Hi guys! I hope you're doing great! Here's a new story, I just had to write it down, I had a dream that night and so this story came out of it. First Avengers fic, but it was bound to happen since I've been watching the movies and cartoons and reading the comics for two months now. Hope you'll enjoy it. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated!

TS

One of the things Natasha loved most was picking up her son from school. Unfortunately, she couldn't always do that, hell, sometimes she didn't see him for days because of her job. That was the only thing she complained about when it came to her work. Of course, it was better than what she had before, the pay was better and she never got bored. Having a job with hours changing every week had its advantages, one of them being that she sometimes could spend three days straight with James and she loved it.

The only thing she loved more than spending time with her son was the little guy himself. And today was actually his sixth birthday.

It broke her heart every time she had to tell him she wouldn't be able to pick him up because of work, which wasn't a problem in itself since she had friends who could take care of the little man, but when she told him the day before that she had to cancel all their plans for his birthday, her heart broke in two. She had seen the way he tried to brush it off as if it wasn't important, he always acted brave when things didn't go as planned, something he had inherited from his father. Through the years, he had gotten used to be picked up by uncle Clint or aunt Jane but every time Natasha was the one to do it, it felt like a special day. She just loved how he got excited when he saw her standing with the other moms. How his smile lit up his face and made his green eyes shine.

Natasha's face remained serious as she leaned against the gates of the schoolyard, the other moms around her. She heard them whisper but didn't react. She was perfectly aware of what the others, especially the entire mom community of New York, said about her in her back. It sometimes made her want to punch a wall and at those moments she unintentionally let out some curses, either in English or Russian, but immediately told James not to repeat them. It was a secret rule between them. Every time Natasha said a curse, James would pull at her sleeve or hand and tell her she said a bad word. Natasha was surprised and pleased that he never repeated them, probably because he didn't understand those in Russian at least.

She knew she wasn't a perfect mom. Hell, she wasn't even supposed to be one in the first place! She had never dreamed about marriage, kids and a beautiful house in the suburbs. Her shit life had taken all her dreams away from her and she had found herself new ones: have a carrier in the job she'd chosen, meet a nice guy even if she wasn't the engagement type and since James came along, gave him the best life possible. Usually she didn't give a fuck about what the other moms said, that she wasn't fit to be a mother, that she got dumped by her kid's father, that she probably had to sell her body to afford a car like hers (which she had earned fair and square, by the way, working like everybody else) and that she wouldn't raise James right.

That last one was the only one that made her pounce. She didn't care that she scared and disgusted the other mothers, but she wouldn't allow them to isolate her kid. So she had talked to those gossipers, smiled politely and introduced her kid when he was old enough to attend elementary school. It took some months but James was well integrated among the other kids now, he was also very social and nice and had a lot of friends. She wasn't worried about him anymore; she just prayed she would do her job as a mom well enough for him to become a decent guy. And that she would live long enough to see it.

Part of her plan to make him happy was his birthday and she smiled as she waited for him, a little away from all the moms, leaning against the metal gate painted yellow.

Eight hours ago – in Director Fury's office, SHIELD HQ

"You got to be kidding me!"

Natasha rose from her seat, a wide smile spread on her face.

"You're actually telling me I have the afternoon off? And the night off?"

Fury nodded solemnly just like he always did when he spoke business. His hands were clasped in front of him and he was comfortably leaning back in his chair. A dark eye patch covered his left eye and his head was bald. He was also entirely clad in black, something Natasha used to be too, until James came along and she tried to bring some colors into her wardrobe.

"Yes, you just have to escort the Minister of Finance this morning to his monthly meeting, nothing too dangerous, just a routine op. But with what happened two weeks ago to the Minister of Agriculture, we're never too careful."

Natasha jumped up and down from excitement and she would have hugged Nick Fury if he wasn't her boss and she didn't have so much respect for him. She didn't leave him time to change his mind and grabbed her jacket.

"You have no idea how happy you just made the Romanoff's! James will have an awesome birthday thanks to you!"

She added before heading for the door, her happy and excited smile still plastered on her lips. Fury smiled when she was gone. He knew it was James' sixth birthday and he had hated himself when he told Natasha she'd have to work that day and entire evening. But luckily, the client that needed their services (and who had personally asked for Natasha herself since she was the best at SHIELD) had cancelled his flight.

