Seven, Natasha, Peter, and Steve sat on the jet, opposite Tony. SHIELD had sent a pilot to fly them back in one of their quinjets so they could all relax a little on the forty-five-minute flight back to the tower.
Natasha and Seven had both obviously been crying and Natasha was grasping Seven's hand tightly.
"Okay, one" Tony held up a finger, "Why do we now have a dog?" He pointed to the golden dog who was laying across Seven and Peter's lap, asleep.
"We don't have a dog, Tony," Steve replied, "The families had all already been relocated so he's coming home with us now and we'll get the microchip scanned soon"
"Shame, He's cute," Tony said, looking at the dog. "And two, how did you get down?" He looked at Seven.
"I flew," she shrugged nonchalantly. "No thanks to you, by the way, letting me fall to my death" She shook her head and scoffed.
"And three," He ignored Seven's comment and held up three fingers, "Why were you both angrily screaming in Russian at each other? And why do you look like you've been sobbing?"
"No reason" Natasha quickly intervened
"Oh please Natasha, you're grasping her hand as if she's going to disappear at any given moment," Tony rolled his eyes.
"Uh, Seven?" Natasha looked at her daughter for approval and she shrugged before nodding slightly.
"Tony, meet my daughter"
There was a brief silence before Tony started yelling. "I'm sorry, your WHAT?" He stared at the two, "I thought she was dead"
"So did I. Turns out she was here with us" Natasha squeezed Seven's hand and smiled.
"That's insane. How long have you known?" He leaned forward, obviously intrigued.
"Two days now" Seven replied.
"I'm pretty shocked," Tony admitted, "Right guys?" He looked at Peter and Steve.
"Uhh, no?" Peter shrugged, "We both knew"
"What?! You BOTH knew?"
"Yeah," Steve said and Peter nodded in agreement.
"I can't believe this" Tony crossed his arms and slumped back in his chair like a child throwing a tantrum.
"If it makes you feel any better, you know before the rest of the team" Seven offered and Tony grinned,
"Before Wilson?"
"And Barnes" Natasha added.
"I'll take it" He nodded. "How are you going to tell the rest of the team?"
"No idea" Natasha replied, "I haven't thought about it really"
"What if I just wear my necklace above my shirt and see how long it takes them to realize?" Seven suggested.
"Ooohh that sounds fun" Peter chimed in, "Let's bet on who realizes last."
"My bet's on Thor," Tony said immediately,
"No fair! I was going to say him" Peter pouted.
"Tough luck kid"
"I'll go with Bruce," Steve said, "He never seems to leave the lab"
"I'll go with vision then" Peter said, "Seeing as I can't have Thor" He glared at Tony who sat there grinning smugly.
"No Way! Vision is a literal android, there's no way he doesn't see it" Seven said.
"I don't know, he can be pretty oblivious sometimes" Natasha shrugged, "I'll bet on Clint"
"Okay well, I think Bucky will notice last for sure," Seven said confidently, "I never seem to talk to him"
"Alright, Bet's on"
Twenty minutes later the team was mostly asleep, Steve and Tony had both fallen asleep a while ago and now Peter had dozed off, his head resting on Seven's shoulder. Natasha and Seven were both awake, Seven was exhausted but she really wanted to talk to her mom.
"Nat, can I ask you something?" She whispered suddenly, making Natasha jump a little from the sudden noise.
"Okay"
"Did you mind earlier?" She asked, picking at her fingernails nervously. Natasha didn't answer and Seven could tell she was confused. "uh, when I called you mom, I mean."
Natasha smiled to herself, "No actually, I liked it very much"
"Oh good" She sighed in relief, "I wanted to call you that ever since I found out but I didn't know if you would mind"
"Of course not Seven, I like it. It makes it all seem more real and official," She reassured the teenager. "Speaking of official, why don't we get your last name changed?"
Seven grinned, "Seven Romanoff, daughter of Natasha Romanoff"
"Yeah, sounds better than plain old Seven" She laughed to herself.
"So are we getting it changed to Seven Romanoff or Rodgers?" Seven asked, a playful tone in her voice
"Ohhh you have a thing for Steve?" She teased, nudging Seven's shoulder.
"No, but I think you do" Seven snorted and Natasha went red,
"I do not!" She shrieked, causing Steve to stir and wake up.
"Natasha? Are you alright?" He asked, obviously concerned
"Yeah, Steve I'm fine" She smiled at the blonde who smiled back before closing his eyes once more and drifted back to sleep.
"Natasha, are you alright?" Seven mimicked Steve's voice before bursting out laughing again, getting another elbow to the ribs from her mother. "Sounds like he has a thing for you too"
"Really?" Natasha asked hopefully, making Seven raise an eyebrow.
"Don't have a thing for him my ass" She laughed
"I do NOT have a thing for Steve, can we drop this?" Natasha sighed heavily.
"Fine fine but I totally ship it" She muttered,
"Ship?"
"Oh god mom you really are old" She sighed, "You two are just as oblivious as each other, Romanogers is meant to be"
"I'm not even going to question what that means" Natasha shook her head, the plane falling into silence, the only faint noise being the engine whirring. "I am NOT old, I'm thirty-two" She mumbled after a minute, obviously offended.
Seven just smiled and let them fall into a comfortable silence once more, squeezing her moms' hand.
By the time they landed back at the tower they were all exhausted, spending the whole day running between rooms in a burning building wasn't exactly easy.
