Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Slowly waking up, you turned to the sides seeing the sunlight peeking through the curtains to keep the room dark, or at least dark as it possibly can with the sun being out now.

After a few seconds of you looking at the windows you slowly stretched your arms upwards, letting out a yawn in the process causing your eyes to water a bit as you sat up.

"Morning." You said softly as you looked at the man that was asleep next to you, as you ran your hand through his black hair.

Bruce shifted a bit in his sleep as he felt your fingers being ran through his hair. Smiling softly at him of his movement you leaned in,giving him a kiss on his cheek.

His eyes soon fluttered open at the action, looking up at you as he smiled at her sitting up. "Morning love." He said, his morning voice making him sound more deeper than usual as he leaned in to you kissing your lips as you kissed him back.

Pulling away from the kiss you got out of bed as you started to get changed into your outfit for the day. "So you have anything planned for us today?" You asked.

Today was a special day for Bruce and you, which was why you asked. As of today it was your guys 3rd year anniversary.

"You think I didn't plan anything for us today?" He asked, getting up from the bed as well as he wrapped his arms around your waist kissing your neck softly.

You hummed as his lips met your neck, you could just melt at his touch.

"No.." you spoke as you turned your head slightly to look at him. "I was just asking since I was also planning on something."

"Oh?" He said a small smile on his face as he placed his chin on your shoulder to look at you.

"Yeah." You replied, fixing the shirt you had put on.

"I have something too." He said as he went to start changing into clothes he'll wear for today.

"But l'll give it to you after what you have planned." He looking over at you as he continued to get dress.

"Well now you're making me eager to figure out what it is." You said, a smile on your face as you walked out of the room.

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll like what I got you."

He called out in reply from the room.

Walking down into the kitchen you smiled as you saw Damian sitting in the kitchen eating his breakfast.

"Morning early bird." You said as you walked over to him ruffling his hair as you went to make a cup of coffee for Bruce and you.

Damian looked up at you as you spoke ruffling his hair. Once you finally moved away from him, he kept his eyes on you. "Morning..." he mumbled as he spoke.

"Morning Ms McGee." Alfred spoke as he handed her a plate with the breakfast he had made.

"Ah thank you Alfred." You said grabbing the plate as you placed it on the counter next to you. "But I told you so many times you can call me y/n." You said before taking a piece of food that was on the plate.

"I don't get why you still bother with that." Dick said as he walked into the kitchen grabbing a plate as he started to fill it up with things he planned to eat for the morning.

You can't help but let out a huff of a chuckle as you poured Bruce and yourself a cup of coffee as you took a sip of the cup you poured for yourself.

"I know but I think I've been here long enough."

"Maybe a little too long." Jason said as he walked into the kitchen looking at you as he grabbed toast that was out and poured himself a cup of orange juice.

"Morning to you too Jason." You just replied with as you looked at him as you ate your breakfast, as you soon spotted Cassandra and Stephanie both coming into the kitchen together. "Morning you two."

"Morning y/n!" Steph said as she walked to the table. "Morning." Cass said right after also taking a seat at the table in the kitchen.

After that Tim walked in followed by Duke coming into the kitchen as well as you greeted them both as they entered.

Soon Bruce finally came down and you smiled as you saw him giving him a kiss on the lips, which caused Damian to turn his head rolling his eyes.

Once you pulled away from the kiss you handed Bruce the cup of coffee you had poured for him.

"So..." Cass said as she took a sip of her cup of tea. "When is y/n going to join us and get her own costume?" She asked, looking at the two of them.

You had a smile on your face but just shook your head at question as you rolled your eyes at it.

"Well-"

"Never." You cut off Bruce before he could finish.

"And why’s that?" Damian asked, raising his eyebrow at you.

"I just don't fight." You simply said as you drank your cottee.

With that Cass let out a sigh. "I was really hoping another girl would join." She mumbled

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It was the afternoon. Bruce was out with Tim for a social event, you didn't come with them since Bruce knew you didn't like going to public events.

Dick and Damian were both in the batcave training with each other.

