A/N: If anyone is wondering no Hill does not have any romantic feelings for Natasha and likewise. They just care more than they want to admit. Okay?!

I had a really crappy weekend so now I fell behind my schedule and that annoys me even more. And again, this fanfic takes more time than for example Bulletproof bc the chapters are longer and it's more to go over when I finish the chapter.

S-B

Laura had never been so scared in her life. It felt like her world was breaking down right in front of her eyes. The day had started out all right. No actually. It had started out perfectly.

Life seemed to be more or less perfect. Or at least that's what Laura thought when she gave birth to Lila there days ago. Lila was perfect. Everything was perfect. Clint was there, Cooper was there. Life was great. They were in the hospital for three days before they went home that evening. Lila had slept almost the whole way home and when they were back home both Cooper and Lila had been so easy, and both went to sleep almost instantly.

Clint and Laura had cuddled up in bed with Lila sleeping on the other side of the room. They had, of course, a nursery for her, but the first days they preferred to have her close.

Laura was laying on Clint's shoulder and was almost drifting off when Clint's phone started vibrating and broke the silence.

"Mmmm. Probably nothing. Just ignore it." Clint mumbled into her hair. Laura would normally protest because it could be something urgent, but she was just so tired. That happened one more time, making Clint believe it was only one of those phone sellers because who else would call at this time of night two times in a row anyways. It wasn't before Laura's phone went off that the two of them decided to move.

Clint turned on the nightlight while Laura slowly slipped out of bed to get her phone. The second her eyes fell on the screen she could feel her heart speed up. Her hand was already shaking uncontrollably as she slowly picked up the phone. "Hello?" Laura whispered into the phone already bracing herself for what was going to happen.

"Laura" Maria's voice was flustered and filled with stress and pain. Laura gulped slowly and was thankful when she felt Clint behind her, keeping her on her feet.

"Natasha has been shot." The words echoed in her head long after Laura had dropped her phone. She felt her legs give up under her in shook.

Natasha had been shot. Was she alive? She had to be right? Was she hurt? Was it life-threatening? Did they know where she was? Did they know what had happened? What had happened? Where was she now?

Laura's head was spinning as her thoughts went on. Oh my god. Natasha had been shot!

It had been almost two weeks since they had gotten the call. They knew very little about the whole situation. Maria had told them that Natasha's car had been shot presumably making her lose control over the vehicle. They had found the car on the bottom of a cliff where they believed Natasha had pulled them out. Their theory was that Natasha had covered her engineer putting her between the shooter and her mission. The shooter had shot the engineer with one bullet. One clean shot straight through Natasha killing him. The backup team had found her unconscious, and they described it as a miracle she was even alive.

Clint was currently talking with Maria on the phone phasing around in the room while Laura was on the floor with Cooper watching him carefully.

"Yes, thank you, Maria." Clint looked at Laura and Laura could already feel the lump in her stomach grow.

"She is stable. She had been for a while. She is going to be fine. But it will take time. Judging from Maria's tone of voice the medical team isn't doing Natasha any good. It stresses her and makes it worse. Maria wants to send her home." Laura felt like a big weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Natasha was coming back home?!

"When?" Laura asked weakly. She felt her heart race in her chest.

"She is aiming for later tonight. If all goes to plan, she is flying over with another pilot. She offered to stay a couple of days if we need help with Natasha and the kids. I know it's not the best time, but I said yes. I think- "Laura cut him off nodding.

"I agree, Clint. It's what's best for everyone. Including Natasha." Clint nodded and hugged Laura tightly. Feeling a little bit more safe in his arms. She knew they would get through. Together.

Nothing could prepare Laura for what she saw that night. Clint ran out to meet Maria and Natasha at the Quinjet. The sight in front of her shattered her heart to pieces. Clint had Natasha in his arms, carrying her carefully with Maria following closely behind.

Natasha was almost completely white with her eyes closed. Her arm was hanging limply from her body. She seemed completely unresponsive and unaware of everything and everyone around her. Her sweater was hanging loosely around her and Laura saw the big bandage which lashed around her whole stomach. Laura would see some sweat on her forehead and the poor girl looked completely knocked out.

