A/N: already on chapter 9. That's crazy. Like I have so much planned. This might turn into like 200k or something because we have only covered like two months of like years.
Anyways. Lots of happening. Time jumps in this chapter and defo a lot of them in the future chapters as well. Maybe a few more time jumps now the next chapters. Usually, I don't cover everything like I've done in the past chapter. But like I kinda needed to give a serious backstory.
I will also explain a bit more at the end of this chapter about everything happening in this chapter so remember to read that if you want some more explanation of why I did all of this.
But anyways. Hope you all are having a great week and I'll talk to you in a couple of days.
Red/S-B
Laura was sitting by the big panorama window, curled up in a chair with a blanket wrapped around her. She could see the sun peaking over the horizon.
She hadn't gotten any sleep. She had tried. Of course, she had tried. But all she heard was Natasha's cold voice mixed with the pained screams Wanda had shown her. And every time she closed her eyes all she could see was Natasha's eyes. Filled with pain and fear.
They had ended the meeting around three in the morning. Now it was around 6. Everyone else had turned to their bedroom. Including Clint. She had followed him but ended up leaving again when she hadn't been able to stay in bed for more than 15 minutes.
Laura let out a small sniff as she felt a tear stream down her cheek. She didn't know she had any of them left in her.
"I don't think I need to ask. I have a feeling we are both thinking about the same thing." Laura turned her head when she heard Pepper's soft voice. Pepper gave her a small smile before pointing at the chair opposing to Laura's. She only nodded back at the woman and watched as Pepper took a seat, trying to wipe the tears off her face in the process.
She too looked tired. Laura wasn't surprised. It had to be a shock on her as well. She hadn't seen her girlfriend in weeks. And when she finally got any kind of update, they were all awful. How she had turned on them. How she had threatened them. Everything but what Natasha really was. Kind. Caring. Loving.
"I feel like I should have seen it coming. That I should have stopped it." Laura said looking at the other woman with hurt eyes.
"Laura. Don't say that. You were helping her in every way you could. She was hurt. And… she needed you. We don't know why this happened. But if Tony is right and she is working under somebody. Then we need to just trust her that this was the only way out. She would never hurt you or your family." Pepper looked at her with a serious look. Laura only nodded looking down at her hands.
This was the first time she had actually talked to Pepper in person. She had spoken to her multiple times before on phone, but never in person like this, and it felt so unreal in a way. The other woman was like the CEO of the world. She was such a powerhouse.
Laura was well aware of how respected she was in the world. How she had everyone just hanging on every word she was saying. No matter what topic everyone would automatically turn to her and Laura and never experienced such high mutual respect for anyone. Sure, Natasha was also a very well-respected woman in the world, but she was as respected as she was feared.
The two of them together had to be an incredible sight. Not that Laura had had the opportunity to live through that yet.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Laura didn't know how to keep a conversation going when all she felt was sadness. Usually, she was good at small talk, but right now she didn't know what to do with herself. It was so much to take in. And while she wanted to talk to Pepper, she didn't know how. Both of them were so close to Natasha, but Natasha had acted so weirdly. And Laura hadn't even been able to explain what had happened earlier.
She was debating on either to try to get some rest or maybe force the conversation. She didn't want to try to start it again, but she also didn't want to sit here in silence much longer. Thankfully she didn't need to be the one leading the talk.
"Have you seen Nat's room?" Pepper said softly looking at the other woman with a small smile. Laura looked at her surprised, shaking her head no.
Pepper stood up before waving her over with a small smile. Laura followed her quietly. She didn't know why she followed really. Did she want to see her room? Was it any need really? Maybe she just wanted to follow to stay around Pepper? Whatever the reason was she decided not to fight it.
She was looking around as they walked. The building was so fascinating. The light in the hallways was dimmed reflecting the actual lights outside, giving you a soft and natural environment. It was actually really nice. She had noticed how the light had been in a colder dark blue earlier the same night. Now it was shining in a warmer glow. It was so nice and soft on the eyes. A really smart idea and concept all in all.
