Better Days

CLINT POV:

Wanda was eating dinner while I sat next to her. I was proud of her. I knew how rough separation anxiety was, especially when she suffered from it several months ago, but she recognized that her mother was hurting, taking the initiative to help her. It was showing her growing up and it meant a lot. 

She finished her dinner, slowly and carefully cleaning up. She hadn't said anything to me since Nat left, staying quiet and staying to herself. 

"C'mon kiddo, time for bed," I told her. I knew that she was tired too, even if she was getting more sleep than Natasha. 

She looked up at me nervously but didn't argue, moving to her room. I watched as she looked down the hall where Nat's door was closed. It was quiet inside which was good. I hadn't texted Laura to see how it was going yet.

"She's okay," I told Wanda after she hesitated yet again, seeming to want to move towards Nat.

"I know," she mumbled, moving into her room instead. She grabbed clothes, heading into her bathroom. I sighed, sitting on her desk chair, while I waited for her to finish. I heard the water in the bathroom turn on and decided to go venture down the hall a ways to see if I could hear anything. Wanda was showering so I had plenty of time to go check on Nat and Laura and still be back before she finished the shower.

I walked down the hallway and heard the end of a mini-lecture that Laura was giving Natasha: "-o bed Natasha."

"It's kind of difficult when you're sitting there," I heard Natasha's reply come through the door and I raised my eyebrow, waiting to see how Laura reacted. 

"You're fine, close your eyes, remember what will happen if you don't get sleep tonight," Laura left the threat in the air as the room went silent. I didn't know if Laura was referring to a spanking or getting checked into the med bay but I knew that both were likely possibilities if she didn't buckle down and get some sleep. 

After I didn't hear another reply, I headed back to Wanda's room. The water was off and I only had to wait a few more seconds before the door opened, revealing Wanda dressed in pajamas.

She glanced at me, grabbing her phone before climbing into bed. She smiled lightly while looking at her phone and I smiled myself, moving slightly closer to help her get settled. As she moved, I caught a glimpse of her phone and I felt my expression falter slightly. I sighed, sending a text to Laura to let her know that Natasha was on her phone. 

I understood Nat's desire to text Wanda but I also knew that she needed her sleep. I had no idea whether or not Laura knew that Nat was on her phone but by her response of: "Thank you for letting me know. This girl is gonna be the death of me," with the sad face and rolling eyes emoji, I guessed that she didn't.

I gently tucked the blankets around Wanda as I do when putting Lila to bed. "If you wake up tonight kiddo, you can come to get me. I'm going to be in the living room but I still want you to sleep okay?" She nodded slightly. "As long as Nat sleeps tonight, she can come back tomorrow. Sound good?"

"Yeah, I just hope she sleeps tonight, she looked so exhausted," Wanda said and I smiled softly at her. She was just so good.

"She will, Laura's got her. But now you have to sleep. If you need anything, anything at all, please come get me. We can get Pepper or Steve or Sam, whoever, but I don't want you suffering alone okay?" I was slightly stern with her, wanting to get my point across as I was scared she wouldn't sleep. I guess I was used to Natasha's resistance.

"I will Clint, promise," Wanda said, smiling at me and I nodded.

"Alright, goodnight kiddo," I said, moving to the door to turn off the lights. I watched as she rolled over slightly as I closed the door.

I sighed, walking back down the hall to listen in on them again. I didn't dare open the door as I knew that if I did, I could possibly wake up Nat or deter her from sleeping even more, but I wanted to make sure everything was okay in there.

It was silent so I moved into the kitchen, cleaning up any mess from dinner before moving into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. I turned on the TV but made sure to keep it muted so that I didn't disturb either of the women down the hall.

Laura and I texted, Laura saying that Nat was laying there but that she wasn't sure if she was sleeping. I told her to wait for about half an hour before checking with FRIDAY. Laura also let me know that regardless of whether or not Nat slept, she would be staying in there all night in case Nat woke up or had another issue. 

