Maria looked intensely at the screen in front of her. Sand as far as her eyes could see.

Sigh. Again.

"Will you stop that?" said an annoyed voice at her side, exasperated, and she had to stop herself from laughing.

"You made me leave my bed, the nice pleasant weather from my quarters, to this… you can take my sighs." She looked at him, his one apparent eyebrow raised. "What?"

"What happened to 'sir'?"

"You took me from my kids, you don't deserve a 'sir'… Nick."

His eyebrow rose higher, her deadpan expression mirrored on his face.

"You're also taking me away from my wife for longer than I care to be, be glad she let us both walk out of that room, Nick-y." She winked at the nickname, allowing the huge grin to spread on her face at both his outraged expression and the thought of her wife.

Her wife. Alive. Back waiting for her with their kids.

*Buzz Buzz*

Her phone beeping made her glance and check the new picture that the woman in question had just sent her. In the photo, the three most important people in her life were staring at her, pouts on all of their faces with a caption of "miss you already" and a sad emoji under it.

They had all become such saps after being reunited.

Not that she was complaining. Her smile grew bigger, and she was thankful no agents were around to see it – her reputation could not last that.

"Oh, for god's sake, tell them to stop that. It's not like we're at any risk, and this won't even take that long, okay?" He rolled his eye as she showed him the picture. It was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

He looked back at her. At the picture. At her.

She waited.

"Fine, take a selfie and say we miss them too." His voice was grumpy, and Maria laughed.

Giant saps, all of them.

"Shut up!"

"Yes, sir." She said, snapping the picture at the exact time that allowed her to capture a very small smile at the corner of his lips, sending it to her family with a "we'll see you soon". As she turned it off and looked at the fast approaching city, she allowed herself to smile, closing her eyes.

Her family. Her wife and two kids were here.

Natasha…

xxxx-xxxx

As she walked into the 'meeting room' a few days later, she was already shaking her head, brow furrowed and back tense. With the click of the door she turned around, staring straight into Nick's eye, all her years of experience and command into that single look.

"You will not call her. Natasha will take no part in this."

He just looked at her, and Maria felt a tension in the room that she hadn't felt between them since she'd joined SHIELD and had just led the first mission with Fury as her handler, but this was non-negotiable. Her wife would not take any part in this. She had retired, after everything that she'd been through - the red room, living 5 years without half her family, dying - no, Natasha would have no part of this.

"You're gonna lie to her?" Was the only thing he asked, face just as blank as hers.

"No." Was her immediate answer "But I refuse to leave the kids alone. She is not going in."

He nodded.

"I wasn't gonna send her in, Hill." He said after a while, in a low voice. She remained tense. She loved Nick, she really did. He was more of a father to both him and Natasha than anyone ever was. And quite the grandfather to the kids (something of which he was very proud of thinking no one knew he was proud of), but she loved her family even more. She would not place her wife in the line of fire ever again. Heck, she was apprehensive from putting herself in such state for what it might do to Natasha.

"I wasn't. I promise. Not unless it was a last resort." He said, hands up in a placating gesture, looking pointedly at her hands.

She realized she'd turned them into tight fits and immediately opened them, forcing her shoulders to easy a bit.

"And just 'cause she wouldn't stay still if it came to that, and you know it." He continued.

She forced herself to take a deep breath. Closing her eyes, willing those horrible images and the feeling of losing her to go away.

"I know… Sorry, Nick, I-"

"It's fine Maria." He walked closer, placing one hand on her shoulder. He'd been there. On the ship, the day she found out Natasha had died. He'd been there the following days until Cap had come back, giving her the greatest gift of all.

Xxxx Flashback xxxx

"Hey, Cap! All done with fixing the time-line?… oh… fuck…" Clint's voice broke and it made Maria frown. What could have possibly made him curse in front of his kids and Cap?

"Careful, Clint. The Capt doesn't like this kind of talk." She said, teasing him weakly, without turning around.

No answer.

"Clint?"

