Chapter 5:

Clint couldn't decide what to do about his partner. A week had past and though Natasha remained stoic with the uncomfortable change in her environment, he could also see that she was walking on eggshells around his family. He didn't have much luck getting her to open up, and neither did Laura, though his son tended to get the redhead's attention a few times. He stood against the side of the doorway with his arms folded as he kept most of the weight on his good-leg. He watched her sit on the couch next to Cooper as she watched Star Wars with an unreadable expression, showing no interest in the movie nor the child beside her. His one-year-old little girl was currently using the spy's legs to pull herself onto the couch too, but if it bothered Natasha then he couldn't tell. He also couldn't be sure what was said when his son leaned over to tell her something and her only response was to blink a few times before giving him the tiniest upward curl of her lips.

"Clint..." he heard his wife say softly. He turned his head to look at her next to him and she asked her question, "I get what you're trying to do here, I really do, but did it ever occur to you that she might not be okay with this?"

Of course it had, only the realization came far too late to do anything about it. "Yes," and he chuckled a little under his breath as he answered Laura. "Just—just not until she was already here," he admitted as he scratched his head. He was dragged from the doorway and into the next room only a moment after his answer and he didn't bother to tell Laura that if Natasha wanted to then she would find a way to hear what they were saying.

"She's not sleeping..." she pointed out quietly, but the worry was evident in her voice.

"Natasha hardly ever does," Clint informed her as he sighed and limped his way into the chair nearby. "You remember how I used to be, right?" he questioned, "I never slept either and if I did... it wasn't very well, but I had you to help me out with that." He frowned slightly before he pointed out the next fact, "You never went anywhere. He watched as she smiled softly at his reminder and then he gave her another one, "She doesn't have that, Laura, but she needs it. Everyone in SHIELD keeps her at arms length, even Nick, and she doesn't deserve that."

He watched his wife kneel down and she place her hand on his good knee as she spoke, "I'm not saying that she does or that you should do that to her, what I'm saying is that you didn't just pull her within arms reach, you practically dragged her in and smothered her, Clint..." He couldn't help the incredulous look that crossed his face. "Natasha is clearly the you that I first met, worse even, if I'm being completely honest. What would you have done if I had dragged you to a house with two children?"

"Run away..." he answered immediately before he sighed, "and I totally screwed this up, didn't I?"

To his relief Laura only gave a breathy chuckle as she placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "A little, but I'm sure there's a way to fix it. She just needs space, well...space and maybe a little less Star Wars," she joked as she jabbed her thumb in the direction of the living room.

Both he and Laura turned towards the room when they heard Natasha's sharp intake of breath. All they managed to see was the spy's arms reach out on instinct. The redhead snatched little Lila mid-air when the one year old decided to launch herself off the couch into a free fall. His partner's face never changed, it still remained indifferent while she held the baby about a foot away from her face, her hands gripped gently over Lila's sides.

"Whooooa..." came Cooper's amazed voice, "that was fast...I don't think daddy is that fast! You wasn't even lookin'!"

Natasha's gaze shifted to Cooper for a moment before her eyes landed back on the little girl. Her face slowly changed to something a little more perplexed, clearly uncertain about what she was supposed to do now that she was actually holding the child. He honestly couldn't help how hilarious her expression looked to him. Seeing the redhead hold his daughter out almost as though she thought Lila was diseased and she might catch something from her was the most amusing thing he had ever witnessed.

"Y'know that's not how you hold a baby, right Auntie Nat?" came Cooper's question.

"Um..." Natasha's baffled response came through and she looked a little terrified suddenly when Lila started wriggling around. It seemed his wife shared his amusement at the moment because she hadn't moved to interfere just yet either. Slowly his partner lowered the little girl back to the floor but doing so only caused Lila to clamber back up her legs and onto the couch for a repeat performance.

"Oh dear..." came Laura's remark, "she gets this from you."

Once more, Natasha's hands jettisoned out and snatched the little girl from the air as she gave her a mildly perturbed looked. The performance was repeated three more times before the spy seemed to understand that Lila thought it was a game, and then in hilarious fashion, she was once again holding the little girl at a distance and staring at her. A second later she pulled her in closer to her face, "Got a wild side, don't you, malyshka?" To his surprise Natasha's voice was gentle and seemed at least mildly amused with the antics despite the expression on her face that said otherwise.

"What's a muh-lis-ka?" came the confused voice of his son.

"Hmm?" Natasha glanced over at Cooper, "oh...it's Russian for little girl."

"Cool!"

