He glances at his watch again, tapping his foot in annoyance. 10:23. She's late again, and he sighs.

He's in over his head, that much is clear. If he had thought that it couldn't get any worse before, he had been very mistaken.

Sure, the first few weeks after Natasha's death had been hard, trying to comfort his daughter and explain what was happening all while trying to adjust as well. Those weeks had been the darkest part of his life, with Katie being the only light he could see in the darkness. And sure, Katie had thrown her fair share of tantrums and he'd had to deal with them all alone.

And, to be quite honest, he wasn't sure how he made it through the week after he finally told Katie what happened, how her mother died. She had been absolutely inconsolable, asking him why people did such terrible things over and over. Every time he had said, "I don't know, Katie, I just don't know," he had felt like a failure.

But now…. Everything was different now. When she had turned fourteen Katie had started insisting on being called Kat. Then she had started at the local high school and decided that the punk/emo look was the coolest thing ever, dressing in dull blacks and grays and caking ungodly amounts of make-up on her face.

Then the calls started coming from the school, the secretary asking him if he could please come to the school as soon as possible because the principal wanted to talk to him about Kat. He watched as Kat lashed out in any way she could, and it was all he could do to chase after her and try to clean up the mess she left in her wake.

He heard brakes squeal as a black truck came to a stop in his driveway. He could barely make out two figures in the cab, but he knew without a doubt who it was. Sighing heavily, he pushed himself out of his chair and quietly padded to the front door, just as a dark silhouette ran up the front steps. The door opened and a figure tip-toed in, obviously trying to shut the door silently. He flicked the light switch on and crossed his arms.

"Katerina Virginia Rogers, what do you think you're doing?"

"Whatcha thinkin' about?"

Steve startles out of his thoughts by Clint's teasing tone as he pulls a chair up next to his and slings his arm around his shoulders.

"Nothing. Everything. Just counting the things I wish I could have done differently." Clint grimaces slightly.

"Let me know when you hit the double digits."

"Yeah," he laughs humorlessly, "I think I hit that an hour ago." They sit in silence for a few minutes, pretending to get paperwork done. It's a rare calm moment in the station; no one's rushing toward a quinjet, only half in their suit, departure on a mission imminent. And Tony hasn't accidentally set anyone on fire yet. It's almost peaceful.

"I wonder if it would be any different if Nat was still here," he mumbles listlessly.

"Knowing Katie? Nah. Oh sure, maybe Natasha would've threatened to beat the shit out of the kid every time she acted out, but I don't believe for a second that Katie wouldn't have rebelled. It's normal."

"Sure it is," he snorts. "God, it's like she doesn't have any respect for me or my authority! She's just so stubborn and difficult, and I love her to death but, God, does she make me want to pull all my hair out."

"Yeah, she's definitely Natasha's kid, there's no doubt about that. But you know who else she reminds me of?"

"Tony?" Clint cracks a smile at that.

"Yeah, I can see it. But more than that, she reminds me a lot of you." Steve startles at the statement and glances at Clint. His friend grins at him. "You don't see it? I do. She gets her stubbornness from both of you, but she's also so determined. Once she sets her mind to something, she's hell-bent on finishing it."

"If only she would set her mind to something productive for once."

Clint frowns. "Well, she's not failing out of school, is she? She's getting decent grades and she's still playing tennis, right? And let me tell you, the kid is a natural at archery."

"What?"

"Nothing. My point is, you're focusing on the bad. Why not try and focus on the good?"

Sorry that these are somewhat short. The next one will definitely be a bit longer.