Better Days

LAURA POV:

We were all getting used to life without Natasha and Wanda living with us again. We missed them both a lot but we also knew that they lived at the compound, not here, but it didn't mean that it was easy. Nat still didn't have a phone either so we couldn't FaceTime them which sucked a lot. We had been worried about her from the Fury conversation but she messaged us from her computer afterward to let us know that everything had gone over fine and that she would talk to us soon.

I was in the middle of feeding Nate when my phone rang. Clint was out at the store with the kids. I picked up my phone after reading that the caller ID said, 'Clint.'

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I just got a call from Steve." I sighed, thinking that he had a mission to go on.

"Do you need me to meet you somewhere to get the kids?" I asked.

"No, he doesn't exactly need me."

"What's going on?" I asked, confused.

"Natasha isn't sleeping and he needs our help. Apparently, the last time she actually slept was before the mission."

"What?" I gasped, that had been a week ago.

"Well she's gotten some sleep but not nearly enough. She slept about 4 hours the entire mission and then, according to Steve, she slept less than 2 hours last night. That's it though and she's absolutely exhausted but won't sleep."

"We talked to her about that before the mission," I told him, recalling our somewhat heated conversation before she left.

"I know, but apparently she didn't listen."

"Steve said whenever he approached her about it, she gets defensive and starts snapping, completely ignoring him. He's worried about her, apparently she doesn't look good." She hadn't looked great when she had gotten back from the mission but she was stressed, I understood that. And I understood that she would be exhausted after the mission. I thought that she would sleep the next night though. I knew that she hadn't gotten any sleep her first night back but I thought that she would do better after that.

"Okay, what does he want us to do?" I asked, worry filling my body.

"He doesn't know, he said it's up to us if we want to engage but that we should at least call her. She's not sleeping and apparently, she's downing coffee in order to stay awake. Too much longer and she will have to be hospitalized." Natasha had always had problems with sleeping through the night, we had known that since she started coming to live with us as a teenager. I had had to punish her several times when she was younger to get her to give in and go to sleep because she was stubborn and would refuse to sleep, almost landing herself in the hospital several times from sleep deprivation. When she got exhausted though, she got bratty, so it was hard to get her to understand why we were worried. 

"I can call her, we may have to go down there if it's as bad as he says though," I said but then realized that she may not have a phone yet. "Wait, do you know if she has her phone yet?"

"I would assume so because Steve had one to call me. My guess is we'll have to head down there at least for the night. Just because we call her doesn't mean anything will change."

"Do we know why she isn't sleeping?" I asked.

"Steve said that she mentioned something about needing to take care of Wanda but he's not sure." I also knew that Wanda experienced nightmares and that Nat would wake up each time she had them so I didn't blame her if that's what she was trying to do but she needed to find a better balance. I was worried about both of them. If Wanda was the reason Nat wasn't sleeping, that meant that Wanda wasn't getting enough sleep either. I knew I needed to step in before one or both of them ended up hospitalized.

I remembered when I used to get limited sleep because I was worried about Nat when she was young. Whenever she would have a nightmare, I would wake up, so I understood what it was like for her if she was waking up each time to Wanda's nightmares. I had a feeling that there was something else though as well. 

At least I knew that Wanda had slept when she stayed with us so she was running on a bit more sleep than Nat was right now. 

"Okay, I will call her but I'll let you know if I think we need to take a trip out there."

"Okay, bye babe," I heard Clint say on the other end and I said bye as well before hanging up the phone.

I sighed as I dialed Nat's number. It rang but no one picked up. It rang though which signaled that her number had been reconnected to a phone. I just hoped that she was sleeping right now and that's why she wasn't answering but there was also the chance that she was ignoring me. I doubted it, she was probably just busy, but it did worry me.

I wasn't sure what to do. I could try calling her again later but I also had a feeling that that would do absolutely nothing. I could tell her all I wanted that she needed sleep but that didn't mean that she would actually get some sleep. Also, if it was Wanda that was causing her to lose sleep, then she would need someone to watch Wanda for her so that she got some sleep. It was a difficult situation because Wanda couldn't suffer from nightmares alone but Natasha also couldn't always be the one to be up with her, especially if it was happening frequently enough that she wasn't getting any sleep at night.

"What should I do Nate?" I asked the baby in his highchair. "Should I go use some tough love on your Auntie Nat?" He smiled, enjoying the attention that he was getting. "Let's call daddy and see," I told him, dialing Clint again.

"What'd she say?" he asked when he picked up.

"She didn't respond. Should I call my parents to see if they can watch the kids?" I asked. They didn't live super close to us but we could drop the kids off on our way to the compound.

I heard him sigh on the other end. "Might as well. Unless you want to stay home with the kids while I go or vice versa?"