When Nat was younger, it took a lot of convincing to get her to sleep. Laura spent countless nights in Nat's room at the farm in order to coax her to sleep or comfort her after horrible nightmares. We had numerous conversations with her as a kid over her sleep habits as well as what her nightmares were about but none of that ever truly helped. The only thing that ever really worked for her was Laura's comfort, as much as she hated to admit it. I remember walking into her room several times to check on her to see her nestled in Laura's arms, tear tracks staining her face, while Laura rocked her to sleep. Nat was tough but her nightmares could crack her resolve quicker than anything else. She had opened up to Laura, and me on a few select times, about what her nightmares were about, but whatever it was that continued to plague her, it was horrible. I knew a lot of the general things that she dreamed about but she only ever told Laura about specifics. 

I just hoped that her own nightmares weren't keeping her awake. I knew that Laura had her if they did though. 

Now that Laura was in with Nat, I had Wanda all night. "FRIDAY?" I questioned softly after some time had passed. "Please let me know if Wanda wakes up or is in distress."

"I will notify you immediately Agent Barton," FRIDAY replied and I sighed, knowing that I probably wouldn't get much sleep tonight. 

As I suspected, about an hour later, FRIDAY's voice alerted me.

"Agent Barton, Miss Maximoff is in distress."

I was slightly shocked, it hadn't been that long since she had gone down. 'Like mother like daughter,' I thought as I made my way down the hallway. When Nat was a teen, she could have nightmares within the first hour of falling asleep which limited her sleep even more. Apparently, Wanda was the same.

I gently pushed open Wanda's door to see her twisting in her bed, her face contorted in what looked like pain.

"Wanda, kiddo, wake up," I said, gently shaking her shoulder once I had made my way to her bed. This was my first time taking care of Wanda after a nightmare by myself so we would see how it went. 

"Mama," she whimpered in her sleep and I cursed softly under my breath. I knew that when she woke up, she was going to want Natasha, but I couldn't just go get Nat, she was hopefully asleep at this point and waking her up now would ruin the entire reason for us being here in the first place. I had taken care of Nat after a nightmare by myself though so I figured that I could handle this.

"C'mon kiddo, wake up," I tried again, shaking Wanda a bit harder. 

She shot up as a mangled scream escaped her lips and I hoped that Nat didn't wake up from that. "Hey, shh, you're okay," I said softly from my spot next to her, not wanting to scare her. She was used to Nat being here, I knew that, so I had to be extra careful when talking to her so as to not make her panic.

"Mama," she mumbled as she looked around the room. Her eyes were filling with tears and I felt my heart clench. 

Nat hadn't burst into the room yet so either she didn't wake up to Wanda's scream or Laura was holding her back. As long as Laura had Natasha, I had Wanda. 

"Hey, it's okay hun," I tried, slowly bringing a hand to rest on her back. I rubbed comforting circles on it when she didn't jump away.

"I want Tasha," she whined, looking at me for the first time. 

"I know, but you've got me for right now," I told her in an attempt at a joke. She didn't see it that way as she burst into tears. 

"C'mere," I said softly, opening my arms for her to fall into. She leaned into my arms but stayed stiff. I gently maneuvered her so that she was clinging onto the front of me where I felt her relax. "It's okay Wands." I continued rubbing circles on her back while she cried into my shoulder.

"I want mama," she cried and I nodded, shushing her gently.

"I know, she's sleeping right now kiddo but you can see her tomorrow morning."

"But I want her now!" she cried again, letting out fresh sobs.

"Shh, it's okay," I said, wrapping my arms around her a bit tighter. Nat had honestly been more difficult to console after her nightmares so this wasn't as bad. It was harder though in the sense that Wanda wanted something that would easily calm her down but we couldn't offer her that. In Nat's situation, there was nothing that we could give her to calm her down so we would have to wait it out until she cried herself out.

I rocked Wanda side-to-side until her sobs turned to sniffles, a process that took well over half an hour. She slowly unwrapped her arms from around my shoulders, leaning back and moving back onto the bed. 

"Sorry," she mumbled, wiping her face with the back of her hand to rid it of any tears.

"It's okay," I told her. "There's nothing to apologize for," I followed up with, not wanting her to think that she was in trouble for crying or having a nightmare. 

She nodded while she sniffed, continuing to wipe at her face. I gently touched her hand, bringing it down to let it fall into her lap as the constant rubbing was causing her cheeks to turn red.

"Are you ready to get some more sleep?" I asked softly, waiting to see if she was as difficult as Nat had been as a teen. 

She hesitated but did nod after a few seconds. I smiled at her, glad that she was willing to sleep even after her nightmare. 

