Bird Set Free | Natasha Romanoff ✓

Chapter Twenty-Six

After what seemed like hours, the Quinjet finally landed and everyone staggered out, only to see a large barn and farmhouse ahead of them. 

"What is this place?" Thor asked. 

"A safe house?" Tony replied but it was phrased more like a question. 

"Let's hope," Clint replied opening the door, leading the rest of them into a living room. "Honey?" Clint called out. "I'm home."

A quite heavily pregnant woman walked around the corner, her eyes widening as she took in the seven figures that had gathered in her living room, instead of the one figure that she had initially only expected. 

"Hi," Clint greeted, who Aquila assumed was his wife, awkwardly. "Company. Sorry, didn't call ahead." Clint walking forward to his wife capturing her in a kiss.

"Hey," She whispered back to Clint, clearly pleased to have him home. But considering they were the Avengers and all, Aquila was sure that it would be quite a brief homestay. 

"This is an agent of some kind," Tony said, turning to the rest of the people in the room. 

"Gentleman, Ross, Flappy Bird." Clint addressed the boys, Keira and Aquila. "This is Laura."

"I. . . know all your names," The woman who Clint had introduced as Laura said awkwardly, offering them a small wave in greeting. 

Pounding footsteps suddenly echoed across the room, causing everyone to look up as the source entered the room.

"Ooh, incoming." Clint teased as a young boy and girl ran in. 

"Dad!"

"Hi, sweetheart!" Clint said picking up the girl in one arm while he kissed the boy on the top of his head. "Hey, Buddy! How are you guys doing?"

"These, are smaller agents?" Tony commented, even after a brief but firm headshake from Aquila in an attempt to stop him. 

"Look at your face! Oh, my goodness!" Clint joked around with his kids.

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" The little girl asked her father.

Aquila had to hide her smirk as her heart slowly melted at Natasha being called something as precious as 'Auntie Nat'.

But at the sound of the little girl's words, Natasha seemed to come back to life, the words leading her back out of her trance.

"Why don't you hug her and find out?" 

"Sorry for barging in on you." Steve apologized, forever as usual polite.

"Yeah, we would've called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed." Tony crossed his arms. 

"Leave it be, Tony." Keira scolded, smacking his arm. 

"Really, Tony?" Aquila scolded as well. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, Tequila." Tony teased, using her old nickname just trying to get a reaction out of her. 

"Yeah, well," Clint said wrapping an arm around Laura. "Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off S. H. I. E. L. D.'s files. I'd like to keep it that way. I figure it's a good place to lay low."

Aquila stood there with Keira and the rest of the boys, all of them feeling slightly out of place as Nat went over to greet Laura.

"How's little Natasha, huh?" Natasha asked, placing her hands on the pregnant bump.

"She's. . ." Laura trailed off, grimacing. "Nathaniel. . ."

Aquila watched as the smile fell off Natasha's face, fake anger taking its place instead as she bent down towards the bump.

"Traitor."

In the end, considering the Avengers were staying at least the night, they ended up having to double up on rooms. 

But Aquila had pretty quickly left, after their room assignments which made it feel like they were on school camp. She needed to shower as it was the only thing that would get the poisonous thoughts and the hallucination she had been forced to see from her head. 

And she was right, as the hot water dripped down her back, Aquila reaching up to rub at her temples, she managed to forget the hallucination even if it was only for a few moments. 

She let out a muffled yelp as she realized that she had been standing under the stream for so long, lost in her own thoughts, that the water had gone from hot to cold. 

Aquila quickly turned the water off, wrapping a towel around her body, letting her wet hair drip down her back and onto the floor, she simply couldn't be bothered to do anything with it. 

Aquila opened the door on to see the figure that was sat on the bed, dressed in a robe. 

"I. . . .I didn't know you would be waiting." Aquila managed to stutter out, stumbling over words as she often found herself doing in Natasha's presence. 

"I would've joined you, but, uh, it didn't seem like the right time," Natasha teased, a smirk dancing across her face. 

Aquila could feel herself starting to get flustered, a strange feeling but only wrapped the towel around herself more firmly. 

Trying to hide how flustered she was, she plastered a smirk on her face in return. 

"I got the last of the hot water," Aquila said. "But you should have said something, I would have been happy to share," Aquila said with a confidence she definitely didn't feel. 

"Well, I definitely should have said something then," Natasha said, stepping forward, slowly invading Aquila's personal space not that she particularly minded. 

Aquila's heart fluttered as her mind ran wild with thoughts. But she knew that this particular moment would just end being yet another wasted moment like nearly every moment with Natasha was, even though Aquila potentially wanted it to be more. 

Natasha watched as self-doubt washed across Aquila's face before she managed to get her feelings under control again. Natasha had been trained to read body language since a young age and despite Aquila's best attempts to hide her true emotions, Natasha only got better at reading her, the closer they had got. 

"Geez, you have no clue what you are doing to me," Aquila muttered, taking all her of her willpower not to grab Nat's face and press her lips against hers. 

"Well, I'm letting you run with it," Natasha said, stepping even closer if that was possible. 

Their noses were brushing together and their lips weren't that far apart either. 

Aquila inhaled in deeply again, refusing to let poisonous thoughts get in the way of a moment, she wanted to happen.

"Is that so?" Aquila asked. 

"Yeah," Natasha replied, reaching out in the tiny space between their bodies grabbing Aquila's hands and intertwining them in her own. 

Aquila could barely breathe, as Natasha's hands then rose up to reach Aquila's neck, pulling her even closer, just as their lips met, drawing a gasp from Aquila's throat. 

By the time they finally broke apart, what seemed like minutes later, Aquila rested her forehead on Natasha's, letting out a shaky breath.

"You have no clue, how long I waited for that."

"Well, I guess I'll have to make sure that it was worth the wait." Natasha teased, bringing Aquila's lips to hers again.