A/N: Chapter Two of this really short fic. Hm. Spoilers for Age of Ultron. Farm-ness ahead!

Lizzy gasped awake, once again in complete darkness. "Clint!" she yelled, coughing hoarsely.

"Shhh," a familiar voice soothed, touching her arm. "It's okay."

"Natasha?" Lizzy asked, coughing again.

"Yes. Here, sip this."

A straw was pressed to her lips, and she drank the cold water gratefully. "What happened?" she asked faintly, laying back down on the bed. It didn't feel like a hospital bed. Everything hurt.

"What do you remember?" Natasha asked quietly.

"The explosion?"

"Good. You've been unconscious for three days." Natasha squeezed her hand tightly. "And we had to fake your death. Sorry."

Lizzy's eyes widened, even if she couldn't see. "Why?"

"These people who were after you weren't going to stop till you were dead. And next time it could've been a sniper, not an explosion." A soft pat to the arm. "You're safe now."

"Does Clint know?" Lizzy demanded.

"Yes, he knows. It's totally fine. He's just filling out some paperwork. I promised to sit with you while he was gone."

"Oh." Lizzy collapsed back onto the pillows. "Okay. That's good. What about the rest of the Avengers?"

A pause. "No," Natasha finally said, "they didn't need to know."

"What!"

"I'm sorry, but the smaller the circle the less chance there is of your true identity slipping out."

"Who am I?" That was a weird question to ask.

"Your name is now Laura Sanderson."

"Laura," Lizzy mused. "Laura. I guess that's okay. My grandma's name was Laura."

"We know."

"Oh," Lizzy/Laura said lamely. "Right."

They spent a few minutes in silence as Lizzy, no, Laura, contemplated her new situation. "Were we able to save my contacts?" was her next question.

"No, sorry. But Tony gave Clint the latest version, in, uh, memory of you."

"Oh. Good. That's good." Lizzy/Laura yawned. "My head hurts."

"It's okay. Go to sleep. Clint will be here soon."

Lizzy closed her eyes, and promptly passed out.

The next time she woke up, a very familiar hand was resting on her arm. "Clint?" she whispered.

"Lizzy!" Clint shot up from his half-dozing position and without even a warning, pressed his lips to hers in a fervent kiss.

Lizzy froze, and then melted under his kiss. "What was that about?" she asked breathlessly, once he pulled away.

"I'm sorry," he said breathlessly, "but I couldn't help it. I need you to know."

"Know what?" she asked, still dazed.

"I love you."

Lizzy managed a stare in his direction. Even blind, she could feel the intensity of his gaze.

"I was going to tell you that day," he said, holding her hand tightly. "I didn't expect- I mean, I don't know. You don't have to say anything, it's too sudden, I know."

She reached out with her other hand and found his cheek. "Clint?"

"Yeah?"

She took a deep breath, trying to put words into her aching head. "It is kind of soon," she admitted. "I do care about you, Clint, a lot. So if we could take it slow for a bit, let me wrap my head around all this dying and not dying, new identity and stuff, that'd be great..." she trailed off.

"That's reasonable," he said quietly, after a moment.

"Are you mad?"

He kissed her again lightly. "No. Do you want to see again?" he asked.

"Yes please."

He handed her the box with the contact lenses. "One more question."

"Yeah?"

"Can I keep kissing you?"

Lizzy grinned slightly. "I suppose once in a while couldn't hurt. Might even help your case." She could almost hear his answering grin.

At the behest of SHIELD, Lizzy Colter, now officially Laura Sanderson, was moved to a small town in Kentucky. Clint came with her and stayed for two weeks, establishing himself as her boyfriend in the town. He couldn't stay longer than that without raising suspicion, so with a parting kiss, he left his girlfriend and returned to New York.

His teammates treated him with quiet sympathy for a few days, and he brushed them off. How could he pretend to be grieving when he had just promised to come back to her in a month?

Natasha managed to explain to the rest of the Avengers that Clint was a very private person and he worked better if he didn't have his loss constantly reminded. So, with quiet sighs, they dropped all mention of her. Clint subsequently became more cheerful.

At first, Laura was incredibly lonely. Not that she had many friends before, but now, she had only two. Clint and Natasha. And they were both gone who knows where on missions. Everyone else thought she was dead.

She cried a lot that first week on her own. But slowly, she got back to a normal routine. Courtesy of SHIELD, she got a job at a computer firm that allowed its employees to work from home. She found friends in town, and got a Golden Retriever.

Clint came to visit her every other weekend when he could, and after three months, Lizzy realized that yes, she loved him, too.

They got married in a quiet civil ceremony with Natasha and Lizzy's next door neighbor as the witnesses.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," the judge announced. "You may kiss the bride."

They kissed, and Clint gathered her up in a hug. "Mrs. Barton," he whispered, making her blush.

For their honeymoon, Clint took Laura to- "a farm?" she asked dubiously.

