It has been a LONG time. Big thanks to Alyssa for pulling me out of my slump by finding me on the LINE app that I totally forgot was even on my profile page. So glad you reached out Alyssa, this newest chapter is for you!

Chapter 7:

"You pierce my soul.
I am half agony, half hope."

Clint's nerves were more than a little frayed. All things considered, he figured nobody would blame him for that even if he was calm on the outside. When you were stuck on an uninhabited island, well—uninhabited sans for some sort of temptress and your mind-controlled teammates—it was a little difficult to stay calm on the inside.

It wasn't to say that he wasn't glad to still have Tony on his side, but considering the fact that the billionaire was being chased by their friends; one of which was a supersoldier, another of which could turn into The Hulk? That he wasn't glad about.

He notched one of his arrows, lying in wait as he watched Tony fly towards him.

Rhodey was right on his tail, just as Clint expected, and he took a deep and calming breath as he waited for them to get close enough. It wasn't that he couldn't hit his target from where he was, it was the mere fact that he knew he needed to do it at the last possible moment. He counted the seconds, adjusted his aim accordingly for their flight path, then as Tony got within twenty feet, he made the call.

"Go low, Stark," he told him over the comm.

The billionaire didn't hesitate to drop to a lower flight path and Clint let loose the arrow. It hit it's target, straight into the chest of Rhodey's armor. The electrical net released on impact, wrapping Rhodey's suit and fizzling it out, sending him sailing a few feet to the ground. Tony grabbed hold of him a moment later, flying them towards the Avenger's abandoned quinjet.

"I take it we're not leaving them a ride," Clint mentioned as they landed in the back.

"Hell no," Tony muttered, "and we need to reconvene, come up with a strategy here, because the two of us versus all of them is just asking to get an ass whooping."

Clint couldn't exactly disagree but it also didn't leave him with a good feeling over having to abandon their friends. "What about Banner?" he dared to ask him.

"FRIDAY, autopilot my jet back to the tower," Tony ordered, making his way to the cockpit. "Barton, shoot any of those cult convert teammates of ours that try to get on board," came the man's next order, "not one of them gets on this jet, not even the weirdo that turns pea-sized."

Clint wasn't too thrilled by it, but he couldn't deny it was necessary. He followed the order nonetheless, shooting an explosive arrow into a tree. It fell, causing Sam Wilson to veer off path just enough that the second arrow he shot, into a different tree, exploded and caused the man to fall to the ground as well.

It all left a sour feeling inside, having to attack his own friends, having to leave them behind. He hadn't been any happier when he had to leave Natasha behind during the Ultron debacle, but it had been necessary—and an order—an order that Steve Rogers had given. It was also one he imagined Steve would have given right now just as Tony had.

Which made it just the tiniest bit easier to shoot an exploding arrow just a few feet in front of the speed-running supersoldier.

Except Steve seemed to expect it and the man made an almost astounding leap over top of the blast. "Stark," he called out, "the good Captain seems to have other ideas on that!"

"Show him who's boss, Frodo."

Clint rolled his eyes before he muttered out, "Frodo? Really? That has nothing to do with a bow and arrow..." He shook his head as he watched Steve run after the slowly ascending jet, trying to come up with a decent plan. Then he remembered what jet he was on, plus a few conversations he'd had with Wanda about Scott Lang's toys. "Well...guess there's some irony in mentioning hobbits right now," he mentioned to himself out loud.

He turned, digging through the former thief's bag. It would have been nice if the man labeled his toys, unfortunately that wasn't the case and it was a crapshoot on whether or not he was going to either give them a clear escape, or if it was going to quite literally turn into a much bigger problem.

"Why would hobbits be ironic?" came Tony's confused response.

"How pissed do you think Cap will be if I shrink him?" he called back, playing eeny-meeny-miney-mo with the two different circular discs.

"Shree—" and then he swore Tony was laughing despite the circumstances, "you've got shrink arrows now? Shrinkrows?"

Clint snickered as he finally settled on one and ran back to the open hangar. "Not exactly!" he called back. Steve was eerily close, dangerously so even, and he grimaced before he threw the little disc out, shooting it with an arrow just half a second later.

He half wanted to close his eyes, not sure if whatever he just did was going to backfire or not. Fortunately the good Captain didn't turn into a giant star-spangled giant, but rather he disappeared out of sight instead.

Then he heard Tony whistle in appreciation, "Holy shit, you really do have Shrinkrows."

"And I'm sure it'll be a big hit when I go home and say, 'Honey, I Shrunk the Avengers'," Clint deadpanned as he hit the button to raise the ramp of the hangar bay, "right after I tell Natasha that I lost the only person she's ever loved."

