She has to admit she had been a little sad to go back to New York. With her mother in jail and Jack with his family, and possibly completely out of her life, all she could come home to is loneliness.

The past couple of weeks had been insane, more than she could have ever imagined. Little Kate Bishop had always imagined stepping into the footsteps of Hawkeye, but actually fighting alongside him? Being the new Hawkeye? INSANE!

Well, that last thing isn't quite official yet so the insanity has to stay inside Kate's knowledge only for a bit longer.

Clint dropped her off about an hour ago and she's just about done unpacking, though she mainly sat her ass down telling herself she needed to unpack. Lucky's hungry whining eventually gave her the motivation to actually get the job done.

And now that everything is put away, she can go on with her life in New York which obviously, she isn't very happy about. The silence in her apartment feels uncomfortable, especially after spending such a long time around Clint's kids. They told her she was free to stay another couple of days but she felt she had already long overstayed her welcome.

Still, the prospect of getting to visit them again in the future brought her immense joy. They had invited her after all. She had been worried before that maybe they were just being polite, especially after the whole thing with her mother, but she figured they actually like her. And at least the rest of the Barton family was quicker with loving her and all her quirks. Clint had been a lot more hesitant. Nathaniel loved when Kate read to him, Lila was her new archery buddy and she had taught her most of what she knows, and Laura loved when she helped out with dinner. Cooper and she hung out the least but she could sense he didn't dislike having her around either.

How strange that strangers can feel more inviting and familiar than your actual family. Well, she knows that if her dad were still around, she wouldn't ever have thought that way.

Disposing of her thoughts, she notices Lucky who is still looking at her as if starving and her stomach starts to rumble as well.

'Time for dinner?' She speaks to Lucky though it isn't really the question she makes it out to be. It is time for dinner and it's quite easy to guess that they're craving the exact same food for dinner.

As soon as she has changed into a fresh sweatshirt, they step outside. The street is loud and busy, even more so than any other Sunday. The Christmas decorations have long been taken down which is a shame to her. If she had any say in the matter, Christmas lights would be strung around New York all year round. Couldn't hurt to start every day with festive cheer, right?

Her front door is barely closed when Lucky starts to pull her towards their favourite pizza place.

'Calm down, boy! You'll get your pizza soon enough.' He doesn't listen and soon enough they are at the restaurant, Lucky licking his lips while she's still trying to catch her breath.

'Nothing-' she pants, 'Nothing gets in the way of you and your slice of pizza, huh?'

It seems that the bit of archery training she's had at Clint's place hadn't been enough to keep her in shape, especially with all the amazing cooking she could try there. Meanwhile Lucky could have the worst physical condition in the whole world and he'd still run like crazy if it meant getting food faster.

As they're waiting to order, her phone rings. Her first thought and hope is that she had forgotten something at Clint's or that his kids miss her too much and that they would like for her to come back. But when she looks at her screen, it's Grills calling her. It makes her feel stupid for thinking anything else.

She picks up. 'Hey, Grills. How's it going?'

At the sound of his name, Lucky gives an acknowledging bark. They'd become pretty good buddies last month.

'Everything's chill. If I remember correctly, you should be back in town today?'

'Yep. Back in the city that never sleeps. Why?'

It's nearly her turn to order.

'I was thinking maybe you'd like to come over? Missy and I were going to try this new board game and three is better than two. What do you think?'

Despite Kate's looking forward to sleeping her whole return away, she knows better than to pass up an invite to hang out with people. So when the cashier asks for her order, she asks for two more pizzas than she had planned to and tells Grills she'll be right over.

'Do you hear that, big boy?' She turns to Lucky, who is whining happily. 'It looks like tonight, we'll have some company after all.'

---

'But are you sure you want to do that?'

Kate isn't sure when she'd started sweating but Missy was damn good. 'Well, now I don't know!'

'I think we should do it,' Grills chimes in. 'We attack with our secret weapon.'

Like a nervous wrack, Kate starts biting her nails. She and Grills are focusing on the board in front of them as if their life depends on it. Lucky, on the other hand, living up to his nickname, is too busy devouring the last slice of cold leftover pizza to give a damn.

Missy throws the dice and grins widely. 'You throw a three. Your weapon misfires and hits a civilian. What do you do to rectify this? Will you own up to your mistake ... or flee?'

Grills looks deeply in thought so Kate jumps in and asks: 'Who is the civilian?'

'An old lady-'

'Well, I suppose that-'

'-who is the legal caretaker of thirteen orphans and six strays.'

'Well, fuck.'

