same room with him, now, and forever. Her eyes drifted shut.
"Bobbi? Come on sweetie, why don't I help you get into bed?"
She looked up, confused for a moment, but quickly realized that she had drifted off to sleep for a bit. While certainly far from helpless, she reflected that getting up was so much easier with Clint's strong hand at her back. He walked her to her bed and tucked her in, then started to leave. "Clint? Where are you going?"
He shrugged. "The priests said there were quarters for me down the hall. I'll see you in the morning."
"Clint, wait." She wasn't quite sure how to phrase what she wanted to say. "Look, Clint, I know that you are married to a different Bobbi, and I am married to a different Clint, but they, I mean we, are really the same people after all. Can't you stay here, with me?"
His eyes closed; he stood, unmoving for so long that she wondered if she had offended him or upset him. Finally, his eyes opened and he whispered, "Bobbi, I'd like that very much."
Two hours later he was still awake. Bobbi had fallen asleep right away, resting on her side, Clint cuddled up against her back, and he lay there, thinking. He knew her future, knew that just a short time after they finally reconciled that she would die, saving his life. He had been told that he could come back to be with her, and stay with her until it was time for her to return to her own realm, but that he couldn't warn her of her impending death, even though she wouldn't remember anything about being here or being pregnant or having the children. It was just so hard, to know that her life would be so short, that she'd be with him for such a brief time. He could feel the tears starting again and knew he had to get himself under control. If Bobbi caught him crying she'd know right away that something was wrong, and he wanted this time with her so badly, and the chance to be there for the birth of his children too.
"Clint Barton."
Clint was surprised at the voice in his mind. He opened his mouth to reply.
"No, think your replies only, do not awaken your mate."
"Fine, I'm thinking them. Now what do you want?"
"I sense your unease. I had sought to grant a boon to you and your mate but I seem to have brought you only torment. Do you not wish to share this experience?"
"Of course I do, it's just... hard, knowing that I'm going to lose her again. It's been over eighteen years, but as soon as I saw her it was like we had never been apart. Once we separate I know I'll never see her alive again. Don't you get it... she died saving my life. If there is any way I can change that... I'd die in her place if I could."
"That is not possible. I have granted to you this time with your mate. Use it and cherish it. Her time is near. Your heirs will be born before another day has passed. I can allow you to more fully share the experience if that is what you wish."
"Uhhh, now that sounds ominous. Just what do you mean by fully?"
"For those brief hours I can make your minds as one, you will both share the pain but you will both share the joy as well. Do you wish this?"
He hesitated for just a moment. In his years as an Avenger he had known more than his share of pain, but this was different. This was a conscious decision instead of a battlefield accident. He shuddered a moment but thought, "Yes. I want to be with her as completely as I can. I know we don't have much time together and I'll take what I can get."
"Done! Share now the thoughts of your wife, Clint Barton."
For one brief moment he was overwhelmed by a jumble of thought and emotions. They slowly coalesced into a warm feeling of love, tinged with trepidation about the prospect of giving birth, but general contentment and fulfillment. As their thoughts merged Clint drifted to sleep, his wife in his arms one more time, his hand resting on her abdomen, the slight movements of his unborn children lulling him to rest.
Early the next morning...
"Clint, wake up honey."
"Mmmpphh. Wha..?" Clint sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He looked at Bobbi and it all came back to him. "Geez, it was real, wasn't it?" She nodded and kissed his cheek. He leaned against her, hugged her and, drifting back to sleep, closed his eyes again. They suddenly snapped open. "My God, you're in labor aren't you?" She smiled, and nodded again. He bolted up.
"Calm down. sport. Nothing's going to happen for a while yet. I had a couple of pains, but they were about twenty minutes apart. First babies are notoriously slow arrivals. Lots of time yet. Funny thing is, you twitched in your sleep at the exact same time the pains arrived. Sympathy pains I guess."
"Uh, yeah, well I guess we better talk about that."
"Talk about what?"
Again the voice of Khonshu filled their minds.
"My Beloved is now linked to your mind, Barbara. He wished to fully experience the birth of your children and so he shall."
Bobbi snickered a moment at the thought of Hawk, or any man, really going through the pains of labor but the voice continued before she had a chance to comment.
"Your labor will be short my child, although you have never borne children before. I have arranged this for you. Even now those of my priests with the requisite medical knowledge prepare to attend you. First, one last gift, in exchange for these, my future Fists of Vengeance. Before you share the pains of birth you shall share an event of the past, the delights of the moment of their conception."
Flashback: a motel room....
The discussion, often heated, about their marriage, their separation, Clint's departure from the Avengers after USAgent joined at the governments demand....
A gesture, a touch, a hug and a kiss... passions building as they moved as one towards the bed, exploring each others bodies, differences forgotten again....
And then finally, the overwhelming feeling of sharing each other's ecstasy as they both reached their climax, but this time with the knowledge that their loving had started the small seeds of life deep within her womb...
