A/N: Wiii thank you to everyone how has followed, favorited and reviewed. I have a week off this week. On vacation in Denmark and then to my cabin, so don't know when this will be posted or if it will be posted this week at all. Hopefully, but no promises. The idea of this fanfic is that it has longer chapters than what I usually write, but then less chapter. Each chapter will cover a pretty big-time span because we are obviously covering many years. Anyways enjoy, I guess

S-B

Natalia and Clint were gone before Laura woke up the next day. She wasn't too happy about it, but that's what happens when you marry a SHIELD agent. Furry and Phil tried to send Clint on shorter missions and not as many as before he got Cooper. But Clint was still one of their better agents, and sometimes they just needed a Hawkeye. Still, it hurt every time he was gone, and Laura missed him dearly. But she was used to be a single parent and the days went past in a blur.

Five days later Laura found herself sipping on some coffee outside on the terrace while Cooper took his afternoon nap. It was only mid-April, but spring was already in full swing. She hadn't heard anything from Clint, but she tried not to worry too much.

She found herself deep in her own thoughts. What Clint had told her the night before he went back to SHIELD had made her wonder. Natalia, this young girl who she knew nothing about, had sacrificed her own life for her husband. Clint hadn't given her the exact details, but as she understood it, Natasha had seen a man with a suicide vest before Clint had registered, he was there. She had taken the fight away from Clint's team and into a separate room. She only made it out of the room the second the man blew himself up.

"She got thrown into a wall by the explosion with a force that should have knocked her out. She knew locking herself into that room was basically asking for it. She shouldn't have made it out. We had no idea he was even there, so she pretty much saved all five of us. " That was Clint's exact words. In other words, Natalia had chosen to die if it meant saving Clint and his team.

Laura's thoughts were interrupted when she heard an engine above her head. It was no doubt it was a Quinjet, and she felt her heart started to speed up. Clint was back.

The jet landed softly on the outskirts of the forest before it took off again. Laura couldn't help but smile when she saw Clint walk towards the house. To her surprise, a certain redhead walked beside him. She looked mostly the same, but instead of the bodysuit, she had on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a red leather jacket with a bag thrown over her shoulder. She felt her smile widen before she jogged down the stairs and ran into her husband's strong arms. It had only been five days, but it was five days to much.

"Hi love," Clint said with a low voice kissing her on the top of her head. She looked up at him smiling. She felt like a stupid teenager again. Every god damn time.

"I brought a guest if you don't mind. My new partner doesn't have a place to stay yet." Clint had a small mischievous look in his eyes when he said so, and Laura felt her mouth open.

"Really?! Already. Congratulations." Laura smiled at the young woman who nodded at her with a small, small smile.

"Yeah, it was surprisingly easy. Furry was skeptical, of course, but Pill insisted on at least let her have her evaluated. And I am telling you, this girl is a machine." Clint started as he walked towards the house with Laura and Natalia following close behind.

"Her performance was off the charts. Not only scoring a 98% score on the writing part of the evaluation. But scoring 98% on the physical and shooting part of the evaluation as well. That is one percent higher than Maria on shooting. Tied in the intelligent evaluation and passing Rumlow with 1,5 percent in the physical part. That makes her the highest scoring agent EVER!" Laura chuckled at how excited Clint was about all this. His voice was bursting with pride, just like when Cooper did really anything for the first time. Natalia, on the other hand, showed no sign of any emotion only nodding in confirmation. Clint dragged his new partner into a hug and Laura could see Natalia roll her eyes ever so slightly.

"Well, congratulation Talia. That is incredible." Laura said giving her a warm smile.

"Oh, and she is hereby, officially Natasha Romanoff," Clint said with yet another grin. Laura looked at him with a confused look.

"My suggestion. She, of course, agreed with me. But Natasha is now her new name. Not on paper, but you know what I mean" Laura looked between the two of them. Natasha shrugged. Laura was wondering if Natali - NatASHA, had agreed with the name because she liked it or if she had felt the pressure of having to agree.

