"We're here!" Clint announced as they arrived outside the farm.
"We're at the farm?" Amelia asked curiously, sitting up from the seat where she sat.
Natasha turned her attention to the small girl curled up in one of the chairs at the back. "Yeah. Come on Amelia," she gestured her to follow them out.
Clint walked out first followed by Natasha and Amelia followed them both out hesitantly. Amelia observed there was another woman and was confused about who she was, she watched as she put her arms around Clint and they kissed.
"Hi sweetheart," Clint greeted the women.
"Hi honey," The woman smiled and then turned her attention to Natasha. "Hi Nat," she said.
"Hey Laur," Natasha said and moved to hug the brunette woman.
Amelia watched warily as the brunette crouched down to her height and smiled warmly. "And you must be Amelia," she said softly. "Hi, sweetheart, my name is Laura and it's nice to meet you." She said.
"Hi," Amelila said shyly as she moved to hide between Natasha's legs in fear of another adult who she didn't recognise.
Natasha and Laura shared a look as Natasha turned to bend down to Ellie's level. "Hey Ellie, it's okay, you're safe here," she said as she took hold of the child's hand which Ellie took hastily.
"Daddy!" The shouting of Clint's two children, Lila and Cooper could be heard as they ran out of the house and where the adults had gathered.
Clint couldn't help but grin as he saw his daughter who instantly ran into his arms while Cooper held onto his arm. "Hey, buddy. Hi sweetheart," he said.
"We missed you, dad!" Eight-year-old Cooper told his dad as Clint ruffled his hair and kissed his daughter's head.
"I missed you both too!" Clint exclaimed.
"Did you miss me as well?" Natasha couldn't help but grin and Lila looked in her direction.
"Auntie Nat!" Lila squealed as she darted towards the redhead. "You're here," she said happily.
"Hi Lila," Natasha said as she smiled and hugged the small girl back. Cooper waved slightly and noticed the girl standing beside his aunt.
Who's that?" Cooper asked confused.
Natasha turned to look at Amelia with a small smile. "Lila, Cooper, this is Amelia." She paused to introduce the three kids to each other. "You know, Cooper, Amelia is your age as well." She told him.
"Cool," Cooper said as he smiled. "Hi. Maybe we can play video games sometime?" He offered.
"What's a videogame?" Amelia sked equally as confused.
That took the three adults by surprise but they didn't say anything.
"You basically play a game on the TV. It's awesome," Cooper told the brunette girl.
Lila turned to look at the small girl who still hadn't said much. "Amelia, do you want to play barbies with me?" Lila asked the older girl.
Amelia looked apprehensively at the adults, who nodded with encouragement. "Okay," she agreed enthusiastically as she followed Lila inside the house.
"I'll go catch up with them," Clint told the women as he followed the two girls into the house with Cooper following him.
"It's good to have you here again Nat," Laura smiled at the redhead and they started to walk towards the house. "So, Amelia is yours now? Clint told me about the mission and what happened," she questioned.
"It's good to see you as well Laur," Natasha said as she smiled, it had been a while since she had seen them, so this was a good time to have a break. "Yeah, honestly though Laur. I have no idea what I am doing here. I'm in deep over my head," she admitted.
Laura smiled and patted Natasha's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll help you Nat with whatever you need," she reassured her friend. "Come on let's head inside and go see what the girls are up to," she said.
"I know Amelia's older than Lila but she seems about the same size so I have some old clothes that she can wear and when you're ready, we can always take a trip to a nearby store to get some things," Laura motioned to the pile of clothes that she had in her arms.
"Yeah, that's cool. Thank you, Laur," Natasha said gratefully as she accepted the clothes and placed them down on the bed in the bedroom that she had at the farm.
"No problem," Laura offered her a smile and nodded. "Alright, I will go and get started on dinner. I'm thinking hotdogs tonight. Do you know if there's anything that Amelia is allergic to at all?" she questioned.
"As far as I'm aware she isn't," Natasha said, she had briefly read over the file that she had been given. "I don't really know what she does and doesn't like," she added wearily.
"Okay, well don't worry and we can figure it out. We'll see if she likes Hotdogs and if she doesn't, then I can always make something else," Laura said as she saw the panic on Natasha's face. "Hey, it's all going to be fine, Nat," she reassured her.
"Thank you," Natasha said as she let out a sigh of relief, it was good to know that she had help from two of her closest friends who she considered family.
The two women headed downstairs, Laura went to start dinner while Natasha walked into the lounge where she found both Lila and Amelia sat drawing pictures while Clint sat on the couch to keep an eye on the two of them.
"Auntie Nat, look I drew you a picture!" Lila said proudly as she held up the picture to show her aunt. "Daddy said that when we've finished, we can put them up on the fridge!" she exclaimed.