"Let me call my parents and we'll see what they say. If they can't, then only one of us will go but we may need more than one, especially if Wanda's nightmares are the reason because then one needs to work with Nat while the other stays with Wanda."

Another sigh came from the other end of the phone but he seemed to accept that response. "Okay, let me know what they say."

"I will, bye." He said goodbye before hanging up. 

I wasn't super close with my parents but they had seen the kids a few times. They hadn't met Nate yet though and I knew that they were angry that I hadn't reached out sooner. They never supported my life choices though but right now, I didn't care, I needed someone to watch the kids and I didn't want to keep asking our neighbors, especially if we would be gone for a few days.

I dialed my mom, knowing that she would probably respond faster than my dad did. 

"Hello?" came her voice on the other end.

"Hi mom," I replied.

"Laura? To what do I owe the pleasure of a phone call?" she said but her voice was sarcastic. 

"I was wondering if you would be up for seeing your grandchildren? Nate's getting older."

"Of course I would Laura, when would I ever turn that down?" Her voice sounded clipped and it took everything in me not to snap at her.

"Perfect, Clint and I have something that we need to do but we would love to come drop them off in a few hours if that would work?" I said, treading carefully.

"Oh so I'm their babysitter," she replied. "I should have known better, you would never want me around your children unless you benefited from it."

"Mom, I'm sorry, I do want you in their lives, it's just hard. We don't live super close so it's harder to get them out there," I replied. They lived closer to Nebraska whereas we lived in the corner of Iowa closer to Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

"Whatever Laura," she scoffed.

"Does this morning work?" I asked. "We can drop them off in a few hours max. I'm not sure how long we'll be gone though, we have to go deal with something in New York."

"Fine, don't tell me what you're doing. This morning is fine."

"Great, thank you mom, I'll see you soon." She didn't say anything else before hanging up.

"Your grandma is difficult," I told Nate after I was sure that the call was disconnected. Lila and Cooper loved their grandparents because we obviously kept a lot of things secret so we could never talk bad about them around those two but Nate didn't understand so I could rant all I wanted and he would still love her.

I headed upstairs with Nate to get all the younger kids packed as I knew that if I left Lila to pack on her own, she would fill her suitcase with toys and dresses. I also packed all of the stuff that Clint and I would need before heading to pack for the kids.

I packed a bag for Nate, making sure there were enough clothes in there for 3 days, just in case. My guess was that we would be there until tomorrow afternoon at the latest but I wasn't 100% sure so I needed to make sure that he was prepared. I packed diapers, wipes, pajamas, different outfits, his pacifier, monitor, and some bottles with formula in his bag. I also grabbed the stuff for all three of the kids to shower and packed that in a separate bag.

For Lila, I packed her clothes, again, making sure that there were enough for 3 days. I also packed her other essentials like a hairbrush, hair bands, other toiletries, and an extra pair of shoes. I would let her pack her own small bag when she got home for whatever toys or stuffed animals she wanted. Cooper did pretty well at packing himself but I made sure to grab his toiletries. I would let him back his own clothes and other necessities once he got home.

I then went downstairs to pack some snacks for them in case my mom didn't go to the store. I doubted she would and the kids usually ended up hungry so I would tell Cooper where the snacks were so that he could give his siblings snacks if my mom only had the fancy treats that you didn't give to kids. I also packed more of Nate's food as I doubted that my mom would be happy if she needed to go to the store for his stuff. I packed his bib and got out the pack and play so that she could let him sleep there. She had a room for the kids in her house but she had gotten rid of the crib after Lila so I needed to pack one for him.

By the time I was done, the kids were bursting into the house, Lila excitedly showing me her new slime that was "still sticky" from the amount of glitter glue she had added. Clint and I tried not buying them too much stuff at the store, especially messy stuff but he must've given in. 

"You guys are going to stay with grandma and grandpa for the night," I told them. 

"Yay!" Lila exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Do you guys have homework?" I asked. Cooper nodded but Lila shook her head. "Really Lila?" I asked, "Let me see your folder." She sighed but passed me her folder and I opened it to see a sheet of basic addition homework. I gave her my mom glance, "Don't lie to me young lady."

"Sorry mommy," she replied, shrinking under my glare. 

"Apology accepted, you need to get that done before school. They had today off for teacher training but they were supposed to have it done by tomorrow. I doubted that they would be going tomorrow though.

"You will still do your homework while you're there but you probably won't be at school tomorrow." They both nodded.

"Why are we going there?" Cooper asked me.

"Dad and I need to go to New York so they'll be watching you but we'll be back soon."

"Why are you going to New York?" he asked. He knew what was in New York so I think he was waiting for the other foot to drop. "Is Wanda okay?"

"Wanda's fine, we are just heading up to see them for a day or so."

"Can I go too?" he asked. "I'm bigger now. I won't get into trouble."