Maria who was walking slowly behind didn't look any better. She was almost just as pale, and her eyes were tired. Clint had told her how much Maria and he had argued with the medical team to let her go.

As Clint passed her Laura tossed him a worried look. He only nodded before he continued into the house slowly carrying Natasha to her bedroom.

"Maria, thank you." Laura stopped the other woman in the hallway grabbing her arm. Maria looked at her and nodded with a small smile.

"I know she would have done the same for me. I owe her this much." Maria answered with a tired voice. Laura had no idea what that meant but she was okay with it anyway. All she really cared about was that Natasha was home.

Laura helped Maria settle into the guest room downstairs. As she was making the bed, she threw a few glances at the other woman who was resting in a chair.

"So, what now?" Laura asked carefully. Maria looked at her with a thoughtfully look.

"Natasha needs a long recovery. She was really lucky with that shot, an inch more to the left and she would have been killed. The medical team at SHIELD wanted to keep her at HQ, but she seems to get stressed by everyone around her. We don't know what happened exactly, but she doesn't trust anyone at SHIELD right now." Maria said with a sad voice. Laura nodded slowly.

"What about you?" She whispered, almost immediately regretting she even asked. Maria had closed her eyes and let her guard down completely, which was interesting because last time she was here she wasn't nearly as relaxed.

"I just need to make sure she is okay. She… she doesn't seem to trust me or Fury at the moment either. The only logical thing to do was to bring her here. I know she trusts both of you. It's safe. And I think she needs that." Maria paused for a second before she continued.

"Even if she doesn't trust me right now, I owe her to help. If she doesn't let me help her directly that's fine, but if I can help you at home or with Cooper or really anything." Laura nodded slowly. She didn't want to push Maria anymore. She was already so grateful for what she had done. The two of them got interrupted when Clint walked into the room.

"Laura, do me a favor and go upstairs to Natasha. She is stressed and I think she got a headache, and I can tell she doesn't want me there. I checked up on her wound and all the medical stuff, but I rather not get that glare again…." Clint said with a slightly scared voice. Jesus, Laura thought this woman was hurt, and here she is glaring making Clint all scared.

Maria nodded slowly. "I'm not surprised," she said with a half-hearted smile. Laura looked at the two of them before handing over the cover of the pillow she was currently trying to get on over to Clint. "She has been like that for the last two weeks. The first week she was more or less controllable, but I just had to pull her out at the end because it looked like she was going to kill some of the doctors." Maria let out a small chuckle. Guess that was a good sign. Sort of.

Laura nodded at Maria before she turned around and left the room. She jogged up the stairs and found that Clint hadn't even closed the door to her room. Slipping inside and closed the door before she turned around towards the bed. Natasha was lying on her right side probably to keep the wounded side away from any pressure. She looked at her with two awake tensed eyes.

"Hi" Laura whispered before she moved over to the bed sitting down close to Natasha's head. She brushed over her hair lightly letting Natasha rest her head in her lap.

"You okay?" Laura whispered. Of course, she knew the answer to that question. Why did she even ask that? Natasha shook her head slowly in her lap and Laura could tell she was in a lot of pain still.

Laura spent the whole night with Natasha whispering to her. They could hear Lila cry and wake up multiple times, but Clint never walked in to get Laura. Instead, he let her stay with the Agent. Natasha didn't fall asleep before 7 am the next morning and a few hours later Laura passed out beside her.

Natasha's recovery was long and painful. Maria left a week later when Fury had forced her back home. In the short week, she had been there she had helped the Barton's more than Laura could ever make up for. She had been a key part of making Natasha's first week not as hellish as it could have been.

The spy used close to a month before she had any energy to get out of bed without help. At 6 weeks Natasha had been able to go downstairs for the first time but she was tired and weak. Laura was wondering if it was all because of the gun wound or because of something else.

It was almost fall, and three months since the assassination of the engineer. Natasha was currently sitting outside on the porch while Clint was teaching Cooper to hit a ball with a bat. Laura walked down and outside joining Natasha in the small sitting area. Natasha had closed her eyes and was smiling at the warm summer sun.

