The new compound reminded Eleanor of her and Natasha's time at the Triskelion. It was nice. After years of stress and feeling like the world was moments away from falling apart, it was pleasant to feel like she was being taken back to a time when she was young, and could live free with minimal responsibilities. Well... as minimal you could get whilst being a spy in one of the world's top intelligence agencies.

The place was also incredibly modern, thanks to Tony's futuristic mindset. Evolve, evolve, evolve.

It had more than enough room, so even with the Avengers living there, and many more working there, it didn't feel cramped. Eleanor had informed Natasha that if she felt claustrophobic then she would personally build a summerhouse-style cabin out in the vast gardens that the plot held. All that Nat had responded with was, "I'd love to see you try and use a hammer". Her wife was very clumsy, Nat knew that Eleanor would break her thumbs if she did any type of woodwork.

Still, Eleanor was determined that she would be able to do it. Though the idea was ultimately unnecessary, as there was more than enough space to house all of the humans that they needed. The bonus was that Maria would be working there too, the two of them couldn't seem to escape each other.

There was the main workspace full of communal leisurely workspaces - to which Eleanor insisted that at least one be fitted with beanbags, offices, meeting rooms, and training arenas. And then there was the Avengers section. It didn't have apartments on different floors like the tower did, which would be an adjustment, especially because they lived in an actual apartment beforehand. But, they would make do, they had done before.

The Avengers section was fun. It felt like sharing a giant house with roommates at University. There was a kitchen, living room, cinema room, training rooms, and offices for each person. Though Eleanor and Natasha opted to share an office, they were compensated by being given the biggest one, so once again, Eleanor didn't feel claustrophobic.

The training rooms were Eleanor's favourite. Being equipped with all sorts of gadgets gave training a breath of fresh air instead of feeling like she had been hit by a truck for no reason. The weapons were very high-tech and high-end, which Nat liked very much. In order to practice some parkouring skills which were generally needed in every mission, parts of the wall came out in different shapes to mimic jumping over obstacles or roofing depending on the setting which was a fun activity. It didn't feel like a workout.

Eleanor's favourite part of the training room, however, was the hologram arena. It had different difficulty settings, and once you step foot in it, holographic enemies make an appearance so that you can spar with them. There were various pros and cons to this instead of doing it with an actual person, which is why during training it alternated, but it meant that different moves could be tested out on inanimate beings first instead of on her wife. After she mastered it then she would use it against the person that she loves.

In terms of bedrooms, there were two corridors of rooms, each very spacious with an en suite and a huge walk-in wardrobe. Wanda had situated herself opposite Nat and Eleanor's room. During her short time in the tower, she had become quite attached to the two. Natasha had definitely assumed the mentor position in terms of training, and Wanda and Eleanor had become good friends. Although there was only a two-year age gap, Eleanor was definitely the 'Mom Friend'. Wanda still chuckles about the time that she made four different meals for her. The most recent reminder had resulted in Wanda being shoved off of her kitchen stool.

Wanda's progress with getting back to normal was going well. It was obvious that it would take a long time, but with the help of Nat, Eleanor, and Vision, who she had been spending a lot of time with recently, she was bouncing back better than they had expected her to. She had her down days still, but for the most part, she participated in group activities, cracked jokes with people that she was close with, and cooked dinners for the team. They were proud.

---

After a couple of weeks spent getting everyone settled in, it was finally time for training to begin. The two women were standing ready in their suits on one of the upper levels of the main area away from the hustle and bustle of the Agents below them whilst they waited for the training of the new recruits.

It was the day that they had all been waiting for. Settling in was complete, and people had already been and tested the different training equipment, now it was down to Natasha, Steve, and Eleanor to start properly training them on how to be a functioning Avenger. Out of the seven original members, it was only those three remaining in work, so it was on their shoulders to make sure that the new recruits were up to speed on how to successfully complete missions without being killed.

