Chapter One

The battle was over; everyone could relax for now. Loki was back on Asgard with his brother Thor. Bruce and Tony were at The Avengers Tower working on a few science projects. Steve was on a road trip. He had told the others he was going to explore the world. Everyone was doing something.

Natasha and Clint weren't exactly going back to S.H.I.E.L.D. right away. They deserved a little R and R. They sat in a car in front of a nice home in Portland, Oregon. Natasha wasn't sure why they were there. She knew Clint would tell her when he was ready.

"How am I going to tell her Phil's dead?" Clint asked quietly.

Natasha looked over at Clint, who'd been driving. She was a bit confused—exactly whom was he going to tell Phil was dead? Who did Clint knew that lived in Portland?

"Who is she?" Natasha asked curiously as she turned her body to face Clint.

"My sister Lana," Clint said simply, making no motion to look at her.

Natasha was surprised when she heard the news Clint had a sister. They had been partners for a little over five years and there hadn't been one word of Clint having a sister.

"I didn't know you had a sister."

"It's classified and buried deep within my file. I had to protect her, and now…"

"So are you going to tell her?"

"I have to tell her. The longer I wait, the more upset she'll be with me. She's seriously not going to be happy with me anyway."

"This must be hard for you."

"It is. I'm not looking forward to telling her. We better get this over with."

"Okay."

Natasha wasn't sure what she could expect from his sister. Lana and Natasha had never met and it was new territory for her to meet one of his family members. Natasha knew of his older brother Barney, but never the sister.

Natasha and Clint got out of the car; Clint locked the door. On the way to the door Clint looked around. For some reason, he felt like they were being watched. He saw no one around, so he walked to the door. When he got to the door he knocked.

It was a few minutes before the door opened. What he saw was a surprise. There in her arms was a baby. Natasha was surprised as well. She had seen Phil with this young lady about a month ago. Phil didn't look happy while he was talking to her. She was on her way to S.H.I.E.L.D Base so she couldn't stop and talk.

"Lana?"

"Clint, Nat."

"Hi," Natasha said.

"Come on in," Lana said. She moved back so they could enter her house.

"So is this why you moved to Portland?" Clint asked his sister.

"Yes it is," Lana admitted to them.

"So Phil doesn't know, does he? What's his name?"

"No, he doesn't. Brandon is our son's name."

"About Phil..." Clint started, but he stopped to figure out what to say to her. "I have some news that's not good."

Lana put her son down in his crib. If the news was bad she didn't want to drop her son and injure him.

"What happened to Phil?"

"We were at work and we were attacked. Phil tried to stop the bad guy. The bad guy took him by surprise and killed him," Clint said quietly, waiting for her reaction.

Lana froze at the news of Phil's death. He'd been the man she loved, and now he was dead.

"Are you okay?" Natasha asked, moving to Lana's side.

"No, I am not okay. I'm not sure if I will ever be okay. Phil is the man I love and he's dead. I want to talk to the person who killed him. I want to know why he did it."

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that," Clint told her. He gave Natasha a look, which they both knew said it wasn't going to happen at all.

"Lana, I know how you feel," Natasha said. Lana turned to Natasha.

"Clint is still here; you love him and he's still here. I love Phil and he's not here to hold me. Don't you dare say you know how I feel," Lana yelled.

Her son let out a loud scream.

"Damn."

Lana picked her son up and she started to rock him. It was about ten minutes before he quieted down. Once he was quieted down, she put him back in the crib. Then they moved to the living room. Lana sat down on her sofa. Clint and Natasha sat on the couch across from her.

"Are you okay?" Natasha asked cautiously. She didn't want to upset Lana any further than she already was.

Lana looked over at Natasha, able to be calmer. Her son brought her comfort, and he was the only part of Phil she had now.

"I'm fine," Lana said, looking over at Clint. "I am sorry for what I said earlier."

"Don't be," Clint and Natasha said in unison, both blushing. Lana knew then that she'd hit the nail on the head.

"So, how are you guys doing?" Lana asked as she looked at both of them. "I saw the news."

She had watched the battle on her television. It was nerve-wracking for her to watch Manhattan under attack by aliens. The aliens were defeated, she was glad of that. She wanted to know how her brother had been since the attack.

"We're fine," Clint told his sister.

Lana eyed her brother and his partner closely; she could tell they weren't okay. She could tell Clint was in pain. He could never hide the pain from her, no matter how stubborn he was.

"That's good, so where are you guys staying at?" Lana asked. She wasn't going to let her brother stay at a hotel or motel. Not when she had more then enough room for them to stay with her and Brandon. She was going to convince them to stay there, only if they didn't have a place to stay yet.

"We haven't checked in to a motel yet. As soon as we leave here we will go to a motel." Clint told her.

"You guys are going to stay here," Lana announced. She gave him a determined look. Clint knew it wasn't a good idea to try and go against what she had said.

Clint sighed. Natasha looked over at him.

"What's wrong Clint?" Natasha asked. Him.

"We're staying here."

"Why?"

"My sister isn't going to let us go check into a motel. "

"Okay." Natasha replied as she shrugged.

