The next few days left Natasha in Clint's care. He was out of the med lab now but was still stuck in the tower. They spent the time watching tv and playing checkers. She drew for a while and for most of the days he was indulgent and she had the run of the tower. The others came and went and everyone was pleasant and friendly. English was becoming much easier for her to read. She could do so with speed now and she flew through the Madeline books. She liked them a lot but thought she might like the longer books better. There wasn't a lot of plot in the Madeline ones and she was looking forward to a good story.

Clint read to her occasionally but for the most part he just seemed to like watching television. He took her to the park a few times with no new troubles. On a Tuesday they went and she played on the slides.

The group of girls from before were there again and she watched them play. She remembered being insulted by them and a flash of anger went through her. They were watching her too and one of them was laughing.

With her temper getting the better of her she dismounted the slide and marched over to them. "What are you laughing at?" She demanded.

They stopped and looked at her. There was a measure of hostility in the lead girl's eyes. She lowered her eye lids and glared at Natasha. Natasha remembered her name was Haley. Haley made a face. "Is that your doll?" She pointed at the Raggedy Ann doll cradled in the the crook of Natasha's arm.

Natasha clutched the doll to her chest defensively. "What's wrong with her?"

The other girls snickered. "Why don't you get a Barbie?" Natasha looked at their dolls. They weren't bad looking but she thought that she wouldn't want to sleep with one, it would be too pokey.

"Because I like this one." She knew that they would laugh at and they did. She was close to taking a swing at Haley now.

"I think that's stupid. Your doll is ugly." Haley said.

Natasha was not used to disrespect from other children. She had always been quick to stop anyone making fun of her in the Red Room. There they knew she was the best and she never let them forget. Here. . . she glared at Haley.

One of the other girls laughed at her and said something about her doll having an ugly color of hair.

Haley laughed. "It's ugly 'cause it's her hair color."

And that was it. Natasha hit her across the face, sending the girl crashing backwards. In an instant she was on top of her. She pinned her down and slapped her. "Stop making fun of me!" She yelled. One of the other girls shrieked and Haley in all her uncoordinated skill pulled at her hair. They wrestled on the ground. Natasha had only begun her hand to hand training recently and although she was much better than Haley would ever be the girl still managed to get in some hits. They rolled and clawed at each other. Natasha tore the knee of her jeans but didn't care. Now that she was in a fight she couldn't walk away. Haley was hitting back and the other girls were yelling. She yelped herself as Haley pulled at a fist full of her hair. She kicked at her in retaliation and the two of them rolled into a mud puddle.

Across the park Clint looked up and after a moment of dumbfound ed parilization he sprang to his feet. He saw the other little girl's mother shrieking along with the other kids' moms. "Oh damn it!" He swore. All of the children on the playground had clustered around to watch the fight. He rushed towards them in time to see both girls rip hair from each other's heads. Natasha punched Haley across the face and rolled until she was on top.

"Nat, Stop!" He yelled.

"Is that your child?!" A woman demanded.

"Um. . . yeah."

"Get that little monster away from my daughter!"

Clint hesitated, wanting to argue with the woman before yelling Natasha'e name again. "Natasha knock it off. You win, come on." He had no idea what to do in the situation. He reached out a hand and grabbed her fist to stop her from hitting the angry girl pinned underneath her.

"Knock it off."

Kicking and struggling he pulled her off and hauled her a few yards away, getting kicked in the shins by Haley in the process. Then Natasha went limp in his arms and glared at the other girl who's mother was shrieking and trying to wipe mud off of her daughter.

Natasha was limp in his arms and one glance told him that her jaw was set.

Once the woman was sure her daughter was fine she marched over to Clint and Natasha and began yelling. "What do you think you're doing?" She demanded. "If you can't teach your daughter to behave in public then you shouldn't bring her to the park!"

Clint glanced at the staunchly unrepentant Natasha. She took covered in mud with her jaw set and her eyes fierce. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I'm sure Natasha wouldn't have hit her for no reason. . ." He broke off, facing a wave of fury from the mother.

"Are you trying to pin this on my daughter? That little monster started this. I was watching."

He shrunk back a little. "That's not what I'm saying. . . I just don't think that. . ." He faltered. He hadn't been paying attention.

"She called me ugly." Natasha snapped at the woman. "She is nasty little girl. Brat."

The woman looked outraged. "Don't you call my daughter names."

"She is rude. You should be ashamed."

"Natasha.. . ." Clint groaned. "Natasha just apologize."

"No. I will not." She stuck her nose up and closed her eyes.

Clint sighed. "Look, I'm sorry she hit your kid but it looks like they roughed each other up and if she called Natasha ugly then I'm not that sorry. Your kid was making fun of her last time they were here."

The woman glanced at her daughter as though she was partially angry over her behavior and still not accepting Natasha's behavior.