"Wow, that's so cool. That's really good Lila," Natasha said as she smiled at the younger girl while she looked at the picture before handing it back to Lila. "Amelia, your picture looks really good as well. I like it," The redhead told the redheaded child, she didn't say anything but she gave Natasha a small smile. It wasn't much but it was there and Natasha felt like it was a small step in the right direction.
Clint caught the smile that Amelia gave Natasha and smiled. "Baby steps Nat." He told his best friend.
Natasha nodded and smiled. "Baby steps," she repeated hastily.
"Dinners' ready!" Laura announced from the kitchen as she placed a bowl of salad on the table.
"I'm hungry!" Lila complained as she instantly ran towards the table.
"Oh! That smells so good," Clint exclaimed as she stood up from his spot on the couch. "I'll go and get Cooper from his bedroom," he told his wife.
"Okay. Good luck pulling him away from that videogame," Laura said amused as she watched her husband head off upstairs.
"Hey, Amelia. Are you hungry?" Natasha questioned when she noticed the eight-year-old hadn't moved. "Laura's made dinner. You like hotdogs, right?" she asked apprehensively.
"Yes," Amelia said quietly as she continued to colour in the picture that she drew.
"How about we give the colouring a break and go get a hotdog?" Natasha suggested to the little girl.
Amelia thought about it for a couple of seconds before she nodded. "Okay," she said quietly as she stood up and walked over to the table.
Laura continued to place the plates on the table as she noticed Ellie appear with Natasha following her shortly behind. "Hey Lila, why don't you go and show Ellie where you can wash your hands?" she offered her daughter.
"Okay mommy," Lila said sweetly before she gently took Amelia's hand and they went in the direction of where the sink was.
"I'll go and make sure nothing goes wrong," Natasha said as she chuckled nervously and followed the two kids.
"This is the sink where we wash our hands," Lila told Amelia as she pulled out a stool and stepped on it to reach the sink. "I have special hand soap, it smells like cherries!" she exclaimed delightedly.
Natasha peered her head around the door and watched as the two girls washed their hands. "Do you girls need any help?" she offered.
"No thank you, Auntie Nat," Lila said politely as she turned to look at her aunt.
"Okay," Natasha said and then looked at Amelia who looked like she was struggling to roll her sleeves up. "Amelia, do you want my help?" she asked.
"No. I don't want any help from you," Amelia told the older woman.
Natasha couldn't help but feel her heart sting when Amelia said that. "Okay, well when you're done, we can go back and sit at the table," she said quietly, trying to hide the hurt that she felt from the eight-year-old.
"Yeah!" Lila cheered as she finished washing her hands and ran to the table. Natasha guided Amelia back towards the kitchen as Amelia took a seat next to Lila.
It wasn't too long before Clint and Cooper joined them at the table. "Oh yes, hotdogs!" Cooper cheered.
"See, Cooper likes Hotdogs too," Laura said as she smiled at Ellie who quietly nibbled on the hotdog that was on her plate. "Amelia, do you want ketchup or mustard on your hotdog?" she offered. Amelia shook her head but continued to eat.
"How about Mayo!" Cooper called out with a mouthful of hotdog already.
"Cooper," Clint warned but couldn't help but chuckle at his son's antics.
"Ew, Cooper that's gross!" Lila said as she pulled a face of disgust.
"No, it's not. I'm good!" Cooper argued with his sister.
"No, it's gross!" Lila argued back with her older brother.
"Alright, alright. That's enough. Eat your dinner," Clint said to stop his children from continuing to squabble.
"Mayo on a hotdog is good," Amelia said quietly once all the arguing had died down which took the adults by total surprise. "But ketchup is better," she added.
"Told you!" Cooper said as he grinned in satisfaction.
"Dinner went well I think," Natasha stated as she helped dry up the dishes while Laura washed them.
"Yeah, it did. At least you now know that Amelia likes hotdogs." Laura said as she chuckled in amusement. "Even with Mayo on," she added.
Natasha couldn't but smile as she looked over at Amelia as she sat and played with Lila. "I think that I am going to try and talk to Amelia. Right now, she still doesn't trust me because she saw what happened to her mom... I think that she should at least know the truth," she told the older woman.
"I think that's a good idea, Nat," Laura agreed as she smiled. "Go ahead and talk to her now. I'll finish drying up," she told her.
"Are you sure?" Natasha questioned.
Laura nodded her head and looked over in the direction of the kids. "Yeah. You need to go and talk to your kid," she told her.
"That still sounds weird," Natasha said as she put the tea towel down and shook her head.
"Get used to it Nat," Laura said and gave her friend a smile.
