Chapter Text
Okay, you knew it sounds kind of boring. Especially for an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but they have to see the other side too. You get paid to live. You get paid to buy groceries, watch TV and travel from house A to house B.
Someone has to update the safe-houses, restoking them and taking care of them. Stocking the food, the med-kids, the weapons. Built a cover story the locals would believe. It is important, relatively safe and your job.
Right now, you were buying canned food. Somewhere in Nevada. It was one of your favourite safe-houses. Manly because you really got along with your neighbours.
To them you were just the daughter of a rich father with a vacation home in their city. You had explained, that you would let your friends into the house from time to time. You didn’t need it most of the time anyway.
They believed you. Why would the not? They liked you. Margrethe even collected your packages and would hand them over the next time you were in town. Margrethe was your next-door neighbour. A lovely, elderly lady with no backing skills at all.
When you would stay a few weeks (sometimes, not often, sadly) you made a habit to go to her and bake with her. She wanted to improve her skills. Or so she said. You had the suspicion she only wanted to eat baked goods. But it was alright. And you really liked her.
That was kind of the big disadvantage. Your job was lonely. You didn’t have a home, all your belongings fitted into a small suitcase. You weren’t the only agent to do this. But sometimes it would feel like that. There were multiple reasons to do what you did: some agents were too severe injured after a battle or an accident to be working as active field agent, others had lost their whole team and other just wanted to work alone or were near retirement.
You meet up with some of them once in a while. It was always brief. Never more than a day or two. But it was always nice.
After you put everything on the counter Mike rung you up. You smiled at the teenager. He was a nice one. Even if he should wash his hair more often. In your thoughts you had already adopted him as your annoying little brother. And you acted on it.
“Have you asked Maria to prom yet?”
Mike grew red like the tomato he just had in his hand. You were planning on making spaghetti this evening.
“I like it better, when you are far, far away from here” he said, but his eyes twinkled.
Dramatically you put your hand over your chest.
“Ouch! Mickey. That hurt!” You winked and left the teenager suffering in his angst and inability to ask the girl out.
You liked this town. They all made you feel at home.
°°°
Later when you arrived back at the house you put everything away and starting preparing your dinner. It was already dark outside. S.H.I.E.L.D. normally assigned you houses far away from current missions. It was safer for everyone involved like that. And that was the reason you were surprised when two men all but run into your current home, while you were cooking spaghetti.
“This is all your fault Barnes!” one of them said to the other.
Oh dear lord. Please not!
They didn’t seem to notice you standing in the door. But you saw them. The infamous safe-house crashers and compromisers also known as avengers.
“Fuck you Wilson” the other one grunted out.
“Do as you please but please spare the couch” and with that sentence you announced your presence to the other agents.
They turned pretty fast towards you. Body guarded and eyes narrowed. It would have intimidated you, had you not to put up with that and worse in your early S.H.I.E.L.D. days. Some dudes were just douchebags. Plain and simple. Like Steve Robertson. Your Ex. And fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Best not to think of him right now.
Or ever.
“Who are you?” Sam Wilson asked with a raised eyebrow.
Yeah, those two and their squad were pretty well known; in your circles also because they compromise safe-houses. Because they were so recognisable. And this house was as close as a home as you could get it. So, you would work on keeping this house not compromised. As far as this was still possible.
Maybe nobody had seen them so far. You would hate to leave Margrethe and her bad taste in music behind. The old woman had a wicked sense of humour, you would miss that.
“I’m the one to make sure guys like you two find everything they need in situations like this.” That sounded like 10 times better in your head than spoken out loud.
Wilson raised an eyebrow and you showed them your S.H.I.E.L.D. ID. After that they both looked more relaxed but nevertheless confused.
“And what do you do again?” asked Barnes.
Now it was your turn to raise an eyebrow.
“Do you think the supplies stock themselves?”
They were silent for just a moment too long.
“You never wasted a thought on it. Didn’t you?” Now they looked like two boys caught with their handy in the cookie-glass. Why did that look adorable? They were grown ass men! You looked out the window, glad that it was already dark.
“Did anybody see you?” you asked with urgency in your voice. You did love this safe-house. This city and the people to live in it.
“Don’t worry. We lost the bad-guys a while back” Barnes tried to reassure you. Tried.
“Did you really just say bad-guys? No! Please don’t answer this. I mean did a neighbour see you?”
They looked at each other.
“Noooo?”
“Why did that sound like a question?”
“Becauseee-”and that was the moment your water for your spaghetti decided to boil over.
“Shit!” And there you went. Rushing and sliding in your socks into the kitchen.
“Shit! Fuck! No!” You pushed the pot away. Well. Pasta was ready?
“I cooked pasta” you informed the other agents “and thanks to your distracting me, even 100-years old Barnes will be able to chew those without any problems.”
Laughter.
Barnes appeared in the doorway.
“Are you always this disrespectful?”
“Only when people crash into my favourite house” you told him while you took three plates.
“It’s not really yours” Wilson needed to point out. Having joined Barnes in the doorframe, which was way too small for those two. He had a nice smile in his face, where Barnes just had raised eyebrows and the hint of a smile.
You sent him a glance.
