A/N: Thank you for the sweet messages and reviews. I mean a lot. I love writing and I love this fanfic. Ah, I don't want it to end!

Also, guys. I don't speak Italian so like don't kill me ay.

Short note this time. As always, I hope you have an awesome day, make it a great week, and we'll talk in the next chapter.

S-B

The first thing Laura did when the call ended was to walk to the guest room, and the first thing she did when she entered was to turn around and walk back out again. The room was freezing cold. Not that surprising considering nobody used it, so they never tuned in the heater on. But why in the name of God was the window open as well.

Natasha was laying on top of the duvet as she had a tendency to do but her small body was still shivering even in her sleep. Laura half jogged to her bedroom to get her hot water bottle grabbing one of the wool blankets from her chair as well.

After closing the window and a fair bit of messing around with the blanket and bottle Laura finally found a position that would keep Natasha warm but also not annoy her. Laura laid down beside her curling herself around the sleeping woman. She was surprised the former spy didn't wake up. She was a really light sleeper and a hot water bottle against her skin would probably have earned Laura a hard punch to the gut a few years prior.

Deciding not to wonder anymore Laura curled up beside the woman soon falling into a deep sleep.

Laura woke up freezing cold. She had no idea how long she had slept but she was shaking uncontrollably. Turning around to find Natasha's side of the bed wasn't surprising, a bit disappointing, but this was Natasha. Of course.

Guessing by the slight dusk outside it was around 5pm. But it was quiet in the house. No sound or footsteps to be heard. The kids couldn't be home because if they were, she would have heard them by now.

Laura slowly made her way out of the room and headed towards the living room looking for any sign of life on the way. Laura stopped in the hallway when her eyes fell on a note taped to the front door.

Taking the kids to see a movie after school. Eating out after. – Clint

Okay, so that explained the missing kids and husband then. She really wasn't that surprised. Sure, it was kinda weird getting left behind, but Clint had made it very clear he was struggling to process everything that had happened. Laura had of course not taken the events today lightly either, but she wasn't the one that had been forced back to a killer warzone. And maybe she should be more nervous than she was. Her husband would be leaving soon, but at the same time, she knew worrying wouldn't help any of them.

Laura took the note off the door with a small chuckle. Clint's handwriting was awful. It always had been. It was messy and almost unreadable for anyone that wasn't Phil, Natasha or herself. God, it was just so bad. She really hoped both Lila and Cooper wouldn't take after his father on this one.

Laura continued walking into the dark living room and kitchen area. Another note caught her eye. Unlike Clint, Natasha had placed hers a lot more tactical. Laura could have easily walked past the note on the door without really thinking about it. But Natacha's note was just beside her phone which of course was guaranteed to get spotted. And unlike Clint, Natasha's handwriting was very readable. It was perfect if anything. Cursive, but not so cursive it was hard to read.

4:15/Out running. – Nat

Of course, Natasha would write down the time. Was it something this woman didn't think about? Laura pressed the home button on her phone. That was one hour ago.

Not feeling like making any dinner from scratch Laura decided to get some leftover lasagna, purposely taking a piece out of the freezer she knew she wouldn't finish alone so she could give some to Natasha if she were hungry when she came back. This was one of Laura's best batches ever, so eating this alone on a Friday night was just depressing.

Since it was Friday Laura knew Clint wouldn't be rushing to get home. The kid's bedtime was around 8 and 9 if they succeeded in getting them to bed, meaning Clint would probably not be home before 7.

What Laura really wanted was a glass of red wine and curl up watching TV, but that was out of the question for very obvious reason. Instead, she was being good eating a pretty good portion of food before reading up on some light research. She had thought about going back to work, but now that they were getting a third that was not a possibility anymore. Or at least not now.

Laura was in a deep train of thought when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She almost, almost screamed.

"Holy shit, Natasha. What the hell was that?!" Laura struggled to get her breath under control as she looked into Natasha's green eyes.

"What happened to your nice censored language?" Natasha said with a small laugh.

