Summary:Natasha trains Skye, they go on dates, they go on missions, and they finally work on that 'technically married' fact (because I said so, and I know that's what you all want). Featuring an idiot Clint, an all knowing Bobbi, and a Coulson who really should have known better.
TW: panic attack, (and to be on the safe side) PTSD, slight mentions of injuries and blood, but nothing graphic
Title is from the song 'In your arms' by Chef'Special
Notes:Its the next installment of this universe, everyone cheer!
Uni is back up again, so I'm back to writing. I might have less time for this, but I think I can keep it up.
This is all very fluffy and cute. Takes place after AoS s1, and covers until Bobbi's introduction (because I love her and she's amazing). I hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the work for more notes.)
Work Text:"Again!"
Skye gasped in a breath, hands on her knees. "Really? Can I just take ten seconds?"
"I said, again," came Natasha's unrelenting response.
Skye huffed, wiped some sweat from her forehead and started over, her hands hitting the punching bag in a steady rhythm. Left. Right. Right, left, twist, left. Right kick, right. Duck. Repeat.
She was so immersed in her series that she didn't notice Natasha creeping closer until the spy suddenly wrapped her arms around her from behind. She startled and her strike missed the bag. "What-" she started, but Natasha gently interrupted her.
"Focus on what you're doing is good, but always be aware of your surroundings. I could've snapped your neck about four times by now," her girlfriend explained in her teacher voice. Why did that sound kinda hot? Skye shook her head, and continued her series, a bit hindered by the arms around her waist, but not enough to stop.
Suddenly she felt Natasha's lips press against her neck. She shuddered, her rhythm stuttering and she missed a punch again. "Natasha," she admonished her girlfriend. "I'm practicing."
"And I'm teaching you how to deal with distractions," the redhead responded innocently. And oh, she knew exactly what she was doing to Skye. One of Nat's hands crept across her waist to her stomach and under her shirt. Warm fingers brushed against her bullet scars and memories of pain and fear flashed through Skye's mind, and she had to fight to keep her muscles from tensing.
"Natasha," she warned, trying to keep up her rhythm with everything she could. "Yes?" her girlfriend asked. She brushed past the scars again.
Pain. Hot, blinding pain. And she was so scared. And alone. She was dying.
She pulled herself from Natasha arms and from the memories and stumbled away. She couldn't hear Natasha's suddenly worried voice asking if she was okay, she only heard the echo of the gunshots and then the blood rushing in her ears. She didn't feel Natasha's hand, but only the white hot stinging pain in he rower abdomen as she collapsed to the floor and curled up on herself.
So much pain. And there was no one to save her. She was alone. She was going to die.
A hand covered hers, rubbing circles over her palm. It was... familiar. Comforting. There was someone with her.
But it still hurt. And it was dark. And cold, she was so cold.
Strong arms pulled her towards warmth, and Skye instinctively huddled closer to the source, absentmindedly noting that the hand was still rubbing small circles on her own.
She wasn't alone. And she wasn't so cold anymore. But the pain...
Over the voices in her head and the ringing in her ears, she heard a soft voice. Again, familiar, but the words didn't make sense and she couldn't understand what was being said. She strained her ears, trying to better hear the words. After a while she realised it wasn't English.
That's why the words didn't make sense.
A hand started brushing through her hair, and she subconsciously leaned into the contact. That was nice of whoever was singing. She opened her eyes, not really sure when she'd closed them. She had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the lights, and the hand in her hair quickly moved to shield her eyes from the strongest lights.
They were being really nice. If only she could see...
She turned her head, slowly, carefully, until she could see her helper's face. The singing stopped. She narrowed her eyes, taking in the red hair and worried green eyes. Natasha, she realised with a shock. And with that, she startled back into herself. "Natasha?" she asked, flinching at how hoarse her voice sounded. Had she been screaming?
"Hey," Natasha replied in the softest voice Skye had ever heard from her. "Can you hear me again?"
The words were taking their sweet time to register in Skye's brain as words, but yeah, she could hear her. She nodded, and Natasha sighed in relief. "Oh good, because I lost you for a minute."
Natasha's hand was still holding Skye's. She hoped it wouldn't stop anytime soon. She also realised that her head was laying in Nat's lap. "You were singing," she said, but it was clearly some kind of question. Natasha hummed. "An old Russian lullaby. It seemed to calm you down, even if you didn't really respond to it."
Skye smiled, small but real. "It was nice, but I didn't understand much of it."
Natasha chuckled. "Good, because most Russian lullabies are actually pretty terrifying." She brushed through Skye's hair. "What triggered it?" she asked in a softer voice. Skye hesitated. "You ehm... you touched the scar."