"Look, that doesn't excuse your behavior. I hope you'll discipline her better next time. At least teach her that she can't settle everything with her fists. She acted like a little barbarian."

Natasha glared at her. "I hope you'll teach your daughter not to be a brat."

Clint could have died. "Nat please. . . look ma'am, I'm sorry. She's not normally like this. We're just going to go. Again, I'm really sorry about everything."

The woman gave them an angry look and marched off, fretting over her daughter again.

Natasha who was now acting very disinterested in the whole situation wondered over to where her doll lay in the mud and picked it up. She frowned. The doll was stained with mud. In her anger she had dropped it carelessly.

Clint sighed exasperatedly. "You got your doll?" He asked.

He wasn't really angry with her. Kids fought. It was just what happened and he believed Natasha's side of the story.

"There's mud on her." Natasha said mournfully.

Clint glanced at the doll. "We can clean it. Don't worry."

They returned to the mansion and he made her go take bath while he threw the doll in the wash. He was amused by the situation and sank onto the couch to relax. He was exhausted. Hauling Natasha off of the girl had hurt his cracked ribs a little. He flicked on the tv and wondered how he could avoid telling the others. He didn't want them to be mad. He wasn't worried that they'd be mad at her but he'd already messed up once and now he'd let her get in a fight. Steve would tear him a new one.

Twenty minutes later she came and sat next to him wrapped in a bath robe with a towel around her hair. She sat quietly and waited. She was waiting for a reprimand. Clint however sat without speaking, eating Cheetos. She watched his tv show for a while. She didn't want to ask what was going to happen to her. Finally he turned and said:

"Can we keep this between us? Cap would wear me out if he knew I let you get into a fight."

She looked at him curiously. "You'd be in trouble in stead of me?"

"Well we'd both be in trouble." He grinned at her. "You know you can't beat someone up just 'cause they insult you."

She frowned a little guiltily. She knew that. "Yes but she made me really mad. All of them did."

He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a small hug. "I know but next time try and keep your head on straight. It'll save you a lot of trouble in the long run."

She curled up next to him and they watched television until the others returned home. Neither she nor Clint mentioned the fight and when Steve asked why the doll was in the wash Clint gave a muffled response about having dropped it in a puddle.

Natasha waited anxiously for the doll to come out of the dryer and then inspected it carefully for any permanent damage. She was relieved when there was none. She had been afraid she had ruined such a nice thing and it made her regret her temper a little more.

They ate dinner together and Natasha leaned against Clint's shoulder, she was glad she wasn't in trouble even if she had gotten to the point where she didn't like keeping secrets from Steve and the others.

This weighed on her throughout dinner and afterward she kept to herself, feeling guilty. She wanted to be good and getting into fights and keeping them secret wasn't what good children did. She was sure of that. Clint was pretending that nothing had happened but in her own shrewd way she thought that might have been what he had done as a kid.

Eventually she decided that telling the truth was better and hesitantly she tugged on Steve's sleeve. He was Captain America, he was in charge and he was who she should tell. He looked down with a smile. "What's up?"

She bit her lip. "Um. . . I didn't drop my doll." She said softly.

He tilted his head, encouragingly. "Well what happened?"

"I got in a fight and dropped her."

Worry crossed his face. "Who'd you get into a fight with? Did something happen at the park?!"

She nodded. "There was this girl and she called me ugly and last time I saw her she called me stupid soI hit her."

Steve sat for a moment and then relaxed. He had thought something much more serious had happened. "Well. . . well that's not good but. . ." It was hard to be mad when he thought Hydra or something like the Red Room might have been involved. "I mean. .. you can't hit people just because they make you mad."

She nodded and hung her head. "It is different here. Here I have to be careful."

"You couldn't be careful in the Red Room?"

"I had to make sure no one thought I was weak."

He frowned but softened. "Is that why you hit the girl?"

"No." She wanted to make that clear. She had hit the girl because the girl had insulted her. "She just made me mad."

He let out a soft chuckle. "Well I can't say I'm happy but um. . .next time just tell me. Or better yet, next time don't get into a fight." He then cleared his throat and turned to Clint who was making a miserable face. "Honestly Barton, sometimes it's like having two kids around. You're supposed to be in charge! You can't not tell people when stuff like this happens."

Clint groaned and put his head in his hands. "I gave her a talking to."

Natasha quietly thought that what he had called a talking too had been pretty weak, not that she was looking punishment.

Steve sighed. "Alright. What's done is done but Natasha, no more fighting. Clint. . . no more covering your ass like that."

Both made muffled sounds of agreement and Natasha had to stifle a grin. She was sure Steve was more angry with Clint than with her.

She went to be bed delighted and a surprised that she hadn't been in more trouble. She thought that this place really might have been paradise.

Nat goes to see Doctor Strange next chapter but fear not, it's not the end.

Anyway, thanks for reading!