Clint's Homestead, Missouri-
-January 28, 2007, 1600h local-
Homestead, an apt name for Clint's haven. The whole five hectares of land surrounding his home were bought through dozens of shell companies and overseas transactions, making it virtually impossible to find details about it. Fury helped him set it up in 1999 when he married his high school sweetheart, Laura, as a precaution against the dozens of enemies he made during his time as an agent of SHIELD. The house itself was built using his own hands through a year of hard work. The barn and storage shed followed close after. As for the farm they have planned, that's still up in the air. His erratic workdays make it virtually impossible to maintain it. The only reason the house was still standing was because of Laura.
Laura Barton is a 5'3, 29-year-old Caucasian woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes. She and Clint have already been dating since they were 14. Since then, she knew that being with Clint would be a daunting task, and it proved to be correct, but the love they had for each other made it possible to weather through the challenges and made the best of the situation. She can honestly say that she is happy with how her life turned out.
Clint considers Laura as some kind of a martyr. Having a family with a man who's gone most of the time is already a sacrifice, but living in a semi-isolated area for their safety, well, that's just crazy. That just made Clint love Laura even more.
Their first real challenge was when Lila was born. Living in isolation would stunt her development. It's a good thing he worked for a spy agency cause Fury was able to set up solid false identities for Laura and Lila, making it possible for Lila to attend classes safely in the coming school year.
Clint is now landing in an open field in front of his home. Recently, he's been using a decommissioned quinjet to come home. It's stealthy, fast, and, most of all, untraceable with only a push of a button.
A heavily pregnant Laura was playing with Lila in the living room when she saw through the window the telltale signs of an invisible plane landing on the field. She still can't believe that technology has already progressed that far no matter how many times she saw it.
Excited to meet her husband again, she urged Lila to meet him at the door.
"Come on, Lila. Let's meet, daddy." Laura said with a smile.
Lila immediately stood up and bounded towards the door with her mother not far behind. Lila stopped at the door and impatiently waiting for her mother, remembering that she shouldn't be opening the front door without her parent's permission.
"Go on." Laura said, giving permission. Lila opened it without a second wasted and went outside.
Clint was walking down the path when he saw the door open, revealing Lila and Laura, causing him to smile involuntarily.
"Honey! I brought a guest." Clint said, pointing at Natasha not far behind him carrying a small suitcase.
Ever since Clint first brought Natasha to the homestead, she had been staying there when she can get to the point that they gave her a room. Nat and Laura immediately hit it off even though they have different life experiences.
Lila jumped to Clint's arms the moment he stepped on the porch, and Laura gave him a kiss and a hug, which they kept PG entirely. Laura then walked over to Nat and hugged her.
"I thought you wouldn't come home for another two weeks?" Laura asked while herding them all inside. She's happy that they're home early, but it usually means they were in a hard mission, and Fury gave them time off.
"It's a long story. We'll tell you about it over dinner. But for now, I want to change into something more comfortable..." Clint said, referring to the combat gear he's still wearing. Natasha already changed into her casual wear before leaving Washington. "Come on, Lil. Help Daddy choose what he's going to wear." Clint then carried Lila and his duffel bag up the stairs.
Laura waited for a while to make sure Clint is in the bedroom before leading Natasha to the kitchen.
"How close were you?" Laura asked Natasha with a hint of fear in her voice.
Natasha knew this conversation would come up the moment Laura saw them, but it doesn't make it easier for her to answer.
"Too close..." Natasha finally said after a few seconds. She took a deep breath and continued. "By all accounts, we shouldn't even here. Only unlikely reinforcement got us out of there in one piece."
Nat's answer caused Laura to tear up a little bit. No wife ever wanted to hear her husband almost died, but Laura decided long ago that if she were going to be a wife to Clint, she would at least try to know everything that's happening.
"Who?" Laura asked in a quiet voice.
"You remember the guy we've been chasing around? Naruto?" Natasha asked. Laura nodded, remembering how stressed out Clint every time he comes home. That's one of the reasons why Cooler has been conceived. "He's the one that came to help. Apparently, he doesn't want when the info he sold went bad. Clint would probably tell a more subdued version, but overall, everything just got more complicated."
Clint and Lila cane down a few minutes later. The family decided it's better to have an early dinner. Clint and Laura prepared the meal, just enjoying each other company while Natasha and Lila are playing in the living room.
As expected, Clint told a heavily censored version of what happened over dinner while giving a hint at parts he can't explicitly say like Hydra agents in SHIELD and the Captain being possibly still alive.
