"Are they still asleep?"
"Gwen is at least, I'm not sure how much Skye have slept, and she seemed already out of it when I run into her in the kitchen."
Clint explains, the three of them are sitting in the kitchen, voices kept low, so they don't wake the young ladies. She and Maria have been working all night to get something together, to make sure that Gwen is being protected and that the police won't be able to arrester her, and even if they do, they won't be able to keep her for long. At least they managed to get something through and with as little information for the rest of the organisation.
Grabbing hold of her coffee cup, she lifts it up to take a sip when Maria's phone starts to call. She had place it on the middle of the table and all eyes turns towards it. Seeing who is calling, they look at one another before she reaches out and grabs the phone.
"Captain Stacy."
"Natasha? I thought I called..."
"This is Maria's phone, but she's not around at the moment. Now, mind tell me what is going on? Because when I returned last night, your daughter is here, asleep in Skye's bed and the only thing I could get out of Clint is that she mumbled something about Peter being killed? What kind of Senior prom are being thrown these years?"
She asks, making sure to keep her voice low as she speaks but she can't help the anger that is boiling inside of her. This man, this man is accusing his own daughter of murder. Granted, he doesn't know that Gwen is Ghost Spider, but they all know he is a good cop, which is making them feel hurt when they realise, they haven't even tried to understand or even tried to talk to Ghost Spider about what really happened last night.
"Spider-Woman attacked and killed the poor lad last night. We are still on a man hunt to bring her down and putting her behind bars where she belongs."
Feeling how both Clint and Maria is pushing her down, Natasha haven't realised she was rising from the chair. There is no way she will let this man hurt this girl.
"Hey! Listen very carefully Captain Stacy! Ghost Spider is under S.H.I.E.L.D protection, she's one of us and we are going over what happened last night. So, I would recommend you guys to step back."
She tells the man on the other end of the line, knowing she probably shouldn't be telling him about these things at the moment. But he is the one that poke the bear, and it was probably for the best that they know up front that Ghost Spider is being protected by S.H.I.E.L.D. Silence falls over them, and Natasha can almost feel the anger coming from the man on the other end of the line. Taking a deep breath, Natasha tries to calm herself down.
"At least Gwen is alright, or at least as alright that she can be in the moment."
She then adds and she can hear almost hear how Captain Stacy is about to go against her, making Natasha take a deep breath.
"We don't work with Ghost Spider personally, and Gwen needs someone else she is close to, to help her through this and Skye is the best option right now. Besides, going back home, to a house that is right beside the house where he used to live will just give her more pain. So, she can stay here for as long as she needs, end of discussion Captain Stacy. Now if you excuse me, I need to check up on the two girls."
She tells the man before hanging up. Feeling that it's only Clint's hand on her shoulder this time around, Natasha closes her eyes and tries to calm herself down as much as possible. After a few deep breaths, she decides that she needs to do something to get some of the anger out of her system.
"I'm going to punch something."
She says, feeling how Clint now let's go of her shoulder, holding up his hand in a sing of surrender. They all know fully well that it's better to just let her go a few rounds on the sandbag than to try and help her themselves. Heading for the second bedroom, she stops outside of Skye's bedroom and looks inside. Seeing Gwen and Skye sleeping side by side managed to somewhat clam her down, not enough but it helps.
"Get me when they wake up."
She comments, seeing that Maria is standing just inside of the door. Seeing the other agent nod their head as a respond, Natasha continues to head for the second bedroom. Making sure to close the door properly behind her, she opens the wardrobe doors to find the sandbag already waiting. Wrapping up her hands properly, she falls into an old rhythm as she hits the bag.
-X-X-X-X-X-
"How long have you been hitting that thing?"
Hearing Skye's voice, she stops, holding up her hands to stop the sandbag from swinging. Turning her head, her eyes lands on her little sister, standing in the door opening. Surprise to see her, Natasha glances towards the clock to see if she can figure out how long she has been in her own mind this time around.
"About two hours. Did you just wake up?"
She asks, unwrapping her hands in the progress.
"No, I woke up half an hour ago. Gwen on the other hand woke up five minutes ago and I'm not able to get her back to sleep anymore so."
Skye explains and Natasha nods her head, at least the two girls have managed to get some type of sleep at least and she's happy for that.