Once Natasha was out of the building, she got into her black Corvette and drove to her apartment. She called Laura Barton, her best friend's wife, to tell her that she would be able to pick James up so her little man wouldn't have to go to the Barton's again. Although with Clint's kids, he would have had a blast. Once she was home, she prepared everything. She didn't back a cake, unfortunately because she sucked at cooking, she simply knew how to cook basic stuff like pasta and how to make an omelet. She cooked for James every morning and evening, but it was never anything grandiose or taken from a cooking book. She liked to make it simple and James didn't complain as long as he was allowed to eat sweets and pizza from time to time. So she had bought a cake, a chocolate one at that, knowing it was his favorite.

As she was wrapping up his present, her head automatically looked at the clock in the joined living room and kitchen, as if on cue. It was time to pick up James so she quickly finished gluing the red ribbon on top, hid the present in her closet under a pile of clothes and grabbed her car keys.

The first kids that came out weren't in James' class so Natasha simply stayed where she was, her arms crossed on her chest, her face dead serious. Icy serious, as the moms said. They had nicknamed her Ice Queen and some of the kids had even started calling her Elsa. To which Natasha simply shrugged. James had liked the movie, even though it wasn't in his top ten favorite because it was a "girl's movie" like he said, so Natasha was fine with it. Besides, she was born in Russia, she was used to the cold and had heard countless jokes involving her and the cold throughout her life.

One of the moms came to her and Natasha instinctively turned her head and politely smiled when she recognized the woman, although she had heard the heavy noise of her high heels miles away.

Sharon Carter was a bitch in Natasha's book. She was rich only thanks to her husband, herself doing nothing the whole day long. Natasha understood the importance of raising the kids and spending as much time as possible with them, but they lived in the twenty first century for fuck's sake! As a single mom, Natasha didn't have the luxury of being in Sharon's position. She didn't envy her because of that, she simply got frustrated every time she heard her high pitched voice and how much nonsense that woman was able to tell in five minutes. But she politely smiled at the literal definition of lazy parasite that stood in front of her.

Her makeup was so fake, Natasha wondered if Sharon's face would feel like plastic if she punched her. Sure, she knew the important of makeup because she often had to use it for covers during her job, but she hated wearing it otherwise. Or maybe on a date, but besides that and work, that was it. She didn't also care if her red hair didn't look shiny or if her curls fell weirdly around her face. She didn't care if she had dark circles around her eyes or if her cheeks were too pale. She also didn't care if her leather black jacket and simple jeans weren't sexy or lady-like. All she cared about her appearance when she came to pick up her son was if the gun tucked behind her back was visible or not.

"Dear Natasha! How are you today?" Sharon asked with a too-happy-to-be-true tone.

"Great, thanks."

She often asked that question back, but right now, she just didn't feel like it and didn't give a damn if she was being rude. Once the first step of small talk (one of many, unfortunately) was done, Natasha turned her head to the door but no other children came out yet.

"I wanted to ask you about the party. Do you remember, I asked you last week if James and you would be attending Felicity's birthday party this weekend?"

Natasha's head was brought back to Sharon and she stifled an annoyed sigh.

"Of course, we'd love too! I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I was very busy with work, so sorry!"

Nope, she wasn't sorry one bit. But that thing this weekend involved James. Had she been alone she would have said no right away, but she had talked about it to James and he wanted to go to be with his friends, Felicity being one of them. The girl wasn't so bad, once you forgot the obnoxious brat she was when she didn't get the present she wanted. Apart from that, she had always been nice towards James and Natasha too, so everything was fine.

"That's wonderful!" Sharon smiled and her golden locks tumbled a bit on her shoulders, attracting Natasha's attention away from those fake eyelashes smeared with black. "I'll see you Sunday at three then!" And just like that, she walked away, leaving a scent of expensive perfume Natasha whipped away with her hand. Gosh! She hated people that spilled the entire bottle on them every morning.

At that moment, the next class was out and James was among the kids. He held the door for the others and Felicity smiled at him, even waved him goodbye before heading towards Sharon, looking like a miniature Carter cliché. It warmed Natasha's heart as she looked at how nice her little man was to others. Honestly, that kid had a heart of gold. Surprisingly, she couldn't figure out who he got it from since neither she or his father were such nice people, if they were nice people at all.

"Mommy!" he yelled when he spotted her in the crowd, which wasn't hard because of her flaming red hair and the fact that she was away from the others. He ran to her and she picked him up when he jumped, his backpack half-falling from his small shoulders.

