Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers or anything related to Marvel, all credit goes to the writers and creators.

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Authors Note: This is my first Avengers/Marvel Fanfiction. I've changed a couple of things, mostly just ages and the time gaps in between events.
Wanda is 16. (Like literally just had her birthday, so like 16 and 1 month.)
Cooper Barton is 13.
Lila Barton is 9.
Nathaniel Barton is 4.
This story will be placed around after Civil War, eight months later. For the first five months Cap's Team stayed in Wakanda, they lived there until a deal was brokered. They are no longer fugitives but not working Avengers. They are civilians. After the deal, Scott went to live near his daughter Cassie (13). Sam floats around having returned to DC, but still visits his friends. Clint and Laura returned to their farm with their children. Steve and Wanda found a small house in a quiet town and live there.
As for Team Iron Man, Tony lives in the Avengers tower with Pepper, Natasha lives there too though she comes and goes as she pleases. (For the purpose of this Fic, even though Nat helped Steve, it was never revealed to Team IM, until later.) Rhodey lives there as well and Peter lives with his Aunt May but often spends nights at the Tower when possible.
Steve and Tony have not spoken to each other since. Nat and Steve haven't spoken either.
Thor and Banner/Hulk are off saving Asgard. At this point in time, I am unsure if I will include the whole endgame plot or whether this will completely ignore that.
If you have any other questions regarding the timeline I am putting in place, then just pop them in the comments and I will answer them. :)

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Summary: Eight months. That was how long it had been since the Avengers broke up. Things have changed, in more ways then one. They need to be reunited but was it possible for them to ever be a team again?

Chapter One

"Off you go, running back to the farm."

Natasha glared hard at Tony. "At least I'm welcome there." She sniped back at him.

Tony's eyes hardened but he masked his facial expression with indifference, choosing to turn his back to her. "Run along, Red."

Nat stared at him for a moment, watching him get back to work. It was all he did now, all he had done since The Accords. "Just call him." She wouldn't plead with him, but wasn't her asking enough? He missed Steve. She could see it, but he was stubborn, they both were. Eight months of silence, the longer it stretched, the more unlikely they would reunite.

"Never gonna happen." He snapped back his answer, the same answer he had given each time she she fled the tower. He listened to the door slam shut behind the Black Widow, knowing that he was alone, he braced himself against the worktop. "Fucccck!"

Nat let out a frustrated scream when the door sealed behind her.

Natasha leaned against the railing on the front porch pushing that memory to the back of her mind, choosing to remain focused on the kids before her. Lila and Cooper were playing a game of catch with Nate. It was peaceful here, quiet, with nothing but the sound of nature. Every part of her loathed that Tony was right. She had run back to the farm, needing this place to ground her, to remind her of the good in the world and what she could do to help protect it.
Just three months ago, she was honestly under the impression that she would never see this place again, be welcomed to it like she had once been, until Clint had reassured her otherwise.
Eight months since the Accords, and for the first five after, she hadn't spoken to Clint. She hadn't know where he was, she still didn't know where he had been, but three months ago he was declared no longer a fugitive. He had returned to the farm with Laura and their children. She was thankful, so grateful that he had allowed her to reunite with them, welcomed her back with open arms.

"It's so good to see you." Natasha had never been much of a hugger, rarely ever showing affection but the moment he opened the door she threw her arms around him.

Clint returned the hug immediately, breathing in her scent. "Hey Nat." He squeezed her, it had been a long five months without seeing her face, talking to her. "How are you?" He held her for a moment longer, just relishing in the fact that he was able to hold his bestfriend again.

"I should be asking you that. You okay?"

"I'm good. We're home. It's...it's good." He motioned for her to join him inside, the house was quiet since Laura had taken the kids outside to collect eggs. "Want something to drink?" He could see the nervousness in her eyes, it was unusual for the Black Widow to show such an emotion. "Nat?"

"I missed you." The words escaped her lips before she could contain them.

