A/N: This chapter is pretty long... hope you enjoy, and review please. I'm gonna stop putting warnings now because if you've gotten this far you know what you're getting into. If you don't, check the previous chapters. Mostly language and violence, and in this chapter there's a lot of guns and a grenade and stuff, but it's Marvel so it's to be expected. Also I might not post tomorrow since it's Christmas, but I'll see what happens. :)

Fury walked down the hallway to where he'd seen people run into. All of the guards and workers had either run away, been knocked unconscious or killed. He knew there were only a few left, and he knew they were the important ones.

As he kicked open the door, three people inside jumped. There was a woman who looked like a vulture, a tall man in a suit, and a man who looked like he had crawled out of a grave recently.

"Ah, Fury. Welcome. I assume you've gotten your minions to collect Natasha? Well, that won't last long. She has something we want." The tall man said.

"And I have a gun." Fury retorted, pointing said gun at the man's face. "Now tell me what you're planning, and why you hid a camera in my office. And how, I wanna know that too."

"We have our secrets, Mr. Fury." Said the other man, smiling cruelly as he pulled out his own gun.

"Well I-"

BAM! BAM!

Fury turned around to look out the window. Outside, everyone was clambering out of the vans and the 20 or so guards that were left were shooting at them. He hadn't thought there'd been that many left. Actually, he hadn't thought there'd been any left - they were seemingly coming from nowhere. He saw Natasha limping away, while everyone else tried to fight. Maria was using her own gun, and Tony was attempting to shoot at them with his blasters, but his suit was still out of whack. Steve was protecting himself and Maria with his shield and Clint was shooting his arrows from behind one of the vans that had been tipped over. It was chaos, and the guards were clearly gaining on them.

Fury ran out of the building with the three others chasing him. He studied the battlefield, but before he had a chance to decide what to do, Maria yelled at him.

"Help Nat!" She shouted, and Fury directed his attention to the other side of the clearing. Natasha was trying and failing to fight off the guards coming at her. One got hold of her and started dragging her back toward the building.

He aimed carefully, and shot the man in the back. He fell to the ground, screaming and writhing, and Fury ran for Natasha. She was leaning over, clutching her side, and when he reached her she fell into him. He caught her and gently set her on the ground.

"You okay? Romanoff?"

She nodded, grimacing, and he quickly shot two other guards who tried to get to Natasha. She then pointed to one of the guards going for Clint.

"Blow it up."

"What?"

"Blow it up. He has a grenade on his belt. Wait until he gets far enough away from everyone else, then shoot it."

Fury looked at the man Natasha was pointing at, and saw a small grenade attached to his belt. He wouldn't admit it, but he wouldn't've seen it without her pointing it out. If he shot at the grenade, which would be hard in the first place because a gun like the one he had on him wouldn't usually be powerful enough to set off a grenade, it would set off an explosion big enough to knock out most, if not all of the guards. And possibly several other people too… but this fight didn't look too well off. He would have to do it.

Fury waited until the man had backed away from Clint, right next to most of his comrades. Despite the Avengers' skills, somehow these 20 guards had managed to gain on them. So he, Fury, Nicholas J, was going to take them out. He aimed his gun right at the man's belt, cocked it, and shot.

The explosion was so loud it almost seemed silent, probably because it was damaging her ears. Natasha turned her face away, trying to cover her ears, her eyes, her head, something. But before she got a chance to, everything went silent. That was strange, usually the noise would be escalating after a big explosion like that, especially in the middle of a fight. Then her ears popped and she heard the noise again.

Somebody was shooting a gun. Somebody was screaming. Natasha lay on the dead grass, in the middle of a burning clearing, her head pounding. Normally she'd be getting up and fighting, but she was frozen, curled in the fetal position. Then the noise stopped, significantly, and then it started again. Then suddenly, someone was calling her name. Again.

"Natasha!"

Nat opened her eyes to see Sasha's face above her. She was frowning, and Natasha frowned too because she noticed that she wasn't in the clearing anymore.

"Where-" she choked out, then stopped to cough.

"Easy." Said a second voice, and Natasha turned her head to Agent Hill offering her a glass of water. "You've been out for about 10 minutes, we had to get you out of the fire."

"Fire?"

