Mama Nat [On Hold]

Late Nights ✓

Ten year old Peter couldn't sleep. He'd been tossing and turning all night, and the early hours of the morning had rolled around. He decided he needed to stretch his muscles and get a glass of water, hoping the walk would remind his body how tired he was and let him sleep. When he got downstairs, he saw the living room light on.

Ever the curious boy, he stuck his head in to see his mother reading on the couch.
"Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" Natasha asked after he stared for a little too long.
"I couldn't sleep, I was just getting a glass of water." He explained, pointing towards the kitchen.
"I can't sleep either. You hungry?" The redheaded spy closed her book and dropped it on the coffee table.
"Always." He responded - he's a growing boy after all.
"Pizza and a movie then?" Natasha suggested, standing to look at him.
"But it's two in the morning?"
"So? What pizza do you want?" Natasha walked into the kitchen. Peter grabbed a four cheese pizza and helped his mother put it in the oven before they walked into the lounge to pick a movie.

Pizza was cooked, How to Train your Dragon was playing, lights were dim, everything was perfect. The two sat under a shared blanket, munching on pizza and laughing gently at the film. It wasn't long before Peter dozed off against his mother's shoulder, curled up close to her. Natasha rested her head on top of her son's and soon followed him into the realm of dreams, book and movie forgotten.

＼(^o^)／

Steve left his room for a morning run at around half five. Light was shining from the living room so he popped his head in. First thing he noticed was that the TV got left on, but he'd only just worked out how to use his phone camera, he had no idea how to turn off Stark's complex TV - he was sure that the TV was more complex than the machine used to make him a super soldier. Then he saw a flash of red hair and ventured into the room.
Peter was curled up against Natasha, gripping her shirt in his fists as he buried his head into her chest. Natasha had one arm draped over his shoulders, pulling him close, and the other rested on his knee as her head rested on Peter's head of chestnut curls.

Steve took out his phone and clicked a picture of the two, glad he hadn't yet worked out how to turn the flash back on. He left before either could wake up and went on his run.

He showed Clint the image later that day, who stole Steve's phone and printed the image. His first though had been to use it as blackmail, but instead he framed it and left it on Natasha's pillow for her to find later.

She kept the picture on her bedside table and had a copy on her desk at SHIELD - no-one commented that she'd gone soft out of fear of not waking up the following day.