Clint smiled, knowing that her admitting the words showed that she truly meant them. "I missed you."

Nat let out a breath, one she hadn't been aware she was holding. He had missed her. He was still her friend. "Yeah, a drink..." She stepped further into the house.

"You okay?"

"I'm okay."

Natasha had allowed the lie to flow so easily from her lips, and she knew that Clint would spot it easily. He didn't quiz her on it, he just let it go, for that she was thankful.
Eight months since this started, five months of complete silence from her best-friend, three months since the first time she had reunited with him.
Eight months. Natasha could not erase it from her memory. It had been that long since she had let him go, had to told him to go. That long since she had chosen the opposite side. Since their team had been fractured.

"Have you spoken to them?" The second the question left her lips, she regretted it. Nat could feel Clint's eyes on her and she felt the need to change the direction.
Part of her was desperate to ask about him, the other part couldn't bare to know. He was free, exactly like Clint and yet, he wasn't here. Eight months ago, she had chosen to stand on the opposite side to him. Did he blame her? He was her partner, her friend but all that...it was all gone now. She couldn't ask, so she repeated her question. "Have you spoken to Sam or Scott? Wanda?" She didn't dare to ask about the Winter Solider, the one that Steve had done this all for.

Clint knows exactly who she wants to ask about but her pride is getting the better of her. He almost allows himself to tease her, or use Steve's name to create a reaction but he doesn't, he can't bring himself to do that to her. "I have. They're fine." And it's the truth, Scott is with his family, just enjoying that time with them. Sam was in DC. Steve and Wanda in the little town they called home. "They're all fine." He puts the emphasis on all, and it doesn't go unnoticed the way her shoulders, relax, the tension easing just slightly.

She'd had that conversation with Clint during her first stay, he had reassured her that Steve was okay but she still worried for him, she missed him. They were partners, best-friends, at one time she allowed herself to picture what it would be like if they were more but she couldn't risk it. If they got that close he would see parts of her, parts of her that would make him turn in the opposite direction and run.

Clint stood inside the house, looking out the kitchen window at Nat, she was standing on the front porch watching the kids play in the yard. It didn't go unnoticed that she spent a lot of time at the farm in the last three months, when she wasn't around, she was at the Avengers tower with Tony and Pepper. It unsettled him to see the Black Widow so unsettled. Bouncing around between the two places, when one of them became to much she just packed up for a few days and moved to the other.

"Has she asked about him again?"

Clint turned his head, shaking his head as his wife came to his side. "No." Nat hadn't directly asked about the Captain not since her first visit to the farm after their return. On her second visit, she'd been in the barn with him when Cap had called, he remembered her all but running out the door, eager to get away.

"How's Tony?" Clint asked, hauling the bag onto the back of the buggy.

Nat looked up from the hay bale she was sitting on. "He's Tony." She scoffed, leaning back against the post.

"Nat,"

Natasha sighed, her eyes meeting Clint's. "You could call him." The look she got told her that she shouldn't start that game. "He's burying himself in work. He's consuming himself with it, takes Pepper physically dragging him out to get him to take a break."

"He..." Clint eyed his phone on the back of the buggy, the ring tone sounding through the air as he quickly snapped it up. "Hey Cap," His eyes found Nat, and he saw her stunned expression. He was going to tell her to stay but she was already half way out the barn, distancing herself from the man on the phone. "Darn it!"

Laura smiled sadly, she hated that this is what had become of them. Nat was one of her closest friends. Clint had brought her back to the farm one night, and she just seemed to blend in. A missing piece of their family. And Steve, Captain America. A part of her had wanted to resent him when he picked her and the kids up and dropped them in Wakanda, but he had promised her then that he would break Clint from that prison and reunite them and he did. She couldn't bring herself to be angry with him for doing what he thought was right. Those five months in Wakanda made them family, bonded them. "She misses him. Stubborn woman won't admit it."

"I think it runs deeper then that." He tugged Laura into his side.