"Alright kiddo, if you need anything, I'll be in the living room. You can come to get me or ask FRIDAY to get me, okay?" 

"Okay, thanks Clint," she replied, moving so that she was now laying down, scooting further under the blankets. She was still sniffing and the occasional tear fell down her face but she seemed okay for the time being.

I turned off the lights, closing the door behind me, as I moved back to the living room. I pulled out my phone to send a text to Laura but saw that she had already sent me a text. It read: "Is Wanda okay?"

I responded back saying, "Wanda's fine. She had a nightmare but she's going back to sleep now. Did she wake up Natasha?"

I waited a second for her response. "No, she slept through it, thank gosh. If she had woken up, it wouldn't have been pretty. I'm glad Wanda went back to sleep, you're doing great. Let me know if you need anything." 

I smiled at her response, sending a quick text back letting her know that she could get me too before leaning back into the couch. 

After about an hour passed, I figured I would check on Wanda. "FRIDAY, is Wanda asleep?"

"No Mr. Barton. Miss Maximoff is still awake." I frowned at that. I had really thought that Wanda would sleep but I also knew that it was never that easy with Nat so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I slowly moved down the hallway and heard muffled sobs coming from Wanda's room. I felt my heart break. I shouldn't have left her, she had just spent the last hour sobbing to herself and it was all because of me.

Instead of knocking, I gently pushed open the door, stepping into her room. It was still relatively dark in her room but there was some light spilling in from the window so it wasn't pitch black as I made my way to her bed.

"Wanda," I greeted softly after I realized that she hadn't noticed my entrance to her room. She jumped before whipping around to face me. "Hey, it's okay kiddo," I said, holding my hands out slightly. "Are you okay?" I asked her gently.

She looked at me as she tried to muffle her sobs but it didn't work. 

"No," she cried. "I want mama, I'm sorry," she sobbed, covering her face with her hands.

"Oh honey," I mumbled under my breath, sitting on the edge of her bed. I gently tugged on her wrists, bringing her closer to me. I hesitated a second to give her a chance to escape from my arms if she wanted to but when she didn't struggle against me, I pulled her back into my chest, rocking her back and forth in an attempt to calm her down.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled through her tears.

"It's okay. You could have gotten me kiddo, I'm sorry I left you."

"It's okay," she parroted back and I sighed, rubbing her back. 

After another half hour had passed without any sign of Wanda calming down, I pulled out my phone, sending a quick text to Laura. I knew that she may not have been able to leave Nat, especially if Nat had woken up for some reason, but I also thought that Wanda just needed a mother figure right now.

Laura didn't respond but a few minutes later, a figure appeared in the doorway. Laura stepped into the room with worry painted over her face. She moved over to the bed, sitting down next to me.

"Is Nat still asleep?" I asked Laura softly so that Wanda couldn't hear me over her tears.

"Yeah, I told FRIDAY to get me if she woke up." I nodded, looking back down at the sobbing teen in my arms as I let Laura take over.

"Hey baby," Laura coaxed gently, running her fingers over Wanda's spine. Wanda lifted up her head to look at Laura.

"I'm sorry," she choked out.

"Shh, don't apologize hun, it's okay," Laura said as she opened her arms for Wanda. Wanda quickly moved out of mine and into Laura's instead. I rubbed Wanda's back a few times but Laura had her now and I was relieved to see that she was calming down slightly. 

"Mrs. Barton, Agent Romanoff is awake," FRIDAY's robotic voice filled the room. Wanda lifted her head up at that but Laura gently cupped it, bringing it back down to her shoulder. 

"I've got her," I told Laura, quickly rushing out of the room before Nat had a chance to leave her room. Luckily, I got to her door before she had even gotten out of bed. I quickly opened the door to see her sitting up in her bed. 

She looked over at me when I walked in and I saw some glistening tears on her cheeks. She quickly looked away, rubbing her cheeks, similar to how Wanda had moments ago. I didn't question the tears, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, as I figured that they were most likely from a nightmare.

"Is Wanda okay?" she asked and I heard her voice crack slightly.

"Yeah, she's with Laura," I replied. I had no idea if she knew that Wanda was awake or if she still thought that she was sleeping but I figured that I would be honest with her and let her know what was going on. "She's okay Nat," I told her softly after I saw her worried look.

