A few days had passed since the two women were reunited and they did not waste any of the time that they had together. It was like they were joined at the hip, Eleanor enjoyed the company, but for Nat, this was truly needed. She was unaware of this but the Agent was her safe place now, so she was naturally drawn to wanting to be with her. Eleanor was also drawn to Nat, she had good energy, and the two clicked.

They ate together, did work together, watched movies, and whatever else popped into their heads. Today Clint suggested that Eleanor come and train with him and Nat, as she out-skilled him in almost everything and he needed a break for his ego. The two women were obviously fine with this and were excited to train. They hadn't seen each other in action before and so they were also excited to get a bit competitive with each other, both firmly believing they could outsmart the other.

They both sported black leggings, Nat had decided on a black tank top, whilst Eleanor opted for a cropped tank top. Clint and Nat were already in the training room that was booked out for a private sparring session.

When Eleanor walked through the door she made her way over to the duo, Nat was looking over at her and found her eyes lingering, having never seen her in sports gear. Feeling embarrassed, she turned around to where Clint was and began helping to organise the equipment he was going to be using.

Eleanor saw Nat get flustered, but didn't really think anything of it. Reaching the two, she said, "Hello hello".

Clint smirked whilst looking down at his arrows, "You again?". This earned him a slap to the back of his head.

Eleanor glared at the man who turned around to face her, massaging the back of his head, "You invited me!", she exclaimed whilst pointing her finger at him. Clint pulled this shit all the time, pretending that he didn't want her around, she found it quite amusing in all honesty. It was complete lies, well... sometimes.

He chuckled dryly as this was really not helping his ego like planned, that slap hurt. "That I did".

Nat just raised an eyebrow at the antics between them, she was still trying to get used to the harsh banter that her new friends displayed, sometimes taking her a few seconds to know if they were actually pissed at each other or if they were just joking. But, when Eleanor's expression changed to more of an amused one, she figured that they didn't hate each other today. Yet. The day was still young.

Eleanor quickly turned to Nat and smiled, "So, training?".

"Yeah, today's focus is on combat". Eleanor nodded in understanding, she already knew this information.

The two started making their way over to the sparring mat, but before they reached Clint shouted over, "She's gonna beat your ass, Hughes!".

"I'll beat yours in a minute if you don't shut up".

This quickly silenced him as this had happened in the past. She felt very smug at this fact.

Nat scoffed at the pair before getting into position, "You ready?".

Eleanor joined her on the mat, "Of course".

Nat sprung into action, throwing a punch at her shoulder, which was easily blocked. Nat got pushed back by the block which was an opening for Eleanor to kick her side, which was of course blocked by Natasha.

Clint was watching the two throwing many punches and kicks, all getting blocked and used against the other person, it was intriguing to watch and it was going on a lot longer than when she was up against Clint. Much to his dismay.

After a few minutes Eleanor had managed to sweep Nat's legs and sent her flying to the ground, this made Nat falter for a split second as it was unexpected, but she quickly reacted. Before Eleanor could hold her down, Nat looped her leg around her ankle, sending her flying face-first into the ground, and quickly sat on top of her, holding her arms down. After struggling for a few seconds, she tapped out.

Nat stood and extended her hand to help the other woman up. They were both slightly out of breath, so went over to Clint to grab their water.

Nat looked at Clint who stood looking mildly annoyed and felt like annoying him even more. Turning to Eleanor, she smirked, "Finally someone who was a match for me". She only said this to mess with Clint, but she was actually impressed with her skills, it was rare that she came across someone where she hadn't floored them within seconds of the fight starting, and the younger Agent had even managed to throw her to the floor.

Eleanor just smirked back, "Couldn't have met anyone who can fight then".

Clint scoffed before elbowing her in the ribs.

"Aw, someone's upset", Eleanor said pouting causing Nat to laugh.

Eleanor ruffled Clint's hair before the trio carried on with training.

---

They decided to have lunch together after showering and getting into their work clothes. Clint's room was closer to the cafeteria and so they decided to meet outside of his room. Efficiency.

The three walked down together, telling jokes and annoying each other. They were happy together, their personalities just fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and they seemed to understand each other. So, when Nat's demeanour shifted when they neared the cafeteria this did not go unnoticed by the other two, they just didn't know why.