She didn't know how she'd expected Natasha to react, but the guilt in her girlfriends eyes didn't exactly surprise her. "Its not your fault, Nat. You touched it before, and nothing happened. I don't know why now, but it's not your fault."
Natasha leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm still sorry." Skye opened her mouth, to echo the statement, but one stern look from her girlfriend told her it wouldn't be a good idea to apologise for her panic attack. So she shut her mouth, and just smiled. "It's okay. I'm just glad you're here. But eh, are we done for today? I don't feel like training anymore."
"Of course," Natasha immediately said. "How about a sandwich and a cup of coffee?"
"And cuddles?" Skye asked hopefully. Natasha gave her a fond, if slightly exasperated look. "Sure. Your bunk or mine?" Apart from Jemma, May and Clint, nobody in the base knew they were dating, so they had to snuck into each other's bunk at night, and kept the PDA at a minimum when in public spaces. It was hard, but also kind of fun to sneak around on a base full of spies. Nobody had found out yet, though, and Skye took that as a serious win.
Skye thought for a moment. "Yours," she decided. Natasha nodded and waited for Skye to sit up, before getting up herself. She offered a hand which Skye happily took. She was still a bit wobbly, but Natasha quickly steadied her. "Got you," she joked.
Skye leaned into her gratefully. "Thank you." Natasha smiled at her and started leading her down the hall. "Always. Let's go get a sandwich."
Natasha felt herself roll her eyes when Skye asked for umpteenth time where they were going. Skye huffed and batted her eyelashes at her, making her chuckle. Her girlfriend was exhausting sometimes. Cute, yeah, but sometimes she just wanted to strangle her. It was a feeling of exasperated fondness that she wasn't familiar with, but she kind of liked it. She thought it was a good feeling.
"For the last time, I'm not telling you, Skye. Just wait and see," she said when Skye tried to bring out puppy eyes. She shook her head at the sad attempt and continued walking. She just knew that Skye was preparing to retort with something witty, and beat her to it. "If you ask one more time, I'm turning around and then you'll never know."
It remained silent and Natasha looked over her shoulder to see Skye following her in sulky silence. With another eye roll, she offered her hand and intertwined their fingers, making Skye smile despite herself.
It was nice to just walk like this. A normal couple on their way to a normal date. She was dressed in normal skinny jeans, a T-shirt and a leather jacket. Skye was wearing skinny jeans too, but with a hoodie Natasha was pretty sure was one of her own. It felt domestic, but in a way she could definitely get used to.
Her feet carried her towards the place she'd chosen for their date, a somewhat familiar spot that she'd often visited since she started spending a lot of time in New York with the Avengers. Skye was on a visit from the Playground, supposedly to train with her and Clint. So what if she took her on a date while they had the chance. She'd been wanting to take Skye here for a while now, and this was the perfect opportunity.
She saw the rink appear through the small crowd, and excitedly tugged Skye towards it. They stopped at the edge of the rink, and Natasha turned expectantly to Skye. "We're here!"
Skye took a moment to take it in, all the families and couples skating in the public ice skating rink. Everyone looked happy, there was music and there were small boots that sold hot chocolate and soup, and her face lit up in joy. "We're going ice skating?"
Natasha nodded, happy to see Skye looking so happy. "Yeah, that was the plan! Have you done it before?"
"Ehm…" Skye glanced at her nervously, but her eyes kept that exited twinkle. "Once or twice when I was very young. With the Brodies I think. You might have to teach me some things." Natasha nudged her and pulled her to the entrance. "Not a problem," she called over her shoulder. "I'm a pro."
They quickly hired and put on their skates. Skye looked confused at the laces, and Natasha knelt down on one knee to fix them. When she looked up, she caught Skye grinning down at her. "What?"
"Well," Skye said in a teasing tone, "despite technically being married, this is the first time you went down on one knee for me." She giggled at the momentary baffled look on Natasha's face, and Natasha decided right then and there that she would get her back. So she stood up, leaned forward until her lips were right next to Skye's ear, and already found herself smiling at the hitch in Skye's breath. "Oh," she whispered, "but I think that you've been on your knees for me enough to compensate for that."
And she turned back and made her way to the edge of the rink. She stepped onto the ice, a grin on her face she couldn't and didn't want to contain. She turned easily on her skates, waving at her very flustered girlfriend. "Are you coming, love?"
Skye got up stiffly, her face bright red, but with a sly grin on her face. "I had that coming, didn't I?" Natasha nodded enthusiastically, and Skye chuckled too as she walked closer. Natasha smiled at her. "Gotta keep my wife on my toes, don't I?"
A thoughtful look passed over Skye's face, but it was quickly gone, and when she stepped on the ice, Natasha was immediately forced to focus on keeping her upright. "Easy," she laughed. Skye's wide eyes searched hers. "Help?"
