Ladies Night
Natasha Carter had been an adult for a good while now, and she's done a lot of adult things. She's traveled the world, saved the world, had her own place, paid her own bills, had adult relationships which meant she's had sex. She owned her own car, and several motorcycles. She had a kid to raise and she even had a retirement plan and a 401K. But nothing she'd done so far had made her feel more like a proper adult than signing Natasha E. L. Martinelli-Carter at the bottom of a legal document that said she and May Parker had just bought a house together. It had taken Natasha a while to work up the nerve to broach the subject with her girlfriend, but after Peter had let it slip that May had been thinking about asking Natasha about living together, Natasha had figured in for a penny in for a pound. If they were going to live together with two teenagers in tow, why not get a house together? May had agreed that if they were going to build a family together, then they should build it in a home of their own.
Her very first birthday gift from her Uncle Howard had been shares in Stark Industries and an investment portfolio that he managed under her mother's watchful eye until his death. Her mother managed it afterward until she turned twenty-five, at which point it was transferred over to her to take care of herself. She was in no way wealthy the way Tony was wealthy, but she was certainly comfortable enough that she and May could have their pick when it came to finding their dream house. May wanted to keep Peter at his school so they had to find something within the school's boundaries, and they would need at least three bedrooms and maybe as many baths given the fact that they had teenagers. The moment they walked into the four bedroom with the gorgeous kitchen and waterfront views from the family room and master bedroom, they knew it had to be theirs.
Sitting in the chaise lounge by the open french doors that led to their balcony overlooking the water, Natasha allowed herself to relax as she waited for May to come home from her night out with friends. Peter and Ned were camped out in the basement building Lego Hogwarts, and as of the last time she'd checked on them Wanda had given in and was helping. Too old to play with Lego, ha! Natasha couldn't help but smile as she recalled her daughter's insistence that she wasn't a child, and therefore would not be playing with Peter and his friend. "No one is too old to play with Lego, Poppy." Natasha replied before leaving the kids to their own devices in the basement and retreating to the peacefulness of her and May's bedroom to read.
She'd made it through a couple of chapters of her book before she decided to just sit and listen to the world around her. Something big was coming, something that would make everything the Avengers had faced before pale in comparison, but she had no idea what that was. She could just sense something dark at the very edges of her instincts. It had her unsettled, uneasy, but there was very little she could do with a vague hunch. So, Natasha soaked in the tranquility of her life at the moment because she knew it wouldn't last.
"Hey you," May's voice was soft and laced with amusement as she sat on the edge of the chaise near Natasha's thighs and reached out to brush hair from her face.
Natasha had dozed off but was still alert enough to know it was May who'd come into the room and approached her. May, like Angie before her, had learned to be wary of waking a sleeping Carter. Natasha, like Peggy, has been known to lash out if woken too suddenly, especially if she were in the throes of a nightmare. Opening her blue-green eyes Natasha smiles warmly at her girlfriend and leans into May's touch. "Hey you." She replies, her voice soft and warm. "Did you have a good time?"
May nods. "I did. It was long overdue and much needed." Leaning in she kissed Natasha hello and then sat back and grinned. "I'm going to jump in the shower. Want to join me?"
"Absolutely." Natasha replied, and then gladly allowed May to pull her to her feet.
An hour later as they settled into their bed and scrolled through Netflix for something to watch, May turned to look at Natasha and suddenly asked, "When was the last time you went out with your girl-friends for a ladies night?"
Natasha stopped tapping the remote and blinked before turning to look at May with a raised eyebrow.
May laughed. "You do have friends outside of the boys you work with, don't you?"
"Yes." Natasha replied in a half huff, half snort. "But they're all Shield agents, except for Hope, and Laura, and Pepper, but Laura and Pepper are family so I'm not sure they count."
"All of your friends are either Shield agents or Avengers?" May replied, a little wide eyed as she looked at her girlfriend over the top of her glasses.
Natasha thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."
May stared at the woman she was now sharing her life with for another moment or two, blinked, and then shook her head. "Well," She continued. "When was the last time any of you spent a night out just for the fun of it?"
Again, Natasha had to think about it before she could answer. "It's not really easy to get us all in the same place at the same time, so I guess it would have been," She paused for a moment as she let the memories come. "Just before I told you I worked for Shield."