They stopped in front of a door and Pepper smiled softly at her. It looked like every other door in the house really. Laura watched as she put her hand on the handle and as she did so, Laura heard a click on the door. She gave Pepper a small questioning look.
"Fingerprint sensor to keep it locked when Nat isn't home." Pepper explained softly before pulling the handle down pushing the door open softly.
She wasn't really sure what she expected. It was a bedroom right surely it wasn't that interesting.
As Laura took her first step into the room the light started to slowly turn on. "wow" she let out as she entered the room, looking around as she tried to get a grasp of the incredible room.
It was bigger than expected. The bed was about 15 feet away from the door and already the centre of attention. The bed area on a small platform giving it some height from the rest of the room. A beautiful dark wooden bed in front of an incredibly beautiful back wall. Brown plates with two wall high mirrors on each side of the bed behind two extremely fancy-looking nightstands.
In front of the bed was a small bench with some soft velvet cushion on top. Only that in itself seemed more expensive than Laura's whole bedroom.
"She went all out," Pepper said with a soft smile before walking over to the bed picking up a small remote.
Laura couldn't help it when she let out another "oh my god" as Pepper undimmed the window. She hadn't even noticed the huge window to her left that opened itself like magic.
She watched as the room slowly got filled with some soft morning light giving it a beautiful idyllic atmosphere. She walked to the window letting out her rest on the glass. It was stunning. In the corner of the big window was the record player Laura had given her a few years back. Part of her was surprised she had actually kept it when they moved.
She turned around to look at the rest of the room. She had a beautiful closet on the same wall as the door. And a desk on the opposing side of the bed.
"Bathroom?" Laura nodded at the second door. Pepper was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed.
"Something like that," Pepper said with a small smile. Laura gave her a confused look before pushing the door open. Again, she let her mouth fall as she revealed a stunning black and white bathroom. It wasn't that big, but every single detail, every little thing, was the perfect combination of modern and clean. From the big white tiles to the black stand-alone wall that separated the walk-in shower and bathtub.
"Yeah, it's nice, even from Starks standard. Pepper said with a small laugh as she followed her into the bathroom.
"I didn't know she spent so much time on this place," Laura said turning around to face Pepper.
"Yeah, it surprised me too when she said she wanted to design her own room. But I mean all of the Avengers got the chance if they wanted to. But most of them left it mostly up to our team." Pepper said closing the bathroom door behind them as they exited.
"You did an amazing job designing this place. Like you did with the tower." Laura said with a small smile. She remembered being very impressed with the tower as well. And she knew Pepper had been the one designing most of that. The other woman smiled back at her.
"Thank you. We tried. We still have a few rooms free, and a couple more to finish up, but it is starting to look like something at least." Pepper said with a soft smile. Laura nodded as she continued to look around in the room.
It was so clean and beautiful. And while it was a very pretty room, she realized it had no pictures or anything personal anywhere. She had a few paintings and small decoration items but nothing else. And none of them seemed…. Very Natasha like. Unless you categorize her as modern abstract art.
"No pictures?" Laura pointed out letting her hand glide over Natasha's desk carefully.
Pepper let out a small laugh before shaking her head. "No. Told me it was too easy to identify her room with things like that. She has a few stored away. But I don't know where. Think they are more as keepsake and memories than to show off" Pepper said rolling her eyes softly making Laura laugh. Why was she not surprised?
"Do you want some breakfast maybe? I know it's still fairly early, but you must be starving." Pepper said looking at her with two kind eyes.
For some reason, Laura felt extremely drawn to this woman. It was something in her voice that was both so powerful but also so kind. No wonder why she was such an incredible CEO.
"Yeah, wouldn't complain about some food no," Laura said with a small smile nodding.
Pepper lead her out of the room and down the hallway again. This time they walked another way to the kitchen. Taking another staircase that didn't lead through the living room. Instead, it was like they walked up and around ending up entering the kitchen from a completely different angle than last time
Laura didn't know how to act as she watched Pepper start to prepare some breakfast for her. She could only sit down and watch the other woman walk around. It felt weird being on this side waiting to get served and not being the one serving for once.