She chuckled and took Skye's hands. She chanced a look over her shoulder to see if there were other people, and found the rink relatively calm on their side. Luckily it wasn't busy today, or this would have been harder. She slowly started skating backwards, pulling Skye along. Skye gaped at her, and half-heartedly tried to skate along, almost bringing them both down. "Stop moving, let me pull you," Natasha told her, suppressing a chuckle. It was like being on ice with a baby deer. Skye nodded, eyes nervously on hers. She gave an encouraging smile, and received a lopsided grin in return.
They went around the rink a couple of times, Skye just gliding along and enjoying it more with each passing minute. And then Natasha decided to let her go. Skye gave her a panicked look, gliding until she came to a stop. "What are you doing?"
Natasha skated around her, an innocent smile on her face. "You try to skate yourself. I did not bring you here to drag you around." Skye's eyes followed her, while she remained unmoving. "How do I go forward? Without falling, that is."
With a chuckle, Natasha took pit on her, and skidded to a halt next to her. She started going through the motions really slowly, Skye watching her and then trying herself. Before long, Skye was going forward at a steady, if still somewhat wobbly pace. Natasha followed her closely. "Easy, nice and steady. You're doing amazing!" she encouraged her.
The beaming smile Skye send her way had her grinning like an idiot, before she burst into laughter when Skye slipped and fell on her butt. Skye tried to give her an offended look, but then grinned sheepishly. "You jinxed it," she tried. Natasha nodded faux-seriously. "Of course, that must be it." She helped her girlfriend up, and they resumed their round around the rink.
They skated for most of the afternoon, with Skye going steadier each round. After a particular good round, Skye steered for the boarding and slowly glided to a stop, Natasha following her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm exhausted. Do you want hot chocolate? I'm feeling hot chocolate."
Natasha glanced longingly at the rink, practically empty this late. She turned back to find Skye giving her an amused look. "I'm getting hot chocolate. You go show me how it's really done. I'll make sure to have your chocolate ready when you're done."
Natasha leaned towards her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered, before skating away, much faster then she and Skye had gone. She took a few rounds to really feel the speed, and noticed Skye sitting on a bench with a steaming mug, cheering every time she passed her.
Once she felt like she got the hang of it again, she started on an old routine. It was a familiar one, one she'd danced a hundred times already, one that didn't require her full attention. She let her body float through the pirouettes and jumps, checking her surroundings from time to time to make sure she wouldn't crash into somebody else. But the rink was calm, and the motions came easy to her. Her mind went its own way.
What was it Skye had said? Technically married. Natasha supposed that was true, even though both her alias and Skye's old name did not really exist anymore. Still, some part of them, if only a small one, was still married. They even had the rings.
Natasha felt more than she saw Skye's attentive eyes follow her movements, and smiled to herself. She loved her girlfriend. She had for quite a while now. Maybe even since she'd come walking into that shawarma bar after the Battle of New York. That was about a year ago now. And now it was almost 2 years since they've met.
Technically married. After two days, they got technically married. Natasha threw herself into one last pirouette and twirled. And then she stopped, her breathing that tiniest bit heavier, and her gaze on Skye. Technically married. She doubted Skye even realised what that meant to her.
The ring around her neck felt heavy as Skye stood up and applauded, wolf whistling her way. She lowered her head with a smile, and slowly skated over to the boarding. She caught a few impressed glances from other skaters near the benches, but her focus was on Skye.
Her girlfriend's beaming smile warmed her up from the inside. Strong and sure arms wrapped around her. "You're amazing! That was so cool!" Natasha pulled back a bit, and noticed that Skye had already taken off her skates and was now shorter than she was. She leaned down, and pressed a kiss on top of her nose. "Glad you enjoyed. Good date?"
"Best date," Skye giggled. "And you looked happy. You're very beautiful when you're happy." Natasha blushed a bit. Skye really just said such sweet things. "Thank you, lyubov' moya. You're not looking too bad yourself with that beaming smile." Skye giggled again, and Natasha thought it was the cutest thing ever. Not that she'd ever say that out loud to someone else. God, she was such a softie for her girlfriend.
"I'm going to get you some hot chocolate," Skye announced, before releasing her and taking off to one of the stands. Natasha watched her go. She may not be as good with words as Skye, but she had something else in mind. Her hand went to where her ring hung under her shirt, before she sat down to take off her skates.
Technically married. She'd get on one bloody knee to fix that. But maybe she needed to call Clint first. She needed help.
Jemma wasn't Hydra. Jemma was just undercover in Hydra. And she was stuck here, with an agitated and anxious Fitz, a mechanic she supposed was quite nice but didn't really know, and an overworked director who was keeping secrets again. She supposed that as long as May didn't seem to worried, it wasn't so bad, but it frustrated her anyway. The mercenaries Coulson had for some missions weren't exactly helpful with the work around the Playground either.
