There was a force pulling Natasha home.
A force, a precious human that she’d chosen to spend her life with. A light at the end of the tunnel, the warmth and the belonging of home.
When the two of you had met, she had felt that sense of truly belonging and finding a home for the first time. It was a feeling so powerful that it made her lose sleep. It gave her whiplash because there she was - after all those years and after all those adventures that she’d had, suddenly tethered and no longer feeling like she would float for the rest of her life.
She had admitted to herself that she could be fine without romantic love. It was something that she’d lost hope for a very long time ago, yet there were moments - especially when her team members were talking about their families that she felt full with longing. Longing for a home, longing to go home to someone who would be happy (and relieved) to see her.
“I need to make it home.” She told her sister. Yelena only nodded in agreement. The two had been on a mission for the past few days and the more time that had passed, the more restless Natasha had turned.
“You will get back to Y/N, don’t worry.” Yelena reassured her.
“And I will introduce you.” Nat promised.
“You better, or I will introduce myself whether you want to or not.” Yelena “threatened.”
The threat made Nat laugh.
You paced around your house, trying to keep yourself busy and distracted while waiting for news. Nat had warned you that there would be no contact while she was away - a way to protect you from potential danger but it did not make anything any easier. In fact, it just put you on edge because your love was far away and you had no way to check in and make sure that she would be back on time, or back at all.
Your phone buzzed and you saw a notification from a group chat with two of your friends - checking in on you. It warmed you, their care but it didn’t ease your anxiety, only partially distracted you from it for a blissful second.
Nat had said that it might take a few days before she could come home. The first night you’d barely slept, the bed feeling too empty without her there snuggled up in you. The second, you’d had nightmares about something happening and you went through all the stages of grief because of the cursed nightmare. The third night you sleep was fractured - short naps that prevented the nightmares from recurring. You dreaded going to sleep but it wasn’t something that you could avoid, despite your desperate caffeine attempts.
“You can’t run yourself into the ground while waiting for her. You need to be okay.” One of your friends had texted you. You knew she was right but still the words stung and brought tears to your eyes. You didn’t know what would happen with you if something had gone wrong with Nat, you hoped that she was okay and that she’d come back to you but the uncertainty made you go almost insane.
The door of the apartment clicked and you heard Natasha’s quiet steps.
“You’re home?” You rushed to the small corridor of your apartment, and there she was, a bit dirty and tired but home.
“I’m home.” She reassured you and you rushed and threw yourself in her arms.
The two of you held on to each other like life depended on it, and to a certain degree it did. You felt like you could breathe again, like everything was going to be fine. Nothing could go wrong - she’d made it home. You cupped her face and pressed a kiss before going over and checking that the cuts on her suit were just that and that she was unharmed.
“I’m okay, love. I am okay. Just tired and sore. I’m home.” Nat reassured you and pulled you towards the living room.
“I’m going to take care of you.” You promised and kissed her again as she sat down on the sofa.
“I know you will and I will also take care of you.”
And so you did.
You ran her a hot bath with some salts and you set the bathroom to be all nice for her to relax in, and while she soaked in there you made her a homemade meal - some soup with freshly baked bread, an attempt on your part to give her comfort and coziness and help her relax.
You didn’t hear her sneak out of the bathroom just as you had taken the bread out of the oven. She wrapped her arms around you and pressed a kiss to your shoulder.
“You are my home.” She spoke softly.
“You are my home too, Nat.” You put the bread down and turned around to hug her.
“You always take care of me and I love you and I want to take care of you too.”
“I love you and I love taking care of you and it helps me feel better.”
“I know it does. But allow me to take care of you once in a while too.”
“Maybe not right after you’ve come back from a mission.” You teased.
“Maybe.” Nat half-smiled. “Yelena wants to meet you.”
“She is always welcome here.”
“I know.” Nat snuck another kiss.
“We are lucky.” You held her close to you.
“We are lucky.” She agreed.
You thanked whatever powers controlled everything for that luck because there she was - the most beautiful and kind woman on this planet, loving you and being accepting of your love. You two got to build a home together and despite the intensity of her lifestyle and the nature of her day to day, she still found a way to come back to you.
She was grateful for you - for your love, for your care, for your compassion. For the fact that you still chose her even though you could have anyone in the world. She was grateful that you stood by her through everything and despite everything. And she was determined to be there and show up again and again, and to make the world a better place for both of you.