If I thought my life couldn't get anymore complicated than it just had in the last few weeks. I was wrong. Very, very, very wrong. The last thing I expected was to sit down with Natasha Romanoff over coffee. And not be killed. What was weirder was, Natasha actually liked me, even though it took a good 20 minutes for her to coax me out of my shell. I warmed up to her immediately, even if I was too shy to admit it. Being constantly surrounded by guys, having any kind of female influence in my life was sorely missed. I hadn't realised I was even missing it until now. Jared right that we were alike. I was just glad Natasha had taken the initiative to actually talk to me. It didn't make me any less nervous around her though.
Natasha had understood more than anyone else what it was like to be thrown into a life you didn't want. You either sunk or swam. Right now, I was glad I was still keeping my head above the water. It might not be swimming, but I wasn't dead yet.
"So after having my life coordinated by everyone else for the last month, this feels weird," I admitted stirring sugar into my third cup of coffee. Usually this time of day I was flying with Ian. I hadn't even had a chance to speak to him. This had happened so suddenly. Sitting down doing nothing when I'd had so much crammed into me the last few weeks was a strange feeling. It was almost a bit anti-climatic.
"Well, our jobs are weird," Natasha said with a shrug shrugged. "But if we aren't called in for missions, Clint and I get here around 0530ish to train. Beyond that, the day is anyone's guess. Sometimes we hit the range. Other times it's sitting around catching up on paperwork. Updating courses all that kind of shit. SHIELD will roster us on for certain hours, but most of the time we take whatever comes up."
"Goodbye to a Monday to Fridays work week." I smiled, not minding that in the least. "Hello, weird working hours."
"It's not so bad," Natasha smiled with me. "It's pretty good actually. One bonus about being the best of the best, we don't get called in for bullshit missions. Unless we're being punished for something. If we've got a job to do, it's because there's a situation and we're needed. We aren't the ones doing months of slogging in the field chasing leads. We get all the cool action. If we don't have anything else to do during the day we go home. The bad part is you never know when there's a situation you get called in for. It could be at 2am, or in the middle of a hot date."
"Anything else I need to know?" I felt as nervous now as I did on my first day. The initial excitement was starting to dwindle. Now I would be doing real missions. Not just sitting in on briefs and wondering how it all went during a spare moment. I would actually have to be taking real notes and making sure I knew every single detail about what I was doing.
"Plenty, but you'll pick it up along the way." The smirk Natasha gave me was terrifying. "So since now its official, we're going to have to invite you to dinner at Clint's place and you can meet his family. We'll drag Jared along too. Let's go tell him."
Natasha didn't give me a chance to reply. She just got up, grabbed her stuff, the half full coffee and marched away from the cafeteria. I snatched my cup with the still unread files and followed her.
"I love how you say tell, not ask." I couldn't help but laugh as I caught up with Natasha's marching stride.
"Please, like I need to ask anyone to get them to do what I want." Natasha just smirked again. "My reputation proceeds me. He's your brother, you should know what he's like."
"You mean besides an arrogant pain in the ass?" I mused. "Oh, and conceited. He takes more time in the bathroom doing his hair than I do. If he was a girl he'd be the type that needs three hours to get ready just to show his face out the door. I swear our chromosomes got switched along the way. Jared needed to be the girl, not me."
Natasha stared at me for a good few moments. I cringed thinking my mouth had just completely run off with me for no reason. As usual when I was nervous around someone my brain to mouth filter just switched off with no warning. It wasn't until Natasha burst out laughing I relaxed slightly. Right, maybe Jared was right all those weeks ago. Natasha and I just might get along pretty well. I followed Natasha to the elevator and back to the office which currently held Jared hostage. It was only just before we made it to the office I realised something.
"Hey, weren't we meant to bring Hawk coffee?" I asked looking down at my own now half drunk cup feeling guilty. I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for Clint's insistence at the range the other day.