Duke was out on patrol.

Steph and Cass were most likely upstairs, hanging out with each other in either one of their rooms.

Jason was.. well who knows where Jason is half of the time. 

And you? You were in the kitchen as you had started to prepare what you wanted to make for Bruce and yours anniversary dinner.

You had asked Alfred if he can get you one of the best wines that Bruce will like, and hearing the front door open and then close it brought to your attention his arrival back to the manor.

"Here you go Ms McGee." He said handing you the bottle of wine he had purchased.

"Thank you Alfred." You said happily, giving him a smile as you placed the wine in a cabinet before heading back over to season the meat once more.

After you had prepared the meat you put it back in the refrigerator, as you started to take out what you needed to make the sauce for the paste you heard the door ring.

"I'll get it Alfred!" You called out as you stopped what you were doing and headed to the door.

"Hello how can-" You stared as you opened the door but soon cut yourself off. "Natasha..." You said more softly as you saw the familiar red hair female in front of you.

"Well, look at you living the life." She said with a smile on her face as she looked at you through the sunglasses she was wearing.

"What are you doing here?.." Was all you can really think of as you just looked at her.

"I need your help." Natasha replied as she looked at you.

"If you need help go get help from S.H.E.l.L.D or the other avengers or something." You said in a low voice too scared anyone would hear you.

"It would only risk the mission." She told you in reply. "Besides, you know Gotham better than them or me." She added.

"Who is it?" You heard Alfred ask you.

"Oh it's no one." You replied, turning to look at him as you smiled. "Just a Girl Scout selling cookies." You told him, making him nod his head in reply before he walked away out of eye and earshot.

"Follow me..." You told Natasha as you moved out of her way, letting her enter before closing the door. You soon made your way up the room that Bruce had given you to do your pottery before closing it and locking it once Natasha entered.

"Do they know?" Natasha asked as she looked at you.

"No, why would they know?" You said as she took a seat in the stool that was in the room. "You helped me bury my past, I've been able to live in peace for 5 years... why would I ruin it?"

"I was just asking..." Natasha said as she looked around at the room that was mainly filled up with vases as she examined them.

You stood quite for a bit as you just observed her.

"What do you need my help with?" You finally asked.

"It has to do with the court of owls-"

"If it has to deal with the court of owls then don't worry, let the bat deal with it." You cut her off

“You didn't let me finish.” She said leaning against the wall as she crossed her arms as she looked at you.

After a few more seconds of silence Natasha finally spoke again. “It doesn't just have to do with the court of owls but also hydra.” 

Heading that made you just stand there in shock. “Hydra and the court of owls are working together?..” You asked, making sure you understood what she was saying.

Natasha nodded her head. “I was following some hydra agents to Gotham trying to figure out why they were coming here.” She said as she walked a bit closer to you. “When I finally got to them after some integration they told me that they came here to meet the court of owls today and that they weren’t the only ones.” She told you.

“Did they tell you where they were going to meet them?” You asked. 

“They didn’t but it wasn’t hard to find this.” She said going through her pocket as she handed you a small card. 

Standing up grabbing it you turned it around to look at it until you spotted the location on the card.

“You think this is where they are meeting?” 

“It has to be.. I’ve been watching them for weeks and they walked around the area close to this location more than I count.” 

“…Did they tell you why they were meeting them?” You finally asked.

“No, that’s what I need to find out and why I want you to help me.” She answered. “It’s one thing if it was just hydra and the court of owls have never been a threat for us at S.H.E.I.L.D, but if they are starting to work with hydra then they’re becoming more of a threat not just in Gotham but outside.”

You just hummed, nodded your head in agreement. “Yeah… it can’t be good. But I can’t help.” You told her. “Today is Bruce and I's 3rd year anniversary and I was planning on making dinner for us… you should ask someone else you know…”

“I would but not many of them are good at undercover missions and they won’t make it here on time.” 