"The kids aren't here." Laura only mumbled back looking angrily her with her hand over her chest. Her heart was racing like crazy. She hated it when they snuck up on her like that. Clint wasn't as successful anymore and most of the time Laura caught him, but Natasha was like a cat. She made almost no sound normally, and if she wanted to sneak up on you every element was completely erased. Still, Laura had gotten better at controlling herself when she did occasionally get snuck upon.

"You're cold," Laura stated taking Natasha's hand into her own.

"I'm fine." Natasha only answered back, already pushing her away. Laura gave her a disapproving look making Natasha look away for a brief second.

"Where did you get the running clothes?" Laura looked at the woman not recognizing them. Natasha had never really moved any of her clothes over, and when she moved to the tower, she took the few items she had left at theirs with her.

"They are yours." Natasha simply answered. Laura frowned.

"They are?" Natasha let out a soft laugh before nodding. After looking at each other for a long minute Natasha opened her mouth again saying. "I need to take a shower."

"Okay," Laura answered slowly watching the other woman.

"After we can watch a movie on Netflix or something?" It wasn't really a question as much as it was a statement. Laura only nodded as she looked after the other woman when she walked out of the room. Okay then, guess that was the plan now.

After some more reading on her tablet, Laura decided it was time to move to Natasha's bedroom. Even if Natasha wasn't done with her shower, she knew she wouldn't mind Laura being the neighboring room. She grabbed the leftover dinner and a glass of water before making her way upstairs.

Just as Laura walked into the room Natasha opened the door to the bathroom. She was wrapped in a towel with her hair on top of her head in a messy bun. She smiled softly at Laura while she walked past her and out of the bedroom. Laura ignored the fact that she knew Natasha was currently looking through her closet for some clothes to steal. Instead, she only walked over to the bed and waited for the redhead to join her. She didn't mind waiting, she was in the middle of a really interesting article about how the hormones worked and changed while being pregnant.

"HOW DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT?!" Laura jumped in her seat when she felt Natasha lean over her. How had the woman not only snuck up on her twice today but into the bed without her noticing?

"I wasn't even trying." Natasha laughed making Laura blush.

"Here," Laura pushed the plate onto Natasha who laughed loudly at her annoyed face.

"Thanks, Laur," Natasha said with a soft voice. Her eyes were shining happily, and Laura couldn't help but smile. The tense and awkward feelings were long gone, and it slowly felt more like normal. Natasha was calm and relaxed beside her. The annoyed, angry and emotional woman was gone and was replaced with a happy girl. It was nice to have her home.

Laura woke up in Natasha's room the next morning. The redhead was sleeping soundly beside her. Laura spent a moment just to look at her best friend. Her face was relaxed and calm. Nothing like the tense worried face she had worn yesterday. They had spent most of the evening and night talking and joking around. Clint had shown no sign of wanting to join in, but Laura knew he preferred to work out his feeling alone, so she didn't bother him too much.

Knowing the second she moved out of the bed Natasha would wake up; Laura chose to lay in the bed on her phone for a little while to see if Natasha woke up by herself soon. She did. Five minutes later two green eyes were staring at her. They seemed slightly more blank than normal, already making Laura worried.

"Hi," Natasha said with a soft voice and a small smile. The woman flinched when Laura closed the distance placing a hand on her chin and forehead. Maybe she was being overdramatic, but she took no chances. She didn't want to get Maria after her.

"I just woke up, calm down, Laura," Natasha said with a small laughter and Laura continued to feel after a temperature.

"Hang on." Laura only said. She could hear Natasha protest as she left the room, hunting for the thermometer. It took her five minutes to find what she was looking for, but Natasha had been good and stayed in bed. Laura watched Natasha rolled her eyes as she pushed the thermometer into her mouth, but the redhead knew better than to refuse, opening her mouth obediently.

Still, with her mouth closed, Natasha grabbed her phone and started scrolling through something. Laura watched her carefully waiting for results. Around five minutes later she took the thermometer out of the spy's mouth looking at it with a frown. She squinted looking at to see if she was seeing right poking it lightly as if that would do anything.

"99.4" she turned to the redhead who shrugged not even looking at her or the thermostat.