"No," Natasha scoffed. "Call it extra punishment for him being locked up in Coulson's office catching up on mission reports. It's his fault we're stuck here at the moment. There was an awesome mission in Afghanistan of a snatch and grab. Easy mission, there and back in 24 hours. But because Barton is slack, we missed out on it. But on the bright side, we got you."
"Here's hoping I don't disappoint," I said honestly. I really did hope that. I'd just been given a dream assignment. One that many agents would probably happy kill me over. In numerous and very creative ways.
"If I thought you'd be a disappointment I wouldn't have begged Coulson to keep you," Natasha smiled at me. It was reassuring. Well, a little bit anyway. She kicked the door open and Jared looked up from his computer. He raised an eyebrow at Natasha. I didn't even get a glance.
"Fuck off I'm busy." Jared's clipped tone left no room for arguments. "I've fucked around for three weeks doing this stuff. Now if I don't get it done I'll never see a day of field work again and I lost my helper."
"We're having dinner at Barton's place." Natasha ignored him and barrelled ahead with what she wanted to say. "It's your turn to bring the beer."
"So glad you two are getting along." Jared kept typing without looking at either of us. "Actually no, I'm a bit scared of you two being together. Why are we going to Barton's place for dinner?"
"To celebrate." Natasha gave Jared a look, clearing indicating she thought his question was the stupidest thing she had heard all day.
"What are we celebrating?" Jared asked sounding disinterested in the conversation. I was amazed Natasha had kept this attention for this long. If Jared had his mind set on a task it usually took a lot to get him to pay attention anywhere else. The problem was actually getting Jared to set his mind to something.
Natasha looked at me, nodding her his in the direction of my pocket. I took it was my cue to throw my brand new black wallet containing my ID and badge at Jared. He caught it without looking up from the computer and gave it a quick glance. He looked like he was about to throw it back before he did a double take. His head snapped around to face me and a wide grin spread over his face.
"Congratulations Agent Lyngley." Jared grinned happily at me. I couldn't help but return the grin. "Who'd you get assigned to?"
"Us," Natasha piped up. "Aren't you proud?"
"Not funny Tasha." Jared rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to me. "Who did you really get assigned to?"
"STRIKE Team Delta," I said smugly. "I'm being dead serious too. You said to me on my first day you expected me to be good enough to do it. And well I did. Ta da."
Natasha didn't bother holding back her laughter at my ridiculous declaration. Jared stared at me trying to work out if I was joking or not still. He looked between Natasha and I several times before he spoke again.
"So when you ring Mom and tell her you just got assigned to SHIELD's top team, I need to be listening to that phone call because she'll either be really angry or really proud," Jared finally smiled again before getting up. He grabbed me and pulled me into a tight hug, lifting me off my feet. "I'm so proud of you Kari."
"I didn't do anything." I hugged him back. "I'm kind of like the stray dog the kids found and had to beg Mom and Dad really nicely to have it."
"Yeah but you're our stray dog and we can teach you lots of new tricks," Natasha joked pushing Jared off me. "Where's my hug asshole?"
"You don't get hugs." Jared rolled his eyes but hugged Natasha anyway. "I'm always terrified that one day I'll hug you and I'll end up with a knife in-between my ribs."
"Only if you piss me off," Natasha's tone left no doubt in my mind that it wouldn't be an idle threat.
"Have you rung Laura to announce that we're coming over yet? Or are we just barging in like normal," Jared asked sitting back down at his computer. "But yes I will bring beer and Kari. Which means I'll even drive like a normal person."
"Dibs not being designated driver," I said instantly. Jared pulled a face realising he'd just got suckered into providing the beer and not being able to have any himself.
"On second thoughts, I'll provide the beer and Kari can deal with being teleported there."
Asshole.
It was silly how nervous I felt doing something as simple as dinner at Clint's place. He didn't even protest when Natasha announced that it was happening. To my surprise, Coulson was invited as well. It seems Coulson was always chief dessert provider. As we teleported to the lounge room, we were instantly set upon by two dogs.