Though both Natasha and Eleanor had been overprepared. Nat was mostly to blame. Eleanor had been stressing her out by getting ready at "The pace of a fucking snail", in her words, so began hurrying her along, which ultimately resulted in them being ready twenty minutes earlier than they needed to be. Eleanor huffed the entire way over to the empty floor, thinking back to how only a few mere minutes ago, she had almost faceplanted the floor when Nat absentmindedly threw a bottle at her, not realising that Eleanor wasn't even facing her in the first place. The fright from the bottle attack had meant that she lost her footing and tripped over some shoes.

Nat thought that the whole ordeal was quite amusing now that she wasn't stressed about being late. Eleanor not so much.

"Look, I'm sorry that I 'almost broke your back'", Natasha spoke whilst using her fingers as quotation marks, "But I think in the grand scheme of things, it's not that bad".

"Tell that to my chiropractor", Eleanor retorted with a faux-frown. It was rare for them to hurt each other even in accidental situations, but when Nat accidentally 'injured' her wife, she liked to play on it as usually, Nat would get herself out of it by giving her an ice pop or something similar. Unfortunately, there was no time for ice pops before training started.

Nat gave her classic smirk and looked like she was about to say something in return, most likely something that would save her ass from her grumpy counterpart, but they were interrupted by Natasha's phone pinging with a notification. Tilting her head slightly, she pulled the phone out from within one of her concealed pockets and smiled at seeing the sender's name. "It's from Laura".

Eleanor softly smiled as she looked away briefly, even after knowing each other for seven years, she never wanted to peer over to see Nat's phone if she wasn't explicitly showing her something. So, she waited for Nat to pull up the message and put the phone between them so that they could both watch what had ended up being a video.

"Say hi to Auntie Nat and Auntie El", Laura's voice came through the phone as the adorable sight of the newest Baby Barton giggling away on the screen played out. He stuck his tongue out slightly which made Eleanor's heart melt. It took her a few seconds to see the shirt that he was wearing, sewn onto the chest was 'Nathaniel Elliott Pietro Barton'. The younger woman smiled as her eyes stung when looking at the namesakes, she had not been aware that Clint had added in Pietro too.

She looked up and saw Natasha smiling at the phone as the video continued. Eleanor had expected herself to make a comment about how Laura picked the wrong name but seeing Natasha look happy, she didn't care if her name hadn't won, seeing that smile was worth it.

Eleanor was soon snapped out of her sentimental thoughts when she heard Natasha deadpan, "Fat". Her eyes widened as she turned to look at her wife, and when she had determined that she had heard correctly she began wheezing. "What?", Nat turned to her with genuine confusion, which only grew when Eleanor had to bend over and put her hands on her knees for balance as she continued laughing hysterically.

"Just the way you said it", she got out between laughs, leaving Nat holding in her own laugh at the infectious giggles from the woman in front of her, "You can't just call our nephew fat".

"The truth speaks volumes. As does his weight".

This sent Eleanor spiralling even further to the point where neither of them noticed Steve walking into the room. "What... is going on here?".

Eleanor immediately straightened up as Natasha pocketed her phone. The younger woman pursed her lips to try and hold her laughs in, but she wasn't being very subtle as her chest was still shaking and the corners of her lips tugged up. "Right", Steve smiled as he looked between Natasha who was looking deadly serious and Eleanor who was on the verge of a collapsed lung.

"Shall we get to work?".

Natasha promptly took hold of Eleanor's hand and walked over to Steve, "Sorry, I thought you and Tony were still gazing into each other's eyes". Eleanor rolled her eyes slightly in amusement at the mood that Nat seemed to be in currently and continued walking whilst Nat took the tablet that Steve handed to her. "How are we looking?".

"Well, we're not the '27 Yankees".

"We got some hitters", Nat moved the tablet to be closer to Eleanor so that she could look at the profiles of the new recruits and their known abilities.

She nodded along to what Natasha said, they'd be good, she was sure of it. "They're good, but they're not a team", Steve continued.

"Let's beat them into shape", Natasha spoke sure of herself.

"I do hope that you don't mean that literally?", Eleanor grimaced knowing just how brutal Natasha could be during training. She didn't get an answer, only a smirk. Great.

The trio continued walking through the halls until they reached the Avengers jet hangar to rendezvous with the new recruits, and Eleanor felt her excitement getting higher and higher as they got closer. She would miss the old team, but some fresh faces weren't bad, especially as they were friends.

