Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. There's also several references to canon fake/temporary character death and thus grief/mourning. Feel free to back out if need be.

Author's Note: I would like to remind everyone to not ask questions in their reviews if I cannot answer them. This goes for guest reviews as much as it does for people turning off their PMs. This also goes if you feel the need to complain about my use or interpretation of canon. Also, just because you don't agree that something is a part of canon, it doesn't mean that it isn't. It also follows that using that canon is not something that the fandom just came up with. Thank you.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 15); MC4A (Year 4)
Individual Challenges: LEO MC (x4); Criminal MC (x1); Short Jog; Bucket Listing (Y); Old Shoes
House: Slytherin
Assignment No.: Term 15 – Assignment 04
Subject (Task No.): n/a
Other Hogwarts Challenges: 365 [357](Secret Dating); Fantastic Beasts [154]("impossible"); Auction [D20-A4](Person Dialogue)
Other MC4A Challenges: Ship (Bowties)[Bingo (4E - Accidental Confession)]; Chim [Loride] (Royal Purple); Fire (One Two Three); Garden [Such a Kidder](Cuddling/Snuggling)
Representation(s): Laura Barton/Clint Barton/Phil Coulson/Natasha Romanoff; Bus Team as Fam
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: n/a
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: LiCK (Amaranth; Poppy); FR (Satisfaction)
Word Count: 1093 words

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Homecoming
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Laura dropped the royal purple plate that she had been drying as soon as she heard the distinctive sound of a plane landing in the back field. With Clint and Natasha away with the Avengers, that could not mean anything good. It was just her lot in life, one that she had signed up for, really. That's just how it was when you were involved with two highly trained special agents, even if it used to be three.

She felt the hole left behind by Phil's death in her soul every single day and even more whenever she looked at Cooper. She had already lost one of her partners to the crazy danger that filled their lives. She didn't know if she could withstand another blow, not if she was going to be left here alone with the kids again. Cooper and Lila were grieving the lost of one of their fathers just as much as she was the lost of one of her partners. She didn't have the option of throwing herself into work either, not like Clint and Natasha did.

All she had was the pain and the memories.

She pressed one of her hands against her heart and willed herself to breathe. There were other possible reasons for an unexpected visit by a plane capable of near vertical landings and takeoffs. Yes, the tech for that was extremely limited and only a few organizations (and even fewer individuals) had it. She swallowed, suddenly not able to breathe for a completely different reason.

Not all those individuals and organizations were benevolent.

In fact, some of those organizations would probably love to get a hold of the civilian partner and children of, oh, literally any of the three SHIELD agents she was involved with, two of which were now Avengers. That was not even considering the possibility that they knew what she meant to all three.

But just because she was a civilian, it did not mean that she was completely helpless.

Laura slipped her hand over the decorative panel under the kitchen sink. A tingle of warmth passed over her palm as the biometric scanner did its job. The mock drawer popped open to reveal a holstered handgun, a Stark 624. Her heart twisted just a bit with a pang of grief that she didn't have time to handle. Her choice of weapon had been a minor annoyance to the three agents, for reasons that she could never understand.

But beyond all the practical handling reasons that she had picked it, she had picked the Stark 624 for its model name. Her Jewish heart could never deny the symbolic irony of having the weapon that she trained how to use in order to defend her children to the death if it came to that be named Supra.

She settled into the blind spot that Clint had built into the kitchen as one of his first renovation projects. From either interior doorway as well as the backdoor and the window over the sink, anyone in that spot could not be seen while still giving a clear shot to each sight. It was one of Lila's favorite hiding spots while playing hide and seek with Cooper. Her other spots tended to be the various perch points that Clint had made.

Once in place, all she could do was wait.

Unexpectedly, whoever it was knocked on the backdoor instead of opening it or breaking it down. Laura stayed still in her perfect spot, her gun ready to be fired. Even more unexpected, the knock was a very familiar one that should have only been known to two other living people. Clint and Natasha would not use it. They wouldn't be so cruel.

Phil's secret knock sounded a second time.

Her heart stuttered as the doorknob turned, but her hand stayed steady. She couldn't afford to let her resolve waver due to misguided sentiment. Her children were sleeping upstairs. The last bit of the partner she had lost was tucked away in his bed, likely dreaming about fighting off robbers with bags of flour. Lila had no memories of the man who had sung her songs from the forties and fifties when she had colic and would only settle for her papa, but Laura hoped some part of him still remained in her dreams as well. She hoped the universe was kind enough for that, and in return, she would do whatever was necessary to protect the precious gifts she had been given charge over.

The door swung open quietly.

"Laura?" a painfully familiar voice called from the shadowy mash of figures in the doorway. "Please don't shoot."

"Is AC begging?" a woman's voice cut in. Whoever she was, she sounded young, barely more than a teenager. "And he sounds actually worried. I didn't realize that AC even knew how to be anything other than as cool as a cucumber. You're not the person I thought you were, Coulson."

"That's okay," Laura said, lowering her gun slightly but not putting it away. "He's not the person that I thought he was either, kid."

The group of agents shuffled into the kitchen properly. Phil was draped over Melinda's shoulders, clenching his side where there was an already drying blood stain on the button-up shirt he was wearing. He looked tired and a bit worn around the edges. He was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen outside of her children's faces for the first time.

"Hi, honey," he said with just a touch of wariness. "I'm home."

Neither Phil nor Melinda flinched when Laura shot between their heads.

All three of the baby agents did, and that should not make Laura feel as pleased as it did.

"Start talking, Phil," she demanded, "or so help me, the next one is going in your bad knee."

"It was Fury's idea," he confessed. "There were unanswered questions that I thought might be dangerous or I wouldn't have gone along with it."

She rolled her eyes and sighed, but she lowered her aim completely to the floor.

"Fine," she accepted. He relaxed slightly. "I'll let you explain to Nat and Clint about your fake death."

Phil paled.

"Can we revisit the idea of you shooting me?"

"Maybe you will be able to convince Nat not to stab you."

"That's impossible and you know it!"

"Yeah, well," Laura said as she put the Supra back in its hidden compartment, "she's less likely to kill you accidentally than I am. You will just have to deal with it."