"I have an above-average temperature" Natasha answered uninterested still looking at her phone.

"Natasha this is a fever." Laura countered trying to get the woman to take her seriously, which she certainly did not do right now.

"I do. It is in my journal and everything." Natasha continued.

"Point three is a high average, Nat." Laura looked at her seriously.

"I'm fine." Natasha tried. Laura didn't believe her for a second.

"Prove it," Laura said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Laur are you actually..." One look from Laura and Natasha stopped mid-sentence. "Okay how." Natasha rolled her eyes dramatically.

"By eating breakfast with me. The kids are having a playdate with Annie's kids at 9:30 today. And I will buy you breakfast. Eat it and I'll let it slide." Laura knew she was really pushing her now. Both of them were light eaters in general. On a good day, Natasha still ate very minimally in the morning.

"Okay," Natasha said slowly. Laura could tell she was debating with herself. But if instead of showing it too much she just pushed herself off the bed.

Two hours later and both Laura, the kids and Natasha dressed they were ready to go. The kids had eaten some food and were now ready to get out some energy with Lucie and Caspar. Clint was still showing signs of needing to be alone which both women respected. The only time when one of them said anything to him not related to the kids where when Natasha hooked her chin over this shoulder and corrected him on some math he had done wrong while he was constructing a new arrow.

"See." Laura could see Natasha draw something in the paper scribbling over Clint's notes. She wasn't rude but simply showing him how to do and changing the wrong answer. Clint had only mumbled a thank you back, but she saw him smile after Natasha when she turned her back to him.

After that they had somehow pushed Lila and Cooper into the car, both bursting with energy. Natasha had insisted on driving. Or more accurately taken the keys out of Laura's hand and glared at her which really only had made her giggle. The kids were buckled in the back seat, ready to go.

Natasha had only been at Annie's once but seemed to remember her way. It took them 15 minutes before they pulled up to the house, already finding Annie and the kids outside enjoying the nice February morning. Natasha parked the blue pickup truck left for the house, and the second the car had stopped the two kids flew out of the car.

Knowing better than to expect to just continue driving Natasha looked at Laura with a small sigh before opening the door and followed the kids. Laura smiled softly at that before jumping out after her. The kids were already in the middle of some important play giving the adults no attention at all.

Annie was fast on moving over to the two of them dragging Natasha into a hug. Laura could tell Natasha was uncomfortable even if she didn't show it. Last time they had seen each other Natasha had been lying on their kitchen table unconscious so she could understand where she was coming from.

"Hello, Natasha. Laura." Annie said looking at the two of them hugging Laura softly. Laura hugged her back smiling. Natasha tactically moved two steps back, now standing a few inches behind Laura.

"What are you two doing today? We can make a small brunch if you are hungry." Annie's voice was warm and welcoming. Laura was not surprised Annie offered to make them some food and invite them inside, but she was surprised when Natasha stepped up and was the one to answer.

"Actually, we are heading to town. Laura is taking me on a date." She smiled back reflecting Annie's soft tone. Laura nodded in confirmation, tossing Natasha a small smile.

"That sounds lovely." Annie smiled at her before turning to Laura. "I have that book you wanted to borrow if you want it now." Laura nodded and started to follow Annie towards the hose when they got interrupted by a phone staring to go off. Laura turned around to see Natasha fish her phone off from her pocket. Laura watched as the woman's face lit up in a bright smile before saying.

"I need to take this, go ahead." Natasha was fast to move away from them moving over to a stump a few feet away. Laura had a small idea of what that phone call was but chose not to comment on it. Instead, she and Annie watched her walk away in silence before they turned their attention back to the house.

"Why is she back? I thought you said she was working?" Annie said as she guided Laura into the house. Her tone was surprised and curious, which was understandable. Natasha was an interesting person for sure, and Laura could never shut her mouth when it came to talking up the other woman.

"She was. She showed up at our house yesterday. I planned on inviting her over anyways but didn't think this was the right time." Laura admitted. Annie nodded before moving around looking at the many bookshelf's they had looking carefully at the big selection.

