Risk

Thirteen

Natasha firmly decided she never wanted to go to a funeral again in her life time. Not even her own.
She barely said a word all day, or did Wanda. They were content sitting in silence and giving the occasional nod or one word answer to Clint if he asked them a question.

It was a small but intimate affair, friends of theirs and Pietro's had came, his landlord, his boss, even the deli owner at the corner of his street. Everyone who cared about him was there in that moment.

Natasha slipped her hand into Wanda's when her tears started, the coffin being lowered into the ground was soul crushing to even her. Wanda gripped back tightly, sobbing into her other hand. Natasha stares straight ahead, further out into the graveyard with wet eyes and jaw tense, determined to keep it together. On the other side was Clint, who couldn't tear his eyes away from the coffin. He took Natasha's other hand, causing her to part her lips and exhale slowly, helping her feel grounded in between them. Eventually she abandoned their hands, moving hers around their waists instead to pull them into hugs.

**

The night had been better. Food and drinks and happier tales of Pietro that made the whole thing a little more bearable. He wouldn't have wanted them to be sat around crying over him. "Crack open a beer and get over it." He'd have said. So they did.

It was dark when they got back, growing later into the evening and supporting Wanda as she stumbled slightly when she walked. She had made full use of the bar, understandable given the circumstances, and was fairly drunk by anyone's standards. After her fifth drink of what appeared to be a glass of straight spirits, Natasha and Clint shared a look and both silently switched to just drinking lemonade on its own in order to keep Wanda in check.

Natasha opened the apartment door as they arrived back, a large pizza balanced in her other hand which she sat on the coffee table as Clint helped Wanda through the door. She yawned, kicked off her heels and dropped onto the sofa, pulling a large slice from the box and eating it contently as her hiccups started.

Wanda giggled as she ate, then shook her head. "What would I do without you guys?." She asked as Clint handed her a glass of water, which she took gladly.

"You don't ever need to find out." Natasha assured, dropping down beside her as Clint sat on the opposite side, pizza slices in their hands, small grins on their faces. A united front against the world once more.

**

"At least they've caught him. That's something I suppose." James sighed.

Natasha nodded as she held her phone to here ear, humming once in response. "I suppose. Wanda doesn't really talk about it, so I've not pressed it. Kind of want to know so I can kill the bastard myself."

"Yeah, there's some sick people out there." He replied, sighing down the phone as he rested on his couch on his end. "The world is a scary place."

"What about you?" She changed the topic, rolling on her bed to lay on her stomach. "What have you been up too? It feels like years."

"Work. Gym. Had to look after little Joey one night because the babysitter cancelled last minute. He turned the whole place upside down, almost drew on the walls, broke three different things." She could hear the smile in his voice as she laughed softly.

"Sounds like he had you running around like a mad man."

"I slept in for work the next day, had to cancel my morning lecture. I had a solid 10 hours sleep and I didn't stir once though." He admitted, making her laugh once more.

"I'm annoyed I missed it, sounds like fun." She sighed wistfully.

"It was. Almost miss the little tyke throwing spaghetti across the kitchen." He chuckled.

"Oh god," she half moaned. "Did I miss your homemade spaghetti with meatballs? All I've eaten is take out for the past week."

"Homemade meal waiting for you whenever you want." He offered.

"If you've got spaghetti left I'll be there in under 10 seconds, I'll run." She joked.

"You would run?" He teased, smirking softly at the idea of it.

"Babe, I would kill for it." She said with all seriousness, causing him to laugh loudly. He didn't doubt that, her temper was ridiculous when she was hungry.

"There's some left over, but I can always make it fresh."

"You're an Angel." She smiled. "I'm very tempted to come over right now."

"All the way over town? At this time of night?"

"Mmhmm. I'm hungry and I want to thank you in person for the flowers you sent."

"Ah, you knew it was me?" He asked.

"Recognised you're handwriting. It's very sweet, Wanda thought so too." She smiled, slipping out of bed.

"I just wanted to do something." He admitted bashfully.

"It's very cute." She teased, smiled as he scoffed on the other end of the phone.

"Cute? I'm not cute.Kittens are cute Nat,"  he grumbled, trying to play his big strong man card.

"Maybe you're a kitten." She pressed on, listening to him sigh.

"I'm definitely not a kitten."

"Hmm," she mused, a cheeky grin lingering on her lips. "You use your tongue like one." She murmured seductively, waiting for his response. She listened to him exhale heavily on the other end of the phone, muttering a curse under his breath before properly answering.

"Jesus Christ, Nat." He finally said. "Please tell me you're running over now?"