"And now it is time to bring forth my Fists. Your attendants arrive. Share now this experience of the present my Beloved and the love of my Beloved and cherish it."
Bobbi and Clint lay in each others arms, still overwhelmed by the emotions they had just shared. The door of the chamber opened and several of the priests entered just as the first hard contraction started. They both gasped and held each other tighter. In moments the priests had them prepared. Clint propped up in the bed with Bobbi sitting in his lap, her legs spread wide, his arms wrapped tightly around her. After about twenty minutes the contractions were coming even faster, the parents-to-be were both panting and sweating. Clint kissed her cheek then moaned and bit his lip as another contraction shook them both.
One of the priests nodded his head and whispered gently, "The time is here."
"Clint.. you don't... have to.. ahhh... do this you... know."
"Ungh.. yes.. I do. Now push... damn it."
They screamed together as she did, for what seemed forever but was in fact just a few more minutes. Then the priest held up a tiny squalling baby. "It is a boy."
Clint leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "My God, a boy. Bobbi, we have a son."
She laughed and pushed the sweat away from her eyes. "Yes we do, sport. A beautiful... oh my... here we go again...."
Their bodies tensed, Bobbi's straining, they once again were caught up as more contractions tightened her uterus and fought to force the child from the birth canal. Again they screamed together and again, moments later, the priest held up a small squirming pink bundle. "And a girl!"
"Oh Lord, Bobbi, you did it. They're beautiful."
"We did it lover, and it's not over yet."
"What do you mean it's not over.... argh...."
Yet more contractions as the placenta was delivered. Clint had managed fine until now, but this was ultimately too much. The sight of the blood and now the afterbirth grabbed at his stomach and wrenched it unmercifully. He started to gag and choke. One of the priests held a basin as Clint retched uncontrollably for a few minutes. Once the spasms were over he leaned back, ashen. The priests had completed what they were doing and Bobbi now lay beside him instead of in his lap. As they had been after the conception of their children, sweating, short of breath and clasped tightly in each others arms, so they were now.
"I'm sorry Bobbi, I really tried but..."
She laughed and kissed his lips, tasting the trace of bile still there, "Oh Clint, I can't believe you managed as long as you did. I don't know any other man who'd want to go through that with his wife." She chuckled again. "Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't faint."
He grinned weakly. "Yeah, well I gotta admit, the thought did cross my mind." He looked up as two of the priests approached.
"Beloved, and wife of the Beloved, here are your children." They carefully placed the now bathed and robed twins into the waiting arms of their parents.
Clint looked with wonder at the tiny, perfect being he held. From the soft blonde fuzz on the top of her head to the feathery lashes that fringed her tightly closed eyes, to the diminutive hand that clenched his finger tightly, their daughter was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He reluctantly turned his eyes from her and cast his gaze at his wife as she held their son gently to her. Finally, though long separated by time, by space and even by death, the Barton family was together and complete.
As it does in our reality, time passes...
"Ow!" Clint Barton untangled his son's fingers from his hair. "This little guy has quite a grip." He cuddled the tiny boy to him and chuckled as the baby's mouth started to eagerly search around on his bare chest. "Hey Nicky, I'm afraid that these ones are just ornamental. Better visit your mom if you need a fillup."
"Pass him over here, sport and then you can burp Ashley and put her down for her nap."
The exchange was made and Clint curled up in a chair and rubbed at his daughter's back. He had asked that Bobbi pick their names. She had wanted to call the boy Clinton Junior but he had insisted she pick another, claiming that the world wasn't big enough for two Clint Bartons. She had finally settled on Ashley, for her GLA friend Big Bertha, and Nick, as a tribute to her old SHIELD commander Nick Fury. The babies were almost six weeks old now, and more wonderful every day. They both stared solemnly at him with their deep blue eyes, and occasionally smiled at him, even if Bobbi did insist that it was only gas. The requisite burp was achieved and Ashley sighed softly as she settled to sleep in his arms. He slipped her into her crib as Bobbi also laid their now sated son beside her.
"So, sport, how about we grab a nap too, while the little ones are sleeping." Bobbi pulled him back towards their bed. She had considered this for a while and finally decided that she was going to have to make the first move. She hadn't been sure about the ethics of her decision; she was still married to Clint in her reality, but this was Clint too. The more she thought about the time when their minds had been linked the more she knew that this was her husband, just as much as his younger self was.
As they laid down she had carefully not done up her loose top. She knew he had caught a glimpse of her bare breasts but he turned his back and pretended to be falling asleep. She ran her hands over his back and flipped him over towards her. Pressing against him she knew his body was responding but he still pulled back. "Lover? What's wrong? It's been six weeks since the kids were born. Don't you want me?"
He sighed. "My God, of course I do, but we have no... I mean, uhhh... geez Bobbi, you're liable to end up pregnant again if we...."