The conversation moved on to lighter topics as the meal continued forward. After finishing the meal and cleaning up the table, Lila moved to the living room to watch some TV while the adults set up on the island so they can still keep an eye on her.
"Ask Nat what's her plan tomorrow. Come on, ask her." Clint said, urging Laura. His demeanor was battling between annoyance and excitement.
"Ok! Sheesh. Calm down, Hun..." Laura said, trying to bring down her husband's nervous energy, but it didn't do anything. She finally faced Nat just to move the conversation along. "What's your plan for tomorrow?"
Natasha weirdly turned slightly red, but she still showed a calm and collected exterior.
"I have a date." Natasha answered candidly.
"Like for a mission?" Laura asked, knowing that Natasha does a lot of seduction jobs. She still doesn't know precisely what Natasha's training was like, but she had an idea.
"I'm not sure..." Natasha said while having a contemplative look. "I'm just going to say halfway in between a mission and personal thing."
"How did that happen?"
"After we brought in Naruto, he kinda forced us into a situation where we had to bargain with him for information. The first thing he asked was something that could be expected, but the second one hit everyone by surprise." Natasha explained.
"He asked you out, didn't he?"
"Yup..." Natasha answered with a nod. "I said yes, of course, but everyone is trying to make it a surveillance mission. Clint here wanted to air support for Christ's sake." She finished with an exasperated sigh.
Laura shot Clint a shocked and disappointed look.
"What!? You haven't seen the guy! He's like an annoying kid who turned into Robocop." Clint defended himself before standing up and retreating towards Lila.
"He's the same guy you met in Vegas, right?" Laura asked.
"The same one. Fuck." Natasha added the last part when she suddenly remembered a detail that might have slipped their minds.
"What?"
"I might've forgotten that he may or may not be an alien."
"Oh..." Was the only thing that came out of Laura's mouth. "Does he at least look human?"
"Yes. A cute one too. Wait, I got a picture..." Natasha said before fishing out her phone from her pocket. She started scrolling on her phone when she found a picture of Naruto from her car footage. "Here, he is."
"Wow. How can someone look cute and ruggedly handsome?" Laura suddenly blurted out. "Is that whiskers? What is he? An alien humanoid cat?"
"More like a fox..." Natasha corrected. "His codename is Nine-Tails, which can be linked to a Nine-Tailed Fox Demon in Japanese culture."
"Huh. You learn something new every day..." Laura said with a thoughtful look. "So when and where are you meeting?"
"Eight am, but as for where, he said he'd pick me up." Natasha said, slightly unsure.
"How would he manage that? We're basically in the middle of nowhere."
"I don't know, but I'm going to make him work for it..." Natasha said with a giggle. She then looked at Laura's stomach and asked, "You're due any week now, right?"
"Any day..." Laura corrected with a groan. "Don't get me wrong, I love this kid, but I just can't wait for him to pop out."
"Is the midwife ready?" Natasha asked.
"Yes, but there might be a problem with that. Another pregnancy has a close due date with ours—only a difference of two days. If the labor starts at the same time, only one of us would be attended." Laura said, visibly worried.
Clint decided to walk in and interject conversation carrying Lila.
"I'll tuck Lila in and head to bed myself. Good night, hon. Don't stay up too late..." Clint said before kissing Laura. He then faced Nat and said in a serious voice, "May God have mercy on your soul." Before running away.
Natasha just let it slide, she'll get him back tomorrow after her date.
"I think I'll head to bed too..." Laura stood up and hugged Natasha. "I hope you have a great time tomorrow. Good night." She whispered to Nat's ear.
"Ok. I'll just stay up for a little bit..." Natasha said before waving Laura off. She stared at her luggage and sighed, "Guess I should prepare my gear." Already surrendering to the thought that the date would not be a typical one.
-Clint's Homestead, Missouri-
-January 29, 2007, 0745h local-
"Wow. You pulled out all the stops." Laura reacted when she saw Natasha walked down the stairs. She's wearing dark blue fitted jeans, a black camisole under a leather jacket, and brown boots.
"It's not too much, right?" Natasha asked with an uncharacteristically nervous voice.
"No. It's perfect. He's going to love it..." Laura said while hugging Natasha. She then started patting Nat when she felt something under her outfit. "Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you carrying what felt like a whole armory? And are you wearing your bulletproof jacket?"
"Clint was not overreacting. Every time I'm with Naruto, something is happening. But to be fair, I only met him twice." Natasha said before, both of them walked towards the kitchen where Clint is cooking breakfast.
"You have you're phone and band?" Clint asked without looking behind him.
