A/N: This is seriously the first time I have ever posted a work and have had chapters written ahead of time… It is weird! But anyways enjoy chapter 2!
What Happens Now
Clint and Natasha sat waiting in Maria's small office in SHIELD's new underground headquarters. Pietro was curled up and sleeping on the armchair in the corner. Wanda remained lying in Natasha's arms her face buried into the crook of her neck.
Maria entered reading from a case file "Alright, what do you got for me?"
"Look up and you will see." Clint said.
Maria looked up and took in the sight of the small children "Well, this changes things. Allow me to go get the Director. He'll want to sit in on this debrief."
"We thought you were the Director, Maria?" Natasha raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"Oh, no. I'm just the Liaison between SHIELD and the Avengers. And technically your handler." Maria scoffed before leaving the room.
"Who do you think the Director is?" Clint looked confused. "Most of the higher ups were either killed, HYDRA, or wanted nothing to do with new SHIELD."
"No clue. I just know that it isn't Nick. Nick is just being a helping hand to SHIELD now." Natasha scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.
"What do you think they're going to want to do about these kids?" Clint sounded concerned as he glanced between Pietro and Wanda.
"My guess would be that they'll probably send them off to live at the X-Men mansion. At least there they can learn to use their powers properly." Natasha shrugged the shoulder that did not have a sleeping child on it.
"Why don't we talk about your mission before we discuss what's going to happen to the children?" Came a voice that Clint and Natasha had not heard in the last three years.
Clint whirled around as he stood up out of his seat. Natasha only glanced over her shoulder, wanting to make sure the small girl stayed asleep.
"What. The. Hell." Clint seethed as he looked at Phil Coulson.
"I should probably explain how I am alive before we get started." Phil laughed lightly as he came around and sat behind Maria's desk. Maria quietly shut the door and stood in front of it.
"Yea… Get talking or one of us is bound to start yelling." Natasha leveled a glare at the man she had once seen as a father figure. "And that would not be conductive with two sleeping preschoolers in the room."
Fast forward through Coulson's explanation and mission debrief
"So, what do you think we should do about them?" Natasha asked as she yet again readjusted Wanda in her lap.
"Should Nat and I take them to X-Men Mansion? I'm sure Xavier has a place for them." Clint sounded unsure.
"I'm sure there would be a spot for them. The Mansion has yet to turn away any mutants. But, they would have no connections with any of the other mutants. And as two children who just got out of a captive situation, and the captive situation being the only one they know, the mansion may not be the best choice for them. From what you've told me about the mission as well as what I'm seeing right now it's obvious these children have already made connections to you both. I believe it's in their best interest to stay with you. " Coulson folded his hands on top of Maria's desk and had a small smile on his face.
"But, sir, like you said, these two kids are just getting out of a messy situation being HYDRA experiments. They're going to be needing a lot of care and attention. Care and attention that two SHIELD agents that are consistently in the field cannot provide." Natasha protested.
"Which is why I would be giving you both a leave of absence for the first three months while we get the paper work together so that they are legally yours and then only send you on solo missions for the next three and then from then on out I would assume that the children will be accustom to the other Avengers enough that they will be fine in their care when we need STRIKE team: Delta." Coulson offered.
"Phil, I don't know what that being TAHITI-ed did to your brain… but Clint and I? We cannot possibly be good parents. Let alone to two mutant preschoolers." Natasha leveled a cold glare at Coulson.
"I don't know. From what I hear, you two basically raise that protégé of Clint's half the time and she's a decent kid." Maria sounded off from her place at the door.
"Kate is also sixteen." Natasha said bitingly
"Tasha…" Clint spoke up "Maybe we should give it a shot. I mean, we did bring them in."
Natasha turned in her seat "Are you saying that we should adopt these kids."
"I'm saying these two kids are probably scared out of their minds after all they have gone through, and we're the two people that saved them from that scary life. They latched onto us. Just look at Wanda. She wouldn't let you lay her down by her brother because she wanted to be close to you. Me laying Pietro down was the first time I set him down since I took him from you in the quinjet after taking off. I'm still surprised he let me do that. And if someone was to take us away from them it might hurt them even more. I think we owe it to them to at least try and be not just their rescuers but their caretakers."
Natasha face softened as Clint spoke. She glanced down at the child in her arms and brought her free hand up to stroke her cheek. "Ok."
"Ok?" Clint sounded surprised
"Yes. I said ok." Natasha rolled her eyes. "Now unless you need more from us right now. We should really get back to Avengers Tower. We haven't slept in the last forty-eight hours and would love to sleep."
"No. No. We'll work on all the documentation for you." Coulson smiled
"Make sure that AI of Starks films his reaction to these two. It is bound to be priceless." Maria smirked as Clint went and gather Pietro in his arms.
"Oh, I'm sure." Natasha smirked as she rose to her feet. "Coulson, you know where to find us if you find more information about these two in the data we took from the base."
A/N: Remember to read and review! I crave and feed off the attention! It fuels me to write more!
