My weekend after New York got crazy busy. The Helicarrier launch training ate into any bit of spare time I had for another month. The maiden launch itself had been very uneventful. I pitied most of the other STRIKE members because they were little more than glorified door guards for it all. Coulson had managed to get me in the new F-35 for the first escort. From my view, it was amazing, not only to be in the F-35, but to see an aircraft carrier launch out of the ocean. Everyone had been there, including my parents. Even Jared had shown up for it. He was neck deep in some assignment that was taking up a lot of his time in South Africa. Today we were heading to a much needed day at the range shooting for the sake of shooting shit.

There was also the bonus that Dad was bringing my new sniper rifle down to field test. I had a feeling that was also the reason why all of the STRIKE teams were coming to the range to shoot today as well.

Clint was sitting in the front seat of the SUV, chatting Coulson's ear off. He was also getting a new prototype of his long range bow. I think Dad did it just to keep him out of his hair while I played with my new toy. Clint was in an exceptionally good mood. We had all come home from a weekend with Laura and the kids. It was a breath of fresh air that we all desperately needed after being so busy. Clint and Natasha were on slightly more amicable terms right now. Their interactions when no one else was looking all felt stiffly polite up until the weekend. I had a feeling that Laura had said something to Clint about it over the weekend because this morning Clint paid for coffee and bagels for all three of us. Natasha couldn't cover her surprise when Clint handed over the bag and cup when we got to the Triskelion. While it wasn't much, it was a step in the right direction.

I yawned and stretched as much as I could in the back seat of the car. It felt so good not to have any solid plans for the next few weeks at work. I was hoping to get in a visit with Gareth this weekend. He'd been as busy as we had been. The closest I'd gotten to seeing him was flying in the airspace which Langley air traffic control had control of on the way to where the Helicarrier had been out at sea.

"What do you think, Kari?" Clint's voice broke through my daydreaming.

My mind had started to wander to exactly what I wanted to do to Gareth when I saw him next. It had been far too long between visits. I felt like a horny teenager.

"I was not paying attention at all to this conversation. I was too busy thinking about what I want to do with Gareth next time I see him." I admitted, not bothering to cover for my lack of attention. Next to me, Natasha snorted with laughter.

"I said, we should all go out to dinner tonight," Clint ignored my comment. "Your shout of course."

I laughed under my breath at Clint adding that I was paying for dinner. All the preliminary work with the new body armour I'd invested in was looking promising. Stark Industries were rolling samples out this week to a select few. The military was a bit slow on the uptake, which Rodney assured me was very normal. However, the private section were clambering over each other to get their hands on it. As soon as they were released, the estimations were I'd make my entire investment back with the first shipment. It was still disconcerting about how much money people kept talking about.

"I have that other thing on this afternoon, but we can do it after that," I reminded Clint. "I'm picking where we go. Does Audrey want to come Coulson?"

Andy had approached me a few days ago, saying he needed to move out of the house Riley had brought. It was too big for him now that Marks was gone. I completely understood where he was coming from. By a bit of luck, the new marksman on Bravo team, Copeland, needed somewhere for his family. His wife and kids had flown in from North Carolina to look at it with him. I was doing surprisingly all right about the entire thing. That may change when I finally saw the house Riley brought for us.

"We already have dinner plans, but thank you," Coulson said, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. "Ring me if you need anything after this afternoon though, okay?"

"I will." I gave Coulson a reassuring smile. "It may turn into a wild night and we need a lift home."

"It's a weeknight." Coulson pointed out. "And all three of you have sessions with Andrew in the morning. So don't get too wild."

The last part was added with a small laugh. After the Helicarrier launch, we'd all been pretty boring in the going out or doing anything sociable because of how exhausting it was. There was also the awkwardness between Natasha and Clint putting a damper on that as well. On top of a long day at the range, I doubted any of us would make it much past 9pm.

We were the first ones to arrive at the range. It was one advantage of us being a small team. It was ridiculously easy to get ourselves organised for things like this. There was already another SHIELD vehicle in the parking lot. Our car had barely parked before I was out the door and heading towards the other car. Dad was out on the car with the case I had been waiting impatiently for since my trip to New York.