She knew how Clint was acting at the moment, it would do no good to put up a fight. It would end up being two against one if she did try and fight it.

"Good. You guys can bring your things into the house."

"Alright. I'll get our stuff now so we don't have to worry about it later," Clint said as he got up and headed out to the car.

Lana looked over at Natasha.

"Excuse me. I have to get two bedrooms ready for the both of you," she said as she stood and headed to get two rooms ready.

Natasha just waited on the couch. Her eyes wandered around the room. Her eyes fell on a picture of the Barton family. It was when they were younger. There was another picture next to it. It was of Phil and Lana. Philip was standing behind Lana and had his arms wrapped around her. They were both smiling. They looked happy together. A smile came to Natasha's face.

Natasha's mind went to what Lana had said earlier. Lana said Natasha loved Clint. The thing was love was for children. It was drilled into her since she was five years old. It was a teacher from the Red Room who drilled it into her. Her relationship with Clint was one of stability. For her it wasn't anything else, as far as she knew.

Clint was back in no time. She looked over at him; taking a good look at him – through all that had happened, it wasn't until now that she took a good look at him. He was okay, but looked tired.

"Your sister is getting a room ready for both of us."

"So we can get some sleep as soon as she comes down."

"Yes."

The baby started to fuss. Clint went over to the crib, placed his hand on the baby's belly and rocked him gently back and forth. After a second of Clint rocking him, the baby quieted down. Natasha couldn't have children, thanks to the Red Room. The serum they'd injected her with made sure of that. And if that wasn't the case, they'd made it to where if she was pregnant she would never be able to give birth naturally. She'd have to have a C-Section. She hadn't told Clint any of this. It didn't concern him just then. She might be able to confide in Lana, though only time would tell.

Lana got two guests room ready for Clint and Natasha. She made her way downstairs. When she got downstairs, she found Natasha watching Clint. She watched Clint as he rocked Brandon back to sleep.

"Your rooms are set up. I can show you to them if you want to go up and get some rest now, "Lana said softly, not wanting to wake Brandon up.

Clint looked over at his sister. "Lana, why do you want us to stay here? You know we will be okay in a motel."

Lana looked at him. "Clint, how often do I get to see you? I don't want to fight you to spend time with your family. I am not even sure where Barney is right now. I haven't heard from him in three years."

"I am sorry for not spending time with you. You know my job keeps me busy. I promise from now on I will try and spend more time with you. I will look into Barney. I will tell you what I can when I know what's going on with him."

"Thank you for looking in on Barney. It's okay. I know your job keeps you busy. I am happy as long as I get to see you. I don't mind how much time you spend away from us."

"Since I have a nephew, I'm going to come back home more often. It'll be to see both of you," Clint admitted.

Lana smiled before going over and giving him a hug.

Natasha watched how they acted together. They were close. She didn't have any siblings as far as she knew. It was nice to see siblings acting nice towards one another.

"Okay, sis, let's get us settled into our rooms," Clint said, as he pulled away from her.

Lana picked up the baby monitor and tucked it safely into the pocket of the sweater before heading for the rooms that were to be Clint and Natasha's.

Clint grabbed their stuff and they headed up to their rooms. He took the room next to his nephew's room, while Natasha took the room across from Lana's room.

Natasha went to her room and unpacked her things. After that, she went to sit on her bed. She leaned back and closed her eyes, sound asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

She knew she was safe here with Clint and his sister.

Clint went into the room he would be sleeping in and unpacked. His sister leaned against the doorframe.

"Are you okay?" Lana asked her brother.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"I can tell you're in pain. Exactly what's hurting right now?"

"It's nothing."

"Clint, you know I can tell when you're lying," Lana said.

Clint rubbed the back of his neck. It was one of the things they did so well with each other. They could read each other and know when the others was lying or telling the truth.

He knew she would keep asking until she saw what was hurting. He didn't want to tell her about Loki and his mind control. He would be safer if he just stuck with injuries he had, which he could show her. Clint took off his shirt and showed her his back. There were purplish and bluish bruises all over his back.

"How did you get those?" Lana asked quietly.

"Crashed through a window after jumping off the roof of a building," Clint admitted.

"Clint."

"I'm fine really," Clint said.

She moved over to him and she touched a bruise.

He moved just a little when she touched it.

"Sorry."

"No it's fine."

"How's Natasha?"

"She's okay, I guess."

"You don't know."

"I know my feelings for her, but she's complex in a way. I'm still trying to figure her out and I know she's trying to figure me out."

"I know you love her. She loves you as well."

"There's no way that's going to happen. For her love is for children. I am not going to press her."

Lana knew better than to push the issue. Clint could be sensitive at times. The one subject he was most sensitive to was Natasha, his partner. Lana know he would shut down if she pried any deeper. It was quiet for a few minutes, with Lana just watching her brother get settled.

"I am going to let you get some rest. I will see you in the morning."

"Okay, sis."

Lana left the room. She went to check on Brandon before heading to bed. She moved him back into his room. Brandon slept through the night, which was a good thing for her. Lana got into bed and fell into a dreamless sleep. Her thoughts were of Phil.