Clint skipped into the living room still with a huge grin on his face. Laura rolled her eyes at him before she looked at Natasha and whispered. "I'll still call you Talia though" with a small wink before she followed her husband. To her surprise, Natasha smiled at Laura, and she couldn't help but wonder if the stone-cold Black Widow was finally getting the memo and loosen up a bit.

The next months were slow for Clint, and Laura could tell he was getting frustrated by it. He hadn't gotten any missions in a while, and he was driving everyone in the house insane. Every night he kept ranting about wanting to go out in the field again, especially with Natasha. Laura hadn't said anything, but she was happy they hadn't been sent on any missions.

Laura didn't doubt Clint for a second when he talked about how great Natasha was out there, she was probably amazing, that wasn't what concerned Laura. As a mother, she had a sixth sense when it came to reading people. Natasha was closed up and a private person, but she wasn't unreadable, and Laura could see Natasha's tired eyes.

Every day Natasha looked more drained than the day before. She was great at hiding it, looking just as put together as always, most of the time at least. She had even seemed to open up a bit more. And Laura had noticed her personality slowly start to show. But every time she thought nobody was looking Laura saw Natasha close her eyes and her posture falling. Lately, Natasha had also started to go to her room earlier in the evenings or curl up in a chair. Clint had obviously not noticed that his partner looked exhausted. But Clint had never been the best at reading body language.

It had been 3 months since Natasha had moved into the guest room and Laura was seriously starting to wonder if the woman had been sleeping at all. When they had passed two and a half months it almost seemed like she had stopped trying to hide at all. She was always curled up under a blanket in the chair closest to the fireplace. Her eyes were filled with exhaustion, losing all its life. Clint was just as oblivious as ever, and even when Laura asked if he had noticed anything different about Natasha, he had only brushed her off. Laura was thinking about confronting Natasha about it. Everyone needed rest and Laura could tell Natasha was not well. Laura never got so far before Clint announced that he was asked to go on a solo mission.

"In Ukraine?" Laura asked as Clint talked about the mission. He nodded.

"Yup, it seems pretty serious." He looked at Laura with a half-smile.

"That means you guys will be alone here. That's okay with both of you right?" Clint asked, and Laura saw some worry in his eyes. Laura and Natasha had never been alone together more than maybe five minutes since their first meeting. Natasha was mainly Clint's partner and friend, and Laura just happened to be his wife.

"Of course!" Laura exclaimed looking at the other woman. Clint also turned his attention to the younger woman. Natasha didn't seem to be paying attention at all, her eyes closed with her head slowly massaging the right side of her head.

"Nat?!" Clint said, snapping the woman out of her trance opening her eyes slowly.

"Hmm. Sorry." She answered with a distance voice. Clint looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and Natasha looked at him before she threw a glance at Laura. Laura only nodded slightly at Clint and Natasha stuttered.

"Umm… yeah, solo mission. Go for it." Natasha blurred out. Still looking a bit out of it.

"You sure?" Clint asked slowly, looking at her carefully.

"Yeah, an order is an order, right?" Natasha said, this time with a bit more confidence in her voice. Laura wanted to tell her that SHIELD never forced their agent to take any missions. If Natasha asked Clint to stay, he would. Laura didn't get the chance before Clint nodded and thanked her.

"So, when are you leaving?" Laura asked instead. She had a pretty good feeling about what the answer might be.

"As soon as possible," Clint answered short. So, she was right then.

After Clint put Cooper to bed for his 1 pm nap he kissed Laura goodbye and left. Laura looked after his car until she couldn't see it anymore.

Natasha hadn't come to say goodbye to him, in fact, Laura wasn't completely sure where she was. It was almost lunchtime, so Laura decided to go look for her. She had no idea how Natasha's sleeping pattern was, or if it was any at all, but she did have some control over the eating schedule in this house. And if she couldn't make her sleep, Laura was making sure Natasha was eating properly.

She walked into the living room finding it empty. Laura could tell she wasn't outside since her shoes were in the hall. Neatly placed on the rack left for the door so the only logical place was her room. Laura walked upstairs, surprised to discover Natasha's door slightly open.

