Author's Note:
I do not own the Avengers or any of their amazing characters. They all belong to Marvel. Anna is mine however (you'll learn who she is in time). This is my first Avengers fanfiction so please rate and review! This story will be mostly told from Natasha's POV, with moments of Clint's (I think. For now at least!). Other members of the Avengers team will make appearances as well as the possibility of other OCs, I haven't entirely decided yet. It will in part depend on you lovelies who comment!
If you've read my other stories so sorry I haven't posted in years! Sooner or later they will get finished….this is just at the forefront of my mind and won't go away. This is going to be a longer story. Yes this story is rated M. This is in part just to be safe. There will be violence and sexual suggestion. I may write some bits, but I don't have any intention of writing an explicit lemon (sorry guys). I will let you know in advance when a chapter will have these kinds of moments in case you want to skip over it. Thanks and hope you enjoy! Please R&R!
Also, this story and some of its characters also belong to my friend, Sgt Ducky, so check out her work too!
There were three things Natasha was certain of as she sat sipping her drink at one of her favorite local restaurants across from her partner. One, that Clint did not want to talk about Loki and everything that happened while he was brainwashed. Two, that they were going to be okay. And three, that she was definitely compromised. Of the three, the latter was the most dangerous, and the only one Clint didn't know. She let her eyes trail over the familiar planes of his face as he nursed the last of his beer. Most of the dark shadows under his eyes had faded away, though sometimes she thought she still saw a haunted look hidden there. A faint stubble grew along his jaw since he'd forgone shaving that day. All these little details she noticed the same way she'd notice them on any other day. After years she knew every detail of Clint Barton's face. And yet she couldn't help but think to herself that he was just Clint. And that was a good thing. He looked at her then and an amused look filled his blue eyes.
"Earth to Natasha," he called teasingly. She rolled her eyes.
"Where'd you go?" he asked.
"Saturn," she replied coolly.
"Was it fun?"
"Loads."
He laughed. Natasha had really missed the sound of his laugh when she was on her solitary mission. It was nice to hear it again. The corners of his eyes always crinkled when he really smiled or laughed. Natasha liked that about him. Not that she would ever tell.
"Wanna talk about it?" he asked.
"About what?" she replied in confusion.
"Whatever you were thinking about."
"No."
"Okay," he replied with a shrug. That was something else Natasha liked. Most of the time, Clint didn't push. Not if he didn't think it was really a problem.
She looked out the window at the night outside. Now that Clint was cleared back for duty after the whole Loki debacle, they had gone to one of their favorite little bars for a drink and meal to celebrate. The spy in her told her it was dangerous to ever go to someplace regularly, but the other slightly more human side of her said it was okay. She glanced at Clint. That other voice wouldn't even be there now if it weren't for him. She could still remember the day he spared her life instead of taking it like it was yesterday. The day she first came to know SHEILD. The day she had a choice. The day her life changed. Deep down Natasha suspected that if it weren't for that she might even now be lying in a gutter somewhere, or worse. There was always worse. Natasha shifted in her seat to mentally knock away those thoughts. She would not go there. Not tonight. Clint raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged, letting him know it was nothing.
"Ready to head out?" she asked him. He nodded.
"I got that movie you wanted to see," she said as she grabbed her jacket and slipped it on. Clint grinned.
"Really? Excellent! Let's watch it," he said and jumped to his feet. Natasha laughed.
"You are such a child sometimes."
"Whatever. You want to see it too don't even lie," he retorted with a chuckle.
Natasha gave him one of her iconic mysterious smiles.
"Who knows?"
The two walked back to her apartment together, both secretly keeping an eye out to make sure they weren't followed. Even at home, off duty, they were always on guard, always ready. You never knew when an enemy might attack. The two assassins had this engrained into their very DNA. When no new threats jumped out of the shadows at them, they walked up to Natasha's door. She unlocked it and led the way in. After years of partnership she didn't have to look or say anything to know he followed and shut the door behind him. It was just natural for them to be comfortable in each other's spaces. Many times they had even shared a space, especially on missions.
Something was off.