He could see Tony's expression now as the man removed his face mask and threw it aside, wearily rubbing at his face. "I'm the one who left him there..." he mumbled out, "I'll tell her."

"This isn't on you, Stark," Clint reminded the man, "you couldn't have known some crazy chick with brainwashing powers would be there, and you couldn't have known she would get Bruce under her spell."

"But she did," Tony responded with obvious frustration as he threw his face mask across the jet.

It clanged against the wall and Clint couldn't help but empathize with the poor guy. He had beaten himself up over the exact same situation on more than one occasion.

"And now we have to figure out how the hell we get them all back," Tony tacked on as he set the autopilot and dropped heavily into one of the seats. "When Loki screwed up your head, how did Natasha snap you out of it?" came the unexpected question.

Clint grimaced a little at the reminder of that not-so-fond moment before he blew out a weary breath and answered it, "Cognitive re-calibration."

Tony looked at him with both eyebrows raised up before he asked another question, "That some sort of SHIELD brain machine?"

"Yeah," Clint mumbled with a roll of his eyes, "it's called Natasha's fist."

The billionaire let out something that sounded like a mix between a cough and a laugh before he shook his head, "Of course it is." Tony sighed before he leaned his head against the back of the seat, "I suppose getting her to punch Bruce in the face is probably out."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Clint mumbled, "she might be game if you tell her he kissed that woman."

He saw Tony cringe in an instant.

Clint rubbed at his face before he groaned, "We can't tell her anything about that, Stark...seriously."

"Magic baby or not, she needs to know," Tony told him and Clint seriously hated the fact that the usually least mature member of the team was suddenly being the mature one. "You two both have experience with the brainwashed thing," the other man reminded him, "I have to trust that she's not going to hold it against him."

"She wouldn't, not normally," Clint assured him, "but you're talking about telling a hormonal pregnant woman that the man she loves just kissed some sort of temptress and fell under her spell..." He gave the billionaire a wary look, "Take it from a guy with three kids, all rationality sort of goes out the window for nine months."

Tony looked a little frustrated by the thought.

Clint finally gave in, "But you're right..."

"I'm well aware I'm right, Barton," Tony muttered, "and whether we tell her or not, I think she'll find out. Bruce is too honest for his own good...so it's better she knows ahead of time."

"Call Wanda," Clint told him, "now."

He saw Tony eyeing him in uncertainty, "Don't you think this is a conversation better had in person?"

Clint gave him a frustrated look before he dignified that response, "It's not about who Banner is kissing, it's about the fact that we have a team that knows where my family lives, and they're under the spell of a crazy woman."

The billionaire's face dropped in an instant before he called out to his AI, "FRIDAY, video conference Little Red at the Barton house."

"Right away, Boss."

He could practically feel his heart beating rapidly as he waited for a response. He was half afraid that Natasha would be the one to answer the video conference on his laptop. He did not want to explain this over a video call to his best friend.

Fortunately they were saved from that when Laura appeared on screen. She adorned her usual smile, one that normally put him so at ease, but she seemed to be able to see something was wrong the moment she looked at the both of them.

"Clint?" her voice held that worried tone that he hated, "what happened?" Then her eyes glanced over the entire quinjet before a wrinkle formed in her brow, "And where's Doctor Banner?"

He swallowed dryly before he said the only thing he could, "I need you to get Wanda...and I need you get out everyone's emergency bags."

The look on her face was one of absolute dread. She was on her feet in seconds, walking away, and Clint heard her talking in the background before Wanda came in front of the screen, an obvious look of worry on her face, "What's going on?"

"You need to take Laura, Nat and the kids, and you need to leave," Clint told her in an instant, "and you need to do it now."

"Go to the tower," Tony butted in, "I already sent Pepper a message, she'll have a jet standing by. It'll take all of you to my new place, and nobody knows where it is yet, so that'll be one less thing to worry about."

Clint eyed him. He shouldn't have been surprised by the generosity of the offer, yet he was, and he was also more than a little grateful.

"I'll do it," Wanda assured them in an instant. "What happened?" she dared to ask next.

"The entire team is brainwashed by a she-devil," Tony grumbled out, "and now Bruce, too. We're not taking any chances here."

Wanda went a little wide-eyed in response.

"We'll explain it all when we meet up with you," Clint assured her, "but for now—"

"Mom!" he heard Lila yell out in the bathroom, and his daughter sounded more than a little distressed. A second later he saw her appear in the doorway behind Wanda, "Wanda! Uncle Bruce and some weird lady are in the barn with Auntie Nat!"

