The Second Halloween
There was a commotion of women as they announced their departure, all of them looking at Ellie who was riding around on Yelena’s shoulders. Esmerina was the first to give a quick hug to Ellie as she knelt down to talk to her, the girl running her finger along the scar of the blonde’s face as she listened. They shared one more hug before there was a stream of others who offered their own goodbyes as they walked out of the house.
“You sure you don’t want to come?” Maria eyed the Quinjet before looking at the blonde once more.
“Yes, but do not worry Maria Hill, you will see me again,” Yelena sighed as she removed Ellie from her shoulders and placed her on the ground.
“I don’t doubt it,” she unlocked the doors of the jet and turned to face Yelena “you need anything, you call me. Okay?”
“Yes yes,” she waved her hand dismissively before hugging Maria tightly and dropping her voice, “Thank you.”
The brunette gave a quick squeeze, “Of course, I mean it.”
“Come here rat!” Yelena boomed as she picked the girl up and twirled her around, the child’s backpack swinging along with them both.
“I am going to be big and then you cannot do this anymore,” the girl fought out between giggles.
“Only if you eat all of your vegetables, that is what my-” Yelena placed the girl down at the memory.
The girl, sensing something was wrong, still went and gave Yelena one last hug, “Bye Lena.”
“Bye Rat,” the blonde straightened up and walked over to where Melina and Natasha were talking as they walked out of the house.
“Maria, it was truly a pleasure,” the older woman gave a firm handshake, “Elizaveta-”
Ellie lunged forward, Maria tightened her grip on the handle of the girl's backpack.
“Now now,” Melina knelt down until she was at eye level with the child, “I did enjoy having you here. Did you enjoy being here?”
Ellie kicked a small rock before nodding and looking at the woman in front of her, “Yes, I did have a good time.”
“Well if you ever want to come back, you are welcome in my home.”
“If,” Ellie glanced towards the woman, “if I come back, you can maybe make blini again?”
“I will make blini for you every time you are here,” Melina gave a rare smile and stood to her full height, “I hope you have safe travels.”
“Thanks, Melina,” Maria picked Ellie up and placed her in the second row, making sure her harness was secure.
“Mommy, are we coming back?” the curly-haired child kicked her feet out and watched them fall back down.
“Maybe, would you want to come back?” she pulled on one of the straps only to notice something oblong against the girl’s jacket.
“Maybe,” Ellie pushed a few stray hairs out of her face.
“Elizaveta, what’s this?” Maria pointed to the concealed object.
“Oh, that is from Tatiana,” the girl wiggled for a moment before pulling out a sizable knife.
“Alright,” she sighed and unclasped the harness, “how about you show me all of the things the other girls gave you.”
Ellie wiggled out of her seat and pulled a glass breaker from her pocket, a lock-picking kit from her waistband, and retrieved a smoke bomb from her backpack.
“Anything else?” Maria raised an eyebrow from where she knelt on the floor of the jet.
“No,” the girl shook her head before stopping, “wait, one more.”
She once again reached for the backpack, opening up a folder that normally held homework, “these.”
There were two little pictures, the first of Ellie when she was younger, a white background surrounding her wild hair and even wilder eyes. It looked like an intake picture. The second was a picture that Maria immediately recognized.
It was clearer, closer, than the one she was familiar with but it was from the same time period. It was of Ellie and (who she now knew was) Kyra as they fled from the Red Room. The clothes were a little better than how Maria had found her, and her hair was still neatly in two braids.
“I like to have this,” the child dug her fingers into the picture.
“These ones you can keep,” Maria nodded, she would never take away a sentimental item from her daughter, “these stay with me.”
The small pile of contraband would stay with her, the last time she needed was Ellie accidentally breaking the glass of the quinjet, or worse, the Barton house.
She finished loading the last of their bags into the jet, by the time she was done Natasha was buckling herself in relief flickering over her face as she leaned her head back against the headrest.
“Ready?” Maria secured her own harness.
“Ready,” the redhead barely opened her eyes as she nodded.
It was a long flight back from St. Petersburg, around hour five Ellie had started to doze off in her seat, her head lulling to the side as Maria continued to fly them from one farm to another. She checked on the girl once more before directing her attention to the woman next to her, there was a conversation she wanted needed to have.
