A/N: Trying to alter between my new fanfic, A dash of black pepper (go check it out if you want) and this one so. Kinda hard not gonna lie. I love this fanfic. Like I really do. It's my pride and joy. Bulletproof was like my first "real one" but I was still testing the waters. With this one, I felt a lot more comfortable and now just really enjoy writing. I know Black pepper will get there eventually, but it's just something about this one.
Sofia, I think, I hope, I answered your concerns and questions in this chapter. If anyone else has any questions, you guys don't have to review, just pm me.
Enough talking. Until next time, make it a great week and I talk to you later.
S-B
Laura didn't get any more time to make out what is happening before Clint shoot another arrow the same time the person spun around and launched the arrow back into one nearby fence. The arrow got drilled into the wood, and the move was worrying Clint, she could tell. The person was closing distance a lot faster than the two were prepared for, and Clint's arrows become more frantic the closer the person moved.
It only took one wrong step from the other person and an arrow spitting into threes before they hear a small muffed yelp followed by a groan as the arrow hit a shoulder.
They both knew it was Natasha the same second they hear her small yelp.
"Fuck, Nat. You didn't have to seek up on us like that." Clint said out loud as the two of them ran up to the now kneeling agent. Natasha didn't answer, only holding over her shoulder. The arrow was on the ground now, so either she was really fast on getting it out or it never hit hard enough to stick in the first place. Either way, it was clearly enough to be painful.
"Natasha." Clint repeated, this time a lot more aggressive. He forced down his run to a fast walk, but when Natasha still didn't answer, Laura could feel hesitation fall over her and Clint. Clint clicked on something on his quiver and a wheel rotated giving him another of the flamelike arrows. He aimed it right by her head lighting it up. A hoodie is covering most of her face and not before Natasha moved her face into the light, they could see the scarf that was covering her face.
"Love," Clint said out of the blue and Laura looked at him confused. When Natasha doesn't answer immediately Clint moved the arrow closer to her neck, and Laura can tell. If he lets go now, she will get killed.
"Is for children" Natasha's voice almost drowned by the fabric, but they heard her. And that was enough. They watched Natasha move to a standing position, and Laura can feel Clint calm down beside her before he drags Natasha into a hug. Natasha buried her face into his neck, taking it all in for a moment, just staying still. Clint pulled back and the second he did Natasha walked straight into Laura's arms. Laura felt the girl leaning into her arms as Laura holds her, hugging her.
"How about we go inside yeah?" The two women pulled away and nodded following Clint back to the house. Laura could already tell Natasha was moving a bit slower than normal keeping her head down most of the short walk back to the house.
Clint was the one opening the front door letting the light from the hall hit Natasha's face. And it's first now they got a real look at her. She was dressed in all black with her hair hidden in the black hoodie. Her mouth and nose were both covered in the scarf only showing her eyes. She carried a thigh holster on both legs holding two handguns, which didn't surprise Laura the slightest.
The girl ripped the scarf away from her face revealing a tired face. Her eyes have heavy bags under it and Laura can see the exhaustion in her eyes. The girl groaned another time as she kicked off her shoes before walking straight into the living room falling down on a chair. She leaned back and closed her eyes before mumbling.
"Why can't everyday clothes be bulletproof." Laura looked at her with a worried look while Clint let out a small laugh.
"When did you get a triple arrow? And when the fuck did you get one that heats up?"
"Pretty cool right?"
"Yeah sure. Your frantic "I have no idea where to aim" shoots were great. Thanks" Laura couldn't help but smile at that. At least she was joking, right.
"Well you can always start explaining yourself," Clint said throwing a first aid kit down beside the former spy. Natasha mumbled something Laura didn't catch before nodding.
"How much do you already know?" Natasha asked while slowly opening her vest she was wearing.
"Nothing. Or close to nothing. We stopped getting any information after they found out you were involved." Natasha nodded at Clint as she let the vest fall to the floor.
"HYDRA had been growing inside SHIELD. I mean, I don't know for sure that Fury knew what was happening, but clearly, he knew something, because faking his death isn't really something you do just for fun." Natasha looks between them and Cint looks back at her in disbelief.
"Wait, he is alive? He faked it?!"
"Really. Believe me, it really stung to find out he was alive all this time with. Especially after all that had happened. Like, I thought I saw him die. But anyways. The helicarriers were programmed with an algorithm made by someone named Arnim Zola. The algorithm was designed to eliminate millions of people. Everyone who was a treat now or will be in the future." Natasha kept talking as she slowly worked her way to take of her top, which she was clearly struggling with at his point.