"Nightmare?" she questioned and I nodded before realizing that it was probably difficult for her to see me in the dark room.

"Yeah, but she's okay, Laura got her to calm down and she's almost asleep again," I told her, remembering how Wanda's eyes looked heavy when I left the room. 

"I'm glad Laura got her to sleep," Nat scoffed and she sounded frustrated.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter," she mumbled, curling herself into a ball, resting her head on her knees.

"It does matter, what do you mean Tash?" I asked.

"I can never get that kid to sleep, no matter what I do, and Laura prances in here and gets her to sleep immediately? I'm glad Wanda is finally getting sleep but I can never do anything right with her. Hell, she didn't even need me to go back to sleep tonight. You guys should take her home with you, she'd be happier and healthier," Nat said but a mini sob interrupted her at the end. She quickly covered it up with a cough though. 

"Nat, she would not be happier or healthier with us. She loves you and wanted you desperately. Her exhaustion eventually got to a point though where she couldn't fight it anymore. We made it clear that you weren't an option for her tonight so she had to figure out other forms of comfort. It isn't that she doesn't need you or doesn't want you, you just weren't an option tonight," I explained carefully, trying to convince Nat that Wanda really did need her. 

This wasn't the first time Natasha doubted herself, especially when it came to taking care of Wanda. The Red Room had convinced her that she could never care for another being and that she was heartless so I didn't blame her. This was one of the big things that Laura and I had to work on when she first came to live with us and she was eons better now than she was as a teen but she still had her moments.

"She refuses to sleep," Nat stated simply and I quirked my eyebrow.

"I wonder where she gets it from," I snorted and Nat huffed. "But seriously, she is comfortable with you, she'll fight you on things-"

"She's comfortable with you guys too!" Nat interrupted.

"It's not the same. You're her mom Tasha. She loves you more than anything. That kid idolizes you and would do anything for you. But that also has the flip side of she'll be difficult with you because she knows how far she can push you and how you're going to react." She wasn't listening or grasping what I was trying to say, I could tell by her scoffs and sighs. "Okay, here's an example. She's acting the same way that you did when you lived with us. You eventually got comfortable and knew just how far you could push it before we got angry or before you got punished. It's the same situation Nat," I tried explaining it in a different way. She seemed to understand a little more as she was now looking at me as I explained it.

"But she didn't fight either you or Laura with sleeping. She'll fight against me tooth and nail when it comes to sleeping," she argued.

Another idea came to my mind. "She's also worried about you. I hadn't thought about it before but she's worried so she's not going to take our attention away from you when you're the one who needs help. She's not going to argue with us about sleep as that would require more of our attention." I remembered as Wanda lifted her head when she heard that Nat was awake. At first, I had thought that it was because she wanted to get to Nat but now that I thought about it, she had looked worried, worried that her mama was awake.

"She shouldn't be worried about me, I'm fine," Natasha continued to argue.

"You weren't," I said simply, quickly shutting down any more arguing. When she didn't say anything in response, I continued. "And you still aren't in the clear yet. You've only been sleeping for a few hours which is not nearly enough to recharge your body." I left it open, knowing that she knew what I was insinuating.

"I can't sleep anymore Clint, I've tried and I feel much better," she tried. "I can get up now."

"Not an option, it's the middle of the night. I'm willing to step back on my med-bay threat as long as you sleep the rest of the night. You don't need a consecutive 8 hours though. But if you don't sleep until a more reasonable time of the morning, then we're going to have to look at other options because you and I both know you can't keep going like this." She sighed but thankfully, didn't argue. 

"Can I at least see Wanda first?"

I felt bad but I shook my head. "No, if you see her she might not want to let you leave and then neither of you will get sleep. You can stay in here until tomorrow morning," I replied, using a bit of a sterner voice but not making it too firm as she wasn't exactly arguing with me.

Another sigh came from Nat but she didn't argue, leaning back against the headboard.

"Are you ready to sleep?" I asked her and I watched as her head turned to look at me. From what I could see, she looked annoyed, but as long as she kept it reeled in, she would be fine.

"Is no an option?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

I laughed lightly, knowing that this was her attempt at making a joke of the situation. "No, unfortunately not."

She sighed but did lay down, pulling the comforter higher up on her body. I took that as my queue to get off of the bed and move over to the chair instead.