“I don’t do that anymore, you-“

“Y/n please.” Natasha cut you off. “I know you don’t do this anymore, but I’m not asking you as a former assassin, I’m asking you to help as a friend.” She told you. “I know you don’t want to do this type of work anymore, but you and I both know that if Hydra is here then it’s not good for you or this family you have.” 

You stood quiet. You knew she was right, that was the whole reason why you never went out in public with Bruce, why you changed your last name, had a small quiet jobbed, why you did everything to hide your past. 

It wasn’t because you were ashamed of your past or that you were trying to hide away from the red room (since you knew it was taken down by Natasha), but you were hiding cause you knew if anyone from hydra found you again they’ll “take back what’s theirs”.

“…no you’re right…” You said as you walked over to an old vase you had made. “It can’t be good for me or this family…. Even if they might be able to handle themselves.” 

You soon pushed the vase to the floor causing it to break as it revealed what you had put inside. Your old widow suit, two pistols, and widows bite bracelet.

“How long do you think it’ll take?” You asked her as you picked up the items from the floor.

“An hour maybe 2.” Natasha answered. You just hummed at that as you went to put the items in a bag.

“Do you plan on us using a disguise, or are we just gonna break in?”

“Oh don’t worry, the two guys I got were given owl masks, we would have to use them to get in.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” You asked as you started to leave the room heading to the front as you grabbed your brown slouch coat. 

“Alfred, I'm heading out with a friend.” You called out as Natasha followed, as she got a glance at the butler. 

Alfred nodded his head as he looked over at the red head woman next to you. 

“I understand, and who might you be.” He asked mostly to the other woman.

“An old friend.” Natasha replied as the two of you left the manner.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

“Hmm I still look good in this.” You said to yourself a smile on your face as you looked at yourself in the mirror, checking yourself out in the black jumpsuit.

The two of you had gone to the apartment that Natasha was staying in, while in Gotham to pick up some things.

“I’m surprised it still fits.” She said a bit teasingly

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” You raised your eyebrow as you looked at her.

“Just that you haven’t worn that thing in over 5 years.” She said as she walked over to you handing you a white owl looking mask. “You need this.” 

“Thanks.” You responded as you put on your coat once more to hide the weapon that were attached to your body before putting the mask in the pocket.

You watched as Natasha do the same thing before the two of you walked out, heading the car she was using.

You got into the passenger seat at the same time as Natasha, and right as she started the car you two heard a phone ringing, and you knew instantly it was your phone.

Pulling it out you saw the caller ID was Bruce so you immediately picked it up. 

“Hey y/n, Alfred told me you went out with an old friend?” You heard him through the other side of the phone.

“Oh yeah. I was actually going to call you about that right now…” You told him. “I didn’t know she would be here, but she wanted to catch up.” 

“I didn’t know you knew many people outside of Gotham..” He said.

“Yeah… she's an old friend, we don't talk a lot…” you told him. “But I actually wanted to let you know we kind of got caught up with something. She needs my help with something.”

“What does she need your help with?”

“… pottery..” Was all you can think of saying.

“Pottery really?” Natasha mouths to you quietly as you look over at her seeing she’s holding in a laugh.

You just shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to say.” You mouth back to her quietly.

“Yeah, I don’t know a thing about pottery or what type of clay to use and I knew y/n can help me, sorry for taking her away from you for a while.” Natasha said loud enough so she can be heard through the other side of the phone.

“Yeah… we just left the place she’s staying at now so I can get what I need to teach her… so I’ll probably be late for the dinner I wanted to plan for us…” Was all you told him as you looked at the road in front of you.

“It’s okay… I got caught up in some work of my own, Dick, Tim, and Damian are coming with me for it.” He said, causing you to nod your head even though he can’t see you do it.

“Hmm then maybe I’ll get home before you.” You joked with a smile on your face.

“Hmm maybe, maybe.” He replied and you can just imagine him saying it with a smile on his face.

“Stay safe okay…” 

“I will.”

“I love you Bruce..” 

“I love you too y/n.”

And with that you hung up the phone, putting the phone away as you turned to look at Natasha.

