Natasha was confused. How was she more exhausted at the end of a week working as an executive assistant then she was at the end of a week of chasing down terrorists and spies? It had to be Tony, it absolutely had to be Tony. Working as her cousin's assistant was going to drive Natasha into early retirement. Her brilliant genius idiot cousin created a piece of technology that could just as much harm as Tony wanted to do good. Her actual boss, Director Nick Fury, who was now perpetually on her mother's shit list, had her babysitting Tony. Ok, so it was more than just babysitting. Tony's Iron Man suit was really a marvel, and she could see why Fury might want to recruit Tony for his pet project. Natasha was actually there to observe and evaluate to see if Tony could be an asset to Fury's project, or if he was going to be a liability for SHIELD to clean up after.

After gathering up the mail that had piled up over the couple of weeks she'd been in Malibu, Natasha headed for the stairs with nothing on her mind but a hot bath, a trashy book, and a bottle of wine. But the path upwards to her apartment seemed to be blocked by a very sad looking Peter Parker. "Hi Peter." She greeted the boy. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah." Peter replied with a sad sigh. "It's fine."

"That voice doesn't sound like an everything's fine voice." Natasha said as she sat beside the boy on the stairs. He had his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, and the most wounded look in his big brown eyes. How on earth did May resist those eyes?

"It's nothing Ms. Carter, really." Peter said as he lifted his head to look at her. "I tried to win tickets to the Stark Expo." He told her as he held up a crumpled piece of paper. "But I didn't win."

"Oh." Natasha replied softly. "I'm sorry, Peter. I know how big a fan you are of…"

"Peter." May's voice called softly from behind them. "What's taking you so long to get the mail?"

Natasha turned to look at the other woman and smiled softly. "He got some bad news I'm afraid."

"Stark Expo?" May asked and Natasha nodded. May sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Petey. I'm sure Mr. Stark will have another one, we'll try to get tickets for that one."

A week after Natasha moved in May had knocked on her door with a freshly made lasagna to replace the one that had bitten the dust when Peter knocked into her. Ever since then they'd slowly started becoming friends. Peter was a great kid, and May was pretty amazing. She'd told Natasha about how she'd ended up with Peter after his parents had died over coffee one day, and about the loss of her husband over a bottle of wine. So it was easy for her to make the decision to see if she could pull a few strings and get Peter into the expo. Peter and May had been through a lot in Peter's short life, and if Natasha could do something nice for them, she'd be more than thrilled to do it.

All Natasha had to do was ask Pepper, who was more than happy to provide two VIP passes as a thank you for helping her with Tony, which wasn't an easy task. Natasha had laughed. "I've had Tony's back since we were kids. It's nice knowing he has someone like you in his corner, Pepper, I should be the one thanking you." Pepper had blushed. Natasha thought it was cute, and wondered if Tony would ever get a clue and realize that Pepper was in love with him.

Knocking on the Parkers' door Natasha had a warm smile on her face when May answered. "I hope you don't mind." She said when May invited her in. "But I have a surprise for Peter."

"He's been so bummed out about the expo, if you can put a smile on his face again I'll owe you." May replied and then called out for her nephew.

"Hey Peter." Natasha said when the boy greeted her. "I was wondering if you might be able to help me out." Crouching down so she was eye to eye with the boy she pulled a small brown envelope from her pocket, and from that she began pulling out two lanyards. "See, I just happened to have two VIP passes to the Stark Expo, and I was wondering if maybe you knew someone who might like them."

Peter's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped as he looked at the shine laminated passes as if they were the most amazing things on the planet.

"So, do you know someone who…" Natasha said, smiling a huge smile as she watched the awe blossom on the boy's face.

"Me!" Peter said. "I'd like them, Ms. Carter! Please!"

Natasha laughed. "Well that's a relief because I got them just for you."

Peter continued to watch Natasha in awe as she hung one of the lanyards around his neck. Then he threw himself at her and hugged her. "Thank you Ms. Cater! Thank you thank you thank you!"

May watched as Natasha blushed a little as Peter hugged her, his big brown eyes bright and his smile huge. She shook her head a bit, amazed by the kind gesture, and smiled at Natasha when the woman stood and turned towards her. "Natasha, you didn't have to do that. It couldn't have been easy or cheap to get VIP passes when normal tickets are sold out."

