Give Life Meaning...

Slippery Slope

     Clint didn't know how to resolve the quiet as they touched down in his field, Steve had avoided Natasha the rest of the flight. The feat was quite impressive considering there was no real privacy in the jet provided the quiet little nooks they each took to decompress. It got dicey in the end, even though he would admit it but Steve's reaction to Natasha was out of character. Captain had never lost it on her before, and they had been in worse situations. It seemed that the twins were officially wearing them both out and that was highly dangerous on missions. They'd worked together on the field well enough but Steve looked ready to lose his mind afterward. 

     Steve walked out of the jet first, moving fast towards the house leaving Natasha to walk a bit slower behind him. "James! Alina?" His voice echoed in the house, his eyes scanned the area noting obvious signs of children, and evening Alina's drawing pad had been unattended. Soon there were twin sounds of feet pounding against the wood floor as they both made their way down the stairs nimbly. They were faster than children should have been at two years old, but Bruce said that they would see signs of the serum the older they got. "There are my two favorite little people." He bent down and felt them crash into him as his arms enclosed around the two. 

     "Clint?" Laura immediately sought him out in the group, letting out a breath seeing him relatively unharmed, and looked at Steve before smiling at Natasha. "They were perfect angels." 

     "How long did they cry for?" Steve asked which drew a chuckle from Laura causing him to stop looking at his kids and up at her. A frown marred his face as he wrestled with a bit of annoyance, they were gone for two whole days and he wanted to know. 

     "I'll admit... I was a bit nervous when they cried for a good half hour, and then fussed for another thirty minutes but when they realized I wasn't going to hurt them I was able to distract them. Sleep was definitely an issue but really Steve. They were fine," Laura told him, noting how he tightened his grip on the two which caused the twins to grow still. They were feeding off of his anxiety and that was no good. She glanced over at Clint for a little help with dealing with the amped-up super soldier. 

     "Hey, it's late, how about we stay here, hm?" Clint stepped up and knew that in the jet the time didn't really matter but he could play it off that the twins wouldn't do well traveling at night. Not that they knew that for certain but Steve and Nat had yet to fix whatever tiff they were in. 

     "Yeah, we could do that," Natasha responded, knowing that Clint was trying desperately to fix things even though she was certain Steve didn't want to. They weren't a couple, they had never used those terms but they had always been together. Even after finding the twins they had started staying in the same room, and they kept the kids safe. They had begun to co-parent well and then that fight made everything blow up in her face. Even though Steve wanted to argue, he looked around at the nodding faces and gave a sharp nod. 

     "Aunt Nat!" Cried two other voices running into the house having come from the barns and the animals. Natasha easily turned around and hugged them, touching the back of their heads and then cheeks. 

     "You two are getting so big!" Lila and Cooper beamed up at Natasha, giving her a pause as she looked at the two kids locked safely in Steve's embrace. She'd said some things that while felt true at the time were not the feeling she was dealing with currently. All Natasha wanted to do was hold her babies close, smell their natural scent, and keep them close. She moved around and bent down near Steve and opened up her arms. The children hesitated for a moment before launching themselves into her arms. "I missed you two." She cooed softly in their ears, not seeing the unreadable look on Steve's face.

     Clint stepped back up and cleared his throat as uncomfortable silence descended on the group. "Steve, Nat, and the twins can share the room they've been in. The rest I'll show you the guest rooms," the twins stayed in the room that had been delegated to Natasha whenever she came for a visit. It seemed fitting that the twins would stay in a place connected with her and it was a bit manipulative to force the four together before anything had been resolved but he wanted them to talk. Both Nat and Steve were good at avoiding the elephant in the room, at least, Nat was. Steve was a very forthright person but Nat had hurt him on the jet with her words. 

     "Thank you for your hospitality ma'am," Steve finally said as he stood, grabbing Alina on the way up as she made her way back to him. She was his little shadow after all, and he moved to the bedroom to go grab a shower. Maybe showering the grime of the mission would make his mood better. Placing Alina on the bed he cupped her tiny face in his large hand. "I'm going to shower, okay Princess?" He moved to the bathroom and shut the door, as soon as he did Alina let out a distressed cry which led him to slam the door open. Instead of seeing a threat, or her falling off the bed she just sat there with tears in her green eyes. 

     "Princess... You've gotta let me shower, I stink," Steve wrinkled his nose in emphasis but quickly realized there would be no compromising with the toddler. She was going to view him disappearing as a reason to cry. So he kept the door open as he started the shower. 

     Natasha cuddled James close, he was content to stay in her arms and not run along to play. She looked around at the rest of the group, ignoring the tug of pain in her arm from being shot. Eventually, she settled on Lila and Cooper. "You were a big help to your mama, weren't you? Helping with the babies so she didn't have to work so hard." 

     "Yeah! We tried, and mommy took the twins out to see our new baby chicks," Lila chattered and giggled when James clapped in response. "It was so much fun with them. Alina and James run really fast too! Cooper is still faster, though. He managed to keep them close to the house but Alina kept trying to sneak away. She didn't like being told no when it came to the animals." 

     "Angels, huh?" Natasha asked as Laura shrugged in response. 

     "They were just curious and exploring. We had the space for it, and what child likes being told no? These two really missed you guys but... The animals brought them out of their shell and I was glad to take them out there. Alina just didn't want to leave, and James just loves the outside period," Laura said with a laugh, leaning against her husband. She soaked in his presence as she noted how Natasha cradled James to her. "I can watch him if you want to shower, I'm sure that's what Steve went to go do." Though Laura would admit to being surprised that Steve didn't wait for Natasha. 

     "No! I mean... No, thank you," Natasha spoke quickly, clutching the child to her before shaking her head. "I mean... He can come with me. Steve can watch him while I go in. It's probably what he's waiting for." With that, Natasha climbed the stairs wearily only to hear water running. She was surprised to find Alina on the bed but the bathroom door wide open, and she realized that Steve was in direct eyesight of Alina that way. 

     "She got upset if the door was shut, so I compromised," he spoke over the spray of water, and Natasha could see he was nearly done. He was quick to shower if he felt they weren't secure enough to take time. Natasha kept her eyes avoided in a respectable manner.