And to top it all off, her girlfriend was out on a mission with Barton. So she was stuck here, throwing punches at the bag. She finished her series, took a deep breath and started on the small parkours May had built for her. She finished the round and went back to the punching bag, when she suddenly noticed the presence of someone else in the room. Her senses on high alert, she started on a new series. When she felt the presence behind her, she suddenly reached behind her and flipped the person standing there, using his momentum against him.
Her victim flew over her shoulder with a bit of effort, and landed on his back with a grunt. Familiar laughter rang through the gym and she realised with a jolt who she'd flipped. "Jesus Christ, Barton! What were you thinking?!"
He sat up with a groan and a pout on his face. "Natasha challenged me. She said I couldn't do it." Skye rolled her eyes and offered her hand to pull him up. He took it with a frown. She turned around. "It turns out Natasha was right."
"As usual," her girlfriend said confidently while she sauntered over. Skye rolled her eyes and hugged her, noticing how Natasha tensed up when her fingers brushed past Natasha's side. "You've gotten good," Natasha whispered in her ear. Skye smiled, but it wasn't convincing. "And you're hurt." She pulled back, giving Natasha a searching glance. "Medical?"
Natasha shook her head. Skye sighed. "My bunk then. Kit's still there."
"Clint can patch me up. You were busy."
Skye ignored Clint's spluttering. "He can. But I want to." She hesitated. "Ty mne nuzhna." Natasha's eyes flashed over her face momentairily, and Clint mimicked throwing up behind them. Skye flipped him off, and walked out of the gym, taking Natasha's hand to drag her along. Her girlfriend followed her, waving apologetically at Clint as they left the gym.
It wasn't long until they reached Skye's bunk. She opened it, nearly shoved Natasha inside and closed the door behind her. Natasha quietly sat down on the bed, perhaps sensing that Skye needed a moment to process what she wanted to say. As Skye busied herself with the first aid kit, Natasha's worry for Skye took over her want to give her space. "Skye? Are you mad at me? I'm sorry. Please, I'll be okay."
"I know," Skye replied immediately. "You're an idiot for not wanting medical, but you will be fine, or Clint would have dragged your ass off already."
"Then what is it?"
Skye's hand stilled on the bottle of disinfectant she was trying to open. Natasha gently pried it from her hands, opened it, and handed it back, before unzipping her suit and sliding it off her arms. Skye turned to face her. "Jemma is undercover in Hydra."
Natasha held her gaze. "So that is why Coulson asked me to give her a how-to-lie-convincingly crash course." She cocked her head. "You're worried."
Skye started on cleaning a gash on Natasha's ribs. It wasn't deep, but better to clean it anyway. "I am. And I am mad at Coulson for not telling me, so I had to find out while I was on a mission to retrieve a suitcase when suddenly Jemma appeared in my sniper vision."
A slightly disappointed sigh was her only response. Skye knew it was probably addressed to Coulson, and shook her head angrily. "And then I come back and I want to talk about it with someone, but May is May, I don't know Mack, Trip is still moping about her leaving, and I can't talk with Fitz either because Ward dropped him in the ocean and he really isn't the same anymore. And I can't blame him, because how could I, but I just miss my friend."
When Natasha opened her mouth to speak, Skye levelled her with a look and placed a bandage over her ribs, ignoring her girlfriend's soft hiss. "And my girlfriend suddenly stopped responding to my texts. Which again, I can't blame you. But it makes me worry and I just hate it."
Skye turned away, unable to keep tears from forming in her eyes. A soft hand on her arm gently turned her back, and then those strong arms were around her again. "I've missed you too," Natasha whispered in her ear, pulling her closer. "And I hate it when I can't text you, or when you can't text me, but this is our life. I can't give this up, and neither can you. It's hard, yeah. But I love you, and together we'll get through it."
They stood there for a moment, just glad to be together again. Then Skye pulled back. "I saw a cut on your arm, let me fix that, and then we can get something to eat?"
Natasha frowned at her. "You don't want to shower first?"
Skye wiggled her eyebrows as she took Natasha's arm and the disinfectant. "We'll end up not showering, and I need food before we do that." Natasha placed the hand Skye wasn't treating on her heart in mock offense. "Why would you suggest such a thing? Why, I would never."
An unbelieving look was the only response Skye deigned to give her, before looking back to her arm. Natasha hummed happily. "Fine, food first. Should probably tell Coulson we're back too. Me and Clint need to debrief later today."
