June 4, 1994- The Triskelion- Medical Center

Clint lay quietly on the hospital bed, trying to appear as though he was sleeping. If he had any chance of escaping from here, he needed to make sure that the nurses weren't paying attention to him. If there was one thing he hated, it was being stuck in medical. He wasn't even that hurt! Natalia had done a fine job in patching up the slice on his back, and he hadn't even broken a rib this time! And yet, he had still been ordered to stay in medical for the night. Something about making sure that he was in his right mind.

Okay, yes, bringing home a trained assassin against orders might normally be a bit concerning, but it wasn't as if she drugged him or anything. He just wanted to give her a chance, the same chance that Coulson and May had given him.

Once he was sure that the nurses were no longer paying attention to him, he eased himself carefully off the bed. Wincing at the pain in his ribs (not broken didn't mean not bruised) he made his way over to the air vent in the corner of the room. Balancing carefully on the visitor's chair, he removed the cover of the vent and held it between his knees. Just as he was about to lift himself up and thus complete his escape, he heard a cough behind him.

Turning slowly, he came face to face with an unimpressed looking Elizabeth Hand.

"And just where do you think you are going young man?"

He knew calling Vic had been a bad idea.

The Triskelion- Interrogation Room

Victoria stood behind the two-way mirror, studying the woman her pseudo-brother had put his career on the line for. Natalia Romanova was a stunning woman, with her pale skin and deep red hair. But she was also a dangerous one. On the flight over from Morocco, Victoria had read everything that SHIELD had on the so-called "Black Widow". If even half of the file was correct, then she could understand why SHIELD had deemed her too big of a threat to remain alive. And yet, she could also understand Clint's reluctance to eliminating her.

By all accounts, the Black Widow had been a slave to various cruel masters over her life. She had been trained from the cradle to be a killing machine. It was the only life that she knew. It was no surprise that when she was free it was those skills that she fell back on. And to be fair, for every job she took, she also freely eliminated someone who preyed on the weak and innocent.

"Well? What do you think?"

Fury's voice interrupted Victoria's thoughts, dragging her back into the present. She considered her answer for a moment before answering. As much as she wanted to help Clint and his stray, she also had to think of what would be best for SHIELD. And the truth was, that hiring those whose only loyalty was to the highest bidder was a dangerous practice. Just look at what had happened with Izzy. As soon as another agency promised her more money, more autonomy, better hours, she had jumped ship. No matter the fact that she and Victoria had been building a life together, that SHIELD had done everything it could to turn her into more than just a hired gun. In the end, those who worked for themselves could not be trusted. And yet…

"I think…that Barton made the right call."

Fury's raised eyebrow practically ordered her to explain herself.

"Yes she is dangerous, but we've hired dangerous people before. So long as we keep a close eye on her and work to earn her loyalty, then she could be an asset. She has contacts that we don't, skills and training that we ethically can't give to our own agents, and a desire to prove herself to be more than what the Red Room made her to be."

Fury studied her for a moment, before turning to watch the glass again. Inside the interrogation room, Romanova sat unmoving, simply staring at the glass as if she could see them behind it.

"Agent May said the same thing."

Suppressing a snort, Victoria kept her face bland and composed. She should have known that this was a test. Fury was trying to see if she could put her personal feelings about mercenaries and assassins aside for the greater good of the agency. The minute that his golden girl May had vouched for Romanova, there would have been no question about keeping her.

"And if I had disagreed? Told you that we needed to finish the job that Barton started?"

Fury studied her for a moment, as if sensing that his answer could affect the future of their working relationship.

"I knew that you'd always do what was best for SHIELD."

It was a cop-out, one that they both recognized. But Victoria also recognized the complications her question had posed. She may never trust Fury the way that she trusted Howard and Peggy, but she knew that she would follow him. If only to help keep SHIELD on the right path.

Medical Wing

Elizabeth stared at Clint, with a small smile on her face. He honestly looked like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. When she raised her eyebrow at him, he took the cover from between his knees, and dropped back down to the floor. After putting the cover down on the chair, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Hi, Mama Hand! What are you doing here? How are you here?"