She asked, finally moving to see what had made him so shocked. There he was, standing frozen, hunched over the table as if that was the only thing holding him standing. Her frown intensified as she followed his gaze, trying to determine what he was seeing that it made him react so violently.

And then her eyes found it.

Found her.

And her mind went numb.

She couldn't breathe.

Tears were already gathering in her eyes before she could even fully comprehend what she was seeing.

Red hair.

Pale skin.

Green eyes.

The greenest eyes she had ever seen, alight with life, wet with unshed tears, just as hers were.

Maria couldn't breathe; her legs felt like lead, but it didn't matter. She had no idea what was that made her move, but she did. Faster than she ever had before, she was running. And so was her wife… so was

"Natasha." She managed to breathe out once. Twice, three times, like a mantra, before she was close enough. It was going to hurt, but she didn't care.

"Masha!" Her wife shouted as she finally, finally got within arms range and Maria, scared shitless it might be a hallucination, hugged her around the waist, tightly.

Solid.

Real.

And if nothing else had, the fast beating heart she could feel pounding close to hers, was the uncontestable proof of her being very much alive.

Alive.

She had no idea who started shaking and crying first; she just knew that Natasha's hands were around her neck and shoulders, tightly gripping her hair, her legs wrapped around her waist as Maria's own arms hugged the smaller woman's waist, hands sprawled across her back, touching as much of her as she could.

"Nat. Natasha" She breathed out as sobs took over her. "You, what; how-" but her wife didn't let her finish. Amidst tears, sobs, and more shaking than Maria ever remembered feeling, Natasha's lips found hers. It was nothing like any kiss they had ever shared before. It was pure desperation. It was messier than she could ever remember it being. It was Natasha again in her arms.

It was perfect.

It was home.

xxxx-xxxx

She shook her head, looking at Nick again.

"Who then? Or is it just… you know… or are we…?" She asked as he moved around, opening a computer.

"Natasha would kill me if I let you anywhere too close to the fight." He rolled his eye at that. "And I don't think for a second that living at home has made her any less deadly or fit and I like being alive again too much to risk it." He shook his head, and Maria allowed herself to smile.

"It really hasn't."

He stared at her for a moment. Her smile became a smirk.

"Oh, spare me."

She laughed, finally fully relaxing.

"Who then?"

He turned the laptop towards her.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

Xxxx

"You've got to be kidding me."

Maria just shook her head as she looked at her wife's face.

"Parker?"

She nodded.

"He's like, 16!"

"Yep."

"No other choice?"

Maria looked away at that.

"Masha…"

"No." Maria looked back at the shorter woman: her green eyes were focused, shoulders straight - Agent Natasha Hill was looking at her. "Parker is not alone, Natasha."

"He's not experienced. The kid's suffered enough."

Her hands closed into a fist. She couldn't even exactly disagree with Natasha; she had just made the exact same points to Nick.

"I know."

"He's almost Nicky's age."

"I know, Nat."

Silence.

"He's not gonna be alone. And it is his choice, in the end."

"Maria, please tell me you're not gonna-"

She was already shaking her head, a small smile playing on her lips.

"I'll be accompanying the situation, mostly. He said he was quite sure that you hadn't lost your edge, and he wasn't willing to risk it."

Natasha laughed at that, a smug smirk on her lips, and she got more comfortable in her seat.

"Good."

They shared another moment in silence. Their kids were asleep on their beds, on the opposite side of the room, having exhausted themselves after a whole day of running around and playing about. Running… Playing… Nicky was almost Parker's age.

"There's this new guy. He's gonna lead the mission on the field. Parker will be a backup sort of thing."

Natasha nodded, frowning a bit.

"New guy? Is he trustworthy?"

Maria shrugged.

"Too soon to tell, I suppose, but he has been helping."

"Good." She looked at their kids for a moment, before facing her again. "Parker's gotta come out of this alive, or Fury will find out exactly how I have not been sitting idly by."

Maria smirked.

"Don't worry, babe. He knows."