"What?" Wanda questioned, turning towards the little girl in an instant.

"Wanda!" Clint yelled out, feeling his heart plummet into his stomach.

The brunette didn't even hesitate, she stood and ran to Lila, "Go get your mom!" Then the young woman was running out of sight in an instant.

Clint sucked in a sharp breath, gripping the small amount of hair on his head as he stared at the laptop in absolute terror. This was never supposed to have happened. He had kept them hidden from the world so this wouldn't happen. How the hell could they have even gotten there already?

"It's going to be fine..." he heard Tony tell him as the other man placed a hand on his shoulder, "Wanda is more equipped for this than any of the rest of us, and she won't let anything happen to them." Tony gave his shoulder a more firm grip when he didn't respond, "Right now let's just be grateful Bruce decided that Red needed a babysitter."

By the end of the first day of Bruce, Clint and Tony being gone, Natasha had to admit to feeling a little twitchy. She knew it was being stuck on the sidelines that had her so out of sorts, but even the fact that she was on the sidelines for a very good reason wasn't enough to assuage the feeling.

After about 30 hours in on the next afternoon, Laura and Wanda were driving her crazy by giving her worried looks. It was the reason that by that time, Natasha was out in the barn for some peace and quiet.

And also something to do.

For the moment, screwing the wooden legs onto the new dining room table that Clint was crafting was at least something to keep her busy, even if it was something completely ridiculous. Now she understood why he was always doing it. They were one and the same. They needed something to do, even if it was something as trivial as making a table.

Natasha didn't keep track, but she knew she had probably been in the barn long enough that either one of the Barton clan, or Wanda, would probably come around to check on her soon enough. It was her instincts alone that told her she wasn't alone in that moment, and her mind was telling her in an instant that it wasn't any of the people it should be. It was a familiar presence, yet unfamiliar all at the same time, making her feel an uneasy pit in her stomach.

She turned her head as she stood up, and on the opposite end of the barn was Bruce, just beside him, a woman.

"Well, you are rather pretty, aren't you?"

It didn't make sense. She glanced between the two, between Bruce and the woman, and a certain sense of wariness fluttered through her like shock waves; rippling like a pebble skipping across a calm lake.

Something was wrong, wrong with Bruce, she could see it in his eyes as he stared across the barn at her; yet it was almost like he was staring into an absolute void at the same time. Like Natasha herself wasn't even there.

"Bruce?" she offered up cautiously.

"Oh no," the woman chided with a chuckle, "he doesn't see you."

Natasha watched as the woman circled around him like a vulture, trailing her index finger across his chest, over his arm, across his back, until she came back around to his side again.

"I merely needed to see you by using him," the blonde informed her, just before making a rather bold statement, "so that I could see my competition of course, and you are rather aesthetically pleasing, aren't you? I can almost see the appeal, it's just too bad you're not my type."

Natasha watched them carefully before she noticed the flicker in their bodies, noticed parts of the opposite end of the barn appear in those flickers.

They weren't really standing there.

Suddenly she found herself wondering if she was hallucinating again, just like the nanites had done to her months ago. Maybe they were affecting her again. Or perhaps it was even a remarkably odd dream. That wouldn't surprise her either given how real they had all seemed recently. Though this was almost surreal.

But what the hell was that woman even talking about?

"Whoa, Uncle Bruce is back!"

Natasha flitted her gaze to Lila in the doorway of the barn in an instant. She moved in front of her, stopping the little girl from coming fully in. "Lila, get out," she told her quickly, "go get Wanda!"

"But—"

"Now!" she ordered the child more forcefully.

Lila looked at her wide-eyed, stunned at hearing such a tone from Natasha for the first time. Apparently she recognized it meant there was something wrong, because Lila turned and Natasha was sure she had never heard Lila's footsteps move quite so quickly before.

"Who the hell are you?" Natasha questioned the woman, attempting not to focus on the fact Bruce was standing right there, acting as though she didn't exist.

The woman moved with such speed that Natasha couldn't react, or rather, she wasn't sure what she could have done to avoid what happened next. The woman was just a foot away now, and it was almost as though some invisible force had Natasha herself by the throat as her feet lifted off the ground.

"Tsk, tsk..." the woman hummed out, "you should be nicer to your betters."

What the hell was this person? An enhanced?

"I'm the woman who has turned your world's 'Mightiest' into my play toys," the woman replied with a rueful little smile, "and now I'm getting rid of one of their distractions, I need clear minds in my soldiers, I can't have them stuck on trivial little matters such as love—unless it's for me, that is."