"I guess Maria have taken Gwen to the kitchen?"
"Yeah, she thought it was for the best if I went to pick you up myself."
Natasha nods her head at this, Maria is right about that. She's not completely sure she would have heard if Maria or Clint were to call for her. Moving over to Skye, she pulls the young woman into a tight hug, feeling that it didn't take long for Skye to hug her back.
"How are you holding up in all of this?"
She asks in a low voice, she had spent the morning being extremely worried over Gwen and she knows that when she enters the kitchen, she will start to worry about the poor girl once more. So, in this moment, Skye is the only one that matters.
"I'm alright Tasha, Gwen needs me, now more than ever. I'm not going to let her go through this all alone. When I was in a bad spot, I had you, Maria and Clint beside me and I'm forever grateful for that. Now she needs me in the same way I needed you and I will do anything in my power to help her and I know the three of you will do the same."
Skye answered her and Natasha can't help but to smile, a proud feeling is taking over her and she starts to wounder when this small little girl has grown up to become this strong and wise. Pulling Skye closer to her for just a few seconds more, she let's go of the hug and takes Skye in.
"How about we go and join the others in the kitchen. I have some information we should be going over, mostly what we will have to do next and how we best protect Gwen and Ghost Spider."
She says and Skye nods her head at this. The two of them walks out of the second bedroom together and heads for the kitchen, where Clint, Maria and Gwen are waiting for them. The moment she and Skye steps through the door opening, Clint and Maria turn their attention towards them, Gwen on the other hand is keeping her eyes on the cup she holds between her hands. Natasha stops for a few seconds as Skye moves past her, taking the seat to the right of Gwen.
Seeing that Clint and Maria takes the seat beside Skye, Natasha starts to walk once more, taking the seat to Gwen's left. This makes Gwen look up from the cup and Natasha gives her a small smile, knowing that there is nothing she can say that will help Gwen hell from what happened the night before, at least not in this very moment. Saying I'm sorry for your lost didn't fit the moment and it would only hurt the young woman even more.
"I talked to your dad earlier, we decided, or rather I decided for him, that you can stay in this apartment for as long as you need Gwen."
Natasha starts to say, feeling that it would probably be for the best to just start things up slow. Seeing relief shoot through her eyes, she nods her head slightly. There was the tinniest glimpse of happiness in her eyes, the happiness didn't last long, however.
"Maria and I have also made sure you will be unreachable for the police. Sure, they will still try and arrest you for what happened last night, but they won't be able to keep you for long. If they somehow managed to arrest you, they will have to call your special handler to come and pick you up, no charges can or will be used against you from their side."
She then continues to say, and she can see how Gwen and Skye are looking at her out of surprise.
"Who... Who is my special handler?"
Gwen somehow managed to get out, her voice weak and raspy. Remembering what Clint told them early this morning, she can't blame the young woman, she had been crying a lot of last night after all.
"She is sitting to your right."
Natasha answers her with a smile, making both Gwen and Skye look at her out of even more surprise before they turn to look at one another, as in a try to figure out if Natasha is joking with them or not.
"Skye will be your special handler. Sure, Natasha, Clint or myself could have taken this roll, but Natasha and I thought it would be better that someone that isn't so well known is in charge, but someone that your father still knows who it is. It might be a bit strange at the beginning, but at least we know that there is not a single force in this world you two can't take down."
Maria takes over the explanation, making Skye and Gwen look at her instead. Natasha can see how the two young woman glances towards one another, she can also see the small smiles that starts to grow on their lips, and she is sure that they have made the right decision. If anyone will be able to create as much problem for the police force, it's these two.
"And, with start of next week, your training Skye will be a lot tougher from now on and you will be joining in Gwen. We need to make sure the two of you are well trained and we can all try and figure out more about your ability Gwen. But for now, we will let you take the time you need to do what you want to do."
Natasha takes over once more.
"You'll didn't have to do this."
Gwen speaks up and all eyes turns towards her, Skye reaches out her hands to grab hold of Gwen's.
"Yes, we do, you are one of us now. You are part of this family, and we take care of our own, no matter what is being thrown at us."
She tells her, making Natasha, Clint and Maria nod their head. Looking around herself, Natasha starts to think it's about time the find a new safe house because they are growing out of this one.