"Love is for children. Do I look like a child to you, Clint?" Natasha crossed her arms tightly over her chest and waited, giving her friend a look that would freeze an open flame, daring him to continue. Even despite her best efforts, he wouldn't take the warning.

"If children can be head-over-heels in love, then yeah, totally."

"You looooove her," Tony added, resting his arm over Clint's shoulder with an arrogant look on his face, knowing full well that he was right. "Just admit it and we can all move on with our day."

"You're being ridiculous, and I have things to do," she huffed, shooting a vicious glare to Barton before turning away. She knew that he was right, and he knew it too, but it had been something that she thought she could trust him with, and it pissed her off to be so wrong.

"You mean (Y/N)?"

Nat stopped in her tracks and spun on her heel to face the men again. The red anger in her face matched the vibrancy of her hair, and Clint took a small step back in response. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"You have things to do," Tony smirked, "meaning (Y/N), right?"

"Uggggh," Clint groaned, turning away with his face in his hands, "not cool, man. Not the time."

"What? All I said was-"

You could hear Tony scream even from your room several floors above, so you knew that Natasha would be busy for some time, allowing you the opportunity to pack as much as you could. The two of you had been dating for nearly two years, but apparently you thought that your relationship was more than she did, given what you had just overheard her say to Clint. You made the ridiculous mistake of believing that when she said she loved you, she actually meant it.

Now the only feelings you had were embarrassment and the strong need to run. When the screaming below came to a stop, you hurried to keep her from coming after you so you could make a clean getaway before she could stop you. You pushed as many belongings as you could into your pack, taking only the essentials that you would need until you could gather yourself enough to come back for the rest.

"JARVIS, please lock access to our floor. I don't want Natasha up here until after I leave."

"Yes, ma'am. Access will be allowed by your command only."

~~~

"What the hell?" Natasha continued to slam her fingers against the screen, entering the security code to your floor over and over without success. "JARVIS, why can't I get in?"

"I have been asked to restrict all entry to your floor, miss."

"By who?"

"(Y/N)."

"Great, just...great," she huffed under her breath, bringing her hands to rest on her hips as she searched her mind for why you would lock her out. It was something you did after a fight and you needed a few minutes to cool off, but there hadn't been one and she was at a complete loss. She slipped her hand into her pocket and retrieved her phone to check the time and paused, looking at the picture of the two of you on the screen warmly before opening it.

Clint was right, of course, but it wasn't something that she readily flaunted around, the way she felt about you. Everyone knew that you were dating and that you had been for some time, but she wanted to keep some of the relationship to herself, and this felt like the most important part to keep. She was just glad that you hadn't heard what she had said. She hurried to make her way to the gym, realizing that it was time for your workout, hoping that maybe you had talked to Steve and he had a clue what was happening.

"Romanoff," he greeted as she strode through the doors, not taking his eyes from the punching bag. "You talk to her?"

"See? I knew that you'd know. What the hell did I do? She's got the floor on lockdown and JARVIS won't crack."

Steve stopped and took the bag into his hands to steady it, finally looking at her in total surprise. "You really don't know? You've had almost an hour to work this out and you still don't know?"

"Why do you think I'm asking?!"

"Natasha, a child could figure this out faster."

She opened her mouth to spew a quick retort but froze as his words sunk in. She stood perfectly motionless, her finger still pointing at him accusatorily, and her eyes slowly widening until she finally crumbled her posture and her shoulders dropped in disappointment.

"Oh, shit. She heard me."

Steve released the bag and turned his attention back to his work, resuming throwing sound punches that echoed through the room, but paused for only a second to give a quick glance to the clock on the wall. "She left a few minutes ago. Take as much time off as you need."

She was going to leave immediately. Natasha knew exactly where you were going and felt confident that once she could just get you to talk to her, you would understand why she said what she had. She made the mistake of taking time to pack and to allow you enough of a head start to think and to let the situation settle, but even though Steve had released her from her duties, he pulled her back in just as quickly; it wasn't by his own choosing, but because there was a threat that required as many hands as he could get, and she was still in the building.

~~~

A few days later, just when you were starting to think that you were right and that she wasn't coming after you, a message from Steve gave you a tiny boost to your mood.