"Come here my precious little man!" She kissed his cheeks a few times, making as much noise as possible. "Wow, you're getting heavier everyday! Soon, mommy's not going to be able to lift you!"

He laughed as she put his down and straightened the backpack. She didn't take it from him because he never let her. Stubborn and proud, just like her. Instead, he grabbed her hand and they were the first to walk out of the schoolyard. Natasha's car wasn't far away and so they raced to it, like every time she picked him up. There weren't many cars on the street so she knew it was safe and she always parked the car so his place would be on the sidewalk side.

He won this time, touching the car seconds before her and Natasha could hear the exasperated sighs of the other mothers that walked all the way to the school (which wasn't that far away from their houses, which wasn't the case of the Romanoff's apartment). Sometimes she let him win, others she didn't, but James was fast for his age and he was getting faster every time they raced. She let him unlock the car and strapped him safely inside, in the backseat on the right, so that she could more easily see him when she turned from the driver's seat on the left. She got in herself and turned to look at him on his high seat for kids his age.

"You ready?"

"Ready!" he answered with joy.

Natasha ignited the engine and let it roar loudly. She then got out of her parking position and accelerated to gain quickly speed, the engine roaring powerfully. She wasn't a materialist; she didn't brag about her possessions and didn't like to show them off. But James loved when she did that, she loved the powerful sound of the engine that was like music to her ears and it made all the mothers frown and yell, which only made James laugh more. Soon, she joined him in laughter but stopped when they reached a busy street, her Corvette slowing to the speed allowed.

"You're the coolest mom ever!" said James and Natasha smiled as she looked at her boy through the middle mirror.

"And you're the coolest kid in the entire New York City!"

James's back left his seat as he leaned forward.

"I'm happy you came today!"

She smiled even more.

"You have no idea what's waiting for you home, little man!" He gasped at that and asked her countless questions during the rest of the ride. But she kept her mouth shut and didn't reveal anything until they were home.

Their apartment was part of a small building that had only three floors. The bottom belonged to an old lady selling flowers and whenever Natasha brought the old woman some pancakes (the only thing she was a master at cooking and that James absolutely loved), she received free flowers. The second floor was Natasha's but mainly consisted of empty locals. She rented them to students in musical programs that needed to practice but couldn't afford a studio or to local bands. But she was the one to decide of the hours and the price at which she rented for the hour was one of the cheapest in the neighborhood so lots of students were coming between ten in the morning and four in the afternoon and only on week days.

The third floor was the apartment. It was pretty big and Natasha had turned half of it into a personal gym because she needed to stay fit for her job. It was also healthy and she liked it. So apart from the shop, the entire building was hers. And no, she didn't do any dirty jobs to get that much money.

Once they got home, James threw his backpack on a chair, took his shoes off and ran into the living room until Natasha called him to deal with his shoes and that no, it wasn't ok to leave them in the middle of the corridor. Since it was a little after four, the students from the music room below came knocking at her door to give her the keys back and thanked her. She trusted them not to run with the keys or the instruments, since she had received some as a heritage from her uncle Ivan. Besides, she had set cameras herself in every corner of the two floors, so she could easily catch the culprit.

Once her jacket was tucked aside and James had put his backpack in his room (probably throwing it on the bed, hoping it would hit the headdress because it would make a funny clonk noise as James said), she called him in the kitchen/living room to eat the cake. James was delighted that it was chocolate. Natasha was concentrating to cut it equally with a huge knife she used with ease (which was part of her training, using the knife, not the cutting the cake) when James disturbed her.

"Mommy, there's Liho meowing outside!" he said, his two hands pressed against the glass of the double doors leading to the terrace.

"Let her in, then."

Natasha didn't cut the cake equally. When James had called her, the knife shifted and made a cut in the frosting. James wouldn't notice anyway. Oh well…

The black cat swiftly came in and James shut the doors. Liho purred and rubbed against the boy's legs and he caressed her head just like Natasha had taught him. Liho then jumped on one of the high chairs against the counter on which was the cake, curious to discover what that dark sweet smelling thing was. But as soon as she gracefully landed on the chair, Natasha pushed her and the cat fell to the floor with a light thud, used to it but still testing her owner's limits. The cat then brushed her tail around Natasha's ankle and meowed.

"No Liho, I already fed you this morning some fresh chicken, remember? Go eat your dry food."

