"SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT." Clint breathed after Natasha finished her story. She'd explained the coordinates and the warehouse in a breezy manner that Clint was going to circle back on eventually, he just had a few questions first. "You just waltzed in there and practically adopted a kid?" His voice was incredulous while he stared at Natasha who was sprawled out on the couch, facing the direction of the balcony so she could sneak glances at Peter periodically.

He was still sat out there, now peering up at the sky with a blank face but she could see the exhaustion in the dip of his shoulders.

"Fury knows too." Natasha commented with a small shrug, reluctantly switching her focus back to Clint. He was perched on the coffee table, ignorant of the array of guns he had shoved to the side as he made space for himself as if owned the place- Natasha rolled her eyes at his inability to sit in a normal seat. "I'm not giving him up. So don't ask."

"Wouldn't dream of telling you what to do." Clint grinned when Natasha's lip quirked in approval before sobering a moment later. "Guessing he means a lot." He added, a lilt of interest in his voice.

Natasha hesitated, biting back her initial words of 'Yes. He does. He means so much to me in such little time that it's terrifying-' because then she'd have to confront those feelings despite their truth and sincerity. Peter did mean a lot. And maybe it was down to their similar backgrounds; trained and forced to be someone you didn't want to be at such a young age- she didn't know. Didn't care beyond the fact that as long as he was safe then she'd be happy. The kid still had a chance to be normal, to escape the nightmares and horrors that lurked around in his past, waiting in the dark.

Her eyes flicked from Peter to Clint. She wanted to give him that chance. Like Clint had done for her. "Yeah. He does." She finally breathed out, electing to keep the rest of that sentence to herself.

Clint waited another beat, as if half-expecting her to keep talking but he knew her better than that, so instead he clapped his hands together.

"Well. Dysfunctional family bonding time then." Natasha arched an eyebrow.

"I was joking before, you know." She spoke slowly, as if he had suddenly lost a brain cell. Natasha knew Clint would step up and claim the kid if she asked, would take him in because it was her asking- but she wasn't sure Peter would be too keen on the archer doing so. In fact, she was pretty sure he would kick Clint again and definitely put an end to the Barton bloodline.

"And I wasn't. What's new?" Clint sighed. There was a serious set to his jaw.

Then he was suddenly on his feet and wandering over to the balcony to poke his head out. Natasha gawked after him before scrambling to her feet. Peter looked up, clearly startled at the sudden arrival before it morphed into confusion at his solitude being interrupted. Especially by the man he had put into a choke-hold not even half an hour before. "What pizza do you want?"

"Erm." Peter blinked. "What?" His eyes darted to Natasha who materialised behind Clint, hitting him upside the head before sliding out into the cool air with practised ease.

"He'll take whatever."

Clint disappeared into the apartment again, leaving the door open in his wake. Natasha moved to follow, wanting to let Peter have all the time he needed and not rush him into joining them inside even though the night was only getting colder. But then she caught him turning to face her and she instinctively looked back; his head dropped slightly onto his chest. "I'm sorry."

The words were quiet and Natasha's features softened at them as she laughed lightly. Peter looked up in surprise, his eyebrows knitting together in another bout of confusion at her reaction. "Kid, he's used to it. No harm done. Besides, I've tackled him a few times too. Don't sweat it." For a moment Peter looked like he wanted to say more, but thought better. Then his lips curled into a cheeky smile.

"Did you win?" He asked, part curious and part knowing.

Natasha smiled widely at the question and the young expression on his face; she knew there was hope for him yet. "Hell yeah." She grinned, tucking her hands into her pockets, looking smug. Then she dared to reach out and ruffle his hair. Peter looked surprised by the unfamiliar gesture before relaxing again, a look of brief contentment flickering over his face.

Natasha made a note to ruffle his hair more often when she pulled back. "Cool." He added.

"Cool." Natasha echoed. "Come on, we can pick movies and annoy Barton."

-

The next morning Clint woke up on the couch where he had crashed the night before; a blanket had been draped half-heartedly over his figure. He groaned at the feel of his hearing aids still in his ears and let out a long-suffering sigh before blearily switching them back on. Voices began coming through to him from the direction of the kitchen.

"- I just think we should enrol you into a school program." Natasha was saying.

The smell of bacon drifted past the archer's nose and he was rising to his feet, following it before he was even fully awake. He entered the room as Peter huffed and grumbled, "Sounds like a bad idea."

"Did you know," Clint began, attention shifting from the bacon to the coffee pot, "I don't even need to be drunk to make bad decisions?" He looked over his shoulder to the other occupants. Peter showed no emotion on his face, though he did arch a single, unamused eyebrow whereas Natasha scoffed.

"Yes." She deadpanned. "I remember Budapest-"

"That explosion was not my fault." Clint fumed, scowling slightly at the memory as he grabbed a mug from one of the cupboards above his head- he did not need an angry assassin cursing him out for taking the whole coffee pot again. Clint still had the scar leftover from the wrestling match.

Despite eyeing the archer suspiciously, Peter perked up. "What happened in Budapest?" Natasha gave Clint a pointed look as he went to answer and try and pour his coffee without looking.

"Story for another time. We're talking school."

Peter slumped into his seat even more as Clint tried not to look too surprised at the way Nat was parenting a pouty teenager. "... there's just so many people, you know?" He asked, albeit reluctant with the way his eyes periodically rested on Clint who seemed far too engrossed with his coffee for it to be natural. "Sensory issues, still adjusting to noise and lights remember?" He grumbled, frowning in distaste when he remembered how his head would throb; he had barely adjusted to regular lights and the sound of traffic through his window.

Shuddering at the mere thought of high schoolers, Peter pushed the idea away. Clint shot a look at Natasha who blatantly ignored him as she pressed on.

"What about online school? We can get you a laptop of your own. It could be a step to getting you back in the world kid." Natasha insisted. She wanted him to see what life was like instead of staying couped up in her apartment like a bird in a cage- he needed normalcy. Peter had a feeling that he was fighting a losing battle with the determination gleaming in Natasha's eyes and that a new laptop would be on his bed by the end of the day.

"The world sucks." He said dryly while Natasha set out three plates of bacon, accompanied by toast and eggs. Clint eyed it hungrily as Peter tucked in with a mournful expression.

"Doesn't it just." Agreed the archer, moving to take a sip from his coffee when Natasha snatched it away, drinking from it as she moved into the rest of the room. "The betrayal." Clint sniffed dramatically; Peter cracked a smile at the duo's antics.

"Are you naturally annoying or do you work on it?" Natasha questioned, cocking her head to the side while she held the mug tauntingly in the air. Clint grinned.

"Haven't you figure that out by now?"

"I think it's one of the universe's mysteries." Peter piped up.

Natasha beamed at his comment, happy to not only have someone to tag team Clint with but that Peter was slowly warming up to the man. She highfived the teenager on her way to the couch, her own plate of food balanced in her arms. Clint huffed and brewed more coffee. "Surrounded by traitors."

"It's a spider thing." Peter shrugged, slipping off the stool gracefully and trailing after Nat. 

A/N

Oop- school doth suck, Peter is correct. Anyway! Hope you liked it- and Clint's reaction to Peter hanging around. I'm trying real hard to get their dynamics to be good.

Let me know of any spelling mistakes! xoxo.