The struggle to breathe was all too real now as that same invisible force constricted around her throat. "B—Bruce!" she managed to call out, "wake up!"

For a second his gaze flickered to her, like he actually heard her call out this time, but the waves of red energy tore through the barn before Natasha could attempt to fully get his attention.

She crashed back down to the barn floor almost painfully as both the woman and Bruce disappeared, then Wanda was at her side, kneeling down with a hand on her shoulder.

"Natasha?" Wanda's worried voice brought Natasha's gaze to the younger woman, "are you okay?"

Natasha moved her hand to her neck and took a few uneasy, painful and shaky breaths, before she nodded her head. This shouldn't have happened, it couldn't. Clint would be beside himself when he found out an enemy attacked at his home, and even worse; attacked because of Natasha herself.

"Get Laura and the kids," she told Wanda quickly.

"They—"

"We need to leave."

Wanda held her hand out to help her get up as she spoke, "They are already packing...Clint called, he said we had to get out."

Natasha had to force herself to take a moment, to breathe—in and out. She took the younger woman's hand and got to her feet, despite the fact she felt like she needed time, needed it to think, and to grasp the entire situation. Unfortunately it didn't feel like she had time for any of that, not considering the circumstances. Instead she asked the only thing she could, even though she already knew the answer to it in her heart, "Bruce isn't with them, is he?"

"I'm sorry..." Wanda answered softly.

She pushed it down, she pushed it down further than she ever had before, and then she nodded her head. "Okay," she managed to get the single word out without sounding like the 'mewling quim' Loki had called her years ago. She figured that was at least something to be happy about in that moment, "Let's go..."

"Natasha..." Wanda murmured her name out, the worry etched into her tone like a virus.

Natasha ignored it as she went to head out of the barn. She only stopped when she saw green and yellow smoke emitting from the ground from behind them. She had a feeling she knew what that meant—that this time the woman was actually there, and not just some sort of phantasm. She turned her head quickly, coming face to face with the blonde woman. There was no flickering to her image, not this time, almost proving her previous thought correct.

The only thing that came of pushing Wanda out of harm's way when the woman attacked, was that the blast of energy that woman sent out instead sent Natasha herself flying through the barn doors. It might have been a hell of a lot worse too, except those waves of red energy warped their way around her body, easing Natasha to the ground.

Unfortunately the save also left Wanda more than a little vulnerable, and in seconds she saw the younger woman careen through part of the barn's wall. Natasha watched her use her powers once more to settle herself midair, lowering herself slowly to the ground, before she took that carefully erected barrier of chaotic energy and sent it flying towards the blonde woman.

It was effective but Natasha had a feeling that was only because the woman wasn't expecting a counterattack of that magnitude. The blonde was pushed back several feet, though she still remained standing, and despite the slightly irritated look on her expression, Natasha thought she also saw something akin to amusement.

"My, my, my..." the woman taunted with a chuckle, as she placed her full attention on Wanda instead, "aren't you a rambunctious little thing?"

"You have no idea," Wanda assured her, a crimson ball of energy forming in each hand.

Natasha glanced between the two, but even she knew better than to get into the middle of a battle between two enhanced like Wanda and this woman. And despite the fact that she had trained Wanda herself to have more control, the younger woman was still learning how to be more aware of her surroundings.

That was the reason why Natasha knew that Wanda never saw what was coming, the reason why she tried to warn her. "Wanda, behind you!" she growled out, running towards her. The tree roots were practically sprouting from the ground behind Wanda.

It wasn't enough time, not to get to her, and even the vocal warning wasn't quite fast enough to keep up with how quickly those roots and vines wrapped around the young woman.

Natasha just barely rolled in time to avoid the ones that tried to get a hold of her as well—except when she rolled to her feet, she came face to face with the woman who seemed so intent to be rid of the 'distraction', as she had called Natasha earlier. And she didn't wait for the woman to try anything this time, instead she went for the instant sucker-punch.

Except the blonde only faltered back half a step before her hand shot out, and Natasha felt the woman's fingertips grasp her neck like a vice grip. "That was my face," the woman seethed out at her.

The sheer strength in that woman's grasp forced Natasha down to her knees, and she was already seeing little golden spots floating across her hazy vision. It lasted a good minute and a half, to the point where Natasha thought she just might lose the fight to try and keep on breathing, when the woman's grip finally loosened slightly.

Then her grip was removed all together and for a moment Natasha couldn't understand why—not until she saw the blonde shift back just slightly. It was in time to avoid the arrow that came at her, but only barely due to the element of surprise. The cut across the woman's face seemed to enrage her, and Natasha thought for a brief second that Clint and Tony had returned—until logic reminded her that they couldn't possibly get here that quickly.