"Nat, you in here?" Laura tried, opening the door before slipping inside the dark room. Her eyes were still adjusting to the dark when they fell on a shadow on the bed. Slowly walking towards the bed, the dark shadow turned into a person curled up. Laura could hear the fast breathing but couldn't see Natasha's face.

She walked around to the other side of the bed before kneeling beside it. "Natasha, are you okay?" Laura asked with a low voice moving her hand over to Natasha's forehead to move her hair away from her face. Natasha opened her eyes and Laura felt her heart sink when she saw Natasha's green eyes were filled with pain. The girl shook her head ever so slightly.

"What's wrong?" Laura tried again slowly slipping up into the bed beside Natasha. She watched as Natasha shifted to make space for her, but soon stopped letting out a small muffled cry.

"Head" Natasha's voice cracked when she talked only curling up even more. Laura let her hand slide over her head comforting the other girl.

"Have you been sleeping at all?" Laura asked slowly, moving her hand over Natasha's back, feeling the tense girl under her palm.

"Haven't been able too." Natasha's voice was filled with discomfort, and Laura could hear how Natasha was forcing herself to talk. She decided not to push her more so she didn't ask why.

Analyzing the was Natasha was moving, holding her hand over the right side of her head, and how she had massaged it earlier Laura concluded it had to be a migraine. She had seen the girl massage her temple earlier but hadn't thought it was more than maybe a small headache. Laura didn't have anything for migraines, but she did have some Tylenol and right now anything was better than nothing. Slipping out of the bed she walked fast over to her own bathroom grabbing the box and a glass of water before she walked back into Natasha's room.

"Natasha," Laura said nudging her carefully. Natasha looked at her with tired eyes and Laura lifted the glass of water. Natasha shifted and tried to sit up. Laura was by her side in seconds helping her. She could see in her eyes how much Natasha was struggling to keep herself together. Only by looking at her eyes Laura could tell the room was spinning for the other girl. Laura popped two 500mg pills giving them to Natasha. The girl didn't look at them for more than a second before she took them swallowing them while forcing herself to drink the whole glass of water.

Laura felt the girl sink in her arms the second she finished the glass. She curled up on Laura's lap, and Laura felt her heartache for the other girl.

Laura didn't know how to act. Natasha had shown no interest in her before other than acting polite. But being polite had nothing to do with actually caring about another person, it was only a symptom of a well behaved and raised person. Laura had tried to get a few conversations going but Natasha had never kept them going for long. At the end of the day, Laura could not force a friendship. But now Natasha was lying in her lap letting all her walls she had previously kept so tall fall.

It was a slightly uncomfortable scenario because even though Laura wanted to care for the other girl Natasha had always shown discomfort when she got to close. She was wondering if she should move or stay. Her gut said to stay, but at the same time staying could make matters worse. She got her answer fairly quickly as Natasha stopped her when she shifted.

"Stay with me?" Natasha's voice was weak, and she looked at Laura with almost fear in her eyes. Laura thought about her sleeping child who was probably going to wake up in not too long. It was like Natasha read her mind because she quickly added. "Or at least until I fall asleep."

Laura looked at the younger woman and nodded slowly. Natasha closed her eyes and soon Laura heard her breathing evened out as she fell asleep.

Natasha walked into the living room 9 hours later with a pair of tired eyes. Laura looked at her for a second studying her.

"How are you feeling?" Laura asked putting away the book she was currently reading.

"Better," Natasha answered shortly while she walked into the kitchen. Laura followed and pushed her onto a chair by the table.

"Thank you for…" Natasha's voice trailed off and she turned away from Laura not wanting to look at her. Laura turned on the sink before grabbing a glass, filling it with some cold water. She handed it to Natasha. Natasha looked at her with two thoughtful eyes as she sipped on the water.

Laura decided not to push, instead, she tried to lighten the mood and asked.

"Hungry? I have some leftovers from dinner?" She didn't let Natasha answer as she started to heat up the leftover pasta from her dinner. She placed the plate in front of Natasha before she sat down on the opposing side of the table.

"Why?" Natasha said playing with the fork in her hand. Laura looked at her with a surprised look.

"Why what?" Laura replied, genuinely surprised by the question.

"Why do you care?" Natasha said carefully, looking at her with almost fear in her eyes as she continued.

