Author's Note:

Hello! Thank you for the lovely response I received on the first chapter, and thank you to avengersmaniac15 for reviewing!

To clear things up, yes, this is a platonic Clintasha story, so my apologies for those who thought otherwise :)


Natasha lifted her legs, placing them on the dash and crossing them at the ankles. "It's a five hour drive." She stated from the passenger's seat as Clint drove, switching the radio station.

Clint sighed at the classical music station she'd selected. When he turned to nag her about it, however, something else apparently caught his eye. "Hey! Buckle your seatbelt!" He scolded.

She threw him a small amused glare before pulling the seatbelt over herself and strapping in. "What's the big deal? It's easier to get out of a car when somebody's shooting at you if you're not wearing a seatbelt." She pointed out. 'Safety first' didn't bode well with being an assassin. Being cautious got you killed.

"Nobody's going to be shooting at us on this car ride, Nat." Clint shot back. "I make my children buckle up every single time, and I won't let you escape that rule either- not when I'm driving."

"That's different; Cooper's four and Lila…" She paused. "They are too young to even buckle themselves- you do it for them." She countered, as if that response would invalidate his point on the matter. She decided to add one last thing. "And I'm not your child."

"Yes, but you are my children's honorary aunt; if you died in a car accident, how do think that would affect Coop and Lila, huh?" Clint argued. "Actually, on second thought, if you died from not wearing your seatbelt, maybe it would prove to them how important seatbelts are…" He added thoughtfully.

Natasha scoffed. "No, don't use me as an excuse for how you discipline your children- otherwise I'll haunt you. I praise myself on being the 'fun aunt'."

Clint snorted but didn't further the discussion.

They fell into a comfortable silence for nearly twenty minutes before Natasha broke it. "We're married, right? Where's my ring?" She questioned.

"In the glove compartment, I think," he answered, gesturing.

She rifled through it, finding them and making a show at sliding hers onto her finger. "Wow, you must love me a lot- these are lovely rings. Here's yours." She held out her hand so he could take the ring.

He grabbed his ring and slid it onto his finger deftly. "Thanks." He returned both hands to the steering wheel and all was quiet for a moment. "How long do you think this mission will last?"

"I wouldn't predict longer than a month." Natasha replied. "But, if it goes over a month- say by a week- we'll head out and visit your brother and his children for a few days."

Clint smiled at her for a second. "Yeah. We wouldn't want to miss my brother's birthday." He replied. He loved that one of the first things Natasha planned was them going to celebrate his son, Cooper's, birthday. "For our engagement, I'm thinking a big banner in the sky asking you in secret code to marry me." He stated.

"No secret code- we are a normal couple. A simple, 'Natasha, Will you Marry Me?' is more believable." She amended. "And we nearly missed seeing the banner because we were dancing on the beach. But I didn't hesitate to say yes."

Clint smiled just a little. "How romantic," he crooned. "And our wedding was on that same beach, but it almost got washed out since the tides suddenly acted up."

"My poor wedding dress was ruined!

"And Mary, your maid of honor, was in tears because she'd helped you fix up that dress, which used to belong to your mother, so she absolutely had to help you fix it again. She saved the wedding." Clint added, fully caught up in the imagining.

"Which didn't matter in the end; it was off within an hour of the wedding because we booked a hotel on the beach for a few days before flying off for our honeymoon," Natasha continued.

Clint laughed at that. "And our honeymoon was in-?" He stopped, gazing at her questioningly.

"The Caribbean." She finished for him. "We were there for two weeks. That was just over two years ago now… we've both always wanted a big family…"

"But we found out a few months ago that neither of us are capable of having children." He said rather sadly, making sure they were both included in that inability so she didn't feel singled out- he hoped to lessen the discomfort, considering she actually couldn't have children.

Natasha nodded and remained silent for a few moments. "We had a few failed adoptions, due to…" She trailed off, once again, falling into silence for a few moments. "My background."

"Yeah, you've got a small criminal record for petty theft and… neglect of a minor?" Clint asked. "That would make it impossible for us to legally adopt, so we'd have a more understandable reason to adopt illegally."

"I was nineteen- stupid pigs." Natasha muttered, in character. "We both just want a fresh start and to start a family."

"And I've got this brother, Phillip Cole, who visits often and is a known drug lord." Clint added with a snicker. "His reputation made it really hard for any agencies to even consider adopting to us."

Natasha nodded. "Anything else we need to cover?" She asked, distractedly flicking through the radio channels.

"Well, there's our entire lives left to figure out… How did we meet?" He started with the first question that came to mind.

A small smile graced her lips as she turned to look at him. "You're convinced that we met at a bar in March and hit it off. But we actually met on New Year's Eve a few months before that. I was still dating this jerk who had just abandoned me in the middle of the club to go and get high, and you danced with me- although you were wasted and claim you don't remember."

"Because I don't remember!" Clint defended, in character now. "All that I've got from that night are flashes of pink and someone asking me where the balloons were."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "You're useless sometimes. You know that, Clint?" She replied. "But, we officially met at a bar. Which I almost didn't go to."

Clint nodded. "Right. And I ended up there after my girlfriend dumped me for a male model from Switzerland. I might have had a few too many… but I was totally justified."