"The explosion set the clearing on fire because of the dead grass." Sasha explained.

"What about… what about Sidorov? And Seth?"

Sasha looked down at this. She fidgeted for a second, then said "Seth is dead. He was shot by Hawkeye."

Natasha wasn't sure if she should cheer or apologize, so she voiced her first question again.

"Sidorov?"

"We're not sure. We couldn't find him." Hill answered.

"Wait… but where am I? Where's everyone else? Why-"

"Calm down. You were knocked out, we think, by the explosion - which killed most of the guards, by the way, and the others were killed after. You were lying really close to the fire, so I pulled you out and brought you to the quinjet. Everyone else is on their way. I think they're checking on Clint, or looking for Sidorov… he's the only one left. We found the shield agents, too. Well, the ones that were left."

Natasha took a minute to process all of this. Seth was dead… Sidorov was missing… "Wait, what happened to Clint?"

Hill was silent for a moment. Natasha began to panic. "He's okay, I think… he was hurt in the explosion, but I'm not sure how badly.

Natasha immediately stood up and headed for the door, but her head spun before she could get there. Her chest surged in pain and she gasped, feeling her legs wobble and start to collapse. She suddenly couldn't see, which was worrying, and she tried to curl into herself to lessen the pain in her chest but that didn't work out seeing as she was falling.

She braced herself for the floor, but instead she felt strong arms catch her. After a second, the dizziness faded and she looked up to see two concerned blue eyes staring down at her. She forgot for a second where she was, and frowned - Steve? No… the face wasn't right. And Steve's eyes were lighter, purer… and less beautiful…

"Easy." Hill muttered, the half-smile curling on her face making Natasha's heart flutter. She wasn't sure why, it was just Maria - Commander Hill, who she'd been working with for a long time. She wasn't afraid of her, which was clearly the only reason why one's heart would do such a ridiculous thing. She was Natasha Romanoff, a trained killer and assassin, a fearless avenger, her heart didn't flutter.

But before Natasha could start to worry about whether she should really consider getting checked out for heart disease, Maria lifted her onto the small cot. Natasha shouldn't have been amazed by Maria's ability to carry someone as small as herself, but she was, once again. For some reason. She couldn't help but glance sideways at Maria's impressive biceps visible through the fabric of her catsuit. Not Maria - Hill. Agent Hill. Okay, this was getting weird. She'd always thought Hill was special, and secretly always thought she was… cool, but she'd never admit it. This was just excessive.

Just as Natasha was about to ask about Clint, trying to distract herself from the strange urge to stare into Mari- Hill's eyes, he walked in, being supported by Steve and Bruce. All three of them looked pretty beat up, but Clint had blood seeping through his suit.

"Hey," Clint puffed out between pants, settling himself into one of the seats. "Are- are you okay?" He asked, again, while holding his leg.

"I'm fine, are you okay?" She looked him up and down, checking him for other signs of injury.

"I've had worse." He responded, grimacing.

"Ok, let's get out of here. We need to go back to SHIELD so we can track Sidorov." Tony announced, clambering into the quinjet, his armor clinking.

"Wait, we're just leaving?" Natasha asked incredulously.

"Red, you're pregnant, you have three broken ribs, and you were just lying in the middle of a fire." He said, raising his eyebrows at her.

She sighed. He was right, she knew, but she hated the idea of leaving while Sidorov was out there somewhere waiting for her.

After Bruce, Fury, and the other shield agents had piled into the quinjet, Tony flew them away from the clearing and out of Russia. Natasha felt so relieved - she just wanted to change into some sweatpants and sleep. So she did. Well, without the sweatpants, they didn't have any on the quinjet. But she settled herself in her cot, and without too much difficulty was able to sink into a much needed rest.

She was running with Clint and Maria. They were on a street, and everything around them was burning. She wasn't sure what she was running from, but whatever it was was gaining on them. It shot at her, but Clint stepped in its path.

"No!" She screamed, watching as Clint fell to the ground. Maria grabbed her arm and they kept running, but Natasha looked back and saw Sidorov behind them, carrying a small child. The kid squirmed in his grasp, crying, but he wouldn't let her go. "Mama!" The kid called. Sidorov smiled cruelly, and the longer he held the child the less she struggled, until she fell limp in his arms.