"What! How?" Clint's head was clearly not focusing on Natasha's injury he might have caused, instated it was on what she was talking about.
"We live in a digital age. They use the information from the past to evaluate their future." Natasha just finished her sentence when Laura examined, and Natasha yelped.
"Natasha!"
"Fuck!" Natasha had just gotten her sweater over her head groaning loudly when she reviled a big bandage covering most of her upper body. It was soaked with both new and dried blood and the woman let out a moan dropping her sweater before leaning forwards dropping her head in pain.
"You really hit a bad spot, Barton," Natasha said between her teeth leaning back and sinking into the chair.
"Natasha, sweetie, what happened?" It was the first time Laura opened her mouth, leaning over the woman slowly opening the bandage letting Natasha lean back and close her eyes for a moment.
"Shot. Straight through. It was healing just fine until somebody shot my shoulder." Natasha said looking at them both.
"Who did?" Clint said helping Laura inspect the wound.
"Same guy," Natasha mumbled, making them both freeze.
"Please say you ripped his head off afterward right." Clint was the first one to break the silence as he started to look at the thorn stitches.
"No. I would have lost him an eye if he wasn't wearing goggles though… But no. He is Bucky Barns." She looked up at them and Laura looks at her confused.
"Cap's best friend. Brainwashed and experimented on." Laura looked at her husband to see if he was following what the spy was talking about. To her surprise, he looked just as surprised and confused.
"I can't kill him. We can't hurt him. If anything, we need to help him. I spent the first weeks Kiev calling in a few favors. He is, well, he is not something I was expecting to be on our side." Natasha said with a soft smile looking at the two of them.
"Is he? On our side. Because piercing through you two times in five years doesn't quite seem like somebody on "our team" would do." Clint said with a skeptical look. Laura couldn't help but agree. He had a point, this guy seemed dangerous.
"Neither does a master assassin, master marksman, and of the world's former most faired woman and murderer, but here we are." Natasha looked at him with a challenging look before pushing him off her shoulder with a soft push. Clint looked at her stunned and Laura was surprised she snapped like that.
"Listen. I know how he feels. He was brainwashed, but something brought him back. He saved Steve. So clearly, there still is some good in him left." Natasha looked between them. Her voice softened, but Laura could sense some anger in her still.
Clint took the hint and kept his mouth shut backing up from her. Laura and Clint both decide not to interfere when she starts fiddling with her wound. They can both tell she isn't doing the best job, but neither wanted to annoy her more. She had just finished bandaging her shoulder again and stood up.
"So, I would offer to make your bed, but I always get yelled at for doing it wrong so you and Laur can do it alone right?" Clint said with a playful voice. He was obviously trying to lighten the mood, but Natasha only looked at him shaking her head.
"Actually, I am good." She walked out to the hallway grabbing her vest on the way slipping it on carefully.
"Hello? What are you think you're doing?" Laura stopped her walking into her path her just as she reached for the door. She looked at her for a second before she walked past her opening the door.
"What does it look like? I'm going outside again." Her voice isn't rude, or mean, or angry. It's soft and calm. She even smiled at her.
"Natasha." Laura whispered. She can already tell she is lacking sleep, and she knows the last months have been very hard on her. "You need to sleep, recover, and prosses everything that has happened." Natasha only looked at her with a soft smile before she stepped outside.
"I just have to make sure." She said with a soft voice before turning towards Clint saying in a sharp voice.
"Stay." She looks at him with a serious look. "I mean it. Nobody can see you. And to make sure you stay I'll take your bow with me." She grabbed it and Laura could see Clint's eyes snap open as she moved the bow throwing the quiver over the shoulder.
"Thanks, old man." And then she disappears.
Laura didn't get much sleep that night, and she could tell Clint didn't either. Partly because Natasha had his beloved bow, but also because he was worried, even if he didn't want to admit it. When they both walked downstairs the next morning Natasha was still gone, though she had returned Clint's bow to is usual spot. Nothing gave it away that she had been there in the first place. The living room was cleaned from all the bandages and blood, and the first aid kit was moved as well. She had even put back the handgun Laura had carried yesterday. The only reason Laura didn't worry about her wandering off again was the fact that she had left her vest in Laura's closet. It wasn't very visible, but it was there. Tactically placed so Laura would see it, but not the kids.