"Not this time buddy," Clint told him from his place in the kitchen. 

"Why?" he whined.

"Because this is an adult trip. We can look at planning a trip out there for Christmas time though. Please go pack your stuff. Pack enough clothes for 3 days. I don't think you'll be there for that long but pack that much just in case," I told him. 

He sighed and stomped up the stairs but he didn't argue anymore. 

"Lila, go pack whatever toys and stuffed animals you want," I told her. "Everything has to fit in the little bag that you have upstairs though," I added on when I saw her eyes go wide with excitement. 

"Okay mommy!" she said as she bounded up the stairs after her brother.

"I already got Nate all packed and Lila just has to pack her stuffed animals. I packed snacks, their toiletries, and the pack and play for Nate," I told Clint who was holding Nate now. "I also got a bag with our stuff too, I just threw in some random outfits for you so you may want to go check and make sure that they're fine."

"I bet they're fine, besides, I think I still have some clothes at the compound. What did your mom say?"

"Nothing much, she was angry that I only called her to be a babysitter, especially since she hadn't met Nate yet, but she agreed to it so it's fine." Clint sighed but didn't say anything else on the matter.

"Did Nat call you back yet?" Clint asked me.

"No, should I try calling her again?"

"I wouldn't even bother," he said. "We're heading out there regardless of what she says on the phone so might as well surprise her so that she can't think up a reason for why she hasn't been sleeping," he finished with a slight laugh.

"I guess you're right," I told him with a laugh of my own. "Can you go make sure Cooper is packing?" I asked him, knowing that Cooper was mad at me right now.

He nodded, passing Nate to me as he headed upstairs. I didn't hear any shouting so I assumed that everything was good and soon, both kids came down with their completed bags. 

"Steve sent the Quinjet a while ago so it should be here any minute," Clint told me. I was glad because if we had driven, it would have taken us a lot longer to get there. Luckily the Quinjet could fly on autopilot so that no one had to actually fly it here.

As if Clint summoned it, the jet was heard landing outside seconds later.

"Everyone grab a bag and pack it onto the jet," I told them. It took us two trips but soon, everything was in the jet, the house was locked up, and we were heading to their grandparent's house. Unfortunately, we had to travel further from the compound to drop the kids off before we could head to the compound but someone needed to watch the kids so I tried not to be too upset as we headed to their house.

We got there and started loading everything off of the jet. 

"Goodness Laura, did you bring the whole house?" she asked as we piled the bags in front of her house. Lila was holding onto her waist while Cooper just watched her.

"No, but each kid needs their own stuff. Nate's diapers, wipes, and clothes are in here. His food and formula are in here," I told my mom. "Cooper knows how to mix up his formula but the directions are also on a sheet of paper in there," I told her. It was my first time leaving Nate and my first time leaving the other kids for a while. 

"I know how to take care of a baby Laura," my mom scoffed.

"I know you do, I just put his specific instructions on there," I told her, trying to keep my voice calm. Clint placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it supportively. 

"Lila and Cooper have some homework to do," I said, looking pointedly at each kid. "But they should be fine after that. They have all of their stuff in their bags as well. Text or call me if you have any questions," I told her.

"I will, can't you come in for a minute?" she asked.

I really needed to get going but decided that it would be easier to just comply so I nodded, helping her carry everything in.

"Where's dad?"

"He's finishing setting up the kids' room. You didn't exactly give us a ton of time Laura."

I held back an eye roll as I replied with, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that, this was kind of last minute."

She rolled her eyes as she scoffed but immediately turned her attention to Nate. "Let me hold my new grandson!"

He was in his carrier that Clint was holding, but she reached in, unbuckling his seat as she picked him up. Thank gosh he didn't cry and smiled instead as she definitely wouldn't take it too well if he started crying. She would say that it was my fault that she was a stranger as I didn't bring him around sooner. 

My dad rounded the corner and Lila launched herself into his arms.

"Hi dad," I said.

"Laura," he nodded. "Clint." Clint nodded back as Cooper got hugged by my dad.

"Alright, we have to get going but don't hesitate to reach out," I told them, kissing Nate on the head before moving to the other two kids.

"Behave," I told Lila as I hugged her and kissed her on the head. "I'll call you later baby."

"Bye mommy, I'll see you later!" she exclaimed, pulling out her toys as she sprawled them around the living room. 

I moved towards Cooper and went to hug him but he shrugged away. "Cooper," I said softly. "We'll be back soon."

"Whatever." I sighed but didn't push, kissing him on the head before he could completely pull away. Clint hugged and kissed each kid and then we were out of the house. I felt horrible that I was leaving Cooper when he was angry at me but I needed to go check on Nat. Cooper would be over it by this afternoon.

