This chapter is for SlythindorRen. All my love, fellow Slytherin!

Natasha

Natasha Romanoff sometimes marveled at how she had ended up the way she had. Even as a child, she had been predestined to be a spy, an assassin… and nothing more than another file about a short-lived asset. Instead she was now hurrying up the two floors towards Harry Stark's office. Next to her, Clint was chewing on the inside of his right cheek. Worried and restless. They had arrived via portkey from his farm in the Scottish Highlands and Natasha was so very grateful she had been visiting, when the news came.

The Bartons had spend some time in the Stark's vacation home on the shores of Loch Ness after the whole debacle with the Accords and after everything had settled down, they had decided to stay in the UK. For security reasons.

Technically, Clint hadn't been caught doing anything illegal, but he didn't trust the US government and in the UK, at least, he had the huge shadow of Harry Stark to protect them.

Natasha would never, ever have guessed this would happen. When Harry had taken over SI, Natasha had been sent by Fury to get closer to the Stark Brothers. To assess them and see, if Tony was a suitable addition to the Avengers and if Harry would interfere with their plans or not. In all honesty, Harry hadn't been considered that much of a factor. He was young. He was a family father, his origins were unknown, his upbringing shrouded in mystery and he obviously wasn't a genius like his father or brother. That was all they had known. So Natasha had become Natalie and worked at SI's legal department for a couple of months, before SHIELD had pulled some strings to have Dylan, Harry's assistant, suddenly win some contest and have him move to LA.

Naturally, Natalie had moved into the vacancy, expecting to get the job. Instead Harry had gone and hired the German history student that had interviewed him once.

SHIELD had gone through her history with a tooth comb, but there was no reason whatsoever to hire her. The opposite even.

So Natalie had stayed as close to the brothers as possible. Until one evening Harry had called her to his office, looked her straight in the eyes and asked: "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"What? Natalie Rushman, I…"

"Yes, yes, I know all that. Don't bullshit me. I know what a fake history looks like."

Natasha praised herself on being good at reading people. Very good. She had put Harry Stark down as a nice, honest and respectable guy, who did the best he could, was very conscious of his responsibilities and liked to be liked. That evening, though, she had seen something completely different and it had chilled her to the bones.

She still remembered the chills running down Natalie's arms. The honest fear. All that training. All that experience. And this man had looked at her with such cold anger and contempt, she had been sure she'd kill her.

How could she have missed it?

The rage underneath? The knowledge and… power?

She had had to tell him the truth that night. About SHIELD, the organisation his father had helped built. He had nodded once and called security to escort her out of the building. That was it. Until that cold and hard man had appeared in the middle of Manhattan, wreaking havoc amongst the alien army and beating a literal god into a pulp.

And now, somehow, they had all gotten so close that Natasha and Clint would hurry half across the country to find out what the hell had happened to Harry's youngest.

The made it through the door and stopped. The reception was full of people, most of them redheads.

Steve, ever observant was the first to notice and waved them over, greeting them with a tight smile.

"Are you sure he didn't say anything?", Natasha heard Ron Weasley ask in a soft, caring voice.

Only then did Natasha notice the woman he was kneeling in front of: Johanna Stark, looking blotchy and wild. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes slightly vacant. She was wearing a big hoodie, almost vanishing insight the fabric, her hands clasping her forearms out of sight.

"Yes. I am sure.", she responded, her voice oddly distant, "He said he wanted to check something. He went into the office and didn't come out again."

"He didn't tell you where he was going?", Weasley asked, apparently the one designated to talk to the terrified looking woman.

Natasha didn't know Johanna well, the other woman had never really liked her. She suspected it was because of her short affair with Harry, but they had never discussed it, obviously.

Still, she worried a bit, when she saw Johanna's numb eyes and remembered the woman's medical file. The hospital stints. The meds. The personality disorders…

Why on Earth had a man like Harry Stark, whose life was full of trouble, married a woman that was so… fragile?

