NATASHA TOOK A DEEP BREATH as she placed a firm grip on the handle of her chosen weapon.

She hid against the dark oaked tree, sweat dripping from prior as her heartbeat started to pound and thud at a slightly abnormal rate. The ghost-quiet air was not helping at all, especially with her constant worry of paranoia.

Her thoughts cut off when a bullet hits her back...

The small foam object dropping as it did.

"No! Dang it!" Natasha turns to only be greeted by Cooper and Lila, holding their nerf guns as they gave funny looks. Mixing in a couple of laughs too. "Yeah, Yeah, Whatever."

"Auntie Nat, you suck," Lila spoke in a bragging tone, causing Cooper to burst into fits of laughter.

Natasha gasped, taken back from the statement as she pointed at the two children. "Alright, that's it."

The two kids yelped when she suddenly lunged, giggling when she started to chase them around, causing the grass to crunch from the continuous steps.

In the distance, Laura smiled. She lifted her mug whilst sipping the beverage, watching the redhead play with the energetic and wild-headed kids.

"Honey! The food is ready!" Clint's voice chimed. Laura gave a small smile of acknowledgment, clearing her throat.

"Kids, that's enough for now! Go back inside!"

Both groaned out their frustrations, pouting as they did so.

Nat merely chuckled at the young behavior. "When we're done eating, we can continue. Sound good?"

Their eyes lit up, quickly nodding as they ran over to the home.

Natasha sighed, a small yet proud smile tempting to emerge when the kids were out of sight. She stood in that spot before placing her hands in her pockets, slowly making her way to the household.

A few steps on her way to the home and her gaze unconsciously landed up to a small round window on the top of the house. She stayed there for a bit.

Waiting for something to happen? In deep thought?

A small lamp on the side was the only source of brightness, emitting a bright yellow light by the window. Other than that, it was nothing. Her lips suddenly pursed with eyes still on the room.

Y/N's room.

Weeks prior, they all found out that he hadn't slept since the events. His eye bags swollen, taking the form of a darker shade.

This frustrated Natasha even went as far as to forcing him to get a nice and peaceful slumber.

So far, it had been an inconsistent process. Nonetheless, it was better than nothing.

We transition to Y/N...

Small clicks were heard as his fingers press down on the keys of his laptop.

His body slumped, left cheek rested on his palm. His face blank, not tired but not awake. Air releasing through his nose when a headline pops into the screen.

'MYSTERIOUS DARK VIGILANTE STRIKES AGAIN!?: HERO OR FOE?'

Y/N released a frustrated sigh.

This was a constant topic during his daily life ever since Jessica told him about it. Everyone else outside the farm had contacted him about this, questioning his connection with the massive controversy of the case.

But he always said the same answer.

'I got nothing to do with this.'

Others were skeptical, but this was a man who had gone through too much. Suspicions were only caused due to his mysterious mind.

One day he could be dead, One day, he could be alive.

This was what worried them in the first place. And he was sick of it, causing him to start investigating the case himself to finally end everything.

On his wall, a map with red string and pictures attached. The classic detective board.

Each location marked had a meaning. It was either an attack caused by the masked vigilante, or a potential area that would be on high alert.

Even then, the theories were a bit useless. He didn't even have the best evidence on his hands to even pursue it in the first place.

The only way he could get a close-up from the scenes were pictures Jessica had taken for him.

Other than that, nothing.

Yet, he strived.

Because that was who he was.

A frustrated groan released out of him, slapping his head furiously. Before he could even further his actions, a distant yell of his name snapped him out.

"Y/N! Get down here!"

He rolled his eyes, sliding down a poster that covered the map before a black mist whirled around the air, his body vanishing from the room.

"Morning," Y/N called out to announce his presence, appearing behind Clint.

The archer startled from the action, making Y/N snicker before a small smile emerged once his eyes diverted to the Russian redheaded figure in his sights.

"I told him not to bother, but he didn't listen." Natasha pointed at Clint as her free hand was cutting her portion of food. "I'll be the one to call Y/N next time."

"No, No. It's fine." Y/N waved it off, making his way to a spare seat next to Romanoff. "How are you this fine morning?"

"Oh, very well, now you're here." Natasha sarcastically remarked, causing Y/N to scoff.

"Yeah, right. You're funny." He mocked, grabbing a serving spoon as he got a portion of his own.

Once the food was set on his plate, he then turned to Natasha before something made him covered his mouth.

His dimples slightly popping out, meaning he was either hiding a smile or a laugh, Which earned him a stern glare from Natasha.

"What's so funny?" She questioned in a threatening tone.

Y/N cleared his throat, stifling a chuckle. "You got a little something on your uh..." He trailed, pointing at the direction just above her mouth.