“Okay,” Natasha nodded and looked up from her tablet, “Steve said the widows just got there with the new antidote so hopefully that’s all taken care of.”
“They still have eyes on the duo from before?” Maria hadn’t followed up on the details, she had learned to leave Widow-related work to Natasha.
“As of 48 hours ago, they do, Barns kept a loose trail on them.”
It would be the first time the new device was used, with the information they had to go off of, it was the last chance they would have to free the two widows. Steve had a suspicion that the women were used for a string of crimes that were starting to ramp up in the area. What had started with petty crime had quickly increased to a murder the day before of a local official.
“Good,” Maria nodded and swallowed thickly, “that’s good.”
The redhead snorted, “Yeah, what’s up with you?”
“Nothing,” she shook her head and lied, “well not nothing… actually it really is something.”
“Masha.”
“Right,” Maria nodded, “well you remember the conversation we had after Fury’s funeral?”
“About how you actually like me and want to try dating and not just sleeping with each other?” Natasha chuckled.
“Right, that,” she breathed out before rushing her words together, “I want to tell Ellie about it and be more open about dating you.”
Maria didn’t dare look over at the other woman, instead, she focused on the clouds in front of her. She didn’t want to beg, she didn’t want to persuade Natasha, and so she sat quietly and waited for her to say something, anything.
“You really want to go all in?” her voice was so small, Maria almost missed it.
“I do,” she reached over and held the spy’s hand, “but only if you’re comfortable with it, I know it’s a big step.”
It was quiet for a moment longer before Natasha gave two quick squeezes, “I want to.”
“Come back to New York with us, we can talk to her about it then,” she focused back on the sky in front of her, knowing what the answer would be before Natasha nodded.
Maria smiled to herself, in fact, she kept smiling even as they touched down in the large field behind the Barton home.
“Lellie!” Cooper's voice cut through the glass as they landed and cut the engine.
The little girl wiggled in her seat until Maria released her, yawning once before she bounded out of the jet and tackled her friend. It was a sight she was pretty sure she would never tire of, no matter how many times she saw it.
“Hey!” Clint was (barely) more restrained as he squeezed Natasha and then Maria as they exited the jet, “Lauras inside with Lila finishing up her costume.”
“I’m going to be Woody this year!” Cooper bounced along the damp, dead grass as they walked into the house.
“Like toys Tory?” Ellie furrowed her eyebrows, almost getting the name right.
“Yep,” Cooper nodded, “what about you?”
“I do not know if I have one,” Ellie glanced back at Maria who internally winced.
“We’ll go to the store tomorrow and pick one up if she doesn’t want to wear one of Coop's old ones. We need to get candy anyway,” Clint bumped his shoulder into hers, “it’s like a tradition now for us to both get last-minute things.”
“Li, ya look great,” Laura put her hands on her hips and admired her handiwork.
Lila beamed from where she stood in the kitchen, “Hi!”
Laura turned around and pulled Maria into a tight embrace, “Hey!”
“Good to see you, Laura,” Maria took a step back and looked at the girl once again, “Lila Barton you make a very convincing carrot.”
“I am!” the girl ran around once more, “Auntie Nat!”
“Hey,” Natasha walked in and picked up the child before offering a side hug to Laura.
Clint and the other two children brought up the rear and suddenly the kitchen was alive with laughter and chatter.
“Did you make Cooper's costume too?” she watched as the older boy dragged Ellie into the living room to show her his own costume.
“No, unlike Lila, he’s going to wear it until December, so we splurged,” Laura laughed, “Li will wear it for an hour tops, I’m not spending $40 on something that has a shorter shelf life than yogurt.”
“Fair,” she looked over to Natasha and smiled.
“How was the trip?” the mom of two raised a knowing eyebrow.
“Good, it was uh,” Natasha was talking to Clint, Lila still on her hip as she laughed, “it was good.”
“Oh, you’re done for,” Laura barked out a laugh.
“I-” Maria went to rebuttal, “I might be.”
“No, Lila you can’t eat that,” the retired agent walked into the living room, removing orange felt from Lila’s mouth.