The door flung open as Steve walked in first, Eleanor and Nat a pace behind still hand in hand. Rhodey lifted his war machine helmet, Vision dramatically turned, Sam landed with his falcon suit, and Wanda flew down with her powers. Which was an ability that she and Eleanor accidentally discovered that she had during the 'pushing off the kitchen stool' incident.

The trio looked ahead at the newbies proudly. They looked more than ready to begin training, and enthusiasm was sorely needed in this branch of work.

"Avengers, assemble!", Steve shouted before leading them over to the training room.

---

- 6 months later -

Training had been going very well. They hadn't gone on any big missions yet, just some minor fieldwork. But time and time again they were proving their capabilities and that they were worthy to be on the team. Eleanor was incredibly proud of all of them and was enjoying being a part of the team with them.

Currently, Eleanor was out bringing some pizza to the compound as a surprise at the end of the group training session. They deserved it, it had been a gruelling six months. So, with a pep in her step, she walked through the compound and to the training room.

Kicking the door open, she held the pizza boxes out in her arms and began to shout "I got pi...zza", she trailed off at seeing the state of the training session.

Eleanor's eyes went wide at the same time her jaw dropped. "SORRY!", Wanda yelled as she flung the Captain through the air. They were supposed to be practising lifting people, but clearly, it wasn't going to plan, as Steve barrelled into the concrete wall near the ceiling, his shield sticking into the wall for support as he hung off of it.

"THIS IS FINE", Steve shouted back down in return as Wanda worked on getting Steve back down, just as Sam flew with his wings to collect him. Unfortunately, Wanda's tendrils interfered with the wings and sent Sam barrelling into Rhodey, and then into one of the weapons storage cupboards, leaving Natasha to sprint forward to make sure that no hand grenades would be detonated.

At that same moment, Vision got startled and accidentally blasted a laser beam just below the Captain's feet. Eleanor watched as part of the wall crumbled and Wanda made a desperate attempt to catch Steve as he fell. It worked for a few seconds before he dropped the last few metres onto the floor with a harsh thud.

Eleanor stood with her mouth still agape as everyone recovered from whatever that was. "What the fuck was that!", she half-shouted, making everyone jump not realising that she had returned. Some guilty looks flashed across their faces, and Natasha looked at her with a pleading look as her chest heaved. Clearly, it had not been going well for most of the session.

It was silent for a few moments until Sam brushed himself off and walked forward, "Is that pizza?".

She looked down at the pizza boxes in her hands and then back up at the dishevelled group who were eyeing the boxes hungrily, "Uh no, I think this is actually a salad?", Eleanor slowly walked backwards until she hit the gym doors and awkwardly made an exit.

---

"NO!", Natasha heard her wife screech from in the living room, prompting her to drop everything that she was doing and immediately sprint out of the kitchen. She expected the worst and her anxiety levels spiked during the brief sprint. So, when she saw Eleanor, Wanda, and Sam in the living room playing Mario Kart, she leaned her weight onto one side and crossed her arms.

"Don't you fucking blue shell me you fucking pigeon!", Eleanor once again yelled as her body moved animatedly with the movements of the Wii steering wheel. Wanda burst out laughing as she moved into second place, and Sam gasped out in fake shock.

"Get ready to eat turtle ass!", was Sam's response as he unleashed the dreaded blue shell. The Sokovian didn't seem to be participating in the insults, but from Natasha's perspective, she seemed to be finding them hilarious. Though the older woman wasn't appreciative of her ruined peanut butter sandwich and the sprint over here thinking that there had been a murder scene, just to see a video game being the cause of it.

So, when Eleanor crossed the finishing line in first place and jumped up from her place on the floor, pumping her fist in the air in victory as the other two groaned, Nat decided to burst her little bubble by clearing her throat.

The three in front of her slowly turned their heads over to Nat who was still standing with her arms crossed and her foot tapping slightly on the wooden floor. They braced themselves for the worst and winced slightly when Natasha marched forward with purpose.

"You got a fourth controller anywhere?".

A/n- This was a fun one to write lmao.