And apparently the woman was going for a two-for-one special after that, because before Natasha could look to confirm that the arrow came from the boy she thought it had, she felt that hand grasp her throat—again—and then before she could think to react, she was yanked off her feet. Within seconds the grip was gone from her throat, and the ground was moving beneath her. The woman had tossed her like a rag doll.

Natasha had the good mind to push her palms into the ground at the right moment, painfully able to push off the ground with them just before impact. It was defensive, and probably a miracle she hadn't broken either hand or wrist in the maneuver, but she certainly wasn't about to chance what that hard of a landing might affect—though it didn't exactly mean she had a smooth landing either.

It could have been—hell, it should have been. She maneuvered it perfectly to do so. It was the fact that she managed to land on her feet and saw that glowing green ball of energy heading towards Cooper, the boy who had probably just saved her life, and he was aiming his father's old bow and arrow in absolute shock and awe that he had actually been successful.

She was going to test out Bruce and Tony's new addition to her batons, or at least she was now that she caught sight of the fact that Cooper had them sticking out of his pockets. It seemed he had been trying to do more than just protect her—he had wanted to give her something to fight back with. She certainly loved the kid for it, but at the same time she almost wanted to kill him herself for being so reckless.

Natasha had the good mind to get behind Cooper, knowing that even if her plan worked, they were certainly still going to take a hit—and if they were thrown back she couldn't chance landing on him. This time she had to chance a bad landing. She managed the only option she could as she pulled the batons out of his pockets from behind, wrapped her arms around him in an almost hug, and connected the two ends of the baton together in front of him.

She was never in her life more grateful for some random invention or upgrade to her weapons as she was in that very moment. The two batons connected and instantly a sleek black shield, nearly the size of Steve's own shield, formed in front of Cooper. It did it's job—that and a little more. It deflected the green ball of energy back at it's maker, but it also hit with enough force that Natasha, with Cooper still wrapped protectively between herself and the shield, were sent flying back with enough force that they broke through the front door.

Protecting Cooper was more important than herself, and she kept him tight against her chest even as her back hit the hardwood of the floor and they slid across it a short ways.

The pain shot from her head all the way down to her toes, and for a moment she saw nothing but black, and heard nothing but silence.

"Cooper!"

Laura's voice snapped through the silence.

Cooper's horrified voice brought her back to complete awareness, "Aunt Nat..?"

She sucked in a sharp breath through all the throbbing in her body before she managed to pull both herself and Cooper into a sitting position. She turned her head and saw Laura almost frantic in the doorway to the kitchen, Lila half hiding behind her with a wide-eyed look of terror.

Natasha turned her head back to the destroyed doorway, watching as the woman sauntered her way towards them with a look of anger, the bottom of her dress singed from where the energy ball had deflected back at her.

"Cooper, go to your mom," Natasha told him quietly.

"But—"

"Go, now," she ordered sharply, standing up and pulling him to his feet as well. It was only a moment before she was pushing him in Laura's direction.

"Natasha!"

Laura's voice was like the sound of an alarm, and Natasha shifted immediately again to face the doorway, pulling Cooper directly behind her as the woman came to be just a foot away.

It seemed she had garnered the woman's attention with her actions because this time no attack came. Instead icy blue eyes took in the situation; looking from Natasha, to Cooper just behind her, then to Laura, Lila and Nathaniel at the back of the house.

"You didn't come here for them, you came here for me," Natasha reminded her quickly, "so whatever it is you want from me, you can have it—"

"Aunt Nat!" Cooper interrupted, clearly not in agreement with her making that particular deal.

"Cooper, be quiet," Natasha warned him softly, not daring to take her eyes off the woman before her.

After a good minute of dreaded silence, a sense of relief only came when the woman finally spoke, but her comment was one of the most unexpected ones, "I would never intentionally aim to harm a child, I'm not a monster."

Natasha let out an uneasy breath, not that she was entirely sure she should trust those words, but she didn't exactly have much of a choice either—not against whatever this woman was, because it most definitely was something more than just Enhanced. Not that it mattered if she believed her or not. Even if the woman was telling the truth, it also wouldn't stop her from hurting Laura—or Wanda who was still trapped by whatever spell or magic that woman used.

"Go to your mother, child," the woman told Cooper after a second.

"You can't hurt her," Cooper told the woman in an instant, poking his head out from Natasha's side, "you said you wouldn't hurt a kid..."

"Cooper!" Natasha hissed out the warning in an instant, though it seemed far too late as the blonde quirked an eyebrow up at the comment. "Go right now," she ordered him more forcefully.