"Are you happy to see me for this?" Dad teased me as he lifted the sniper rifle case up. "Or because you miss your old man?"

"The new toy, of course." I laughed and despite my words, I gave Dad a hug. "I think most of the STRIKE teams are keen to see the new toy too."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another person get out of the car. Rebecca, the pretty temporary assistant I'd met on my last visit. I gave her a warm smile. Sam had found his balls that weekend and called her. They had gone for brunch which turned into lunch during the New York weekend. Since then, Sam had gone back to New York a few times to see her. Rebecca had come down to DC twice now too. They were disgustingly adorable together. Rebecca was still working as Dad's assistant, but the role hadn't been made permeant just yet. I had a feeling Dad might have been stalling on it because of the blossoming romance.

"So, I want to get you up there and set up before anyone else gets here." Dad wasn't letting me procrastinate. He was already pushing me in the direction of the range. "All the preliminary work I've done with it looks good. But anything can go wrong in field tests. Barton your bow is in the trunk."

Dad barely took a breath as we walked away. Rebecca was nearly at a jog keeping up with us. At least someone had pre-warned her and she was wearing sensible clothes for the range. I shot her an apologetic look over my shoulder as we marched along. Dad was going on about the variables with the new weapon which I could barely keep up with. Before I knew it, we were at the long distance range. Even though it was only early, the sun was relentless today. There was no shade out here either, making it even hotter.

Like the well behaved child I always was, I pulled the rifle out and set it up with Dad's careful instructions. It was so light in my hands it almost felt too delicate to be such a high powered weapon. I was ready to go by the time Clint and Natasha both caught up with us. Clint looked like a kid at Christmas with the new bow in his hands.

"I'm first," I called dibs before Clint could.

There was no doubt Dad would want to watch Clint fire his bow as well. I wanted to be the one the shoot first for once. Clint rolled his eyes but motioned for me to go. Natasha hung back, looking bored already. This wasn't her style of things. I wondered if she was feeling awkward about Rebecca being here. She knew about Sam and Rebecca but hadn't said anything on the subject. We weren't quite back at our friendship level yet that I could ask about her true feelings on the subject.

I took my time in setting myself up for the first shot of the new weapon. There were a few nerves about this. While I trusted Dad impeccably, I still had visions of the thing blowing up in my hands. I'm sure I'd had that exact dream about six times last night. No one pestered me about taking my time. The group was silent as I made my careful adjustments. I let out one long breath and put my finger on the trigger. The weapon went off, much to my surprise. I didn't need to follow the shot to know it had gone wild. I'd jerked in surprise and knocked everything off target at the lightweight trigger.

"Shit." My laugh was breathless in surprise.

The CheyTac's trigger had some weight on it. I was so used to firing it now my finger would have automatically put the same kind of weight on this trigger by muscle memory. I could hear Clint and Natasha both snorting with laughter behind me.

"Too light?" Dad was all business. He had his iPad out, tapping on the screen.

"Way too light for me," I said, feeding a round into the chamber. "Barton might like it because he has such delicate hands from constantly stealing my super expensive hand lotion and watching his porn in ultra high definition."

On Pepper's encouragement, I'd allocated myself some money to go wild with. One of those things had been a 90 inch TV with all the bells and whistles of a state of the art sound system. I'd forbidden Clint to watch any porn on it as a joke. His petty revenge was paying for a porn channel on my cable and turning it on every time I came into the room. He'd also been using the $900 hand cream I'd brought for the sake of buying something ridiculously expensive. I had to admit, it was really nice hand cream so I didn't begrudge that too much. My hands didn't feel like sandpaper any more thanks to that stuff. Clint's hands actually looked semi normal now too.

I didn't have to look back to know there were eyes being rolled. I knew I was going to pay for my comment to Clint later. While his relationship with Natasha was strained, he still had no problems being like another annoying sibling to me.

This time I was more mindful of the super light trigger. The weapon still felt odd in my hands being so light. I was used to the weight keeping it more stable. When I fired again, the shot went true and hit the target. I quickly reloaded and dumped another round into the target for good measure.