Clint started flying the jet to the compound while I relaxed in the back, getting ready to go see Nat.

Luckily, we could fly much faster than a plane in the jet so we got there around lunchtime, Clint landing the jet on the pad outside of the compound.

We both went inside, both of us eager to go find Natasha. Now that the team knew about me, I didn't have to be as careful, especially when I was in their living quarters, so I didn't walk carefully, rather walking confidently as I headed to go find her.

"FRIDAY, where is Natasha?" Clint asked as he followed me. I always forgot that there was an AI here.

"Agent Romanoff is not in the building." That statement made me falter slightly.

"Do you know where she is?" Clint continued.

"I believe Agent Romanoff went to a farmers' market with Miss Potts and Miss Maximoff."

"Do you have any idea when she'll be back?"

"Unfortunately I do not. I can notify you when she arrives on the premise of the compound though," FRIDAY continued and Clint thanked her.

"Let's go wait on her floor," Clint told me and I agreed, following him to Nat and Wanda's floor.

We both sat in the living room, waiting for her to show up. There may have been a very simple explanation for her lack of sleep and then hopefully we could help but my guess was that she would get defensive as she tended to and then this would turn into a completely different conversation.

"I'm going to go find Steve and see if I can find out anything else," Clint said after we had been waiting for about 15 minutes with no new information. I nodded, watching as he got up and left.

About 5 minutes after he left, I got a notification from FRIDAY. "Mrs. Barton, Agent Romanoff has entered the downstairs garage and is on her way up now." I jumped when I heard her but quickly thanked her, waiting for Nat.

I heard the elevator beep and I watched as Nat walked in, Wanda attached to her side. If I was being honest, they both looked like shit, Wanda's face red and splotchy and Nat's looking exhausted, despite the makeup she caked on it in an effort to look more awake.

As soon as she saw me, I watched as she quickly tried making herself look more awake but failed miserably. Wanda was sniffling next to her, looking half asleep on her feet as well.

I had to be honest, I got more worried once I had seen her. Nat was usually pretty good at hiding her 'weaknesses' so the fact that she looked this tired was scary. Time to see how this played out.

NATASHA POV:

"Laura?" I said once I recovered from the shock of seeing her here. "Is everything okay? Did something happen to Clint? The kids?" I asked, immediately thinking the worst.

"No, everyone is fine, I'm here to talk to you." Wanda turned to face her at this point but didn't let go of me. I knew I needed to break her of this soon. I was slightly surprised she didn't rush into Laura's arms but she was also exhausted and I knew that that definitely contributed to that. She had also just made it through a panic attack so I didn't blame her.

"Um, I have to go put Wanda down for a nap and then I'll come out," I told her.

"I'm not a baby Tasha," Wanda argued softly from next to me.

"I know but you still need to sleep," I told her, not wanting to argue right now.

"So do you," she told me and I glanced up at Laura, realizing that that's probably why she was here. I quickly looked back at Wanda, willing her to keep her mouth shut.

"I don't need nearly as much as you," I told her, stealing one last look at Laura before moving Wanda down the hall before she could say anything else incriminating.

"Why is Laura here?" Wanda asked when we got to our room.

"I don't know, but you can worry about that later. It's time to take a nap. Go get changed out of your clothes and into something more comfortable."

"You said you were going to nap with me," she whined, holding onto me. 

"I know, I will, but we need to get changed first."

"Can't we just do what we did earlier?" she asked and I knew that she was referring to when we got changed together. I knew that it was dangerous, her being this dependent, and that it was partially my fault for allowing it to go on for so long. I had just been too exhausted lately to fight her on it so I just gave in. Now I saw that I made a mistake that I would now have to break, making it even more difficult on me.

"No Wanda, you can get dressed by yourself, I'm right here," I told her, closing my eyes against the headache that was coming on.

"But I want you," she whined, gripping onto my arm. I loved her so much but it was getting to be a little much, having her attached to me 24/7 again. 

"I know, go get dressed and then we can get some sleep."

"No," she whined again and I felt my temper rising.

"Go Wanda!" I snapped and I watched as she flinched, letting go of my arm as she moved to our dresser, grabbing her comfortable clothes to get dressed. She didn't look back at me as she went into the bathroom, closing the door to get dressed. I saw her back heaving with sobs as she closed the door though and I felt horrible. The guilt was starting to creep in. It was my fault that she was attached, I couldn't be mad at her, but I was.

I quickly got dressed into sweats while she was in the bathroom, grabbing my phone and sending a quick text to Laura that I would be out soon and that she could make herself at home.

She responded back saying not to rush. Wanda opened the door at that moment and there were still tears streaming down her face. 

"You're fine," I told her gently, pointing to the bed. She wiped at her eyes, trying to stop crying but failing. She crawled into bed and I went to crawl in next to her but she turned away from me.

