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It took them years to get to this point, as wary as Clint was about relationships and Natasha wary about touching and getting attached and Phil being a port in the storm but afraid it was going to slip through his fingers all the same.
No one ever said that spies and SHIELD agents were good at their personal lives.
But they worked out how they'd fix things after the fights, few as they were, and how to ask for what they wanted and how to communicate.
Two years after their official commitment, they moved into a three bedroom house near the outskirts of New York City, within a fifteen minute drive of the small airport that SHIELD maintained and settled in a nice neighborhood.
The house was their home, even if they didn't make it back as often as they liked. It had a small porch and a tiny yard that Natasha planted with flowers when she could. Clint tried his best to maintain them when she was away, watering and weeding them.
The inside was a little worn and their furniture mismatched but it had an open kitchen with plenty of counter space, comfortable chairs and plenty of hiding spots for weapons. The main bedroom had an enormous bed and the spare had a slightly smaller one for when one of them needed to sleep apart. The last bedroom had been converted into a library office, where floor to ceiling bookshelves lined two of the walls and a third was partially covered. Phil had a desk there for days when he didn't go into HQ and there was another couch in there.
It had been theirs for just over a year.
~~
Natasha finally finished the debrief of her undercover mission and intimidated a junior agent into driving her to the house. Phil and Clint were there already, on day one of their week long vacation. Natasha would have started hers with them, but the mission wrap-up and debrief had taken longer than anticipated. By the time the car pulled up, Natasha desperately wanted to shower, sleep and eat food that wasn't unnecessarily fancy.
She grabbed her duffel bag and waved off the junior agent, looking at the warm lights coming from the house. It was so inviting looking, the yellow glow of lights shining through the windows. Natasha climbed up the porch steps, inserting the key that activated that hand scanner. After she scanned her hand, put in her code and opened the door, Natasha stepped into the house. Phil and Clint were in the living room, sitting on the couch and there was a smell of spices lingering in the air.
"Tasha!" Clint said, hopping up from his sprawl and wrapping her in a hug. Natasha dropped her duffel bag and leaned into him. All of the stress from the mission melted off of her and she slumped. It was like the exhaustion she’d put off during debrief hit her all at once. She heard Phil come up and leaned towards him as he wrapped his arms around Natasha and Clint.
Natasha tucked her head into the juncture of Clint's neck. She just wanted to feel safe and comfortable and not like she was gonna rip her skin off.
"Love?" Phil murmured, "Let's get you showered and to bed." He ran a gentle hand up and down her back.
Natasha just nodded. She desperately wanted to get off her feet but she didn't want to move. Forcing herself forward, she shuffled along, Clint keeping her upright as Phil slipped away somewhere. It felt like there was grit in her eyes and she just wanted to close them for forever.
Jerking her head up, Natasha realized they'd gotten to the stairs. Clint's arms were steady around her and she made herself keep moving, taking the stairs a little at a time.
Phil met them at the door of the bathroom, the room behind him filled with steam. "Tasha," he said, guiding her to sit on the closed toilet seat. "Sweatpants, t-shirt and underwear are on the counter," he gestured at them before kneeling and untying Natasha's boots. After he set them aside and stood, Natasha held out her hands. Phil took them and pulled her up, making sure she was steady before slipping out the door and closing it behind him.
Natasha closed her eyes and forced them open again. Shower. With fumbling fingers, she got herself out of her clothes and stepped under the water. It was the perfect temperature and she silently thanked Phil for knowing. After a quick wash that got the worst of the itchy feeling off, Natasha turned off the water and got dressed.
Phil and Clint were waiting on the bed when she emerged. Both were dressed in comfortable clothes, the tv on and Clint had a small pile of stuff next to him. Natasha climbed onto the bed and flopped down, uncaring of the blankets or the circle of wet her hair was leaving on the covers.
"C'mon, Nat." Clint said, patient as always. "Sit up for just a few minutes and you'll feel better."
She growled. She just wanted to sleep.
"Let's at least get you under the covers," Phil said, getting off his side of the bed and pulling the blankets back.
With a groan, Natasha pulled herself up and tucked her legs under the blankets. Phil was taking too long to get back onto the bed and she grabbed for his hand and pulled him back onto the bed. As soon as he was set, Natasha slumped into him, not moving as Clint shifted behind her and draped a towel around her neck. He also gave her an unwrapped granola bar, which she ate in a few bites.
Her chest felt like it was going to burst with warmth.
Clint's hands were gentle as he dried her hair with the towel and Phil was amazingly warm, one arm wrapped around her back and just solid and there.
Natasha thought about staying awake but her eyelids were just so heavy. There was a brush of something against her head and she fell asleep before she could ask.