When they walked into the busy cafeteria Nat had stopped talking altogether and seemed rather uncomfortable. As they walked over to grab food, Clint and Eleanor both noticed that other Agents were sparing the group a few awkward glances and stares, which never happened when it was just them, which brought out a level of anger in them.

Some of the other SHIELD Agents were still wary of Natasha, many of them had been put on cases where she was the antagonist during her time with the KGB and The Red Room.

Having sussed out what was going on, Eleanor glared at anyone who looked in their direction with stares or uneasy looks. This immediately got them to soften their looks, or look away completely. She was well known within the organisation, and they did not want to get on the wrong side of her. They also knew that she was close with Maria, and well, Maria could be scary.

Once sure no one was looking at them, Eleanor brushed her hand against Nat's whilst they were queuing to try and get her attention. This made Nat flinch and look down, before looking at her with furrowed brows, confused at the action. Eleanor just smiled softly at her, which almost immediately caused her to feel a bit more at ease.

When they sat down with their food it went back to normal, almost. Nat still seemed a bit on edge but she was doing a good job of hiding it.

Clint finished eating first, "Right, I've got a meeting to get to so I'm gonna go", he said whilst standing and pushing empty packets towards Eleanor.

"Excuse me take your own-", but before she could finish he had walked away, "Son of a bitch", she muttered, causing Nat to give a small chuckle. One of these days she was going to dump an entire bin on him or something.

There was a little bit of an awkward silence now that the remaining two had finished eating. Nat was looking around the room, it was clear that her fight or flight mode was on currently.

"You okay?".

Nat didn't answer, so Eleanor frowned and waved a hand in front of her face.

"Hm?", she responded quickly, snapping her head to look at her.

"I asked if you were okay but you were miles away, where's your head at?".

"'M fine", she muttered.

"Nat", Eleanor responded sternly whilst tilting her head to the side slightly, "You can't lie to me, you know that, so I'll ask again, are you okay?".

Nat sighed before looking down at her hands, she liked how someone cared enough where she couldn't fool them, but she also hated that she couldn't fool her.

A few seconds passed before she composed herself and leaned forward slightly, arms crossed and leaning on the table, "I don't fit".

The wording confused the other, "Huh?". She honestly had no clue what Nat was talking about.

"In. I don't fit in", she hurriedly responded, hating that this conversation existed.

Eleanor's features immediately softened, and she froze for a few seconds trying to think of words, "Neither do I".

Nat quirked a brow, wondering what the hell she was talking about.

Eleanor chuckled slightly, "I'm serious! Do you think people thought I fit in, joining as a 19-year-old? I was never taken seriously, people treated me like a child, never listened to, most wouldn't talk to me as they all thought they were too old to be 'making friends' with me".

She could see that Nat was concentrating on every word being said so she continued, "After a while, people warmed up to me and I proved that I wasn't a child that was incompetent, well... I'm still trying to shake off the 'kid' stereotype but it's not nearly as bad as it was, it'll happen for you too, people will begin to trust and you'll feel more comfortable. It'll be okay Nat".

Nat gave a small smile and nodded, "You're wise for a child you know?". The audacity.

"Aaaand she's back", Nat simply smirked at her response.

"Well...", she pushed both hers and Clint's rubbish over to Nat, "Merry Christmas!", and she bolted out of the room. Karma, she smirked.

Nat's eyes widened before she scoffed and shook her head, getting up to throw the rubbish away and search for her annoying friend.

---

Nat was struggling to find her. Eleanor was fast she'd give her that much, she wasn't in her room, or at her desk. She found Clint and expected Eleanor to be there annoying him, but she wasn't there either.

"Have you seen El?".

Clint was about to answer but both of their phones pinged at the same time. They both thought the worst, thinking there was an emergency as it was weird that both of their phones were going off at the same time, the last time this had happened, Budapest happened.

Upon further inspection the pair just looked at each other and scoffed, it was just Eleanor, they had been added to a group chat.

"Oh for crying out loud", Clint said whilst trying to hold in a laugh whilst looking at the name.

- Best Buds 4 Life Eleanor: UNO tonight, 8 pm. My room, I'm ordering some pizza. Don't be late Clint: I'll be there kid

Eleanor: I swear to God Barton.