"I'm sure Coulson will let you take a nap first," Skye reasoned. Natasha shook her head. "No, but I am sure that Coulson will let you take a nap with me first. There is a slight difference, even if it has the same result." Skye chuckled, feeling much better than she'd been this morning. Natasha smiled at her in a way that made her think she knew exactly what she was doing. She probably did. Her girlfriend was amazing like that.
She finished bandaging Natasha's arm and started cleaning up and putting back the kit, and turned back around, where she caught Natasha putting on one of her T-shirts. She raised an eyebrow, a thing she'd picked up from the Black Widow herself. "Way to sell the we're-not-dating thing, honey."
Natasha rolled her eyes. "It's this, a sports bra, or my bloody suit. And since you're already thinking about shower sex, and people are scared enough of me as it is, this seemed like the best option. No-one dares to assume we're dating anyway. Besides, I wear Clint's shirts all the time."
Skye frowned, a thought coming to her. "Does that mean that I wear Clint's shirts?" Natasha shrugged. "Probably." Skye thought for a moment, but decided the shirts she stole from Natasha, and indirectly from Clint, were too comfortable to care. "Tell him they're comfy."
Natasha laughed and opened the bunk. She walked out backwards, holding out a hand for Skye to join her. "You coming?" Skye followed, closed her bunk, and took Natasha's hand. "Let's go."
"I think you need to get to the Playground."
"Something wrong?"
"I think Skye could just really need you now."
And so Natasha found herself in a quinjet on the way to Coulson's super-secret base, with Clint in the pilot seat next to her - because of course he was following her. And word had reached them that Bobbi had just returned to SHIELD, so he wanted to catch up with his old friend.
Natasha fidgeted with the ring around her neck. May hadn't explained anything during their short call, just mentioning that Skye needed her. And Natasha knew Skye well enough by now to know that it was really bad if she didn't text her for help. Clint kept glancing at her from time to time, which really did not help her worry or her irritation level, but it wasn't long before they touched down in the hangar.
They exited the quinjet, and were awaited by May, arms crossed and looking the badass agent she was. Natasha raised an eyebrow at her. May gave her a short nod. "Gym." Natasha nodded back and took off to the gym, leaving Clint to exchange a slightly amused look with May before they left the other way to the common room.
She found the gym empty, except for her girlfriend, who was monotonously punching a bag, her hands unwrapped and her eyes unfocussed. Natasha scraped her throat, but received no response. Worry clawed its way up her throat, but she pushed it back down, and approached carefully. "Skye?"
Still no reaction. She tried again, a bit louder. "Skye."
Her girlfriend's eyes flashed to her before they went back to the punching bag. "May called you?"
"Yeah," Natasha murmured, noticing the bruises and blood on Skye's knuckles. "Said you might need me."
Skye chuckled humourlessly. "What I need is for Coulson to not keep secrets from me and not monitor me, but he did, and May knew and she didn't say a thing."
Natasha's eyebrows rose to her hairline. That didn't sound like him. "Coulson monitored you? Why on earth would he do that?"
"Because," Skye growled, punctuating each word with an angry punch. "he started carving alien stuff into his wall after he saw Garrett do it, and wondered if I would do the same because of the GH-serum. And he didn't tell me about it, but instead chose to monitor me, like a… like some sort of… I don't know! He said he didn't have a camera in my bunk, but fuck, Tasha." She stopped punching, and leaned against the bag, suddenly looking incredibly exhausted. "He could have just told me. I'd have let him monitor me. Would have done check ins, blood tests, everything. But he didn't ask."
Natasha stepped closer, close enough that if Skye wanted to hug her she could, but not enough to invade her personal space. "And have you started carving into walls yet?" she asked, carefully keeping her tone clean from any judgement or emotion. Skye shook her head, and then laughed, though it was still without humour. "Coulson thinks the reason I'm not reacting to the alien DNA is because it is not foreign to me."
"He thinks you're an alien," Natasha realised, not entirely shocked. They had talked about this already. "You're an 084. The chances of you being fully human were already decreasing, sweetheart. This can't be news to you."
"No, but it is still quite the shock to hear him actually say that he thinks I'm an alien," Skye admitted. She finally looked up, actually meeting Natasha's eyes for the first time. "Still don't care?"
"I care about you," Natasha replied immediately. "About who you are, not what you are." Skye smiled at her, a tired and tiny thing, but it was real and it was there. "And I will yell at Coulson for monitoring you. I don't know how or what he did, but it is an invasion of your privacy, and indirectly my privacy too." Skye chuckled, but suddenly stopped and her eyes widened. "Oh god, you don't think…"
Natasha realised with a start what Skye was thinking about. "For his sake, I better fucking hope not. Even Clint can't stop me from killing him then."
