Ok, so this takes place two months after my fanfiction the First Avenger's Christmas. Basically, in February 2013. Don't ask why, I just kind of picked a time that seemed reasonable… Anyway, I hope the story is ok. And btw, I promise future chapters will be better than the first one.
Disclaimer: I don't know Marvel or the Avengers. Nor do I own the fanfic's name, the name was inspired by the song Better Than Revenge by Taylor Swift, which tends to be one of my favorite songs.
Chapter 1: An Interrupted Vacation
They weren't quite sure how Tony talked them into going to Hawaii in the cold month of February, but he had insisted that since it was closer to the equator then New York that they would be able to visit the beach. Although it wasn't as warm as it would've been in the summer, Tony Stark had been correct, not that any of them would admit it.
The Avengers probably allowed themselves to be dragged to Hawaii because this was the first free time they had since Christmas. SHIELD didn't exactly approve of their unexpected vacation, but they hadn't tried to stop them either.
So as Pepper and the Avengers enjoyed their day on the beach, Clint was spending his time annoying his partner.
"Ppplllleeeeaaassseee," Clint whined. He sat in a chair next to Natasha, who claimed she was too busy getting a tan and reading her book to listen to him. "You don't even like reading!"
"That may be so, but I'm not getting in the damn water," the redhead retorted before flipping a page in her book.
Clint groaned in boredom before glancing over at the others. "Come on! Even Pepper got in the water!"
Natasha took off her sunglasses long enough to glare at him. "Will you leave me alone if I do?"
"Yep!"
"Fine."
Clint watched as she got up, obviously taking her time just to bother him. He didn't care much. He was too busy staring at the black bikini she was wearing. Without even looking over at him, she ordered, "Clint, stop looking at my ass."
"Psh, I don't know what you're talking about. And can you hurry it up? You're a spider, not a snail."
"Can you at least try being patient?" Natasha grumbled as she walked past him, making her way to the others. Clint followed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"Hey, Mrs. and Mr. Barton finally decided to join us!" Tony called, as if alerting the others of their presence.
Natasha glared at Tony before turning back to Clint. "That reminds me, I'm keeping my last name."
"We'll see," Clint replied with a cocky grin.
Pepper looked over at them and smiled. "Hey, are you guys getting into the water?"
Clint nodded, but Natasha just folded her arms with an annoyed look on her face.
"You could join Son of Rogers and I in creating our magnificent castle of sand," Thor suggested. Steve didn't remember the last time he went to the beach, so he decided to build a sand castle. Thor, who seemed to be missing Asguard, wanted to make it look like his castle back home; so Steve let him join. That only reminded the Avenger's that that was going to be Thor's last week on Earth for a while, which they avoided talking about.
"No, thanks," Natasha replied, glancing over at Bruce who sat on the shore in silence. Then she turned back to Tony, Pepper, and Clint. "You know what; I'm just going to go back to reading."
As she turned around, Clint grabbed her around the waist and quickly picked her up. Natasha growled as she tried to punch him in the face. "Put me down you idiot!"
"It's not my fault you only weigh 110 pound, Nat," Clint replied with a grin before throwing her into the water.
Tony snickered as the Black Widow surfaced, getting a slap in the arm by Pepper.
"Bastard," Natasha snarled before grabbing Clint's arm and pulling him into the water. Pepper and Tony watched quietly as they began a sparring match before turning to Bruce.
"How about we go ahead and get dinner," Pepper suggested. Bruce and Tony murmured in agreement before following the strawberry blonde away from the assassins.
Meanwhile, Thor beamed as he put the finishing touches on the sand castle. "It is completed!"
Steve only managed to stare at the pile of sand in awe. His Asguardian teammate had built an amazing replica of his home, or what he guessed was Thor's home. It's not like he had actually been there or anything. "Wow, Thor…"
"Let us join the others in getting supper!" The thunder god announced as he followed the foot prints Pepper, Tony, and Bruce had left in the sand. Steve gave the sand castle only last glance before jogging to catch up.
Steve, Bruce, and Thor sat in Tony and Pepper's room with them, watching Dark Knight Rises as ate the food they had ordered from room service.
"Wow," Tony began as he stuffed a piece of food in his mouth. "Cat Woman is hot."
Pepper immediately glared at her fiancé, getting a sheepish smile back.
Bruce leaned over to Steve and whispered, "How much do you want to bet that they're going to get divorced within two months?"
"Five bucks," Steve replied.
"Just five?"
"Hey, I'm a super soldier, not a millionaire."
Thor was too busy watching the movie to pay attention to the others' conversations, but he was the only one to hear the knock on the door. "Man of Iron, I believe someone is requesting entrance."
Tony glanced at the door as if he expected it to open on its own. Suddenly remembering that he didn't have Jarvis, he turned to Pepper and gave her his best puppy dog eyes. Pepper groaned as she got to her feet. Stalking over to the door, she turned the door knob only to have Clint and Natasha burst in.
Clint looked fine; his hair seemed normal and he wore a simply t-shirt and shorts. Natasha one the other hand wore a tank top and shorts while her hair was a matted mess on the top of her head.
"Wow, Spidey, what happened to your hair?" Tony asked, staring at it in disbelief.