Natasha walked over from the kitchen and sat on the couch beside Clint. Somehow, he already knew what she wanted to say because he smiled at his best friend and squeezed her shoulder in reassurance.
"Hey, Amelia. Can we talk?" Natasha questioned as she looked over at the eight-year-old.
Amelia shrugged her shoulders and put the barbie down. "Fine," she said quietly.
"Okay, come on. Let's go upstairs to your bedroom," Natasha said as she motioned for the eight-year-old to follow her upstairs. "Come sit down," she said once they were upstairs in Amelia's bedroom at the farmhouse, she motioned to the bed as the eight-year-old sat down with her arms crossed. "Amelia, look-" she started to say.
"When can I go home?" Amelia interjected.
Natasha let out a sigh and tried to take hold of the child's hand but Amelia moved back onto the bed so she crouched down to her level. "Amelia, we've already been over this. You can't go back home." The redhead told her gently.
"Why not?" Amelia questioned not understanding what was happening.
"It's not safe for you to go home. You're gonna stay with me now," Natasha tried her best to explain to the child.
"Why isn't it safe?" Amelia continued to question. "I don't want to stay with you." She said.
"It just isn't safe for you to go back there and I know you don't want to stay with me, however, there isn't any other option, Amelia," Natasha said as she tried to remain calm.
"It doesn't make any sense! I want to go home and you won't let me!" Amelia said upset.
"Hey, just calm down," Natasha said as she could see the eight-year-old starting to get overwhelmed. "I'm sorry Amelia but you can't go home," she repeated.
"You've said that already. I don't get why though?" Amelia mumbled upset. "I don't want to be here. I want to go home, back to Brooklyn," she said.
"You can't do that Amelia. It was dangerous there," Natasha told the eight-year-old.
"No, it wasn't!" Amelia exclaimed vividly upset.
"Yes, it was," Natasha said as she paused to inhale a deep breath. "You want to know the truth, kid? Your mom was dangerous and she was hurting people, so we had come in and take you so that we could protect you," she told the small child the truth.
Amelia shook her head furiously. "No. That's not true, my mom wouldn't hurt anyone!" she exclaimed.
"Amelia, I'm telling you the truth," Natasha told the child who was upset by this truthfulness.
"No! My mom didn't hurt anyone!" Amelia yelled loudly.
"Amelia-" Natasha started to say.
"Go away. Just leave me alone!" Amelia said as she rolled over on the bed to face the window.
"Amelia, I'm sorry-" Natasha tried to say again.
"No! Go away, I don't want to talk to you anymore!" Amelia shouted. "I don't like you and I don't want to stay here!" she continued to shout as she lay facing the window.
Natasha exhaled a sigh and nodded slightly. "Alright. I'll leave you alone," she paused as she stood up and looked at the smaller girl curled up on the bed. "I'll come back when it's time for bed to make sure you're okay but for now, I'll be downstairs if you need me," she said softly before she headed downstairs.
Amelia didn't say anything but continued to lay curled up in a small ball and eventually, she started to sob into her pillow.
Natasha walked back downstairs and felt completely exhausted.
"Auntie Nat, where's Amelia?" Lila questioned curiously when she noticed the redheaded girl wasn't with her.
"Amelia is upstairs sweetheart, she just wants some alone time right now," Natasha explained to her niece as she moved to sit on the couch.
"You can play with Amelia tomorrow, sweetheart," Laura said as she glanced at the clock as it was getting late now. "How about you go head upstairs and get ready for bed?" she suggested.
"Yeah. I'll come and tuck you in sweetheart," Clint said as he stood up and motioned for his daughter to follow him upstairs.
Natasha sat down on the couch and rub her temples slowly.
"You okay Nat?" Laura questioned concerned.
"I need a glass of wine... A large glass of wine," Natasha told them out loud.
Laura nodded and moved to the kitchen to pour her a glass of wine to try and help her calm her current stress levels before she headed back into the lounge and handed the glass to the redhead. "Here you go," she held the glass out to the women.
"Thanks," Natasha said quietly as she took a sip of the red wine.
It was quiet between the two women. Laura understood that Natasha didn't want to talk so they just sat in comfortable silence until Clint returned downstairs.
"Lila's in bed and Cooper knows he has half an hour left before he needs to get ready for bed as well," Clint told his wife gratefully before he sat down on the couch with the two women. "Did you talk to Amelia? How did it go?" Clint questioned, they heard the shouting from upstairs but knew it was best to not interfere.
Natasha nodded and took another drink of wine. "Yeah... It went well as expected," she mumbled.
"It will get easier, Nat." Clint tried to reassure his best friend.
Natasha chuckled and shook her head in disagreement. "Will it? Amelia saw us kill her mother and she absolutely hates me for it," she said.
•
Another update,
Let me know what you guys think!