There was silence. And that was the most frightening thing of all.
Whenever the Avengers were all together- or, really, whenever any of them spent any time around other human beings at all- the air was always full of quips and barbs tossed back and forth almost as fast as that Sokovian kid. But now, the only sounds that let Clint know the rest of his team was still with him was the occasional sound of breathing, until the footsteps of a weary Tony Stark approached and a voice, thick with exhaustion and worry, offered to take the controls for a while. Clint would have loved nothing more than to accept, to get a little bit of rest, to try to offer his still-distraught partner a little comfort. But he refused, instead telling Stark to take the rest in the few hours left on their journey.
"Where are we going?"
"Safe house."
Clint landed the jet, then darted to Natasha's side to lead her out. Upon seeing the farmhouse ahead, she glanced at him with a question in her eyes. He merely wrapped his arm tighter around her and helped her walk forward. As gently as possible, he guided her into the spacious house, the rest of the team following in various levels of confusion. Glancing around, Clint called out teasingly.
"Hello? Honey, I'm home!" Before any of the others could even register his words, a young woman with dark hair and an annoyed expression appeared.
"'Honey?'" mouthed Tony, gaping in disbelief.
"I am so not your honey, Clint Barton," the woman said, glaring at the archer. A moment passed, a grin was exchanged, and suddenly the girl launched herself into Clint's arms.
"You scared the crap out of me!" she scolded. He laughed, ruffling her hair affectionately.
"Won't happen again, baby sis." Turning to the rest of the team, Clint smiled, the first genuine smile any of them had managed in days.
"Guys, this is my sister Kate. Kate, this is-"
"The Avengers. Yeah, I guessed. Hey, Nat," Kate called out, leaning around the others to wave at the Widow, who managed a tight smile. Once again, the sound of footsteps clattered closer until two children, a boy and a girl, barreled into the room and straight into Clint's arms with cries of "Daddy!"
"Those have to be... little... agents..." Tony managed to stammer out as the team watched, stunned.
"Did you bring Mommy?" the little girl asked. Only Steve was still watching Natasha at this moment, and only he got to see the smile break over her face like the sun breaking through a bank of storm clouds as she stepped to the side so the little girl could see her.
"Why don't you come give me a hug and find out for yourself?" she said, opening her arms wide.
"Mommy!" The girl ran headlong into Natasha's waiting arms, clinging to her with firm little hands. Natasha smiled softly at Clint as she stroked the girl's hair.
"I've got you, Lila, I've got you. I missed you too, sweetheart. Hey, Coop, room for one more?" she added, reaching out a hand for the boy. He took a few hesitant steps, then launched himself onto the others so hard he would have knocked any non-assassin mother off balance.
"Is no one else gonna ask about the fact that Spiderwoman and Legolas apparently are breeding an army of munchkins? What the hell is this?" Tony finally asked. Clint and Natasha both glared at him over their children's heads.
"Language!" they snapped in unison.
Once Kate had herded Lila and Cooper upstairs, the team gathered in the living room, drinks in hand to make everything a little less awkward. Steve rubbed his temples- a long day of surprises had just gotten ten times weirder. Not that he hadn't suspected, but-
"So, let me get this straight. You two have-"
"Yep."
"So that means you've been-" Tony started, half confused and half mischievous.
"Yep. I've been meaning to thank you for years for that lovely office couch, by the way, Tony," Natasha replied coolly. Tony sputtered on the sip of the drink he had just taken, while Clint smirked over the rim of his own glass.
"Actually, Stark, so've I, come to think about it. Those cushions really made things-"
"OKAY!" Tony yelled, throwing his hands up. "I give! I give! So- uh..."
"How old?" came a question from the other side of the couch. Natasha threw Bruce a grateful look. Trust the Hulk to bring some sanity and calm to the situation. She'd already learned what it was like to have an annoying big brother (and she would get revenge on Stark, of that she was sure) and a concerned one (Steve always wanted to help, even if he shouldn't)- maybe this was what it was like to have a mellow one. If you overlooked the whole green-rage-monster thing, of course.