"You have been nothing but kind. Taking care of my injuries when I came back from the first mission. Earlier today. And not to mention letting me stay in your home. Why?"

"Natasha! You are my husband's partner. And he cares very much about you. And so does I. I mean you live with me for God's sake. You are not only my husband's friend, but also mine. And I care about my friends. Now eat." Laura didn't think when she answered. But she meant it. She thought about Natasha as a friend.

Natasha moved her fork and slowly started eating. She still looked at Laura with a careful eye. It was almost like she didn't believe her.

" I just don't understand how you can even ask that question?" Laura said with a soft voice as she met Natasha's worried eyes. Natasha looked at her again before she lowered her head and answered.

"I'm just not used to anyone caring about me or how I am." Laura's heart shattered at Natasha's confession.

"Natasha" She whispered. Natasha looked up again and her eyes were sad.

"I was raised as an assassin. I'm not supposed to feel anything anyway, so nobody cared about me." Laura wanted to protest and tell her that's not any way to live. But she couldn't change the past. Natasha continues to talk with a low voice.

"You need to understand that I never got a choice. And I didn't know any other alternatives. Barton was the first one that ever showed me mercy and looked at me as anything else than the monster they made me." Natasha turned her head away to avoid Laura's eyes.

"Talia, you're not a monster," Laura whispered. She didn't know how to respond. She knew very little about Natasha's past. Only what Clint had told her plus a small folder he had given her with some very limited amount of information. All it said was that she was born in Stalingrad in 1984, it said no specific date. But now Laura at least knew her age, more or less. She was or were going to turn 21 years old this year, which was kinda absurd. She was so young, but her eyes seemed so much older. So wise. She had seen and lived thought so much already. In the file, it also said she went to something called "The red room" and had worked for something called "KGB" which Laura had no idea what was or meant.

"Can we talk about something else?" Natasha asked still not wanting to look Laura in the eyes. Laura only nodded before she started to talk about Cooper. Soon Laura saw Natasha relax and they fell into a comfortable conversation.

Laura was wondering whatever happened to that cold girl who had walked into her home months ago. The next day's Natasha seemed to be a lot more relaxed around her, even cracking a few jokes. Still, Laura could sense she was hiding something.

It was 6 in the morning. Cooper had woken up earlier than usual, forcing Laura to start her day a bit earlier than preferred. Natasha was already awake when Laura had walked down with Cooper in her arms. She was curled up in a chair reading on her phone. Laura had sat down Cooper on the floor and Natasha slipped beside him keeping a watchful eye on the child.

Laura walked over to the kitchen counter and got herself a cup of coffee. She looked at Natasha who seemed to have lost herself in her head again.

"Talia, are you okay?" Laura asked while she was cleaning up in the kitchen. Natasha who was playing with Cooper on the floor looked up at her. Natasha pushed down a few of the tangents on Cooper toy keyboard and Laura recognized them as Beethoven four seasons.

"Hmm, yes?" Natasha hummed back. She looked at her and if Laura hadn't been married to a spy and had a former master assassin as her roommate, she wouldn't have seen the slight worry lingering in her eyes. But she did, and it concerned her.

She decided not to push the cause any further. Natasha had seemed to relax more and while Laura still was quite sure Natasha wasn't sleeping very much, the girl seemed slightly less tired. She had caught her taking a few naps mid-day a few times, which she hadn't seen her do before her migraine episode.

"So, tell me, what does the mighty Natasha do when she has time to kill?" Laura said, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" Natasha said looking at Laura who walked over to them.

"Well, I was thinking maybe you and I could spend the day together. Just you and me. A neighbor has a kid just a few months older than Coop and offered to take him for a day if I ever wanted to take a day off." Laura said while playing with Cooper.

"Laura, you really don't have too." Natasha started but got interrupted by Laura.

"I want to. Plus, she is already on her way to pick him up. She is an elementary school teacher, so I have absolutely no problem sending him with her. Maybe he will even learn something." Laura winked. And Natasha smiled.

Just as planned Cooper got picked up a few hours later and Natasha and Laura were left alone.

