2011

"Stop it! Ow that hurts!" Natasha scolded Clint as he poked her with the large fork he was holding.

"You guys act like children." Cassandra noticed.

Clint stuck his tongue out at her, and she did it back, setting the bowl of salad on the table. Natasha sat down, grabbing a roll of bread from the plate and stuffing it in her mouth quickly.

"Auntie Cass!" Cooper, Clint's oldest son, and Lila, his daughter, ran up to her, and threw their arms around her.

"Hey you guys!" She said, picking up Lila, and pulled Cooper into her, ruffling her hair.

She kissed Lila on the cheek, and kissed Cooper on the top of the head, setting Lila down. Clint's wife, Laura, gave her a hug, and Cassandra helped set the rest of the food down. She sat down next to Natasha, and set her napkin in her lap.

"You're so old fashioned," Natasha teased.

"I have manners, unlike some people," she replied, lightly hitting her friend in the arm.

Cassandra helped the kids cut the steak on their plates, and then cut a piece of her's and put it in her mouth. It was delicious, spicy and sweet at the same time. Natasha was eating so fast that Cassandra had to remind her to slow down so she wouldn't choke.

••••••••••••••••

Cassandra had a colored pencil in her hand, trying her best to make a real looking, well, maybe it was a turtle, or a butterfly. Either way she was failing miserably. Lila put a paper down in front of her, and she looked at it.

"Wow, that's so pretty!"

"It's daddy as a chicken!"

Natasha snorted from the couch she was sitting on, and dropped over to Cassandra and Lila. She looked at it, and her eyes widened before she burst into laughter.

"Clint come here, you have to see this," she said, barely able to speak without laughing.

Clint looked at it, blinking a few times before looking at his daughter.

"Is that me?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"Yeah daddy it's you as a chicken!" Lila exclaimed.

"We are keeping this," Laura said once she'd looked at the glorious picture.

"Well I'd hope so," Natasha remarked, tears welling in her eyes.

••••••••••••••••

Natasha sat in the passenger seat of Cassandra's car, looking out the window. There were to rather large cups of coffee in the cup holders, and both women looked on the brink of insanity.

"I can drive if you want," Natasha suggested.

"No no, I'm fine."

"Come on Cassandra, you haven't slept in like three days. Let me drive so you can at least rest, and I'll wake you up in an hour."

"No, I'm fine."

"Cassandra you have to sleep!"

"I can sleep when I get home!"

"That'll be in like twelve hours Cass!"

"Fine, the next rest stop we stop at, we can switch. Ok?"

"Ok."

Driving from Clint's house back to New York was agonizingly long. Why they didn't take a plane, or something, she had no idea.

"What time is it?" Cassandra asked.

"6:15 in the morning."

They had only been driving for two hours. Cassandra really felt like screaming, but she didn't, because then Natasha would scream, and Natasha could scream significantly louder than Cassandra.

Natasha hit the radio button, and turned up the music that sounded broken because of the static. She nodded along drowsily, and Natasha raised an eyebrow. Cassandra shook her head, silently arguing that she wasn't tired. Even if she was, but Natasha didn't need to know that.

"I'm bored," Natasha whined.

"Me too."

"Why can't we fly next time!"

"Because we are both broke enough as it is."

"I wish money didn't exist!"

"What would you use as your currency then?"

Natasha thought for moment, pursing her lips.

"Air."

"How original."

"No seriously! Imagine, we would all be rich, and we would never run out of money! At least not until the world dies."

"I don't think it'd be all the world, maybe more like, maybe just half of it."

"No, it's all or nothing, right? All the dinosaurs got killed, not half, not one-fifth, all of them."

Cassandra smiled, and shook her head. Natasha kept rambling about what she would do if money didn't exist, or if school wasn't a thing. They drove into small town, and Cassandra stopped at a gas station.

"Food!" Natasha cheered as she ran into the tiny store next to the station.

Cassandra put the nozzle into the tank, and leaned against her car, waiting for it to fill. A man, maybe in his late-twenties, walked up to her.

"What's your name sweetheart?"

Cassandra ignored him, slipping her hand into her pocket, graphing the small pocket knife she had in her hands. She waited for Natasha to come out, so they could switch off.

"I bet you're real gorgeous when you smile."

She sighed, hitting her head on the car window lightly, she was to tired for this nonsense.

"Back off," she growled.

"Ooh, you're a tough one aren't you?"

"Back off."

"So scary," he said jokingly.

He pushed her shoulder, lightly enough to not cause any damage, but enough to knock her against the car. She looked up at him, fire in her eyes, quite literally perhaps.

"Do that again. I dare you."

He pushed her again, and she grabbed his hand, flipping him on his back.

"You should've listened when I told you to back off."

The man stumbled to his feet, putting his hands up lazily. Cassandra smiled wickedly at him, and motioned for him to throw a punch. He swung at her, and she snatched his wrist, kneeing him in the stomach.

She saw Natasha sprint over to her, and she loosened her grip, stepping out of the way so Natasha could kick him. The man stood up quickly, and ran away, whimpering. Natasha looked at Cassandra, giving her a look.

"What did I say about starting fights with civilians?"

"Don't do it. But he started it."

"Whatever kid. Don't do it anymore. You get to have all the fun."

Cassandra took the pump out of the car, and went drove to a parking space. They got out, and went into the store again. Cassandra went to the bathroom, while Natasha bought about fourty dollars worth of food.

did you guys catch the foreshadowing in there?

also, i love writing scenes with clint and his family because they are so cute!!

i love you guys 3000-