Maria leaned against the door frame and watched it all unfold. It was a stark contrast from where she used to be. There was never a moment where she wasn’t rushing from one meeting to the next, even if she was at the farm she was on her phone or tablet, never really getting to interact with everyone around her. Now, it was hard for her to do anything other than watch her daughter, watch how she gently directed Lila away from the sharp corners of the coffee table, watch her follow Cooper around like a shadow, watch how she would sign to Clint and give a lopsided smile when he would sign back-
“Watcha doing?” Natasha slipped into the space next to her.
“Trying to be present,” she looked back at the group in front of her.
“It looks good on you,” the redhead leaned into her side.
All she could do was hum in agreement and kiss the top of the woman's head, afraid of breaking what Maria Hill believed to be the perfect moment.
“It seemed to work well last year,” Clint threw a bag of candy and a bag of chocolate into the basket where Ellie sat, Cooper chatting her ear off from where he rode on the side of the cart.
Maria could already see Ellie asking to ride in the same way when they got back to New York, anything Cooper did, she wanted to copy.
“Agreed,” she nodded as they got close to the costume section, having a feeling she knew exactly what her daughter would go for.
“Look,” Cooper jumped from the basket and held up a Jessie costume, “We can match!”
Ellie squinted and looked at Maria who let her out of the cart, sure that she would bypass the first costume.
<no, this one> she signed after pointing to the one she wanted.
“Oh… yeah that makes sense,” the oldest Barton child was only slightly let down before he nodded and placed the Jessie costume back on the rack.
“But still matching,” Ellie nodded and waited for Maria to find the right size.
“Right!” Cooper beamed.
“Let’s see,” Maria looked through the rack before finding one that would fit, “here you go.”
The curly-haired child waited patiently as her mom held the costume up.
“There you go Buzz,” she smiled and placed both the girl and the costume back into the basket.
This was how the two partners in crime found themselves dressed as Woody and Buzz Lightyear in the living room. Natasha was working quickly to secure two perfect French braids on either side of Ellie’s head so all of her hair would fit under her helmet.
“I can get candy for you,” the child spoke quietly to the woman behind her.
“Oh, you don’t have to-’” Natasha started before Maria cleared her throat and shook her head, “but I like butterfingers.”
“I can get you them,” Ellie responded, keeping her head incredibly still as the woman finished up the ends of the braid, squeezing the girl's right shoulder twice.
The child smiled to herself and stood up, arms outstretched for her helmet which Maria placed on her head. It was the finishing touch that led to Woody and Buzz standing in front of the front door of the Barton home, Laura and Maria snapping pictures of the two as a streak of orange graced their presence from time to time.
“They are very cute,” Natasha smiled and leaned into Maria’s side.
“Very,” she nodded and took one more picture.
Cooper's arm was slung over Ellie’s shoulder, the latter giving a lopsided smile as she stood in her astronaut-themed costume. The two shared one more brief hug before picking up their trick-or-treating bags and dragging Clint along to the front of the property.
“Sure you don't want to tag along?” Maria did her best to whisper to Natahsa.
“You get her all the time Ria, let me have her!” Laura still picked up the conversation.
“I’m good here,” the redhead gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, “have fun.”
“Alright,” Maria stuck her hand out to the small carrot, “come on kid.”
Unlike last year, this time Ellie was slightly more inclined to go up to each house with Cooper. Still quiet and not quite comfortable with asking for candy, she let the older boy chant out “trick or treat” for the both of them. Clint and Maria chatted from house to house, trying to update each other on what they had been busy with since the fall of SHIELD.
“Really, just busy work around town,” the archer shrugged, “handyman jobs here and there.”
“So nothing about finding Baron Von Strucker?” she watched as Cooper helped Lila add a handful of candy into her bag.
“If you already know, why’d you ask!” he threw his hands up in the air.
“Seems like the right thing to do,” she snorted, “anything useful?”
“No, he hasn’t popped his head up yet.”
“Give it time, he will,” Maria shrugged, “they always do.”
The next house the kids visited handed something that caused Ellie to scrunch up her nose as she reached the adults.
“Mommy, they gave a toothbrush,” Ellie pulled out a pink toothbrush and showed it to her mom.
