A/N: Happy holidays guys. (lol I finished this like three days ago but spend just days beta reading.)

YAY, we are now in Age of Ultron territory. I love, love, love age of Ultron. That's an unpopular opinion but I don't caaareeee.

The opening battle in Sokovia is at the end of March. I googled and snow in Slovakia and the Czech Republic that time of year is a hundred percent possible. Also, Sokovia seems to be surrounded by mountains and is in general high above sea-level. I have been thinking a lot about when and how to make sense of this timeline. I don't know if it will make sense but let's hope.

I was also looking at the Barton house again. If you guys don't know I have done my fair share of research on this house, I even made a blueprint. And what I realized is that they had to have moved in between like Civil war and Endgame and like, in theory, I guess that makes sense, but I'm shook. Good thing I am not covering CW because I don't want them to move ahha.

Until next chapter, make it a great week and I will talk to you very soon.

S-B

It was no point in trying to hide it. Laura knew Natasha loved living in the tower, even if she never said so. It was so obvious. Natasha barely came home that summer, which was a big disappointment to the kids. They had vacation for two months and their aunt didn't show up more than for two days. Which was only a small pit stop in a mission meaning she really didn't do much more than sleep and got forced to eat by Laura.

Another challenge with Natasha moving was Clint. Clint was the only one of the Avengers who hadn't moved into the tower. And with Maria there to it was hard for him to resist. Yes, he said he didn't want to go back but Laura wasn't dumb. It wasn't directly jealousy, but he did feel left out.

"Do you ever want to go back?"

Laura was leaning into her husband cuddling in bed when she finally asked. It had been three months since Natasha moved and they had close to no updates from the woman. It meant both Clint and Laura got especially curious about this tower. She was clearly enjoying herself. So much she didn't even remember to update them once in a while.

It had been hard on Laura when she left. Maybe even harder on her than Clint. The kids weren't big enough to really understand it all. They knew their aunt was not visiting as much, but nothing more, and while it was disappointing, they only got reminded about her absent if one of the adults brought it up.

For Laura, it was a completely different story. She had seen how much pain it had all caused the agent. How much pain her home had caused. It had been a rough way to end it all.

"Not really. I do want to see Natasha again though."

Clint had tried to get his partner to talk to them, but even him she had rejected. Or not rejected, chose to tactically ignore or not answer. But for Clint, it was different than Laura. First of all, he had a suite in the tower, so in theory, he could go visit whenever he wanted. But mainly, his vision of Natasha was very different from Laura's. Laura was used to a soft kindhearted woman who was the aunt to her children and her best friend. It was the only version of the woman she knew, and really the only one that mattered. Clint, on the other hand, was used to the colder version just as much as the family loving one. He was with the agent persona all the time and was used to get a few cold shoulders and seeing her leave for missions.

"What about going to the tower? And see the Avengers? "

Only a few days after Natasha moved into the tower the media caught up. She was the last one to move in, not counting Clint of course. The team got followed wherever they went and soon turned out to be America's new superheroes. Everyone adored them. Paparazzies flashing them and news reporters hanging on their every word. Some of them, *Tony*, seemed more comfortable than others. But it was nice to see the world loving them as much as they did. Especially when you count the fact that Steve and Natasha had almost destroyed Washington only a couple of months prior.

Laura knew they had lots of work the media didn't know about, but they also had a few "superheroes saves everyday crimes" stuns every few days which the world seemed to love. Everyone could put a ladder up against a tree to help a cat down, but it was so much more interesting to see Iron Man fly up and then kiss the kitten. Obviously.

"I have you guys, I don't need to do that." Laura turned and looked at him with a serious look.

"Clint. We can be on our own a few days if you want to visit them. That's totally fine." Clint smiled at her and nodded slowly.

"You sure? Because I won't go if you aren't a hundred percent okay with it."

"Yeah. Of course. I want you to still talk to them. And maybe you can at least try to get Nat to call once in a while. We will be fine. And it's not like you're risking your life or anything."