~~
Shifting of the bed woke Natasha and she blinked open her eyes to see Clint climbing out of bed. He leaned over and kissed her forehead and whispered, "Snuggle with Phil and go back to sleep, okay?"
Natasha nodded and rolled over, finding the warm body that was Phil. She burrowed under his arm and curled up again.
~~
The second time Natasha woke up, Phil was pressed against her side, warm and comfortable. Something was nudging her hip and she realized Phil was aroused in his sleep. She poked him. "Phil. Wake up."
"What?" He asked, opening his eyes.
"Go take care of that." Natasha muttered, pulling the blankets around herself and rolling to cocoon herself in them.
"Alright I will, back to sleep with you." Phil said, smoothing her hair back from her face before getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom.
Natasha closed her eyes again.
~~
When Natasha woke up properly, the bed was empty of her partners and the clock said it was after eleven in the morning. Considering she'd gotten in at three in the morning, that was pretty good.
Climbing out of bed, she found a pair of socks and tugged them on, detouring to the night stand that had a small pile of snacks on it. She ate two of them, pushing the rest into the drawer for another time.
Grabbing Phil's hoodie from the end of the bed, Natasha made her way downstairs. Phil and Clint were on the couch, Clint sprawled across it with his head in Phil's lap. The tv was on and a few empty plates were on the coffee table.
"Morning," Natasha said, carefully climbing onto Clint and laying on him, her head on his chest and her feet tucked between his. She could hear his heartbeat and it was soothing, the steady beat.
"Morning, sweetheart." Clint said, his voice rumbling and vibrating in her ear.
Phil ran his hand over her hair. "How are you feeling today?"
Natasha sighed. It was to be expected. They always worried. She'd be wearing baggy clothes for a few days to make up for the itchy feeling that the mission gave her but she'd be fine.
"Mostly good," she told him.
"Okay." Phil replied, rubbing her hair a little more before dropping his hand to her back and leaving it there.
It was always warming to realize that they trusted her, not only with their secrets and feelings but also trusted her to tell them the truth about how she felt. Not many people were allowed that. From all three of them, in fact.
She must have dozed off again because when opened her eyes, Phil was in the kitchen, banging around and Clint was asleep under her. There was a blanket draped over her and she shrugged it off as she sat up. Below her, Clint blinked awake, smiling up at her.
Natasha considered laying back down and going back to sleep but her stomach rumbled, cutting off that thought.
"Don't get up," Phil called from the kitchen. "I've got food heating up now."
"Sounds good." Natasha said, stretching until her spine cracked. "Want some of your trashy reality television on?"
"It's not trashy." Phil said.
Clint smirked and sat up, scooting backwards until he was leaning against the armrest. "Lean back against me."
Natasha did. "You just want to steal my food." She said, extending her legs along the couch.
Clint pressed a kiss against the back of her head. "Yes, that's exactly it." He said, deadpan.
"There will be no food stealing here." Phil said, coming out of the kitchen with two plates and a bowl balanced in his hands. He came over and handed the bowl to Natasha. It was filled with homemade chicken noodle soup with crackers already floating on the top. It was her favorite comfort food.
Phil set one of the plates on the coffee table near Clint so he could reach his sandwich. Natasha pulled her feet up so Phil could sit closer to them. She also grabbed the remote and turned on the television, knowing that the channel was already on Phil's favorite. Once he sat down, Natasha wiggled her feet under his thigh.
They chatted idly in between eating and watching the show, mostly making vague plans for the rest of their vacation week. They never planned anything big, mostly because they could be called back to SHIELD in an emergency. But dinner out, some housework and maybe a movie would fit in well.
They all got off the couch eventually, Clint taking the dishes into the kitchen, Phil joining him while Natasha moved to the clear area of the living room and began doing some simple stretches. She watched them in the kitchen as she cleared her head and regulated her breathing. They kept bumping against each other playfully, laughing about the story Phil was telling.
It made her so pleased that they were here and happy and hers. It had taken her so long to accept she could have things and people in her life and sometimes Natasha thought she was the happiest person in the world. Screw the rest of the world, they were all she needed.
Once they finished in the kitchen, Clint joined her in stretching while Phil settled down with a book. They spent the next half hour in their respective tasks. By the end of it Natasha was tired again.
It was frustrating coming off a mission and wanting nothing more than to sleep for a week straight when she had a vacation to enjoy with her partners. They were all so busy with SHIELD that half of their time spent together was on missions and if they didn't make sure to schedule time together, they'd never see each other outside of it.
Natasha tried to hide a yawn behind her hand but Clint and Phil saw anyway. Clint pulled her to her feet and they all relocated upstairs without discussion.
They settled in, Phil and Clint bracketing her on the bed. Phil had his book and Clint turned the TV on low. Natasha pulled a blanket up and fell back asleep to the sound of them talking.
She was home.