"Lucy!" Jared didn't waste any time. He opened his arms and the chocolate Labrador jumped straight up into his arms. The dogs tail wagged furiously as Jared hugged her. The second dog, a yellow looking mixed breed just sat at his feet whining furiously for Jared's attention. I took a step back looking at my twin, more than amused. I'd forgotten how much he loved dogs. We were never allowed a pet as kids. Time at our Grandparents ranch playing with the working dogs seemed to fill that small void. But it seemed not only had Jared adopted a pet at the Barton home. He'd gotten another family as well.
Two kids came screaming into the lounge room right behind the dogs. They latched onto Jared, completely ignoring the dogs. The high pitched giggles and shrieks made me smile. Both the boy and girl were talking at a million miles an hour.
"We haven't seen you in forever Jared." The little girl clung to Jared's legs.
"Come to the backyard, I want to show you that kick you and Aunty Nat showed me," the boy tugged on Jared's hand to get his attention. I couldn't help myself. I quickly pulled my phone out and snapped a picture. With a huge Labrador over his shoulder, now licking his ear, and two kids attached to him it was pretty adorable. I sent the photo to Mom, knowing she'd love it.
"Hang on kids," Jared laughed and put the dog down, not before bending over and scratching the other one behind the ears. "Lila, Cooper, this is my sister Kari, she just moved here to work with your Dad."
Two sets of eyes swivelled towards me. Not a second later I found myself with a small brown haired girl attached to my legs. She gazed up at me in awe and fascination with her massive blue eyes. I normally didn't like children, at all. But little Lila Barton was absolutely adorable.
"Can you teleport too?" Lila asked tugging at my shirt as if I wasn't already paying enough attention to her. "And set things on fire. Dad thinks its funny when Jared does that, but Mom gets mad. Can you teleport me somewhere?"
The questions were fired at me so rapidly I found myself a bit lost. I looked at Jared who was too busy wrestling with Cooper to give me any attention. Or help.
"No, I can make ice though," I said carefully. "Do you want to see?"
Lila nodded enthusiastically letting go of my legs. I crouched down to her height and held my hand out with my palm facing upwards. I couldn't do any complicated shapes, but a snowman was nice and easy for me to conjure. It was cute as well. Lila took the snowman from my hand with a giggle and raced back towards where ever she had come from. Cooper abandoned his wrestling with Jared and chased after her.
"Jared, this lady needs a beer," an unfamiliar voice called out from further down the house. "Get your butt in here."
"Butt counts towards the swear jar," Jared called back. But he picked the carton of Corona's up and walked through the house. I followed him cautiously trying to take in everything around me.
Clint's house was really nice. Older, but still large and spacious. The lounge room opened into a hallway and straight across from that was the kitchen and dining room. To the end of the hallway was a set of stairs leading to whatever was upstairs. Jared walked into the kitchen and put the beer straight in the fridge. Not before grabbing three out and handing one to the petite brunette checking something in the oven. As she stood up I got my first look at Clint's wife.
Lila certainly took after her Mom. Big brown eyes looked up at me, with a friendly smile pulling on her face. Her brown hair was done up in a messy bun.
"At long last, we get to meet the normal twin." Laura smiled before pulling me into a hug. "I've heard so much about you. Glad you could come around. Don't mind the insanity."
"Thanks for having me," I tried not to sound too nervous as I return the hug feeling awkward. It was a strange feeling having all those people knowing me.
"Beer, now bitch," Natasha sauntered into the kitchen looking at Jared expectedly. Jared just sighed, popping the lid off, he handed one of them over. Natasha took it without another word and pulled a chair out from the table. Jared handed the last beer to me before going back to the fridge for another one.
"Swear jar," Laura said instantly before turning back to me. "We had to make a swear jar in this house because between those three, the kids have learnt to swear in several languages. So it's a dollar in that jar. Even if it's in another language. Trust me, Lila will call you out on it."