"Get some sleep Tasha," I whispered, watching as she looked at the ceiling. She rolled over but I highly doubted she was sleeping.

I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Laura. "Nat's back down, how's Wanda?"

"I just put Wanda back down. I stayed until she was asleep. She's okay. I'll be right there." I read her text and turned my phone back off, knowing that Laura would be here any minute.

As she said, less than a minute later, the door slowly opened, revealing Laura. 

"Is she asleep?" Laura whispered to me and I shrugged. 

"FRIDAY, is Nat asleep?" I whispered, knowing that FRIDAY would whisper back if she was.

"No Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff is still awake." I figured as it had only been a few minutes. 

Nat sighed, turning to face us. "I'm trying okay?" she snapped and Laura stepped in before I could say anything.

"We know you are."

"Is Wanda okay?" she asked, immediately sitting up at seeing Laura in the room. 

"Yes, she's asleep, now it's time for you to sleep as well." I was slightly surprised as Laura climbed on the bed next to Nat. I thought that she would sit in the chair as we hadn't slept in the same bed as Nat since she was younger. 

I didn't stay surprised as I watched Laura card her fingers through Nat's hair, her other hand rubbing her back and patting her butt. I immediately recognized the actions as what Laura did to get Nat to sleep when she had a nightmare or was being ornery. 

I smiled softly as Nat hummed softly, her body immediately relaxing. She may be an adult but she still needed her mama sometimes too.

Laura met my eyes and I smiled at her, quietly getting up to leave the room. I closed the door after watching Laura lean back slightly against the headboard as she got comfortable.

The door clicked shut and I moved back down the hall to check on Wanda. I slowly and quietly opened her door, peeking my head in to see her sleeping form in the bed, the blankets rising and falling with her steady breathing.

I smiled again, gently closing the door before heading to the living room. I was exhausted too and figured I could take a quick nap while everyone was sleeping. I missed my bed and my kids but I also never minded spending time with Nat and Wanda. While they were sleeping though, I could probably catch up on some sleep.

"FRIDAY, wake me up if Wanda or Nat are in distress or wake up, okay?"

"Okay Agent Barton," FRIDAY replied and I sighed in contentment before grabbing the blanket off of the back of the couch, curling up to take a quick nap.

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

"Agent Barton, Miss Maximoff is awake," I woke up to FRIDAY's voice filling the room.

"Thank you FRIDAY," I said as I quickly sat up. The living room was full of light, meaning that it was morning. I was beyond relieved that both Wanda and Natasha had managed to sleep for the rest of the night. 

I headed down the hallway to make sure that Wanda was okay and that a nightmare wasn't the reason for her wake-up. When I got to her room, I knocked but I didn't hear anything. I knocked again, some worry filling my stomach. "Wanda, you in there kiddo?" I asked. Still no response.

I slowly pushed open the door to reveal an empty bed. Her bathroom door was closed though and I heard the sound of the toilet flushing and the sink running so relief flooded my body. She just couldn't hear me in the bathroom.

I didn't leave quick enough and the door opened, revealing Wanda. "Hey, sorry, I was worried about you so I came to check." A light smile traced her face as she looked at me.

"Sorry, I'm okay," she replied and I smiled back at her. 

"Good, I'm glad. Do you want to go get some breakfast?"

She shrugged. "Is Nat awake yet?"

"I don't know, but I don't think so. She'll probably wake up soon but let's let her sleep for a bit longer." She nodded, moving over to me. She followed me out of the room and I headed to the kitchen. The elevator dinged as we entered the kitchen and it opened revealing Steve. He was sweating and looked as if he had just gotten back from a run.

"You're awake," he greeted as he walked in and I figured that he had probably seen me sound asleep on the couch when he came up to get ready for the run. 

"Yeah, I am," I laughed lightly. 

"How's Nat?" he asked, his expression turning worried.

"She's okay, she's sleeping," I replied, glancing at Wanda to see how she reacted to the question. 

Luckily it seemed like she didn't react negatively, mostly just seeming curious to know the answer as well.

"That's great," Steve replied and I smiled. This team really was like a family and I missed it, although I did like being home with my kids and Laura. 