Deciding it was no use just sitting there and wait for her both Clint and Laura decided to drop the kids off together and stock up on food on their way back home. They had one more mouth to feed now. And stocking up on a lot of food also multiplied the chance for Natasha to make them dinner, which always, somehow, turned out better than whatever they tried to make.
Laura wasn't sure if she was expecting Natasha to be back when they returned or not. She didn't have anything to go after at this point. None of them knew what she had gone through, though it was pretty clear it had made some impact. To Laura's relief, Natasha's shoes were in the hallway as they returned. But the woman herself was not in the living room as Laura was expecting.
"I'm going upstairs to look for her." Clint nodded at Laura as he turned the corner to look in the study room. Clearly, she was in the house. Where, was the question now. As Laura walked up the stairs and turned the corner to Natasha's room, she could see Natasha's bedroom door half hanging, half falling, off the doorframe. Right. She had forgotten that the kids had broken the door a few weeks prior, meaning if the spy was upstairs, she could only be in the…
Laura stopped in the door when her eyes fell on Natasha laying on her bed in only a bra and underwear. Her hair was damp from a shower and Laura could see Natasha's bear back bruised and cut from last mission, with a clean bandage wrapped around her upper body. Her right leg was levitated under a pillow, wrapped in an ice pack. It was a horrible sight. Still, the girl was breathing normally without any sign of pain.
"Nat?" Laura asked carefully. The woman turned around and looked at her with a soft smile.
"Hi." Natasha moved, letting Laura sit down beside the laying girl.
"Have you slept at all?" Laura said brushing through Natasha's hair carefully. Natasha only needed to look at her to let her know the answer. Laura sighed before saying.
"When was the last time you slept, Natasha?" Natasha wrinkled her nose looking at her with a slightly guilty look.
"Natasha, we have talked about this. If you have to think about it that long, it's been too long." She only nodded at her. The woman moved up to a sitting position and Laura supported her as she dragged herself up with a small groan.
"You didn't have to stay up all night you know." Natasha's head fell onto her shoulder and she hummed.
"It makes me relax, knowing you're safe. I needed… just to be sure." She whispered. Laura and Clint had never really had any concerns about enemies turning up at their door. Yes, they were careful about just opening the door to random people, but they had trusted Fury, they had trusted SHIELD.
"But Fury held his promise. It's not mentioned once. None of you are." Natasha said with a soft voice and Laura could feel her smile.
"Really?" She asked. While she knew Furry wouldn't tell anyone she was kinda expecting a small side note or something mentioning the house. But not anywhere in SHIELD's archive. How was that even possible?
"Yeah. I checked every page myself. You mean you haven't looked at any of the information at all?" Natasha turned her head and looked at her. It was something about the look she gave. Like she didn't believe her.
"I'm not sure why I would. It's nothing there I have any need to know is it?" Laura said looking at her carefully not sure what Natasha was aiming for right now.
"What about me? What I have done was practically the headline of every single newspaper in the whole world. You weren't slightly curious or concerne-"
"Natasha." Laura cut her off stopping her from talking. Her voice turned serious and she was looking at the woman with a strict look.
"What happened in the past isn't any of my business if you don't want to tell me. And frankly, I don't really care because that's not you. If you one day want to tell me, you can. But if you don't want to, I am fine with that. I won't be googling you just to look at some archived records. I don't care about that. I care about you staying with me. Taking care of yourself here, now." Natasha only nodded before leaning into Laura again hugging her softly. Laura hugged her back carefully before asking.
"So, what happened with your ankle?" Natasha laughed softly when Laura's voice turns serious.
"What are you, a nurse?" Natasha leans back against the headboard of the bed smiling.
"With the amount of fixing you two I am pretty sure I could qualify as one." Natasha laughed loudly again before closing her eyes smiling.
"Don't like to admit it, but even Natasha Romanoff twists her ankle from time to time. I tripped. I was tired and it was dark. But hey, No HAYDRA around the farm at least." Laura shook her head in disapproval.
"So, you are telling me you sprained your ankle in the middle of the night and still decided to keep going. Then you went back to the house to change and drop off the bow, still with a sprained ankle, and then when back outside again just to walk on it even more." Laura looked at her once more before moving down the leg unwrapping it from the scarf and ice pack reveling a blue and green ankle. She threw Natasha one ugly look and the spy laughed again.
"I can't believe you!" Laura said with an annoyed voice looking at the destroyed ankle.
"As I said, it calms me down knowing its safe."