"So, what do you want to do?" Natasha asked her. Her eyes were locked in Laura's and the look she gave her reminded her of a lost puppy waiting for a new command.

"I think you should decide," Laura replied with a small smile. Natasha's eyes almost fell out of her head in shock.

"Why?" Natasha sounded genuinely surprised, almost sounded stressed by the idea.

"I don't have any more rights to choose than you. It's not like I am the boss or anything" Laura looked at Natasha with a serious look. She meant what she said.

"But you live here. Own this house. I'm only a guest?" Laura looked at her. This girl had no idea how a normal life worked, did she? Laura was probably one of the least bossy people you would ever meet. She was strict if she wanted to. But most of the time she saw no use in being bossy.

"Nat. Nobody forces you to do anything. And you don't have to do anything you don't feel comfortable with. And that goes both here and in SHIELD. Now. What do you want to do?" Natasha smiled at her with a defeated smile. She closed her eyes to think for a bit before she said.

"I don't have too many clothes with me. Most of them are back in Russia. If you don't mind, I would like to go shopping." Natasha's voice was low, and Laura could tell she was still unsure about the whole "you chose idea". Laura smiled at her before she answered.

"Sounds perfect."

This was the first time Natasha had been to their small town. It was very minimal. It had an elementary and high school. A few restaurants and one mall.

They started in the shopping center making their way from one end to another in only two hours walking into pretty much every single store on their way. And between them, they had 7 shopping bags in total.

Natasha was efficient but also quite picky. Her style was classy and elegant yet practical. A lot of dark colours Laura noticed.

Laura was talking about Clint and Cooper when she noticed Natasha had her eyes glued to a window display. Laura didn't even know the store existed, but it was a small dance boutique. In the window laid a pair of pointe ballet shoes. They were white, unlike the usual pink. Natasha continued to walk but her eyes were still gazing that direction even when they walked past the store.

For someone who had done nothing but kills and train her whole life, Natasha was a really great cook. Natasha was an incredibly fast learner even if she didn't admit it. She just said it was easy since she had a recipe to follow. But that was bullshit. Nobody became a cook by reading a recipe.

Natasha was cutting some vegetables while Laura was making a salad. Natasha's was, to nobody's surprise, excellent with the kitchen knife. Working with insane precision and speed. She could probably dice an onion in half the time Laura could chop one half.

They had returned from their trip 30 minutes ago and were currently working on making some lunch. While they worked Natasha and Laura found themselves in a deep conversation about Clint.

"I got to ask. Because I've been wondering about it for quite some time. Why does he call you ma'am all the time?" Natasha looked up from the cutting board and at Laura. Laura wanted to tell Natasha to look back and keep her eyes on the knife this instant, but of course, Natasha could cut a tomato without looking. It was Natasha after all. Still, she felt her heart calm down when Natasha turned around again.

"Actually, he got the idea when we were at a wedding and this really tall rich guy was flirting with me. I mean I don't really know why he got so jealous. We were already married. I mean he even used Clint's surname. But even so, this dude kept calling me Madame B-" Laura got cut off by Natasha spinning around with her eyes flashing in panic. The big kitchen knife she had in her hand slammed into the counter side making a big deep cut into the wood before she dropped it on the floor.

"Talia?" Laura lowered her voice as she looked at Natasha's panic-filled eyes. Her green eyes were flying around in the room and the girl was backing up to the countertop. Laura moved slowly towards the girl. She felt her heart speeding up in her chest as Natasha desperately tried to back away from her.

"Please don't hurt me." Natasha's voice was only a whisper as she sank down the counter to try to get away from Laura. Her eyes were distance and they seemed to be moving around focusing on something that wasn't there.

"I haven't done anything wrong I promise." Natasha was shaking in fear.

"Talia." Natasha jumped back when she heard her name and Laura heard the back of her head slammed into the side of the stone countertop, but Natasha didn't seem to even notice.

"Natasha" Laura corrected.

"You're back in America. It's 2005. You're working for SHIELD. You're at Clint's farm. You're safe here. You're home" Laura moved slowly talking with a low voice.

"You're safe. I will never hurt you." Laura whispered. She was a few feet away before she kneeled down and stopped.