Xxxx

"Nick…" Maria sighed as they watched Peter walk away, but he was already opening new tabs on his laptop, most likely booking a ridiculously expensive hotel that would change the whole vacation trip the poor kid was expecting.

"We need him, Maria."

She shook her head, but didn't speak up. She watched as he moved things around, twisting words and people to make sure everything would go down smoothly. Her heart warmed at the fact that not once did Nick asked her to help, knowing she did not agree with it. Once he was finished, they both gave out the orders needed to put it in motion, until all that was left was a closed laptop between them.

He got up and walked towards her, stopping right in front of Maria, looking her right into her eyes.

"I don't want to ruin his life, Maria. But Tony saw something in him." He paused for a moment before continuing, "I see something in him."

Maria nodded slightly. She did too. That kid had the heart in the right place and the drive and powers to do something with it.

"I do too, Nick." Hell, she helped train and prepare some of the new agents quite a few times; she knew how to recognize talent. "He's… Nicky's almost his age, Nick. I-We can't…"

"He won't be alone Maria. I promise you that. But he has a gift, and he wants to use it."

"He doesn't, right now. It should be his decision to take."

"We don't have that kind of time. He needs a push."

They stayed in silence for a while before Maria sighed. She was definitely no stranger to hard decisions.

"Tell me at least you got them a nice place?"

He smiled before starting to walk away.

"What do you take me for, Hill?"

"You don't want me to answer that." He barely reacted at that, though she knew he was rolling his eye.

She paused.

"Did… 'we' get a nice place?"

…

"Nick!"

His laughter echoed down the damn walls.

Xxxx

"He walked away." She said, after a while.

Natasha sighed.

"Are you okay?"

"I wasn't the one running around Italy fighting for my life…" Maria said, knowing she sounded quite bitter about the fact.

Natasha was silent for a while before asking in a quiet voice.

"Did you want to be?"

Maria looked away towards the window, not knowing if she wanted to answer. Not knowing if she knew how to answer.

"I… don't know, Nat…" She whispered after a while. Shaking her head, she continued, "I really don't know. Part of me wanted to. I always loved being in the action, having control. I hate the fact that Nick all but forbade me from taking part in it even though I knew I could help. I hated the thought of leaving it up to Parker alone. But…"

She stopped herself.

"But?" Natasha prompted.

"But… I hate the thought of risking losing all of you more."

"Masha…"

Maria took a deep breath, looking away from Natasha as she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"I can't leave them, Nat. I can't make them, I can't make you go through this again."

They were silent. For a long time.

A tear ran down her cheek.

"Masha…"

She closed her eyes.

"Masha, look at me."

Taking a deep breath, Maria turned to look at her wife once more. Green eyes bright with unshed tears too.

"I don't want you to take part in these things. I don't. The thought that I might lose you again is… I can't bear it. Can't. Doesn't even enter my mind." She shuddered, one tear falling down her cheek. "But, and this is very important, Masha, if you feel it's necessary. If you feel like you can, and have to, help Parker… then do it. It's whom I fell in love with, Masha. The hardass, awesome, best agent there was, Commander Hill. You're an amazing professional, Masha. You are good at what you do. And barring a mythical accident, I know, I know you'll always come back to me. To us. To our family."

Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now.

"I love you."

Natasha smiled.

"I love you too."

"Thank you…"

Natasha laughed a bit as she playfully shoved her wife away.

"Always, my love. Come back soon?"

"Is that an order?"

The words came out of her mouth without any thought, but as soon as she said them, she smiled, mirroring the expression that on Natasha's face.

"It is, Commander Hill."

"Aye, aye, Agent Hill."

Xxxx

Maria had just finished the check-up around the ship that would take her to Earth and into the latest bat-shit crazy situation an Avenger had somehow managed to get himself into, when Fury's voice sounded on the speakers.

"Commander Hill, stand down."

She sighed.

"We've talked about this Nick, I'm going to help Parker."

"There's no need."

Maria froze.

"What?" She hissed, and didn't calm at all when Nick laughed.