"Yeah, because that makes you sleep better at night, Nat? You haven't slept in DAYS." Laura lifted her arms in defeat and Natasha smiles at her. Laura looked at the woman, studying her face for a second.
"Natasha. How are you really?" the other woman doesn't look surprised at the question at all. She just looked at her before saying.
"Well, I just lost my job. Blew up everything I've worked for and worked against. So yeah, it's been great." Natasha closed her eyes again and a serious face fell over her. Laura knew, of course, it had been hard on her but hearing it out loud wasn't great.
"Nat." She only whispered curling up beside her letting Natasha lean on her resting against her body. They sat there just in silence not saying anything, just sitting together processing life with the company of each other.
"Clint is downstairs and is making lunch," Laura whispered when she felt Natasha shift with a low sigh.
"What if I don't want to move?" Natasha hummed back leaning even more on Laura. Laura let out a soft laugh before moving making the spy let out a small whine.
"Come on Nat." She dragged the spy up to the edge of the bed. Natasha pouted at her when she threw a hoodie and some pajama bottoms at her motioning to dress herself. Natasha did so in silence before she started wrapping her ankle in a bandage. Laura looked at her approvingly before handing her two fluffy socks helping her put it over the fat ankle.
Natasha let out a sigh again before looking at the door. This should be… interesting. Laura hooked Natasha's arm around her neck. Between the two of them, they somehow got her up on a leg and Natasha jumped out of the room with the support of Laura. It took some work and a lot of giggling between the two of them before they finally made it down. Clint was sitting o in one of the big chairs in the living room with a big bowl of a very nice-looking salad on the coffee table.
"Look who finally made it downstairs. What happened with the leg?" Clint said. Natasha rolled her eyes at him before both Natasha and Laura fell onto the couch.
"Nothing fun." She only answered with a bitter tone making Clint laugh loudly.
"Thanks for the information red. Now, wanna explain why three of my arrows are missing?" Natasha looked at him before shaking her head.
"No, I don't." Laura thought Clint would push more to get out an answer. She would be lying if she said she wasn't curious herself, but Clint only nodded at her. It was some mutual agreement between them. Something the two of them both understood but Laura had no idea what meant.
Having Natasha back was wonderful. While it was a lot of tension lying around both Clint and Natasha pushed it away seamlessly. It was a good thing for sure, forcing Laura to think about something else as well.
"So, I love you Nat, but how long are you staying? I am wondering if I can get away with not fixing your door." Clint said making Natasha laugh softly.
"I mean I don't have work to go to or anything, so I am planning to stay for a while. So, no you're not getting away with that." Clint looked at her with a smile and Laura giggled at the two of them.
"So, what are you doing with your apartments in Washington and New York then?"
"You know SHIELD owned the one in Washington right. And I don't know about New York yet. I am still paying rent, so I'll guess I keep it for a while." Natasha said with a shrug.
"Speaking about New York, what about your girl in New York." Natasha looked at Laura almost chocking her water.
"Scuse me?"
"Come on Natasha. You haven't mentioned Pepper once, and I am curious okay." Laura looked at Natasha pushing her playfully.
"I… I don't know. We kinda ended it. I think. Or I mean we weren't anything in the first place. But yeah." Natasha's voice drifted and she looked at Laura calmly.
"What do you mean, ended it? Did you fight or something?"
"No… no. I just didn't want to put her at risk, so I just...backed up, I guess. It was a mutual agreement. I don't think. It was for the best at that time."
"Which was when?"
"Just before Chiasmas last year?" Natasha turned away from Laura and looked down into her glass of water.
"Wait, I fell out. What is happening?" Clint looked at the two of them and Laura started to explain.
"Nat broke up with Pepper."
"Natasha!"
"Hey, we weren't really together in the first place okay. It just. Sorta happened okay."
"But you were so cute. And I bet Lila would love her. She would have made an excellent extra, extra aunt for the kids.-"
"Clint please don't." Natasha cut him off. Clint stopped and looked at her with a soft smile.
"Fine. But I mean it."
The three adults spend most of the day in the living room just talking before the kids came home. Of course, both kids were bursting in excitement when they saw their aunt in their home. It took most of their energy just to calm the two do them down so the woman could get some rest on her leg.
Lila was pretty much on top of Natasha most of the day not giving her more than 30 seconds alone.
"Auntie Nat you are staying for my birthday, right?!" Lila was on top of Natasha giggling.
