The Younger Agent - Natasha Romanoff x OC

Chapter 35 - Childlike Joy

2013-

Natasha and Eleanor had been living in their apartment for a year now, and they were still more than happy with it. A space that was theirs and represented the both of them. 

Their actual names weren't on the deeds, 'Olivia Lawrence' and 'Chloe McArthur' were the names on the contracts, and that's how they were known by their neighbours too. Both them and Fury decided that it would be best to have a similar set-up to Barton, fake names on the legal side and not having it on SHIELD's radar. Meant that they could stay safe and there was the opportunity of it being a safe house for the two if God forbid it was ever required. 

They had truly made the place their own, walls had been repainted, there were posters and paintings pinned up everywhere, and photo walls in every room as well. Natasha had even turned the back part of their giant living room entry closet into a weapons storage area. Eleanor always said it's a good job they aren't renting and therefore didn't have landlord inspections. 

They were happy. Very happy.

It also felt nice to not live at work as well, it helped in their work-life balance, which was non-existent when they lived at SHIELD. It was still pretty bad but in comparison to last year, it was decent. 

Interactions with the other Avengers were pretty limited. They had heard nothing from Thor considering the guy was in space. They also heard nothing directly from Banner but heard about what he and Stark were up to when Tony called the two once a month. He would never admit it but he had a soft spot towards the younger woman and so didn't want complete radio silence. The Captain worked for SHIELD now, so they sometimes caught up with him at work but the reactions were mostly just as colleagues. Clint of course they saw very frequently, still having dinners together and being grouped up on the same assignments a lot. 

In general, things had gone back to normal. Well, as normal as things could be for two spies. 

Work had been keeping them busy, and they had moved further up the ranks. They had started working with the STRIKE team as well more often which brought new and welcome challenges, so that was quite fun. Being stuck in the same routine at work can get boring. 

It had been a while since they could properly get away from work though, probably since that month off they had after the Battle. So, Eleanor decided that she wanted to do something nice for Nat as the following weekend was supposed to be a quiet one. Nat had to go in for a meeting on Saturday from 9-11:30, but then she would be able to come home, and Eleanor had luckily managed to not have any work to do over the weekend. 

She didn't want to do something that the two had done countless times before, she wanted to surprise Nat with a big day of activities. It took Eleanor a few hours of brainstorming, but she settled on trivial things that Natasha had never done before due to growing up in the Red Room. Activities that would allow her to feel like a kid again. Who doesn't love some inner child healing? 

An aquarium sounded fun and silly, so after going for a McDonald's drive-thru whilst blasting Miley Cyrus' "Party In the USA" for a cliche high school feel, they'd go to the aquarium. It took a while to pick one out, as Eleanor wanted to go to one that was very ethical, and with good welfare standards. She also booked another place out for the evening, it was unintentional, she just wanted to book a slot, but when they recognised the names her Avenger status meant that they offered the place to her, which she didn't decline. Nat would probably prefer it anyway. 

Eleanor had planned everything the week before, and so was thrilled when the weekend finally rolled around. It had been hard to keep the day a secret from Nat, she was a spy after all. But so was Eleanor, she managed to lie her ass off to her girlfriend all week whenever Nat tried to ask her if anything was wrong when she declined plans that Nat suggested for the weekend.