“We should be at the place in 20 minutes.” She told you and you just donned your head in response letting out a deep sigh you didn’t realize you were holding.

Chapter Text

Bruce had left the event with Tim, the two of them in the car as Bruce's eyes were focused on the road as he drove them home.

“Well, that was fun…” Tim said sarcastically as he looked at Bruce. 

“It was just like any other event you attend with me.” He said in reply to the teen.

“Exactly.” Tim said with a sigh. “I don’t get why you can’t just bring y/n with you to these now, I mean it’s your guys 3rd year anniversary already! If she’s gonna stay with you for this long shouldn’t you bring her with you?”

“She doesn’t like going to public events, she says they make her uncomfortable.”

Tim just raised an eyebrow at him. “Does that not sound suspicious to you?” 

“It did at first.” Bruce admitted. “But I did do a background check on her just in case and found nothing… no arrests, no connection to criminal organizations.. nothing” He told Tim. “Just what college she went to and studied.”

Tim just hummed at that. “Guess she has anxiety or something?” He asked 

“No, I don't think that’s the case.” Bruce said as he glanced over at Tim before looking back at the road. “I think she just doesn’t like the idea of being in the public eye…” He took a pause just trying to come up with the right words to tell him. “She likes the quiet life…” 

“She likes the quiet life but she dates you.” Tim said a small chuckle escaping his lips.

“Ironic, I know..” Bruce replied with a slight smile on his face. “But at least I know she’s not with me for the money…” He added.

“Yeah, guess that’s a good thing.” 

The two of them just stood quiet, letting the time pass between the two of them before Tim finally broke the silence.

“So… what are you planning for your guys' anniversary today?”

“Y/n had told me she was going to make a fancy dinner for the two of us.” Bruce answered 

“And what are you planning?…”

“Open the central console.” Bruce told him.

Tim looked at Bruce for a moment as he soon opened the central console, seeing a black velvety box he raised a brow before grabbing it and opening it to see what was inside.

Tim stood quite for a bit as he looked at the item that was in the box before he turned his head to look at Bruce.

“You’re playing on proposing to her?” He asked for clarification. Tim was shocked, not in a bad way; he was just surprised that Bruce had shown him the ring. He also just thought it would take at least one or two more years for Bruce to finally propose to her.

Bruce just nodded his head, a smile on his lips. “Yeah… I’m gonna do it at our dinner she’s planning.”

“Did you tell anyone else or am I the only one?” 

“I told Alfred, he helped me pick the ring.”

The teen just nodded his head as he heard that. He stood quite for a bit before he soon turned to look at Bruce one again. “I guess I can see why you want to propose to her, I mean she’s probably one of the normal people you’ve been with.” He said jokingly.

Bruce glanced over to him, opening his mouth to say something but was stopped when he saw that Duke was calling. 

“What is it?”

“Are you on your way home?” Duke asked 

“Yeah, why?”

“I found something while on patrol that I think it’s for you specifically…” 

“I’ll be there in 10…” Bruce told him as he soon hung up the call.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parking the car in the driveway Bruce let Tim head down to the Batcave as he walked into the mansion wanting to greet Y/n before he headed down.

“Y/n!” Bruce called out as he walked into the kitchen as he saw that it was just Alfred putting things away.

“Where’s Y/n?” Bruce asked as he stood in the doorway

“She left with a friend a few minutes ago.” 

“Which friend?” 

“I don’t know. She said it was an old friend, but I’ve never seen her before. Her voice did sound familiar however.” Alfred answered.

Hearing that made something stir inside Bruce, an uneasy feeling as he decided to ignore it. For now at least.

“Do you know when she’ll be back?”

“No, but she said she won’t be out long.”

“Okay, thank you Alfred.” He said as he soon headed down to the batcave.

Walking further into the cave he could see Duke, Tim, Damian and Dick standing close by the computer.

“What is it that you wanted to show me?” He asked Duke walking up to him

“This.” He said handing him a letter that had ‘to Batman’ on it causing Bruce to raise his eyebrow as he took it.