"What's the money going towards this time?" Jared pulled a 5 gallon jar off the fridge. It was stuffed near full with one dollar notes. I raised an eyebrow at the amount of money collected in it. Something told me I'd be contributing towards that jar a lot. My language was terrible, even when I tried by best to clean it up. I stood off to the side watching how comfortable both Natasha and Jared were here in the kitchen with Laura.
"Depends who you ask," Laura said taking a drink of beer. "Lila said a pony, Cooper wants a trip to Disneyland."
"And I want a Camaro," Clint announced as he walked into the kitchen, planting a kiss on Laura's cheek. He walked to the fridge and pulled out another beer before jumping up to sit on the counter. With a glare from Laura, he quickly dropped off it. I smothered my laugh by taking a drink of beer.
"Yeah we're not buying an early mid-life crisis car for you," Laura said dryly. "Just as much as Lila isn't getting a pony."
Any reply was interrupted by the dogs running into the kitchen barking loudly. Closely followed behind was Cooper, he skidded along the floor before looking up at me excitedly.
"Aunty Kari!" He said breathlessly. I recoiled at the use of being called an Aunt already. I'd only been here for 5 minutes. "Do you like The Incredibles?"
I looked at Jared to see if I'd been set up. His face gave nothing away so I turned back to Cooper.
"It's my favourite movie," I said carefully. "Why?"
"Catch!" Cooper said gleefully. Lila appeared from behind him and spat out a mouthful of water in a steady stream. I quickly froze the offending mouthful of water and dove to catch it before it hit the ground. Right like a scene straight from The Incredibles. I couldn't stop laughing as I lay on the floor, with a small icicle in my hand.
"You like it better when it shatters?" I laughed feeling triumphant at how quickly I'd acted. Behind me, everyone else was laughing as well. I climbed back to my feet and handed the icicle over to Lila. Cooper had a small pout on his face.
"I told you so," Lila said smugly crossing her arms.
"Nice catch there," Clint spoke up first still laughing. "All right you two go clean up for dinner. Dogs outside, please. Lucky, Lucy, out."
The dogs scampered off obediently and both of the kids went in the opposite direction. I could feel myself start to relax. I caught Jared giving me a small smug look out of the corner of my eye. I feel like I had just passed yet another unspoken test.
"Well, aren't you just the coolest new Aunty?" Laura grinned at me. Everyone else groaned at her terrible pun.
"What, you haven't destroyed the place yet?" Coulson asked walking in, balancing a covered pie dish in his hand. "Honey I'm home."
"Hello Dear, how were the children today?" Laura laughed as Coulson lent over and kissed her cheek as well.
"Painful," Coulson joked, giving me a small wink. I relaxed even further at the light hearted mood in the now crowded kitchen. I'd only been here ten minutes and I could full understand why Jared would spend his holidays here. I was the stranger here, yet Laura had instantly stepped up and made me feel welcome. It didn't hurt that both the kids were adorable either.
"So have we been through the house rules yet?" Coulson asked. "Or do we need to laminate them on the fridge again."
I didn't miss the guilty look shared between Natasha, Jared and Clint.
"Swear jar is $1, getting caught drinking from any container out of the fridge is $2 and your stuck on Lila Disney movie singalong for a week." Laura lent back against the cupboards smiling sweetly at me.
"I don't think that's punishment for Kari," Jared snickered. "She loves Disney."
"Says the person who can recite Lilo and Stitch off the top of his head," I teased Jared.
"And where did I get that from?" Jared's head rolled around lazily until he was looking at Natasha.
"There is nothing wrong with Lilo and Stitch," Natasha said defensively.
"Or The Incredibles it seems," Clint turned to me with his own teasing tone.
"No weapons, of any kind at the table," Coulson interrupted the bantering before it could get fully started. "That includes guns, bows, knives and powers."
