Natasha could barely feel Clint’s arm around her as he dragged her up the ramp of the quinjet.
He sat her against the wall, crouching low to try and get her to look at him.
“Nat?” Soft touches urged Natasha’s jaw up until glazed green eyes met blue.
The redheads lips moved with what looked like words but no sound came out.
“I can’t hear you, Tash.” Clint said quietly, glancing back as the remaining members of the team filtered onto the quinjet, all looking horrified in their own ways.
Clint had narrowly escaped the girl’s mind tricks, in no rush to have his brain played with again.
But whilst the other Avengers were traumatised by what they had seen, Natasha was suffering with the realisation that her mind had been taken.
Again.
“I have no place in the world.”
The others were struggling to deal with the visions, but they could function.
Walk themselves, hold a conversation, look at a person instead of through them, seeing something they hadn’t in years.
Clint was the best at getting Natasha out of her head.
Was a near on expert at pulling her from flashbacks before they overwhelmed her.
But this was monsters and magic and nothing they were ever trained for and as Clint watched Natasha retreat further and further away, her soft words echoing in his head, his mind was made.
They needed to lay low and go somewhere safe and Natasha needed to go home.
…
Clint helped Natasha up the steps, the redhead following the motions of putting one foot in front of the other, her eyes barely taking in the familiar landscape of home.
“Safe house?” Clint heard Tony ask and the archer smiled behind his shoulder.
“Better.” He pushed the door open, arm still around Natasha’s waist.
“Laura? We’re home.” Clint called out.
“Home?” Steve muttered.
The Avengers crowded into the living room as a tall brunette rounded the corner, her smile bright.
The smile dropped when she saw how Clint was holding Natasha, and how the redhead hadn’t lifted her gaze from the floor.
“Oh my god, what happened?” the woman rushed forward, ignoring the others there as she helped Natasha into the nearest seat.
“Superpowered twins. One likes to fuck with peoples’ minds.” Clint sighed, tiredly wrapping his arms around the woman.
“Guys, this is my sister Laura. Laura, the guys.” Clint stepped towards the seat Natasha was perched in.
“It’s nice to meet you all.” Laura smiled politely.
“I’m sorry, Barton lives with his sister?” Tony raised an eyebrow and Clint chuckled.
“No, Laura stays here when Nat and I are away.” The archer shrugged.
“You and Nat? Like uh…you two are…?” Steve trailed off.
“Married. Yeah.” Clint hummed.
“And your sister stays to water the plants?” Tony snorted.
The sounds of footsteps running down the stairs flooded the room and Clint's lips turned up in a smile. "Not quite."
Two small figures rounded the corner, running and barreling into the archer.
"Daddy!'' The boy grinned as he let go of the younger girls hand and wrapped himself around Clint's waist.
"Hiya, bud!" The man lifted the boy, no older than five, onto his hip.
"Missed you an' mama lots!" The boy proclaimed, green eyes shining.
In the mean time the young girl had crawled her way up Natasha's leg and for the first time since the 'incident', Natasha moved without prompting.
The redhead scooped the girl up into her lap, burying her face in red curls and exhaling.
"Mommy back." The girl whispered, little hands wrapping around Natasha's neck.
"Mommy's back." Natasha murmured, holding tight to the girl.
Clint proudly jostled the boy securely onto his hip as he scanned the room.
"Guys, this is Cooper. And the little monkey in Nat's lap is Lila. Our kids."
Four mouths hung open around the living room.
Tony was the first to speak, eyes flitting between Natasha and Lila and Clint and Cooper.
"Those are agents-" he blinked.
"You guys sure kept this a secret." Steve muttered.
"Yeah, wouldn't you?" Clint raised an eyebrow. "Long before we were Avengers, Nat and I were in a dangerous game. Nick, Phil and Maria helped us set this place before we got married and then, when we decided we wanted kids, we moved here permanently."
Clint gently lowered Cooper to the floor. "Go say hi to your mama."
The boy eagerly traipsed over, squealing happily as Natasha lifted him onto her lap too, her fingers lightly tickling under his arms.
"Mama no!" Cooper laughed, batting at her hands until Natasha stopped.
The redhead smiled and held both kids to her chest, face hidden against their hair.
Clint watched her for a moment before addressing the others.
"There are two bathrooms up the stairs. You're welcome to use them. Or if you'd rather be alone, there are always chores to do around the farm."
They got the hint and all dispersed to do either of the options Clint had given.
He could hear Tony muttering as he and Bruce headed upstairs. "Yet for some reason I can not see Natasha cleaning up cow shit-"
Clint rolled his eyes as he headed to Natasha and the kids.
Laura stood behind the chair, fingers gently digging into Natasha's shoulders as she tried to work out some of the tension.
"Coop, take your sister to the kitchen. Do you want a snack with Auntie Laura?" Clint offered his hand to help Lila climb down.
"Yeah!" The little girl clapped her hands. "Sammich?"
"Sounds good to me. PB and J?" Laura smiled, squeezing Natasha's shoulder before ushering the kids into the kitchen.
Clint crouched down, peeling her hands from where they curled into fists against her thighs.
"Natasha, talk to me." He murmured, winding his fingers in hers.
The redhead inhaled and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before opening them to look up at Clint.
"She just...The girl just took me back there. But...but it wasn't just me there. The visions...Lila was there." Natasha shuddered.
"Christ, Nat." Clint brought her hands up and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
"What you saw was awful but it is never going to be real, Natasha. Yeah? Lila will never have to go through what you did."
"But...I thought I'd destroyed the Red Room but...after Hydra...after learning we'd been a part of that...it made me wonder if..." the redhead paused to try and compose her thoughts.
"Bucky was Hydra, right? But Bucky was also Red Room. If Hydra still exists and has all this time then...then it stands to reason that the Red Room still exists."
Clint frowned, fingers lightly rubbing over her hands.
"Nat, you don't really think it still exists, do you?" He asked quietly.
"I haven't heard anything but...but we didn't think Hydra existed either."
Clint nodded. "Okay then. If there's a possibility it still exists, then we'll look into it. We'll figure it out. But my point still stands, Nat; Lila will never go through that."
Natasha lifted her gaze to meet his his, green eyes burning with unshed tears. "She won't?"
"Never." Clint said firmly, kissing the backs of her hands. "We will protect her. And Cooper too."
Natasha sank forward and Clint wound his arms around her.
"Do you ever think we made a bad decision? Not not having the kids, I'd never regret that. But...but continuing to do this work. To put them in danger."
Clint was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "We do this job so that our children can grow up in a better world. I'll never regret what we do."
"You're right." Natasha's lips pulled back into a weak smile.
"Always am." Clint winked and slowly pushed himself to his feet before offering his hand.
"Now, let's go get cleaned up."
...
Two hours later, the team sans Thor sat around the dinner table.
Fury had turned up and stood talking as Laura and Natasha cleared away dishes from a quick dinner.
After the washing up was done, Natasha took a sleepy Lila from Steve's lap and chuckled as she watched Cooper animatedly talking and drawing with Bruce and Tony.
"When I'm done bathing your sister, it's your turn, okay Coop?" Natasha said, fondly watching as the boy looked up from his mountain of crayons.
"'Kay mama. Jus' a little longer." The boy lisped.
"Yeah mama just a little longer." Clint grinned as he carefully threw darts into the board.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Behave yourself, Clinton."
Clint winked. "Never."
Tony audibly gagged, though his eyes showed no signs of mirth. "Okay, okay we get it. You're sickeningly in love."
Clint beamed across at the redhead as his wife lifted their daughter onto her hip. " Yeah." He sighed softly. "Just a little."