"It's not a big deal, May." Natasha reassured the woman with a warm smile. "All I had to do was ask my cousin for them, well, technically I asked Pepper, but…"

"Pepper?" Peter repeated, taking his eyes off the passes he was studying to look at the redheaded woman. "Pepper Potts? She works for Mr. Stark! You know Pepper Potts, Ms. Carter?"

Natasha nodded, chuckling over Peter's excitement. "I do."

Peter's eyes went even wider as he dared to whisper, "Do you know Mr. Stark too?"

"May," Natasha said over her shoulder. "I'm afraid if I answer that I might break your nephew."

May laughed. "Go for it, I have to admit I'm curious as to how you know someone like Tony Stark."

Natasha turned to look at May as she said, "I know what you're thinking and no that is not how I know Tony, in fact, eww gross." Then she laughed and turned to look at Peter. "Tony's my godbrother, and we were raised together like cousins."

If real life people could get hearts and stars in their eyes Peter would have them in his now as he looked up at Natasha. "Carter!" He squealed. "Mr. Stark's godmother is Margaret Carter, she was a war hero."

"Is. Is a war hero" Natasha corrected him with a chuckle. "My Mum's still alive bud, she lives in Brooklyn, and gives me grief about not calling enough."

"Tony Stark will always be the coolest person on the planet to him." May said as she smiled at Natasha. "But I think you're now a solid second."

Natasha stayed for dinner and told a few stories about growing up with Tony much to Peter's delight. It was more than she'd normally admit to people, but there was just something about May that made talking easy, and having Peter's attention was kind of wonderful. She told them she was working for Tony and Pepper, and would be working the expo but promised to make time to show them around. Peter's excitement must have been contagious because for the first time Natasha was starting to feel excited about the expo too.

The afternoon of the expo Natasha slipped away to meet May and Peter at the gates. She had a present for Peter, an Iron Man helmet and little gauntlets that lit up. He gave her the biggest hug that sent a wave of warmth through her, and once again made her blush in a way that made May smile. She helped him put the helmet on and then he refused to take it off as they walked around the fairgrounds.

"I remember coming to these when I was Peter's age." Natasha said as she and May watched Peter run from one exhibit to the next. "My Uncle Howard started the expos before the war, and continued them afterwards. I think he kind of saw himself as the science and technology version of Walt Disney."

"Where you into all this science and tech stuff as a kid too?" May asked Natasha before calling out. "Peter, don't get so far ahead of us please. I need to be able to see you."

"Ok, Aunt May!" Came the little boy's reply.

Natasha smiled and shook her head. "Oh, no, I was a dancer actually."

"Really?" May turned to look at the woman walking beside her.

"Ballet." Natasha nodded. "Started when I was four, gymnastics when I was six. I was always full of more physical energy, while Tony was always the one in his own head coming up with inventions and theories."

"Do you still dance?" May asked.

"I haven't performed since college, but yes, I still dance." Natasha smiles softly.

When it was nearly time for the main presentation Natasha had to excuse herself to return to work, but promised to meet up with May and Peter afterwards. When Pepper got out of the car alone Natasha frowned. When she asked about Tony, Pepper just shook her head and said, "Don't ask." And when Natasha looked at Happy for answers, he just threw up his hands and followed Pepper. Sighing Natasha did the same. She'd thought that since Tony was able to undo his palladium poisoning he was in a better place. Had she been wrong? Had she left him alone to soon?

Her instincts were telling her something was off from the moment Justin Hammer took the stage with his War Machine. The gun metal gray heavily armored suit was exactly what Tony didn't want his tech turned into. Natasha was pissed, and if she could get her hands on either Hammer or Rhodes she'd cause them great amounts of pain. When Tony showed up, she knew she was about to get her chance. Everything after that happened so fast, and Natasha was focused on the crisis at hand. She did however manage to send off a text to May while Happy drove her over to Hammer's facility to make sure she and Peter were alright. May replied they were and Natasha was able to fight with a clear mind.

Over the next week a few texts and a phone call was all the contact Natasha had with May. She'd gone back to Malibu with Tony to help clean up the mess he and Rhodes had made. She punched Rhodes in the face, sprawling him out on his ass, for stealing Tony's suit and handing it over to the government. Pepper, the little snitch, called and told her mother about the secret she and Tony had been keeping. So Natasha had to deal with an irate Peggy Carter, that was always fun. She didn't help herself by telling Pepper over a family dinner one evening that snitches get stitches.