"What are you? My dad?" Natasha answered back with a bit of attitude.
Clint turned around and gave Natasha a disapproving stare.
"Just answer the question."
"Yes, dad. Have it with me." She said sarcastically.
"Where are you meeting him again?" Clint continued, glossing over Natasha's attitude.
"I assumed here."
Clint stumbled when he heard the answer. No one should know about this place, and judging from Laura's lack of reaction, she already knew what Natasha said.
"What?"
"I said here..." Natasha answered without a second thought. "That shouldn't be a surprise. He's a teleporting super-soldier. He probably knows everything about us the moment we started following his trail." She offhandedly finished.
"No way. This place doesn't even show up on any maps." Clint said, not entirely confident with his assertion.
"You're still saying that after everything?" Natasha said with a shake of her head.
That's when they heard the sound of a motorcycle getting closer.
"Son of a bitch..." Clint exclaimed under his breath before running out of the front door, making sure that he grabbed the bow and quiver hanging near the door. When he got outside, he saw a man riding a large motorcycle breaking through the tree line. "Maybe bullets just don't work. Arrows might be the way to go." He whispered to himself while nocking an arrow.
When Natasha and Laura finally exited the home, they only saw Clint releasing the arrow, which headed straight towards the man on the motorcycle. The arrow pierced the helmet's face shield, presumably piercing also the man's face.
"Clint!" Laura shouted. Shocked at the series of events. She was going to charge at her husband and pummel him to the ground when Natasha pulled her back. "Let me go! He can't just kill anyone when somebody shows up!" She shouted while trying to get free from Natasha's hold, but it just gets tighter.
"He's not dead. Look at him. He's still going." Natasha said a little forcefully while pointing at the still rapidly approaching motorcycle.
"How?" Laura asked in disbelief.
"That's Naruto. No other way to go about that." Natasha answered like it explained everything.
Naruto finally reached the front porch of the house. He removed his helmet, which suddenly disappeared, and immediately started ranting.
"What the hell!? I just borrowed that helmet! You just shoot everyone you meet? How have you even got married!?"
"Of course, I'll shoot you! You just showed up in a place that could be considered a black site! And besides, you took my bow!" Clint answered back.
"You want your bow?" Naruto asked while pulling something behind him. "Here, ya go!" He then tossed a 5-foot long case. "Told you, you'll get it back."
Natasha and Laura are just watching the play by play.
"Are they always like this?" Laura asked.
"They only met twice, including now, so yeah." Natasha confirmed.
Naruto finally noticed Laura and Natasha standing behind Clint. He was immediately mesmerized by Natasha.
"Wow. You look great." Naruto said seriously.
"Thank you. You don't look too bad too." Natasha complimented back while eyeing Naruto.
He's currently wearing navy blue jeans, a white shirt with fox prints covered by a burnt orange jacket, and brown biker boots. The jacket accentuated his broad shoulders.
"This is for you..." Naruto said while offering Natasha a bouquet of assorted flowers with a box of Hiraishin kunai in the center. "The knives are special. Just throw it anywhere, and I'll know when you're in trouble. I guessed those would be more useful than chocolate."
"Thank you! That's sweet of you. I'll just place it inside..." She said while pocketing a Hiraishin kunai. "I might need this later." Natasha then went inside.
"You must be Laura. I'm sorry for coming by unannounced. I hope you can accept this as an apology..." Naruto said to Laura while rolling over a Mammoth cooler that he retrieved from somewhere behind him. "These are all ready to eat meals. By the way, Clint and Fury did an excellent job of hiding you."
"Thank you, I guess." Laura replied awkwardly.
Natasha exited the house again a little more excited.
"Let's go..." She said, pulling Naruto towards the bike. "Where are we going anyway?"
"It's a surprise..." Naruto said with a grin. He then handed over an all-black helmet towards her. "Safety first."
"How do you do that?" Natasha said, taking the helmet and fixing it on her head.
"Do what?"
"The taking something out of thin air thing."
"Trade secret. We have a lot of time to get to know each other." Naruto answered before he spotted Clint opening the case. "Come on. We want to be far away from here when he sees what's inside." Naruto said while quickly riding the motorcycle.
Natasha didn't even try to question him and mounted the bike behind Naruto.
"Grab on to something." Naruto advised before rushing away from the house.
When they're around 100 m away, Natasha could faintly hear Clint shouting something about his bow being pink. She giggled uncontrollably, immediately enjoying the start.
Naruto rode hard until they reached the treeline where they suddenly disappeared, bike and all.