"Coffee or tea?" Pepper said with a soft smile. Laura wanted coffee but she had bought one last night as they were driving so better keep the caffeine intake low.
"Tea would be very nice," Laura said smiling back. Pepper nodded before finding a mug. Laura watched as she flicked a thing on the tap of the sink and before she knew it boiling water was pouring. Laura lifted an eyebrow as Pepper filled the mug with hot water. This house, this life, was such another category than her own life.
"Thank you," Laura said accepting the mug with a smile before going over the tea selection Pepper had put in front of her.
The rest of the morning with Pepper continued to be lovely. They talked through most of it. About everything under the sun really. And it was so nice just to focus on anything but what happened last night.
Steve was the second one to join them. Laura could tell he came straight from the shower, maybe he had been working out before?
Only minutes late Rhodey entered the room followed by Clint with Nate in his arms and the two elder kids trailing after. Then was Wanda and last, of the bunch, was Sam followed by another... Person?
Clint had talked about Vision before, but it was still something about seeing a purple-red android human-like… thing walking into the room. He was dressed like a person, but he was also purple.
But he was polite when talking, and Laura couldn't really do anything other than accept the fact the Avengers was a mix of all kinds of creations.
As their morning continued, they all tried to keep the mood as positive as possible. Nobody mentioned what happened at all. Ignoring the topic as much as possible.
Laura and Clint introduced the remaining Avengers to the kids, and because they were there, asking everyone about everything, it was surprisingly easy to stay away from the more serious topics.
Still, as the day continued to go on Laura felt her own stress increasing. Sooner or later Maria would come back with Tony. With or without Natasha.
But when they passed dinner time and the two hadn't shown up Laura decided to try to accept the fact that maybe they wouldn't get answers today.
They had, with the agreement of Pepper, decided to move into two bedrooms instead of sharing one. Pepper had been so kind giving them the next-door room as well so Clint and her could share one room with Nate and then Cooper and Lila could share one together. That way the two of them had some privacy if needed and Nate didn't have to share a room with his two other siblings when he was sleeping.
Laura was very thankful for what the avenges had already done for them. They barely knew her and her family but still, they welcomed them with open arms.
"Mommy. When can we go home?" Cooper said with big eyes as Laura was tucking him to bed. She could see Lila trying to sit up in her bed as well when he asked. Clint pushed her softly down shaking his head.
"We don't know, love. Maria will tell us later okay. But we might stay for a while. Don't you like hanging out with the Avengers?" Laura said softly after kissing the boy on his head. She tried to keep as calm as possible but she could feel her own voice shake ever so slightly. The kids didn't know much about the situation. And while she knew she had to tell them at one point, she didn't want to say anything before they had some more information.
"Mhm yes… I was just wondering." Copper answered with a small yawn.
"That's okay, baby. We will tell you when we know." Laura said softly before straightening up.
Clint and Laura exited the together before heading back to the living room. The two of them had barely talked throughout the day. But Laura wasn't sure what to even say to Clint. What had happened with Natasha was still hard to process. And she knew the views on the event was very different between the two of them. She had seen the version Wanda had shown her. While Clint had only seen his own version with Natasha attacking him. And while Laura knew he didn't want to be angry at her all the time, the relationship between the two was already a bit strained even before all of this.
The rest of the Avengers, plus Pepper, were all sitting in the living room talking softly. They all smiled when Clint and Laura entered. Laura took a seat beside Wanda and the girl smiled at her kindly.
"Maria called when you two were out," Pepper said. Her voice was calm and collected and Laura was very happy she at least tried to keep it as casual as possible even when she knew both Clint and Laura would tens up when she let the sentence roll of her tongue.
"And what did she say?" Clint said looking at Laura with a small tense look.
"She is coming back." Pepper answered giving Laura a small smile. "Tony is going after something else. She didn't say what. She will be here any minute." Pepper continued still keeping her voice surprisingly calm as she spoke. Laura could only nod hoping Maria was bringing good news.