"Wanda," I said quietly as I moved closer to her, setting a hand on her back. She flinched slightly. "C'mere baby," I said, feeling bad. She shook her head and I felt my temper rise again. I knew it was from the exhaustion but at the time, it felt completely logical as to why I was getting so angry.

"Okay, fine, if you don't want me, that's fine. You need to get some sleep though. I'll come to get you later," I told her, huffing as I stood up to leave. I heard a choked sob escape her mouth but I left anyway, knowing that we just needed our space right now, or at least I needed some space right now. I did feel the guilt growing but I knew that I needed to go talk to Laura. 

By the time I got back out to the living room, Clint was there as well.

"Hey guys, what're you doing here?" I asked, plastering a smile on my face. 

"We're here about you," Laura spoke gently and I felt my heart skip a beat. I thought that I had convinced Steve, even after he had called me in. I definitely didn't call them and Wanda had been with me the entire time so she didn't call them, leaving only one person.

I debated acting confused against getting defensive. I decided that I could act confused, maybe convincing them that I was fine, getting them to leave.

"Oh really?" I asked, sitting on the couch. "What about?"

Laura looked at Clint before continuing. "You haven't been getting sleep Nat and people are worried about you."

"I've been getting sleep," I told her, acting confused.

"Natasha," Clint said lowly but softly, "It's okay, we just want to help."

"Oh, is this about the whole Steve thing?" I asked. "We cleared it up. He thought I wasn't sleeping but I explained that we had just gotten up a little bit early because Wanda had a nightmare. He said we were good so I'm not sure why you two are here. Where are the kids?" I asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"At my parent's place," Laura explained and I nodded, kind of upset that I wouldn't get to see them.

"Oh, cool, how long are you staying? Wanda would love to see you."

"Depends, when are you going to sleep?" Clint asked, taking on a more no-nonsense tone.

I laughed slightly. "Well I was just about to go take a nap with Wanda because of our early morning wake up but I figured I'd come to talk with you first."

"Natasha, you don't have to lie to us," Laura continued.

"I'm not, FRIDAY? Did I sleep last night?"

"Agent Romanoff got a full 8 hours of rest last night," FRIDAY replied and I was satisfied. It wasn't often that I could pull one on Laura but I watched as she looked confused. 

"FRIDAY doesn't lie," I told them.

"No, she just omits the truth," Clint explained, his expression darkening slightly. "You rested, you didn't sleep."

"What? Rested, slept, same thing," I told him with a laugh. "I have a very upset daughter down the hallway though so if that was it, I'm going to go rest. If you stay, great, Wanda will be excited, but if you have to get back to your kids, I understand," I told them, knowing I needed to leave soon as my temper was rising again.

"Go sleep, if you don't sleep, we'll be having another discussion after your 'nap,'" Laura told me and I looked at her one more time before turning and heading back to our room. I slowly opened the door and found it silent. 

Wanda must have been exhausted if she cried herself to sleep without me. Wanda had turned back to face the door before she fell asleep and I could see the tear marks glistening on her face from the light in the hallway. The guilt replaced the anger that I was feeling as I moved into bed. 

I climbed in next to her, gently wiping away the remaining tears. She moved slightly in her sleep so I stopped, not wanting to wake her up.

I lay in bed, trying to sleep, but finding I couldn't. I was exhausted but I was too guilty over what I had said to Wanda before bed. She was acting like a child but she had also just gone through some serious trauma. Hell, she had only just been rescued from being kidnapped a few weeks ago, not giving her much time to heal yet. 

The last time she had gone through separation anxiety, Clint had been with us, making it a bit easier for me to know where the boundaries were as well as having someone to actually have me follow through with the separation technique. Now, it was just me and Wanda, so I was tempted to just stay with her for everything to prevent her from crying. 

I knew I would have to make some changes after her nap though. I couldn't keep allowing her to be as dependent. She was a teenager and I wanted her to get to have normal experiences as a teenager rather than being stuck to me all the time. I had no doubt though that once she started talking to Sam again, things would be back to being fine.

I took out my phone, working on hacking into FRIDAY to get her to say that I slept as this obviously wasn't working, Clint was on to me. Hacking into FRIDAY wasn't that difficult for me as I had access to a lot of her programming, especially to make special adjustments for Wanda, so I was quickly able to hack into her, making it so that she could say that I got any amount of sleep if asked. 

Several hours passed before Wanda started to stir. I was worried that she was having a nightmare but she wasn't whimpering or screaming. I gently shook her just in case though and she opened her eyes. She looked calm though so I assumed that she had just woken up naturally.

"Hey sweetie," I said, brushing some hair out of her face. Although I hadn't gotten more sleep, I did feel more relaxed due to laying down and having time to myself for a few hours.