Laura's voice giving the order finally got him to listen, "Cooper, now!"

The boy looked wary over the decision before he finally relented, turning and running towards Laura and his siblings.

Natasha watched the woman carefully now, the way her eyes trailed down to Natasha's own stomach, before the blonde tilted her head and met her gaze.

"So you carry life within you," the woman said in a softer tone, "quite the resilient little leech, isn't it?"

That made her chest tighten inexplicably.

"Relax," the woman offered up with ease, not that Natasha found her tone at all calming, "As I said, I am not a monster." The smile on her lips was more disturbing than pleasant, and yet the offer she made next somehow pushed through all of her thoughts like a battering ram, "I'm giving you a chance, and all that you have to do is forget, forget him." It was the strangest sensation, and the woman hummed the word out again, "Just...forget."

After an oddly calming few seconds of emptiness, her mind fought the trance being suggested, and Natasha felt panic shortly after. "No," she murmured, shaking her head that was still trapped, even as she got lost staring into an endless sea of blue that was the woman's eyes. "No..." she whispered it now, even as that ocean started to swirl like a whirlpool, "I won't forget..."

"Shh..." the voice was eerily comforting yet hissed like a snake, that combined with those mystical eyes was almost mesmerizing—hypnotic, "You'll be happy, and you want to be happy. I can offer you peace. You want these things, everyone does."

Natasha felt like she was losing the battle when she began to feel almost lightweight and free. "I want these things..." she murmured without control of her voice. It was the sniffle behind her that garnered her attention, that anchored her back into reality. The fog lifted in her head enough, at least enough that her words came out stronger than she thought she could manage them, "No, I won't be subject to your mind control and your lies..." She shifted her face against the woman's hands and the irked expression on her face was worth it, "You can't just force him out of my head."

The woman scoffed, "All of that determination inside of you, and over a man, though I must admit I am impressed at your willpower."

Natasha watched the wave of red energy envelop the woman, raise her into the air, then it dragged her backwards through the busted door at a high rate of speed.

She turned to look at Laura and the kids, "Laura, get them in the truck and go!"

"Nat—"

"As long as I'm here, she won't follow you," Natasha reminded her.

Laura nodded her head, "Clint told Wanda to take us to Stark Tower..."

"Then go there," Natasha told her, "I'll distract her."

"Please be careful..." Laura told her with a frown. She watched her friend usher the kids towards the back door, "Cooper, Lila...let's go, hurry."

"No!" Lila looked absolutely horrified at the idea of leaving without her, even as her brother tried to pull her along towards the back door.

Natasha turned to go out the front door where Wanda was barely holding back the blonde woman. Or rather she was about to before she heard tiny footsteps coming towards her. She turned back in that direction, crouching down as Lila came close enough, and she wrapped her arms around the little girl in a hug.

"Lila..." Natasha said her name softly, "you have to go..."

"She'll hurt you," Lila told her with a sniffle.

Natasha sighed as she pulled away from Lila a little, holding her arms gently, "What matters is that she doesn't hurt you, or your mom, or your brothers."

"It matters if she hurts you!" Lila cried out.

"Lila, come on!" Cooper told his sister, coming over to get her at his mother's behest.

Natasha pressed her lips to Lila's forehead before she stood up, leaned over, and did the same to Cooper. "I love you both," she told them with a small smile, "but I need you safe so I can focus on fighting."

"You never said that before..." Lila murmured.

"We love you too, Aunt Nat," Cooper told her with a frown, keeping a tight hold on his sister.

Natasha heard Wanda cry out and turned quickly, just in time to see their attacker send the young woman flying a few feet back. She grabbed the shield, pulling the batons apart and retracting them.

"No!"

She had to ignore Lyla's cries. Instead Natasha ran up behind the blonde, who was currently standing over Wanda, with a ball of crackling green energy enveloping her hand. Fortunately Natasha's brain was functioning along with her instincts, because she clapped the batons back together and formed the shield, holding it up just in time for the woman to turn that energy ball on Natasha herself.

This time she was a lot better prepared, she leaned into it with her feet planted, and while her feet slid back across the yard—the ball of energy deflected and sent it's maker flying backwards from her own attack. She nearly fell backwards again, but Wanda used her own powers again to keep Natasha standing.

She moved back to Wanda, holding her hand out and helping the young woman to her feet, "You okay?"

"I am," Wanda assured her, genuine gratitude in her expression and tone, "thanks to you." The girl looked like she had a plan, "Does that thing have the same kick as the batons?"

"Supposedly," Natasha told her wryly, "what's your plan?"

