'What are you listening to?' Natasha asked as she quietly approached the small figure that was wrapped in an old blanket to keep out the cool July night breeze and sitting at the top of Stark tower, looking out over Manhattan.

Sasha turned around sharply, music blaring loudly in her ears, as she noticed someone coming and sitting down next to her. 'Huh?' she asked, removing her headphones.

'I was wondering what you were listening to' Natasha repeated

'Oh...umm...The Beatles' Sasha replied, wondering what Natasha was doing sitting down next to her, after the way she had shouted at her that morning.

'You're Dad's favourite' Natasha commented, before passing over a plate heavily laden with food. 'Pepper put it together explained 'she was worried that you might be starving since she hasn't seen you eat anything thing today. I didn't tell her that you pinched some of Cap's biscuits and nicked half of Bruce's secret chocolate stash this afternoon'

Sasha looked at the woman net to her incredulously, wondering how she knew, but then she guessed she was a super spy. She looked down at the plate of food. It looked extremely healthy and green, not the stuff she currently felt like eating.

'Have this' Natasha continued handing over a thermos flask of what smelt like hot chocolate. 'I thought you might also like these' the agent added passing over a packet chocolate chip cookies.

Sasha turned to look at Natasha gratefully, this was much more appetising, to the salad and apple her Aunt Pepper had provided. 'So how did you find me?' she asked, somewhat warily, taking one of the cookies 'I told JARVIS not to tell anyone where I was'

'He didn't reveal your location to me or anybody else in the tower' Natasha replied. 'Popo led me to you'

'Popo!?' Sasha exclaimed in disbelief. She looked down at the well worn bluebird cuddly toy, which was lying innocently on her lap. 'But how?'

'When you were little, you would never go anywhere without him' Natasha explained. 'I was so worried I was going to lose you that I got Stark to design a tiny tracking device to fit inside him. He's probably forgotten all about it, but I hadn't. I just activated the device and it led me here. I shouldn't have been so surprised, Clint would spent hours up here gazing out over New York'

'What are you doing here?' Sasha asked

'I'm here because Fury asked me to come a protect you' Natasha answered

'I know that, but what are you here now?

'I came to talk to you, if that's alright?' Natasha stated hesitantly. 'I thought we should probably discuss what happened this morning-'

'That you are my mother and you abandoned me and my father for over ten years' Sasha interrupted angrily

'Well yes, but I was hoping you would give me a chance to explain my actions. I know it might sound weird Saskia, but I love you , I always have and that's why I had to leave you' Natasha said earnestly, hoping her daughter would believe what she was saying. 'There were bad people out there who wanted to harm you so I had to go and stop them. I never thought-'

'I overheard your conversation with Uncle Bruce' Sasha interrupted, stopping Natasha mid sentence. 'I didn't mean to' she then added hastily, trying to make it seems that she did not intend to eavesdrop, knowing how Natasha felt about privacy 'I was just on my way back from getting from of uncle Bruce's chocolate and heading to my room, when I heard you two talking and I kind of listened in' she finished sheepishly.

'So do you understand?' Natasha asked quietly, silently glad that she did not have to bare her soul (something so alien to her) for the second time in a matter of hours. She wasn't surprised Saskia had overheard them talking, she was after all, the daughter of two spies.

'I think so, I guess I'm still processing it' Sasha replied honestly after a short pause. 'This morning I had not a clue who my mother was and now she turns out to be a spy, who apparently left to protect me. One thing I didn't understand was who or what the Red Room was, and what they had to do with me'

'Saskia that is a discussion for another day' Natasha stated firmly. She wanted to be honest with her daughter but she didn't need to know everything right now.

'But'

'You don't need any more nightmares at the moment' Natasha said 'I heard you tossing and turning last night'

'How do you know Dad's alright? That he is not injured or dead?' Sasha asked, these questions being the reason why she was having nightmares. 'All he said was 'Semper Fi'

Natasha looked at her dark brown haired daughter curiously, wondering how she knew this.

'Tony tapped into your phone call with Director Fury' Sasha explained.

This caused the woman next to her to mutter some colourful curses under her breath in Russian. She was going to have to have another word with Mr Stark (and her daughter) about privacy and personal space. There seemed to be a lot of spying and eavesdropping going on in the tower.

'So what does Semper Fi mean?' Sasha asked again

'It was a pre-planned code phrase, to let S.H.I.E.L.D know that he was unharmed. Did you know that your father was a sniper in the US Marine Corps before he joined S.H.I.E.L.D?' Natasha asked

Sasha nodded, knowing that part of her father's history. He had left the circus and after a year on the streets had enlisted in the Marine Corps, hoping it would give him a better life. Then after a couple of years S.H.I.E.L.D had noticed his amazing shooting skills and the rest was history.

'Well Semper Fi is their motto, taken from the Latin Semper Fidelis, meaning always faithful or always loyal' Natasha continued. 'The phrase means that he is still loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D, so has not been brain washed, and he would like some back up'

Sasha nodded, that all made sense. 'So were those number Bobbie's code phrase?'

'No' Natasha replied 'we're still trying to work out what they mean. Normally an agent's codeword or phrase is something personal to them, that only a few people close to them would get'

'So what's yours?' Sasha asked curiously, wondering if this notoriously private woman would share something with her. She knew they were mother and daughter but it reality they were strangers or acquaintances at most.

'Budapest' Natasha whispered, almost too quietly for Sasha to hear. 'It's where we got married'

'So what are we going to do?' Sasha asked after a couple of moment's silence 'I mean do you want me call you mom or something?'