She looked at me but didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry about earlier," I told her, knowing I needed to make up with her. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. I do want you to work on the separation though. We will get through it together, just like we did last time."

"I'm sorry I'm acting like such a baby," she told me.

"You're not acting like a baby Wanda," I told her, knowing that she needed comfort.

"Yes I am!" she said, slightly raising her voice. I raised my eyebrow but allowed her to continue. "And I'm sorry, I know that it's frustrating for you to deal with me. I just can't help feeling that you are going to die if you leave," she told me, her voice quiet again.

"I know, and I'm sorry you're going through that sweet girl. I bet if you see Sam again though, you can work through some of those feelings. Maybe I can talk to him and see when he's available next?" I offered, waiting to see her reaction.

"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea," she told me.

"Okay," I smiled. "I'll text him after we get up. Laura and Clint are here," I told her and her face lit up. 

"I thought I was imagining Laura earlier," she admitted with a light laugh and I laughed too, pulling Wanda into a hug, glad that we had had that conversation.

"How did you sleep?" I asked her.

"Good, no nightmares," she told me with a smile and I smiled back.

"That's great!" I told her. I watched in confusion as her face fell slightly. "What?"

"Did you sleep?" she asked.

"Don't worry about me, I don't need sleep," I told her, laughing. She didn't seem to buy it though.

"Please sleep mama, is that why Laura is here?"

"Laura thinks that I haven't gotten any sleep but you're going to be good and tell her that I did get sleep, okay?" She nodded but looked skeptical.

"I promise I'm okay sweetie, I'll sleep tonight, okay?" She gladly accepted that and soon, we were both out of bed. Wanda got changed by herself, not asking me to go with her, and I smiled, glad to see this improvement, even if it was only for now.

When she came back out, she didn't attach herself to me either, staying about 6 inches away from me the entire way down the hall. Our arms brushed together occasionally but she didn't try to grab onto it. She seemed to be restraining herself but I didn't say anything as we entered the living room.

Laura and Clint were still there and Wanda immediately ran over to Laura when we got there. Laura gave Wanda a huge hug, holding her in her lap as she hugged her. I smiled at the sight until I saw Clint staring at me, a light glare on his face. 

I raised an eyebrow at him, looking back at Laura and Wanda. 

"How was your nap?" Laura asked.

"Good," Wanda said, sitting next to her on the couch. I also sat on the couch, choosing to sit on the other one so that I was further away from Clint who was still glaring at me. "Are the kids here?" Wanda asked.

"No," Laura told her and Wanda's face fell slightly but she quickly neutralized it. "But we are planning a trip out here around Christmas time." It was September so we still had a little while until Christmas but it was nice to hear that they were planning a trip out here soon.

"That would be so fun!" Wanda excitedly said and I smiled at seeing her so happy. 

Clint cleared his throat and I glared at him again.

"How did you sleep Natasha?" he practically growled.

"I slept fine," I said, noticing the tension in the room. "What did you and Laura do while we slept?"

"Nothing much." He then turned to Wanda. "Hey kiddo, Laura and I need to talk to your mother, do you think you could go hang out with Steve or Pepper?" I watched as she looked at me, seeming worried.

"Wanda doesn't have to go anywhere," I told him, opening my arm for Wanda to come sit next to me. 

"I can go, I'll go find Sam," she told me and although I was really proud of her, I didn't really want to have a conversation with them.

"That's a good idea, I'll go help you find him," I told her. 

"I think Wanda can manage herself, can't you?" Clint asked her and I shot another glare at him.

Wanda looked in between both of us, knowing that she would only please one of us. "Uh," she started, trying to figure out how to answer.

I glared at Clint before turning to Wanda to say, "It's okay honey, you can go find Sam. Let FRIDAY know if you need me."

She nodded, quickly getting up to go find Sam. Almost as soon as she was out of the room, Clint turned to me. "Why didn't you sleep?"

"I did," I replied, immediately getting defensive. 

"Oh really, because your makeup is still completely intact and you definitely don't look any less exhausted than before."

"Clint," Laura said quietly, trying to calm him down before things got out of hand. I just glared at him from my place on the couch.

"I slept fine," I replied, not wanting to continue this conversation.

"Natasha," Laura said softly, going the gentle route. "We aren't mad at you, we just want to help."

"Okay, well you can start by believing me," I said, my voice raised.

"Hey!" Clint snapped it. "Watch it little girl."

I rolled my eyes, leaning further into the couch. 

"FRIDAY, did Natasha sleep?" Clint asked, watching me closely.

"Agent Romanoff slept," FRIDAY replied, exactly how I programmed her too after hacking her.

"Oh really, how long did she sleep?" Clint asked as a follow-up question.

"Agent Romanoff slept for 2 hours and 43 minutes," FRIDAY replied, again, another program I had put in since that was about how long I had been in the room.