Party at the tower tomorrow, 7pm. We'd love to see you. ALL of us.

You must have stared at your phone for hours, or at least it felt that way. You couldn't blame Cap for trying; he was a good guy and wanted to see his team happy. He was like the big brother that actually cared about his siblings, and even though you did want to see the team again, you weren't sure if you wanted to see her yet.

I'll catch the next one. As much as I love our little raiding parties, let's keep an eye on that scepter this time, okay?

That's hilarious. Don't worry, Tony has it locked away in the lab. Those days are over.

~~~

"We took a hit. We'll shake it off."

Natasha stumbled from her chair on the quinjet and into the seat behind Clint, mustering all of her strength to lean forward and give him coordinates that she struggled to bring forth from her clouded memory. The Maximoff girl had gone to places in her mind that she never thought she would visit again, and she now wanted nothing but you to help bring her back. Even though she had wanted to protect this part of her life, she couldn't take the chance that the jet would land anywhere else.

With a simple nod, Clint acknowledged her and plugged the destination in to the computer, watching her return to her seat only to see Tony take her vacated spot.

"Hey, you wanna switch out?"

"No, I'm good. If you wanna get some kip, now's a good time. We're still a few hours out."

"A few hours from...where?"

"Safe house, maybe? I'm not really sure. I'm just going where I'm told."

~~~

When the jet landed on the far side of the yard, your body tensed in response; not to seeing the team again, but to not knowing what to say to Nat. They began to file out one by one, walking to the house looking all but defeated, with Clint supporting Natasha and the rest falling in behind them. As soon as you saw her, any remnants of hurt and anger were gone and you hurried to her side, putting your arm around her and allowing her to use you as her strength to get her into the house.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as you walked, but you shook your head and refused to talk about it. The trembling that had taken over her entire body was now shaking yours, and you had nearly lost your steady gait several times before making it inside the house.

"We can do that later, okay?" You led her to the couch and gently laid her down against the pillows, taking a seat at her side. "I saw what happened in Wakanda on television, but I never expected you to show up here." She hummed contently and closed her eyes at your touch and your hand slowly moving the hair away from her face, with your fingertips grazing her skin. "Just rest, honey. I'm going to talk to Steve."

"No, (Y/N), wait," she whispered, grabbing your wrist, "I didn't mean it, what I said. I just...I wanted it to be just ours. All of it, and this."

"I know, Nat, it's okay. Rest."

The team had congregated in the kitchen and you cringed at the sounds of dishes clanging together and your cupboards slamming shut, realizing that everyone had all-too-quickly made themselves at home in yours. "Excuse me, children. What do you think you're doing?"

"We were hungry," Steve mumbled, his mouth full of sandwich and ready to take another bite. "Sorry, (Y/N)."

"Yeah, so what's the deal?" Tony added, grabbing a container from the refrigerator and opening the lid, taking a quick sniff of the contents before returning it and taking another. "I thought you lived at the tower?"

"No, we stay at the tower when we're needed. We live here."

His head poked out from behind the door with his eyes wide now, "wait, we?"

"Nat and I."

Tony nodded with a growing smirk, returning to his hunt to find a dish of pasta and unapologetically shoving a forkful into his mouth, "God, I love it when I'm right." He continued to eat ravenously as the others voiced their understanding, all while still creating havoc in your kitchen despite your objections. Steve and Clint had practically eaten an entire loaf of bread worth of sandwiches already, Thor had Bruce had cleaned up a leftover pizza, and Tony now had his head back in the refrigerator, looking for more.

"You guys act like you haven't eaten in a year. What's going on?"

"You're the only one who knows how to cook," Tony mumbled, his mouth now full with another new meal, "and you left."

"Tony," you groaned, rubbing your eyes in frustration, "it's been five days."

In unison, and almost as if an organized maneuver, the group stopped and raised pointed fingers at Steve, who stopped mid-bite with a shocked look that quickly softened to embarrassment and almost apologetic.

Natasha even joined in, calling out quietly from across the living room, "it was Steve!"

"It's not my fault!" he whined in defense, but still shoving the bite into his mouth. "I have a fast metabolism."