"That idiot decided to shove sand in my hair, and now it won't come out," Natasha complained, shooting Clint a death glare. Clint just shrugged and took a seat beside Thor.
Before they could resume the movie, a familiar voice came out of Tony's lap top. "Sir, Director Fury is requesting a video chat."
"Tell him to piss off, Jarvis. We're on vacation," Tony told his AI.
"But, sir, he says it's a mission for Agents Romanoff and Barton."
"Great, then leave me alone and let them talk to Fury."
Natasha stared at the computer before shaking her head. "There is no way I'm talking to my boss looking like this."
"I'm afraid he says it's urgent," Jarvis replied.
Clint sighed before strolling of to the computer and clicking 'accept video chat'.
"Agent Barton," Fury greeted as he and Maria Hill appeared on the computer screen. "Where's Agent Romanoff?"
Natasha took a deep breath before taking a seat next to her partner. "Here, sir."
"HOLY-"
"Wow, it's good to see you too, Hill," Natasha interrupted, her tone dripping sarcasm. Clint snickered slightly, getting a glare from Natasha. "Barton decided throwing sand into my hair was a good idea."
"I don't need to know what your personal life, Romanoff," Fury replied, a stern look remaining on his face.
Clint held back another laugh as he attempted a professional expression. Frankly, he failed. "What happen this time, Director? Loki blew up the Empire State Building? There's proof that dragons are real?"
"This is a serious matter, Barton. This morning a man went missing in Waverly, Iowa, and there has been no sign of him. No ransom, no security footage, nothing," Fury stated, watching Clint carefully.
"Why should we care?" piped Natasha. "People get kidnapped every day. This is a job for the local police or FBI, not SHIELD."
"But this man has been under our watch for a while," Fury replied, "His name Charles Bernard Barton."
Clint's bored expression hardened as he stared at the director. They all waited for him to speak, but he didn't even move a muscle.
"Is that…?" Tony began, but he never found the words to finish his sentence.
Natasha gave him a short nod before setting her hand on her partner's shoulder. "Clint?"
Clint's stormy blue gaze flickered over to her before returning to Fury and Hill. "It doesn't matter. Barney's not my family anymore."
"We've been watching him because the fact that he's your brother, but that's not why you and Romanoff are getting this mission," Maria Hill spoke up, glancing at Fury.
Fury sighed. "We're assigning you this mission because of what the kidnappers left behind."
"What did they leave behind?" Bruce asked from where he sat on the couch.
Then Fury held a postcard up to the camera. It had an old Spanish castle on it and the words, 'Welcome to Barcelona'.
"We think this is where they want Romanoff and you to meet them," Maria added.
Clint blinked in confusion. "And why do you think Natasha's part of this?"
"Because this was with the postcard," Fury replied as he pulled out a small photograph. All of the Avengers noticed how Natasha stiffened and she momentarily stopped breathing. The photograph had a long haired Natasha on it, and for once she looked truly happy. Beside her was a strong-looking man with bright red hair and ocean blue eyes. The team didn't ask questions, they only watched as Fury turned the photo over. The words written on the back said, 'Он был некоторое время, не так ли, Natalia?'
Steve blinked in confusion and cleared his throat. "Um, what does that say?"
Clint was the one who replied. "It says 'It's been awhile, hasn't it, Natalia?'" Then he turned to his partner for an explanation, but she didn't offer one.
"We accept the mission," Natasha said bluntly before quickly shutting the lab top. The Black Widow remained silent, staring at the wall in order to avoid the staring gazes' of her teammates.
"Natasha," Clint began as he reached his hand out to comfort her, but she only slapped it away. "Who was that?"
Natasha then glanced around the room at Thor, Steve, Bruce, Tony, and Pepper who seemed just as curious as Clint. "His name is Alexei."
Clint flinched slightly. "The Alexei you told me about in Budapest?"
Natasha nodded slowly before whispering, "He's supposed to be dead."
"Ok, let me get this straight, Barney is Clint's brother?" Pepper asked, looking seriously confused. The nod in response was enough for her. "So how do you know Alexei, Natasha?"
"I would also like to know, Lady Widow," Thor spoke up.
Natasha hesitated before replying, "He's my ex-husband."
Silence filled the room, and before anyone could say anything, Natasha got to her feet.
"I'm gonna go pack," she muttered before stomping out of Pepper and Tony's room.
Everyone turned to Clint, but he just shook his head and followed his wife-to-be out of the room.
"So the Black Widow really is a widow, huh?" Tony asked, trying to bring some humor into the conversation. Sadly, no one was amused.
"Or she thought she was at least," Bruce replied quietly.
Pepper sighed before glancing at the door. "Wow, they have more emotional issues with their pasts then you do, Tony."
Steve, Bruce, and Thor let out slight chuckles, but Tony just stared at Pepper in disbelief. "Seriously? You got them to laugh, and I couldn't?"
"It's not my fault we're all stuck listening to the same jokes all day."
I promise that future chapters will be longer, and better at that. I personally don't like this chapter, I just wasn't quite sure how else to do the intro. Also, next chapter we get to see why I gave the fanfiction its name. Anyway, please favorite, follow, or review. Comments and critique are appreciated.
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