"Well, it was nice seeing her again. Last time wasn't exactly ideal." Annie turned around to her ending up only a few inches away from the shorter woman. "And as I said, I like her, but it is kinda hard to get a grip on her." Annie continued before handing her the book. Laura could only nod looking down at the floor. She could tell the taller woman was looking at her now.

"Laura, why do you look like a guilty puppy who just did something bad?" Annie's voice was strict. Was this how she sounded when she scolded Natasha?

"Nothing." Laura only mumbled heading back towards the door trying to ignore the topic, knowing it wouldn't work.

"Not telling me something. What is it? Something about Natasha?" Annie pushed. Laura only shook her head still walking. She could hear Annie follow her.

"The kids? Clint? Are you sick? Are one of them sick? Is she moving again? Is it something about Lila? Cooper? Somebody else? A family member? Another family member? Dog? Cat? Horse?" Laura abruptly stopped in her tracks by the mentioning of another family member. Annie caught up moving in front of Laura blocking her path.

"What? Dog? Cat?" Laura only shook her head. She didn't know why this happened, and why she felt so extremely guilty. She hadn't done anything wrong? She was fine yesterday but now she felt ridiculously guilty and it was killing her. "Lila? Cooper? Natasha?" Laura continued to shake her head. "But something about your family." Laura nodded weakly.

"Oh my god, Laura are you pregnant?!" How Annie guessed it she had no idea, so Laura could only nod before Annie dragged her into a big hug.

"How far?" Annie said pulling back looking at her with a big smile.

"Three or four weeks. I don't know yet." Laura almost whimpered feeling the guilt eat her up.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Annie said dragging Laura into the dining room pushing her down on a chair before gabbing a chair of her own.

"Natasha found out by mistake. She didn't take it very well." Laura mumbled still with her head down.

"By mistake?" Annie echoed.

"Lila told her," Laura whispered.

"Honey you need to be a bit more specific because right now I'm not following. Why this is so bad? How did she react?" Laura looked up at her again before taking a deep breath.

"She walked out on us." Laura started. Annie opened her mouth but soon closed it again.

"She was gone for 4 hours. When she came back, she rejected us twice. I found her on the couch the next morning. Sick after crying herself to sleep." Annie's face had softened, and she looked Laura with a small nod.

"Okay. Not great. But why did she react so badly? I mean clearly, she is very loved by your kids. I mean she is counted as their aunt." Laura let out a sigh. Now the hard part.

"Clint is asked back on the field." She paused and watched as Annie's eyes widened. "And Natasha is scared she will fail to protect him and lose him in the next mission." Laura blurted out. Fuck. She really hoped none of the kids or Natasha heard her.

"What?!" Annie looked at her shocked.

"I mean that's what we think at least. Last time I was pregnant Natasha took close to all of his missions. Alone. Even the once they would normally take together, she had to do alone. I mean it was partly her choice, and of course, their boss agreed. She even chipped in a few times. And we are talking missions that take weeks to get through, not like small easy things. She got shot straight through her body in one of them. And Clint was the one that was originally asked to do that one. HE WOULD HAVE DIED!" Laura didn't mean to raise her voice, and it came out a lot louder and angrier than she was planning to. Still, Annie took it like a champion not even reacting when Laura yelled out the last part.

Laura took a deep breath before slowly continuing.

"Now everyone is getting called in. But Natasha isn't well. She is sick and needs time to heal which she doesn't give herself. Her boss thinks it might be the guilt that's talking." Annie only nodded back, and Laura could see she was struggling to take it all in. Which was fair because Laura herself was struggling to understand and she was there in the middle of this whole mess.

"How sick?" Annie finally asked. Laura was surprised that was her first question, but it was no reason not to answer.

"Fever today. She doesn't want to admit it. I am testing her now seeing how her appetite is." Annie nodded again.

"Do you… I mean… Is it possible…" Laura looked at her confused, not sure where she was going with this one. Annie let out a sigh before saying. "Do you think it can happen? That you'll lose one of them?"