The last bit was aimed right at Jared and I. I took a drink from my beer trying to look innocent. Jared covered his mouth trying to unsuccessfully hide his laugh. I had no doubt a lot of childhood stories have been shared around the dinner table here. I know I never lived it down when I froze the entire Thanksgiving dinner one year when I was about 10. My cousin Alex, who could create a force field, in simple terms, had been teasing me and I tried to freeze his drink. My anger had gotten a bit out of control and I'd frozen the entire table. It still got brought up every single Thanksgiving I went to the ranch.
"No cleaning weapons of any kind inside," Laura continued. "No one gets maimed or killed in bedtime stories. And Jared I swear the next time Cooper's teachers have to come and asked me where he learnt phrases in some weird African dialect you will never be able to have your own kids."
"It was Swahili," Jared pointed out. "It's not like it was Chichewa or something really obscure. It wasn't even swearing."
"You don't speak Chichewa," I laughed at Jared. Out of the two of us, he was the much better linguist. I'd lost count of the languages he could speak over the years. While he wasn't fluent in everything, he could manage everyday conversations in a lot of languages. It didn't surprise me in the least he'd been teaching Clint's kids something obscure. We did the same thing by learning Icelandic as children.
"Shush, you only speak four languages." Jared waved his hand at me dismissively. "Your opinion doesn't count."
"I love this, you ONLY speak four languages." Laura shook her head while laughing. "I can barely manage English sometimes."
"You have Doctor speak," Jared argued with Laura. "That's like an entirely new language with lots of big words."
"I'll give you big words," Laura threatened playfully. "Someone has to patch you idiots up when you get shot and broken."
That jogged my memory about my conversation with Clint at the range. He'd said back then Laura was an ER doctor. I hadn't gotten around to reading any of the files Coulson gave me today. Not that there'd be anything in there about Clint's family. Natasha had been very adamant about dragging me around the Triskelion and talking after our visit to Jared. My locker had been relocated into Operations. SHIELD kept most of its workers in their separate divisions. So STRIKE had an entire locker room to themselves. Being the only two female members of STRIKE, it meant Natasha and I got an entire bathroom to ourselves. It was a bit weird to be walking in there with half-naked guys after the Air Force was so strict on keeping everything separate. No one gave Natasha or I a second glance as she walked through there. I was proud and a bit scared to have my very own locker, with my name on it as well. Having my name on things made everything seem so much more official now.
Dinner was crazy and amazing all at the same time. Laura explained she was on day's off at the moment which is why we actually got real food instead of pizza. It was the best spaghetti bolognese I'd ever had. After nearly a month solid of takeaway, home cooked food was very welcome. I didn't even have the usual embarrassment of eating more than anyone else at the table. Both Clint and Natasha had polished off bigger servings than mine and were halfway through seconds before I got more.
"I hate to think what your appetite is going to be like when you start training like them." Laura watched me in amusement as I got through my second serving. "The front door and fridge are always open here Kari. Please don't tell me you two have been living on takeout for the last month?"
"I cooked three times," Jared protested.
"Once," I corrected him.
Jared was about to make a snappy comeback but his phone cut him off. He fished it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. I didn't miss the excitement lighting his face up.
"What have you got for me, Maria?" Jared grinned as he answered the call. He mouthed excuse me before standing up and leaving the room. I watched his retreating back with apprehension. I'd gotten used to having him around this last month. I was hoping to have him as my safety net at least for another few days until I got settled with Natasha and Clint.
"Don't look so abandoned Kari," Clint laughed, making me bring my eyes back to the table. "I promise we'll look after you if Jared is going away."
"And if they don't, I will," Laura put in helpfully.
"Sorry." I apologised. I felt my ears turn red with embarrassment. "This is all still a bit weird."
"Weird is our job," Natasha said reassuringly. "Trust me, you'll start to learn to appreciate weird."
