I'm glad people liked Bucky and the baseball chapter! This one has a guest star too!

The next morning Natasha awoke with surprise. She did not remember going to bed and after a quick moment of thought realized someone must have carried her. She sat quietly processing the thought. Someone had been kind enough to help her to bed and had even thought to put her in pajamas so that she would be more comfortable. That was a remarkable act of kindness. Had she ever dared to fall asleep in the Red Room without making it to bed first she doubted anyone would have been so kind. In all likelihood they would have punished her for being lazy. The thought it had probably been Steve. She would thank him.

And that reminded her, Bucky had said something about writing Tony a thank you note. She would have to do something to show her appreciation too. She wondered if a drawling would be a good idea. It was how she had thanked Steve and with excitement she realized that it was another chance for her to give something as a gift.

She went and took a shower and then got dressed, her head filled with thoughts of what she could get or make him. She wanted it to be nice and so she thought she would get to work after breakfast. A nice card would be a good idea. She headed quickly down to the kitchen and climbed into her seat. To her surprise no one greeted her.

In fact, the room was empty. She ate her cereal quietly, wondering where the others were. When she was done she carried her bowel to the sink and the wondered into the living room. No one was there either. After standing for a moment between the tv and the couch she abandoned her morning ritual of watching television. Instead she wondered around and down the hall to where their bedrooms were.

Hesitantly she began checking rooms. The first one she checked was a mess and had arrows scattered across the floor. She decided it was Clint's but it was empty. The next one she checked was sparsly decorated but looked old fashioned. She thought that was probably Steve's but it too was empty. The next couple she decided had to be Bruce and Tony's. One was neat and tidy with bookshelves lining the walls and the other was large and brightly light with a wall made almost entirely out of windows.

The final room she checked was neat and orderly but had a more feminine touch than the others. She liked it the best although she wasn't sure who's room it was. It had a large dresser against one wall and as she made her careful way over to it she examined the objects laid out. A few bottles of perfume, a necklace or two and a gun. She touched them all briefly. The gun was loaded but the safety was on. She took her hand off of it and picked up the necklace. It was made of pearls. She didn't know if they were real but she held the stand up to her neck and looked at herself in the mirror. She thought it was very pretty. She put them back down again with the sudden worry that she would be caught.

She moved on to a few photographs that were sitting on a table under the windows. There was a framed picture of the Avengers and with them was a red haired woman. He was standing next to Clint with a small smile on her face.

Natasha touched her index finger to the glass over the woman's face. "That's me." She said softly." She studied the face carefully. The woman was beautiful. It was a strange thought that she was looking at herself. She smiled a little. Glad she was pretty. She turned reluctantly away from the picture and headed towards the closet, curious to learn as much about herself as she could. She looked through the clothes but found little of interest. Turning again she she looked over the dark room. The few wall decorations were sparse but she liked them. There was a floral print and a small Icon hanging on the wall. She doubted very much her adult self had picked it for it's religious value. It was pretty and antique looking. She turned and looked at the bed. If this was her room then that was where she slept. She sat down on the bed and lay back, staring up at the ceiling. She thought she might feel something. Maybe remember something about being an adult but she didn't remember anything.

Eventually she got up and with a last look at the room left and headed back down the hall. She hesitated at the elevator and then rode it down to the next floor. No one was there either. She found the gym and walked through it, impressed. It was more advanced than the ones in the Red Room. She found a few things that had been left lying around but they were of little interest.

After taking the elevator down again she found Tony's lab but the lights were off and it was empty too. With a feeling of foreboding she headed back upstairs and sat on the couch. She had no idea where the others were and although she wasn't worried she was little unsettled. It was disconcerting to wake up to an empty house. She went back to her room and got out her crayons. If she was going to spend the day by herself she might as well put her time to good use. She began working on a thank you card for Tony, folding the paper in half and drawing a pretty design on the cover.

It was about an hour later that she heard a noise in the living room. Silently she slid from the bed and tiptoed out into the hall. Someone was in the living room moving around. She frowned. It could have been one of the others but if it wasn't she was unarmed. Maybe it was one of the people they fought. She thought of the gun in her adult self's room but was drawn from her thoughts by a man catching her in the hall. He met her eyes and smiled.

"Natasha?" He asked.

She narrowed her eyes. "Who are you."

