Her Hidden Past

- Epilogue -

The skies darkened slowly as the day began to come to a close. A gentle breeze rustled the forest. The only other noises in the area were the small animals in the grass and trees, allowing Natasha to relax back into the porch swing. She loved the calm safety of the cabin. They'd just arrived after several days of incognito travel. Coulson and Clint had headed straight inside to set up their gear, while she had chosen to stay outside. Pulling the blanket closer around her she let out a sigh of contentment, closing her eyes as she relaxed.

"Tasha?" The door opened a little wider behind her. "Do you want to come inside?"

"I'm good here," She replied softly, without turning around.

"Don't get cold," Clint replied, draping more blankets over the edge of the swing within reach.

Natasha smiled softly, he'd known all along that she'd stay outside. It was her go to method of levelling out after some of their particularly rough missions. Pulling an extra blanket over her she lay down, watching the clouds move across the sky as the stars began to come out.

Natasha woke early to the sun rising over the trees, beginning to light up the porch where she had spent the night on the swing. She allowed a relaxed smile as she sat up. It was the first time she'd managed to sleep through the night since she'd woken up in the tower's medical bay. Fury and Phil had decided in order to protect them from any potential backlash from the council, that the tower was the best place for their recovery. Natasha had fought to leave as soon as she felt she had the energy to move around, but they had forced her to wait until she had more time to recover. Pushing herself up she folded the blankets before slowly moving towards the porch steps. A small amount of stiffness had set in with the slight chill in the morning air. Making her way down the steps she began to stretch her muscles, careful not to pull any of her stitches. Without the enhancers in her system she never would have survived Medvedev's final bullet. Even with the suppressors suffusing into her system from the stab wounds, the enhancers had just enough strength left to help keep her alive. Exhausted from the simple stretches she slowly let herself collapse bonelessly to the ground.

"Natasha?" Clint called moving quickly down the cabin steps from where he'd been watching her.

Raising one hand she gave him the middle finger salute before he could reach her.

"Tasha," he admonished. "That's not nice."

"You'll live," Natasha muttered.

"Someone's feeling better," Clint smiled, flopping down next to her.

"I finally slept through," Natasha admitted. "No nightmares last night."

"You've been feeling claustrophobic," Clint let his forehead crease. "I'm glad being here is helping already."

"I feel safe here, I always have. That's also why I stayed outside last night, I needed the fresh air."

"Take all the time you need, Tasha, I won't be far away if you need me." He pushed himself to his feet. "I'm going for a 'gentle' run."

"I'm staying right here," Natasha replied, waving him off when he offered her a hand up.

"Lazy," Clint smirked with a wagging finger before he moved off into a slow jog. She watched as he crossed the clearing into the trees.

"Coffee?" Phil offered from the top of the porch steps about half an hour later.

"Please," Natasha pushed herself up carefully from the ground. By the time she made herself comfortable on the bottom step Phil had returned with coffee for them both.