"CAN'T BELIEVE I'M DATING AN IDIOT."

The absurd comment made Peter scoff instinctively as he settled down onto the couch with Harley planting himself directly beside the teen. "Really? I knew." There was a squeak of offence before a pillow was thrown to his face- Peter caught it on impulse and placed it behind his head with a smug grin plastered across his face.

Harley scowled at his quick reflexes and muttered, "I am so going to smother you in your sleep."

Peter frowned at the faux threat, "You know I am literally stronger than you. Right?" He pointed out, his lips tugged upwards around the words, much to Harley's dismay. He let out a large huff of breath in response before he dramatically draped himself across Peter's torso, effectively pinning the teen to the couch for the foreseeable future. Amused, Peter chuckled and watched him switch to a schematic program on the tablet in his hands while Harley sighed for a second time.

"Babe, flower, cherub- the love of my life-" Peter made a face of disgust at the ridiculous terms of endearments and a noise of protest. "I know all your tickle spots so politely shut up and let me plan your demise in peace."

He pouted and grumbled out, "I hate you. And those nicknames are awful."

"I know. It's great." Harley snickered, forcefully tucking his socked feet under Peter's thigh.

He tugged relentlessly on his arm until Peter was laughing in his ear and finally acquiesced and wrapped it around him- Harley let out a contented hum of approval. As they both settled down, Harley taking over half of the couch whilst Peter let his legs hang off the edge, he felt the hair on his arms stand on end- a silent alert that they were no longer alone.

Instinctively, he turned to face the open doorway to see Wanda walking through it where she offered a rare smile as she entered. Peter noted that she looked tired, but a little less so than his last visit.

The first night after the battle of Sokovia jumped involuntarily to the forefront of his mind; Peter could still recall how wrecked the team had been- but the memory of how destroyed the girl in the red leather jacket was made his breath stutter. Wanda had been deadly silent and held up by Clint and Steve when they'd returned, looking battered and bruised from the confrontation with Ultron.

Her eyes had met Peter's and a silent, unnoticed understanding had passed between the two of them.

Peter knew what it was like to lose- she could feel it surrounding him; the danger, the anguish. It plagued the air around him like thick smoke. Because he knew what it was like to lose total control and become the person you feared you might have been all along when there was nothing- no one- holding you back. Peter had seen it in her eyes- the fear of what she had done and the aching chasm of grief that threatened to pull Wanda down and down until she hit the bottom.

Except Peter knew that she would never hit the bottom because there wasn't one to hit.

Then it had taken weeks for Pietro's death to settle in. For Wanda to realise that life went on even if you lost the one person that you thought you could never live without; she just learnt that it was never the same again. It took a few more for her to understand that the physical feeling that she was missing something- like a hand or a limb- was because Pietro was no longer standing beside her or ever present in the back of her mind, because she found all of herself there every time she checked.

He was the only thing missing. The only thing that was gone.

"Hey Wands." Harley announced, noticing the teen too.

Wanda smiled at the nickname and offered a small, unsure wave- the two were close considering that they were both the youngest occupants of the tower. "I didn't know you were visiting." Wanda commented, directing the statement to Peter who shrugged haphazardly, jostling Harley as he did so.

The teen glared in protest at the movement.

"Just popping by today, but I'm staying over this weekend." Peter continued, ignoring Harley.

She hummed, knowing it wasn't uncommon for Peter to visit often. Then Wanda went to speak again, her eyes meeting Peter's before she seemed to almost, pause. The way her head tilted slightly made Peter's skin prickle; he could feel her gaze roaming over him, like she was studying him or trying to figure out the solution to a complex puzzle. "Wanda?"

"You seem different, today." Her words were slow and measured.

Peter felt his stomach drop and his mind unwillingly jumped back to the night before; his nightmare and the blue light that had glowed around his hands. He clenched his jaw together painfully tight. She couldn't know, no one knew- his heart pounded. "There is nothing wrong with me." Looking up from his schematics, Harley seemed mildly confused at the tense tone to Peter's voice as his eyes bounced between the two enhanced beings facing one another.

"I didn't say that." Wanda soothed, cheeks flaring pink slightly.

They stared at one another for a few more seconds before her eyes snapped away.

"Besides, wrong and different are not the same." she added after a moment, now staring fixedly at her hands as she pulled her sleeves over them without saying another word. Peter swallowed thickly and tried to distract himself by staring down at Harley's schematics, forcing himself to look relaxed.