Marching over to him, Elizabeth gave him a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek before stepping back and inspecting him from head to toe. Once she was satisfied that he was in semi-good condition she reached up and smacked him on the back of the head.

"What do you think you are doing out of bed, Clinton Francis Barton? And just what do you think you were doing with that air vent? I know you weren't thinking of sneaking out of here."

Imperiously, she pointed her finger and watched as he slunk back to the bed. Once he was lying down, she plumped the pillows behind his head and smoothed down the blankets.

"Where else would I be when you are hurt, Clinton? And as for how I got here, Victoria was kind enough to bring Avery and I along when Fury asked her to come. It is amazing just how quickly those SHIELD planes can go. I don't think I'll be able to enjoy commercial flights after this."

Clint just laid back and let her chatter wash over him. This was a strange new experience for him, having someone fuss over him and care if he got hurt. Oh, he knew that Coulson cared when he was injured, but he cared because it was apart of his job. Elizabeth cared because she cared about Clint as a person, not an agent. Maybe this whole family thing wasn't so bad.

December 25, 1994- The Hand Family Farm- Outside of Burlington, Iowa- 7:30am

In the six months since Natasha had started working for SHIELD, she had never been allowed off base without either Agent May or Agent Coulson with her. Except for today. Clint had woken her up at an ungodly hour and dragged her into the car with little explanation. He was just lucky that she was still on probation, and thus not allowed to keep weapons in her room. ("Real" weapons at least. She had still managed to fashion weapons out of several "safe" items, should any SHIELD agent disagree with giving her a second chance.) They had been in the car now for almost four hours, surrounded by nothing but flat lands and fields. She had thought that The Hill had been in the middle of nowhere, but this took the cake. She hadn't seen anything more than an isolated farmhouse for the past hour and a half. Finally fed up with being in the dark, she turned her attention to the archer in the driver's seat.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise. Don't worry. I promise you'll love it."

"You know I'm not supposed to be out without May or Coulson."

"May and Fury both cleared this. Pending a positive outcome today, you will no longer be on probation. Besides, it's Christmas! You can't be locked up in that boring old base by yourself on Christmas!"

With that, Clint pulled the car into the driveway of a pleasant looking little farmhouse. The ground was covered by snow that showed tracks of people going to and from the barn, as well as to the hill to the right. Judging from the sled laying at the bottom of the hill, there was a child here. Had Clint brought her home for Christmas? With a look of panic on her face, she whipped around to face Clint. She did not do kids! Or families! Or holidays! Before she could even say a word, Clint was holding up a hand to stop her.

"Look Nat, I know that you don't do the whole "normal" thing very well. And that's okay. That's what makes you a kick-ass partner. But just because you've never had normal, doesn't mean that you don't deserve it. So please, come inside and meet my family. Stay through lunchtime. If by that point you are still uncomfortable and want to leave, you can take the car and go. No judgments, no effect on your probation. The only thing that you really need to do to pass probation at this point is not kill or attempt to kill the people in that house."

"I can leave when I want?"

"So long as you stay for at least one hour, then yes, you can leave when you want."

With that said, Clint got out of the car and made his way into the house. It did not escape her notice that he had left the keys in the ignition. Or that he had turned his back to her so easily. Everyone else at the agency refused to turn their backs to her, scared that she would attack them. No matter the fact that she was trying, working to erase all the red in her ledger, most still viewed her as a monster. But not Clint.

Natasha considered this for a moment. Clint had put a lot on the line for her. He believed in her, in a way that no one ever had before. Though she would never admit it, she was coming to trust the goofy archer. So, for him, as a Christmas present, she would go in there and meet his family. And try not to kill them. With that thought in mind, she tucked all but one knife into the glove compartment of the car before climbing out of the car.