Laura hummed wrapping her arms around his waist. "He was her partner, her friend. Back then she felt a little something for him, think she still feels it now?"

"If she does, then she has buried it."

"You should call him. It's been a while since he and Wanda came to dinner."

Clint raised his eyebrow, unsureness seeping into him. "Ambush her? I don't think that is a good idea." He didn't know how Nat would respond to that or how Steve would.

Laura let out a light laugh. "If we leave it up to them, they'll never see each other again. They just need a little nudge. Besides didn't you say you wished to find a way to get Steve back into the action."

Clint rolled his eyes, his wife just had to remember everything he had ever said. "Yes, yes I did." Cap had been living a domesticated life for a few months now, and while it was nice to slow down, he knew that his friend missed the Avenger life and what he could offer to it. He wanted Steve to be able to get back into that but it was the how? Their freedom was based on them never acting as heroes again. "I'll give him a call."

"Good." Laura patted his chest. "Earths mightiest heroes being divided was never meant to last. You are all much better together."

"Mommy! Come look."

"You make that call, I'll be outside."

Steve tossed the wrench back into the tool box, listening to it clang against the metal as he hauled himself out from under the car and propped up against the tire. He took a deep breath, grabbing the rag beside him and wiping the sweat from his face and neck. No matter the time that passed, he didn't think he would ever get used to the heat and this place.
Not once since he had awoken had it occurred to him that he would be in this position. He was no longer a wanted fugitive but no longer an Avenger either. His freedom had come with a price, his old position untouchable. It was hard to part with but what he struggled with more was knowing that he could not go back to New York, not after everything that had happened. He would not be welcomed back, not after his fall out with Tony. He felt terrible with how things had had been left between them.
Steve closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. It had been eight months since he had last seen Tony or Natasha, since he had seen the New York skyline and been apart of the Avengers. Eight months, and he counted every moment of it.

His eyes snapped opened at the sound of a car, and he saw Wanda climbing out of the passenger seat. He wasn't afraid to admit that one of the very few reasons he kept moving forward was the teenager. He found himself needing to be responsible for her, to give her the life that she deserved. Not just because of where they had found her, and what had been stolen from her then but because of what he had put her through. She'd faced enough torment on at the Raft. What she needed now was to just be a kid.
He smiled softly to himself remembering her fight at the beginning, how she resisted people taking care of her but they had a routine now, and she seemed happy with it.

"Any luck with that thing yet?" Wanda leant against the back of the car, looking down at Steve.

He pushed himself off the ground. "No. Who was that?"

"Liza, she wants to be friends." Wanda shrugged. Going to school had been Steve's idea, one he had pushed for. "What's for dinner? Can we order in?"

Steve shut the tool box and picked it up. "Sure, pizza?" He frowned when his phone rang, he immediately grabbed it out, only a handful of people had this number. Only a handful of people ever called, and when they did he often hoped for a certain name, and yet that name never came. "Can you grab the mail?" He spoke to Wanda, as he looked down at the name flashing on the screen, picking up the call once the teenager had departed. "Hey Clint,"

"Hey Cap, how is everything?"

"Everything is fine." Steve felt as though he said that line a lot, always maintaining that everything was good even when it wasn't. "How are you? Laura and the kids, doing well?"

"Everyone is good, great actually. Laura wants you and our scarlet witch for dinner this weekend. Think you can swing it?"

Steve smiled, looking across the yard to where Wanda had walked over to grab their mail. It had been a while since they'd had dinner together. It had been almost every night when they were all hunkered down in Wakanda together. While he had never really been close to Clint, that time there had really forged a relationship that would always be close to his heart. It was Clint who helped him to realize that he had a lot to offer to Wanda, and that Wanda needed him.

"Hey Cap,"

Steve looked up from the book he was reading to find Clint. "I believe I've said it before, here I'm just Steve."

Clint shook his head and leant against the tree that the Captain was sitting under, looking over at Wanda and Lila who were looking for butterflies down by the river. The teenager had been particularly good with the young girl. "Keeping an eye on them?"

