The sun was starting to come up when they landed. They were going to be hiding out at Clint's house. Chris had recognized it from when she had helped him.
Steve had stayed away from her all night. He could tell it wasn't something the Chris wanted to talk about. They all followed Clint up the steps of the house.
"Where are we?" Thor asked.
"A safe house." Tony replied.
"I hope so." Clint said and opened the door.
Everyone walked inside and Chris closed the door behind everyone.
"Honey, I'm home." Clint said.
Laura came around the corner and was surprised to see everyone.
"Sorry I didn't call ahead." Clint apologized and kissed Laura.
"She's got to be an agent." Tony said.
"Guys this is my wife, Laura" Clint smiled and Chris walked over to hug Laura.
"Hi, Laura." Chris said hugging her.
"Oh Chris, you look like you've been to hell and back."
"I think I was."
There were footsteps and soon Lila and Cooper were coming around the corner.
Clint hugged and kissed them.
"Those are smaller agents." Tony said pointing to the kids.
"Auntie Nat, Auntie Chris!" Lila yelled and both kids hugged them.
"Sorry for barging in on all of you." Steve said.
"We would have called ahead, but we didn't know you existed." Tony said.
"Yeah, Chris and Fury set this up for me when I started. It was kept off SHIELDs files and I would like it to stay that way." Clint smiled.
"How's little Natasha?" Tash asked Laura.
"She's Nathaniel." Laura said.
"I win, pay up." Chris said holding out her hand to Tash.
She pulled out a twenty and then bent down.
"Traitor." She said with a smile.
Toast popped and Thor walked out. Chris let Steve handle that on his own.
"I have a feeling that I'm gonna need the room in the barn." Chris said looking at Clint.
"You never told Steve, did you?" Clint asked.
"It wasn't my secret to tell."
"What about the other thing?"
"You are the only person that really knows what happened there. I couldn't imagine what he'd think of me if he knew."
"Well better he finds out from you."
Chris walked up to her normal room and sat on the bed.
"I brought you some clothes." Laura said as she walked in.
"Thanks." Chris smiled and grabbed them from Laura's hands.
"Laura, can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Do you tell Clint everything? Even if you know it could make him think of you differently?"
"That's what being married is. Being able to share everything so you don't have to do it alone."
"Thank you, Laura. For everything."
Laura nodded and walked out. Chris was changing when Steve came into the room.
"Those scars remind me of everything that you have been through that makes you as strong as you are." Steve said as Chris pulled the shirt over her head.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Clint."
"I didn't know you guys had known each other for so long."
"Fury wanted to test my loyalty. So, he set me up with the job of finding this new recruit a home and making sure that it was always safe and never in SHIELD's files. That's how I met Clint and Laura. They're good people and they deserve this."
"Chris, I'm not mad. It wasn't your secret to tell."
Steve changed and went to leave.
"Steve."
"Yeah?"
"You know I love you, right? No matter what?"
"I know. I love you too."
He walked over and kissed the top of her head before going outside.
Chris watched out the window as Steve and Tony chopped wood. She could have stood there for hours.
There was a knock on the door and Clint walked in. He walked over to the window and stood behind her placing his hands on her shoulders.
"You know you're like the big brother I never had. Always so easy to talk to. So easy to work with. You have always been there for me even when I couldn't be there for myself."
"That's what big brothers are for. They're also there to tell you that it's time to tell him. You can't go into this fight with that weighing on your chest. Love ya sis." He said and kissed the top of her head before walking away.
Chris saw Steve rip apart a chunk of wood with his hands and decided that now was as good a time as any. She went outside to see Tony walking towards the barn and Steve still working on wood.
"Steve can we talk?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"There's just something I need to tell you."
Steve took her hand and they walked out into the woods surrounding the house.
"Chris, what's going on?" Steve asked stopping and letting go of her hand.
"I haven't been completely honest with you."
"About."
"Remember our first date? When I told you about how I got out of the military?"
"Yeah?"
"I didn't tell you the whole truth. To be honest the only people that know the whole truth are the general and Clint."
"Clint?"
"I told him long before I met you. This was something Fury didn't even know, or if he did he didn't inform me. The men that were with me when I was taken in Iraq, they didn't die right away. What better way to torture a commanding officer than to force her to kill them all. That's what they did. They forced me to hold a gun to their heads and pick between my life and theirs. They watched me shoot them. The last thing they heard were my cries as my survival instincts forced me to pull that trigger. Four times. I killed all four of my men. I watched them be tortured along with me and then placed at my feet only to be shot minutes later by their commanding officer that was too weak to think of anyone but herself and her family. I ate, slept, and bled with these men and in the end I took their lives."
Chris couldn't look at Steve. She stared at the ground letting the tears fall to the ground.
"Chris." He said softly as he lifted her face to look at him.
"I was scared you'd see me as the monster I am."
"Chris, you are not a monster. You fought for your life and I am so happy you did. Because if you hadn't I never would have met you and I'd be so lost I wouldn't know which way was up. I love you. All of you. Even your dark parts. It's because of those parts that you are the extraordinary person you are today. I love you so much." Steve said pulling her into a hug.
"I love you too."
Steve pulled away and kissed Chris. Not the quick kisses they had been giving each other lately, but that kind of kiss where you feel that person's love and affection seep into your body and warm you to your core.
"Let's get back to the team." Steve smiled and held her hand as they walked back up the steps and into the house where a familiar voice was echoing around.
"Nice of you to finally join us." Fury said as he looked at them.
They all situated themselves in the kitchen area to hear what Fury had to say. Chris sat at the table across from Tash and Steve stood behind her with one hand on her shoulder.
"Ultron took you all out so that he could have more time to set up. My contacts say he's building something. With all the vibranium he took from Klaue it's more than one." Fury explained.
Chris smiled at Lila as she handed her a picture of her and Steve with a heart around it.
"Thank you sweetheart." Chris said kissing her forehead.
"What about Ultron?" Steve asked.
"He's easy. He's everywhere. He multiplying faster than a rabbit. We still don't know his plans." Fury said cutting his sandwich in half.
"Is he still trying to go after launch codes." Tony asked.
"Yes, but with no headway."
"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school."
"I talked to our friends at Nexus about that."
"Nexus?" Steve asked.
"It's the world internet hub, honey. Every bite of data flows through there." Chris said rubbing his hand.
"What did they say?" Clint asked.
"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed by an unknown." Fury said.
"We might need to get into Oslo." Tony said.
"Well, as nice as it is having you here, I was hoping you'd have more than that." Tash admitted.
"I do. I have you guys." Fury said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I used to have eyes everywhere, and ears where I didn't have eyes. Back then you guys had all the fancy tech and everything a kid could dream of. Now we have nothing but wit and will. Ultron says you are all that stand between him and his mission, but what he may not realize is his mission is global destruction. Everything laid down in a grave. So, you need to stand and outwit this platinum bastard."
"Babe, he said a bad word." Chris said looking up at Steve.
"You're lucky you're cute." He said rubbing her shoulders.
"What does he want?" Fury asked.
"To become better than us. He's building bodies." Steve said coming to a realization.
"The human form is inefficient. Biologically we're outmoded, but he keeps using it." Tony said.
"You two failed at having him protect the human race." Tash said looking between Tony and Bruce.
"They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve. It's what he said that first night. He's going to evolve." Bruce said looking up from the ground he had been intently staring at.
"How?" Chris asked.
"Has anyone talked to Dr. Cho?"
"He's making a body." She realized.