A milk mustache.

Even the thought forced Y/N to hold in his laughter harder.

Natasha tilted her head, unsure of which spot she needed to look for.

She started to wipe her face aggressively,

but to no avail.

Natasha turned to the man beside her, jaw clenching as she glared at him. Surprisingly, Y/N thought it was actually cute.

"You're. playing. tricks. on. me."

"No, I swear! Look, here..." He leaned in, gently pressing his thumb above her lip before caressing the milk off...not noticing Natasha's long gaze towards him. "See!"

"And you could've done that earlier?"

"Well, you just looked cute when you're clueless."

Natasha's mouth widened, playfully slapping Y/N's arm. "How many times have you said that?!"

"I'm just pointing out the obvious, lovely." He teased, imitating a British accent.

Everyone else in the room just watched the scene unfold from afar, especially Clint. His arms crossed in amusement, slightly eyeing the pair in suspicion.

Ever since L/N and Romanoff came, he had noticed the change of tone between the two. He didn't even think the household would be treated with the presence of both of them under one roof.

But he would be lying if he said he didn't like the change.

It was like a lifelong wish for him to see his two best friends getting along.

What surprised him even more, he has not heard a single insult coming from the pair. Instead, the opposite.

And he loved it, maybe even an understatement.

Seeing the two getting along, a few ideas had come into his mind which he was not afraid to voice out to his wife.

'I'm pretty sure they are dating....'

Laura would roll her eyes every time Clint would bring it up. But a feeling deep in her gut knew he had a point.

The pair are oddly similar even with their past of having creative differences. They were separated from being regular folk of society to being something they weren't.

To Clint and Laura, this was an opportunity for the Russian redhead and the Dark hero to be of fitting with what they think is called; normality.

<<

CLINT SIGHED before sitting on the couch. Y/N and Natasha awkwardly sat on the spare seat in front of him, unknown to why they were called. The pair fumbled with their fingers whilst Clint just watched, observing the body language.

The two arrived at the Barton household for the first time in a longing... at the same time. A scenario Barton thought would never happen in a million years.

"Alright, gigs up. What have you two been doing?" He questioned, causing Nat and Y/N to look at each other in confusion. This caused Clint to kind of lose it. "..How are you guys not arguing in the last.... ten seconds?"

"Uh- I don't...know...?" Natasha answered in an unsure voice, glancing at Y/N from time to time for help.

With that, time flew by.... awkwardly.

Y/N and Natasha just sat there, subconsciously rocking their bodies back and forth, unknown of what else to do.

Clint just stared.... and stared...

Before a gasp is heard from him, startling the two.

"Are you guys dating?"

"What? No!" The pair immediately retorted in unison.

>>

"...Well-"

"Laura and I are going out to check up on the baby!" Clint interrupted, cutting Natasha and Y/N's conversation off before it could even progress. "Just a quick check before we could leave for New York tomorrow."

Y/N clenched his jaw at the mention, sipping on his glass of water to ease himself up a bit before he spoke. "So, what do you need us to do?"

"Well, we need you and Nat to watch on the kids for us if it's not much trouble?"

Y/N glanced at Romanoff, checking to see if there was any sign of doubt written on her face.

None.

"Yeah, sure." Y/N agreed, answering for both him and Natasha. Clint smiled, maybe even sheepishly too.

"Right, well... we better get going."

"You're not gonna eat?" Natasha gestured to the food in front, earning a shake of the head.

"No, Laura and I did a while ago. I just made a few extra seeing you all were awake..... Y/N too, I think."

Y/N shook his head. "Yeah- no, I was awake. Don't worry."

"Great. Well, we better get going before we stumble into....something." Clint announces, getting out of his seat. Laura followed the gesture, giving the two a reassuring smile.

"Tell us if the kids cause any trouble, yeah?" She asked, earning a nod from the pair.

"We'll be fine..." Nat assures, turning to Y/N, "...Right?"

Y/N slowly nodded before remembering the events before breakfast. His face suddenly fell, transitioning to one of no interest. He stared at the plate in front of him, deep in thought.

Natasha squinted her eyes at the sight.

--

ALL SMILES when Natasha and the kids were playing around with some action figures as they sat on the grass. It was nice out.

The wind was breezing at a decent rate. Sunlight giving its best setting whilst the birds chirped into a lovely song.

"Look! It's Uncle Y/N!" Cooper exclaimed, pulling out a 'Shadow' figurine. Lila gasped, playing with the small sword model it came with.

Natasha, meanwhile, stared at the object...

"He has a toy?" she asked in a slightly surprised tone, earning repeated nods.

Her eyes suddenly diverted to the right...

Y/N sat on the porch, back tilted forward with a neutral yet obvious state of exhaustion written all over his facial structures. Eyes on his laptop.