"It's one of my completely off the record safe houses," he explained. "The only other person who knows it exists is Natasha."

Within a few years they had two kids. Clint was there for the birth of both his children, even though he had to leave in the middle of missions both times.

"Dude, what is up with you?" Tony asked, as Clint came back for clean-up.

Clint just grinned.

Natasha cornered him in an alley. "What is what is it?" she demanded.

"A girl!"

"Congratulations!"

"We named her Lizzy."

"Appropriate," Natasha said dryly. "Next one you're naming Natasha, right?"

Clint's grin got bigger. "Yes."

Then only a few months later came the appearance of Ultron, and they needed a place to hide. Clint shared a glance with Natasha. "I have a place," he said.

"Well let's go," Tony said.

"Honey, I'm home," Clint called.

A woman stepped into the living room. "Clint, you're back already?" She kissed him on the lips and turned to face the others. "Hi guys."

"Lizzy?" Tony asked, astonished. "You were dead!"

"Just faking," she replied calmly. "Hi, Nat."

Two small children ran into the living room, a boy and a girl. "Daddy!" the boy squealed happily.

"Auntie Nat!" the girl squealed, running to Natasha and hugging her.

"Kids?" Tony spluttered. "You two have been busy."

"Huh, yeah. Clint, honey, the tractor's broken again, by the way."

"Oh, yeah, I can fix that." He kissed her lightly. "We can host these guys for a while, right?"

"We've got space," she said, nodding. "Nat, your room is all set."

"Thanks." Natasha touched Laura's round stomach lightly. "How's little Natasha, huh?"

"She is... Nathaniel," Laura said, giving her a wry smile.

Natasha gaped at the baby bump. "Traitor," she whispered, making a face. She went upstairs to put her things away.

Laura turned to the rest of the Avengers, who were still staring at her. "What?"

"You were dead," Steve said.

"I'm sorry we couldn't tell you," Laura said sincerely. She smoothed her little girl's hair. "But we kind of needed the secrecy."

"They're cute kids," Tony said frankly.

"Thanks."

"Where's my room?"

Everyone spread out and left the married couple to each other. "So, what about Nat, and Bruce?" Laura asked. "How long has that been going on?"

"Has what?" Clint asked.

She smirked. "Ha ha, you are so cute. And they say I'm the blind one."

"Nat and...And Banner?" He was still stunned.

"I'll explain when you're older," she said dismissively. She sobered. "It's bad, right? Nat seems really shaken."

He explained the situation with Ultron and the two mutants.

Laura shook her head uneasily. "You know I totally support your Avenging. I couldn't be prouder...But I see those guys, those..."gods,""

"You don't think they need me?" Clint asked.

"I think they do."

"Which is a lot scarier," she admitted.

"They're a mess," Clint said. "But they're my mess."

She nodded and embraced him. "All right. But just be careful all right? Really careful. In a few months we'll be outnumbered."

He pressed a kiss to her belly. "I promise."

Laura left Clint with the kids and went outside. She found Tony and Steve chopping wood in the backyard. "Ah, those muscles," she sighed happily. "Something I missed while pretending to be dead."

"Yeah, that was not a nice thing to do," Tony said.

"We could have protected you," Steve said, looking wounded.

She shook her head. "It wasn't my call. It was SHIELD's. By the time I woke up after the explosion they'd already pronounced me dead and set up my new identity."

"You didn't even invite us to the wedding," Tony pouted.

"Nat has all the pictures," Laura replied. "So, um, anyways, could you take a look at our tractor while you're here?"

"Oh yeah, no problem." Tony dropped his hatchet and pointed at Steve. "Don't take from my pile."

"Thank you Steve," Laura said, as Steve kept chopping wood, "but you really don't need to do that."

"I kind of do," he said, stressed. "I need the workout."

She patted his arm. "Never mind then. Feel free to come by whenever. Especially in winter."

Steve gave her a half grin. "Thank you ma'am."

They received a midnight visit from Fury, and the next day moved out. Clint gave Laura a last hug. "I'm gonna finish re-flooring that sunroom as soon as I get back," he promised.

She smirked at him. "Yeah, then you'll find another part of the house to tear apart."

"No," he protested. "It's the last project. I promise."

"Be careful," she admonished everyone. "Take care of him," she told Natasha.

"Always." Natasha smiled. "Take care of my namesake."

Laura placed a hand on her belly. "Of course." She looked a Clint. "Call me when it's over."

"Yeah." He gave her a final kiss. "Don't watch the news, okay?"

"Okay."

As soon as the battle was over, the Avengers regrouped, and built a New Avengers facility. As soon as it was up and running, Clint headed for the farm on extended leave. "I'm not going back unless the world is ending," he told his wife firmly.

She smiled wryly. "So another two or three years?"

"Long enough to teach the munchkins to play baseball, at least." He kissed her nine-month pregnant belly. "Isn't that right, Nathaniel?"

An answering kick made them both smile.

THE END