Natasha could feel it. She couldn't pinpoint it, but she could feel it. She stopped in the middle of her living room to scan the room. What was it? Where was it coming from? The hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end and her scalp prickled. She felt danger. She felt threatened. Not a single muscle in her body moved, but they were all poised and ready to move at the drop of a pin. Her eyes scanned the room. Bookshelf, in place. Books, undisturbed. TV off. Coffee table organized. Couch….couch slightly off center of its usual place. The change was so miniscule only the trained eye could have caught it. But Natasha was trained. She turned and walked over to Clint.
"Clint, you have your bow under your jacket right?" she asked calmly. She knew he didn't feel comfortable going out in public without it.
"Yeah, why?" he asked.
"Grapple hook arrow. Take us to the roof of the building across from us. Now," she said and walked past him to open a window.
If Clint wondered about why she made such a strange request, he didn't say. He simply pulled out his bow and an arrow, just like she asked and snapped it into place. He followed her and with one swift movement, sent the arrow flying. The hook caught and he held the rope in his hand still. He turned to her with a raised eyebrow as his only form of question. Without a word Natasha wrapped her arms around his neck and he slipped one arm around her waist. Natasha didn't waste any time thinking how nice it felt to have his arm around her. Or how easily she fit into that space. That would have been foolish and out of place. In the next second they were flying through the air, zipping towards the opposite roof.
Not ten seconds later her apartment exploded. She could feel the heat of it as they flew through the air. She tucked her head in the nook between his neck and shoulder. Her feet touched solid ground even as her ears kept ringing. She instantly was on guard however. Whoever had planted that bomb might still be around. Clint was in the same boat, another arrow docked on his bow, his body poised and tense, ready for an attack. Neither bothered to look at the smoke and fire behind them. Or to listen to the screams of people on the streets reacting to the explosion that just took place. They both just scanned the surrounding rooftops, waiting for an attack, waiting for the ringing in their ears to die down.
Natasha dove to the side as a round of bullets showered the ground and air where she once stood. Clint jumped back and pointed his bow in the direction the shots came from. Whoever fired had ducked down. Natasha growled softly and ran over to the edge of the building. It was foolish, but clearly whoever was attacking them was focused on her. And she'd be damned if she didn't want to know who. Just as she peered over the edge a body leapt up at her. Solid flesh collided with hers. She grunted and grabbed at the arms that swung at her. Down she tumbled onto the hard concrete of the rooftop. She twisted and tried to push her attacker beneath her. Her opponent countered by using the momentum to send them continuously rolling across the ground, preventing Clint from shooting on off chance he hit Natasha. A fist collided with Natasha's jaw. Her fist connected with her attacker's gut. It was solid, but small. In fact the frame of her opponent was small and slight. Feminine. Her attacker was a female. That was when she caught a glimpse of fiery red hair. Like her own. She glanced up and saw fierce green eyes. With all her strength Natasha shoved her assailant off of her and rolled away, getting up into a crouch. Across from her she was mirrored by another red-headed woman that looked remarkably like Natasha. A face Natasha recognized, even after years and years of not seeing it. Cold eyes bored into hers and left her frozen on the spot.
"A…Anna?" Natasha gasped in shock. The woman scowled and turned on her heel to run. A whizz filled the air and Natasha watched as an arrow latched into the woman's shoulder and she tumbled down.
"NO!" Natasha gasped and jumped up, running over to her. Dropping to her knees she found the woman lying still and the arrow on the ground next to her. Natasha picked it up to examine it and saw it was only a stun arrow. She knew most of Clint's special arrows by now. This one released a sedative on contact and fell away. Left a hell of a bruise, but no major damage. She still turned and gave Clint a deadly glare.
"You shot her," she accused.
"She tried to kill you," Clint protested. "And it was only a stun arrow."
"You shot my sister."
Natasha's words were met with silence. Clint gaped at her for a long moment before clearing his throat and walking over.
"We should take her in," he said, reaching down and lifting the girl up. Natasha got to her feet as well and looked back at her burning apartment.
"She tried to kill you Nat," Clint spoke softly.
"She's my sister," Natasha replied simply.
"You never told me you had a sister," he added even quieter. Natasha shrugged.
"Long story."
She turned to look at him.
"Remember when you pulled strings for me?" she asked him. Clint looked into her eyes and knew what she was going to ask him.
"You want me to do it again."
Natasha nodded.
"I'll see what I can do." What Natasha didn't know, was that whatever she asked for, he would move Heaven and Earth if he had to to do it.