So, he went. And he was gone for almost two full weeks. When Laura said he should go, she wasn't expecting him to be gone that long. Still, she was very happy for him. He deserved to be with his team, even if it meant he would be gone once and a while. The kids, of course, missed their father, but since they knew he wouldn't be on a mission, but only on "a vacation" they to were a lot more relaxed.

Laura also noticed a nice change in the household. The older the kids got, the easier it became to stay alone with them. Laura would hang out with them all evening and play with them. Help with homework and stuff, but she didn't have to be on top of them the same way she did when they were younger. Of course, they were still young, but not "needing to change diapers every 5 minutes" young. They just needed to be entertained, which didn't bother her much because she adored hanging out with them, even on a bad day. And when they went to bed she could relax on her own, knowing Clint would be safe, with no worry of any missions or enemies. It was a nice change.

Still, Laura was very happy when Clint came home, and when he did, he was ecstatic.

"It is lovely Laura." Laura laughed as Clint dragged her into his arms from behind, feeling her fall onto the couch and on top of him.

"Natasha left the day after I arrived, so I didn't get to see her apartment. But Cap showed me his and I imagen it is similar. It is so spacious. With a lot of windows and natural light which I know she loves. And even my apartment which is so much smaller is still not small at all. They have a huge gym and of course a lot of common rooms where they all can hang out in. Almost every night at least two of them eat dinner in the shared kitchen, but they have a "family dinner" with everyone every Friday. Oh, and of course, Maria and Pepper are with them all the time, so she is never alone with the boys. It was fantastic." Clint said with a laugh.

"So, she never said anything about calling?" Laura said with a soft giggle.

"No. But you can always call her first. Maybe not now since she is on a mission, but it doesn't hurt to try right?" Clint said kissing her on the neck. Laura let out a small moan before nodding. Maybe he was right. Maybe she should be the one calling.

It took a lot of her to finally call. She waited close to two weeks before she finally decided to call the other woman. It was almost four months since Natasha moved and it was two and a half months since she last visited. It was only late September, but Laura was wondering if she should invite the woman for Christmas already now.

But maybe she didn't want to talk to her? She hadn't called once so maybe she just didn't want to have anything to do with them anymore. Of course, that sounded crazy but at the same time she had chosen not to. Laura could tell this was just her head messing with her, making her overthink.

It wasn't before a new report about Natasha got published that pushed her over the edge and made her call the other woman. Clint and Laura were both trying actively to stay away from all the gossip and trash reports. When SHIELD fell Laura had chosen to not look at any of the leaked information, and Clint had only gone through it to see if they were mention in it. Both of them agreed that sometimes the paparazzies and journalists crossed the lines with their pictures and articles, and they didn't want to support that kind of work. Of course, not everything about the Avengers was like that, but they didn't want to get into the habit of reading them in the first place.

Still, when a picture of Natasha and Pepper made its way to the Barton house neither one of them could contain themselves.

"Look at the way she looks at her. Seriously if she doesn't confirm it now, she never will." Clint pushed the tablet away from himself and to Laura again who only laughed softly back.

"It is so cute I want to puke." Clint continued making Laura laugh even more. It was true. They looked ridiculously cute sitting in a café. Natasha was looking at Pepper with a soft look in her eyes tiling her head while listening to Pepper talk. Pepper's eyes were shining, and you didn't need to be a master on reading people to tell it was a lot of feelings between them.

After another day of digressing and a lot of worrying about nothing Laura finally sat down and called. Already she could feel the worry fill her. Probably without any reason, but she couldn't help it. Laura's worries disappeared with an instant when Natasha picked up and her soft voice filled her ears.

"Hello?"

Laura was alone with the kids for the evening since Clint was at a dad's night again, so it was just her alone in her room. It was way past the kid's bedtime, and she was positive both of them were asleep.

"Hi," Laura said carefully back.

"Laura! Hi, hang on okay. Jarvis can you put up a hologram, please. Maybe throw in a few 3D models I can show later on to?" Natasha's voice was happy, and she sounded wide awake even if it was pretty late in the evening already.

"Of course:" a unifiliar voice answered.

Laura watched as a hologram started to flicker before it turned on. When Natasha had given her a phone with the ability to show 360 degrees holograms, she was more than a little bit surprised.