They continued to wait for another hour. And the more time that went the more tense everyone became. They continued to try to talk, but it was no hiding how everyone was starting to get somewhat nervous about the whole situation.
When the door finally opened every single one of them turned their head only to welcome a very tired Maria Hill. The woman had dark circles under her eyes and her body language was low as she walked over the floor. Nobody said anything, they only watched her walk. She looked at them with a tired look before shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, Clint, Laura," Maria said looking between them. Laura felt her stomach clench as she watched the woman look between them.
"She wasn't there, was she," Clint said looking at her with a both sad and angry look in his eyes. Maria shook her head softly before saying.
"That's not all. She didn't leave anything behind."
Laura almost screamed as she watched Maria pull up a hologram. The lot. Her house. It was all gone. Burned to the ground. With nothing but dust left from it.
"No. No Maria what the fuck is this. Tell me this isn't real!" Laura watched as Clint stood up from his seat walking threatening towards the woman before Steve stopped him in his path.
"Clint, I'm sorry, this is what we arrived to. No trace of Natasha. We had one trail. It's the one Tony is going after now, but." She paused and took a deep breath. "We don't expect much."
Laura didn't even know how to react. It was nothing left. Only ashes around the whole lot. Both the house and the barn were completely done. Nothing left.
"How?" Laura only whispered as she watched a video play. She watched as Tony filmed from his suit as he flew around the ruins. Maria poking on the ground.
"Hard to tell. A mix between explosives and really intense fires." Maria answered in a low voice. "We don't know how they did it. Or how they did it without nobody noticing. All we know is that she could never have done it alone." She continued.
Laura only nodded back as she continued to watch the video. I continued watching pictures of their destroyed lot.
"But now we know that Stark was probably right," Maria mumbled. Laura turned to her and looked at her with a small look.
"She probably is working under someone. And her going after you two, attacking Clint, it was a warning and not a threat."
Laura watched as Clint played with the kids on the living room floor. They were rolling around laughing happily. Laura could do nothing but smiled as she nursed Nate while watching them all play.
They had been here for just over a month now. It had been five weeks a lot of ups and downs. They had to tell the kids they could never go home. They had to tell the kids that they wouldn't see their friends in a while. And when they asked any question, even the simplest once, all Laura and Clint could do was to tell them they didn't know. They had no information to go after. Nothing.
Laura could feel her own mental health crumble for every day that passed. She didn't know what to think. What to do.
Pepper was the only reason Laura was partly functioning. The woman had helped them making their rooms in the facilities feel a bit more like home. And she had offered to help in any way she could. Sometimes she even took Nate from her letting her take a breather on her own.
It had happened more than once that Pepper had taken Nate out of her arms and Laura had just ended up falling asleep on the couch because she had nothing left in her.
Maria too was helping between her running in and out looking for Natasha. The Avengers had started prioritizing finding the redhead now. But they had close to nothing to go after. The redhead and the others that had burned down the house had left no trace.
Laura knew they wouldn't get answers any time soon. She knew she had to accept the defeat. They had lost everything in that fire. Or what they presumed was a fire. It was nothing left. No furniture, no clothes. No nothing. All they had from home was clothes they had left in and the one diaper bag.
They had tried to do the best out of it. They had went shopping. Pepper had joined them for some company, and it had been a lovely trip. Really it had. But when Happy too had joined them just as a bodyguard and Steve had been hesitant to let them go just for the risk of any dangerous situation Laura could feel herself struggling to really enjoy the trip to the fullest. She hadn't been in New York in ages, but she just couldn't enjoy it when all they were doing here was trying to hide from any potential danger.
It was still early in the morning, but the Avengers were mostly morning people. She had learned fast that Steve liked to work out in the morning. Either running or going to the gym in the facility. Sam was a fifty, fifty kind of guy who either joined Steve in the morning or took a session later in the afternoon. Rhodey was more back and forth. He was the closest contact between the Avengers and other higher authorities. She didn't really know what he was doing right now but that wasn't really information she needed either.