Clint snickered slightly as Natasha's eyebrow quirked upward at Cooper's response. Clint had to cover his mouth to avoid a full-on laugh when she turned her head back to little Lila only to see that the child's lips were partially open with an enormous spit bubble forming between them. His partner looked absolutely horrified until Cooper started laughing.

"Yeah... she does that. Mommy says she'll grow outta it."

"Gross..." seemed to be the only thing Natasha could think to say as the little girl popped the spit bubble forming from her lips.

Cooper gave a full-belly laugh at her as he replied, "That's what I keep tryin'a tell everyone! Totally gross!"

Apparently little Lila thought it was funny too because she giggled away at the distorted face of the woman holding her.

"Good Lord..." his wife muttered under her breath, "this family is going to scar her for life. I better go get her before Natasha bursts an aneurysm."

It was all he could do to grab her arm and stop her. "Wait—" he told her as he pointed to Natasha and the children.

He watched as Laura glanced over and they both saw the crinkle in his partner's brow as little Lila started to pucker her lips and then open them over and over until she successfully made what Laura had deemed a 'kissy noise'. Natasha's vibrantly green eyes blinked a multitude of times before the corners of her lips curved upward into the first real smile since she had first arrived here. He imagined that smile came out against her will because Natasha typically hid her amusement from prying eyes.

Lila seemed more than a little thrilled to get the reaction and she wriggled and bounced and proceeded to do more 'kissy noises'.

Cooper was giggling, "She likes you."

Natasha only seemed a little baffled by that revelation. She was someone who wasn't used to people 'liking' her and he suspected she certainly didn't expect a baby to be one of the few.

"Boy, you're not good at this," Cooper noted, "you gotta do it back, Auntie Nat, that's what mommy does."

Clint almost snorted in an attempt to contain his laughter when Natasha's expression turned to one of panic. It only lasted a brief moment before she squinted. She gave the small girl the stink-eye before she finally pursed her lips a little. He almost couldn't believe it when her lips parted a second later and the smallest pop came from her mouth.

Lila absolutely adored it as she waved her hands around and giggled endlessly.

"Well..." Laura cleared her throat slightly, "that I didn't expect..."

"She has that effect on people," he admitted with a smirk.

Seeing her chuckle at the one year old girl and her 'kissy noises' was one of the most mind blowing moments he had ever witnessed when it came to Natasha. Lila was starting it all over again, usually managing at least a dozen before the redhead would reciprocate with the tiniest pop of her lips, and it went on for a good five minutes. Clint could only assume that she finally realized what she was doing when she placed the little girl back on the floor, patted her on the head awkwardly and told her, "No more." Lila didn't seem thrilled with it but she toddled away to sulk with her toys without much of a fight.

Natasha's gaze peered over at himself and Laura. Clint realized that they were the reason she had stopped. She had realized even with the distraction of the baby that she was being watched and he knew for a fact that was something that irritated her to no end. And to be caught playing? He imagined that disturbed her more than anything else. He watched as Natasha removed herself from the couch and the house, going to the solitude of the front porch while he sighed and rubbed his face in frustration.

"It'll be alright," Laura assured him, and though he wasn't so sure, he returned her small smile, "I'll go and try to talk to her, you go be with the kids." He almost wanted to tell her it was a bad idea but he figured that at this point it couldn't really hurt.

So Clint did as his wife wanted and slowly limped his way to the couch.

()()

Natasha settled herself on the porch swing with her legs curled underneath her, staring out at the farmland and trees that surrounded her. She didn't even have time to think on anything that transpired before Clint's wife opened the screen door and followed her out. It seemed like she was asking permission with her eyes to join her on the swing and it felt more than a little rude to decline, so Natasha did the only thing that she could, and she gestured for her to sit.

"Clint can be a little brainless," Laura informed her and Natasha couldn't help but release a breathy chuckle at the comment, "and for what it's worth, I'm sorry that he threw you into this without warning you."

It was unsettling to hear her apologize for the man that she had been partnered with for the last two years, not when these were people she hadn't even known existed up until she woke up to them a week ago. She leaned her elbow onto the armrest of the swing as her chin rested on her palm. She didn't bother to respond to Laura's comment because it didn't really seem necessary, so instead she changed the topic. "You know, I suppose most people find this normal," she said softly, staring back out at the scenery, "but the truth is that I never believed people actually lived like this."

Apparently it was an odd thing to say because Laura seemed a little confused by it. "Why not?" and Natasha figured it was probably a fair question.

