Nat turned to face Clint as the car pulled out of the driveway. "I like him," she said softly. "He seems kind."
Clint nodded and took his son from Natasha's arms gently. "He's a good guy. I think he'll be good for Laura and good for the kids."
He sat Nate in the high chair and walked over to the bottom of the steps, calling for Cooper and Lila to come down and eat. Nat got the pizza out from the oven and set it on the table, filling the glasses with water. Before long, everyone had eaten and the two older kids were sat on the couch in the basement with their favorite movie playing. Clint and Nat sat on the couch in the front room, Nate laying on Natasha's chest as the adults sat in comfortable silence. Natasha's phone suddenly rang and she jumped a little, jerked out of her thoughts by the harsh sound in the otherwise quiet room.
"I didn't know you had service here," Clint said, raising an eyebrow as he took Nate from her so she could dig her phone out. She frowned a little as she looked at the contact on her screen, not answering Clint as she slipped out onto the porch to take the call.
Clint furrowed his eyebrows, wondering who would be calling Natasha and what they might have to talk about that she would want to be outside and away from him. He sat in the armchair with Nate for what felt like a long time, catching snatches of her phone conversation when her voice rose.
"Are you insane?" she asked at one point, her voice sounding almost offended. Clint frowned at that, worrying more with each phrase he caught. "No way" "I'm not doing that" and "have you even put any thought into this?" were among the rest. She was on the porch for nearly 45 minutes before finally coming inside. She was tense, her jaw was clenched tightly, and her hair looked like she'd run a hand through it several times while she was talking.
"We should probably get the kids to bed. Especially the little guy," she said simply, clearly avoiding the topic of the phone call.
Clint nodded and stood with the baby. "You want to handle Coop and Lila? Their movie ought to be over by now. I'll be up in a couple minutes to help Lila with her inhaler."
Natasha nodded and headed to the basement, her mind racing to process what she'd just learned. She went through the motions of getting the kids to brush their teeth and get into their pajamas without really being there. She was grateful when Clint came up to take over for her and she could go back downstairs. She was still sitting in the same position when he came down a couple minutes later, her elbows on her knees and her chin resting on her hands, her eyes locked on the wall across from her. Clint stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched her for a moment before walking over and sitting next to her on the couch, keeping a space between them.
"Are you okay, Nat?" he asked softly after a minute of just sitting in silence with her.
She let out a sigh. "That was Fury on the phone. He has a new mission for me."
Clint immediately sat straighter. It was rare that one of them got assigned to a mission without the other. They made a perfect team and trusted each other.
"Okay," he said apprehensively. "What's the mission?"
She sat up a little and ran her hand through her curls again. "It's top secret, Clint. Code-name classified. I really can't tell you until it's over."
The crease between Clint's eyebrows grew even deeper at that. Every mission they went on was classified, but it was usually a given that "classified" didn't apply when it was between them. Which meant she must have some other motivation for keeping it from him this time.
"Okay. Okay, so we'll talk when you get back. When do you leave?" He spoked reassuringly, but his face conveyed anything but reassurance.
She turned to look at him and let out a soft sigh, using her thumb to gently smooth the crease between his eyebrows. "Don't do that. I'll be fine. I leave Sunday morning. So, I need to leave here tomorrow after Cooper's birthday lunch. I'm sorry. I can have Phil send a ride so you don't have to leave early."
He shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. I'll take you. We'll stay for lunch and help clean up before we head out. Coop won't mind. Just- this is clearly big for you. So, just don't push me away, okay? I want you to call while you're gone and talk to me when you get back, alright?"
She nodded once. "Okay. But for now, I would love a glass of wine."
Clint sent her a small smile. "That, I can provide."