'No' Natasha replied, before clarifying her statement. 'Natasha's just fine at the moment. I don't deserve to force you to call me mom, when you hardly know me. You can call me mom whenever you feel ready to'

'Oh, ok' Sasha stated. 'You know you can call me Sasha, like everyone else does. Only Dad and the Director call me Saskia and from anyone else it kind of makes me think that I'm being told off'

'Ok Sasha' Natasha replied, trying out the name on her tongue. 'You know, the first time I came to New York I got very lost' she started, wanting to share something with her daughter. 'In my line of work I had been to many different busy cities, but none quite like this one. It was my first time off the Helicarrier and away from S.H.I.E.L.D it two months and it was so wonderful. Walking around the city, I felt free, properly free, for the first time in my life. Your father, on the other hand, was at that very moment being an earful from Agent Hill for losing me-'suddenly Natasha stopped and stood up, a thought just occurring to her.

'What is it' Sasha asked, putting down her finished thermos flask of hot chocolate and looking around warily, wondering what had caused her mother to stop mid sentence.

'JARVIS can you get Agent Carter on the line?' Natasha asked, not hearing Sasha's question. 'I have an idea about Agent Morse's code that I need to bounce off her'

'Agent Romanoff, Agent Carter is currently visiting Captain Rogers in his quarters' JARVIS reported

'Well if she's not too busy can you ask her to meet me in the main area?'

'Yes Agent Romanoff'

'Oh JARVIS, can you assemle everyone else as well' Natasha added 'since they will probably just listen in any way'. Natasha then looked towards Sasha and gestured that they probably should head inside.

Sasha trailed after Natasha, wonbdering what on earth was going on.

'Agent Romanoff, what is it?' Agent Sharon Carter asked as she rushed into the Avenger's main area, looking slightly frazzled. Everything back at S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters was extremely hectic so she had escaped to spend so quality time with her fiancé only for Natasha to summon her.

'Sharon, do you remember that stakeout in northern France a couple of years ago?' Natasha asked when everyone had arrived from the various parts of the tower.

'The one where we were stuck in that rickety old barn for days on end?' Sharon asked in response

'Yes, and we started talking about things, do you remember the deep question Maria asked?'

'Wasn't it the first time we had felt free?'

'Yes, can you remember what Bobbie replied?'

Sharon thought for a moment, her mind drifting back to that cold night five years ago. Everyone had been surprised by Maria, assistant director Hill's question. She had replied with a tale of the first time she went flying, Natasha told a story about her first time in New York and then it was Bobbie's turn to answer. 'She said it was when she left home and escaped from her father' Sharon answered. 'She was an atheist and was the odd one out in her very Christian family'

'But what did she say after that, something she was thankful for?' Natasha asked, trying to recall Bobbie's answer, but hitting a blank.

'Her excellent memory, I think' Sharon replied, wondering where Natasha was going with this line of thought. 'Her memory was trained by her father making her and her siblings learn all the Psalms off by heart'

'JARVIS can you bring up the 146th Psalm?' Natasha asked 'and then isolate the third verse?'

'Do not put your trust in princes, in moral men who cannot save' JARVIS recited

'Well if this was what Agent Morse meant by those numbers, what does this mean?' Tony asked

'Maybe Bobbie was close to someone with prince in their name, someone she trusted, and told them about this mission' Bruce suggested 'however they turned out to be some sort of mole and therefore Clint and Bobbie got captured'

'Good idea Bruce' Natasha stated. 'JARVIS can you hack into S.H.I.E.L.D and see if Agent Morse could have associated with someone with prince in their name?' Natasha asked. 'Oh don't look at me like that Stark; I know you frequently break in. Do you really think we're that stupid' she added.

'No people on the Helicarrier, should I expand the search the whole of the S.H.I.E.L.D personal database? JARVIS asked

'No need, Bobbie's only ever worked on the helicarrier' Natasha replied

'Check her phone records to see who she contacted recently' Steve suggested.

'The most recent and also most dialled number is one belonging to a Mr Vladimir Peters' JARVIS reported

'Vladimir?' Sharon questioned. She had never heard Bobbie mention anyone by that name before and they were pretty close.

'I think I've heard of him' Sasha piped up from the corner 'I think he could be her boyfriend'

'Vladimir!' Natasha suddenly exclaimed loudly

'Yes, that is his name' Tony remarked dryly 'it's Russian so you should be familiar with it'

'Stark, it's of Slavic origin meaning renowned prince' Natasha explained 'JARVIS, can I have a full background?'

'Vladimir Peters was born in New York to Nina and Yuri Peters who are originally from Moscow. Upon arrival to this country they changed their name from Petrovitch to Peters...'

Natasha froze. She had not expected to hear that name again after all these years. It brought back many bad memories

'Natasha, Agent Romanoff' Sharon said, trying to get the stunned agent's attention 'shall I inform Fury about this?' she asked 'Peters currently works as a translator consulting mainly with NYPD, but has worked with the FBI and other federal agencies in the past'

'Yes, there could be a huge breach of security if all these coincidences match up and he is a mole' Natasha replied. 'He definitely needs to be questioned'

'Will you do it Ma'am?' Sharon asked

'I'm sure I trained you to handle an interrogation' Natasha replied

'Yes Ma'am' Sharon stated wondering whether to be honoured or annoyed that her former trainer and handler was giving her this task.

'Come on Sasha time for bed' Natasha stated

'But it's only 8.30' Sasha protested

'Sasha, both you and I know that we could both do with a good night's sleep. It's been a long day'

Sasha just nodded, not really having the energy to argue with her mother. She was absolutely shattered.

'Agent Carter can you let me know what happens?' Natasha asked 'and I'll get back to you about the recording after I've met up with someone' and with that she ushered her daughter out of the room, leaving the remaining occupants of the tower to discuss what had just happened.

As Natasha lay in bed that night, trying to get to sleep, she hoped that they had made a step in the right direction and they would be able to get to Clint soon.