3 Years Later

Holly held tightly onto Hope's hand as they crossed the road. The three-year old ran on her tiny feet, the skirt of her yellow dress floating around her. She giggled as her pigtails swung around by her face when the wind picked up.

Upon reaching the opposite side of the road, she spotted a dog tied to a post beside a bike outside a shop. She tugged at Holly's hand and pointed.

"Mummy, look, look at that goggie! It stuck." Shaking her head and finding Hope to only be slowing her down, Holly paused and crouched down to her daughter's level. She adjusted the clunky sunglasses on her daughter's face and sighed around her smile.

"It's not stuck, sweetheart. Its owner just doesn't want it to run away." Picking Hope up, Holly began to walk across the bridge. From her waist, Hope fell silent in awe at the sun and the boats on the water. She squealed as a fish jumped up and out of the water, the sound catching her mother off guard. "Hope, be careful." Grimacing at the ringing in her ear, Holly envied Clint and his hearing aid for a moment.

"Mummy look at the fishies! I bet mermaids live down there." Raising her eyebrows, Holly smiled and played along.

"Mermaids? How do you know that?" They were approaching the entrance to the SHIELD compound and Hope was now extremely animated as she began the chat nonsense to her mother about mermaids. She rambled about the Little Mermaid and mermaid princesses as they stood in the lift, offering her knowledge to anyone that joined them as they ascended the building.

Holly couldn't help but grin whenever she listened to her daughter's tangents. She was always amazed at the amount such a small person had to be passionate about- last night, for example, Hope had expressed in a heated and lengthy speech about her hatred of ice cream. The sudden outburst after she was presented with the desert, she only ever received when her father was due back from a mission, had knocked Holly back into her seat. Of course, it was only a phase, and she happily ate the ice cream as she nodded and hummed along to her daughter's expression.

When Holly knocked on Director Fury's office door, Hope had yet to quiet down. Upon entering the room, Hope fell silent as soon as she saw Fury before pointing at him and yelling 'Pirate!'. Despite her mother's incessant shushing, Hope would not stop yelling about the rivalry between mermaids and pirates. Holly apologised to Fury, who simply watched with the smallest hint of a smile.

Hope, now on the floor, ran over to Fury's desk. She gaped up at him, staring at his eyepatch.

"Can you say 'arrrgh'?" Her face scrunched up as she imitated a pirate before bouncing happily and looking up at him expectantly. He glanced at Holly briefly before copying the child. With a delighted squeal, Hope ran around the room before flopping onto her back and spreading out on the floor.

"Okay, she should be out for a bit." Holly takes a seat at Fury's desk, glancing back to see her daughter, now waving her hands above her head and talking to herself. "Everything excites her these days." Humming, Fury now focuses his attention on her.

"Agent Barton is returning from his mission today." Holly nods knowingly with a small smile. "Miss Beaumont-"

"Mrs, actually. Mrs Barton. We had a private ceremony before he left- I've been meaning to get it changed." Fury takes a deep breath and crosses his arms on his desk. He maintains eye contact with Holly, the room feeling silent despite Hope talking behind them.

"And where was my invite?" Holly gaped, laughing hesitantly as he too began to chuckle and shake his head. "Very well, Mrs Barton. As I was going to say, I just wanted to make sure you were aware of the risks of continuing to bring your daughter here. We are not the safest organisation, nor can we guarantee the safety of anyone in this building. Your request for a nursery is understandable and we have looked into it previously but it puts even more, younger, lives at risk should someone decide to attack us here.

"The board, including Director Pierce and myself, have decided that if you wish to bring your daughter into work she is your responsibility to keep her safe. Your request to become a full time agent has also been denied considering Barton already having his fair share of enemies. It's all for the wellbeing of you and your daughter."

"With all due respect, Director," Holly crosses her arms and leans back in her chair, "I took on Trickshot when he threatened myself and Clint and won. Now imagine what would happen if he threatened my daughter." She waited for him to say something to change his mind, anything. Instead, he just sighed and shook his head.

Nodding, Holly called for Hope and excused the both of them.