Wanda glanced at the shield, then back up at Natasha, "Do you trust me?"

Of course Natasha did trust Wanda, but the question gave her pause for other reasons, because that usually meant the person in question had a dangerous idea. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret saying yes," she told the young woman.

"I've practiced it with Steve for an aerial building assault," Wanda told her, watching as the blonde woman struggled to her feet, "you run at her, I use my powers to give you leverage...between you, that shield and my powers—maybe we can knock her out."

Definitely not the type of attack up Natasha's alley, although it was certainly a bold one that Steve would favor. Unfortunately, it was probably the best plan they could come up with on the fly. "Beggars can't be choosers," she told Wanda, giving her a reassuring smile, "let's do it before she gets her senses back."

Natasha had to ignore the fact that she could see Laura leading the kids to the truck on the side of the house. She took a deep breath, planted her feet, then ran with the shield out. Now she knew how it felt to be Steve, except instead of super strength, she had Wanda giving her added power.

No amount of preparation could have made Natasha comfortable with being lifted off the ground, still she had to force herself to accept it, because she was already in the air. She leaned forward into the shield as Wanda aimed her downward towards the woman, who was just back on her feet, and hit the buttons on the batons. The shield crackled to life with blue electricity, though not completely powered up without her suit, it would have to be enough.

Apparently the blonde couldn't quite figure out where Natasha was. She saw the woman looking around, saw her look at Wanda, then the woman looked up at her with wide eyes—though it was far too late. Natasha came down fast and hard, crushing the shield into the woman's face and chest.

The woman flew back and crumbled to the ground like a sack of bricks.

Natasha was just glad Wanda managed to land her on her feet without breaking her legs or killing her.

"Wow...that worked?" she heard Wanda mumble as the young woman came up beside her.

"You want to go ask her and find out?" Natasha asked her dryly, quirking an eyebrow up at Wanda.

The brunette looked amused, though exhausted as well, and inclined her head, "Not particularly."

Everything hurt, and Natasha took a few shaky breaths when a few jabs of pain were sharper than others.

"Natasha?" Wanda's tone was one of worry, not that Natasha could blame her.

"It's fine," she assured the younger woman, shaking her head, "I'm fine."

She took a few steps towards where the blonde woman lay when she suddenly disappeared in a cloud of yellow and green smoke.

"Did she...give up?" Wanda questioned with understandable uncertainty.

Natasha would have loved to think that was the case, though she sincerely doubted it.

There was a shrill cry from across the yard, and Natasha turned her head in that direction so fast she almost got whiplash. Her feet took her in that direction in an instant and she could hear Wanda's not far behind her. They rounded the corner of the house where the truck was and Natasha stopped short when she saw the woman with her arm around Laura's neck.

She felt her heart racing a mile a minute as she looked back at Wanda, "Stay here."

"But—"

"Wanda...we can't win this fight," she told her, "it's like she's not even human, and she's definitely more than just enhanced."

Wanda looked torn as she spoke, "I promised Bruce."

"And I promised Clint, a long time ago," Natasha told her, "I can't let them get hurt because of me."

The younger woman looked unhappy with it but she finally relented and gave the slightest nod of her head.

"Whatever happens, just get them out of here."

"I will..." Wanda agreed quietly.

And as Natasha cautiously made her way to the intruder who had Laura hostage, the woman chuckled, "I must admit you are quite absolutely full of fire in a fight. It's marvelous. You and I, we could turn all of Midgard into our castle—think about that."

Midgard. At least that finally gave Natasha a better idea of what she was dealing with—not human—not even inhuman.

"Or you can forget about all of this, as I said earlier. These are my offers to you," she stated with a chuckle, "you won't get another one."

The woman certainly didn't give many viable ones either. Allow herself to be mentally manipulated into bliss—empty happiness; or help her take over the planet? "Those are supposed to be choices?" she questioned, her voice dripping with a bit of sarcasm. Finally she relented, even against every fiber of her being telling her no, "I'll do whatever it is that you want. If you want me to forget Bruce, fine. If you want me to help you take over the world, alright...just let them go."

The blonde just smiled again, that eerie and haunting little smile, before Natasha felt the very air she was breathing become just a little thinner. The woman released Laura and then her hand came to rest on Natasha's stomach, and it was like she couldn't move—couldn't even try—as though she were frozen in place or had simply forgotten how. "W-what are you doing to me?" she managed to mumble out, a lightheaded feeling coming over her as the room began to spin.

"I'm using some of your life and giving that power to the life growing within you," the woman replied, "and I want you to remember that feeling while I give you a few days to make an actual choice."