"Lila asleep already?" Natasha hummed still with her eyes closed. Laura was happy to say that Natasha looked a lot better now finally seemed to get better after a rough first weeks

"Yup. She got that from her father" Laura said back, and she could hear Natasha softly laugh. A sound she didn't know she had missed so dearly before now. Natasha had not only had an awful long recovery from her injury, but her mentality had also, for some reason, gotten a serious hit. Laura didn't know what that made Natasha so shaken. Obviously, it had to be something about the whole almost killed episode, but they still didn't know exactly what had happened. SHIELD had no way of tracking the shooter. Apparently, it was a "slug with no rifling" which meant nothing to Laura because she had no idea what any of that means. The first weeks Natasha had curled back into her shell, similar to the woman Laura had met years ago. Cold, emotionless, stressed and a total wreck, but lately, she seems to slowly come back to life.

Both Laura and Natasha turned their heads when they heard an engine not far away. The sound of the engine was not to be mistaken; it was a Quinjet. Laura watched Clint lift his head before he picked up the ball and pushed Cooped inside just as the airplane landed softly on the outside of the lot. Laura watched as Natasha stood up and straightened up when the person walked out of the jet, and for some reason, Laura felt the need to do the same.

Natasha had obviously figured out who it was way before Laura. To her surprise, it was Phil Coulson who walked up to the house. Clint walked out the door just when Natasha walked down to greet the superior Agent.

"Coulson," Natasha said with a cold tone.

"Natasha, I think we are way past using our las- "A cold stair shut Phil and he mumbled low rolling his eyes ever so slightly. "Romanoff."

Laura was definitely past all the formalities giving Phil a small hug and a kind smile.

"Phil, what are you doing here?" Laura said with a soft voice letting the man into their home. Phil smiled at her and Clint before he led the way into the kitchen.

"As much as I would love to have a small holiday like Maria had a few months back…We need you back at SHIELD." Laura was sure he was talking about Clint, but instead of looking at Clint Phil was staring into Natasha's green eyes making the spy look just as uncomfortable as Laura. Of course, Natasha shook it off way quicker than her, answering shortly.

"Why?" Her voice was cold and emotionless, and Laura swore under her breath. She had spent so much time trying to get Natasha back to her normal self and now she had fallen back to her cold self again. Of course, Laura knew she had different personas for SHIELD and at home, and not to forget the Black Widow persona Laura, luckily hadn't needed to deal with yet. The problem right now was that Laura had a feeling Natasha couldn't distinguish the difference between them anymore.

"We need to track the shooter," Phil answered with the same cold voice trying to get Natasha to turn down the stubbornness. Natasha huffed before she fell down on a chair in the kitchen.

"Impossible. Maria told us it was "completely untraceable." Natasha looking straight into the man's eyes.

"It is, but you're not dumb. And neither are we." Phil looked back at her. When he did not get answered he rolled his eyes again before he turned towards Laura and Clint with a hopeless look in his eyes.

"It's soviet made." Laura watched Natasha tense up by his words and she could tell Natasha was really annoyed at this point.

"Okay and?" Natasha mumbled dryly. It was so obvious at this point. Laura could tell Natasha wasn't even trying to lie now. If she was, she would have succeeded. But she wasn't. Instead, she was really emphasizing the fact that she did not want to walk about it.

"Natasha. Come on. You weren't passed out for that long; you have to have seen the shooter. Something." Clint was the one pushing her now with Phil nodding. When Natasha still didn't answerer Phil took a deep breath before saying.

"Natasha this is a master marksman close to your level. Almost as accurate as you, except I know you are better. He isn't a sharpshooter like you, but he is pretty damn accurate." Natasha still didn't react just staring down at the table.

"An assassin, a master marksman, completely untraceable. If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed it was you." Phil finished. Natasha huffed before she said. "I don't use guns like that."

"Natasha…" Clint warned. Natasha looked at him for a second with a glare that made Laura's heart stop. She took a deep breath before she opened her mouth.