"Nat. Honey. It's me" Natasha looked at her with tears in her eyes still shaking in fear. "Natasha," Laura whispered again. Her eyes glued at Natasha.

"Laura?" Natasha gasped. Laura nodded slowly. She moved towards the girl but stopped the second Natasha started to curl up.

"You're safe her Natasha. You're at Clint's farm remember? See Cooper highchair to your right. And the toys on the floor. You're not back there." Laura said with a soft voice. She watched as Natasha slowly moved her head around to make sure she was really telling the truth.

"I… I am so sorry" she whispered. Her eyes fell on Laura's face and Laura watched as she slowly made her way back to the present. Laura reached out for her only a few inches away with her hand.

"Natasha, honey" she moved closer and was soon embraced by a crying Natasha. The girl was shaking uncontrollably gasping after air with her head buried into her chest.

"It's okay. It's okay. '' Laura whispered as she tried to calm the girl down. Natasha didn't look at her as she continued to cry.

Laura and Natasha sat on the floor for one and a half-hour before the girl finally started to calm down. She rested her head on Laura's chest as she forced herself to take deep breaths.

"Yes. That's right Nat" Laura praised as Natasha took a deep breath. She played with the girl's hair holding around her with a protective arm. Laura felt the weight on her got heavier, and scared that she would fall asleep on the floor she slowly shook the girl whispering.

"Bedroom?" Natasha only nodded before she slowly stood up. Laura watched as the girl stumbled a bit still very disoriented. She put a supporting hand on her shoulder before she slowly dragged her along upstairs.

Instead of taking her to the guest room she led her into the master bedroom pushing her carefully into the bed closing the door shut and turning off the lights on the way.

Natasha curled up in bed the second she hit the mattress. Laura could hear her still occasionally gasp after air.

"Sweetie. Stretch out your legs." She moved beside her and put a hand on one of her knees forcing her legs to stretch outwards. She knew Natasha would probably fight back but right now she was just blocking her airways.

To her surprise, Natasha let up the fight pretty easily letting Laura move her legs and instead of moving closer into the woman's embrace. Soon they both fell asleep, tired from the day's events.

Laura wasn't sure exactly why Natasha hadn't been able to sleep when she was at the farm. Of course, when she had asked Natasha had denied there ever was a sleeping problem in the first place. Of course, that wasn't true. Laura wasn't an idiot. But right now, Natasha was sleeping peacefully in her bed. She had just passed 8 hours which was honestly more than Laura thought she would sleep through. Kinda proved her point on how badly Natasha really needed sleep.

Cooper was back. He had come back around 5 pm, but now he was too in bed, sleeping. With both of them sleeping, the kitchen clean Laura felt her body relax for the first time as she slipped beside the sleeping girl.

Sadly, the peace was short-lived. Laura got ripped out of her sleep when she woke up by a high scream. Laura felt a sharp pain in her leg when Natasha kicked her at full force. Laura sat up fast turning on the nightlight beside her. Natasha was gasping and shaking as she defended herself from someone who wasn't there.

"Natasha" Laura tried. She didn't dare to touch the girl scared about how she would react when she woke up. The girl was throwing herself around in the bed and let out another pain-filled scream that made Laura sick.

Her panic got gradually worse and Laura was forced to rethink maybe waking her up was something she had to do. She caught Natasha's arms pinning them down to the mattress.

"Natasha!" She shook the girl forcefully hoping to god Natasha wouldn't end up killing her when she woke up.

Natasha threw herself up from the bed and Laura had no chance of holding her down. Natasha's eyes flew up and her body sank together as the girl got drowned in panic.

It took approximately five seconds before Natasha was full-on hyperventilating gasping and shaking uncontrollably. Laura grabbed her arms and pulled her up into a sitting position. She shifted so she ended up sitting on Natasha's legs to prevent her from moving them up to her chest before she hugged Natasha holding around her. The girl was still shaking with short gasps.

"Shhh, shhh," Laura said with a soft voice stroking her hair. Laura felt herself getting pulled down into the bed by Natasha and ended up getting hugged by the girl as she continued to shiver in panic.

