"Light reflects from your shadow, it is more than I thought could exist." - Angels

Lost & Found

…

"Seriously, Natasha, when are you going to start living?" Pepper asked me, momentarily flicking her gaze over to a gorgeous white dress at the corner of the clothing department. "Just accept Clint's proposal. He's the most suitable man; if not, you could pursue Doctor Banner. Didn't you have a crush on him that one time?"

I scoffed, trying to look for a dress as well as keep a hard glare on the strawberry-haired woman in front of me. She merely rolled her eyes. "Love is for children, Mrs. Stark," I replied, adding a slight tease towards the end of my statement. "Besides, Clint is like a brother to me. He just asked me on a date one time, and that was before he met Laura. Banner's another case, but I wouldn't go for him. Not now, since he's got his heart set on Betty."

I followed as Pepper headed over to the white dress she eyed earlier. "Oh, I know you can't pursue them. But come on, Romanoff. Tony and I are just engaged. Who knows when we'll plan the wedding? Mrs. Stark isn't me just yet." She picked the dress of the rack. "What do you think?"

"It's cute." I frowned. "A bit too flashy for a gala, though. Maybe something a bit more formal? It's Stark's Foundation Gala after all."

"Hmm," Pepper hummed. "I think it's alright. Tony's planning to announce that the company's anniversary gala will also be his parents' remembrance ball, or something of the sort. He wouldn't tell me all the details. Quote unquote, he told me, 'It's supposed to be a night of fun, Pep, so make sure you're dressed fun.'"

I snickered at the way Pepper added exaggerated gestures to her fiancé's words. "Then let's head over to the fitting room, Pep, and get out of here."

"Okay." Pepper tucked the dress beneath her left arm. "But you're not getting off the hook, Nat. You have to pick a dress. I'm not letting you leave the mall until you do. Tony and I agreed that I'm going to have to make sure you don't show up wearing jeans and a blouse this time."

I rolled my eyes and smirked. "Gave Shell-Head the shock of a lifetime last year, didn't I?"

Pepper smiled. "Yeah. So this time: pick a dress Romanoff."

I quickly grabbed the nearest one. "Done."

"Why must you antagonize me so?"

"It's not you, Pepper. It's the mall."

Pepper sighed, and looked around for a moment. She then smiled and yanked the dress I randomly grabbed out of my hands. I let out a short cry of, "Hey!" as she returned it to the rack and started dragging me to wherever it was she was heading.

She took a black dress from its rack. The top had loose sleeves, a pretty neckline and was plain black. However, its skirt flowed elegantly down, with glimmering sequins on it. "I think this one would be perfect for you, Nat."

I studied the dress. "It's pretty, I guess."

Pepper gave me an incredulous look. "'It's pretty, I guess'? Pretty? Is that the best word you could use?"

I shrugged.

Pepper let out a sigh. "Just put it on, will you? We'll see if it's just pretty later on."

We headed over to the fitting room. Pepper put on her dress first, and we both approved of it. It was flashy, as I'd previously described it, but on Pepper it complemented her beautifully. She twirled around in it, laughing softly, and smiling. Pepper definitely looked "fun" in the dress. All she needed now was a hairstyle to go along with it, and heels as well. I sighed, realizing that we weren't going to be leaving the mall as soon as I'd hoped.

As she changed out of the dress, I went inside another stall and put the dress she'd chosen for me on. I looked at myself, and felt like the player I used to be back in High School. I used to be called 'Black Widow', having dated countless men in my teen years, a feat I currently wasn't very proud of. My days of dating one guy after another were over, but that didn't mean I lost my feminine charm.

I was now the head and the instructor of the advanced ballet class of one of the city's best art centers, The Red Room, thanks to my friendship with Pepper who helped me get started (she had great advice; it wasn't exactly surprising, though, since she technically managed Stark Industries) and my years of preparing to be a business woman back in college. I found it a great way to escape my previous reputation as a player.

I smiled at my reflection, the woman in the mirror smiling back.

A soft knock at the door of the stall brought me out of my thoughts. "Nat, you done in there? Let me see the dress!"

"Yeah, yeah, Miss Bossy-Pants," I replied, unlocking the door and showing myself to Pepper. "You don't need too get all business mode on me." She ignored my statement and looked at me up and down, giving me a once-over, before smiling with pride.

"I told you that dress would be perfect," she said. "Now change out. We're buying it and heading over to the shoes department. Afterwards, we're going to my place and getting you on a dating site."

I glared at her. "Don't you dare."

Pepper laughed. "Just kidding. You seriously need a love life though."

I groaned and slammed the stall door in her face. "For the record, I did have a love life! I used to be Black Widow! Freakin' Black Widow, Potts! I was the best at getting a guy."

"Still a virgin, though," Pepper's sing song voice drifted in through the door as I slipped out of the dress.

"I was still amazing!"

Pepper only laughed.

…

Author's Note: Hello! I see you've clicked on my story. ;)

Well, I'm just here to give you a few pointers.

This is a Romanogers fic, set in an Alternate Universe. No S.H.I.E.L.D stuff here, just a normal world. Kind of. There's going to be a Steve preserved in ice here, which will be explained later. This is going to be a short fic, maybe. *shrug*

And some of you might wonder about the whole Natasha/Art Center/The Red Room thing. While I was writing up the draft for this story, I wanted Natasha to have her own business to run. I remembered about the whole ballet thing in the Red Room, and figured she'd have a passion for dancing if she were placed in a modern setting. So, I wrote her as a ballet instructor at first. Then I thought that Natasha wouldn't be for a small job like that, so I dived deeper into the whole "love for ballet" thing and came up with this conclusion: Natasha has a deep appreciation for art. I mean, if you think about it, she seems like the kind of person who loves art. Or maybe it's just me. Anyway, I gave her an art center, and I named it Red Room because she says, quote unquote, "In the Red Room, where I was trained… where I was raised…" And I thought that the Red Room will always be a part of Nat's life. Only, in this AU, it's a more positive part of her life.

Hehe.

Till the next chappie!