"If you say so." Natasha replied with a chuckle before leaning back. "Wake me up when we get there." She told him, closing her eyes.

Clint smirked. "Sure thing, Sunshine." He teased and returned his focus to driving.


Natasha was already awake when they pulled up to their 'new home'. She looked around at the white picket fenced houses, the normal life that so many people had. "Home sweet home," she muttered almost bitterly at the seemingly perfect lives.

Beside her, Clint chuckled. "You okay, Darling?" He drawled. "Don't start brooding."

She flashed a smile his way. "Brooding? I'm so excited to be at our new home. Come on, love, let's get unpacked. I just can't wait to see the kitchen and plan what to cook." She said in an over-excited voice before opening the door and sliding out of the car.

"You got it, Sweetheart." He replied, following suit. He grabbed their suitcases from the trunk and handed one to her. "Nice place." He said, analysing the house.

Natasha looked up at the house. "Not very secure," she observed quietly, picking up one of the bags. "Incoming." She warned, turning around in time to smile sweetly at a couple crossing the road towards them.

"Hey! You must be our new neighbours. I'm Joelle, and this is my husband, Peter. We live just across the street from you!" An overly perky women introduced. She knew they were the Pullets from the research she'd conducted.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Joelle. I'm Natasha, and this is my husband, Clint," she introduced with a smile, nearly as perky as their new neighbours.

Clint extended a hand and eagerly shook with both of them, a cheery smile plastered on his face. "Nice to meet y'all. How long have you two lived on the block?" He asked with clearly feigned interest.

Peter stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets and whistled. "Well damn, it's been- what? Twenty years?" He asked his wife. She nodded. "Yeah, twenty. Moved here right before our second was born."

Clint nodded along. "Wow, that's a long time. We haven't had much luck with our last few homes- they just weren't our dream house, you know?" Peter laughed a deep belly laugh and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh, you have children? How delightful! How old are they?" Natasha asked, her whole face brightening up.

"We have four, actually; the youngest has just turned seven- they grow up so fast." Joelle began before listing her children. "There's Laura- she's the oldest, at 23- and then Tanner- he's twenty- was born only a few months after we moved here. Then, we were surprised when Joy came- she's 10. And then Courtney is our youngest. How about you?"

Natasha's face saddened, "Unfortunately, we're unable to have children." She replied and exchanged a meaningful hug with Joelle- it was almost like they had known each other for years and she was sharing this news. It was almost sweet how Joelle seemed genuinely gutted for her, but also weird.

"That's a damn shame, little lady." Peter said. "Sorry."

Clint smiled tightly. "It's okay. We've been dealing just fine so far." He put his arm around Natasha's shoulders.

Natasha wiped a tear away. "Sorry, I'm just emotional today. Moving is a big deal. And getting settled in when you don't know the place always gets to me."

"Oh! It must be a nuisance to unpack and cook. How about you and your husband eat at our place tonight? Save you having to work out dinner?"

"We couldn't intrude, could we, Clint?" Natasha questioned, looking at him. "But, if it's not too much hassle?"

"Not at all! Dinner is at 5:30- just come on over to number seven."

"Number seven… Alright, we'll be there! Thank you!" Clint said, perking up again.

"'S no problem, kids." Peter said kindly in his gruff voice. "C'mon, Joelle, let's get back now." He took her hand and they returned to their home across the street.

Clint turned to Natasha. "Well, that was… interesting."

Natasha looked up at him. "Courtney is seven, similar age to our targets' son. They probably go school together- the families should be close."

Clint nodded. "Yeah, good point." He commented. "Maybe they'll know something?"

"Even if they don't, it's a good way to get introduced," She replied, turning and giving Joelle a small wave before walking into their new 'home'. "Well, this is sickly sweet."

"Adorable is what it is." Clint corrected, eyes roving over the floral wallpaper and the framed paintings of forest scenes left from the previous owners.

Natasha dropped her bag on the settee. "I hear there's a box in the trunk filled with 'personal photos' for us to put up. I'm sure that would be a blast."

"I just hope they're all of my good side." Clint chuckled. "A box of the more important documents we don't already have should be hidden in the attic."

She nodded. "Great, let's unpack and make it look like we intend to live here for the rest of our natural lives." She sighed, picking her bag back out- she had never considered buying herself an actual place. Clint had one and had suggested that she buy herself one, but she didn't see the point in that. Looking around, she realised it would be better than staying in a place like this- the wallpaper made her want to throw up.

"Yes, but what about our unnatural lives?" Clint joked. He dropped his bags on the ground beside hers and began pulling some personal effects out, such as a framed picture of what looked to be his mother, and placed them about the sitting room. "There. Now it looks more homey." Clint said, proudly examining his work.

Natasha raised an eyebrow before pulling out a framed photo of the two of them, both looking five years younger. "You remember this, right? When we went to Brighton, England for two weeks?" She questioned lightly, bringing up an event that had never happened.

He caught on. "Ah, yes." He said in an exaggerated and totally corny British accent. "It was quite magnificent." He sent her a crooked smile.

"We should certainly go back to England for our anniversary this year, love."

"Anything for you, dearest." He replied, laying it on thick.


Thank you for reading