(A/N): I just wanted to thank everyone for the continuous support; and to Aine for being my muse and keeping me on my toes.

"The Countdown at 9"

"That's what the voices in your head are for, to get you through the silent parts." -David Levithan

It was a particularly bad mission.

When it came down to it, she knew she should have expected it. When small towns and psychotic criminals mixed, it usually doesn't end all that well; if not at all.

SHIELD called her in because they needed her to interrogate the head of the operative.

It was her specialty. She prided in her work of revealing what needed to be revealed.

Though she was never proud of her other known talent.

She was honed to take pain and care little for repercussions. She was taught to kill the target and retrieve significant information—and to do so without prejudice.

No hesitation.

No mercy.

Somehow, her whole perception became twisted over time. After she was taken in by Clint Barton, she was given the chance she never thought she could ever have again.

She was given the chance to clean the blood on her hands by doing the right thing.

Natasha Romanov wasn't deluded though. She knew that very few people in SHIELD saw it as so. Most of the agents only saw her as an asset to keep an eye on.

She didn't care.

So long as Clint saw her as a friend, his partner, a confidant—she was more than happy to keep going. Clint believed in her; that there was some humanity left in her broken body. She's still working her way into seeing what he saw, but with their new family—she had no doubt that she would, maybe sooner than later.

Having that many people trust you and care for you overwhelmed her quite a bit.

Meeting Hadrian was probably one of the most emotional she had ever been.

The kid looked like Loki, Stark was right in saying that they could pass off being biologically related. Seeing Loki being a father was a completely different thing.

He fussed and played with the child as if he was the only person in the room.

The former god was also quite sweet and gentle with the little boy.

It was painful to watch.

Sure, she knew that Hadrian was adopted, but their connection—their chemistry was that of how an actual child would react to a parent. As if Hadrian had known no other parent but the one he currently had. Deep inside, she realized that she could never have that.

Then, Hadrian was left in her care one night.

Stark had the idea that Loki needed to celebrate his birthday even though, the former god looked like he would rather just spend the evening in.

The little boy wasn't feeling well then, but agreed with the genius that his 'daddy' needed to laugh more—so he determinedly sat right next to her while she was reading on the living room couch and proceeded to announce that 'Aunty Tasha' would be looking after him.

The little boy was curious, and was very much a cuddler.

They ended up reading the book together, and the sweet child fell asleep snuggled against her.

She relished the feeling of being looked up to; the feeling of belonging she had whenever Hadrian called her on her phone to tell her that his daddy put Clint on time-out because he tried to trick the Trickster, or even when he just calls her from her room for dinner.

That was all she was looking forward to after her recent disastrous mission. Some time with the Avenger's little angel. Maybe she could ask Loki to borrow the kid tomorrow morning for a little shopping spree. Stark would most likely give the green light for it.

Natasha sighed as she reached the Avenger's landing pad, safely storing away the Quinjet and proceeded to the living quarters, hoping to find anyone awake.

Reaching the living room, she found the TV playing RENT while two out of three occupants were sound asleep.

Bruce was grinning at her as he placed a finger on his lips as a universal sign of silence. He was taking photos of the other two people on the couch, who she found out was Loki and Stark.

The two looked very comfortable with Loki stretched out on his stomach on the couch with an arm draped over Tony's shoulder, his ink-covered hand hanging limp over the arc reactor. Tony was sitting on the floor with his back against the couch, and his head right next to Loki's. The genius was hugging one of the couch pillows.

"Wow. They look tuckered out." The redhead chuckled quietly as she took out her own phone to take a picture. "JARVIS take a picture and make it their wallpaper."

Bruce snickered when the AI gave the affirmative before briefly showing them a picture on the TV and resuming the movie.

"Is Hadrian asleep?" The spy asked lightly as she pocketed her phone.

"He was, last I checked—but you can still go by his room to say hi. He'd love any excuse to not sleep." The scientist responded as he walked around the coffee table to greet her properly. "Welcome back."

Natasha nodded with a grateful smile. "I think I'll just see him in the morning. His parents are already too tired to put him to bed the second time." They shared a grin at the joke whilst looking at the tired men on the couch.

"Right, see you tomorrow then!"

After showering, Natasha headed towards her room sluggishly.

Having the smell of ashes and blood out of her nose gave her the sense of comfort she needed. A reminder that she was home now, away from the screams, gunfire and explosions.

Stopping in front of her door, the redhead turned back in confusion. She swore she had heard something.

It sounded like hissing.

She waited for a few minutes before dismissing it and opening her door—stopping only a few steps inside as she heard the same hissing noise; clearer and with an actual source she could see this time.

Hadrian, bare feet and in pajamas, was standing at the farthest corner of her room facing an empty wall and hissing at it.

She stared for a moment, before making her way inside and closing the door.

"Hadrian? Cuddle-bug, what are you doing? Why are you here?" she asked as she walked closer.

The little boy paused in his hissing and turned to look at her with a sleepy smile. "My friend is teaching me how to speak to snakes."

Natasha gave him an odd look before looking closely at the wall. There were no holes or breaks; no monitors or any devices that could help the child communicate to someone outside of the room.

"Who's your friend?" she asked lightly, brushing Hadrian's hair back with her fingers.

The kid looked back at the wall before tilting his head to the side in confusion. He shuffled closer to the cream-colored wall and place one of his hands on it.

"She's gone." he stated simply before moving away from the wall and waved at the redhead with a serene smile. "Welcome home, Aunty Tasha—I'm going back to bed now. Good night!" he then gave her a brief hug before walking out of her room, yawning.

The spy stood there for a minute, trying to make sense of what happened before she turned back to the wall. There really was nothing there. She shrugged and pulled out a shirt and a pair of sweatpants from the cabinet and quickly dressing up.

Natasha was pulling back the duvet, when she noticed it. From where she stood, it looked like a dark smudge on the floor. She walked closer to it and frowned when she saw what it was.

There was what looked like tar on the carpet, by the wall where she found Harry hissing just moments ago.

It was the shape of an adult's feet, and only half of them were on the carpet—the rest looked to be beneath the actual wall.

To be continued...