Steve started making breakfast while Wanda sat down, pulling out her phone. I wanted to talk to the kids but figured I would wait to call them until Laura came out. I sent a text to her saying good morning and letting her know that Wanda and I were up and she replied saying that Nat was still sleeping. I was beyond relieved that she had finally given in and gotten some sleep.

Hopefully now that Wanda seemed to make a quick change with her separation anxiety and Nat seemed to be on the mend with her sleep, they would be okay. 

WANDA POV:

While we waited for Tasha to wake up, we ate breakfast and then watched TV quietly. Last night had been rough without Nat next to me but I had made it, I wasn't looking forward to having to do that again though so I hoped that Nat would be allowed to go back with me tonight.

I was also still guilty about telling Laura and Clint about it. I know that they had helped her but she definitely didn't seem too happy about it. Hell, they had even threatened to spank her in front of Pepper and me. At least I now knew where she got it from. I knew better than to bring it up though. 

I just hoped that she didn't mind once she woke up because I didn't want to hide it from her. I didn't think I could, I was too guilty. She had trusted me by telling me that she wasn't sleeping and then I went behind her back to betray her. It made me feel horrible even though I only wanted to help her.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Sam walked into the room. "Hey guys, how're you doing Wanda?" he asked and I immediately remembered yesterday's conversation that I had with him about someone hurting themselves but keeping it a secret. I had been so wrapped up in my worry about Nat that it never occurred to me that he probably thought I was talking about myself.

"I'm good, how're you?" I asked him, trying to shift the focus off of me.

"I'm good, I wanted to talk to you though." I sighed, knowing that it was most likely about yesterday. 

I nodded. "Right now?"

"If that's okay with you?" he responded and I nodded again, getting up to follow him to a more private place of the compound. "We'll be right back," he said to the room before we left. We ended up in an empty conference room. 

"I just wanted to check in after yesterday. How is the hypothetical person you asked me about?" 

"They're okay," I told him. "Better," I added on after thinking of how she was sleeping downstairs. 

"Good. Did you tell someone about the concerning behavior of this person?" I nodded.

"Yes, I did, thank you for listening yesterday, I was kind of freaking out," I told him and he nodded.

"Of course. Did you have anything else you wanted to talk about?"

I shook my head but had a second thought. "I don't necessarily want to talk right now but do you think we could set up a session or something? I've thought about it and Nat and I have talked a lot and decided that it may help with everything that's happened, especially recently." I thought back to the numerous conversations we had about the separation anxiety or the mission or even the kidnapping which was the underlying cause of a lot of the horrible things that had happened. I had brushed the kidnapping away but it had really only happened a little over a month ago, leaving me with a lot of trauma that I never worked through.

"We can absolutely do that Wanda," Sam said as he smiled at me. "Do you have a specific time in mind?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't really care when. Just not right now," I added as I wanted to wait until Nat woke up before I did anything.

"How about tomorrow morning? That gives you the rest of today to rest and prepare if you want and then we can meet first thing tomorrow?"

"That works," I replied with a smile.

"Awesome, just let me know if anything changes and we can change around that time, okay?" I nodded, smiling at him.

"Thank you Sam. I'm going to go back downstairs with Clint and everyone else."

"Okay, I'll probably see you later but if not, I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded, slipping out of the room as I headed back downstairs. I felt nervous but also happy that I had taken that step in my recovery. I had no doubt that I was probably going to regret that decision later but for right now, I was happy with it.

I got back to the living room to see Clint and Steve sitting on the couch. I plopped down next to Clint but didn't say anything.

"You okay kiddo?" Clint asked me, gently nudging my arm. I nodded, smiling at him softly.

"When do you think Tasha will wake up?" I asked him after a few moments of silence.

"Not sure, maybe soon but she may also still be asleep for another couple of hours," Clint told me and I nodded, deflating slightly. I was glad that she was getting sleep but I also missed her a ton since I hadn't seen her in well over 12 hours.

Natasha slept for the next 2ish hours. Clint and I waited on the couch, watching TV on a low volume until we heard some shuffling down the hall. 

I looked up to see Laura walking down the hall with Nat following behind her. I quickly got off of the couch, rushing to give Nat a hug. "How're you doing?" I asked her softly, pulling away to look at her face.

"I'm good baby," she replied. She looked so much better and I already felt some guilt washing away. There was still a lot lingering though. I wanted to hide it but I couldn't do it anymore, the guilt was too much.

