DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MARVEL OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS

So I've noticed that the Fanfiction website is not very reliable when it comes to updates, and notifications about updates. It's completely out of my control. The best advice I can give you all is to just check back every few days. There will usually be at least one, sometime two new chapters.

All you softies are gonna love this chapter. Everything in this chapter can be used as a map for Sean's actions in the future, just as long as you know how to read it. Leave a review if you like it or have any suggestions!

Chapter 14

The days had become uneventful. Every now and then, Steve and Sean would be sent out on a rescue mission, or an elimination assignment, but for the most part, they had days and days of downtime. They mostly spent it working out, watching movies to catch Steve up on pop culture, and experimenting with new foods for Steve.

They fell into a routine of doing a light thirty minute jog before weight training and sparring, where Sean taught Steve every martial art he knew, from kung fu to gun kata. Steve, ever the natural fighter, picked up quickly, and was soon completely on Sean's level. Their sparring matches got longer, and both were battered by the ends.

On their most recent mission, Natasha had joined, revealing that she was staying in D.C. permanently to run missions for Fury. Sean was elated. Maybe he could rekindle the flame with her in such close proximity. He could hope, at least.

"You know, when I started teaching you all this stuff, I never imagined you'd get better at it than me," Sean told Steve as they walked up the stairs towards their apartment. When they rounded the corner, 'Kate' was locking her door, purse in hand, off to the hospital, the brothers assumed.

Sean nodded his head and skirted past while Steve stayed to have a small conversation before giving a small wave goodbye. "What?" he asked when he saw Sean's raised eyebrows.

"Oh, nothing, just thinking that she's bad news is all," Sean replied as he entered the apartment.

Steve snorted in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just think you shouldn't get too attached is all," Sean pressed.

Steve crossed his arms and studied Sean after closing the door. "And why exactly is that your business? I'm just curious."

Sean laughed. "Because I'm your brother, and you're the only family I have left. It's my job to look after my family."

Steve uncrossed his arms and pushed past Sean. "I don't need anyone's protection," he muttered before disappearing into his room, slamming the door.

Tensions were too high in their apartment. He and Steve'd had enough of eachother, so Sean decided to take a little trip. Packing changes of clothes for the next few days, Sean wrote Steve a note and eft it on the kitchen table. The blonde super soldier hadn't come out of his room since earlier that morning.

Taking a drive. Be home eventually, it said.

Sean closed the door behind him before bounding down the stairs and jumping in his baby. That white F-150 was practically family to Sean. They'd been all over the country together. Rolling the windows down and donning his signature aviators, Sean took off. Losing himself in the music, he only stopped to use the bathroom before getting back on the road again. Sean snapped out of it when he passed a sign welcoming him to Waverly, Iowa.

Cresting a small hill on a gravel road, Sean looked down and saw a beautiful sight. The gravel road led straight up to the white farm house, and behind it, there was an old barn. Sean slowly proceeded before parking about twenty feet away from the front porch. Just as he unloaded his stuff, Clint Barton emerged from the house, in a flannel shirt and jeans, holding his hands out wide.

"What the hell?" he asked.

Sean shrugged. "Sorry, my idiot brother is being manipulated by SHIELD agents and I can't tell him, so tensions were rising. Decided to come here and see if I might be able to get a little peace and quiet."

Clint nodded. "Fair enough. Well, you won't find peace and quiet, but you can get away from the world. Come on in, Laura's got some spaghetti cooking right now, you should join us," he said before turning and leading the way into the house.

Sean furrowed his brow in confusion. "Wait, who's Laura?" he asked, following Clint.

The foyer was small, but had a staircase, and branching hallways that led to other parts of the house. Clint took a right, which revealed a small living area and a kitchen further back. At the stove, a brunette was cooking something that smelled delicious with, and beside her, a redhead was clearly helping. Both women had their backs turned.

Clint took the first move, which Sean was thankful for. "Honey," he said, waiting for her to turn around.

"One second, babe, I'm busy," came the reply.

Clint chuckled lightly, looking at Sean with an amused look on his face. "Honey, we have company," he said.

At the mention of company, the brunette whipped her head around, as well as the redhead. Sean's first thought was of how beautiful she was. Clint smiled and walked over, putting one arm around her. "This is-"

"Sean Rogers," the brunette interrupted, blushing slightly. "I know who you are."

"Pleasure to meet you, though I was completely unaware of your existence," Sean laughed. "Clint invited me here after a mission one time, but there was no trace of you anywhere," he said sheepishly.

She laughed. "Yeah, Clint generally only introduces me to people he really trusts."

Sean's eyes shot up in surprise. Since when does Clint really trust me? he thought. Sean let his eyes wander over to the redhead and his breath caught when he saw it was Natasha. He hardly recognized her in regular people clothes, it had been so long.