Laura placed the phone on the end of the bed and leaned back on the headboard as she watched the other woman move around on the other end. She could see the other woman put down her phone and move around and still, somehow the pictured followed her. Like she was watching a movie or something.

"Stark tech. Don't ask." Natasha said with a soft voice as she slipped down on her couch.

"Jarvis is the AI in the building, does pretty much whatever you ask. It's pretty cool." Laura only nodded as Natasha flicked her finger at something.

"So, what took you so long? You know, you have the ability to call just as much as me." Natasha said looking into Laura's eyes like she really was there in front of her.

"I just didn't want to disturb you. You seem very busy." Laura said carefully.

"I guess I am yes." Natasha hummed back with a soft smile.

"Like doing stuff as dates with a certain Pepper Potts." Laura winked at her and Natasha shot up her eyes. "Nat, I saw the article. You guys were very cute."

"I hate the paparazzies," Natasha mumbled back making Laura giggle.

"So other than having sex with a very hot woman, how is life?" Laura watched Natasha's yaw almost fall out of her face before she collected herself.

"It's been pretty good. We are trying to map out HYDRA and raid a few of their bases. Most of them are small and only require like one or two of us at a time. But I worked on a project with Jane, Thor's girlfriend, recently, which was very exciting. That was why I was gone with Clint was in visiting." Natasha said with a smile.

"No life-threatening injuries?" Laura asked only half joking.

"No injuries at all actually. Barely a bruise." Natasha said with a small laugher. Laura could only nod happily.

"So how is the apartment then?" Laura decided not to ask about her recovery from her accident back at the farm, she was as sure Natasha was going to mention it later on, whenever she was comfortable doing so.

"Beautiful. Jarvis, show her." A model popped up and Natasha talked her through the rooms. She had a beautiful big room with both the kitchen and living room on the side with the big panorama window, which Laura knew Natasha was loving. Then she had a bar and a few barstools on the opposing side from the kitchen where she also had a beautiful grand piano. And only that one piano got to have a value of hundreds of dollars. She had huge a guest bathroom and guestroom were both were the size of Laura's own master suite. Natasha's master bedroom could have been their living room size vise. And the bathroom had both a shower and a bath where the bathtub looked more like a small pool.

"You can drown in that tub." Laura mumbled as Natasha finished the tour.

"Well yeah. But I feel like the Olympic size pool is better for that." Natasha said with a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Of course, you have a pool in the tower." Natasha only winked at her. Natasha moved her hair from her face and Laura watched a small scar on the right side of her head appear. Natasha, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice her as Laura moved closer to the hologram to look at her.

"You coloured your hair again," Laura said slowly watching Natasha brush through her locks with her fingers. Even with the blue hue on the hologram, she could tell it was a lot browner.

"I did. I am surprised you noticed."

"So am I" Laura mumbled making Natasha laugh softly. Laura was just about to ask her another question when Natasha lifted her head and looked away.

"Hang on Laur, I think somebody is at the door. Or elevator." Natasha said, voice already turning colder and suspicious. Laura watched as she stood up and walked out of the frame. She could hear the woman walk over the floor, but all Laura could see was the now empty couch.

Laura was wondering if she should just hang up when she heard Natasha's soft voice. She had no idea what she was saying but she could hear the spy had a relaxed voice.

She had no idea if it would work, but could she maybe ask this Jarvis to do something? She harked softly before saying as calmly as possible.

"Jarvis? Where did she go?"

"Pepper Potts just entered her apartment, Laura." The AI answered calmly.

"Could you maybe show me?" Laura felt the butterfly in her stomach the second the words slipped off her tongue. Only a second later the video went from the living room to the hall of the apartment. Laura almost, almost, squealed when she watched Pepper lean in kissing Natasha softly. Natasha had so stand on her toes to reach and Laura swore her heart melted right then and there.

Sadly, the moment was short lasted before Natasha seemed to notice. She turned her head like she was looking at Laura, though Pepper followed her gaze and didn't seem to notice anything opening her mouth to say something. Natasha only cut her off.