"I don't know." Laura lowered her voice. "Natasha is excellent in the field and Clint has always kept his distance. And to be honest I haven't seen him bruised once after Natasha started working with him. But like Maria, there I guess former boss, said"

"Holographic head?" Annie chipped in. Laura nodded.

"She mentioned that Natasha's priority is to make sure he is fine. I am just scared that will cost her." Laura finally finished.

"You're scared she'll take the bullet?" Laura nodded.

"She has already done it once. Literally jumping in front of him and pushing herself and the guy trying to kill her into a room more or less ready to die. Nothing keeps her from doing it again. Except most of their missions after that were more Natasha does something crazy like to get them out of whatever is happening. She always plots out a plan. Jumping in front of him is more instinct base. But as we all know, nobody's head is very functional when they are sick. I don't know what do believe anymore." Laura let out another sigh and looked at Annie who smiled softly at her.

"Feel better?" She asked and Laura nodded back.

"I do. Thank you." Lura whispered letting Annie hug her.

"It's going to be fine Laura. I just know it." Laura looked at her with a defeated smile. She guessed she was right. She hoped so at least.

Laura and Annie finally got outside again. Laura hoped Natisha wasn't waiting for her. Turns out she wasn't. She was still on her phone listening to the other person. She had a soft smile on her face looking out at nothing with two dreamy eyes, clearly not very present. Which was very unlike her.

Laura could tell Annie had noticed Natasha's dreamy face as well.

"I think she is talking to her girlfriend," Laura whispered not turning to Annie as that would make it too obvious, they were talking about Natasha.

"I saw a picture of her and Pepper Potts recently," Annie whispered back.

"Mhm. They have been on and off for a few years. But I mean look at her, she could have been married to the woman based on the look on her face. Do not tell her I said that." Laura hissed with a soft laughter. Annie only giggled back.

After five minutes of watching the kids and Natasha, but mostly Natasha, Laura locked eyes with the redhead. She watched as Natasha opened her moth saying something into the phone before hanging up and making her way over to the mom.

"Ready to go?" Natasha asked with a soft voice as she looked around after Lila and Cooper.

"Yes. I wanted to say goodbye to the kids but it doesn't seem like they care too much about their mother anyways." Natasha laughed at that before nodding. She looked at her with a slightly mischievous look before putting two of her fingers in her mouth blowing a sharp and ridiculously loud whistle. Laura watched as all four planted their feet on the ground coming to an almost immediate halt looking at the former spy.

"We're leaving. Wanna give us a hug or something?" Natasha kneeled down as Lila threw herself in her aunt's arms. Cooper walked more controlled over to the two of them giving Laura a hug while saying.

"Have a good day mommy." Laura leaned into the hug and mumbled back.

"You too kid."

Unlike her brother, Lila didn't care that much about Laura and more or less walked away from her before Laura dragged her into her arms.

"You two have a great day. And if you aren't the one picking up the kids, it was nice seeing you again." Annie said with a sweet voice hugging Natasha fast before looking at Laura with a small smile.

"Thank you, Annie. And nice to see you too." Natasha smiled at her before turning to the car with Laura right behind her.

Natasha and Laura spent a good 20 minutes just walking around in the small town looking at places to eat. When Laura asked what she wanted Natasha had only shrugged. Of course, Natasha was a very polite human, and she was never the one to push her own wishes onto Laura. But Laura definitely did not think Natasha not saying anything was a good sign.

"Is that one new?" Natasha pointed at a small building on the other side of the street. It wasn't a question really. Laura was very aware that the woman knew the small town back and forth and could probably maneuver around through the streets better than Laura could.

"Oh yeah. It is like a restaurant place, but you can also pick out and taste wine." Laura answered turning around facing the redhead.

"Have you been there before?" Natasha asked tilting her head slightly looking at the restaurant.

"No, but it has pretty good reviews I believe. Do you want to try it out?" Natasha nodded with a soft smile leading the way towards the restaurant. It was a small place, with maybe 20 tables in various sizes. It was around the 5 other pairs currently seated around in the room. What really caught both if their eyes were the big bar in the back of the room. On the wall behind it were countless wines and Champaign bottles.