He waved shyly, and she smirked before turning back around to finish helping with dinner. Laura saw the awkward interaction between the two of them and spoke up. "Well, dinner's almost ready. Clint can show you to the guest room where you can unpack, it should be ready by then," she said before turning back around.

"Right this way," Clint said, exiting the room back the way they came before turning to go up the stairs.

Sean picked this opportunity to voice his thoughts. "So since when have you fully trusted me?"

Clint stopped for a second and looked back at Sean. "It's not that I didn't trust you. Back then, I didn't want that cold killer around my family. But ever since they found Cap, you've changed," he said before continuing on.

Once they summited the stairs, Clint turned into the first door on the right. He held out a hand towards the queen bed. "All yours. Stay as long as you like. But I gotta warn you, rent ain't free, I could use some of that super soldier strength on the farm."

Sean's attention was averted away from Clint, though, when he heard Laura from downstairs. "Clint, kids! Dinner's ready!"

Sean almost had a heart attack when two small children came along, passing the guest room doorway with their loud footsteps. Sean looked at Clint incredulously, only getting a shrug in return. Sean headed back downstairs, Clint following. Before turning the corner, he heard cries of "Auntie Nat!"

Auntie Nat? What in the hell? Sean thought.

Rounding the corner, he saw the two kids, one boy, one girl, embracing a kneeling Natasha. "Kids, this is Sean. He's gonna be staying with us for a few days," Clint announced. "Sean, this is Lila, and Cooper."

Lila waved, refusing to give up her embrace of Auntie Nat, while Cooper disengaged and stood in front of Sean, giving a clumsy salute before seating himself at the table. As Laura carried the massive pot of spaghetti, Clint seated himself at the head of the six person table. Laura sat to his left, Cooper to his right. Natasha sat next to Laura, and Lila sat next to Cooper. Sean took the opposite end of the table, Clint across from him, Natasha to his right.

"Let's bow our heads," Clint said before he began to say Grace. Sean's head was running a thousand miles an hour. He'd been overwhelmed with this happy family. More than that, he hadn't sat down and said Grace at a family meal since before his mother had died eighty years ago almost.

Sean glanced up and saw that Natasha was staring at him. She was obviously in discomfort. He figured it was because of her past, that she felt like she didn't deserve these nice people.

When Clint was finished, he closed it out with an "Amen" before plopping an enormous blob of spaghetti on his plate. Laura slapped him on the arm. "Honey, guests first," she chastised with an amused smirk on her lips. She motioned for Sean to dig in, which he gladly accepted, taking just as much as Clint.

Sean looked over and saw that Cooper was gazing at him, wide-eyed, mouth open. "I've never seen someone that eats as much as my dad!"

Sean chuckled. "I have no doubt that your dad will end up out eating me when he goes back for seconds."

That earned a few laughs around the table as the rest of Clint's family and Natasha helped themselves to the spaghetti. Sean picked up his spoon and fork, twirled a bite around, and stuck it in his mouth. He nearly melted at the taste. He hadn't had a home-cooked meal, much less home-cooked spaghetti in who knows how long.

He eagerly chewed and swallowed before taking another bite before looking up and seeing Clint hunched over his plate, eating like a beaver chewing on a log. Sean turned to Laura. "Mrs. Barton, this is amazing, thank you so much for your hospitality."

"Oh don't mention it. Also, just Laura is fine," she beamed.

Sean smiled in return before looking at Natasha again. She had her same amused smirk on her face that she always did. Clearly, she was enjoying Sean's reactions to his new experiences.

"I thought you were in D.C." Sean told her.

She shrugged. "Clint invited me over for the weekend, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see the kids."

Sean nodded. "So you've hidden your family this whole time?" he directed at Clint.

The archer nodded. "Fury helped me keep this off the books when I joined SHIELD."

"Ah," Sean replied. "I envy you. Although, I suppose Steve is kind of like a wife, what with his feminine tastes in music and general nagging," he laughed, earning more chuckled from the adults.

"So, Sean, what brings you here today?" asked Laura as she took another bite of spaghetti.

Sean swallowed before answering. "Well, there's a SHIELD agent that Fury assigned to 'protect' us, and she's winning Steve over. I know that doesn't sound bad, but here's the kick. She's the grand niece of Steve's ex girlfriend, old flame, I don't know exactly. But I know that's exactly why Fury assigned her. I got sidetracked, sorry. Anyways, I told him it was a bad idea without telling him context, he got mad, so I got out of the house to let things settle down. Next thing I know, I'm passing a sign that says 'Welcome to Waverly, Iowa.'"

Laura nodded in understanding, and Natasha was listening intently. Sean didn't think Clint was even paying attention, still over there eating his spaghetti hunched over like the hunchback of Notre Dame.