Unlike last time Natasha didn't calm down in only a few hours. The girl was unresponsive and still on a panicked state five hours later making Laura really, really appreciate Cooper's heavy sleeping because if he had woken up Laura wouldn't know what to do.

She felt the girl in her arms struggle to keep her breathing under control and it didn't matter how many times Laura tried to mimic a deep breath to let her copy, or whisper into her ear, Natasha didn't calm down. She didn't respond and for the most part, didn't seem present at all.

Going into hour six Laura was exhausted feeling her body soon give in. Natasha's frantic cries had evolved into sobs mixed with a fast breathing and desperate gasps.

Laura had wondered why Natasha didn't sleep. Now she didn't wonder anymore. Natasha's nightmares and panic attacks were some of the worst Laura had ever seen. And having been married to Clint for many years she had seen a lot of nightmares in her times. Natasha couldn't even compare.

She had no idea when Clint came back home. But at one point she saw the door open and Clint's face popping into the room. He only looked at her for a second before he turned around closing the door carefully behind him. Natasha was still shivering, and Laura couldn't help but feel helpless as she felt her first own tears start to run down her face.

Laura woke up a few hours later opening her eyes to find herself wrapped around Natasha. Natasha had her head close to her chest, and while she couldn't see her face Laura heard a steady breath coming from the girl. She threw a glance at the clock on the wall 7.

Carefully not to wake Natasha she untangled herself and slipped out of bed. Of you didn't count Natasha's face, in the soft morning sun Natasha seemed peaceful and relaxed. But her face told another story. Natasha's face was filled with pain still pale from her crying.

Laura walked downstairs in hope to find Clint, which she thankfully did. She walked straight into his strong arms and felt her emotions take control. She started sobbing into his neck.

"She is in so much pain, Clint. I don't know what to do!" Laura didn't even mean to say it, it just slipped out. She felt Clint's hand run through her hair before he guided her to sit on the sofa.

"Just being with her helps more than you know" Clint answered looking at her with his wise kind eyes.

"But… But she is in so, so much pain." Laura looked at him with tearful eyes. She bit her lip as she listened to Clint talk.

"Laura. She has never said anything to me about his. I haven't seen her like it before last night either. If she didn't want you to know, she wouldn't have let you. But she did. She trusts you. She needs you." Clint answered still with a calm voice.

"She got a migraine the day you left. It knocked her out for almost 10 hours. The same night she also told me she was told she was a monster. And she really believes it. How can anyone be so cruel!" Laura whispered the last part. She had never understood how anyone could be so awful brainwashing young girls like that.

"I know" Clint only answered letting Laura talk.

"She got a smaller panic attack yesterday around lunch. I talked about Ferdinand and how he used to call me Madame Barton and you start to call me ma'am. But something triggered... something... and she panicked. But I don't know what triggered it." Laura looked up at her husband how only shaking his head indicating he had no idea either.

"What happened then?"

"I led her up to our bedroom and she woke up by a nightmare. I don't know how long she was awake after I shook her awake from the dream. She fell into a panic attack… and… and I couldn't calm her down" Laura whispered. Clint only nodded at her before he hugged her again. Laura felt safe in his arms and almost immediately felt herself calm down.

"Stay with her. I'll take care of Coop. Make sure she is safe. Okay?" Clint said whispering with a soft voice. She nodded but didn't let go quite yet.

Clint went to take Cooper out for a day outside while Laura made her way back into the bedroom. Natasha was still sleeping. But she was tossing around in the bed with a frown on her face.

"Shhhh. It's okay Talia" Laura whispered as she hugged around the smaller woman. She closed her eyes and felt the girl slowly calm down.

"It's okay. It's okay" Laura repeated herself over and over. She found herself in the biggest need to protect this woman. Never ever let anyone hurt her. This woman had scars and marks all over her body and Laura never wanted to see her in pain ever again.

A/N: Wow posted a new chapter before the weekend. honestly surprised that I even managed. I wrote most of it on the go and Jesus so many typos... Hopefully a new one on Monday (close to finish another chapter last night so hopefully I will finish that this weekend and then read over it a few times on Monday.)

S-B again