"Give me your phone," Clint told me after he received the response.

"No," I told him, making sure my phone was still in my pocket.

"Clint, I thought FRIDAY couldn't lie," Laura interjected.

"She can't unless she was hacked."

"I never thought I'd say this but you think too highly of me Barton," I laughed. "You think that I could hack into FRIDAY?"

"I know you can, you've done it before," he told me, crossing his arms over his chest. "Give, me, your, phone. Now."

"No, you don't get my phone, I'm not a teenager anymore," I told him, standing up.

"Natasha, sit down!" Laura snapped. "If you slept during the nap, that's great, but the attitude is not acceptable so fix it. We came here to help you so the least you could do is be respectful to us."

"I didn't come into your home and accuse you of not sleeping and then of lying," I told her.

"That's not what you're trying to do Natasha," she told me, her voice a bit softer. "We are worried about you and want to make sure that you are getting enough sleep. If you aren't, we want to help. If Wanda is having too many nightmares, we can take her for the night or for a few nights so that you can sleep. What can we do?"

"Nothing because I'm getting plenty of sleep. Thank you for stopping by but your kids probably need you," I hissed, standing up and leaving, ignoring Clint's order for me to stop. I headed to my office, needing some time. I also wanted to talk to Steve at some point. 

As soon as I got to my office, I rested my head on my desk. I was exhausted but I couldn't sleep. I knew I needed some but right now, I didn't really care. What I didn't need was Clint and Laura coming in here and treating me like a teenager. I did feel the exhaustion coursing through my body, causing me to make irrational decisions, my actions were slower, I was having a harder time thinking, and my temper was harder to control. 

I pulled out my phone, relaxing on the couch in my office. "FRIDAY, did Wanda find Sam?"

"Yes Agent Romanoff," she replied and I relaxed, knowing that everything would be okay. I just had to convince Laura and Clint of that.

WANDA POV:

I was trying desperately to contain the panic as I looked for Sam. On the outside, I may have looked fine, but I was panicking at not being with Nat. I was already making massive improvements, I knew that, but I also really missed her. There was something else that was worrying me more though.

FRIDAY had told me that Sam was in one of the conference rooms so that's where I headed. I had asked if he was with anyone else but FRIDAY had told me that he was just doing some work and didn't look too busy.

It only took me about 5 minutes to get there but I was so glad when I finally saw him. My looming panic even died down a bit. 

He could see me coming so when I came to the door, he nodded, signaling that I could come in. I slowly pushed open the door, coming in.

"Hey Wanda, everything okay?" 

I nodded, pushing down the panic. "Natasha is talking to Laura and Clint so I had to come here."

"Oh, you can sit down," he told me, motioning to the chair. I nodded, jerkily sitting down.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." After a few moments of heavy consideration, I asked. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"What would you do if someone you loved was hurting themself but didn't want you to say anything?"

"Well, if I really loved that person, I would tell someone. It doesn't matter how adamant they were about me keeping it a secret, I would tell someone who I trusted."

"What if it wasn't really something that was hurting them but just something that wasn't good for them?"

"I might try talking to them first but if it's something that may potentially be dangerous, I would still reach out to a trusted adult and let them know." I nodded, both of us falling into silence. 

Another few minutes of quiet passed, both of us sitting there quietly when another thought came to me. "What if that person would be really mad at you if you said something?"

"I would rather that person be mad at me but alive than happy with me but dead." That hit me hard and I let out a small gasp. 

"Is there something you want to tell me Wanda?" I shook my head after some hesitation. "Are you or someone you know in trouble?" Another small shake of my head. Nat would be so mad if she found out I was even considering saying something.

"No, I was just wondering," I told him, feeling some more panic building. I needed to move around. "Thank you."

"No problem kiddo, just know I'm always here if you want to talk."

I nodded, leaving the room and walking down the hall. "FRIDAY, where is Nat?"

"Agent Romanoff is in her office. Shall I notify her that you are looking for her?"

"No, it's okay FRIDAY. Are Laura and Clint still with her?"

"No Miss Maximoff."

"Oh, okay, thank you."

I was headed to Nat's office to talk to her, I wanted to convince her to sleep. She needed sleep and although she told me she would sleep tonight, I didn't believe her. She did look exhausted, even through the makeup. I also knew that with all of the coffee she had today, she shouldn't look that tired. I was getting worried. 

I had to pass through the living room on my way there and before I could pass, Laura called out to me. "Hey Wanda, c'mere a sec." I sighed slightly, determined to go find Nat but deciding that a few seconds with Laura wouldn't hurt.

I plastered a smile on my face as I turned to her. "Yeah Laura?"

"I just wanted to see how you've been doing since you left?"

"Oh, I've been good," I told her, bouncing my knee to try to ease some of the panic that I still felt.