"Hi and welcome to almanaccare" Both Laura and Natasha moved their head by the awful Italian accent. The young woman in front of them looked at the two before smiling softly.

"If you want a table for two just follow me." Natasha was the first one to move following the young waitress. The blond handed them two menus before disappearing out of Laura's sight.

"At least they could learn to pronounce almanaccare correctly," Natasha said with a low voice. Laura laughed at the spy. She was very aware that Natasha was fluent in Italian like she was. And she had to agree that it was quite awful.

The second they sat down Natasha threw Laura the car keys with a mischievous look in her eyes. Laura almost didn't catch them making Natasha laugh even more. She could only roll her eyes before she dropped them into the bag, giving Natasha a very disapproving look.

They spent a good 15 minutes looking through the menu. It was a lot of the normal traditional dishes from mid-Europe. She was guessing it was because of the wine culture there. She was mostly interested in the sandwiches herself, feeling like more of some light lunch like food. She looked up to ask Natasha what she wanted just to find Natasha stare into nothing. Her eyes were blank, and she was clearly lost in her head.

"Erm. Nat?" Laura tried. Natasha shook her head before turning her attention to Laura.

"I was just thinking about buying Pepper a wine," Natasha said with a slightly distanced voice.

"Mhm." Laura was not convinced.

"Are you two ready to order?" Laura got interrupted in her thoughts when the waitress walked up to the table.

"Yes, could I get a Cesar salad, please," Natasha answered turning to the woman. Her voice was soft and warm.

"Yes, of course, anything to drink?" Laura watched the woman scribble down on her notepad.

"Just water please," Natasha answered with a smile. Her voice seemed slightly off, but Laura had no idea why.

"And for you?" The blond turned to her.

"Could I get the chicken sandwich and water please," Laura answered handing her the menu. The woman nodded before finishing writing on her paper.

"While you wait for the food you are more than welcome to look at our wines." The woman was looking directly at Laura and she couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable under her eyes. Natasha did not seem very impressed by her, but either way, she smiled and looked at Laura with a small nod.

Laura knew nothing about wine. So, when Natasha walked up to the bar to look at the never-ending list of the wine Laura was fast to fall out of what was happening around her. She heard the young waitress say something about a crémant and a year but other than that she had no idea what was happening at all.

Wine for Laura was literally, red, white or had bobbles. And either it was good, or it was not. Occasionally Natasha would gift her a nice wine, and she had somehow figured out what kind of wine she liked because she always seemed to gift the tastiest bottles, even if Laura herself didn't know what she liked.

"Yeah, I'll take it." Laura lifted her head when she heard Natasha's voice. She looked at the woman who stared at Natasha for a second.

"Of course." The woman mumbled before leaving the two of them confused. Laura would see Natasha was ready to roll her eyes, but she didn't. 30 seconds later their waitress and another shorter and older waitress woman came up to them. This new personally smiled at them with a warm smile. Unlike the younger one, Laura felt a natural pull to this one. She was guessing this maybe was the shift leader or manager. The new woman looked at them before saying.

"Can we see your ID please." Both Laura and Natasha looked at them stunned. Laura was about to say something before Natasha answered sweetly.

"Of course." Laura watched as Natasha pulled out her wallet and scanned through it before pulling out a card. She smiled sweetly to the two women. They both looked at it before the smaller one nodded and handed it back.

"Thank you. Do you want to pay the wine with the bill or separate?" She said with a kind smile.

"Together. Thank you." Natasha answered before turning and started walking towards their table again. Laura threw one look at the two again. Their original waiter did not look very happy, while the older one seemed calm. Her smile had definitely been genuine.

"That was. Something." Laura said as she caught up to Natasha who had seated herself by the table. Natasha only laughed softly.

"Only missed you with like ten years." Laura gave her a small grimace. To her surprise, Natasha answered her.

"In realtà no" Laura lifted an eyebrow when Natasha's soft voice started to talk Italian.

"What do you mean with actually no." Laura could feel her head go on autopilot as she answered in Italian. It was years since she had spoken Italian, but it really felt so natural. And it probably helped that Natasha's voice and accent were easy to understand. Instead of answering Natasha only handed her the ID card with a small smile.