"Wow," May snorted. "And here I thought I was the one who didn't get out much. You should totally try and set something up, Nat. After everything you've been through. You deserve a night out with the girls."
It would take time and effort to pull together a ladies night with her friends. It wasn't like Natasha could just start a group chat the way May had. Could she? She would start small, reach out to the most oblivious first, Sharon, Hope, Pepper, Maria, maybe even Laura. When was the last time Laura had been able to get away from the farm? If anyone could use a night out it was Laura Barton. Then she could try and reach out to Melinda, but who knew where the hell she was these days. She and Coulson seemed to be off in a world connected to her own, and yet totally separated from the rest of them. Sharon could probably track down Bobbi, if not, Maria could.
"I want to go!" Wanda said after listening in on Natasha's conversation with Laura.
Natasha raised an eyebrow at the girl as the younger redhead flopped down beside her on the sofa. "You're not old enough, Poppy."
"I'm an Avenger, I should be allowed to go where you go." Wanda pouted.
"The Scarlet Witch is an Avenger." Natasha said as she tapped the tip of the pouty teen's nose. "Wanda Maximoff Carter is a teenage girl who lives in a country where the legal age is twenty-one."
"That's bull…" Wanda began.
"Wanda." May warned from where she sat working on her laptop.
Wanda finished what she was about to say, and Natasha burst into laughter. "You can't just say it in Sokovian when you're not supposed to say in it English, Wanda."
Wanda huffed at her mother. "I want to spend time with Aunt Laura too."
"Laura's going to be staying with us before we head out, Wanda. You'll get some time with her, I promise." Natasha reassured.
Wanda knew she wasn't going to get better than that, so she gave in on this one.
Natasha put her arm around her daughter and pulled her into her side. "I also promise to set something up so you can meet some of the others. Especially Agent May, because if there is ever a time when you need someone you can trust outside of the team, I want you to go to Melinda May."
Gathering a number of SHIELD agents together in one place could easily court trouble, so Natasha decided it would be best if they did this somewhere where they wouldn't draw too much attention, and could shatter into the chaos of their location if they needed to. So, after a bit of thought and careful planning, Natasha decided an overnight trip to Miami was in order.
Now all she had to do was coordinate with the women she was trying to hang out with. Natasha was trying to reach out to women all over the globe and in the midst of various missions, and she had to extend her invitation securely, meaning she had to use Avengers and SHIELD secure networks and channels. Just after buying the house she'd allowed Tony to help her set up a home security system worthy of protecting the Black Widow's family. This included her own personal A.I assistant that could work in conjunction with Friday and the A.I he was putting into Peter's new suit.
"Charlotte," Natasha called out after reading through Sharon's latest texts.
"Yes Natasha?" Came the soft reply from the A.I. When May had asked about the name, Tony had explained that when Natasha was a girl one of her favorite books had been Charlotte's Web, and that she'd forced him to watch and rewatch the animated movie until he felt as if he'd go insane if he had to watch it one more time. So, it made sense to him, with Natasha's spider theme and all, to call her A.I. after the smartest spider to ever weave a web.
"Send a secure message to Agent Melinda May regarding the updated coordinates and time for the rendezvous." Natasha replied. Tony had even simulated Charlotte's voice from the movie, so when she responded in the affirmative, that the message to Melinda had been sent, she sounded a lot like Debbie Reynolds. "Thank you, Charlotte."
When the agreed upon Saturday finally rolled around Natasha flew down early to secure the beach house she'd acquired. Pepper had plenty of experience finding 'party pads' for Tony, and had given Natasha a helping hand in setting things up. She would be joining them later, for now it was just Laura, Sharon, Hope, and herself. Laura was so used to life with SHIELD agents that she didn't even bat an eye when Natasha and Sharon jumped right into securing the premises when they arrived. She simply smiled at Hope and asked for a hand in scoping out the kitchen and bar to make sure things had been well stocked. By the time Pepper arrived, the four women had had a late lunch and were sitting poolside with raspberry daiquiris and pina coladas.
"Who made the drinks?" Pepper asks as she stepped out of the house while shrugging out of her suit jacket.
"Natty." Sharon warned.
Pepper smiled. "So, they're super strong."