"He is a ghost story. Most of Soviet doesn't believe he even exists. He is fast, strong, and got a metal arm. Not a prosthesis. This one is beyond anything else. I know because I have met him before. At the red room. We called him The Winter soldier" Natasha's voice was deep and cold and her eyes were shining evilly, and Laura was seriously scared if this was going to be her first meeting with The Black Widow.

"The Winter Soldier? What does he do exactly?" Laura asked carefully, not sure if she wanted to know or not. Probably not.

"Exactly what he did to that engineer. He is an assassin and only that. He is credited around two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years." Natasha looked at them with two dark eyes and Laura shivered by the thought.

" I've never heard of him," Clint mumbled low looking at Natasha like he didn't believe her.

"Of course, you haven't. He isn't like the rest of us. Even part of the Soviet… I mean the Russian community doesn't believe he exists. Like I said he is credited with two dozen, but only two dozen. Assassinations are the only thing he does. It's a difference." Natasha said with an annoyed voice looking at Clint.

"SHIELD found you." Clint challenged.

"But I took other missions as well. I had ten times the amount of kills he has in the last fifty years only I hit that number in less than three years. I was a killer. We are not the same." Natasha growled.

Laura looked at her with a small look. Natasha had never told her anything about her past, and Laura had never asked, she just knew it was bad. She never thought it was this bad. 240 kills under her belt.

"But you know him? Why?" Coulson asked in a lot calmer voice than Clint's.

"Because he helped Ma…- he helped the headmistress of the Red Room to break us in," Natasha mumbled low. She looked away from the three of them avoiding the curious eyes.

"He was our teacher for master seduction." Laura watched the woman in front of them look at them with to hurt eyes before she stood up in one rapid motion.

"I want to kill him. We are leaving. Now." Natasha walked out of the room and Laura heard her feet walk up the stairs. Phil looked at them for a second before he nodded and walked to the front door to wait for Natasha. Three minutes later Natasha was walking down the stairs again with a bag in her arm and dressed in her black suit. Her eyes were dark and filled with hate and anger. She didn't even look at Clint and Laura before she walked out of the house and slammed the door behind her.

Natasha was gone for almost 3 months before she contacted Laura for the first time. She sent one plain text.

Natasha: Not dead.

Laura had obviously replied without getting an answer. The next time she got a message was Christmas Eve just after Cooper and Lila had both fallen asleep.

Natasha: Take care of each other. Gifts in my office if Clint didn't find them already. He knows where.

Getting the texts from Natasha was probably one of the most frustrating things Laura had gone through in a while. When Natasha had just left without saying bye to any of them Laura had been more than just a little hurt. It was very unlike Natasha. Usually, she never left before giving them all a real explanation of what was going on and a real goodbye. It wasn't just Laura who had reacted badly on the way Natasha was acting. Clint was furious the first couple of days. He blamed himself for pushing her too much. Still, he came to peace with it faster than Laura. He knew this was what she was meant to do. Keeping her home for so long was like trying to contain a ticking bomb. It was only a matter of time before she had left anyways.

When Natasha finally called close to 5 months later Laura both angry and relieved at the same time. She was mad because Natasha hadn't called her earlier, but she was relieved when she finally did. At least she wasn't dead. Maybe a bit more worked up than usual because Clint had been gone for three weeks. While Natasha was technically back at work, she was working with something very classified outside of the normal mission meaning Clint had to take more missions. And with two young kids and only one parent required more energy than Laura had.

"Natasha, where are you?! I've called you like a hundred times!" Laura almost screamed into the phone when she picked up the phone forcing herself to lower her voice so she wouldn't wake up the kids.

"Hi."

"Natasha, seriously, I've been so worried. You just walked out of the house and Clint hasn't seen you at the Triskelion at all. What happened about you updating me once and a while?" Laura let out with an annoyed tone. She was so worked up she didn't notice how uncharacteristically quiet Natasha was on the other end.

"I wanted to invite you back home for Christmas, but you never answered, you didn't come for Cooper's birthday and now… now I just miss you, to be honest." Laura trailed off. She didn't mean to lash out on her like that, but she was more annoyed with the other woman than she thought.

"Natasha?" Laura asked carefully when she didn't get an answer.

"I'm sorry" Her voice was so low Laura almost didn't hear her.