Skye shivered, and then stepped towards Natasha. She opened her arms for her girlfriend, who gratefully fell into the embrace. "I got you, lyubov' moya. I got you." Skye relaxed against her. "We also may have found my father," she mumbled sheepishly against her shoulder.
Natasha pulled back immediately, scanning Skye's face. There was a mixture of detachedness and sadness in her girlfriend's eyes that she didn't like one bit. Before Skye could say anything else, Natasha took her hand, mindful of the bruises, and started dragging her out of the gym and towards her own bunk. She couldn't tell if Skye's bunk was safe anymore, so hers it was.
Once inside, she locked the door, and sat Skye down on the bed. She got out a med-kit from under her bed and set it open next to Skye, who frowned at her. "Why are we here?" Natasha took out some disinfectant and bandages, remembering the times Skye had done this for her. "I really don't trust Coulson right now anymore so your bunk is out, you need to get your hands treated, and you don't like medical but I have a kit in my bunk."
Skye thought for a moment. "So, your bunk it is?" Natasha was making quick work of cleaning and bandaging her hands, though she was careful not to put too much pressure on the bruises. "Yes, because now," she put away the kit, and sat down next to Skye, pulling her down with her, "we can cuddle too. I just thought you could use a hug."
"I'm sweaty," Skye protested, but she was already relaxing into Natasha's side.
"I haven't been here for two weeks, I need to clean the sheets anyways," Natasha responded. Skye nodded. "Fair enough. Clint come with you?"
"Yeah, he's catching up with May and Bobbi."
"Agent Morse?"
"Yeah. Have you met her already?"
Skye shook her head against her chest. "Haven't been down yet. Haven't even seen Jemma yet. Needed to punch something." Natasha hummed. "So, you wanna tell me about your father? What happened?"
Skye sighed. "He's been trying to find him. Raina is helping him, so he at least knows I am with SHIELD. We eh… We found his apartment. It was empty, but we also found his eh, medical lab. He wasn't there, but two brutally murdered men were. One with a scalpel, one with just pure strength." Skye paused for a moment. "He did that. My father killed those men. Murdered, really. It was a fucking mess down there. And he did that."
Natasha responded by pulling her close, and pressing a kiss on her forehead. "He does not define you," she whispered. "In case you were worried about that. His actions do not make you a worse person."
"No," Skye murmured. "I know. I just hoped my father wouldn't be a monster, you know. It's a bit of a bummer." Natasha didn't laugh. "I'm sorry," she offered, knowing how empty those words were, but not really knowing any other words to say. Skye nodded against her. "I know. Thank you."
"Always," Natasha replied, pressing another kiss in Skye's hair. "Anything else you want to talk about?"
It was silent for a moment. "Fitz will be happy Jemma is back. I think. He's been really down. It's been… hard. I'm glad she's back. But I'm still a bit mad she left in the first place. Or, more about the face that she didn't tell us, I mean. Why couldn't we know? It bugs me. Anyway, I'm mostly just glad she's okay, though."
Natasha took her hand, and started drawing circles with her thumb. "Fitzsimmons will be fine. Eventually. And with the secrets and all... SHIELD was always build on those. You'd have to aks Coulson about it if you really want to know."
"I suppose. But I don't want to talk to him right now." Skye hummed. "Sorry I didn't text or call you."
"That's what we have May for. I'm pretty sure Clint would call you if I was being stubborn." She shrugged. "That's just who we are. And hey, you talked to me, didn't you? We're communicating more than most couples I think. I mean, we're doing better than Hunter and Bobbi."
"We're doing great, I think." Skye paused, then pulled back. "Wait. Hunter… and Bobbi? Bobbi Morse? Are you saying that the wife-from-hell he keeps talking about is Agent Morse, who just got Jemma's ass out of Hydra?"
At Natasha's amused nod, she burst into giggles. "Damn, I hope someone filmed his reaction. I need that blackmail." Natasha chuckled, happy to just watch as Skye slowly regained her breath. Her girlfriend looked up at her. "I think Hunter has some unresolved feelings towards her still. Should be fun to watch. I need to talk to Morse though. I need details on their relationship. I wonder what their wedding would look like."
Natasha stared lovingly at her girlfriend. I wonder what our wedding would look like.
A grin took over Skye's face. "Do you now? Well, any ideas?"
Natasha blanched. She'd said that out loud. That was… She hadn't meant to… What if she overstepped? They had never really talked about this. Sure, she had plans for something, but…
"Natasha? Come back, love."
She looked at Skye again, brown eyes half amused, half worried. "Sorry, I eh… I hadn't meant to say that out loud."
Skye frowned, a mask slowly pulling over her face, and Natasha hurried to explain. "Not because I don't want to, but because we'd never discussed it, and I didn't want to rush. I just… I guess my subconscious won." She grinned sheepishly.