"Are you okay sweetie?" she asked and I nodded. Clint came to sit on the other side of me and I looked at both of them. They both looked like they wanted to say something but weren't sure how to go about it.

"What's going on?" I asked, wondering if something was wrong with Nat.

"Nothing, don't freak out, it's okay," Clint said.

"Yeah sweetie, everything is okay. We just have a question for you." I nodded for her to go ahead. "Do you know if Tasha has been sleeping?" I wasn't expecting that. 

"Um," I hesitated, not knowing what to say. Nat would be so mad at me. "Um, yeah, she sleeps," I offered lamely.

"Wanda, you know you can tell us if she doesn't."

"Yeah, I know, but she does sleep," I told Laura, turning to make sure Clint was also listening. 

"If she doesn't, you know that that can be dangerous right?" Clint asked and I nodded, feeling tears well up in my eyes. "We need to make sure that Natasha is sleeping so that she doesn't make herself sick. If she doesn't get enough sleep, she can get really sick and then she'll need to go to the hospital." I felt my stomach clench at that and I almost threw up. I didn't want her to have to go to the hospital.

"Yeah, I know," I replied again, trying to blink back tears.

"Wanda, we won't tell Nat if you tell us anything," Laura replied softly, gently grabbing my hand. My worry was growing and I felt myself panicking slightly.

"Um, she sleeps," I answered again, not sure who I was trying to convince now. 

"Did she sleep last night?" Laura asked.

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"Do you know how long she slept last night?" Clint asked me, his voice soft as well.

"Um, I think 8 hours," I replied, remembering what she had tricked FRIDAY into saying but hating how my voice shook.

"Okay, how much sleep did you get last night?"

"I think 2," I replied, confused as to why they cared about me.

"Did you have nightmares?" Laura took over and I nodded silently.

"Okay, so Nat slept while you were awake?" Crap, that's why they had asked. I nodded, knowing that they had probably already figured out how often Nat was sleeping. 

No one said anything for a few seconds and my worry finally became too much. "I'm worried about her," I mumbled, looking down at my hands as I messed with my rings. "I don't think she's slept at all, she's always awake when I fall asleep and when I wake up. I haven't seen her sleep since before she left for the mission and I've been with her almost all of the time," I admitted, embarrassed. 

"I'm so proud of you Wanda," Laura told me. "Thank you for telling us. Now we can get her help."

"She's going to be so mad at me," I said, looking up at her as the tears almost spilled over

"No she won't sweetie," she replied, cupping my cheek gently. "But we won't tell her that you told us." I felt some relief at that but I still felt guilty.

"What're you going to do?" I asked. "You can't force her to sleep."

"We have our ways," she replied, winking at me as she shot me a small smile. 

"Thank you kiddo," Clint said. "We'll help her, I promise," he told me, squeezing my arm and I felt some more relief at the situation. Now an adult knew, someone would help her. 

"We are going to go talk to Natasha. Do you think you could go hang with Pepper or Steve again?" Clint asked. "We'll tell FRIDAY to get you when we're done."

"I can do that," I said, my anxiety about being away from Nat long forgotten, being more worried about getting her to sleep. I felt some relief though now that I knew someone was going to help her. "Please help her."

"We will kiddo," Clint replied, squeezing my shoulder as I got up to leave. 

I felt guilty and nervous that Nat was going to hate me now that I sold her out. She could figure out that it was me, there were only so many people who knew that she wasn't sleeping.

I wanted Pepper, I was close with her, and I also wanted to apologize for my meltdown at the farmers' market so I headed to her office after confirming with FRIDAY that that's where she was.

I knocked on her door when I got there, hearing her voice call, "Come in." I slowly opened her door, peaking my head in to make sure that she was alone.

"Hey Wanda," she greeted, a smile breaking out on her face. She must have seen the worry on my face because her smile faltered slightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, can I hang out with you for a bit though?"

"Of course," she said, standing up to come over to me. "Where's Natasha?"

"Talking with Clint and Laura."

"I didn't know Clint was back," she replied, both of us sitting on her couch.

"Yeah, he just got back a few hours ago. He sent me up here to wait with you until he calls me back to our floor."

"Oh, okay, well you can always hang with me."

"Thanks Pepper," I told her. "Hey, I'm really sorry for the farmers' market," I mumbled, looking away from her as I blushed.

"What? I had so much fun with you!" she replied.

"But I ruined the end," I continued.

"Wanda," she said, making me look at her. "That was not your fault, that guy was a bitch. And you didn't ruin everything, we still had a great time." I nodded, deciding to just agree as I knew I wouldn't win this argument.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Pepper asked after a few minutes of silence had passed.

"Sure," I said, figuring that it may help to take my mind off of what was going on just a few floors below me.