Clint: :)

Natasha: I'll come if you tell me where you are

Eleanor: My comfy spot of course.

Nat looked at Clint for an answer, she had no clue what Eleanor was talking about.

"Communal Area C, you'll see her on a giant beanbag".

"Thank you", she said sweetly before turning on her heels and heading toward her destination.

Nat opened the door to the communal room and immediately spotted Eleanor sitting on a giant beanbag like Clint said she would be, typing on her laptop whilst occasionally eating from a big bag of pretzels.

Eleanor was concentrating on her work and so didn't notice Nat's arrival, which she found amusing. She walked over to the beanbag and kicked it, causing Eleanor to squeal and launch the pretzel bag into the air.

"You ass!". Her poor pretzels, cut down in their prime.

Nat was laughing hysterically at what had just taken place.

"Well I'm glad you find the death of my best friends funny", Eleanor monotonously said whilst scooping up pretzels that landed on the floor and throwing them away. She took her snacks very seriously.

"Best friends?", Nat managed to get out as her laughs were dying down.

"Mhm".

"Aw I'm sorry, I'll buy you a new bag I promise, besides I thought me and Clint were your best friends".

Eleanor stood up and looked at Nat smirking at her, "Nuh uh, you guys are my best buds, but I think it's only appropriate for you to be demoted now".

"That's not up to you".

Eleanor laughed slightly, "Excuse me?".

"Well, you're my best bud so that automatically means I'm still yours".

"Oh really?".

"Yup", Nat said with emphasis on the 'p'.

"Not sure that's how it works Romanoff, but fine, I'll play by your whack rules", she chuckled and sat down on the beanbag.

"I'm preeetty sure that is how it works, Hughes", she made her way over to the chair on the beanbag and looked over at Eleanor as she started typing on her laptop again.

---

The two sat together for a few hours, Nat had gone to get her laptop too, so that the two could do some work. They somehow managed to still be productive together, mostly because whenever Eleanor went off track Nat hounded her to do more work. When working with Clint, if she goes off track, he finds it amusing and just ignores her, not very helpful really. As the evening came and they stopped working they just started talking instead before heading back to the residential block.

Whenever there was a game or movie night with Eleanor, it was a rule that everyone had to be in comfy clothes, so the two changed into sweats and hoodies in their respective rooms.

The pizza had arrived and the UNO cards and monopoly board was set up. It was now 8:01 pm and Nat and Clint still hadn't arrived. They arrived at 8:03. Unacceptable.

Eleanor huffed in fake annoyance when the pair walked in and pointed to the clock on her wall.

"Yeah..?", Nat said, majorly confused.

"What time do you call this?", she replied trying to keep a straight face but faltering. Clint just shoved his way into the room and grabbed a pizza slice.

"It's 8", Nat said bluntly.

"it's 8:03".

Nat rolled her eyes and closed the door before walking over and sitting next to Eleanor, "Will you shut up and just pass me some pizza".

"Oh, we are bold bold today! Fine", she grabbed a plate and stuck a few slices of pizza on it.

"Thanks", Nat said when they made eye contact and they both smiled sweetly at each other.

Clint obviously butted in on the moment, "I'm glad to see it's not just me she annoys".

"Hey, you guys love me really". She knew that this was true and loved teasing him with the fact. Nat and Clint chuckled whilst looking at each other and decided to stay quiet and eat their pizza. Eleanor frantically looked back and forth between the two, hoping for a reply.

"This is bullshit", she mumbled before aggressively taking a bite of pizza. This caused the other two to laugh again before they all settled into comfortable conversation.

They ate, talked, and played games until 3 am, and they all had a great time. It wasn't often that all of their work schedules aligned, usually one of them would have to be up early, so it was nice to be able to get together in the evening.

The trio panicked when they finally saw the time, Eleanor practically shoved the other two out of the door mumbling something about needing her beauty sleep and then collapsing on her bed. Clint and Nat said goodbye in the hall, Clint placed a hand on her shoulder when he said goodbye, and the two parted ways.

When Nat was in her room she couldn't help but smile at the night she just had. She didn't care if she fit in anymore, she fit in with her little group, and she was more than happy with that.