"And your subconscious wants to marry me?" Skye asked, frown still on her face, but her eyes were flashing with emotion now. Natasha hesitated for a moment longer. Screw it. "Yeah. I do."
Skye's eyes searched hers for any sign of humour or joking. "Are you… Is this you proposing to me?"
"Ehm, well…" Natasha shifted a bit on her bed. "See, I had a whole plan. I'd already asked Clint to help me. I was gonna take you out to dinner, and then we were going back to the tower, and I would have threatened Tony into letting me have the roof for the night and Clint would have helped me set something up, and it was gonna be really romantic." She squeezed Skye's hand. "But as it turns out, I'm awful at that, so yeah, I guess this is it. Vyydesh' za menya?"
A beaming smile slowly broke out on Skye's face, and it was by far in the top three most beautiful things Natasha had ever seen (the other things were Skye's eyes when they got married the first time, and her laugh at their ice skating date). Skye leaned into her, and pressed a kiss to her lips, which Natasha happily returned. "Da," Skye whispered against her lips. "I'll marry you."
Natasha couldn't help her own broad grin. "Yeah?"
"Yeah, I'd love to."
Natasha pulled her close. "Good, otherwise this would have been really awkward." Skye giggled, snuggling into her. "You still didn't get one knee though."
"Oh for Gods sake!" Natasha cursed as she climbed out of the bed, Skye laughing as she moved to sit up. Natasha unclasped her necklace, took off her ring, and put the necklace back on. She got on one knee, and held her ring up between them.
"Skye, you've taught me what love really looks like," she started. She saw Skye's eyes soften as she continued. "You can just sit with me when I need it, or reassure me, or whatever I need. You'll just know, and you'll just do it. And your hugs feel like home, and your smile makes me happy and I never thought I'd feel like that, but I do now , because of you." Natasha reached up to brush a stray tear away from Skye's cheek. "They told me love is for children but I don't care as long as I can be childish with you. Will you marry me?"
Skye nodded with tears in her eyes. "Fuck yeah, I'll marry you!" And she dropped herself forward into Natasha's arms. Natasha caught her, and settled them both on the bed. She put the ring in Skye's hand with massive grin on her face. "Maybe you shouldn't put it on with the bandages and all, but it's yours. You'll give me yours later?" Skye turned her head and pecked her on the cheek, putting the ring safely in her pocket. "Of course," she murmured, before returning the grin. "And, now that you finally did that, what do you think it will look like? Our wedding," she specified when Natasha gave her a confused look. "You said you were wondering about it. So, tell me. I'm sure you got some ideas."
Natasha shrugged, suddenly a bit unsure of herself. "I don't know. Not too big, for sure, but other than that… I never thought I would have a wedding, so I never really though about it."
Skye tapped her nose. "We've got time to figure it out. But, how about we go down to say hi first. And I don't know about you, but I could really use a shower. And since I've been hugging you for about half an hour now, I think you do too."
Natasha groaned. "But I don't want to go down anymore. I want to cuddle with my fiancée."
A blush covered Skye's cheeks. "I do too, but I also kind of want to see Jemma," she said apologetically. Natasha gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course. It will be nice to see Bobbi too."
Skye smiled happily and climbed out of the bed, Natasha getting up after her. When Skye went to open the door, she stopped her. "Wait. Do you want to tell them?" Skye frowned, then hesitantly shook her head. Natasha smiled again. "That's okay. I like this being just us. But is it okay if I tell Clint?"
"Of course," Skye said quickly. "I will probably tell Jemma too, eventually, but the rest… I just don't want them to know. Is that weird?" Natasha shrugged. "Probably. But I think it's also okay to have something for yourself, away from everyone in this crazy spy life. And if that's me, well…" She smiled. "I'm up for it. Though if you eventually want to invite them to the wedding, I suggest telling them beforehand."
Skye chuckled. "That sounds smart, but we'll see about that. Now, shower and drinks?"
///
Bobbi looked up when more people entered the common room. "Natasha!" she called out when she recognised her friend. She got up and, to the surprise of many in the room, hugged her. "Hey, Bobbi," Natasha replied. "Love what you did with your hair."
"Thanks," Bobbi laughed. "But I prefer it blonde myself." Then she turned to the second woman that had come in. "You must be Skye."
"Skye!" Jemma said happily, and brushed past her to greet her friend. Skye gave Jemma a quick hug. "Hey, Jems. Glad you're back safe." Jemma smiled at her. "I'm glad you didn't shoot me." Skye chuckled gently, the tiniest bit of discomfort in her eyes, but Jemma didn't seem to notice as she pulled her along to the couches. Skye hissed, and gently extracted her hand from Jemma's grasp. Bobbi's eyes flashed to Skye's bandaged hands, and she felt her mouth pull into a thin line. Jemma eyes flashed down too, and she gasped. "Skye!"