"Nothing." Natasha mumbled as Pepper leaned into her again waving her hand at the camera and the call ended.

DAMNIT.

There she went. But hey at least now Laura had some exciting news to tell Clint when he came back.

Fall came sooner than expected that year and soon the cold fell over their small town. It was the first year they had started with any kind of crops, and they needed to be tended, as well as their forest needed some care. Winter seemed to be coming sooner than usual, meaning they had more than enough work to do.

When they got the property years ago the never realized how much land that followed. Acers of untouched land waiting for somebody to use it. Fields and forest in every direction. Last winter had brought down many trees so this year Laura and Clint both agreed they needed to work on taking down some of the bigger trees in case of another hard winter. Of course, taking down trees meant a lot of excess wood that also needed to be chopped. And even with the number of bonfires and crazy usage of the fireplace in the Barton household the amount of extra wood would be more than enough to last them years to come.

"Okay, you guys behave now." Laura kissed Cooper on his forehead before pushing him out the door after his father and sister. Earlier this year Clint promised the kids to take them camping for a weekend, and now with fall already coming, they decided to move it forward. And while Laura adored her kids, and loved the outdoors, she was not going to sleep in a tent outside.

It was nice having the house alone for a change. The last weeks had mainly been working around on the farm. The tractor stopped working for the 500th time. And their car was only half working at this point. Even before Natasha knocked the mirror off, she was showing she was ready for retirement.

And then it was the barn itself. It needed new walls. All of them. It was a lot of work, but sooner or later they had to do it. Lila had started to ask about animals because now she was old enough to connect farm with animals. On top of her list was of course a horse, which was probably on the bottom of Laura's. Cooper has started to ask about a dog which was better but still quite something Laura was too keen on.

The house was keeping up fine. The only part of their property that didn't seem to be in dire need of attention at the moment. Sure, the living room was cluttered, and they needed to get somebody to tune the piano soon. But other than that, it seemed fine.

Laura jogged upstairs to grab one of her blanket from the bed. Because it was Friday the kids and Clint didn't leave for camping before 5pm meaning it already was getting colder and darker. She knew they were going to have a blast, but god she was happy she didn't have to be a part of it. Camping. No thanks.

Laura had just walked into the living room when she jumped backwards. Her head couldn't process what was in front of her before her body was well into the wall almost knocking down the pictures.

"Oh my god, Natasha dear god, please don't sneak up on me like that." Laura stumbled forward as Natasha stood up from the seat and dragged her into a hug. Laura could feel her heart race in her chest, but she sank into Natasha's strong arms with a sigh.

"I don't know if I would call it sneak up on but okay," Natasha teased leaning into her. Her skin was cold to the touch meaning she just got inside from the fresh fall wind.

"God, I feel like my heart is jumping out of my chest holy crap," Laura said with a heavy breath. "What are you doing here?" Laura said pulling back and looking at the other woman with a soft look. Natasha was looking at her smugly and Laura couldn't help but push her playfully.

"Well, first of all, I missed you guys," Natasha said with a smile winking at her.

"Not the best weekend to come then. Clint is out with the kids camping." Laura said, slowly picking up the blanket she dropped on the floor.

"Why would anyone go camping? Ew" Natasha said with a small grimace. Natasha was maybe a badass woman who could survive pretty much everything, but she was not the kind to go camping just for "the fun of it".

"Exactly why I didn't go," Laura said making Natasha laugh. Laura could feel her soft spot for the woman already expanding. It was something special about her. It really was.

The woman looked a lot healthier than last time she saw her. She looked awake and present, and the weight and muscles she had lost seemed to be back. She had a red top on and black jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a tight French braid. And around her neck she had the necklace Clint gave her a few years back.

"I am happy you came. Last time we talked you hung up on me." Laura said while leading Natasha into the kitchen.

"Last time we talked you decided to spy on me." Natasha countered as she passed her.

"Well, not my fault you guys were cute." Natasha rolled her eyes before laughing again.

"I didn't come just to let me tease me. I came to bring you something." Laura looked at her as Natasha mover over and opened the back door. Laura tilted her head and looked at her confused. The other woman didn't give her time to ask as she grabbed her arm and Laura could feel Natasha drag her out the back door. Her head fell and she rolled her eyes as she felt her body got dragged after the younger woman.