"Mama… save me..." She whispered, before her eyes glazed over. Sidorov laughed, and suddenly Clint and the child disappeared. They were in a hallway now, one of the hallways in the building she'd been held captive in, and Sidorov pushed Maria into one of the cells and slammed the door. Suddenly the child from earlier was there too, inside the cell with Maria, and she looked deep into Natasha's eyes. But before she could say anything, the cell erupted into flames and then Natasha was in a desert. The desert was burning too, somehow. Clint was gone, Maria was gone, Sidorov was gone… the child was gone…

She screamed, but there was nothing around her. Nothing but flames, and her voice echoed around her. She felt closed in, despite the fact that she was in an endless desert.

"No!" She yelled, and suddenly she couldn't hear her own voice. It was silent, no matter how much she screamed. "Clint! Maria!" No sound. But then she thought of the child, her child, and she let out a final, deafening, excruciating scream.

She opened her eyes when she felt someone shaking her. She looked up, seeing Fury standing above her. She stumbled out the bed and staggered on her feet, shaking and sweating, thinking of the dream. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, feeling her small bump, but that didn't make her feel much better. She looked around frantically, making sure that Clint and Maria were okay.

"Romanoff, calm down, you're okay." Fury said, and Natasha hadn't realized she'd been hyperventilating until he said this. She sat gingerly back down on the bed, staring into space. Everyone was concerned, but Clint ushered them all away except for Sasha who was still sleeping. He knew she wouldn't want everyone crowding around her. But as he was shepherding Maria away, Natasha spoke.

"She can stay."

Clint frowned, but didn't protest. Maria looked confused too, but sat down in one of the seats near Natasha's cot. Clint sat on the other side. They stayed silent for a while, the only sound being Natasha's harsh breath. After a while, Clint spoke up.

"What was the dream about?" He asked softly.

Natasha sighed. "It was nothing." She mumbled.

"No, it wasn't. You were screaming and shaking. That's not nothing. Tell me, please." Clint said, kind but firm. He'd had too much of her saying 'I'm fine' and 'it's nothing' over the years, and he tried to push her to open up.

"I was running, with you two, in a burning city. We were being chased… and you were shot, Clint, and I… I couldn't save you. And then Sidorov was there, holding a… a little kid, and I knew it was mine, and…" Her voice caught and she stopped. She avoided looking at Clint or Maria (she'd also given up on trying to call her Hill,) because she'd felt them tense at her last sentence, and they were both probably staring at her with pitying looks. She didn't need to see that.

"And then you were gone and Maria was pushed into a cell and the kid was in there too and then it burst into flames and then I was alone in a desert and it was burning." She rushed out, still staring at her sock feet.

"Jesus, what's her beef with fire?" Tony muttered to Bruce in the cockpit.

"Tony, shut up." Clint growled.

Nobody said anything for the next few hours of the flight, and Natasha just sat on the cot, staring at her feet. But when they landed, she frowned as she looked out the window.

"This isn't SHIELD."

"No, it's not." Clint stated, carefully getting up from his seat using the crutches that had happened to be on the jet and heading for the door.

"Clint, where are we?" She demanded, raising her eyebrows at him. She didn't wait for an answer, instead she opened the door. She scanned the field they were in, noticing the familiar farmhouse and barn. "Clint…"

"I couldn't take you back to SHIELD. Sidorov is looking for you." Clint explained, almost apologetically.

"That's exactly why you shouldn't take me to your family! We already put them in danger a few months ago, and you have a new baby and two little kids, Clint."

"Which is why I should spend time with them! You're not fighting me on this, Nat. Besides, Hill's coming with us for protection."

Natasha's heart leapt at this, and she considered it for a moment. Although she didn't want to impose, it would be fun to spend time with her honorary family…

"Fine." She said, putting on her shoes.

"Romanoff." Said Fury, walking over to her. "I'm glad you're okay."

Natasha stared at him for a minute, surprised. Did he feel guilty for her getting captured? Had he actually been worried for her?

"Thanks Fury." She said. He nodded.

"Thank you Natasha." Sasha said quietly, approaching the older woman.

"Of course. I'm… sorry about Seth." Natasha said uncomfortably.