“It is. It’s my responsible. And beside the mice I’m here the longest.”
“Mice?!” Wilson all but shrieked.
You laughed.
“And here I thought it was just a rumour that Sam Wilson was afraid of a little mammal.”
Wilson shook his head and Barnes chuckled. You sat the table.
“Sit down. It is not much, but it’s good.”
“You don’t have to share your food” Barnes said instantly. Now he was receiving your death glare.
“I didn’t ask” you simply said
Dinner was short. Really short.
You had accounted for one person, not an extra enhanced solider and a grown man. That left you hungry and no doubt the two agents fresh out of a mission too.
“That… was not enough” you declared.
Not a moment later you had your coat in your hand and your purse in your pocket. Two men jumped up.
“No, you don’t have to-”
“Please, sit down-”
You raised your hand.
“This-” here insert hand movement “Is my job. I get paid for this. Well not for feeding the two of you. Same like you get paid. So let me do my job. With my additional trip to the grocery store I’ll get to check if anyone noticed you two or anybody that doesn’t belong here. It is a small community.”
You didn’t let room for an argument.
The door closing behind you.
The night welcomed you with open arms.
°°°
“Do you have problem remembering or are you a bottomless pitch?” Mike asked you. The second time you were at the store that day.
“Neither one” You informed him, with a half-hearted glare as you put pizza upon pizza out of your cart.
“Two friends of a friend of a friend arrived. I thought they would arrive in a few weeks but it seemed I messed it up.”
You laughed and Mike shook his head with a little smile.
“So you do have problems remembering.”
You ignored his comment.
“They don’t like people very much. Nobody commented on them, right?” The grocery-store was the go-to-place for any kind of gossip. If somebody saw the two avengers bursting in your home, Mike would know by now.
“Nobody even saw them.”
Perfect.
“Well. That is fine as well. But Mickey, isn’t it after your bedtime?”
Your apple flew at your face. Gladly you caught it, laughing.
“I hate you.”
“No. You don’t. You count the days till I come again into this lovely town.”
°°°
You dropped the bags on the counter. Ignoring the two men trying to help you with the bags.
“Good news. You haven’t been spotted. And neither where your bad guys”
You started putting the new stuff away and put the oven on.
“I hope you guys are alright with pizza.”
You turned around and saw how Wilson shook his head with a smile on this face.
“What?”
“Nothing. Nothing.” He raised his hands in defence. His slightly bloody hands. Why again didn’t you ask them about injuries before? Yeah! Food. Food was important.
“Put your butts on the couch. I hope you have spared it as I asked you.”
Barnes looked shocked and Wilson confused.
“What-” Wilson started to ask. But Barnes put a hand over his mouth.
“Don’t.”
They sat down.
You got a med-kit.
“Do you want to do this yourself or should I?” you asked with a far gentler voice than before. It was not for everybody to let a stranger treat your wounds.
You would know.
“We got it.” Wilson answered and took the kit out of your hands. You left the room.
°°°
You had bought plenty of pizza and after the other agents showered and took care of their wounds you enjoyed the second dinner. And it wasn’t as silent as the other one had been or as short.
“So you are a what?” Wilson asked.
“Safe-House-Keeper. To put it short.”
He nodded and chewed on his piece of the margarita pizza.
“And the long job description?”
You took a sip of your drink before you answered.
“I visit different safe-houses, create covers, so that the neighbours don’t alarm the police when somebody seeks in in the middle of the night. Or bloody. I restock the supplies and update the tech. Keep an eye open if there is anybody catching on”
He nodded.
“Isn’t that lonely?”
That’s the point.
“Sometimes. But it pays well, I get to see the world, work a cool job without landing in med-bay every two weeks” the last stay you had had there had been enough for a lifetime.
Your words put a stop to both Wilson and Barnes.
“Fuck” Barnes whispered.
“What?” You looked from one to the other. Both had horrified expressions on their faces.
“We’ll never live that down” Sam whispered defeated.
“What is going on?”
Wilson looked at you. There was humour in his eyes but his face told you that he and Barnes fucked up.
“We forgot to pick up Barton.”
“You what?”
°°°
Half an hour later you pulled up the car beside a tree. You killed the engine and opened the door.
“Agent Barton, I’m here to pick you up,” you shouted up the tree.
What has my life become?
A figure jumped down. And before you stood Agent Barton. A little bruised, a little wet from the rain and with an annoyed expression on his face. You couldn’t blame him.
“You need new friends” you informed him, because at this point someone had to tell him.
“I know.”
So, after you picked up another avenger and brought him back to your home and feed him, you started rethinking your life decisions. After all you were on the best way to become a crazy-cat-lady, just with avengers instead of cats.
And the cats would have way more advantages than you current … habitants. Cats were fluffy, one could pet them and they were cute to look at, but most of all they were silent.
“I can’t believe you two! It had been three hours! Three!” Clint starred at Sam and Bucky and those two? They fought over not breaking down laughing.
“Your hair… your hair looks like a bird-nest” Sam pressed out and after that he was lying on the floor laughing. Bucky still standing, but face red from the lack of oxygen and Clint just looked from one to the other.
“I told you, you need new friends,” you reminded Clint.