The Avengers were spending a week at Tony's beach house (mansion) in Malibu, at his request. Well, technically Pepper requested it for him, since he didn't manage much of anything on the business end. Either way, they'd been invited to stay and they had accepted, with varying degrees of reluctance.
After a couple of days spent relaxing at the beach and lounging around, all of them were getting a little stir-crazy. Someone suggested a day at Disneyland, and the idea stuck. The next day, they awoke early and drove the hour to the park.
Clint was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement by the time they walked through security and into the park. He bolted into the first gift shop he encountered and dragged Natasha with him.
"Nat, we should buy some of the ears to wear! Look, they look like Minnie Mouse's, and you can get them in all these different colors…"
She sighed. "I'm not wearing those, Barton. I'm not a child."
He faked offense. "Are you calling me childish?"
"Always."
"What if you acted like a kid, just for today, hm? Look, I'll wear some, too, and we can match."
She smirked. "Okay, fine. But only if you buy the ones to match."
"Deal."
As they walked around the park, Nat looked around quietly, just taking everything in. Clint gave her hand a squeeze.
"You okay?"
She gave him a puzzled look. "What was I doing?"
"You were just looking around. Couldn't tell if you were getting lost in your head."
She shook her head, her hair held back by her newly acquired headband. "I'm enjoying myself. I promise."
"I like the headband on you."
She gave him a small smile. "You were right. Sometimes it's good to be childish. Even if you do it a bit too often." She brushed his shoulder with hers. He grinned and planted a kiss on her temple.
Early in the day, they rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Natasha's first roller coaster. Next to Clint, she gripped the lap bar tightly as their car creaked up the lift hill. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and she offered him a tight smile.
"It's really fun, I promise. This is the worst part."
She nodded, but squeezed her eyes closed as they reached the top of the hill and the train lurched downwards. Clint put his hands up and whooped, and she opened one eye to look at him, confused.
"What are you doing?"
"Try it! It's fun."
She cautiously put up her hands, a small smile spreading across her face as the car dipped. A giggle escaped her throat as their car came back up.
"You like it?"
She nodded breathlessly, grinning.
"Told you."
By the end of the ride, she and Clint were cracking up over how they'd kept sliding and squashing each other throughout the ride. Tony turned around in front of them, looking gobsmacked.
"Romanoff?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure that's Nat, Barton?"
Clint grinned. "Sure is."
They spent much of the afternoon exploring Main Street, USA, and shopping. A few times, someone stopped one of the members of the team and asked for a photo or an autograph, but for the most part, they were left in peace. Natasha was surprised to have a little girl tug on the edge of her shirt and say, "Are you the Black Widow?"
Natasha's eyes widened, but she crouched down to the girl's eye level. "Yes, I am, but my real name is Natasha. What's yours?"
"I'm Grace. I live in New York."
"Me too!"
"Yeah! The Avengers saved my dad when those aliens invaded. Thank you for saving my daddy."
"It was our pleasure, Grace. Would you like to take a picture?"
"Sure!"
Clint snapped a picture of the two of them, and Grace ran back to join her family. Natasha stood there for a moment, hugging herself and looking after the little girl.
Clint poked her side. "You're a hero, Nat." He grinned at her. She shook her head, but smiled.
"Come on, let's take a picture in front of the castle!" He took her hand and pulled her over to the castle. Steve followed with the camera.
Clint slung an arm around her waist and she leaned into him, putting an arm around him. They both smiled softly, content just to be together and to have the day to be children again. Steve caught a candid moment of Nat beaming up at Clint, one that later wound up in Clint's wallet, which he took on missions just so he could see her smile and remember their beautiful day.