She looks up at her partner, hoping he has a solution to this conundrum. He stays silent and they all watch, just as silently.

Suddenly, he opens his mouth. 'I will-' The anticipation builds up. 'I will- take a bathroom break.' Both Missy and Kate gape at him in annoyance. 'Write down where we are at in the game, will you?'

Neither of them can believe he would escape his fate like that. Absolute anti-climax. Despite his betrayal, Lucky follows him to the bathroom like the loyal little guy he is.

When he's gone from the room, Missy puts aside her game notebook. 'I'm glad you could join us, Kate. You're pretty good at this.'

'I'm anything but that. But thanks anyways.' She throws her a wide smile. If she had known she wouldn't be spending her first night back alone, and instead in great nerdy company, she wouldn't have made such a fuss about going back home. After all, home is what you make with other people and it feels very homely with these ones.

There's a short silence between them that Kate desperately wants to fill in, so she says: 'Thank you, again, for the costumes. They were amazing and I know they would have never been that great without your help. So, you know, thanks.'

Missy scrunches her nose trying to keep from laughing. 'You're so welcome, Miss Hawkeye.' The superhero geek in Kate wants to correct her. It's just Hawkeye, actually, she would say. But it isn't the time for that yet. Soon. Clint had promised her she would be allowed to join the Avengers soon. 'LARP is my life but getting to be part of an actual superhero mission was too cool to be true. I suppose this is me saying thanks as well.'

Kate's face is stuck on a dumb smile, thinking about all the people who will think she's cool once she is able to put on her superhero gear and get out there, when Grills walks back in with Lucky.

'This little man can't stop following me, can't he? Can't you?' The last question is aimed at Lucky, who is currently being bombarded with pets and hugs. Oh to be a pizza dog in a lair of dog-loving nerds.

As soon as he notices Kate's grin, he asks: 'What's up with you? Did she give you an advantage? You know we're on the same side, right?'

'It's not that,' I say, trying to think up an excuse. 'I'm just glad to be here right now. Thanks, guys.' A lie and truth all in one.

'We're glad to have you with us as well. Hopefully, Hawk- Clint,' he corrects himself, 'can join us too someday.'

Kate would love nothing more than to see him try and play a strategy game like this. 'Believe me, if he ever does, you should invite his kids along. I can assure you that you'd have the strongest team imaginable.'

'Challenge accepted. By the time those kids join us for a campaign, I'll have a mission so hardcore, they won't even know where to start,' Missy smirks.

'That's evil,' Grills says, sipping from his drink. 'I love it.'

All three of us burst out in laughter.

Finally, Missy asks: 'Would you all care to continue this adventure? You were in quite a tricky situation ...'

She's already gotten back into character and Kate can see Grills is ready to continue as well but instead of joining, she looks at the clock and realizes it's already past 1 AM. They notice the hesitation in her eyes and Grills says: 'We're at a really good point to pick up next time if it's getting too late?'

Kate throws him a thankful smile. 'I promise, next time I won't back out this early but I feel like I need to catch up on some sleep after my whole Barton family vacation. So if you really don't mind ...'

'Not at all!' Missy nearly screams. 'As long as you promise to join us for round two soon. Let's text, okay?'

'I'll make sure to think hard on the tricky situation,' She attempts to wink at her. 'See you soon, Missy.'

She grabs her coat and Grills leads her to the front door. Lucky seems reluctant to leave despite his tired eyes. 'If Grills is okay with it, you can come have a sleepover here soon, you big dog.'

'You know Pizza Dog is always welcome, Kate. So are you. Get home safely, it was nice seeing you again.'

'Thanks for inviting me,' She smiles at him. 'C'mon, Lucky. Time to go.'

With that, she leaves Grills' place and steps outside, breathing in the freezing New York night air. The walk home isn't a long one but the brief period of fresh air is more than welcome. If only I had brought a scarf with me though, she thinks, a misty cloud appearing each time she breathes out.

But after walking one block, the cold is slowly becoming the least of her worries. She stops and looks over at Lucky, whispering: 'Do you feel that too?' She doesn't specify to him what "that" is but it feels as if someone is watching her.

'Remember you racing me to the pizza place earlier this evening? How about we race home, huh?'

But Lucky is far too tired to do so and instead, they fast-walk home. Maybe walking home alone in the dark without her bow wasn't one of her brightest ideas. But she has faith that she could fist-fight her way out of some sticky situations if really necessary. She knows Clint would agree with her.

Relief washes over her as she reaches her front door and puts her key in the lock. But right as she turns the key comes an all too familiar voice behind her that nearly makes her jump.

'Hello, Kate Bishop.'