Natasha felt almost nauseous before the woman removed her hand from her stomach.

If it weren't for the crackle of thunder, Natasha would have never noticed the sky opening up. But the woman removed her hand from Natasha's stomach in an instant when it happened and both of them turned their gaze to the large splay of blinding light that shot down close by.

And Natasha had never been more glad to see Thor appear in her life.

"It seems we'll have to finish this some other time," Amora mentioned with a chuckle.

The woman vanished within that same yellow and green smoke as she had appeared in earlier. She couldn't concentrate on any of that though, she could only concentrate on getting her hands on anything nearby to steady herself.

"Aunt Nat!"

When she got her hands on the truck it was no help. Instead Natasha just found herself leaning against it as she lowered herself to the ground, though Thor was quickly next to her, trying to help her sit.

"Natasha?" Laura's voice rang out and she vaguely heard the footsteps from her friend as she rushed over.

The pain in her stomach was sharp, jabbing, and getting worse.

"Lady Natasha," Thor's loud voice had a worried edge to it.

'Lady Natasha'. At least some things never changed. Regardless she shook her head for a moment, cutting off whatever he might be about to say. "Get us to the tower, Thor."

"As you wish," Thor told her without hesitation.

Of course Pepper had sent the message to Tony and Clint immediately when Thor arrived with 'the women and children', as Thor had so gallantly announced upon arrival.

Clint's family all seemed fairly alright, though clearly a little distraught from the havoc.

Wanda however was bleeding from a cut on her forehead, and had several bruises marring her skin. Despite that, Pepper could see the young woman looking worriedly at Natasha and that drew Pepper's attention to the redhead.

It wasn't the first time Pepper had seen Natasha bruised and battered. This time was different however. Natasha wasn't just bleeding or bruised. She was half-leaning on Thor and she had a ghastly pallor, one arm uncomfortably wrapped around her midsection.

"FRIDAY, is Dr. Cho still in the labs?" Pepper questioned.

"She is, she said she had something important to discuss with Doctor Banner and Miss Romanoff regarding the nanites. I assume she's figured out that Miss Romanoff is with child."

Pepper was silent for a moment as that comment sunk in. "She's—" she paused again and glanced at Natasha, but the redhead neither confirmed nor denied the statement from the AI. "Nevermind...just tell Helen we need her in the medical wing immediately," Pepper managed to order the AI without completely getting thrown off kilter by the new information.

"Right away, Miss Potts."

Pepper smiled over at Laura and the kids, "There's some couches and a TV over there, how about you guys go ahead and grab seats. I'll have someone bring some snacks up."

The little girl, Lila, looked about ready to cry—she also looked like she had done quite a bit of that already. "But Auntie Nat—"

"Is going to be just fine," Pepper assured her, poking the little girl's nose and giving her a soft smile. "We're going to go get her looked at real quick, then we're going to all go somewhere safer," she told Lila and the rest of the Barton family.

Clint's wife looked equal parts relieved, worried and guilty as she looked at Natasha. Finally the woman gathered her senses and urged the kids with her free hand to head towards the couches, all while soothing a baby in the other. "Come on, we don't need to get in the way," she told the kids.

"We won't be long," Pepper assured her as she motioned Thor to the elevator.

Pepper had never actually seen Natasha around the Barton kids before. It was like seeing the woman in a new light when Pepper saw her ruffle Lila's hair and give the little girl a soft smile before Thor led her to the elevators.

She paused when she saw Wanda sit down on a chair rather than follow them to the elevator. "Wanda, I think you should get checked out."

"Thor is with Natasha, so I am going to stay here with Clint's family," Wanda answered.

The poor thing looked downright uncomfortable and in pain, and Pepper frowned slightly before she tried to suggest otherwise, "I have security—"

"We thought the farm was safe and we were wrong," Wanda pointed out with a shake of her head, "and no offense, but that woman is not human. Your security would never stand a chance...so I will be right here—waiting."

"She is right," Thor informed her, "Amora is Asgardian. She is an enchantress who can control the mind of any man her lips touch."

Pepper saw Wanda cringe almost instantly. It took a second for her to understand why, for Pepper to comprehend what Thor had just said. She shifted her gaze to Natasha once again but the redhead was either too uncomfortable to notice what Thor said—which Pepper sincerely doubted—or she was choosing to ignore it. Ignorance seemed like the most likely scenario.

"Alright..." Pepper agreed with a sigh, "we'll be back up shortly."

Wanda simply nodded her head.

Again, I'm very sorry for how long it's been—but I'm also extremely happy to have been slapped out of reality :)