When they'd finished dinner, Sean had helped clean up as much as Laura would let him, before excusing himself. He walked outside and sat down on Clint's porch swing, watching the sun set, when he felt someone sit next to him.

It was Natasha. Sean chuckled lightly under his breath. "I finally understand why you were so mad I accused you of cheating. I suppose now is too late for an apology?" he asked.

"Only a few years late," she responded lightly before leaning over and resting her head on his left shoulder. He raised an arm and put it around her shoulders. "You've definitely changed, Sean. It happened fast, too. That's the only reason this is even happening right now," she said, referring to her leaning on him.

He nodded. "Clint told me that earlier, too. I haven't noticed, though. Steve saw the real me a few weeks ago. It scared him to think his brother had become such a heartless bastard."

She raised her head off of him and turned his head to face hers. Looking Sean directly in the eye, she said "You're not heartless. The fact that you're angry over Sharon messing with your brother's head proves that. You don't give yourself enough credit," she finished before leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. Pulling away, she smiled and got up, heading back into the house.

Sean awoke to the rays of sunlight slipping into the room through a crack in the curtains. He needed some exercise. Sean rose, slipped on some running shoes and sweatpants, with a tight fitting athletic shirt, and headed out to run laps around the clearing the house was in.

The grass was still wet from morning dew, and it shone bright gold in the sunlight. Sean ran for maybe twenty minutes, figuring he'd run maybe eight miles. He headed inside and back upstairs, trying not to wake anyone before grabbing a towel and heading for the bathroom. Showering up, he exited the bathroom and changed into some leisure clothes. A long sleeved t-shirt and jeans would be good for manual labor, he figured. When he descended the stairs for the second time, he smelled bacon cooking. Following the scent, he was led to the kitchen, where he saw Clint making coffee, pancakes, and bacon for everyone. Natasha was seated at the table in a white robe, a mug already in her hand.

"Mornin,'" Clint greeted when he saw Sean.

"Good morning," Sean replied as the archer handed him a mug of coffee himself. Sean walked to the table and sat opposite Natasha, giving her a wink before tasting the coffee. It was perfect.

"So, Sean. I was thinking maybe I could get you to help me with a little remodeling project today," Clint suggested as he set down a plate of steaming pancakes before sitting next to Natasha.

Sean nodded. "I'm game. What kind of project?"

"Well, I've been meaning to make Laura a sunroom for a while now. I've got all the materials, just never got around to it. Figured with you here it was the perfect opportunity," Clint explained.

Sean had just washed all the soap off of himself with the warm water coming out of the showerhead, when he heard the door to the bathroom open. The next thing he knew, Sean's shower was home to two occupants. The super soldier, and a very naked redhead. "Oh, relax. It's not like you haven't seen me naked before, Sean," she said at Sean's shocked stare.

Sean stopped himself from examining her body, wordlessly stepping out and covering himself with a towel before closing the curtain back. The curtain snapped back open as soon as Sean had begun to dry off. "I thought this is what you wanted," Natasha said.

"It is, just not right now. I need to get my mind right before I can commit to you again, Nat. I'm sorry," Sean explained before leaving and closing the bathroom door behind him.

He quickly dressed before heading downstairs to find Clint sitting on the couch, watching football. "Hey man, just wanted to let you know I'm taking off in the morning," Sean said.

"Yeah, no problem. Stop by any time. You're pretty handy when it comes to remodeling," Clint teased, causing Sean to roll his eyes. "I'll probably head out before everyone wakes up, so I just wanted to tell you beforehand."

Clint nodded, and Sean turned to head back upstairs. He'd originally planned on staying another day, but all the stuff happening with Natasha was going to make things insanely awkward from here on out, so Sean decided to leave out a little early.

Sean woke before the sun had come up. The sky was just starting to turn gray when he loaded his truck up and prepared to leave. Before he could get in, though, he was stopped by a voice from the porch.

"You confuse me, Rogers."

Sean turned to see Natasha in her white robe, standing on the steps. "You couldn't wait to get back together with me when you saw me again during the Tesseract crisis, but now you want to take things slow?" she continued.

"Nat, my brother looked at me like I was some sort of monster. I need to make sure that never happens again before I can commit to anyone. If you'll wait for me, you'll be the first to know when I'm ready. If not, I'll understand that it was my fault," Sean said solemnly, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

Natasha stepped off the porch and wrapped her arms around Sean's torso. He returned the embrace, placing a kiss on top of her head. "If you tell anyone about the last two days, I will slit your throat in your sleep," she threatened as she broke the embrace.

Sean nodded with a small smile, understanding to keep his mouth shut. They were going to try and act like the last two days had never happened. "See you back in D.C." he said before jumping in his truck and driving away, watching the receding form of Nat fade in his rearview mirror.