"Nice." Dad's voice was full of praise. "Have a look at this."

Dad handed me the iPad and I glanced at the figures and graphs on the screen. Dad had apparently put some trackers in the bullets so he could record speed, distance, any wayward movement and a lot of other things I glanced over. Dad had gotten everything right with it. Any tiny defect would have made my shots go off course. But the bullets had travelled perfectly to the targets.

"Can I have a shot?" Clint asked. He was standing on tiptoes to look over Dad's shoulder to get a glance of the readings.

"No." Dad and I said at the exact same time.

The pout on Clint's face was pathetic. Lila and Alexi could pull off more convincing sad faces than he did. Rebecca was standing behind Natasha trying hard to hide her amusement. Natasha was cleaning her nails with her knife but I could see the telltale signs of a smirk trying to be hidden. Coulson had his usual look of exasperation mixed with amusement.

I turned my attention back to my new toy. Even though it still felt strange, I could see myself enjoying this a lot. Dad had done an amazing job and I was thrilled he'd made it just for me. I found a new target and put a few more rounds into the target until the magazine was empty. It was ridiculously smooth to reload. There was no stopping the grin on my face as I kept shooting. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Dad had looked up from his iPad and was watching me shoot. Dad looked like he was ready to burst with pride at the rate I was dumping bullets into targets. Dad was always proud of my achievements but this felt like something else.

Once the magazine was empty, I moved aside so Clint could play with his new bow. This thing had been a work in process ever since I'd joined SHIELD. There was always something not quite right with them, for Dad and Clint's standards anyway. It was rare that I got to sit back and watch Clint shoot his bow. I was normally training beside him so didn't pay much attention to his actual shooting.

Even I had to admit, it was an amazing sight. It probably helped that Clint was wearing a shirt that looked a size too small for him. The light grey shirt was wet with sweat after the first two shots. It made the shirt cling to his muscles. He'd been hitting the gym extra hard lately and the work was paying off. Natasha and Rebecca both came closer to get a good view.

"On behalf of straight women everywhere, I thank you for shrinking his shirts in the dryer," Rebecca murmured to me. All three of us had our eyes glued to the glorious sight of his arm muscles flexed as he drew the string back.

Clint did the washing but I was happy to take the credit for the too small shirt. Judging by the smirk appearing on Clint's face, he heard the comment too. His muscles flexed more than they had to before he released the arrow. In true form, the arrow sailed towards the closest target, embedding itself right up to the fletching. There was some serious power behind that 400 yard shot.

"Show off." There was no point in keeping my voice down. Clint would hear us anyway.

"You three seem to be enjoying it," Clint shot back as he notched another arrow. "I can smell the wet…"

Coulson cuffing Clint over the back of the head stopped the rest of the crude comment from coming out.

"Just shoot another fucking arrow, Barton," Dad said with mild exasperation. "Don't forget that's my daughter and I make all of your toys. Behave."

That seemed to knock the wind out of Clint's sails. He did as he was told without the over exaggeration of flexing his muscles this time. Though it was harder to follow the arrow to the 600 yard mark with the naked eye, I could see it hit the target in a perfect bullseye. I whistled in appreciation for the sheer power behind those shots. This arrow embedded itself halfway up the shaft. Even Natasha looked impressed. Clint rapidly fired another three arrows in quick succession, each hitting a different target. When Clint lowered his bow, there was a huge grin on his face.

"I think we have a winner." Clint hugged the bow to his chest. "I'm keeping it. Everything finally feels perfect."

Dad put his hand out for the bow. I knew a long argument was about to happen. There would have been something in the data that Dad didn't like and would want to fix. Clint would stand there and argue with it.

"So," Natasha turned to Rebecca, much to my surprise. I cringed and got ready to jump in and defuse this potential minefield. "Are you here for a flying visit? Or are you staying for a few days?"

"Flying visit, unfortunately," Rebecca said smoothly. I was certain she knew of the history between Sam and Natasha. She didn't falter. "I thought it was going to get quieter after the Helicarrier launch, but R&D is as busy as ever. I'll be back down for the Labour Day weekend though."