"Natasha are you okay? Where are you?" Laura whispered back.

"Turn around." It was almost like a sob. Laura turned around slowly and dropped her phone when her eyes locked on the woman in the door. Natasha's eyes were dark and empty staring into the room. She had big dark circles under her eyes and her suit was practically falling apart around her. Even in the dimmed light, Laura could tell this was bad. Really bad.

"Oh my god, Natasha" Laura whispered low as she made her way over to Natasha and let the other woman fall around her neck. They stood in the living room just hugging for maybe two minutes before Laura pulled back and looked at Natasha. Natasha turned away from her not wanting to look at the other woman.

"Come on." Laura grabbed Natasha's arm and pulled her slowly upstairs and into her bathroom. Natasha trailed behind slowly and let Laura push her down on the toilet for an inspection. The woman just stared out into nothing with two empty eyes very similar to the look she had the first day Laura and Natasha had met. A bad sign to say at least.

"Help me get you out of the suit so I can clean the cuts, okay?" Laura said softly not touching the other woman before she nodded slowly. Laura gently pulled down the zipper before unclasping the belt letting it fall on the bathroom floor with a thud.

"Stand up," Laura whispered letting the spy get up on her feet. Natasha was still not moving much but she had closed her eyes and let Laura work without protesting too much. The suit was almost glued to her body with dried up blood and other sticky things Laura rather not wanted to know what was. Laura slowly peeled off the suit trying to be as careful as possible. She noticed how Natasha flinched when she had moved tried to get it off and down her shoulders.

Laura felt the anxiety rise as more of Natasha's body got exposed. Okay, you can do this. Calm down. Laura tried to calm herself as she watched Natasha step out of the suit carefully now standing in only her sports bra and black underwear. Her body was filled with dirt and soot and she had a long cut on the inside of her left thigh plus a deep cut just under her right collarbone. Laura could already tell this was pretty serious and she hadn't even looked at her back yet.

"Okay, Nat. Turn around please." Natasha nodded slowly before she turned around. Laura couldn't stop the gasp before she already had let it out. "Holy shit Natasha" Laura gasped again. Her whole back was blue and green from bruises and smaller cuts, but what was making Laura feel dizzy and twisted her stomach was the long deep tear from the spy's left shoulder blade to the bottom of her spine. Laura could already tell this was going to need stitches.

"We need to clean this Natasha. I need you to shower for me. Can you do that?" Laura asked softly letting to fingers glide along with the cut inspecting it carefully. Natasha nodded again before she stepped out of her underwear. She turned around and looked at Laura and her eyes flicked in worry as she looked down at her chest.

"I… I don't think I will be able to…" Natasha said anxiously nipping at her bra. Laura shook her head as her thought process was interrupted and she nodded.

"Yeah sorry," Laura answered before she opened a drawer and picked out a pair of scissors. Natasha watched carefully as Laura cut open her sports bra carefully trying to take it off without irritating the already nasty wound. Natasha was now standing in the middle of the room completely nude.

"Do you think you can shower on your own or do you want me to help?" Natasha's eyes looked at her with an empty look and Laura could see the fear in her eyes flicker. Okay, guess she was taking a shower then.

"I'm going to get two towels okay? I didn't restock your room since I didn't know when you would come home." Laura looked at Natasha who was still staring at nothing. She walked over to the shower and turned it on letting it get hot while she ran off to get the towels. As she walked back to the room, she picked up her phone she had thrown on Natasha's bed. It was 11 pm so it was kinda late sending texts now. Especially to a fellow mom, but Laura was hoping someone could watch the kids tomorrow. She had a feeling Natasha would need a day off from...everything.

Laura: I know it's late, but I was wondering if it is any possibility you and Kent could watch Cooper and Lila tomorrow. Emergency in the home.

To her surprise, she got an answer almost immediately.

Annie: Of course, think I owe you since you took Caspar and Lucie last month. I can pick them up at 8:30 am?

Laura: Perfect

Laura smiled at her phone. Thank goodness for nice neighbors. She hurried back to the bathroom to find Natasha standing on the same spot with her eyes closed almost like she was sleeping. Laura looked at her with a small worried look before she undressed until she was standing in just her underwear and bra. While she knew she would get wet her post-pregnant body wasn't quite ready to be nude in front of Natasha Romanoff yet.