Her Ma had laughed, "You think these two are bad?" Angie told Pepper. "Wait until all three of them are together."

Pepper's eyes had gone wide. "There's another one?"

Her Mum was not amused. "Natasha Elizabeth Carter, you will stop inflicting violence on people because they made your cousin pout, or so help me god, you and I will have a private conversation when we get home." Natasha opened her mouth to argue but Peggy beat her to it. "Say the words grown, arse, or woman and we'll have that chat now."

Without Tony to worry about and fuss over there was nothing to distract Natasha from her personal concerns. She didn't have a lot of friends; family, yes, she had a great family, but not many friends. Clint didn't count, he was family. She'd lost contact with Hope van Dyne after her father stopped working for SHIELD and moved her to the west coast after her mother's death. She and Maria Hill were friends, but there were work entanglements that came with that. For a moment Natasha thought she'd finally found a friend in May, but after what happened at the expo she wouldn't blame the woman if she told her to stay away from her and Peter.

"Poppet?" Peggy said gently after watching Natasha stare out the window of the private plane taking them back to New York for nearly the whole flight. "What's wrong, my darling?"

Natasha sighed softly and turned her head to look at her mothers who sat across from her. "It's nothing, Mum."

"Nope," Angie said with a shake of her head. "That's not a nothing look on your face. What's up, angel?"

"It's nothing, really, it's just that I invited a friend and her nephew to the expo." Natasha told them. "I know it was stupid, it shouldn't have, I was there on an assignment. But Peter, May's nephew, is the biggest little Tony Stark fan, it's really stinkin' cute, and he really wanted to go and I got them tickets and then it all went to hell."

"Were they hurt?" Peggy asked, after sharing a look with her wife.

Natasha shook her head. "Thankfully, no. They got separated for a few minutes that nearly gave May a heart attack, but they're both fine."

"No one could have foreseen what happened at the expo, Natasha." Peggy said gently but in a way that left no room for argument. "There was no reason to even suspect an attack would take place. This wasn't your fault, Nattie. I'm sure your friend doesn't blame you for what happened. You shouldn't blame yourself either."

"I guess, maybe you're right." Natasha sighed.

Peggy snorted playfully. "Maybe I'm right, she says. It's like my own daughter doesn't even know me."

Natasha rolled her eyes and smiled, which is what her mother was going for.

"So, Nattie, tell us about this new friend of yours." Angie was smirking.

"She's just a friend, Ma." Natasha replied with another roll of her eyes.

Her mother was right. May didn't blame her. In fact she'd been worried about her, and when she'd heard Natasha was home had come right down to make sure she was okay. May had hugged her tightly for maybe just a little longer than needed, and Natasha was okay with that. May reassured her that she and Peter were fine. Hell, Peter was on cloud nine because apparently he and Iron Man took out one of those robot things together.

"Is that how those things always end?" May asked over a glass of wine while sitting on Natasha's couch with an orange tabby cat in her lap.

Natasha laughed and shook her head. "Not that I remember. When I was a kid they normally ended with my uncle being super hyper and a little drunk and my mother scolding him," She smirked, cleared her throat, and put on a perfect British accent. "Oh, Howard, do stop acting like a baboon's arse. I swear you're worse than the children after these things."

May laughed and then said, "I thought you said your mother was from Brooklyn?"

"My Ma is from Brooklyn." Natasha replied as she refilled their glasses. "My Mum is from Hampstead England." She beamed proudly at the woman sat at the other end of her couch. "My mothers have been together since before I came along. They got married the first time shortly after I was born, and as soon as it's legally recognized they plan on renewing their vows here and in England."

"That's wonderful." May replies with a warm smile. "It must be something special to have lasted so long, especially under such circumstances."

"Yeah," Natasha smiled. "They're pretty remarkable, even when they forget I'm grown and start throwing around parental threats."

May snorted. "That's a right and a privilege we parents get to keep for the rest of our lives."

May stayed until it was time for Peter to come home from his friend's house. Natasha felt such a huge wave of relief as she closed the door behind May, happy to know she still had her blossoming friendship with the other woman.