A lot had happened between Bucky Barnes and Natasha Romanova since their first chance meeting. They hardly stayed in the same location due to the nature of their careers. He was a reformed super soldier and her as a freelance operative. As nothing more than ordinary humans, Black Widow and Bucky Barnes had faced insurmountable supernatural and human threats to mankind's survival alongside the Avengers. The trials and tribulations of work and life.
Natasha discovered after sharing a hotel bed with the super soldier that she wanted more of him. They took every opportunity to protect their romance more than their superhero identities. She wanted more than his lips against her tender skin. Without warning, Natasha got her wish.
What their team did not know, was that the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier were balancing the fate of the universe with parenthood. The two - while perfect for each other - struggled with parenthood more than they had Hydra's brainwashing and unethical training regimes from the KGB.
In an undisclosed location, Bucky and Natasha took turns to look after their love child – Julie Barnes. An inquisitive, cheerful girl who wanted to see the world outside. She had her father's curly almost-black hair, but her mother's green eyes. Julie trained with her father in hand-to-hand combat. Learning to research from her mother. She was as quick witted and resourceful as her mother, but she also packed the raw strength and determination of her father (without the super soldier genes). Julie was a perfect combination of their younger selves. Another reason to protect her from the world. Because the world had done things to her parents that made them wish for simpler times.
"Do you have to go mummy?"
"Yes, Julie." Natasha smiled, booping her daughter on the nose with her index finger.
"Why can't I come?"
"When you're older, you can."
"Promise?"
"Yes, I promise." Natasha sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and finger. "Please listen to your father. I'll be back soon." Natasha smiled, kissing her daughter on the cheek before turning her attention to her husband.
"I will."
"I know you will. Take care of her, Bucky." She kissed her boyfriend on the lips before pivoting to leave. One of these days Julie would disobey them. She had seen it before with Stark and Parker.
"I will, love." He replied in that gravelly growl that made Natasha's icy heart melt in her chest.
Natasha got into her car, blowing one last kiss to her husband, whose prosthetic arm gripped the shoulder of their love child. Natasha wished she could stay right there. In the rippling arms of the love of her life with their daughter in her lap, reading bedtime stories. There were many types of fractured and found families inside and out of the Avengers. How were they different?
Natasha snuck through the building on the points of her toes with the stealth of a cat. She reached the commanding console with little effort. It was almost too easy. The only thing stopping her from assuming this to be a trap was years of experience and the amount of guards she crept past like a spider navigating its own web towards any prey that was unfortunate enough to be trapped. Her weapon holstered on her hip for quick retrieval. She did not intend to be seen nor confronted. As Hawkeye liked to remind her, she had done missions that were 100 times more dangerous. However, during those 100 missions she did not have someone to lose.
Natasha always prided herself on separating reality from the world of espionage, but with a daughter and a lover, the lines were blurring together daily. The only thing shielding her little family from extra terrestrial, divine and human threats was the fact no one knew about them. However, Natasha was still capable of rational thought. Like she was trained to, from a young age, she sealed away her maternal concerns and threw away the key. Her daughter was at home with Bucky. Both of them were safe. She could not wait for the sunrise. This mission would be complete and she could go home. Home. A smile crept onto her face. Her fingers flew across various keyboards, dials and switches in sequence. Her ears tuned for the first sounds of trouble. Her ability to vanish was her strength. She was a human in a world of non humans.
The spy's earpiece cackled the moment an alarm started blaring.
"Romanov? What was that?"
"I don't know. I'll investigate." Her ability to return home depended on the outcome of this mission. Nothing was going to get in the way of a bubble bath with his lover or breezing through homework with her daughter. What was advanced mathematics to a woman who spent her entire life under numerous identities. Natasha hoped that whatever triggered the security detail was a stray dog, cat or racoon. Her heart imploded when she recognized the pattern of the PJs on the security feed.
"Julie?! How?"
She weighed her options. She HAD to get to Julie before the security detail. At least she did not have to worry about Bucky charging in and making an even bigger mess. She never told him where she was going. Her lanky frame was advantageous in melee combat, as long as none of those beefy men landed too many direct hits. Her agility made up for her lack of brute strength.
"1...2…" The bottle red head whispered through gritted teeth as she crawled past, "...3...4…"
A shrill scream triggered Natasha to switch from covert mode into attack mode. She flew through the air, locking her long legs around the aggressor's neck. Using her momentum, she brought him to the ground before he could rough up the girl -her daughter- who tripped while running away.
"That...makes 5." She panted, chest heaving. The Black Widow was getting too old for this.
"Mummy? I didn't mean to!" The frightened child sniffled as her mother flicked her hair out of her face before bending over to shake her daughter. There was no time to waste on feeling terrified.