It was scary thinking about how quickly the year was starting to fly by. Labour Day was only a few weeks away. The second anniversary of me joining SHIELD was next week.

"We should have a girls night out when you come back next time."

Natasha's next words made me nearly choke on my own spit. I had not been expecting that. At all. Neither had Rebecca. She managed to cover her surprise well. Instead of being suspicious like most people, she gave Natasha a warm smile.

"I would really like that." Rebecca seemed genuinely excited about the idea. "I moved from Colorado to New York for this job. I don't really have many friends on this side of the country. Thank you."

Any response Natasha had got cut off my Rebecca's phone ringing. She quickly excused herself and moved out of earshot. Dad and Clint were still bickering over something, leaving me and Natasha alone.

"She's nice." Natasha's tone was immediately defensive before I could ask her anything. "If she makes Sam happy, then I'm happy. She can give him something he really deserves."

"Any excuse for a girls night out." I decided not to wade too much into these murky waters. "I like her too. Especially with how she's now upgraded the mace on her desk to a taser."

Natasha laughed, a genuine one too. It was good to hear her laugh again so openly. I hated the still weird tension between us. I really wanted things to go back to normal but I knew it would still take time. This was a good step though. I was worried things might be very awkward between her and Rebecca.

A noise behind us made me glance over my shoulder. A group of people were making their way over to us. Any time for personal talk with Natasha would have to wait until later on tonight.

I spent the rest of the morning showing off my new toy to the rest of the marksmen. Tex was back from his shoulder surgery, shooting for the first time. Sam managed to sneak in an excuse to come to the range and came up as an excuse he was spotting for Copeland. In reality, he spent more time with Rebecca than doing any spotting. Though Natasha didn't say much, there was a clear sense of relief at her subtly watching Sam and Rebecca. I even saw Clint shown a bit of sympathy towards her when Natasha wasn't looking in his direction. Even if she was relieved, it still had to had to sting seeing him with another woman so quickly.

Once Dad was satisfied with our data and the fact I'd shown everyone up so easily, he packed up our new weapons with a promise to have them back soon. This time it was my turn to put on a serious pout when I had to give it back. Once I'd gotten used to it, I loved it. There were none of my usual aches that came from the CheyTac or AWSM. Since Dad took both of our weapons home, it was back to the Triskelion, shower and back in Clint's car within an hour.

I was lucky it was such a busy day. I didn't have any time to dwell on finally seeing the house in the afternoon. It didn't really kick in until Clint took the final turn into the street. He and Natasha had both insisted they come with me for moral support. Copeland wasn't going to be there for another half an hour at least, giving me some time to orientate myself. I went quiet as Clint drove down the picturesque suburban street.

"Me and Nat can do this if you want." Clint didn't miss a beat. He slowed his car down as if he was getting ready to pull over.

Despite their rocky relationship at the moment, I had no doubt both of them would do anything to help me out with this.

"No." I shook my head. Despite the sudden wave of nerves, I needed to do this. "I've got this."

I hoped so anyway. I'd been really good with anything to do with Riley lately. This could cause it all to come crashing down in an instant. Clint gave me a confident smile and Natasha reached forward from the backseat to give my shoulder a squeeze. I took in a few deep calming breaths as we went down the street. Clint slowed to a stop at the last house. A lump formed in my throat as soon as I saw it. I hadn't even seen the inside of the house and I already loved it. Riley had picked well.

It was a bittersweet moment stepping out of the car and walking to the front door. The house was an older style two story building. Not unlike Clint and Laura's house. Andy had left the front door keys for me under the pot plants that were on the small landing at the front door. Natasha and Clint were right behind me as I let myself in.

A lump formed in my throat as the front door swung open. It was empty now, Andy had finished moving out last weekend. A few steps in, the hallway opened into a large room to the left with the staircase directly in front of us. The polished floorboards gleamed in the afternoon sun, setting up a warm glow through the entire house. I walked through what I assumed to be a living room into the kitchen. The kitchen had a very homely feel with the wooden cupboards and natural looking benchtops. Riley really had picked perfectly. While everything looked modern and sleek, it still had a homely feel to it.