With one last meow, Liho disappeared in the corridor leading the Natasha's room, probably about to find a nice place between her pillows, leaving strays of black fur afterwards. Natasha and James then ate the cake and drank some juice, pineapple, James' favorite.

"Your father hated pineapple juice, you know?"

James's eyes widened and he shook his head, interested in what else she was going to say.

"I like it and he made fun of me, saying it was 'too exotic, too tropical' and he wondered how a Russian girl like me could like such an exotic juice."

James laughed and Natasha smiled. She always referred to his daddy as 'your father' whenever she talked about him to her son. James had never met him, he was gone before he was even born. Natasha had been alone from the beginning but she didn't blame her partner, boyfriend or whatever they were at the time. Now, he was just gone. Period.

"Hold on, buddy." She said after the cake, suddenly remembering the present.

She sped to her bedroom, opened the closet and took out the wrapped present. Just as she suspected, Liho was rolled in a ball between her two pillows, her small frame only visible because of the contrast of her black fur on the light purple sheets. Liho was a small cat and Natasha liked her graceful silhouette. She was cute, as James put it.

Natasha made her way back to the leaving room and gave her son his birthday present. She sat next to him on the couch and kissed the side of his head.

"Happy birthday buddy," she whispered, giving her boy his present. James dropped to the floor and ripped the wrapping, carefully taking off the red ribbon and attaching it to her hair. She let him do it, just because it was a special occasion. Besides, red looked good on her, just like black. Blood and darkness. She shook her head, chasing those thoughts away.

James was excited and delighted about his new gun toy. It was the size of a small rifle and had plastic darts with a soft end so he wouldn't hurt himself, the cat, or her because there was no way she let him play outside with that thing. She had actually laughed when she saw how untrue to the real version the toy was. But that was actually a good thing. One specialist with weapons was enough in the house. Clint was with her when she had bought it, her best friend shopping for new clothes for his baby boy, Nathanael. This time Natasha was the godmother, because for the previous two kids, Thomas and Lesly, Laura's sisters had come first, no matter how much Clint argued with his wife. When he saw Natasha buy the gun toy, he couldn't help but tease her.

"You want to prepare him or what? A gun toy for his sixth and a real glock for his eighteenth?"

Natasha had playfully whacked him on the shoulder.

"Don't be foolish. He'll do whatever he wants to do once he's grownup, but I'm not going to train him like I was forced to train myself to survive. But I'm sure he has my good aim. His father wasn't a bad shooter either."

Clint dropped it from then, not wanting to upset her further. He knew better than anyone else how sensitive her past was and how dangerous she could be when she really got angry. Sometimes Clint was a bit jealous of James because Natasha would never get mad at him that much, enough to harm him. But with her best friend? Sure!

"But we have to put some rules for that gun, alright buddy?" Natasha said to James after he had shot three darts across the living room, one landing in the cake, the other hitting her arm and the last making the lamp above sway slightly. "Be carefully when you use that and don't shoot at people or Liho. Don't take it outside and pick up all your darts because I'm not buying new ones, alright?"

He nodded and asked her if they could watch a film during his special evening. This year, Natasha had decided to have something casual, calm and nice with just her son and her. Last year they had gone over to the Barton's and even the Odison's had come. It had been a lovely day and maybe they could do that again for James's seventh birthday.

"Sure." She looked at the clock. "We'll even have time to watch two, if we start now. And yes, you're allowed to stay up an hour more today. So, you chose the first movie and I'll pick the second. How's that?"

"Alright, let's watch Hercules!" he said as he found the Disney among the numerous movies in a box. 'James's treasure' was written on it with a thick black pen.

"And I choose Anastasia!" Natasha said as she tossed him the second DVD.

"But that's a girl's movie!"

"Oh shush! You like the songs anyway!"

She made some sweet popcorn as he played the first film. Halfway through it, Natasha ordered James's favorite pizza and they ate in silence, both focused on the movie. Natasha wasn't one to watch silly romantic films with helpless heroines but she had to admit she liked the Disney's. Liho joined them at some point through Anastasia and settled against Natasha's left hip on the couch. James was snuggling from the right. He fell asleep during the credits and Natasha picked him up gently then put him to bed. She stocked the leftovers in the fridge, extinguished all the lights and went to bed herself after taking the ribbon off her hair. Liho climbed in bed with her, her black fur very distinguishable in the moonlight but Natasha pushed her off the bed without being gentle. Liho didn't climb back and found her usual place on a leopard printed blanket under the window.