Bruce grabbed a letter knife, opening it he grabbed the paper that was inside of it.

All that was on the paper was just an address. Flipping the envelope over, Bruce put his hand underneath it to catch anything that fell out of it. 

Seeing the owl feathers falling into his hand made his nose wrinkle, feeling an uneasy feeling start to build in him.

“The court of owls.” Damian spoke as he looked at his father 

“What do they want?” Dick asked, crossing his arms as he looked at the feather that fell in Bruce's hand before he looked back at him.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like this.” Bruce admitted 

“Well what did the letter say?” Tim asked 

“It just had an address.” Bruce answered as he walked over to the computer as he took a seat. “And it said they had a “special guest” with them.”

“So what should we do?” Dick asked

“I want you, Damian, and Tim to come with me, but now just stay quiet.” Bruce told them

“Why do-“ Damian started but stopped when he saw his father putting his hand up to single him to be quiet as he noticed he was also calling you.

Bruce stood quiet as he called you, waiting for you to pick up.

“Hey y/n, Alfred told me you went out with an old friend?” Bruce said once you pick up the phone.

Tim, Dick, Damian and Duke stood quiet as they listened to what you were going to say.

“Oh yeah. I was actually going to call you about that right now…” you told him. “I didn’t know she would be here, but she wanted to catch up.” 

“I didn’t know you knew many people outside of Gotham..” He said.

“Yeah… she's an old friend, we don't talk a lot…” you told him. “But I actually wanted to let you know we kind of got caught up with something. She needs my help with something.”

“What does she need your help with?”

“… pottery..” Was all you can think of saying.

Hearing that made Bruce raise an eyebrow at your reply. He stood quiet as he listened to the silence from the other end.

“Yeah, I don’t know a thing about pottery or what type of clay to use and I knew y/n can help me, sorry for taking her away from you for a while.” He heard your friend speak 

“Yeah… we just left the place she’s staying at now so I can get what I need to teach her… so I’ll probably be late for the dinner I wanted to plan for us…” Was all you told him as you looked at the road in front of you.

“It’s okay… I got caught up in some work of my own. Dick, Tim, and Damian are coming with me for it.” He said.

“Hmm, then maybe I’ll get home before you.” You said. He just shook his head with a slight smile on his face.

“Hmm, maybe, maybe.” He replied with.

“Stay safe, okay…” 

“I will.”

“I love you, Bruce..” 

“I love you too y/n.” Once you hung up the call Bruce stood quite as listened to the quiet for a few.

“Who believes that?” Bruce asked looking at the four boys, seeing none of them say anything he let out an airy hum.

“Yeah me too…” He said as he turned back to look at the computer. He had recorded the phone call, and clip the part in which your friend spoke.

“Alfred told me that her friend sounded familiar.” 

“Y’know now you mentioned it, she did sound familiar…. I just don’t know where?…”  Dick replied as he place his thumb on his chin scratching it as he was thinking about who the voice belonged to.

“That's what I’m worried about….” Bruce said as he analyzed the clip of your friend speaking, running it through files he had collected of people's voices.

“Sooo…. Who do you think this friend of hers that sounds familiar is?” Dick asked as he looked around at the room.

“You thing it might be one of the villains' goonies?” Tim asked as he looked at him.

“Maybe an old villain we thought we beat?” Dick added on.

“Or maybe just look at the screen.” Damian said annoyed as he pointed to the screen.

On the screen it said the voice was a match for none other than the famous avenger hero - Black Widow, also known as Natasha Romanoff.

Bruce just stood quietly, his hands pressed together as if he was making an upside down finger gun as he kept it near his mouth.

“Shit…” Dick mumbled as he looked at it.

“You think she’s working for S.H.I.E.L.D?” Tim asked. “Is that why you probably couldn’t find anything related to her other than college?” Tim added on as he looked at Bruce.

“If she’s working for a government agent, that’s the only thing I can think of… and probably why she never wanted to be in the public eye…”

Bruce stood quiet once again. “...I told her everything… And now I don’t know if this whole relationship is a lie….”