With a smile, Victoria stared at the sleeping form of her daughter. For all the horror stories of children waking up ungodly early on Christmas morning, Victoria had never had to experience that. Avery slept like the dead, no matter what day of the year it was. A glance at the clock showed that it was just about 7:30, meaning she had enough time to get a cup of coffee before waking up Avery for presents.

Hearing movement in the kitchen, she crept inside to see her mother rolling out dough on the counter. The sight brought back memories of her own childhood, waking up on Christmas to her mom making cinnamon rolls, her dad reading the paper. No matter how early she awoke, those two were always up before her.

"Good morning darling."

Elizabeth called out, not even turning to look at the door her back was to. Victoria would never know how her mother managed to out sneak the spies at every turn. Even Clint could not sneak up on her, and he was damn quiet when he wanted to be. Making her way forward, she dropped a kiss to her mother's cheek before grabbing a cup of coffee.

"Morning Mom. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Victoria. And where is my adorable granddaughter this morning? I would have thought that she would be tearing down the walls in her excitement. It was certainly hard enough to convince her to go to bed last night."

Snorting, Victoria could only agree.

"I know. But it seems even her excitement over Santa Claus couldn't force her to wake up early this morning. I dread thinking about what she'll be like as a teenager if she's this hard to wake now."

Elizabeth chuckled, and the two women settled into a comfortable silence. The only sound in the kitchen was the thunk of the stone rolling pin as Elizabeth stretched out the dough. The silence was broken by the sound of a car turning down the gravel drive. Instantly on her feet, Victoria peered out the window. Rationally, she knew that the only people who could find this place were the ones who knew about it, but she was still cautious. The scene of her torn apart cover apartment and the unanswered questions about Linda's death still haunted her some days. Recognizing the car as SHIELD issued she relaxed. It looks like Clint had finally arrived. And with Felix sleeping upstairs, it looked like she would have her whole family with her for Christmas this year.

Felix and Jeanne had finally gotten a divorce three years before. Jeanne had taken Felix for almost everything, including his kids. He was allowed to call them and see them on weekends, but he wasn't allowed to have them overnight, nor was he given the okay to visit them on the holidays. It hadn't been like that at first. Originally after the divorce, Felix had been given joint custody, able to have his kids on weekends and holidays. But then a mission had gone wrong and Felix fell into the bottle. Hard.

He had lost his family, an agent, an innocent bystander, and was put on administrative leave pending investigation, all within a six weeks. And she had been half a world away, unable to be more than just a voice on the phone. Coulson and Sitwell had tried, but they didn't understand Felix the way that she did. They had trying being supportive and cheering him up, but Felix didn't respond to someone cheering him up. What he needed was someone to remind him to get his head in the game. Someone to tell him to just keep moving forward. Things had been getting better, he was able to go into the field again, he wasn't drinking until he passed out every night, but then his kids had walked in on one of his one-night stands, half dressed on the couch. Jeanne had not been pleased. She had been able to use the incident as well as the facts of Felix's job to strip him of most of his custody rights. So now, he was spending Christmas with her, Elizabeth, Avery, and Clint. It wasn't what he wanted, but she hoped it would be enough to show him that he still had people that cared about him.

Clint and Felix often butted heads she knew, but they also respected each other. With Elizabeth often forcing them to play nice at family gatherings, they had come to view each other as friends, often bonding over activities with Avery. They would each use the little girl to play small pranks or jokes on the other, making it a bit of a competition. They both wanted to be the favorite uncle.

Victoria was shocked out of her thoughts about her patchwork family when she saw Natasha Romanov (as she had changed her name to) climb out of the car, as Clint opened up the front door. Raising an eyebrow, she tilted her head toward the window.

"Did you forget to mention something?"

"It's Christmas. No one should be alone on Christmas. Besides, if I had asked, there was a chance you would have said no."

With a cheeky smile, Clint danced out of reach and made his way into the kitchen, following the smell of rising dough. Victoria just sighed and mentally cursed little brothers who thought they were funny. Christmas dinner with the Black Widow. This ought to be interesting.