"Nat?" Laura said carefully touching Natasha's arm. Natasha opened her eyes and looked at her. Laura nodded at the shower and opened the glass door and stepped into the small space letting Natasha follow her. Laura felt the warm water stream down her back while Natasha got into the shower.

"Okay I'm going to move, and you just stand still and let the water rinse your body okay?" Laura said softly. Natasha nodded in conformation and she moved slowly to the side letting Natasha get showered in water. Laura watched as Natasha flinched when the water hit but kept standing still letting the water slowly clean her body. While Natasha let her front get watched Laura took another look at Natasha's back. She was dreading turning Natasha around. It was going to hurt a lot. The cut was nasty and deep, but it needed to be cleaned. And not with just some wipes.

"Ready to turn around?" Laura asked and she could tell Natasha was hesitant. Instead of saying something she nodded and slowly turned around. Even with her ridiculous high pain tolerance, Natasha threw herself forward when the water hit her back, squeezing Laura up against the wall.

"Shh Natasha," Laura said before she forced Natasha to back up and into the water again. Natasha let out a twisted cry and Laura felt sick as she watched the water turn a dark red. Blood was streaming down both of them and Laura could feel Natasha hold around her as she was shaking.

Natasha exhaled loudly and Laura could feel her relax a little more in her arms. Seemed like it was getting better. Laura and Natasha stood in the shower until the water was clear from blood before Laura slowly guided her out of the shower. She wrapped Natasha in a big towel before she started to dry herself off. Natasha was still standing completely still, and Laura was seriously wondering if she had to dry her off too.

Deciding to give the other woman some space Laura walked into her own bedroom to get some new clothes checking up on both the kids in the process. Both Lila and Cooper were sleeping, and Laura was thankful they both were very good sleepers. No doubt they got that from their father.

Laura found two pairs of pajamas, one for Natasha and one for herself. She changed quickly before she walked back to Natasha's room. The spy sat on the bed on her towel mostly dried off.

"I didn't want to get blood on the sheets," Natasha said carefully referring to the towel she had placed on the bed. Laura rolled her eyes slightly before saying.

"You know that I don't care," Laura said with a soft voice. She grabbed the first aid kit Natasha had continently given her as a Christmas present last year placing it on the bed.

"Okay, what am I looking at?" Laura asked as she opened the kit and started to take out things, she had a feeling she would need.

"The back need stitches," Natasha said. Laura grimaced before laughing softly.

"I can tell. What about your thigh and collarbone?" Laura asked while she looked at her medical thread and needle.

"I think strips will do."

"Okay," Laura answered as she opened a box of medical strips. Natasha sat completely still as Laura slowly tried to close the cut with the strips. Natasha watched her work her way up from the thigh to the collarbone before she exhaled loudly.

"Turn around," Laura said moving to the stitching. Learning surgical suture wasn't exactly something Laura thought she would ever learn, but of course, marrying Clint meant that she pretty much had to become a nurse. Between Natasha and Clint, she had a feeling she had seen more injures and blood than most human beings, also resulting in Laura having to learn how to treat most non-life-threatening battle injures. Of course, she didn't really know when she would ever need to identify different kinds of gunshot wounds, but she guessed it was somewhat of a useful skill. Not that it mattered she had already learned it and have gotten explained it a million times. Plus, it was a pretty hard thing to un-learn.

"Feels okay?" Laura asked as she put down the needle and thread.

"Yeah" Natasha answered. She turned around and looked at Laura with two blank wet eyes. Laura handed her the pajamas before she cleaned up the first aid kit and threw Natasha's damp towel over a chair.

She looked at the spy with a small smile before she pushed Natasha slowly down on the bed and tucked her under the cover. The woman looked at her with big eyes before whispering.

"You won't leave?" Laura shook her head before crawling onto the bed and snuggled beside Natasha.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Talia.

A/N: Thank you guys for all the love lately. I really appreciate it. If you guys want to see something specific please howl at me! I would love to hear your suggestions.

S-B again