Harley could feel the way his heart hammered away in his chest.

-

The moment the door clicked shut behind them, Clint was quick to corner the assassin with his arms crossed firmly over his chest. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Immediately, exhaustion swept through Natasha when she turned around and ran a single hand down her face, letting out a long and strained breath that she felt as though she had been holding ever since Fury had dropped the sudden news on her. Everything with Hydra had finally begun to settle, herself and Peter returning to what had been their definition of 'normal' and now? Natasha felt as though everything was being upheaved for a second time. Like she was losing the kid all over again.

"Nat?" Clint asked, reaching out for her hand.

All the tension in her body seemed to dissipate when Clint encased her hand in his own; she focussed on the familiar callouses and searing heat before finally meeting his eyes again.

She squared back her shoulders, mustering every inch of her courage. "It's Peter."

Clint frowned. "What about him? Is it Hydra again?"

"Not this time... he has a living aunt."

Another round of silence fell as Clint struggled to form a clear, singular thought and produce a coherent sentence as he processed. "What- how- are you sure? I thought- they all died. Right?"

Natasha shrugged helplessly. "Fury and Hill are pretty convinced."

The bed was messy and unmade with rumpled sheets as Natasha sat down- she didn't even want to think about when Barton's sheets had last been changed and was quick to discard the uncomfortable and frankly gross thought. Although despite the difficult situation, the assassin would be reluctant to admit that sitting in her best friend's room, (no matter how unsanitary it might have been) was at least a little comforting because it was painfully him with arrows hidden beneath dirty clothes, stuffed animals from fairs dotted around and a stack of old school movies piled on the floor.

Clint flopped down beside her. "What are we going to do?" His legs swung off the edge of the bed.

"I want to run surveillance on her this weekend, make sure that she's who she says she is." Natasha explained, lying back on the bed too. The archer turned his head to face her so that he could judge her reaction to his next question.

"And if she is?"

"We hand Peter over-"

"Woah-" Clint shot up and practically threw himself forwards, "- he is not some kind of package." He began to pace at the side of the bed in a flurry of movement, words flying from his mouth. Natasha huffed at the reaction and sat up too, scowling at the archer who was vehemently not looking at her.

"- he isn't just like, some random shirt that you bought that you've now only just realized doesn't fit and you want to return it- Nat. He's a human being, a kid- you can't just give him back."

Natasha firmly looked across the room, glaring daggers into his wall.

"And he's not some kind of kicked puppy that we can keep Barton. Not when he has a family-"

"I thought we were his family." He spat back, chest heaving.

The intensity of the comment seemed to zap the fight from Natasha in an instant and she paused, pulling back her hair as her eyes closed for a moment in an attempt to clear her mind. Clint had always been the more emotional of the two; it was in his nature to pick up strays. But Peter wasn't a stray anymore, he had somewhere- a home- and it wasn't with two assassins in a crappy apartment or with the avengers in a gleaming tower.

It was with his Aunt May in Queens.

And even though it killed Natasha to let him go, she knew it was the right thing because it hurt so damn much. "It's not that simple." She breathed out finally.

"Doesn't the kid get a say?" Clint argued in Peter's defence, clearly unconvinced.

He refused to let the teenager go. The archer knew what it was like to have limited family and to have that family abandon you and the way that Natasha spoke was as if they would all cut off contact with him. He knew that it came from a place of her wanting the best for Peter but Clint disagreed that giving him to his aunt completely was for the best.

Natasha felt the bed dip and heard the tell-tale squeak of the springs that Clint was once again sitting beside her. "When I know it's safe." She said softly, looking up. "He'll go."

Clint wouldn't look at her in the eye. "And if he wants to stay with you?"

"He won't." She muttered. 

A/N

Ok. For any confusion about Wanda, she can like sense Peter's magic now that he's starting to accidentally use it- and this story in my head is set like after age of ultron.

I would have kept Pietro alive but I wanted angst :)

Also Clint being weirdly protective of Peter warms my heart. And Natasha is only so adamant on pushing him away is because it would be safer in theory and he could be with his 'blood family' so she kinda feels like she doesn't have a 'claim' on him anymore- lets hope that came across!

Anyway! Let me know of any spelling mistakes! xoxo.