Natasha turned her head back to the two kids whilst a small smile appeared on her face. "May I borrow that? It's quick, I promise."

Cooper waved her off. "It's fine. Keep it all you want."

Natasha nodded in thanks, getting up with the figurine in her hands.

Lila raised an eyebrow, leaning over to Cooper's ear. "I did not know she loved playing with toys..."

A smirk of mischief appeared on Cooper, watching as Natasha walked over to Y/N's direction. "Yeah, especially toys about Uncle Y/N..."

Both chuckled at each other, no longer interested in their initial plans as they chose to watch everything unravel before their eyes.

Y/N could hear wood stomping, creaking with each step but chose to pay no mind.

"What's that?"

Y/N's looked over his shoulder, a smile creeping up his lips when he saw a hand place above before diverting his eyes back on the screen. "Trouble... Even when I'm nowhere near the place, I just can't catch a break."

Natasha gave a look of sympathy, shifting as she pulled a chair next to Y/N, sitting next to the man. "Need help?"

Y/N scoffed. "Will you be able to?" Natasha simply gave a 'really?' look, making the man in front of her chuckle. "A friend of mine, she's really nice by the way-"

"Wait- a girl?" Natasha suddenly asked, making Y/N shift his attention to her, eyes narrowing.

"Is that a problem?"

"N-No... Not at all. Just never... I- you never introduced her to me, is all."

"Hn, right...." He looked at her suspiciously before shrugging the thought off as his attention was back to the monitor. "So, as I was saying, There have been raids and attacks around the corner from this new... vigilante. Mobs, drug cartels, all that bullshit. The thing is, they aren't as high profile for what they do... but who they were.."

Nat's interests piqued, fixing her posture as she was now all ears. "Continue..."

Y/N nodded. "I was able to get into the database, got some inside info for some classified information. Autopsies and stuff." He dragged his fingers on the trackpad, sets of pictures popping up, photos of scars. "You might think this is the same person, but no. These are five different people, all with the same mark."

"And what's the big deal? Maybe the hero- or threat- you may never know, Just likes marking his victims..."

Y/N shook his head. "That is not from the vigilante. I have the same scar on my right arm..."

Natasha widened her eyes in realization. It only meant one thing. "EIGHT?"

"EIGHT." Y/N agreed. "It's weird how he knows all about this. It's not a coincidence. They could be looking for something. I also gathered a theory..."

Natasha leaned on her palm, focusing on Y/N.

"...With Monveta's appearance in Washington, this could be HYDRA related... This could be a new lead."

"Lead for what?"

"The Scepter," Y/N answered, clicking on another folder. "At this point, It's basically confirmed that the EIGHT and HYDRA are back as allies. We could find more of these guys to get some clues, maybe locations of the scepter before the 'hero' could wipe them all out."

"So many questions..." Y/N nodded at Natasha's remark.

Y/N scoffed. "Trust me, I was also thinking the same." He admitted, continuously scrolling. "It's some perfect timing too. We could give this to Cap tomorrow..."

As he went back to his work, Natasha looked down at her left hand, The 'Shadow' action figure still in her possession.

A sudden thought came into her mind;

"Why did you decline?"

Y/N furrowed his eyebrows. "Decline what?"

"To be team captain? They said you were the top candidate."

Y/N bit his lip, turning his attention back to the redheaded beauty herself. "Well, Steve literally has the name 'captain' on, So I thought he would've been more qualified to do it."

He quickly cleared his throat when he noticed the stern glare he was receiving.

"Why did you really decline?"

He gave glances. Nervous? Probably.

He released a sigh, one of defeat. "I don't think I'm the right guy... honestly. I still haven't forgiven myself about the whole... New York thing. Maybe the people think the same too."

Natasha quickly shook her head from the confession, grasping his hand tightly yet in comfort.

"No, that's not true. New York was not your fault. If you didn't do anything, things would've gotten worse." She then reached out her left hand, revealing the action figure.
"You think they haven't forgiven you? They made you a toy, Y/N. A freaking toy...."

Y/N looked down in surprise, taking the figure out of Natasha's grasp before shooting his head back up. "Is this... real?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Better believe it." She stood, leaning down to Y/N's level before placing both hands on his cheeks. The soft and warms pair of palms making him feel more at ease. "We can continue this tomorrow. For now, let's just... have fun?"

Y/N raised an eyebrow.

"Fun...Romanoff?"

"Oh, stop it..."

Both released a few chuckles before staring deep into each other's eyes, unknown to how close their faces were, feeling their warm breaths on each other.

Once they realized, both swiftly pulled away,

awkwardly clearing their throats.