I ran my hand along the kitchen bench tops. The house was eerily quiet even though Natasha and Clint were lingering a few steps behind me. This was a family home. It needed to be filled with the sound of laughter, the smells of a family dinner cooking and the organised mess that always seemed to come with a family home. All those things I would never have with Riley. A tear slid down my cheek before I could stop it.

"Come here." Clint's voice was rough with emotion as he pulled me into a hug. Natasha was there too, her arms wrapped around me tightly.

"I thought I had it." My weak attempt at humour got a chuckle from Clint. Natasha held onto me tighter for a few more seconds before letting go.

"Do you want to look at the rest of the house? You don't have to if you don't want to." Clint gave me a reassuring smile which I returned, albeit much more wobbly.

"No, I want to see it." I reached up and wiped my nose. "I need to see it."

Clint nodded and let me go. Natasha discreetly handed me a tissue. I'm sure she'd shoved them in her pocket for this very occasion. I gave her a watery smile and blew my snotty nose. This wasn't the way I wanted to meet Copeland and his family. No doubt I'd gone red and blotchy. I gathered my courage and made my way out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Upstairs was much of the same polished floorboards but with softer colour hues. The main bedroom had an ensuite off it. The tub in the ensuite made me consider moving in myself. It was big enough for two people with spa jets in it. My mind instantly wandered to a happier memory of me and Riley trying to squish into his small tub together. It was supposed to be sexy but it ended up in both of us laughing our asses off and cleaning up the mess of soapy water we had put everywhere. I was sure the tub would have been a big selling point for him. You could see the entire backyard from the main bedroom window. It really was a home for a family.

"It's gorgeous," Natasha said softly. During my pondering, she had come up to stand beside me. I glanced over at her. Her expression was unreadable as she looked out over the backyard.

"He did good." I smiled sadly. "The tub would have sold us both."

Natasha laughed a little, putting a reassuring hand on my back. I was very glad for both of them coming today. The sound of the front door opening made both of us look back. A few seconds later the sound of lightweight footsteps came stomping up the stairs.

"Kari?" Alexi's high pitched voice carried through the empty house easily.

"In here, Munchkin," I called back. This time my smile didn't feel so sad. It seems I was getting a lot of moral support for today. Not that Evans would admit that. He'd simply say Alexi wanted to spend some time with me.

There was a pause and then the little footsteps came stomping in our direction. A few seconds later Alexi came into view. Her little face split into a wide grin as she covered the last few steps at a run. I picked her up mid stride, making her giggle uncontrollably.

"Is Dad downstairs?" I asked, giving her a hug. I'd only seen her a day ago but she always acted like it had been months since I saw her last. Her love for me was endearing most of the time.

"And Mom and William," Alexi supplied helpfully, pulling a face at the mention of her little brother. "William is naughty. Hey Tasha."

"Why is William naughty?" I asked as I adjusted her up on my hip. It was hard to believe Alexi was a tiny baby in my arms at one stage. William had just turned one as well. Time kept marching on whether I wanted it to or not.

"He was breathing in my air," Alexi said with a huff. "I told him no and he kept doing it."

Alexi's outrage at her brother daring to breath the same air was hilarious. There was no covering up my laughter from it. Natasha wasn't shy about her laughter either.

"We all have to breathe, Munchkin," I said through my laughter. The indignant look on her face wasn't making the situation any better. "Come on, let's go back downstairs."

I could hear soft voices drifting up through the house. Clint must have gone back down to greet them.

"Who's house is this?" Alexi asked as we walked out of the room and headed for the stairs.

"This is my house," I said carefully. "Riley picked it out."

"Can I live here with you too?" Alexi's face brightened up at my answer. "I'll be really good."

Alexi stretched out the vowels in really as much as she possibly could. It made me laugh again as she gave me an adorable grin.

"Copeland and his family might want to live here," I said tactfully. "It's a very big house for just me and you."

"But I love the backyard." Alexi was being overly theatrical today. She kept over exaggerating her words. It kept a smile on my face. Somtimes it felt like she knew more than she let on. Alexi was a smart kid. Nothing went past her notice.