"No, he didn't.", Johanna finally answered, "He was pacing like a caged animal, waiting for everyone to arrive. If he… if he found something out… you know what he's like."

"Yes.", a gray-haired, almost bald man with glasses, sighed, "That boy has always run into danger head first. He wouldn't bother with telling anyone about it. Not with Lily in danger."

Sam and an older, dark-haired man Natasha didn't know, returned from Harry's office.

"Pretty sure he checked something on his computer,", Sam said, "but without the password…"

Johanna's head shot up.

"I know the password.", she declared, suddenly fire in her eyes. Her hands appeared from their hiding place, as she walked past Sam, followed by a throng of people, including Natasha and Clint.

She started to type something and Natasha wasn't the least bit surprised to see that Harry's password seemed to be a whole damn sentence.

"He was… checking on Bucky's beacon.", she declared, her eyes narrowed at the screen.

"His what now?", Steve asked in surprise.

"Bucky asked to have a GPS device on him. In case… someone got to him and not every trigger was gone. He always carries it with him. But Bucky is in St. Mungo's…"

"Then why is the dot moving through what looks like Galloway Forest?", a tall woman with a tight, brown bun asked.

"Because Bucky must have slipped Lily the beacon!", Teddy declared, a mix of awe and relief in his voice, "Dad must have apparated there. Let's go!"

"We can fly…", Steve offered, "We came by Quint Jet."

"Too slow!", Teddy almost shouted.

"Has anyone ever been there? Or at least close to it?", Ron asked, looking at his nephew, "Teddy, you know we can't apparate, if we've never seen the place."

A sudden idea occurred to Natasha and she pushed her way towards the monitor. The small dot was moving quickly and towards what looked like a bigger road.

"Let me, please.", she told Johanna and took the now vacant chair, quickly opening Google Earth and typing in the road sign she could see. Then she had the computer project the picture into the room.

"Will that do?"

Everyone stared at her for a second, then at the old imagines of the place.

"Yes.", someone declared happily.

Suddenly there were several loud plops. A young man she didn't know looked at Natasha with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm coming.", she told him sternly and so he took her arm and they vanished in what felt like the WEIRDEST trip ever. Like being sucked through a tube. She hit the ground and had to study herself, while all around her more people kept arriving.

"Still horrible.", Clint told her and pulled her up to her feet. Not knowing exactly what way the dot was taking, they fanned out as far as they dared and ran.

"This way!", someone with a wand in front of them yelled loudly and swerved a little to the right. The underbrush was thick and hindered their sprint, but suddenly something fast and small barreled out from behind a big shrub and ran straight into Clint.

"Lily?", someone yelled as Teddy, who was with their group, ran forwards and lifted his little sister into his big arms.

"They have Daddy.", Lily mumbled, her voice muffled by her brother's shirt, "They have Daddy and they are hurting him."

Someone swore.

Teddy hugged her closer, nodded at two of his friends and then pointed ahead.

Everybody knew what that meant, even Natasha. They left Teddy to look after Lily and took off running again.

Suddenly a strong hand pulled her down and a bright, red light sorred over her head. They had found them.

There were people in robes everywhere. Curses flying. People shouting. And in the middle of it all a ring of people shielding two men kneeling on the ground. Next to an oddly twisted looking figure in a pool of blood.

Natasha jumped, hit and electrocuted people left and right. Wizards, she had to tell herself, actual wizards. But their people kept on coming and before long the whole squirmish was over, people being tied up and apparated out. Only the ring of guards stood silent and unmoving.

Natasha saw Steve and Clint walking towards her, Sam close behind. Young Wanda, she noticed, approached the group and was let through to kneel next to Harry as well.

"How bad is it?", she asked, worry roiling through her stomach.

"Pretty bad. They are trying to stabilize him now, so they can transport him. Right now, he can't moved.", Sam explained and Natasha closed her eyes to take a moment and breathe through the fear.

It would be okay.

Harry was one tough bastard.

He was a survivor. Like her. He would be fine. He had to be fine.