Hope nodded, "Very."
"I have absolutely no responsibility for the next forty-eight hours." Natasha says, her blue-green eyes closed behind a pair of large sunglasses. She's stretched out on a lounge clad in an emerald two piece, with a daiquiri glass in hand. "If I'm not drunk by the end of this, it'll be an utter failure."
Pepper laughed as she disappeared into the house to change. When she returned, she asked, "When will the others get here?"
"Maria should be here soon." Sharon answered while handing Pepper a drink. "If May comes, she'll be here this evening, and Bobbi whenever she can manage it."
Natasha stood and stretched, a warm smile on her face. Then she heads for the pool as she says, "Until then it's just the Carter and honorary Carter crew."
When Maria Hill arrives, she walks in with a Bluetooth device in her ear. Natasha snatches it, and to no one's surprise hears Fury on the other end. "Nick, with all due respect, fuck off its ladies night."
Maria watches with wide eyes as Natasha crushes the device under her now booted foot.
Natasha smiled brightly. "Beer or blended?"
"Whiskey." Maria replies. "On the rocks, the good shit, I can see Potts in the kitchen, I know there's a bottle of the good shit around here. I bet she stocked this place like she was doing it for Stark."
Natasha laughs and leds Maria into the kitchen.
Melinda May does in fact show up, and she has Jemma Simmons and Skye, or rather Daisy Johnson, in tow. Natasha is dressed in a way that all she has to do is add a few accent pieces and she'd be ready for a night out, but is comfortable enough for hanging out at the house too. She can't help but smile at Melinda as she greets her.
"I can't believe I'm doing this. I have better things to do." Melinda grumbles in reply to Natasha's greeting. She looks pointedly at Natasha, poking her in the chest. "It's a good thing I like you, Carter."
Skye, or rather, Daisy, they still weren't clear on the story there, smiled. "Coulson talked her into coming."
Sharon eyes the newcomers from the bar where she and Maria are mixing drinks. While Melinda had been central to Natasha's training when they were kids, Coulson had been more hands on with Sharon's, so she didn't have the same relationship with the older agent. And because she was in special services, Sharon didn't interact with the Philinda kids much, so them being so young always struck her hard. "God, were we ever that young?"
"Are they even old enough to drink?" Maria replies with a shake of her head. She honestly can't remember ever being that young.
It's still too early to head out, so a game of poker is started while they wait on Bobbi. When she finally makes it, she jumps right into the game. She smiles and greets Laura with a warm and jovial, "Hello wife."
Laura chuckles. "Hello Ex-wife."
When Daisy asks about the odd greeting Natasha explains. "Agent Morse was married to Barton way back in their academy days."
"For a whole seventeen months." Bobbi adds from where she's taken a seat beside Jemma. There are a few nervous looks between those unfamiliar with the situation. Bobbi laughs while accepting a drink from Natasha. "Barton and I were good together, but we weren't meant for each other. He and Laura were. I'm still looking for my right fit."
"Hunter?" Jemma says naturally.
Bobbi shrugs while taking a swig from her beer bottle. "It's not easy in our line of work to find someone like that. Barton got lucky."
"Damn right he did." Laura laughed.
"It can be done. As you said, Agent Barton has managed it. So has Director Carter." Jemma points out.
Natasha rolls her eyes. "Here we go." She looks at Jemma, a brilliant young woman with great potential, but her girl crush on her mother was a little annoying. "Your idol wears curlers in her hair and ratty old bunny slippers at night."
"Nat." Sharon warns with amusement. "Leave the girl alone. I think her crush on Aunt Peggy is cute."
Jemma blushes deeply.
"She farts too." Natasha throws out for good measure, a teasing smirk on her lips. Then she looks at Bobbie and asks, "Cynical much?"
Bobbie shrugs again and then admits. "It's been awhile."
Natasha gets a devilish look in her eyes as she says, "For Hill too, maybe you two could blow off some steam together." From her spot at the table on the other side of Sharon, Maria chokes on her beer, and Natasha laughs.
"We don't all switch hit, Carter." Bobbi replied with a playful roll of her eyes and shake of her head.
"You should." Natasha teased. "Why more fun to be hand when you don't limit yourself."
"Aren't you a settled down type these days?" Hope asks the redhead.