"What is this." Laura continued to speak Italian in case she said something dumb now because she wasn't quite sure what she was looking at.

California driver's license.

Natalie Romanova

Born, 29.05.1990.

"I mean to be fair you look almost identical to when you were 25 so," Laura said with a small laugh. Natasha shrugged.

"Lo prendo come un complimento" Laura laughed at her. Natasha smiled softly before taking back the face ID. She did mean it though. Natasha didn't look like she had aged a day since she met her almost exactly 10 years ago. She had cut her hair short after a few years of knowing her, giving her a more grown-up look, but she had always looked very young. Even if she was in her thirties now.

"Isn't 29th of May Tony Stark's birthday. Swore I've read that somewhere." Laura switched to English again, knowing this really wasn't something to keep away from the waitress. Keeping up the foreign language was probably more suspicious.

"It is" Natasha confirmed seamlessly switching over as well.

The two of them kept a nice conversation while they waited for their food. As they waited a couple more joined them in the restaurant, making a nice atmosphere in the room.

By the time the food arrived Laura was starving. She hadn't eaten anything yet, and it was almost 11 now so the thought of some nice food was delightful. Natasha, on the other hand, did not seem very interested in her food, even if the salad looked really good. She only poked it with the fork eating the absolute minimum. It really didn't take much poking around before Laura was convinced the girl really indeed sick

After finishing eating, or more accurately, Laura finishing eating and Natasha poking the salad some more they were back on their feet on their way home. Natasha had tipped the young waitress very, very, generously before they left. She had even left a few dollars at the bar for the other woman as well. Laura wasn't very surprised. Both Laura, Clint and Natasha were good tippers already, and truth be told, Natasha had more than enough money to cover most of her life already. Laura was well aware the small fortune she had to her name would all go to her kids one day, so she was happy Natasha wasn't holding back on the generously to the public service. Because while she was grateful Natasha was even considered giving her children even a penny of her heritage, giving the kids the amount of money she had was ridiculous.

Laura guided Natasha back to the car, surprised when Natasha gave no effort trying to talk Laura into her driving, instead she only slipped into the passage seat quietly.

Most of the ride back was quiet. Natasha seemed to be falling in and out of sleeping, and Laura was okay with that. If she was sick, she needed to rest if anything. And at least Natasha wasn't fighting it anymore.

When they got home Natasha immediately walked up to her room while Laura spent the rest of her day with Clint. Clint was done with moping around annoyed. Instead, the two of them just hung out together enjoying each other's company.

"How is Nat?" Clint asked with a soft voice as he prepared some light snacks for the two.

"Not sure to be honest," Laura answered truthfully. Clint nodded slowly.

"I've been thinking a lot about this mission." Clint turned to her and looked at her seriously. Laura felt the lump in her throat grow.

"Okay?" Laura said slowly as she took a seat at the kitchen table.

"And, I mean I don't really have a choice at this point, but I am going. And I need to talk you through this to make me be able to go through this." Laura only nodded as Clint slowly stroked her chin. "I talked to Maria; we aren't only looking at a one-time mission. This is… this is big. I… I know Natasha didn't go in-depth. And maybe she doesn't even know the whole story. But we are talking the biggest HYDRA base we have found yet." Laura turned away from him before mumbling.

"What does that mean Clint. What are you really saying here?" Clint turned her head towards him again looking at her seriously.

"I am saying, the odds of me just being gone for a day's aren't realistic Laura. They are pulling me in for weeks now. Even if none of them wants to say it out loud, this is a big one." Laura looked at him with a small nod before smiling softly.

"It's okay Clint. You know I support you." Clint nodded leaning into her kissing her softly.

"I support you in every aspect. They need you, and I am proud of you for stepping up, even if you are scared and worried about this." Clint dragged her into his arms kissing her deeply again.

"I love you," Clint mumbled into her neck.

"I love you too. And as long as you promise to come back with you and Natasha both whole AND update me once in a while, you can stay as long as you need." Laura purred softly.

"I promise."