"No,"

"Captain Rogers telling a lie." Clint teased, knowing that was exactly why the Cap was sitting out here reading. "How's she doing?"

"Better." Steve loathed how broken Wanda had been when he rescued her from that prison, he loathed what they had done to her. It was only now two months later that he was beginning to see changes, a smile but she still had a long way to go. "I've convinced her to try going to the school, get an education. We don't know how long we'll need to stay here, figured it would be a good use of her time."

Clint nodded, it was a reasonable idea. They'd been here two months already, and still they were fugitives, safe in the haven of Wakanda. "Good. I mentioned it to her a week ago, feisty thing nearly bit my head off."

Steve chuckled. "Mmm, she has a temper on her sometimes."

"Understatement." Clint mumbled. "Having you looking out for her is a good thing."

"She's got a lot of people looking out for her."

"Yeah," Clint readily agreed. "But every kid needs that one person they can turn to, that they trust with their life. You're that for her, like I am that for my kids." He patted Steve on the shoulder. "She needs you. Don't let her tell you any different."

Steve over at the two girls down by the river, eyes scanning over the red head. "I won't."

They'd only been to the farm a few times since Clint and Laura had been able to return with the kids but he knew that the witch loved it there, he did too. "Yes, definitely. It will be good to see you all. We'll stay the weekend?"

"Yes, perfect. We'll see you then, Cap."

"See you." He placed the phone into the back of his jeans, as the teenager came back over to him. "What do you have there?"

"Bills." Wanda passed them to him. "Who was that?"

"Clint. We're going to the farm this weekend." He smiled when her eyes lit up. "Take it you like the idea?"

Wanda nodded as they walked towards the house. "Yeah, Aunt Laura said she would teach me to make her apple pie the next time we stayed."

He felt his heart leap when she used that name. Those months in Wakanda really did cement her place in this family, but it was the parting, them each going their own ways back to the regular world that made Laura assure them that she was still there for them both.

"You are welcome at the farm, Steve; there is a place for you. Always."

Steve shook his head, he couldn't do that to them. They deserved to be able to return home as their own little family, enjoy time just the five of them. "We'll visit." He promised, giving Laura a hug. "Often." He added.

"I hope so." She pulled away. "We'll miss you,"

"We haven't even left him yet, honey." Clint rolled his eyes, approaching them with the kids and teenager behind him.

"Kids, come say bye to Uncle Steve." Laura called out to them. "And you, come here and give your Aunt a hug." Laura swiftly pulled Wanda into a hug. "One phone call, any time, day or night. Alright, sweetie?"

Wanda smiled into the woman's shoulder, she was really going to miss her when she was gone. "Yes, Aunt Laura."

"Hon, you are going to offend Cap. He's able to handle a teenager."

Laura raised her eyebrow. "Hmm, that Cap?" Her tone clearly held a teasing nature as they looked over to where Cap had been pushed to the ground, Nate was hanging off his shoulders, Lila in his lap tightening a friendship bracelet around his wrist and Cooper was telling him something enthusiastically about the farm.

"It's three on one here, Laura. I'm outnumbered." Cap defended himself, making the three standing in front of him laugh.

"Hmm, so you'll be able to cook it for me when we come home." He shut the front door behind him.

Wanda nudged his shoulder. "If you're lucky. I'm gonna take a shower, will you order pizza? I'm starved."

"Sure, kid. Pepperoni?" He heard her agreement as she headed upstairs. It never occurred to him that he wanted this. A normal life, a kid, a home. God, he missed being an Avenger, protecting the world but he could never give this up. Protecting and raising Wanda had become a way of life, and he couldn't trade it for anything. He just wished his team, his family were all together, that they could all be apart of this.