"The boy came through, Maria. He did it."

A breath Maria did not know she was holding came out in one go. Suddenly, she was almost gasping.

"God damn it, Nick!" She said, quickly climbing out of the ship and seeing the smug-ass face of her 'boss' down the ramp.

"Lead with that next time, you bastard. What do you mean, 'did it'?" She asked, storming towards him.

"Do I command no respect around here anymore?" He asked, indignant.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Anyway, he did it. Discovered the real culprit was, uh, whatshisface, thought we had turned our backs on him, came through at the end, won the battle and the girl, yada, yada, very much like Stark."

It had been a very long time since Maria had been this lost.

"I... He… Real…Girl?"

Yeah, okay, so she wasn't being the most coherent ever, but that was no reason for Fury to outright laugh at her. For heaven's sake, she'd just had had a very tough conversation with her wife about going to Earth to save Peter and he… he'd done it. He saved Earth.

Maria smiled.

"Okay, your smile is starting to creep me out now, so just go back to your wife. In the 30 minutes you took to pack your bags she already came to my office twice, threatening me to quite a few things I dare not repeat in polite company. You daughter also came by once… Let me tell you, I dunno whom I most fear retaliation from. Nicky is ridiculously like you."

She laughed at his sarcastic tone (not that she doubted that Natasha had really been to see Nick those two times and she had been told that Nicky had taken quite a few of her commanding habits for some reason – something she was really proud of) but became slightly more serious as he looked back at her. His one eye soft and focused on her.

"Still… I'm proud of you, Hill. Despite what ended up happening, well… It's just another proof I chose my deputy right."

Maybe she was getting old. There was no other explanation for the chocked up feeling she was experiencing right then.

Just as Fury was about to leave the hangar, she found her voice again.

"You going soft on me, sir?"

He stopped.

"I probably just had too many martinis." He quipped without turning back, and Maria smiled fondly at him.

"And lose the 'sir', Maria. We're on vacation." He said over his shoulder, the hint of a smile in what she could see of his lips.

"Sure, Nick." She answered quietly, turning around to get her things back.

"And go pull your redhead off me! She really hasn't taken it easy…"

Maria chuckled; she had no doubt of that.

She looked at the doors and then back at the plane, a smile coming up her lips. Maybe a bit of fun with her family would be good. As her wife and kids often told her: she was a hopeless nerd.

Xxxx

"Momma! Are you coming home?"

Maria laughed.

"Hello to you too, K!"

She knew their son had learn how to look sheepish by looking at Natasha. Sometimes it seemed impossible that those two were not related, just as she knew how much Nicky looked like her sometimes. Though she wouldn't admit, Maria treasured that more than anything; that her daughter would feel so attached to her, feel so connected, that she'd still kept those habits even though they had a 5-year long gap in their relationship. Sometimes, she'd just look at her while Nicky was focusing on something or being a bit bossy with K, and she just saw herself in there. Natasha always came up to her on those moments, hugging her tight and thanking her for… everything. As if she was the one who needed to be thanked for anything.

"Hi, momma!" He said, finally.

"Hello, mum!" Nicky was right behind her brother, a smile big on her face.

"Hello, guys."

"So… Are you coming home?" His son asked, smiling despite trying very hard to look like he wasn't.

Maria chuckled.

"I just left, K. How can I already be coming home?"

"But I miss you already!" He son shouted, and even her daughter seemed like she was about to do the same. Maria had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.

"We do indeed." Natasha's voice came up from somewhere in the room before her face showed up on screen. "A few days should be enough? A few hours?" She asked, and Maria could see the longing, but also pride shining in her eyes.

"Yep."

"Precision, Masha…"

"Nat, I need to assess the situation."

"Commander!"

Sigh.

What does a mother and a wife have to do to play a prank on her family, nowadays?

"Give me 3 days. Tops."

"And you'll be here?" K asked.

"Or on your way?" Nicky completed, and Maria stopped. Looking from one face to the other.