"Let's uh- the kids, yeah?" He suggested, earning a quick nod from Natasha.

--

THE GRITTY SIDE OF NEW YORK is where this was set. The constant smell of garbage and litter in every corner. Mice were now a regular appearance in their everyday life.

It was night. Distant sounds of cars rolling the streets and chatter, The usual birds chirping, and the far-away sound of sirens were heard.

Pretty normal.

The drizzling rain ran down the window whilst a feminine figure watched the empty streets. A sigh subconsciously escaping her breath before looking back down to her notebook.

Shelves filled with books surrounded her room, a bunk bed set on the side of a wall, paper scattered around the floor whilst she hummed.

The walls were as white as the sky, posters of pop culture 90s references plastered. A small song ringing to block out the noise...

But to no avail.

"Sydney! What the fuck are you doing!?" A muffled yet clear enough voice yelled from a respectable distance, A manly voice. Muffled arguments were heard from the other side of her door.

Her foster family.

She ignored it, scribbling on her notebook. Her chin resting on her fist, the hard-covered journal consisting of math problems of her level.

Easy enough.

BANG!

The door flung open, the knob hitting the wall from the brute force. A man with a scruffy beard appeared. He was out of shape, a beer bottle on his right hand, gray hairs quite visible, and an angry look on his face.

"Sydney!"

(++ Anya Taylor-Joy as Sydney Crooke++)

She seemed young, a teen at most. She always had a gorgeous smile, but like some, a smile that hid the dark truth underneath.

A look of exhaustion and frustration as she let out an exasperated sigh, turning her wheeled chair around to her foster father.

"What?" She questioned apathetically.

"Don't give me that look!" He threatened, pointing the half-empty bottle at the redhead. "We want food."

Sydney rolled her eyes. "Why won't you just order?"

She instinctively ducked her head as a beer bottle came crashing to a nearby bookshelf by her side.

"Are you trying to play smart on me?"

She sighed in defeat, slowly shaking her head.

"Good.... now, you know what to do. So do it." With that, he had left the room as if it was nothing. And it was. This was typical behavior which Sydney was quite used to, keyword; quite.

This made her groan, making sure to muffle it just in case he was still nearby.

The teen looked around her room, a look of composed yet risen frustration to see her surroundings in its slightly disorganized state.

She quickly pushed herself up, making sure that her drawers were locked.

Probably hiding something...?

She exited room, greeted by a small hallway that consisted of pictures of a young woman, deceased in the present.

Once Sydney stepped foot, the volume of chatter had significantly risen. The dark wooden tiles creaking with each step as she made her way to the kitchen.

When she made it to her destination, the loud noise of unnecessary and irritating sounds of hard laughter echoed through the room whilst a small monitor played in the distance, news channel.

'... This masked figure, for all we know, is not who we think he is-'

"-Heck yeah, he is!" One of the two boys thought out loud before noticing Sydney's presence. "Hey, look, It's Crooke-head!"

"Ha Ha, funny, Troy.." She mocked, earning a stern glare from the foster father.

"Don't you ever speak to my boy like that again!" He yelled before turning to his children,

10 years old and 13 years old.

"What do you guys want?" His voice changed in a softer tone, a small smile appearing on his lips.

This made Sydney roll her eyes in amusement, prepping the kitchen.

"I want a steak!" Ben, the youngest, answered whilst the other agreed.

"Did you hear that?!" Michael questioned. "My boys want-"

"A steak, I know, I have ears."

"Don't you fucking talk to me like that! You're lucky I even brought you here!" Sydney's blood boiled at the statement before Michael turned to his kids, more specifically, Ben. "How was school?"

"I wanna transfer! Like Crooke, Midtown!" Troy chimed.

"It's only for smart kids..." Sydney teased. "...I don't think they would be able to teach-"

"Are you calling my kids dumb?" Michael turned to Sydney, glaring daggers at the teen.

Sydney sighed, reluctantly shaking her head.

"Good, now cook. You know the drill, leftovers only.."

"Crooke could cook..." Ben, unnecessarily, thought out loud. Sydney however, just couldn't help it.

"Well done, good to know you have a brain.."

"That's it!"

In just a few minutes, she wandered around the streets.

After being forced to make a meal, she was awarded by being sent out of the home.

Temporarily? Unsure.

At least they were kind enough to give her a duffle bag.

It's weird; she could've easily taken all of them down.

How? You may ask...

--

A/N: AS USUAL, SHORT SINCE THE FIRST CHAPTER IS ALWAYS A SET UP OR AFTERMATH.

-Thoughts on the chapter?

-What do you think of the OC add in? Love to hear what you think!

-Any suggestions? Things I could work on?

-If not, don't forget to vote, possibly share this book around. I'll See ya in a bit!

-Forti