"Of course, flower. But it is next week. So, the weekend first right." The woman said softly.
"Yes, but after that!" Lila laughed as Natasha tickled her side.
"And then mommy," Natasha said with a smile and Lila nodded. Of course, even in the busy times Natasha still remembered Lila and Laura's birthday. Laura smiled softly at her and Natasha winked at her.
"So how old are you turning now?" Natasha said with a small laugh as Lila tried to tickle her back. Not that the spy was ticklish at all.
"Five!" Natasha stopped moving and only looked at Lila. Laura could see some worry start to form in her eyes before nodding slowly.
"Right." Natasha's voice was distance as she slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position.
"Right, it is getting late, flower. You need to get to bed" Lila looked at her with big eyes and started to protest wildly. But was it something Natasha was really good at, was it was being patient. She didn't care about her whining and soon Lila gave up.
Something about the conversation with Lila had done something with Natasha. The closer they got to Lila's birthday the colder and more distant she became. Laura had no idea why, but something was up. Still, the spy didn't seem open to talk about it and Laura decided not to push her. She was already giving them some information about HYDRA so pushing her didn't seem like the right move.
It was the night before Lila's birthday when Laura woke up with a bad feeling. She didn't know why, but she did. She slipped out the bed and walked down the hall to find both her kids sleeping. Natasha, on the other hand, was not in her room. Not to expect anything different. She didn't seem to be sleeping very much anyways.
Laura walked downstairs and just walked into the living room when she heard Natasha's voice from the kitchen.
"Tony. You are awful at selling yourself. Do you know what?" Laura stopped just so she could see the hologram but not be in the frame herself.
"Well, Romanoff. I was about to tell about this awesome shooting range. But fine. Pepper can do it because I am so awful apparently." Laura could see Natasha shift in her seat when Tony mentioned Pepper.
"Hi, Natasha." Laura could hear Pepper's was filled with affection and love as she talked to the spy. She watched the woman take place in the picture, and even with Tony right beside her Pepper was looking directly at Natasha.
"Hi" Natasha whispered back. The two of them only looked at each, other taking each other in. Tony was the one breaking the silence harking loudly making the two of them snap out of whatever daze they were in.
"Tony wasn't doing a great job pitching this place. Even if he was the one building the thing. Steve and Bruce already said yes. And Thor. Well, he is a god, so we don't know yet. But we would love to see you as well.
I know the fall of SHIELD was hard on you. But you don't need to stay in hiding all the time. You can stay in the Avengers tower. Everyone has their own floor, so you don't have to hang out with everyone all the time if you don't want too."
Laura watched the hologram turn into a big 3D blueprint of what she assumed was the inside of the former Stark tower. She couldn't make out any details, so all she could do was listening to Pepper talk.
"We have done a lot of redesign of the top floors. As I said, everyone is getting a floor. Yours impartially is very spacious. The
Avenger's decks are divided with three work floors inbetween them. Rooms for the quinjets and Iron Legion, some laboratories and all that. That's on the floor twelve from the top. Tony is directly below it and Bruce is underneath that again. Below the two of them, we have some smaller suits for what Tony Calls honorable mentions." Laura can hear Tony laugh loudly in the background. Wow, this guy.
"Maria has a suite there actually. But that's our bottom floor of the bunch. So that's what we call floor 1. It's also floor one 1 the restricted elevator. The fifteen top floors are private. It includes the four tops once which are the apartments. The top one is the one for Thor. It's smaller but has access to the roof. We aren't expecting him to spend a whole lot of time here. Then it's Steve's floor above yours. They are the two biggest if you don't count the workshops on Bruce and Tony's floors.
Yours are longer down on the arch so in theory, it's bigger as well. Then we got Clint's apartment. Because Clint isn't much around his is the smaller of the bunch. He also shares the floor with the shooting range and the second floor of the gym"
"Which is amazing, by the way." Tony interrupted. Laura could hear Pepper sigh before she continued with a sharp voice.
"Yes, it is… anyways. The floor below is the gym as I said, with a few studies, a library and the cinema room. All connected to the main living room, dining room, and kitchen the floor below, which are all common rooms for all of you. Then we got three floors with rooms for any meetings or more business talk on the outside rings. But it's also the floor with a dancefloor, bars, etc.
Then, as I said, we got three floors dedicated to the factory of the Iron Legion, quinjet and laboratories. Tony, Bruce, and the suits. Floor 1-6 and 11-15 is only accessible with your keys or, and Jarvis, Tony's AI system, which is integrated into the building. The lab and business floors can only be accessed for the outside if invited.