"I'm so sorry. I told Clint and Laura that you weren't sleeping because you looked so tired and I was so worried about you because all you were drinking was coffee and I hadn't seen you sleep in so long and I thought that you were going to end up in the med-bay and-"

"Woah, slow down!" Nat told me. She had tried stopping me a few times but I had kept pushing through, wanting to tell her everything, but she finally raised her voice loud enough to snap me out of my tangent. 

I watched her with wide eyes while I waited for her to yell at me. Instead, she gently cupped my cheeks with her hands, gently rubbing her thumbs over them to calm me down. "Honey, I'm not mad at you at all. I'm so sorry that I put you through all of that. We're both going to make an effort to get some more sleep because neither of us can go that long without sleep anymore, okay?" she asked and I immediately nodded, fine with that plan. I obviously knew that it went both ways and now I was also going to need to sleep after my nightmares but as long as Nat listened to it as well, I was fine with it.

Nat opened her arms for me after she had finished her mini rant and I fell into them, melting in her embrace after not seeing her in a while.

"Did you eat breakfast?" she asked me and I pulled away again to look at her.

"Yeah, but it's lunchtime now," I laughed, pointing out that she had slept for a while. She looked at the clock and hummed. 

"I guess it is," she told me as she wrapped an arm over my shoulders, bringing me into the kitchen. Clint and Laura followed behind us.

"When are you guys heading out?" Nat asked them as I sat at the table while she moved further into the kitchen, digging through the fridge to find some food for us.

"Wow, trying to get rid of us are you?" Laura asked her in a joking-stern manner. 

"No," Nat told her. "I was just wondering." 

"I don't know, we'll probably head out in a few hours," Laura said, looking at Clint who nodded. 

"We've got to go relieve your parents of our kids," Clint told her.

"Yeah, we haven't even called yet," Laura sighed, running a hand down her face. 

"Yeah, I guess we'll head out now then," Clint replied and I noticed that they both looked stressed now.

"Don't you want to stay for lunch?" I asked, wanting to spend a bit more time with them, especially Laura.

"I guess we can stay for lunch but then we'll have to head out," Clint replied and both of them sat down at the table near me while Nat kept making lunch.

Laura got up to help Nat with lunch while Clint and I talked lightly.

"Oh, Tasha?" I said as I remembered my earlier conversation with Sam.

"Yeah?" she replied, looking up from the sandwich she was making.

"I talked with Sam, I'm going to have my first meeting with him tomorrow morning." I didn't have to wait long before a huge smile broke out on Nat's face.

"That's great baby!" she replied and she really did seem ecstatic. 

I smiled back at her, glad that I made her happy before turning back to Clint. 

Laura and Clint finished the sandwiches and soon, we were all eating peanut butter sandwiches, chips, and grapes. It was good and I managed to eat it all. 

Far too soon for my liking, we were all done and it was time for Clint and Laura to leave. 

They quickly packed their bags which took basically no time as they hadn't really taken anything out of their suitcases other than a new outfit for today. 

"Thank you guys for coming and helping," Nat told them as we said our goodbyes. 

"No problem, we will come again too if either of you aren't sleeping again so get your sleep," Laura told us slightly sternly and we both nodded fervently. 

"I love you," I told them both, hugging them each. "You have to come over here soon though, and bring the kids," I told them jokingly. 

"We will, I promise," Clint laughed. "So you can watch them while we get some peace and quiet."

"Deal," I told them. 

"I love you," Laura told me while she pulled me into one more hug, gently kissing me on the head.

"I love you kiddo," Clint said, nudging my shoulder. 

Then they both said goodbye to Nat who seemed to be taking it harder this time around. Last time, I was the one who took goodbye a lot harder but this time, it was her and I watched as her eyes grew misty. 

Laura and Nat had a quiet conversation while they hugged and I chose not to strain to listen in as I knew it was probably private. Whatever they said though made both of them slightly emotional and had Nat sniffing as she tried to contain her tears.

We watched as they both climbed onto the Quinjet, Clint taking the pilot's seat as they took off. 

I heard Nat sniff and turned to her to see her wipe away a few tears. I grabbed onto her hand, shooting her a small smile as we watched them leave, knowing that whatever happened next, we'd be okay.