"Nat what are you…-" Laura said pulling the other way when Natasha pulled a little more forceful making Laura throw her head up.

"Oh my god Natasha!" Laura gasped as her eyes fell on a blue pickup truck. It had a red ribbon on the hood and looked very, very new.

"Natasha no. I refuse. I am not accepting this." Laura said turning away walking towards the house again. Natasha only laughed before grabbing her again holding her in place.

"Yes, you are." Natasha smiled at her softly pushing Laura towards the car.

"And I didn't break my promise. Earlier this year I bought a car for myself. Like a late Christmas gift to myself. It's a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray." Laura turned around and lifted an eyebrow.

"It's… It's an expensive car… Anyways, Clint told me I wasn't allowed to buy you a car before I treated myself. And I did. So, I did nothing wrong." Natasha said with a laugh.

"Natasha... I... I don't know what to say. Thank you." Laura said dragging her into another hug.

"Well I kinda broke the other one," Natasha said carefully. Laura pulled back, surprised she even mentioned it. Natasha only looked at for one second before turning around and walked back to the house again. "Keys are in the engine if you wanna test it out." She yelled as she walked away leaving Laura confused. Laura looked after her stunned, before she shook her head and ripped the door open jumping into the seat to get the keys. The car was a lot bigger than the small pickup truck they had now. But she had no time to study this now. She jumped out the car again closing the door. She threw one last look at it before she ran towards the house again.

"Hey… Hey Nat." Laura yelled after her jogging towards the house. Laura walked into the house closing and locking the back door after her.

"Okay... okay." Laura coughed softly before continuing. "okay so you gave me a car. What now." She laughed as Natasha rolled her eyes at her.

"Well I am not going to leave now. Be a good host and you tell me." Natasha said leaning back against the counter with a teasing smile.

"We can order a pizza? Eat on the bed and share a bottle of wine?" Laura suggested opening one of the cabinets. Natasha lifted an eyebrow when her eyes fell on the wine bottle.

"Good idea."

Natasha was laughing leaning over Laura. They were sitting in the bed in the master bedroom with the empty pizza box thrown on the floor and one empty wineglass on each of the two nightstands. Laura watched Natasha's green eyes light up as she continued to laugh.

"God, I missed you, Natasha," Laura whispered looking at the younger woman.

"I missed you to Laura," Natasha said with a soft smile leaning back into Laura's arms.

"I wish you could see the tower. I wished all of you could. You would love it Laura. Its beautiful watching over the city at night." Natasha said with a soft voice. She leaned back and looked up at her.

"Yeah. I would have loved too." Laura said back smiling at Natasha. It was true. Natasha and Clint lived a life out there, a place where she could never go. Or at least not now. Everything that happened outside of the house Laura could not interfere with. She had to stay on the sideline until it maybe got brought to her.

Before it had only been SHIELD intel and missions, things Laura didn't want to be a part of. But after Natasha became an Avenger, she could feel herself wanting to be a part of this life. At least see what it was about, not being in the shadow all the time.

"We should probably go to bed," Laura whispered as Natasha yawned.

"Meh. The kids are not here so you don't have to wake up early anyways." Laura took note of how Natasha said you and not we indicating she wasn't expecting a full night sleep even now.

"Very true, but sleep is nice," Laura said before pushing Natasha off her carefully. She walked over to the door and flicked the light switch. Even in the dark she could tell Natasha was staring at her.

"Come on Nat." Laura pushed Natasha softly dragging her down on the bed with her. She could feel Natasha looking at her. She was imagining to big eyes, slightly worried, looking at her.

"I'm here Talia. It's maybe not guarded with Stark tech but it's safe Nat. It's home, remember?" She felt Natasha nod softly before turning around curling under the duvet.

It was always nice to wake up by herself and not because one of the kids woke her up or an alarm was ringing in her ear. Laura woke up the same time Natasha walked out of the bathroom with a towel on her head.

"Good morning," Natasha said with a small smile. She was dressed in one of Laura's many oversized jumpers and the jeans she had arrived in.