"I know. You are grounded, when we get home." Natasha roused as she grabbed her daughter's wrist. Natasha dragged Julie along, instructing her to hide in a vent while her mother finished her mission, which was now made almost as dangerous as most missions involving Hawkeye.
Not that Natasha would let her daughter know that. Julie was too young to confront death. Julie watched her mother, as silent as mouse, comparing her to the superheroes portrayed in the media. Her mother even had a hero outfit. Julie wanted to be a hero one day. She was obsessed with superheroes. Natasha took extra care to barricade herself (and her concealed daughter) inside the control room while the security tried to break through the door. The loading bar was anxiety inducing. They were running out of time. The USB started to smoke and sizzle.
The mother and daughter pair escaped the building through a broken window in time for a fire to cover their tracks. The sun peeking over the horizon, painting the sky in pinks and oranges. With a quick wardrobe change, both of them returned to the car and drove home as if the entire night did not happen. Her mother was unusually quiet. Julie didn't want to say anything in case she got yelled at. Luckily, Julie was so clumsy that Natasha could tell this was her first offense.
Her first and ONLY time sneaking out if I have anything to do with it.
"That was a quick mission, Nat." Bucky said, oblivious until Julie got out of the car and walked inside. Surprise and concern flickered across his face before returning to unflinching resolution.
"That's because someone joined without permission."
"Trouble, eh?"
"You have NO idea. Julie, go straight to your room. We'll talk in the morning. I'm babysitting tomorrow, Bucky. I will NOT allow this egregious behavior to become a habit. It's too dangerous."
"But at her age, we-"
"She's not an adult. She's a child! No, Bucky. She snuck out of the house. She could have been hurt. She deserves to be grounded for the rest of her life!" Natasha's voice climbed higher.
Candlelight flickered over the sharpness of his stern face and made Natasha recoil internally. That expression reminded her of the night she seduced the Winter Soldier to bed to make love. All Bucky Barnes needed to remind him of the man he used to be was a touch of compassion.
The Winter Soldier moved towards her like a bear. Natasha couldn't stay angry with him. She melted in his arms. His heart pounding in her ear. It wasn't his fault. It was hers for not checking. Their daughter really was more like them than she feared. Bucky carried his frantic lover inside.
"You can't be angry with her, Nat. You would have done the same if you were her."
"No! I wouldn't. I'm trained. Extensively trained. Julie's lucky she wasn't killed last night."
Julie listened to her parents arguing backwards and forwards until...there was silence. Their daughter slipped out of bed, pressing her ear against the cold, timber door. She had messed up big time, but she really wanted to confirm with her own eyes if her parents really were heroes. They had always seemed a little TOO perfect compared to her friends' parents. Super human.
Everyone gathered at the headquarters. The secret was out. Now the Avengers had to meet to decide what was going to happen to Julie as the child of not one -but two dedicated Avengers. It was a casual meeting. None of them knew how to react to a child- still adrenalized from fighting government agents, aliens and gods. Julie walked in behind her father, clinging to the back of his pants. Her dark, tight curls bouncing as she shuffled. Her green eyes wide in awe when she laid eyes on the Avengers. All of them in varying states of relaxation prior to ordering take-away.
Natasha stood, one hand on her hip, with the levels of apathy that her team had come to expect from her as the team introduced themselves to Julie. The team clearly noticed the striking resemblance between Julie, the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow but they did not address Natasha or Bucky with their words or their body language.
As always, Steve was the first one to speak. He did so with all of the charisma he picked up doing those propaganda shows during the war. He was proud that Bucky had started a family, but he wondered if his best friend knew what he was getting into. He would support his best friend to the ends of the earth, but it was clear their child would want to become a hero too and he was not sure if Bucky or Natasha could handle the responsibility AND loving their careers.
"Steve." Bucky said, placing his robot hand on Steve's shoulder. His flesh hand was occupied. His fingers laced with Natasha's. Natasha watched Steve tense as Bucky continued to speak with the maturity Steve remembered from before the two of them enlisted. "I've been thinking. I don't want to fracture the team, but I think it's best if Nat and I leave the team. If the two of us leave behind our careers, we have a better chance of not allowing this to happen again. Or anything like this. I have a family now. We'll have to leave saving the world to you and the next generation of Avengers. When she's older, Julie can decide if she wants to become a hero too. She's always had a bizarre obsession with obnoxious costumes like yours."
Steve and Bucky shared a laugh like old times. Interrupted by the doorbell, which signalled the first wave of take out, which was thankfully covered by the Stark tab. Everyone took what they wanted from the table, exchanging banter about what happened until the call went out for the Avengers to assemble. Natasha smiled, her head rested against Bucky's shoulder. Julie wanted to help people like her mother and father did. She -the Winter Widow- wanted a suit, just like her parents. Their daughter happily listened to the conversation, surrounded by super heroes from every corner of the universe, already planning her future superhero costume and place within the next generation of heroes.