AN: Many thanks to my Beta MegaDiary123. Also, just to let you know that for the next for the next 2 weeks I will only upload one chapter per week, because I am going on a trip and will not be able to upload more. When things will go back to normal I will let you now. Until then...

All rights go to Marvel

Natasha's POV

I had finished a very hard extraction mission and was exhausted. I fell on my bed, gear and everything still on, with a great desire to just close my eyes and sleep for a whole day. It mustn't have been more than half a minute since my eyelids were shut and I felt someone tapping my shoulder.

"Clint…" I said dead serious, "…if you want to keep your hand, I suggest you stop and step out of my room. Why don't you close the door while you're at it?"

"Can't do that darling" he said in between laughs. Darling? I thought. Now that was interesting. I opened one eyes, looking at him up and down with an eyebrow always raised. "Look at the time" he pointed at the wall clock behind him, the one that he was hiding with his body.

I didn't even know where he got the energy from. I rolled my eyes and got up, peeking at the desired object. My lack of energy suddenly disappeared and I all but flew to the living room, opening my computer. Clint came after a while as I typed furiously in the device in front of me. I didn't even take my eyes off the screen as I addressed him.

"If you ever call me 'darling' again, I'm gonna break your shooting hand" I said. "But thanks for the reminder" I added even though he knew both that I was joking and how grateful I was.

Once a month we had agreed to have an online video call with Skye through a line that she herself had secured, insisting that we should have a line for ourselves. So far, I had only missed it one time, when I was on a mission that Fury just had to put me on. Of course, he had a piece of my mind afterwards and made sure to never put me on a mission that day of the month, at least until Skye finished her freshman year. The same went for Clint, since we were together at most of our missions so far and had made a promise to each other to never let the other forget this time.

A new window opened and soon Skye was sitting across from us.

"Hey Nat" she said looking at me. Then turned her eyes to Clint with a playful smile on her face. "Hi Old Guy, how you've been?"

Before I got a chance to reply, Clint yelled "Who do you call old, Kid?" I smacked him on the shoulder the moment his scream, which I was sure would cause me a head ache later on, reached my ears. "We're both fine, thanks for asking sweetie"

Skye's face seemed to come closer to the screen and her eye narrowed as she was examining something. "Is that blood on your face?" She finally said, her whole face beaming. "Oh! You were on a mission. What was it about?" I meaningfully looked at her and she sighed. "Let me guess, it's classified, isn't it?"

"How's May and AC?" She added soon after, quickly changing the topic of the conversation.

"They are both great. Safe and sound. Not on a mission or anything, so you could probably call them whenever you want" Clint wasn't even giving me the chance to be the one to reply.

I was quietly studying Skye's face from the sidelines. She obviously relaxed at the good news about her parent figures, but there was something in her eyes that I couldn't quite place. And even though I couldn't place where it came from, I knew that there was a reason behind that, probably unwilling, reaction.

"Clint?" I said interrupting him mid-sentenced as he had begun a completely different conversation with Skye. "Do you mind if I talked with Skye alone this time?" I could already see the rejection coming from him part, though we both knew that if I had set my mind on something, it was very hard for me not to accomplish it. He opened his mouth to say something but Skye talked before him.

"It's okay Hawk. Tell you what, next time you'll have all the time to yourself" she spoke knowing that he couldn't say no to that.

"Pinky promise?" Clint was heard and held his pinky in front of the screen. Skye grimaced not hiding her annoyance, making me laugh inside but didn't express it.

"I'm not twelve anymore Hawk" she complained but Clint was consistent on his opinion. "Fine" she exclaimed when she saw that he didn't back down. Raising her finger she replied, "Pinky promise".

Satisfied with his victory Clint got up and bowed dramatically at the screen. "Well then, I'll leave the two of you alone" and just like that he disappeared to his room.

Before Skye had the chance to say anything, I raised a finger shushing her and got up to head to my room. I didn't trust Clint to not overhear and we needed our privacy. Once I reached my personal sanctuary I locked the door behind and placed the computer on my desk, before grabbing a chair and sitting in from of the screen once more.

"What's wrong Nat?" I could see the concern written all over her.

"Nothing's wrong, Skye. I just wanted to make sure that you're all right. May and Phil said that you haven't called them for more than two weeks now and have declined their calls. They're worried, and to be honest, so am I. What's going on?"

"As you said Nat, nothing's wrong". I could see her face turn into that, all too familiar, mask. She had watched me as well as May do the same so many times in the past that it was only a matter of time before she mastered it herself. But she hadn't used it with me for over a year now. That's how I knew that she was lying, and something was, indeed, very wrong.