"Good morning," Laura answered yawning as she pushed herself up against the headboard.

"Slept well?" Natasha asked as she unwrapped her damp hair carefully.

"Yeah. Apparently so well I slept through your shower?" Laura said with a small laugh as she watched the other woman.

"Well, I was trained to make close to zero sound so," Natasha said as she walked into the bathroom again to hang up the towel.

"Where are your hairbrush?" Natasha half yelled from the bathroom as Laura finally decided to get out of bed.

"Here," Laura called back throwing it softly at Natasha as she walked out the room. Natasha caught it with ease.

"Thanks." Natasha hummed as she sat down on the bed.

While Laura walked around in the room finding some clothes she watched as Natasha pulled her hair back into a ponytail, braiding part of her hair into it. The woman seemed relaxed and calm which really made Laura happy.

"Hey, Nat?" Natasha turned around slowly as she finished her hair.

"Yeah?" The woman looked at her carefully and Laura couldn't help but smile at her.

"Nothing important, I was just wondering what you wanted to do today? We have one and a half days before the kids will be back." Laura said as casual as possible.

"Oh. I don't know. What do you want to do? As long as I get a run squeezed in, I am happy with whatever." Natasha said with a smile. Laura only nodded at her smiling to herself. It was nice to have her home.

Natasha and Laura just spent the day around the house doing nothing. They talked about nothing and everything. Natasha showed her some pictures from the tower and let her read some of the mission reports. Natasha and Clint had always been very good at including Laura in their work to the extent it was safe. Letting her read about the missions and talk about them as they came back. It was a good way helping Laura keep her feet on the ground and not be too scared and worried about everything. Of course, she was always worried, but it helped to know what was going on and what they were fighting.

Right now, it seemed mostly like the Avengers were working on collecting information. Natasha pointed at a picture on her tablet.

"See him?" Laura nodded slowly at a picture of a man. She recognized pats of him, but she couldn't tell why and from where. The man was in a hospital bed and he looked like he had been in a bad fire.

"Rumlow" Laura let the name sink in. She recognized it but she didn't know exactly why.

"SHIELD agent?" Laura asked looking at Natasha. She nodded in confirmation.

"Yes. He even was in my strike team at one point. He was one of the agents that were undercover for HYDRA." Natasha explained.

"What happened to him?" Laura asked carefully looking at the man on the picture.

"One of the helicarriers crashed into the building he and Sam Wilson, the guy with wings, were in. It is a miracle that he survived really. Except that miracles are good things. And this is not a good thing." Laura lifted an eyebrow looking at her confused.

"They keep saying his chances for recovery are close to zero and he will never be a threat. In other words, their guard is down. But I know that's not the case. He will try to escape, and he will return." Natasha said with an annoyed voice before locking the tablet.

"Well even if he does, I am sure you figure out a way to take him down. One way or another." Laura said with a small grimace.

"Piff I guess," Natasha replied. Very obviously still mad.

"Let's talk about something else," Laura said pushing her lightly. Natasha turned to her and nodded

"Okay." She mumbled.

"Like your girlfriend." Laura laughed when Natasha immediately turned away from her. Laura could swear her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

"No idea what you are talking about," Natasha mumbled.

"Oh yeah?" Laura nudged her again before pulling up her phone pushing it in her face with the article on her screen.

"Come on." Laura tried. She let out a laughed laugh when Natasha tickled her side to get her to let go of her.

"We were just hanging out. We both had a day off, so we took a coffee. It doesn't mean anything." Natasha tried to keep her face straight but just a look from Laura made her smile.

"And the kiss?" Laura giggled looking at Natasha who was clearly very uncomfortable right now.

"Well, I mean… I… You know, I am getting hungry are you hungry?" Laura laughed loudly as Natasha stood up rapidly walking away from her. Laura followed her and dragged her into a hug from behind.

"You are adorable." Laura smiled into her hair and Natasha let out a sigh.

"She is amazing Laura." Natasha turned around in her arms and looked at her with dreamy eyes. "I just hope it works this time." Laura nodded with a small smile.

"It will."