It was late afternoon when they stepped off the jet and the weather was cool, relieving them all from the scorching hot temperature of the building.
The golden dog happily trotted behind Seven as they made their way into the elevator, all too tired to start up a conversation.
The elevator pinged as the doors opened and the team turned to face them as they walked out into the communal area. Sam and Bucky were in the middle of a heated Mario Kart match but Wanda immediately switched the TV off and faced the five of them eagerly, groans following from both men.
"Hey guys, how did th-"
"You all look awful" Clint interrupted, the five just sighing in acknowledgement
"You really do" Sam agreed, Bucky nodding behind him.
"Thank you all, that's very helpful" Tony rolled his eyes, sitting on the edge of the couch.
"Oh god, you smell like smoke" Bruce coughed and edged away from Tony slightly which made Tony roll his eyes again.
"Of course we do, we did just spend hours around a burning building"
The dog nuzzled at Sevens' leg, and Seven realized he wanted some attention. "Hey buddy" She cooed while scooping him up and into her arms, scratching his head.
"Uh, Steve? Tony? Natasha? Why is there a golden retriever in Seven's arms?" Wanda asked sceptically, moving away.
"I rescued him from the building and we didn't get a chance to find his owners. He's pretty harmless though, let me jump out of the thirtieth-floor window with him" The dog grinned and hung his tongue out of his mouth as Seven placed him down, going to sniff the new people.
"I'm sorry what?" Bruce asked, an alarmed expression on his face.
"I jumped, I flew" Seven shrugged and turned to Natasha, "I'm going to get in the shower, put him in my room if you get tired of him" She pointed to where Peter was crouched, petting the dog.
"Peter or the dog?" She asked
"Either" Seven laughed and turned away, walking towards her bedroom.
Seven spent a long time in the shower, washing the smoky smell out of her hair and body. By the time she finished she walked out to find both Peter and the dog sat on her bed, Peter obviously just out of the shower too.
"They got tired of us both apparently" Peter chuckled, patting the sleeping dog's head softly.
"oh," Seven sat down next to them and flopped on her bed, "I mean I did tell them to put you in here. When's the evaluation meeting?"
"Tomorrow"
"Tomorrow? But it's only like four, we literally had one at eleven last time."
"Yeah I know but there's a party tonight, plus the whole team has to attend the meeting and Tony is adamant about this party going forward. Apparently it's been in the works for a while" Peter sighed.
"Why? Is it a special occasion?" She sat up, looking at the boy.
"No, just a party" He shrugged.
"Does this mean I have to dress up?" Seven groaned.
"Yeah, these things are always fancy, plus we have to look good, these parties are normally adult only. You have something against dresses?" Peter laughed at her sour expression.
"Nothing against it, just never dressed up before" Peter looked over at her in shock, "It sounds uncomfortable" She added.
"It is" He agreed, making her even less excited about the whole thing.
A knock on her door startled them both, interrupting their conversation. "Seven?" Natasha pushed open the door slowly before spotting them sat on the bed. "Oh sorry" she apologized, "Bad time?"
"No, I was just going anyway" Peter smiled, "See you later Seven"
"Yeah, bye" she smiled back, Natasha shutting the door behind him.
"He looks comfortable" Natasha commented, pointing to the sleeping dog.
"He really does, I think I'm getting slightly attached" Seven stroked his soft fur. "Did Peter wash him? He smells... clean" She sniffed his fur.
"I think so" Natasha moved to sit next to Seven on her bed.
"So... how can I help you?" Seven asked, she wasn't trying to be rude, she was just tired.
"Oh yeah, the party?" Natasha pointed to her closet, "I don't think you have many appropriate options"
"I guess not, I live in hoodies and sweatpants"
"Yeah, that's what I figured. I have some old stuff in my closet that might fit you, if you wanted to come and see if any of it is good?" Natasha asked, smiling at Seven.
"Do I seriously have to go to this thing mom? I'm so exhausted." She lay back again, closing her eyes.
"Unfortunately yes you do, we all have to go"
"But why" Seven whined, her voice muffled slightly.
"It's Tony's thing, plus you need to be there to be introduced to people" She added.
"As your daughter?" Seven asked hopefully, making Natasha frown.
"I can't if the team doesn't know," Natasha said apologetically
"Even more reason not to go" Seven argued, her eyes drooping as she fought off sleep.
Natasha grabbed Seven's arms and pulled her up, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and hugging her, "you don't have to go for long okay?" She reasoned, feeling Seven nodding on her shoulder.
"Are you drinking?" Seven asked, still in the embrace.
"Probably"
"Are you getting drunk?"
"No, most likely not. Why?"
"Ah shame," Seven said, "maybe if you were drunk enough you'd make a move on Steve"
Natasha pushed her away, shoving her arm. "I told you to stop with that! I do not have a thing for Steve"
"I'm not convinced" Seven shook her head, grinning.
"I take it back," Natasha said, causing Seven to raise an eyebrow in shock,
"So you DO have a thing for him, it's so obvious!" She cheered,
"Oh my god NO, I take back saying you could leave early, I'm going to make you stay for as long as possible now"
"What?! Mom please" She pleaded.
"No, you've done this to yourself" She grinned smugly.
"Fine then I stand by my statement, you obviously like each other and I think you should make a move before someone else does" She crossed her arms before being whacked in the face by a pillow, catching her off guard.
"Come on" Natasha grabbed her hand and dragged her off her bed and out of her bedroom, "let's go find you something to wear"