"So do I." I bopped her on the nose, causing her to giggle. "But I hate housework and you're messy."

There as no denying that from Alexi. She giggled again, throwing her arms around my neck. My heart melted as she hugged me. We'd made it down the stairs. Clint, Evans and Abby were standing in the hallway. William was in Clint's arms, his head resting on Clint's shoulder. William's face brightened when he saw me. He waved at me but made no move to come over to me for a hug. William adored Clint as Alexi adored me. It made babysitting very easy when it was both of us.

"Hey, Kari." Abby looked a little teary herself and she stepped forward and gave me a quick hug. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay." It was a bullshit answer on my behalf, but okay covered a lot of things. I wasn't feeling great but I wasn't a blubbering mess either. "It's a beautiful house. I love it."

"Yeah?" Abby brightened a little as she stepped back. This time her smile looked stronger. "I helped Riley pick it out."

"Thank you." There weren't enough words to display my gratitude. There had been a few times where I'd wondered how Riley managed to pull this off without me knowing. The only thing I could come up was that with our different work schedules he could have easily fit in it. Knowing Abby was helping too would have made the whole process a lot easier.

"I helped too," Evans put in as he gave me a quick hug. "Even if you did grumble at me for keeping your boyfriend busy at work."

It felt like a lifetime ago but I did have some vague memories of Evans keeping his team back late some days. Or so I'd been told.

"Sneaky." It was heartwarming how much Evans and Abby helped Riley out. I couldn't ask for better friends than I had surrounding me right now. The only thing that would make the circle complete right now would be Jared here by my side.

The sound of another car pulling up drew my attention to the front door. I didn't know Copeland that well. I'd only spoken to him a few times in passing before this all came about. Evans vouched that Copeland was a nice, normal person with a good family. He'd come from MARSOC and from what I'd seen of him in training, he was more than capable of filling the Bravo Team Marksman position.

A knock on the door pulled me from my drifting thoughts.

"It's open," I called out, shifting Alexi's weight around again. She was being exceptionally well behaved. Normally no one else could get three words in before she interrupted them and wanted my attention.

Copeland came in first, with his wife and kids in tow. Two boys and a girl. I had no idea about their names but I knew they were all in grade school.

"Hi," Copeland said with a nervous smile. "Sorry, we're early."

"It's fine," I said with what I hoped to be a reassuring smile. "Come in, don't worry about your shoes or anything. Take a look around."

People's reactions to meeting me for the first time were always amusing. Copeland's wife was no different, she looked very surprised at me standing in front of her. A skinny blonde was never what anyone expected when thinking of someone in STRIKE.

"I'm Brittany." She recovered quickly and moved forward to offer her hand. "Thank you so much for letting us see the house. We really appreciate it."

I liked her instantly for not assuming that the house was instantly theirs. Any woman who came up to me and shook my hand instead of going for a hug was also a winner in my books.

"You're very welcome, please look around." I shook her hand with my own smile. "This is Alexi, but I'll let everyone else introduce themselves."

"Hi, Alexi," Brittany said with a wave. "This is Callan, Dexter and Lillian."

The Copeland kids all obediently said hello without being prompted. Alexi buried her head into my shoulder, doing her usual trick of going shy around new people. There were days I wished she was shy around me so I could get five seconds of peace from her chattering.

Introductions were being done all around and the house suddenly felt very crowded. I excused myself and headed out the back door with Alexi. The blast of humidity nearly knocked me off my feet as I went into the backyard. It was late August now but summer didn't want to loosen any grip it had on the weather. Alexi decided to climb down from me and started to explore around the backyard. It was well fenced and there was nothing she could get into trouble with out here so I let her be. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and flicked through the messages that had accumulated throughout the day. It kept me occupied until the back door opened again. I turned, expecting to see Evans or Natasha. Instead, it was Copeland coming outside.

"That was quick," I said lightly, putting my phone away. I'd been typing a message out to my Mom about how the time at the range went. It could wait for a few more minutes. I'm sure Dad had given her a second by second account of it all so far.