"Cooper's seven, and Lila just turned five. My sister stays here, works from home and takes care of them when we can't be here," Clint answered, sliding down to perch on the arm of Natasha's chair. "She's a lot tougher than she looks. And she knows where my weapons are and how to use them." He smiled with all the pride of a big brother.
"I wouldn't have pegged either of you as the kids type. Especially in this line of work," Steve commented. Instinctively, Clint glanced over at Natasha, who had paled slightly but squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"When I was... in the Red Room, they... They had a... a graduation ceremony, where they... uh..." Natasha trailed off, struggling for a moment before shaking off the others' concern and continuing. "They sterilized us. Efficient, very neat if you think about it. You want cold, blank slate assassins, you take away the one thing that might have a stronger hold over us."
"But, if they did that, then how could you-" Bruce began. Natasha smiled faintly.
"About.. oh, about eight years ago, we were on a long-term op in Eastern Europe. Staying in a little village, keeping our heads down. That's when I saw her- the doctor who did my operation. She didn't recognize me at first, but I could never forget her. Strangest thing, though. We got her isolated, and I spoke to her, told her who I was. As soon as I said my name, she didn't run away or look afraid, she looked... She looked grateful, almost glad. She brought us to her home and told us what had happened." Natasha paused her monologue to take a breath and a drink, then continued, still gripping Clint's hand tightly.
"Turned out she'd been working for years to weaken the Red Room from within. And one of the things that entailed was purposely botching some of her surgeries on us. She told me that when she found a girl she thought was stronger than most, had a better chance of breaking free, she... I don't know how she did it, medically speaking, something involving donated tech from an American who'd had a firsthand encounter with a graduate... Anyways, it meant that, as far as our superiors were concerned, everything was... taken care of. But if we got out, if we got free, it meant she could... reverse it. She had tracked down almost every woman who had escaped like this and given them the choice they were denied- except me. And so... she asked. And I said yes."
"And you've never regretted it?" Bruce asked, more curious than harsh. Clint and Natasha shook their heads.
"Look, it'd be hard enough if I had a civilian family. You know, some nice, normal, understanding wife not involved with alien invasions, kids who didn't have to be raised part-time by their aunt. But that's not how it worked out. I've got two kids who I love more than anything but can't always see when I want, and a wife who-"
"Wife?" This time, it was Steve who seemed the most surprised. "Wife?"
"Come on, Cap, you know I'm an old-fashioned kind of gal. Didn't think Barton would make an honest woman out of me?"
"There was absolutely nothing honest about Budapest," Clint interjected.
"Except us."
"Except us." The couple smiled at each other until Tony's disgust finally outweighed his fear for his own personal safety.
"How the- I mean, how on earth did you manage to keep this quiet? It's not in your SHIELD files, it wasn't in the info she dumped on the Net-" Natasha cut him off, but with considerably less vehemence than before.
"Fury knows. Phil knew too- he was our handler for the Budapest mission. And our witness." The team went quiet for a moment, in memory of the friend they'd lost. "We kept it out of the files for obvious reasons. Couldn't have done it without Fury's help, but we managed to cover our tracks pretty well. And I hope it'll stay just among us?" The others nodded silently.
"Alright, let's see about getting you settled in for the night." Clint and Natasha got to their feet, and the others followed suit. "We should have room for everyone. Might be close quarters, but we'll manage."
"Fine by us. But no sex when others can hear you, alright, lovebirds?" Tony deadpanned. "None of us need to hear that."
"Who says you haven't already?" Natasha asked, pulling a surprised but enthusiastic Clint into a kiss as Tony walked by. Tony muttered something under his breath about a mental note to have the tower soundproofed and to not ask questions he didn't want the answers to.
As the team began migrating to their makeshift sleeping quarters, Tony asked the room at large, "So, if he's Hawkeye, and she's the Black Widow, what do we call the rugrats, hm? Black Eyes? Spider Hawks?"
"You know, I kinda like the sound of that," Clint called from the adjoining room.