"No Clint Barton."
Again the voice of Khonshu echoed in his brain.
"No children shall be conceived within my realm. Live now as a husband and wife should. On the anniversary of your children's' birth, you must both leave. You will see your wife no more. Enjoy with her now the pleasures and companionship that your mutual pride and temper so oft denied you during her life."
"Clint, what's the matter? You got that distant look in your eyes again. Are you all right."
"Yeah, I'm okay. It was just Khonshu, or whoever." He reached for her. "He, or It or whatever, says that children can't be conceived here." He hugged her and whispered, "Honey, I didn't know if you wanted to... I mean I just didn't want to..."
"I know exactly what you didn't want, lover, but if we've got the godly green light..." Her laugh was soon smothered by his eager mouth.
The hours turned to days, the days to weeks, and the weeks to months. The twins had learned to sit, and to crawl and were now trying to walk. Ashley had managed a few hesitant steps only to tumble laughing into her father's waiting hands. Nicky still toppled over soon after he gained his feet, but he stubbornly kept trying, as though he didn't want to be shown up by his sister. They both babbled incessantly. Clint had almost burst with pride the first time one of them had called him dada. Happy as she was, Bobbi was starting to get apprehensive. The babies would soon be a year old and Clint had told her that Khonshu said that was when they were both to leave. She watched as he sat on the floor, helping the babies build a castle with the wooden blocks that the priests had brought for them to play with.
These past months had been everything she had hoped for in her marriage. This Clint was the same, but different. Oh, the sense of humor was still there, and the teasing comments, and the considerate yet passionate lover, but this older version of her husband was far less quick to anger. They had argued occasionally, but over minor things, and he was always swift to ask her forgiveness, even when he had been in the right. Most of their arguments had been over his refusal to tell her anything more of the future. He had usually become very withdrawn after those discussions. One night after a particularly heated debate, she had awakened to find him sitting beside her, watching her, and crying. He wouldn't explain no matter how much she cajoled him and she wondered why.
"Clint, come here hon. We need to talk about a few things."
"Sure." He left the twins to their own devices and sat beside her, nuzzling her ear. "What did you have in mind, sexy lady?"
She kissed him back, a long lingering embrace. "Well, not that, at least not right now anyway. Clint, we need to talk a bit. Something is bothering you and has been for a while. Why don't you tell me what it is?" He sighed and looked away. "Okay, so there you go with that sad, distant look again." She grabbed his chin and turned him back towards here. "Damn it, Hawk. Talk to me. We've grown so close, don't let this stand between us."
"I can't Bobbi. It was part of the terms of being here with you. I can't tell you... anything." He looked into her eyes and tried to pull his gaze away, because he knew that if he looked at her long enough she could get the truth out of her. She was insistent and pulled his head back again. "Blast it, I want to tell you, I want to change things that are going to happen. My God, Bobbi, I really want to ...."
"Clint?" There were tears streaming down his face. On the floor Nicky and Ashley looked at their mommy and daddy curiously then returned to their playing. "Come on, honey, what is it? You want to change what?"
"Your death!!!! If things happen the same way then you are going to d....."
"No!!!!"
The voice boomed in their heads, battering their minds and knocking them both to the ground.
"This was forbidden you! I have given you this time together and you have betrayed me. Go now. This is over. The children are my Fists and I need you no more."
The two of them were on the floor, writhing in pain from the mental blast. Priests came in and pulled them apart. Dragged along the ground towards opposite exits they reached almost desperately for each other. As she was pulled through the door the last thing Bobbi saw was Clint, struggling, sobbing, and screaming.
"No Bobbi, I can't lose you, please, not again...."
On the floor the twins played contendedly with their blocks.
| Egypt, the present.....
"Hey Bobbi, I was wondering when you'd show up. So, how did it go?" Bobbi shrugged. "Pretty good actually, Ashley. The priests told me a lot about Clint's adventures here in the past, stuff I didn't know before. While I was trapped in the Old West I had no ideas how close I came to losing him." She looked back over her shoulder at the temple. "Let's head home. I've been doing some thinking and I guess it's time I gave him a call. God, I miss him."
And so we come to the end of another issue. A little departure from our usual format, but we'll return to the here and now in our next story. To see more of the Barton twins be sure to check Barry Reese's Moon Knight #58-60 and watch for the Hawkeye Giant Sized 1 to see what effect they will ultimatly have on their dad. We'll return to the letter column next time with comments on the last two issues. My thanks to many people for their help in developing the extended Barton family: to Barry & Alex for their help and support and information about Egyptian mythology and to Scott Chamberlain who has known for over six months that this is what I had been planning and for not objecting to me laying this past reality plot bomb on him (also for Nicky Barton's name too.) Next time watch for Wanda's debut as West Coast chairman in a story I call 'Ding, Dong... the Witch is Dead. As usual your comments are welcome at lonni@paratime.ca. |