"What is this, am I reporting for duty?" She laughed.

"Yep!" The three said in unison.

"You need to be here in three days, soldier!" Nicky said in a mocking stern voice that really did sound like hers.

"No leeway" K quipped, and Maria was impressed he knew that word… probably Coulson.

She looked at Natasha.

"You heard the directors, Commander Hill. Three days tops."

God, she loved her family.

Shaking her head, she said the only thing she could say.

"Aye, aye."

Xxxx

As she closed the messaging system and made sure the whole ship was powered down, she started to make her way towards the section of the ship she was sharing with the kids during this impromptu vacation Nick had taken them on. When he'd first mentioned it to her, it had been crazy. As much as she had wanted to spend uninterrupted time with her family, she dared not to leave Earth unattended (especially now that they'd lost Tony, and that Thor had gone God knows where). But three sets of pouty lips, and three pairs of arms hugging her ridiculously tight made her resolve crumble faster than a house of cards.

She had barely paid any attention to Nick's plan to take care of Earth – which had obviously been a mistake. Those two shape-shifter were laughable and ridiculous! How could they not see Mysterio for the farce he was! Granted, she and Nick hadn't either, but they were thousands of miles away from the actual person! All they had to go on was some videos and reports!

She shook her head; those two buffoons were problems for another day. She could always drag up the old disciplinary training she imposed on badly behaving recruits. That should be fun.

She sighed.

Thank god for Peter Parker.

She sighed again, closing her eyes. They had two of the great heroes of the war against Thanos right here. Right here, doing… doing nothing. Maybe she was right; they were being selfish.

As she walked down the end of the corridor leading to their quarters, she paused by the door. She could hear, even through thick metal, raised, excited voices. They were likely playing with something.

Adjusting the strap of her duffle on her shoulder, she opened the door, and could now actually hear what they were saying.

"Momma's favourite is chocolate, isn't it?"

"Yep, little one! She'll come back soon, so we need to get this done!"

"Yeah, K! Come on, let me help you."

Maria smiled as she let those voices fill her whole. It was so heartwarming to hear how kind Nicky had been to her brother since they'd come back. And to herself as well. She was much more affectionate with all of them, with Natasha as well. Maria had theories about placating guilt and all, but it didn't matter. They were all alive and together.

And maybe they were being selfish, yeah. But she would not risk this. She would not risk them unless absolutely necessary. They had done their part, both of them. It was time for them to enjoy it – to enjoy everything they fought for.

The grin came to her face easily as she took a few steps forward, bracing herself for the dramatic shouts of her fooling them and 'what happened to earth' and 'that was fast', and just because she couldn't resist, nerd that she was, she said in a unnecessarily loud voice, watching all three of them jump:

"Honey, I'm home!"

XXXX

I AM ALIVE PEOPLE!

I'm SO sorry for how long this took! I swear I wanted to have this posted last year, BUT just when I had finished writing it ALL a cousin pointed out that I had NOT seen both of the post credits scenes… So after being shocked for like three weeks I had to REWRITE a bunch of parts! …Almost all really… But I DID have some scenes I loved aaaand I did want to somehow follow the film's plot SO! If it got confused:

Nick, Maria, Nat, K and Nicky are ALL in the ship having a loooong well deserved vacation together! Nick and Maria gather around a nice computer set up to check out what's going on with their 'copies' on Earth and give some orders and advice, but not all the time (they are on vacation after all). So every single scene it's them on the ship, watching the mess their counterparts are making, kay? =D So sorry if it was confusing, buuut I kinda liked writing this bit and hope you like reading it too!

Also, thank you SO very much for ALL the reviews and kind words… you have no idea how much it's helped me… Work and life has been crazy, but I'm back to writing now, feel like I'm myself again and you guys definitely helped so thanks! =D

I'll try to answer individually later, but until then:

Thank you veeeeeeeeeeeeeery much aaaand see you soon! ^^

P.S.: As ALWAYS, thank yoooou brotherrr for beta-reading it for me! You're awesome!