Natasha nods. "Yeah, and?"
"Aren't you like half English?" Maria tosses out while tossing in her bet. "Why aren't you more prudish?"
"Common misconception." Natasha replies, folding her hand of cards and leaning back in her chair. "The English can be just as kinky as anyone else. Clint is scared for life because the first time he met my mother outside of a SHIELD setting, she and Ma were in the middle of foreplay."
Jemma choked on her drink.
When Melinda taps out of the poker game, Natasha does too. It's been too long since she'd had the chance to talk to her former mentor and she wasn't about to pass up the chance. That is what this was all about, wasn't it? Blowing off steam while spending time with the people she trusted enough to call friends? Of course, Natasha notices the way Skye or Daisy, she really needed to get that story out of Melinda, watched her and Melinda together. After refreshing their drinks, the pair moved out onto the beachside balcony to talk. "I don't think your new apprentice likes me much."
"You're the Black Widow, a damn superhero, an Avenger." Melinda snorts in reply to Natasha. "She idolizes you." Then Melinda's quiet for a few moments as if she is weighing out how much if anything to say next. "And she isn't just my trainee." Melinda begins, then switches to speaking Mandarin. "She's my daughter."
This time it's Natasha who chokes on her drink.
Melinda rolled her eyes.
Once she'd cleared her airways, Natasha looked at Melinda, asking without having to say a word, if the other woman wanted to tell her more. They seamlessly switch between Mandarin, Cantonese, and Russian, an old habit from Natasha's training days. Melinda explained that back in the early days, before they fully understood the commitment they needed to give to SHIELD, she and Coulson had given in and been together. They so wanted to have it all, they even thought they could for a while. But they had been handpicked by the Director herself in Melinda's case, and Fury in Coulson's, and had been sent on some pretty high-level assignments, made some enemies right out of the gate. Their home was attacked. To keep her safe, they had to make a choice. She was supposed to have been given to a normal civilian family, but ended up being adopted by a SHIELD doctor, Calvin Johnson, and his wife Jiaying. Jiaying was told that the child was special and had sought her out. She had wanted to keep her safe, protect her, teach her. Johnson turned out to be HYDRA, and he and his people had wanted her for other reasons.
"She's an Inhuman." Natasha says gently.
Melinda nods. "Still not sure which of us passed on the gene, Coulson or me."
The people Johnson worked for murdered his wife. Daisy, which is what they had renamed her, was no use to HYDRA until she was old enough to come into her powers. He hid her within the chaos of the foster system to keep her safe. "Nearly eighteen years later she falls into Coulson's lap, neither of them knowing who the other truly was, because she'd managed to find out that the man who'd left her behind had been with SHIELD."
"How did you find out it was her?" Natasha asks, her voice gentle and reassuring.
"Simmons." Melinda replies. "She had to run all kinds of tests so she and Fitz could create the gauntlets that help control her powers, so she doesn't crush her own bones every time she gets mad."
"Let her know that if she ever needs someone to talk to." Natasha offers. "It can be hard sometimes, trying to sort out the emotions that come from choices made for you by others, even if those choices resulted in the best outcome."
Melinda turns her head to look at the redhead and after a long silent moment she nods. "I will."
"Melinda!" Maria bursts out onto the balcony in a huff. "Your kids cheat! They both count cards!"
"I didn't mean to cheat." Jemma pouts. She and Daisy appear seconds after Maria.
Daisy smirks. "I did. I mean, talk about bragging rights, beating Agent Hill and Agent 13 at poker, I couldn't pass that up."
Bobbi is laughing so hard she can barely breath as she says, "So, are we ready to head out and tear this town up?"
On the plane ride down Natasha and Sharon had made a bet on whether there would be any trouble and who would be the one to throw the first punch. Natasha had money on Maria because she was all pent up and was due to explode. Sharon had gone with Bobbi for the same reason. No one thought it would be Melinda. They'd ended up at some club, much to the delight of most of them. Melinda wasn't thrilled, and it wasn't really Pepper's thing, but everyone else was intent on having some fun. Everything started out just fine, great drinks, great music, lots of fun dancing. Then some idiot set his sights on Daisy and pushed his luck by getting physical with her. Melinda had been bird dogging her girls from the sidelines, Daisy having decided to keep Jemma close, and when it was clear what the idiot was about to do the Calvary rode in just in time to stop him from touching the girl. Natasha was fairly sure Melinda broke his wrist, and his eye was already swelling shut as they were clearing the scene.