I didn't try to object with her, I knew her far too well for that. She would only shut down more and this was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

"You know that you can talk to me" not a question, she didn't need that right now. "I'm here and you know for a fact that I'm great at keeping secrets". That seemed to break through her and I knew I was in the right path. "You can ask me anything, little sis. If you want to I can even come by the Academy".

"No, no, no. Don't you dare come here" she spoke as if hit by lighting. "You know the rules very well. Very limited contact with people outside of the Academy and no visits during the first year. They don't want Ops to be homesick in case of a long undercover". At least her mask had broken. I laughed at her panicking expression and she pouted at me. "Not funny" she claimed.

"Yes, funny. I should have recorded that and have it for future blackmail" I playfully said, and she seemed to relax a bit more on her bed.

Even if silence was all around us, it didn't bother me. She would talk when she felt ready, not sooner.

"Can you promise that whatever I tell you will remain between us?" I nodded confidently. "No" she explained. "No-one can know, not Clint and definitely not Coulson or May". This made me hesitate a little, but I knew that I would do anything for my little sister so I nodded once more.

She let out a deep sigh at that, obviously relieved by my answer. It warmed my heart knowing that she believed me without second-guessing, just as me being a person that she trusted. And based on what she had just asked me to do, I was seriously doubting her trusting anyone else. Not Clint, Phil or May and since she didn't have any friends in the Academy, I might as well be her fail safe. Just as mine was Clint when he saved me from my former life. This only made me more determined to not betray her trust.

"I think that May and Coulson are lying to me and I know for a fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. knows stuff about me that they didn't tell us when you found me. Things about my past" her words really confused me.

"Why do you think that?" I tried getting inside her head but really couldn't.

"I'm not sure yet. Not a hundred percent sure that is. But I have some clues that I'm gonna see where they lead to and if they check out. And I cannot trust them right now, the others I mean. Because if what I found out is true, then this creates more questions than answers".

I opened my mouth, but nothing sprung to mind. Things about her past? We've all been trying to find clues but every lead we had never actually lead anywhere and we soon run out of information to pursue. And what could this new info have to do anything with Phil and May?

"I know it's a lot to take in right now and I promise to tell you if I learn anything new. I'll try to speak to them…" she didn't even have to explain who she was referring to "…but can't make any promises. Maybe I'll try texting, I think it will be easier". Her eyes darted to where I assumed was her door and I heard the lock open.

"Sorry, have to go. My friend's back and we'll go for a walk. Talk to you soon, love you Nat".

And just like that the screen went dark.

"What happened in a month?!" I screamed to myself.

Skye's POV

I could hear Simmons closing in on the room and reaching the door. I turned to Nat who was looking at me with a million questions and like I was crazy.

"Sorry, have to go. My friend's back and we'll go for a walk. Talk to you soon, love you Nat" I hurried to say before Simmons opened the door. The secure line was soon shut, and the computer turned off as my roommate stepped into the room.

I facepalmed once I realised what I had just told Natasha. Not the 'finding something about my past' part, I didn't go into specifics and was positive enough that she wouldn't say anything to anyone. I did have a lot more explaining to do, but it would be at least two months before I had to give her a proper answer, since next month I had promised to mostly talk to Clint and he wasn't gonna just let Natasha steal his moment.

No, what I was regretting was telling Natasha about my friend. Since I first said that word some three weeks ago, this word had become a more common one in my day-to-day vocabulary but I had yet to speak about Simmons to any of my 'family' members.

"What's wrong?" Simmons' voice pulled me out of my thoughts and back to reality. "Were you just talking to someone?" She continued and the lack of reply from my part only served to verify her assumption.

"Who was it?" She threw her stuff on her desk and practically jumped on my bed. I had never seen her so excited about anything before, and I had seen her the day when they told her and Fitz that they would have Professor Franklin Hall in their second year.

"My… uh… my sister" I ended up answering and instantly regretted my choice of words.

Simmons' face lit up instantly. "I didn't know you had a sister" she exclaimed and I winced at how loud her voice was. I could also add the rest of the unspoken sentence that she didn't dare utter. I don't really know anything about your family.

I sighed. I had made a promise to myself not to lie to Simmons. Maybe avoid the truth sometimes but not lie to her face. So, even if I knew that I would regret what I was going to say even more, it left my mouth before I had a chance to rethink it.

"I don't have a sister. But she is the closest thing to one" a half smile making its appearance.