Your floor can, of course, be locked on your command not letting anyone in or out. Your floor has a living room, an office, two bathrooms, one for guests and one in the master bedroom. It has two bedrooms and one kitchen. So, it's more than enough space for a few guests." Pepper voice faded and Natasha nodded slowly.
"So, what about you. Do you have anywhere to stay in the tower then?" Natasha said as she was moving the blueprint around looking at something Laura couldn't see.
"I have a space, so I might make a small apartment on the first floor. But I know it's enough room if I would ever want to stay there for a night or two" Natasha didn't answer that one, only nodding slightly.
"Well as great as this sounds, I don't think it's something I can look into now."
"Natasha…" Pepper said with a strict voice, almost like it was Laura herself.
"I have a birthday to attend to the new few days. But I'll think about it. I promise Pepper… And Tony." The conversation ended after a few more exchanging of information and the room fell silent again. Laura was wondering if she should turn around now or what. But of course, Natasha made the decision easy saying.
"So, Laura, what do you think?" she turned around and looked at Laura who only looked at her guilty back.
"Sorry." Natasha smiled at her before she limped over to her still clearly favoring one leg over the other. She sat down on the couch offering some room for Laura.
"It looks lovely Natasha. And Pepper is right. Why spend your days hiding when you can move into the tower? You can be the superhero I always knew you were." Laura pushed her softly and Natasha laughed.
"I don't think I'll qualify as a superhero." Natasha said softly.
"My kids certainly think so. And so, do I. Natasha you can't possibly turn down the offer. I know Clint will say the same. You belong with them." Natasha looked at her thoughtfully not saying anything.
"I want you to. In fact. That's what I want for my birthday. For you to say yes to the offer." Natasha laughed again with a soft laugh before leaning on Laura's shoulder.
"Okay. Fine. I'll call Pepper tomorrow. She should've been in bed now, not calling me in the middle of the night. Bad idea. Probably Tony's idea which is why it's so bad." Laura giggled softly at Natasha moving closer to her. She didn't care about what Natasha said herself. Clearly, she still cared about Pepper. And Pepper did not like she was anywhere close to over Natasha.
"Have you slept?" Laura asked turning her head carefully to look at the other woman trying not to disturb her too much while she was resting her head on her shoulder.
"When?" Natasha answered looking up at her.
"Tonight, any of the nights really." Natasha shook her head before saying.
"Maybe 5 hours in total," Natasha admitted. Laura felt her heart sink.
"Natasha you need to sleep. Pain takes a lot of energy and you need rest." Laura pushed her off her shoulder looking at the door.
"I can't. It's restless and filled with too much… thoughts. I don't want to sleep if all I get from is its bad dreams and thoughts. And I know they will be bad tonight so I rather not." Natasha answered with a sad and almost scared look in her eyes.
"Does it have something to do with Lila's birthday?" Natasha looked at her surprised.
"Really Nat. Yes, I noticed. I'm not dumb." The woman nodded before biting her lips. Whatever she was going to say was going to hurt, and Laura could already tell she was going to feel a lot of emotions when Natasha eventually decides to tell her.
"The day I turned five was the day I officially started in the red academy. And I know it's not the case, but in so many ways it only just reminds me of the day I truly lost my freedom. When all the work, torture and training started. Already the first day at school I got reminded again and again what I had to do to be the perfect spy I one day would become.
It just reminds me that Lila is still so young. I almost got killed by the winter soldier. And all I can think about is, what if I can't protect her? What if they take her too? "Natasha looks at her with a genuine scared and distressed look. The fact that Natasha was Lila's age when she started training was unbelievable. Knowing Natasha was still so scarred from the experience so many years ago was heartbreaking. And it was even more heartbreaking to know even with her close friends, her close family she still wasn't able to look past the trauma.
"I know it won't happen. But I am just so scared about the future. For you, Lila, Cooper and for myself. Or at least whatever is left of me I suppose."
A/N: I was planning on finishing a new chapter for Black pepper, but I wasn't able to finish one till today, and because this one was finished already, I decided to post this one and not wait. Kinda pointless when I already have a chapter. Hopefully I can finish the ADOBP chapter this evening.
The next two weeks I'm actually a lot more than what I am supposed to so I might fall behind on the updates which sucks but I'll try.
Anyways, until the next note, make it a great week, and I'll talk to you in the next chapter.
S-B