Clint was nervous, and he thought he had every right to be. He was more or less ambushing his friends. He was unsure of how they would react to seeing each other again but he hoped things would quickly be smoothed over. There was nothing Clint wanted more right now then for everyone to get along. For his Avengers family to be pieced back together. It was important to him.
He looked down at Nat who was sitting at the kitchen table with Lila coloring, Cooper was there too playing on his Gameboy.
Such a odd task for the Black Widow to be doing yet she loved every minute of it. He knew she was suspicious of his motivation to invite her to the farm for a second weekend in a row.

"Hey Barton, I hope you fired up the grill."

"What is she doing here?!"

Clint paused, his eyes flicking to Steve and Wanda when they entered the kitchen. He did not fail to notice how quickly the smile dropped from the teenagers eyes, the fury creeping into them and he was not surprised by the calm mask that Cap kept in place. "I didn't think you'd be here yet." His eyes drifted to Natasha who was stunned into silence, another rarity. He was certain the Black Widow would make him pay for this later, he just hoped by then that this ambush would have worked.
The silence drew thick and he wondered where the hell Laura was, she'd sooth this over in a second. "Uh,"

Wanda's eyes held a rage that no one had seen while. "Why would you invite us here when she is here?!" She demanded an answer from Clint.

Steve snapped out of his frozen stance at the sound of the teenagers voice. He saw the fury, and his eyes quickly scanned the situation, spotting the two kids at the table beside Nat. "Hey kids," He immediately felt the need to defuse the situation. They couldn't witness anything, it wasn't right. They loved all the people in this room and they didn't need to see them fighting with each other, or harsh words being traded. Not that he thought he had any harsh words for Nat.

"Uncle Steve!" Lila jumped up from the table, abandoning what she was doing and flinging her arms around him. "Hi."

He gave her a big hug, holding her tight. "Hey Lils." His eyes lingered on Natasha, he felt sorry for the crayon she was gripping as it snapped in half under her pressure, her lips clamped tightly together. It seemed as though she was as surprised as he was. "How you been, sweetheart?"

"Good!" Lila glanced at Wanda who was clearly glaring daggers at Nat. "Wanda, daddy made me a butterfly catcher, want to see it?" She let go of Steve to tug on Wanda's arm.

"That sounds like a good idea, Lila." Steve agreed, the teenager was clearly angry, some fresh air would do her good. He saw the look Wanda gave him. "Go on, kid." He encouraged, he would need to have a talk with her after. He thought they had already settled things, that she knew that Natasha had let him and Bucky go, and therefore it meant he was able to rescue her from the prison.

"No. No way! She..."

"Wanda," Cooper interrupted, he was thirteen, not stupid. He knew what was happening. "You got to see the jump dad is making for my dirt bike. Taking him forever to shovel the dirt. Think you can use your magic to speed it up?" Cooper hopped from the table, bumping fists with Cap. "Hey Uncle Steve."

"Coop." He saw could still see the unease in Wanda's eyes as both kids tugged at her hands. "Go on, I'll come see this jump in a bit." He promised.

Wanda breathed deeply, she wanted to stay but the look in his eyes told her that he had this, and that she trusted. "Fine. Lead the way. Let's be clear though, if I'm building this jump, we are going mega."

"Oh no." Clint's eyes darted to Cap before he looked back at his teenager niece who was already half way out the back door. "Sorry." He threw towards the two adult, pushing himself off the counter. "Wanda! I am supervising. You remember that hill you built last time? Cooper nearly broke his arm." He hastily followed them out the back door.

"Dad!"

"You are just being dramatic. It was a sprain."

Steve let his eyes fall back to Natasha, unsure of what to say or do with himself. Eight months. Eight months since he had seen her and what could he say?
He stuffed his hands into his pockets, eyes furrowing. He knew he was thankful, she had let them go. In the end, she had understood what he was doing, what he was fighting for. Steve wished his brain would connect to his mouth, that he had the words but he didn't.

Nat swallowed, her heart pounding in her chest. "Hi Steve," The words were mumbled, whispered, just loud enough that she knew he would hear her.

He sucked in a breath. "Nat."

What did you think?

Much Love. x