"I..." she hesitated with the answer, something that Natasha wasn't used to doing, and she chewed on her lower lip before she finally explained it, "I just didn't grow up this way." That was putting it mildly and given the look on the other woman's face, Laura seemed to think so too, even if the brunette probably didn't really know anything. It was unsettling how hard it was to remain neutral in Laura's presence, to keep the distance that she was used to. She just came off calm and soothing, and honestly, Natasha found it a little irksome while at the same time she found it endearing. "I've always been alone," she told her.

"Oh," and it just seemed more understanding rather than pitying when it came from Laura. Thankfully, she also didn't ask questions about it. Apparently if you were married to Clint, you learned to just take what you were given and not request too many details. "It doesn't have to be that way, you know that right?" came Laura's reminder.

"Maybe not..." Natasha agreed with an imperceptible shrug, "but I don't know what to do with—" She paused as she finally lifted her head up and glanced around, "All of—of this..." she finally admitted as she blew out a breath of defeat, "I wasn't made for simple."

If Laura was bothered by her words then it didn't show, instead she was wearing a calming little smile as she responded, "You did fine in there."

Natasha hesitated now as her next words got caught on the tip of her tongue. She pursed her lips for a moment, debating how she was supposed to reply.

"This isn't a mission, Natasha. You don't have to think everything you do over, in fact you don't have to do anything at all, you just have to be you."

Her eyes narrowed slightly in response to that before she gave Laura a confused look. "That's just it. I don't..." she stopped now and closed her eyes to thinking a little more clearly. Finally she shook her head and carefully removed herself from the swing as she headed back towards the door. For a brief second she glanced back at Laura who only seemed concerned by the abrupt departure. "There is no me..." she told her softly before she disappeared into the house.

"Nat?" Clint questioned as he looked up from the couch. His partner swiftly moved towards the stairs but she didn't look at him, she just silently and quickly moved up the steps and back towards the guest room. He looked over as Laura slowly came back into the house. He gave her a questioning look but his wife just looked a little sad and shook her head before she disappeared into the kitchen.

"Did Mommy and Auntie Nat have a fight?" Cooper questioned as he looked on in concern.

That made the situation even more uncomfortable. "No, buddy. Auntie Nat just doesn't feel good," he told his son to try and reassure him.;

Cooper was a little unsure and then he wandered up the stairs to follow Natasha, ignoring his father's comment to stop. He looked at her door questionably before he pushed it open and looked in at his Aunt. She looked more than a little surprised to see him and she was in the middle of putting something on one of the cuts on her arm so he pulled himself up onto the bed and watched her. "Do you fight bad guys too?" he questioned.

Natasha looked back at him, her eyes just a little wider with the surprise of his question. "Oh, uh..." she hesitated a little but she realized that was obviously Clint's job description in the eyes of his children, "yes..."

"So...you're not really my Aunt, are you?" came the next question.

She glanced away at his question and gave a small shake of her head, "No."

"That stinks..." She gave him a sad smile at his response. "Does that hurt?" came the next question, and the kid certainly had a lot of questions.

"Does what hurt?"

"Everything. You gots lotsa' cuts," he told her when she came over and sat on the bed next to him, "and your head is funny colors."

She frowned a little once more. "I'm okay," she told him with ease.

"I heard daddy say you saved him when you wasn't suppose to. Why wasn't you suppose to?"

Natasha pursed her lips in an instant because she couldn't exactly tell the poor kid that his father's life wasn't supposed to come before the mission. "Don't worry about that, Cooper," she told him softly as she gave him a sad smile, "he just meant he thought I shouldn't have. He was worried about me fighting the—the bad guys."

"Oh," and the kid shrugged and tilted his head in confusion, "but the bad guys always lose, right?"

She blinked a few times. "Sure..." she agreed.

"Can I still call you Auntie Nat?"

The kid certainly had a lot of questions but that one was the most surprising. She angled her head to the side slightly but she supposed there wasn't really anything wrong with it. "Why?" came her instant response, but he just looked at her strangely and she quickly corrected herself, "I mean...sure you can."

"M'kay," Cooper grinned now, leaned up, and she just barely managed not to flinch when he wrapped his arms around her in an hug. She had to remember that sometimes normal people hugged and it wasn't something that she needed to flinch from. "Love you, Auntie Nat," he whispered in her ear.

Natasha just watched as he released her from the embrace and left the room. She had to blink a few times to keep any wetness from appearing in her eyes. Kids were oddly cathartic, even if she didn't really understand why he felt that way for her, or understand kids in general.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!