It wasn't really what anyone would call a bar fight, they were all too professional for that unless it's what they wanted to happen. One of the idiot's friends, who'd seen what happened, did try to stop their evac by grabbing Natasha in a bear hug hold. It would have been child's play for her to subdue him and free herself, but to her surprise she didn't have to do more than pull out of the crushing hold he had on her when Jemma slammed a bottle of liquor into the side of his head. From the look on her face, Jemma's action had startled herself as well. Natasha smiled at the girl, impressed at how she'd clearly stepped out of her comfort zone. When they regrouped Jemma's moment of action was rewarded by Natasha who thrust her cell phone at her.
"What is this?" Jemma asks the Black Widow.
Natasha laughs. "It's a cell phone. Look at the screen and say hello."
Jemma raised the phone up and looked at the screen as she was told. Jemma Simmons squeaked, wide eyed.
"Hello Agent Simmons." Peggy Carter said warmly. "I do hope Natasha isn't getting you into too much trouble."
As they watched Jemma sputter her way through a conversation with her idol, Sharon smirked and shook her head at Natasha. "I can't tell if that was an incredibly sweet thing to do, or a really mean thing to do."
Natasha laughed softly.
"So, we've all had enough, right?" Melinda asks while refusing the drink Maria is trying to hand her as they cruise around Miami in a stretch hummer. "We can call it a night and get on with more important things?"
Natasha pouted. "You used to be a lot more fun, Mels. Do you even remember drunk laser tag?"
That perked Daisy up, her eyes lighting up as her gaze darted between Natasha and Melinda. "Drunk laser tag?"
"Yeap." Natasha smirks. She gladly took a drink from Maria as she explained, "I completed my master survival test just after my twenty-first birthday, and to celebrate both, Mels took me out for drinks. After we were good and sauced one of us, I don't really remember which one, I chose to believe it was Mels, had the bright idea to hit up an arcade where we ended up playing laser tag against each other until we were thrown out."
The two young agents under Melinda's command stared at the Black Widow in disbelief.
"That!" Daisy finally said with a huge, excited grin. "Let's do that!"
Natasha laughed. "Pepper, you think you can set something up for us?"
"Not the craziest thing I've ever arranged in the wee hours of the morning." Pepper replied as she produced her cell phone and made a couple of calls.
In an odd attempt to balance out the teams Natasha took Jemma and Daisy, since she never worked with the younger two. Melinda took Sharon and Maria for the same reasons, she never worked with them directly. And Bobbi took Hope, Pepper, and Laura, for the challenge of it. That's how the spent the rest of their night, playing laser tag and drinking, switching up teams, and drinking. Until, one by one the ladies tapped out until only the Black Widow and the Cavalry were left. Sharon finally had to put an end to things when Pepper told her they needed to leave; the facility needed them out so they could get ready for their day. Sharon had been the only one brave enough to get in the middle of the two to stop them.
"Well, I guess this wasn't so bad." Melinda admitted as a black town car pulled up as the morning sky shifted from the golden pinks and purples of sunrise to the clear blue of a perfect Miami morning. "Good call, brat."
Natasha beamed at her old friend and mentor. Then she looked at the young ones and smirked. "Hey, Simmons, Johnson, drunken paintball next time, yeah?"
"You're on Carter!" Daisy replied easily while poor Jemma moaned in misery. Too much alcohol, too much laser tag.
Bobbie left with Maria. Sharon, Pepper, Hope, and Laura crashed along with Natasha for a couple of hours at the beach house. Sharon and Hope parted ways with her at the airport in Miami. Pepper stayed behind on business. Laura got on a connecting flight back to the farm once they reached New York. Natasha walked into the home she shared with her girlfriend and their kids with the biggest smile on her lips.
"Have a good time?" May asked after Natasha kissed her hello.
Natasha smiled as she nodded. "I did, thanks for noodging me into doing it."
"I don't noodge." May protested with a playful huff.
"You noodge." Natasha replied. "You so totally noodge."