“Good, now you can brush them even more,” she opened up the visor on the girl’s Buzz Lightyear helmet.
Ellie rolled her eyes.
“Who taught you to roll your eyes?” She looked at the child who looked older with each passing day.
“Tatiana,” the girl snickered and ran back to meet with Cooper at the next house.
“Bad influence,” Maria rolled her eyes, “all of those widows.”
“Really?” Clint furrowed his brows, knowing a handful of the women himself.
“No,” she sighed, “they’re… they’re actually incredibly respectful and very protective of her.”
She looked back to the street in front of them, it was starting to fill up now that the sun had set. Older kids in costume bumped into each other in their mad dash for candy. After ten minutes of this, Ellie had enough and went to stand next to Maria.
“Can go back?” she gripped the woman's pant leg tightly.
“Of course,” she picked her daughter up in one swoop and put her on her hip, immediately feeling the girl burrow into her neck.
“Barton, we're headed back,” she got the man's attention, “you good here?”
“Sounds good!” he laughed as Cooper used his sister to shield him from a particularly scary house.
Maria dodged the majority of the crowds, talking to Ellie the whole time even as the child stayed quiet. It wasn’t a long walk back to the farm but by the time they got back, the girl had already perked up considerably.
“My favorite little helper,” Laura opened the door and greeted them both, “can you help me with the candy?”
Ellie answered back in a language Maria didn’t recognize. It was a game the two played regularly, Ellie starting in one language and Laura ending in another until they reached a language the other didn’t know.
Maria dropped herself on the couch next to Natasha, bumping her shoulder as she did so. The Russian bumped her own shoulder back and they watched as Ellie secured her helmet and went to answer the door with Laura for the most recent group of trick-or-treaters. She gave each child a generous handful of candy and held out a few more pieces for the adults standing behind them.
“Thank you,” Ellie waved and closed the door, immediately flipping back to another language, Portuguese this time.
Laura responded back and pointed to Maria.
<Can I mommy?> she signed.
The woman nodded and watched as Laura pulled the tin of hot chocolate down from a shelf that was clearly out of reach from all other members of the Barton home.
“It’s like she took all the best part of her training and,” Natasha shook her head in disbelief, “emphasized them all while still staying… pure.”
“I’ve heard that sometimes widows keep their heart, even after all the terrible things that have happened,” she glanced down at the woman with a knowing look.
Natasha didn’t respond, she just leaned further into Maria’s side. It was the way they remained for the rest of the night as Ellie gave out candy to kids and adults, not stopping until the very last treat was deposited into a bag.
“Time to break out that new toothbrush,” Maria smirked as she wrapped the girl up in a hug.
“Come on Lellie, if we are fast we can get two books before sleep time I bet!” Cooper raced upstairs, Ellie close on his heels.
“Coop,” Clint held up a finger to his lips, “unless you want to try and get Li to fall back asleep.”
“Got it, Daddy,” Cooper whispered and looked back at Ellie who also nodded as they continued up the stairs at a quieter pace.
“You’re on story time,” the father of two tagged Natasha’s shoulder as he flopped down on the chair his wife was sitting on the arm of.
“Why me?” the redhead sat up quickly.
“Because you got to sit on the couch all night, and we're still partners so now,” the archer yawned, “it’s your turn.”
Which is how all three adults found themselves crowded around the door frame of Cooper's room while Natasha recounted the story of Goodnight Moon (by Cooper's request) followed by Corduroy (Ellie’s own selection) complete with noises and voices (the other three adults requests).
“You’re all the worst,” Natasha whisper yelled from where she stood in the hallway after both children had promptly fallen asleep.
“You love us,” Laura kissed her and Maria on the cheek, “sleep well.”
Natasha and Clint signed their love to each other and soon the Commander and the Spy were collapsing on the bed, neither of them hinting they would be sleeping anywhere else. Maria opened her arms and pulled Natasha against her, breathing in the scent of her cocoa butter shampoo and chocolate that still lingered on them both.
“Thank you,” the redhead whispered, “for showing me what life is really supposed to be like.”
Maria pulled her in tighter, whispering back “you’re welcome” when all she really wanted to say was “I love you.”