"It's a house with four walls and a roof, I'm happy with it," Copeland said with a brief chuckle. "Brittany, on the other hand, is still drooling over the kitchen. I don't think she'd made it upstairs yet."

"Wait until she sees the spa bath in the ensuite. I'm pretty sure she'll be sold on that."

Copeland chuckled again at my statement. A mildly awkward silence fell between us. I used it as an excuse to turn back to Alexi to make sure she wasn't scaling the six foot wooden fence surrounding the property. Instead, she was sitting on the tree towards the back of the yard poking around in the grass.

"I don't want to get too excited about the house before we talked about a price." Copeland broke the silence first, his tone cautious. "Andy didn't tell me what he paid for it and until Brittany can find a job, we're a bit tight for money."

I turned back to Copeland, feeling a stab of sympathy for him. While STRIKE paid well, I'm sure having a family would chew into those costs pretty quickly. Not to mention they still had to move across the country and all the costs associated with that.

"Andy paid $500 a month," I said with a shrug. "I don't expect anything more than that. They paid their own utilities though."

There was another awkward silence as Copeland stood there gaping at me. He quickly recovered and cleared his throat.

"I know you're friends with Andy and I don't want to leave you short of anything," Copeland looked like he was choosing his words very carefully.

"The mortgage is paid for," I said before Copeland could go too much into the details. "I own it outright and honestly, I will be upset if you try and offer me any more money for it. Go and see if your wife loves it. Then you can organise to move in whenever you want. Don't worry about a bond but I will hunt you down and kill you if you trash the house."

Tact really wasn't my strong suit, so I went for the blunt approach instead. At least Copeland laughed at my last sentence at the end. The look of relief was clear on his face. He'd been here a few months now. It must have been hell for him trying to find somewhere for his family.

"It's a family house," I continued, softer this time. "It needs a family to love it."

It took a lot of effort not to get choked up about that statement. It took all of my considerable training to keep my face neutral as I turned my attention back to Alexi. She wasn't eating dirt, her latest habit which was hilarious considering how much of a picky eater she was. It was a good distraction. The lump in my throat went away.

"I can't even begin to imagine how difficult this would be for you," Copeland said softly.

"Some days are easier than others." I didn't need to add that other days were really fucking difficult. We all understood how dangerous our jobs were. I didn't need to trend back down this path again so I changed the subject. "Go, see if your wife and kids love the house. It's all yours."

"Thank you." The gratitude was clear in Copeland's tone. He looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Thank you so much. I'd hug you but I'm a bit scared of the consequences of that."

"I'm fine with hugs," I said with a laugh. "I'm not Natasha who will put a knife in your balls."

Copeland reached over and gave me a brief hug. There was a definite spring to his step after he let me go and walked into the house, calling out for Brittany. As soon as he was back inside, Alexi came back over to me. She was covered in leaves and twigs.

"Hungry." Alexi held her hands up so I could pick her up. I wrinkled my nose at her but complied with lifting her into my arms.

"Should we see if everyone wants to come to dinner?" I was feeling surprisingly light now this was done. It was easier than I thought it was going to be. As much as it sucked that I would never share this house with Riley, at least there was a family in it to love it now. I liked the feeling of making someone's life easier. Copeland and his family could be together now.

"Yeah, cheesecake!" Alexi declared happily, making me laugh. She still was riding the cheesecake train hard. It still made Abby blush every single time.

"Sure, let's go see if everyone wants cheesecake." I hiked her up and my hip. I was looking forward to seeing Abby go seven shades of red again.

Authors Note

Sorry for the long wait on this everyone. While it might take me a few weeks to get updates done right now, I will never abandon this story. I may only update once every six weeks but it will get finished. Eventually. We'll probably be in Phase 5 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by then but it'll get there.

Thanks for sticking with me everyone. Uni was unexpectedly crazy busy this semester. I had the dumb idea of doing Anatomy and Physiology together. Two very big subjects that I need good marks in. There was a few new reviews of the last few days which spurred me into getting this chapter done.

Hopefully with mid semester break next week I'll get some writing time in. If not, summer break is just around the corner!

Until next time.