"And if they get too weird, my apartment is always open," Coulson put in. "I only have one rule. Don't touch my collectable Captain America memorabilia. I have no hesitation in breaking fingers when things are touched."
"So if I steal Captain America's drawing book which Gram's has tucked away will that score me brownie points?" I perked up at the mention of Coulson's collection. This might work in my favour a little.
"That will score you an entire decade of brownie points," Coulson looked excited. "Are you serious she has that?"
"Yep, it's in the trunk in the attic with her old SSR stuff." I smiled at Coulson's excitement. "I'll just bring the entire damn trunk. I'm sure she won't miss it and if she does, I'm her favourite grandchild."
That made everyone laugh. I felt myself relaxing even more in the lighthearted mood around the table.
"Suddenly, I'm very glad I said yes to keeping you," Coulson laughed. "Any chance she's got some trading cards?"
"I love you so much Maria, you've made my day," Jared walked back into the kitchen, interrupting our conversation. He hung from his phone call and turned to everyone. "I've got a mission, I'm heading to Thailand for a few weeks."
"Nice time of year for it too," Clint looked mildly jealous. "Have fun."
"Be nice to my baby sister you two." Jared glared at Clint and Natasha who both looked at him innocently. "I mean it. You break her, I'll break both you of. Don't take their shit, Kari. I'll see everyone in a few weeks."
Before anyone could say goodbye, he was gone.
"So, can I bother someone for a lift home?" I asked feeling lost again.
"I'll give you a lift," Coulson offered straight away. "Since I'm guessing you're staying the night Nat?"
Coulson pointed to the 4 empty beer bottles in front of Natasha. She just gave Coulson a knowing look.
"And this means more pie for us," Coulson got up, grabbing empty plates as he went. I instantly shot to my feet to help only, only to be scolded. "No, you sit and be sociable. Take it as a rare chance that you don't get suckered into either the dishes or bedtime stories."
"Speaking of." Laura looked at Lila and Cooper who were both sitting quietly finishing their dinner. They were such well-behaved children. They were quiet while the adults were talking and had perfect manners. "You two can both have dessert if you promise to go to bed straight afterwards with no arguments."
"Can Aunty Kari read my bedtime story?" Lila looked over at me with a pleading expression on her face. "Please, Mom?"
"Kari?" Laura turned to me trying to hide her smile. "Is that all right with you?"
"Fine with me." I was already going to say yes to Lila. She was wrapping me around her little finger without much effort at all. "No killing or maiming people right?"
"Or poisoning," Lila piped up helpfully with a big smile spreading across her face. "Or tying to a chair with metal spikes in legs."
"Enough Lila," Clint quickly cut in looking guilty, not before he got a sharp look from Laura. "Kari gets the point. Find one of your story books for Kari to read while we dish up dessert."
"Make it Disney." I winked at Lila. If her smile was big before, it was beaming now. Yep, I was totally wrapped around her little finger.
"Sucker," Laura laughed. "She'll never leave you alone now."
I found myself not minding the idea of that at all. I felt like I could feel comfortable here and fit in. If that meant unleashing my inner three year old and singing along to Disney to help out, I could even enjoy that. My discomfort about Jared disappearing so quickly slowly faded to the back of my mind.
"So Kari, we need to hear embarrassing stories about Jared," Clint said. "He's given us enough stories of you. So it's his turn now."
"Well, I think that might have to wait until after bedtime," I smirked thinking of all the stories I could quite happily spread about Jared. After all, I did have to get some kind of pay back after him telling Clint about the stripper incident.
Authors Note
This is a bit of a filler chapter. Hence it being short. I'm not completely happy with how it turned out but I felt like I couldn't leave it out. I am changing somethings around which is straying from movie canon. The biggest at the moment is Clint and his family living close to work. Everything will reveal itself in time.
Thank you to everyone who views this story, follows it or leaves a review. It makes me so happy seeing them pop into my inbox!
Updated 28th May 2018
