I. fanny longbottom

                                    

                                          
Treetops and blades of grass bent underneath the force of wind when a small helicopter started to descend to a clearing in the middle of the forest somewhere in Norway. Natasha watched the machine from afar, sitting on the edge of the car's hood, which barely made its way through the wood's dirt roads, making her cross her fingers, hoping that it'll also make the way back. 
She moved some hair out of her face as it got disheveled by another gust of wind when the chopper touched down, creating a cloud of dust around itself. The blades slowly came to a stop and soon the cabin door opened. A small figure jumped out straight to the ground, the white hair standing out against her dark clothes and the gloomy forest. She started running, a backpack bouncing in the rhythm of her steps. 
Natasha smiled and pushed herself away from the car. She started walking to meet the girl halfway and soon the thin arms were wrapped around her waist and the child clung to her with a little too much of her enhanced strength.
"Ya skuchala po tebe," Katya muttered, adjusting her hand and strengthening the embrace.
"I missed you too, zvezdochka moya." Romanoff returned the embrace and bend her neck to plant a kiss on top of the girl's head. "But you're going to crush me," she warned with a chuckle. 
As Katya was growing, and lately she was going through a growth spurt that affected not only her height but also her strength. At twelve years old she was already much stronger than Natasha who as 'just' a human was never considered weak and the girl was only shorter than her by a few inches. So when forgot herself even a little bit like then, her hugs could hurt.
"I was so scared for you," the girl said, her voice partially muffled by Romanoff's clothes as she referred to the events that took place in Germany. 
"You know I'm tougher than I look," she assured, rubbing Katya's back in a comforting manner. "And I'm here now and you're with me. We're okay." 
The girl nodded and repeated, "I missed you." 
"I know, Katyusha," Natasha replied and raised her gaze to see Maria Hill, walking across the meadow to join them. 
After escaping Siberia and going to Wakanda where she decided to collect Katya herself so she could join her and James in Africa, she knew that she wouldn't be able to do it completely alone anyway. She needed help.
Showing up in States was too risky. Ross was already fixated on finding her and she didn't want to give him the upper hand. So she had to pick another country and then find a way to get her daughter there. Asking Laura was out of the question since Clint got locked up mostly because of her and she was currently alone with three kids, one of them being a toddler. 
Aside from the Bartons, Natasha didn't exactly have many friends she would trust with something as important as Katya, so she ended up calling Nick Fury. After his initial lecture, preceded by a statement that he doesn't care and he doesn't want to know anything, Fury informed that he'll see what he can do, which was unambiguous with him simply saying yes. Because in the end, he did care. 
Even though he was mad at Natasha, ever since day one he had a soft spot for Katya. Not without reason, he called her his favorite agent and never protested when the girl once jokingly called him her grandpa. If it was anyone else, well, he wouldn't let that slide easily. 
And since it was all about Katya, not long before Romanoff dropped her phone into the middle of the sea, somewhere between Denmark and Norway, she got a message with time and coordinates. 
"Thank you for bringing her." Natasha nodded at Hill.
"It's not exactly like a had choice." Maria shrugged with a slight smile. "Nick just told me to go and something about parallels?"