“Bruce…You okay?” Dick asked as he walked over to him but soon stopped as Bruce got up walking over to where his bat suit is.

“Go get in the Batmobile.” Bruce told them. “We need to see what the court of owls are planning.” 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha and you just stood quiet as she drove to the location. Both of you were enjoying the silence.

….

……

……..

………

………..

Till it became too defining 

“You remember the mission we had back when we were in the red room?” You asked a small smile on your face as you turned your head to look at her.

“Which one?” She asked back with a slight smirk on her face. “We went on lots of missions together back then.” The redhead added on.

“The one we went to Paris.” You said a hit of playful flirting in your toon.

“Oh,” Natash said her tone also became playful as she glanced over at you. “Yeah, we had fun.”

“In more ways than one.” You joked, letting out a small chuckle as you looked back at the road. Natash just shook her head as she listened to you.

Then it became quiet once more. As if both of you were thinking of something to say.

“Y/n….” Natash stared as she kept her eyes on the road.

“Yeah?”

“You should join me in S.H.I.E.L.D." She said as she glanced over at you to try and get your reaction.

“I-”

“Don’t say you can’t y/n.”  Natasha cut you off. “'Cause you can, and don’t say you don’t want you, 'cause you wouldn’t have kept all your gear and old suit if you really wanted to forget about it…”

“I’m trying to live a normal life.”

“Women like us can’t live a normal life… You and I know this…” Natasha said almost bluntly.

“I can try…” 

“And you can… but-“

“But I can never truly be 'normal '…” You cut her off. “I can try…” 

“Yeah, you can try… we can both try, but it’ll never be… 'real'.” Natasha added on 

You just let out a sigh as you heard her. You knew that was right… But you still didn’t like to hear it.

“You don’t need to give me an answer now about joining or not…” Natasha said after a few minutes of silence.

You just stood quietly as you listened to her.

"You were always the best," Natasha said.

"Second best." You corrected her with a slight smile.

"Still, we were both the best..." She said as she glanced over to her. "And S.H.E.I.L.D could use another person like you and me."

You just stood quietly as you looked out of the window.

"Just think about it... okay... you're good at what you did... And you can see it as you paying back for the wrong you did... that's how I see it..."

"I'll think about it.." You finally said as you turned to look at her.

“Good…” She said as she soon stopped the car a block away from the building.

The two of you got out of the car and you both put on the owl mask that Natasha had gotten for the both of you.

“Who are you?” Someone asked who was also wearing an owl mask.

With a quick thought, you said, “Hail Hydra.”

“Ah.” The guy said. “Come in, come in.” He said as he led you two into the actual inside of the building.

The room was full of a mix of Hydra and Court of Owls members in a balcony area, while the middle of the room was empty.

Natasha and you stood close to each other, your attention turning as you heard a man coughing as he stood in the middle of the room, wearing an owl mask as another man stood next to him.

“I think we can all say how we’re happy to have Hydra help with our cause.” The man in the mask spoke.

“And it's an honor to help you all.” The other man spoke with a smile on his face as he soon spoke once more. “Now the members of the court might be wondering why we’re here.”

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bruce- or well, Batman as he was in his suit looked at the building from the rooftop with Nightwing, Robin, and Red Robin.

“This is the location?” Robin asked as he looked at the building. 

“That’s what the letter said.” Red Robin said as he looked at the boy.

Bruce stood quietly as he observed the building.

“Nightwing Robin, find a way to get into the right of the building.” Batman finally spoke as he didn’t look at them. “Red Robin and I will find a way to get in through the left.” He added on.

“Will do!” Nightwing said, a smile on his face. 

Batman just nodded his head as he soon left, heading to the left of the building with Tim.

It didn’t take them long to find a way into the building. “We got in…” He told the other two as he snuck into the building with Red Robin.

“Same here B.” Nightwing replied back.

That was easy… Too easy was all Bruce could think of.

And that thought alone… made him even more nervous for what he might find here.

It made him even more worried about y/n.