He knelt and smiled. "I'm a friend of Steve's. He asked me to come and hang out with you today. He's really sorry about leaving you alone this morning. They all got called out last night and I guess they thought they'd be back by now. I'm Sam Wilson."

"You know Steve?" She asked carefully.

"You think anybody who didn't know Steve could get in here?"

Personally she agreed. The tower was a safe place. If the Avengers didn't want someone in they probably couldn't get in. She came slowly towards him. "They told you my name then?"
"Actually I know you when you're grown up."

She nodded, feeling better about him being there. "I thought you had broken in."

He laughed. "Nope, guest of honor. So what have you been doing?"

She didn't want to tell him that she had been snooping around and so instead she shrugged. "I was going to watch television." She said.

He nodded. "Alright, you wanna go find something good on?" She went with him into the living room and sat eyeing him. He seemed goodnatured. Pleasant even and with the potential to a be a fun person.

They watched a cartoon mouse fight a cartoon cat and she liked it. It was dumb but still funny. Sam was laughing. She thought he was pretty easy to talk to. He seemed friendly.

Around lunch he made her a can of soup and a plate with baby carrots and celery. She thanked him and the two ate together. Like the others he liked to tell stories of superheroing. She liked his stories. They were funny and exciting. Not long after lunch she decided that she liked Sam. He taught her a card game and the two of them played what he called Black Jack. She liked it. It was easy and fun to play.

They were in the middle of their fifth round when there came a noise from the elevator. It dinged open and out poured the whole team of Avengers. Tony who looked as though he had recently peeled out of his armor sank into a chair. "Oh my God." He groaned.

"Are you teaching her to gamble?" Steve asked incredulously. "She's a little young to be hitting the casinos."

"We're just preparing for the future." Sam said off handed. Natasha giggled.

Thor laughed from his chair and set his hammer aside. "I see see no money on the table. It looks like a friendly game."

"Besides, I've heard stories that you let Bucky gamble as a kid."

"He wasn't six." Steve said but he no longer sounded like he was worried, more amused than anything else. "And should have tried stopping him."

As it turned out, Sam stayed for dinner and after dinner when they were all sitting around talking over the day's mission Natasha gave Tony his card.

He grinned widely when she did. "You didn't have to make me this." He said.

"Steve's friend Bucky said he was going to give you a a thank you note for the game and Steve said it was a special game." She smiled a little. "I don't understand it really but thank you."

He gave her an awkward one armed hug and looked at the card again. It was pretty. She had drawn flowers and vines across it and written 'Thank You' as neatly as she could which was surprisingly neat for a child her age. She glowed a little when he taped the card to the fridge and her eyes lingered on it as if admiring a piece of artwork.

That evening everything seemed perfect and Natasha sat playing with her doll, she was having a dinner party with coffee cups. From his view point across the room, Steve looked over at her affectionately. He was sitting with Sam talking quietly.

"Thanks for coming over on such short notice." He said.

Sam nodded. "You're welcome. We had a lot of fun. She's a pretty smart kid, I'd do it again if you wanted."

"We may have to call you on that I don't know how much longer we'll have before we'll have to deal with a threat and need the whole team."

"You ever thought about hiring a real babysitter?"

"I thought about that but I need someone who can understand Natasha. Or at the very least can handle that she's not a normal child." They watched her drink imaginary coffee with her doll and he smiled. "She could be though. If we didn't turn her back. She looks just like a normal kid. If we didn't turn her back she might get the chance to be one."

"That's not really fair to her though and to be honest I can't see her wanting to stay a kid if you gave her the choice as an adult."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I know how it has to be. I think sometimes she wants an out and this might have been a good way for her to get away from all the fighting and violence."

Sam looked away, perhaps a little disturbed by the intensity of the conversation. "But I don't think it's the right way."

"No, it's not."

Not long after that Natasha said goodnight to Sam and the others and Clint helped her on to bed. Steve stayed up thinking, he didn't know how close Dr. Strange was to fixing her. He was a secretive person and to be honest, Natasha looked like she was having fun. He didn't see a need to cut that short. As soon as she returned to normal she would be back to fighting. It wasn't his job to protect his friend but he could want something good for her.

So thanks for reading, if anyone has any suggestions for future chapters, I'd love to hear them!