The rest of the team now all looked at Skye, who self-consciously put her hands behind her back. "It's fine. It's treated. I'm good now."
Bobbi glanced briefly at Natasha, and saw the kind and caring look she shot the younger woman's way. She also noticed Skye's eyes briefly flashing to Natasha before she made her way to the couch to drop herself next to Trip. Jemma followed her and sat on her other side.
Clint scraped his throat. "So, Skye. Any interesting computer projects you're working on? Or are you perhaps up for pranking a friend of mind named Tony Stark?" And with that, conversation returned and the awkwardness subsided. Bobbi debated joining in, but when she saw Natasha making her way to the couches, she stepped in and cornered her. Natasha rolled her eyes and walked towards the bar, Bobbi following her with a wolfish grin. "What do you want, Bobbi?"
Bobbi shrugged innocently, the grin still on her face. "Nothing, I just want to catch up with my friend." She looked back at the team on the couches, all talking and catching up. "This team seems nice. You work with them often?"
A glass of whiskey was shoved her way. "Not really. Clint and I still do our missions together, and we spend half our time and in the Tower. Clint goes home sometimes. But we're here often enough. They're a great team. Good people."
"That's good."
Natasha hummed before taking a sip of her own glass. "So, how is it to see Hunter again?" Bobbi shrugged. "I'm fine with it. He was… less fine with it. But he'll get over it." She saw Natasha's eyes stray from her towards the team. "And you?" she asked. "Anyone special?"
She'd expected Natasha to either throw her a death glare or to brush her off easily, which in both cases would give her an answer. What she had not expected was for Natasha to give her a secretive but surprisingly warm smile. "Perhaps."
Bobbi gasped. "Natasha!"
The team turned their heads towards them, and Natasha gave her a not-so-subtle punch in the shoulder. "Can you keep it down?" Bobbi looked at the team and waved sheepishly. "Sorry, guys. Nothing to hear."
The team went back to their conversations, but not before Skye had thrown a anxious glance in Natasha's direction, to which the redhead responded with a comforting smile and a wink. Bobbi downed her whiskey and put her glass down with a thud, pulling Natasha's attention back to her. "I see," she mused, her voice low enough so only Natasha could hear.
"You do?"
"I do."
"And now?"
Bobbi leaned back against the bar. "How long?"
Natasha hesitated for only a second. "Two years."
"Steady. You both happy?"
"Very. Not counting the times we almost died."
"Fair enough. Who knows?"
"Clint, Stark, May, Simmons." She paused. "You, I suppose."
"I won't tell," Bobbi promised, realising that this was something special to them. "I'm glad you found something like this."
Natasha refilled both of their glasses. "You've literally been here for three hours or something. How do you already know so much?"
Bobbi huffed and took a sip. "Come on, Nat. I know you're the best spy in SHIELD, but cut me some slack here. There's a reason I'm an honorary member of Strike Team Delta."
"Fair enough." They sipped their drinks in silence for a while. Then Natasha tipped the last of her drink back. "Please do tell her that you know. And also that I did not tell you. You'll love her. Teach her some of your tricks, she'll like that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to someone."
And with a last smile she made her way to the team. Bobbi raised a surprised eyebrow when she pulled aside Coulson, rather than Skye, and left with him. She sat down in the chair the director had just abandoned, and turned to the rest. Especially Clint had a mischievous look in his eyes. She rolled her own and sighed. "Who are we pranking?"
///
Natasha closed the door to Coulson's office behind her, and turned around to the director, who was waiting with his arms crossed leaning against his desk. "How can I help you?" he asked, a bit sarcastically. Natasha glared at him. "You can start with telling me why you were monitoring Skye."
Coulson gave a slightly uncomfortable look. "So she told you. I'm afraid it's classified, agent Romanov."
Natasha practically growled. "She told me why. And she also told me she would have agreed if you'd just asked her but you didn't. Instead you invaded her privacy. You knew how much it would her, and you did it anyway." Her glare turned ice cold, and she swore she could see him swallow. "Do something like this again, and you'll deal with me. She'll never tell you off for it, but I'm not above a small threat."
There was a heavy pause, in which Natasha tried everything to keep calm, and Coulson tried to regain the upper hand. "I could have you demoted for this, you know that right?" he tried. Natasha rolled her eyes. "Fucking fire me, if you want to. I don't care. Just make sure you never do something like this again. She does not deserve that. Got it?"
He nodded, and she turned around and walked out before he could say anything else, swiftly making her way back to the common room, where she squeezed herself into the couch next to Clint. And if Coulson came in a few minutes later avoiding anyone's gaze, well. That's what happens when you mess with her fiancée.
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