Wanda continued to keep close with the Barton family which Laura appreciated very much.
They didn't have any training or public appearances. Mostly what they were doing was researching Natasha. And if anyone went out it was mostly Tony or Steve with Maria.
Her thought train was interrupted when Maria walked into the room with Pepper and Steve behind her. Both Laura and Clint lifted their heads looking at them as they entered the room. They all had a concerned, but happy look in their eyes.
"Is it okay if Steve watches the big kids for a bit, we need to you two," Pepper said with a soft voice. Laura turned to Clint and he nodded softly. He stood up from the floor. And they watched as Lila and Cooper looked at their father with a questioning look. Still, none of them asked only smiling a Steve.
Laura knew they loved Steve, and he was surprisingly good with kids, so she didn't mind. She just was confused about what Maria and Pepper wanted.
They followed the two women into a meeting room. They both looked at them with an almost mischievous look.
"We have something to show you. Something that might be in your interest." Maria said with a small smile. "It was Pepper who found it." Laura watched as Maria pressed a button on her phone and the monitor on the table turned on.
"What is this?" Laura said turning to Pepper with a confused look. Pepper smiled softly back before saying.
"Your new home, if you want it." Laura turned back to the screen before falling down on the chair grabbing the mouse to her right. She could feel Clint lean over her shoulder as she started to click through all the pictures.
It was a lovely white house. Surrounded by fields and trees.
Laura turned to Clint looking at him with big eyes.
"It's in Missouri as well, just an hour away from your old house. A safe distance, but still not too far." Maria said with a small smile. Laura could only nod. Still completely lost.
"It's no price here. How do you know it is available?" Clint said eventually. Even he sounded a bit in unbelief. It seemed too good to be true. It was exactly what Laura would have looked after if she was to look for a new house. But they had both agreed not to start the hunt yet. She wasn't sure if she was ready too.
"I have already bought it." Laura felt her whole mouth drop looking at Pepper. She turned back to the ad before turning to Pepper.
"It's a beautiful 5 bedroom. It has a garage with a second-story space for a sixth bedroom or maybe just for storage. It also has an old barn-like your hold home with acres of fields and open areas." Pepper said softly before leaning over to take the mouse from Laura before scrolling through the pictures with them.
"It is a renovation project, and I would love to get started on it if you allow me to. Some of the walls are very old and need to be switched out. And of course, the whole house is empty for all furniture so we will need to look into that as well. It won't be ready to move into before maybe early summer, mid-spring, since the old owners are still cleaning out the place. I'll get the keys in 7 weeks." Pepper said softly. After she finished her pitch, she turned to Laura again looking at her kindly.
"Pepper. This is thousands of dollars. I don't know if..." Laura started looking at Clint to see if he was on the same page as her.
"I want to gift it to you." This time Laura gave absolutely no effort in trying to keep somewhat calm and hold her composure.
"Pepper we can't accept that. It's way too much money" It was Clint who stopped her. Laura could feel him shake his head behind her. She had to agree. A whole house. And not just a house, a renovation project. This was a lot of money. A house around that area could easily go for over 150 thousand dollars. Not to talk about how this lot in itself was already big.
"Please let me give it to you. I have already the house in my name. It will only be some simple paperwork and the house will be yours." Pepper looked at them both with a serious look before adding.
"I know this is what Natasha would want."
A/N: so, I am sure everyone is like "Red, why the hell did you blow up their house". And the very simple explanation of that is. They don't have the same house in endgame like they had in age of Ultron. And I know they just didn't film the same place and like I am sure we can pretend it is the same thing. But it's not. So, I, being the smart ass I am, decided to actually integrate that in the story. So yeah, new house. You are welcome.
Other than that, if you're still confused about what is going on, we are currently at the start of 2016 aka the start of when civil war would take place. But this is very clearly not civil war because I didn't want to include civil war. It's not more complicated than that really. I love CW but I kinda want my team together in this fanfic and not tearing each other down. Got it? Got it!
Red/S-B, again.