The Tower

The Nest

Therapy was honestly a godsend. Anytime I had some little issue I wasn't sure how to deal with she helped me see a path to resolve it that I didn't even realize was there. My therapist's name was Alexa and she was actually an onsite one in the tower. I don't think she saw all the other's, Bucky definitely. He'd told me that he'd had a lot of trouble even getting one that was willing to see him, and Alexa had stepped up. Tony and Bruce too. Bruce for similar reasons, Tony just because with his fame a lot of therapists he'd seen had been quite unprofessional. I think a couple of the others too, but obviously, she couldn't say, so I wasn't positive. I liked that though, anytime I felt like I didn't belong despite the others saying I definitely did, I talked to her about my feelings and she did the whole validating and reassuring me thing, it felt good. I know it's slightly stupid, but it felt better because in my head I thought if they'd been saying things about me, then when I said to her I didn't feel like I belonged in this group of superheroes if that was true she wouldn't reassure me.

She made me feel better about a lot of things actually. My work and if it was valid or if I was just being paid by my boyfriend to do a hobby. That I wasn't moving too fast or going too deep. She encouraged me to correct the things that were unhealthy, like the way I had just stopped socializing with anyone else since the kidnapping attempt. Tony always made Happy drive me and keep an eye on me. I think as far as the public was concerned Tony and I were definitely an item. My friends were surprisingly fine with having Happy watching over us. I guess it felt safer being in bars or like they were big deals. I'm not sure. They kept asking about him. I didn't give them much. They did deplore me for not just living large on his money. I took note that I needed to speak to Alexa about how I could tell if my friends were really my friends or not.

I got back to the tower pretty late that night to find Clint and Sam up in the common floor. They were still dressed but had pulled the sofa bed out and were sitting in the dark watching a movie. Bucky and Wanda had gone out on a mission, so I hadn't been expecting to find them. I was a little surprised to find my birds all alone though.

I kicked my shoes off and climbed over the back of the couch sliding down in between them. "What are you guys doing up by yourselves?" I asked.

"Bruce and Tony didn't even come down from the lab tonight, just straight to the penthouse. Not really a surprise since their number one crush was out on the town." Clint teased, poking me in the stomach. "And Steve was all 'we have the blue frog circuit tomorrow, we should go to bed early'. We didn't want to, so Nat went with him."

"Didn't want you to come back and have to be alone," Sam added.

I leaned up and placed a slow open-mouthed kiss on the side of Sam's neck. "That's really sweet guys. You know, I don't get nightmares like you do, right? I can handle one night."

Clint shrugged. "Well, now you have the choice to or not."

"So I get to be with my birds tonight," I say and lean into Clint placing a kiss on his neck too.

"A bird sandwich is a nice thing to be in the middle of," Sam said, resting his hand on my thigh.

"What are we watching?" I asked, looking up at the screen.

"It's called Kingsman," Clint answered. "We can change it if you want. We were just killing time."

"I'm easy," I said, resting my hands on their legs.

Both men chuckled and Sam draped his arm around me. "Did you mean that the way it sounded?" Sam asked.

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "When do I not?"

They laughed again and looked at each other. "Have we ever...?" Sam asked.

"Outside the bigger group stuff? No." Clint answered.