"He wasn't much of a father to me. Thank you for helping me get out of there."

Natasha leaned forward and gave Sasha a big hug, cautious with her ribs and Sasha's arm. The kid deserved it.

"Take care of yourself."

She followed Clint out of the quinjet, waving to the others as Maria came out behind her, carrying several bags. Steve flew the jet back into the sky, and the three of them began awkwardly walking toward the farmhouse. Clint was struggling with his crutches on the uneven ground, Natasha was walking slowly because of her ribs, and Maria was trying to carry all of their stuff because she wouldn't let Natasha carry anything.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddyyyyy!" Lila screamed as she ran out of the house toward her dad. He dropped his crutches, caught her, and spun her around, despite his leg.

"Hey, sweetie! Did you get taller? I swear you got taller." Lila giggled, wrapping her arms around Clint's neck.

"Dad!" Cooper yelled, about to leap into his dad's arms like his sister, but stopped when he noticed his father's leg was injured.

"Bud! How's that lego castle going?"

"Great!"

"Auntie Nat!" Lila exclaimed, about to jump into Natasha's arms.

"Careful with your Auntie Nat, honey. She's hurt."

"I'm fine." Natasha insisted with a smile, but didn't try to lift Lila, knowing that wouldn't go well for her. Lila and Cooper's eyes both lingered on the bruises on Natasha's face and the blood on Clint's pants. They'd seen them injured before, but it still made them uncomfortable and scared.

"Clint!"

Clint turned around to see Laura rushing toward them, baby Nate in hand. She gave him a hug, burying her face into his shirt. Then she reached up to kiss him, and both kids made gagging noises. Natasha laughed, looking away to give them some privacy.

"What happened to you two?" Laura asked, gingerly giving Natasha a hug, her eyes scanning the purple swelling on her face.

"We'll explain when we get inside." Clint said pointedly, gesturing to the kids. Laura nodded, and turned her attention to Maria.

"Who might you be?"

"Commander Maria Hill."

"Nice to meet you… Commander Maria Hill. I think I've heard of you."

"Just call her Maria." Natasha said with a smirk. Maria pretended to look offended.

"Excuse me, Romanoff, who put you in charge?" She joked.

Natasha's heart once again did that stupid fluttery thing when Maria laughed, and she had to work very hard to push it down so that she wouldn't blush. The Black Widow, blushing. What had she come to?

"I did." She responded, keeping a cool facade as she locked eyes with Maria. They accidentally stayed like that for longer than intended, and Natasha gasped, a sudden thought occurring to her. Clint narrowed his eyes at the two of them.

"Okay, why don't we head inside?" He said loudly, ushering his kids toward the door as he got his crutches sorted.

Natasha began to walk slowly toward the door too, but her mind wasn't focused on it. It was racing at a hundred miles a minute. How had she been so blind? She'd always thought that she liked men. It was part of her job, seducing men to get what she wanted. And she'd kissed men, had sex with them, but she'd never liked it very much. She'd always assumed it was because she'd never found the right person. But even when she was with Bruce, briefly, she hadn't really felt too much. She thought that was just what love was, but compared to the feelings that she'd discovered for Maria…

When she was in the Red Room there was no option for love, let alone gay love. If she was gay, or at least bi… she'd have to tell people. What if they thought of her differently? Or what if she told Maria, and it didn't work out? She'd never been a super emotionally connected person, she'd probably be a terrible girlfriend. She'd been a girlfriend before, but under drastically different circumstances. But the feelings she felt for Maria, and for that matter, other women that she hadn't realized she liked, were so much stronger than any feeling she'd ever had for a man. Oh god, she was actually gay. And it had been right there, in front of her face, and she just hadn't seen it. Weren't people supposed to know these things? Wasn't she supp-

"Hey, Natasha, you coming?" Maria's voice broke through her thoughts, and all of the doubts were gone. She felt like a teenager, or what she imagined it was like because she'd had a pretty disgusting childhood, and as she looked into Maria's beautiful blue eyes she knew it. She'd probably known it for a while, but had been ignoring it. She, Natasha Romanoff, the infamous sexy icon that had been objectified by men for years and used that to her advantage, was a huge, flaming lesbian.