Natasha Romanoff was finally getting her chance. She was finally dancing in a ballet. She had been given this opportunity by a recent mission that she had just finished. The assignment required her to go undercover as a ballerina. However, she ended up landing the part of the Snow Queen in the Nut Cracker. Someone had to do it. So Natasha decided to stay and dance the part during the performances.
Even though the ballet was in the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Tony still flew the rest of the group to see the ballet. Natasha was torn between excitement at their presence, and annoyance. But, if she was going to share the experience with anyone, she was glad it was with them.
The Kennedy Center is a beautiful building. It has a hall with a lush red carpet, and flags from other nations hanging from the tall ceiling. On the top floor, there was a hall with marble walls, and at the end of the halls on both sides, there were floor length windows looking outside on the balcony that wrapped around the roof.
On most nights, that floor had two places to eat. However, since this was the first performance, everyone was in the hall eating, dancing, drinking and socializing. Many important figures were there, and there were many rich people there as well.
The men looked dashing in their tuxedoes and the women were alluring in their gowns. Tony cleaned up well and seemed at ease in the setting. Steve lingered near one of the tall windows with Bruce, both preferring to keep to themselves. Clint and Pepper stood together, talking quietly and keeping an eye on Tony. They weren't glued to his side, but they were still close by.
Pepper was stunning in her champagne dress. Her hair was done up in an elegant knot on the back of her head and she kept her clutch tight in her hand.
"What time was this supposed to start again?" Clint asked her as he looked around the room.
"Not until seven." She answered as she looked for Steve and Bruce, making sure they were alright. When she spotted them, she saw a lovely young blonde talking to Steve briefly.
"God, how can Tony just talk to these people?" Clint asked. "It's gotta be tiring talking about the same thing over and over." Pepper just smirked a bit.
"You of all people should know it's not always what you say. It's how you say it." She told him. Clint smiled a bit, amused. She had a point. Tony could be having a completely different conversation with someone, but the people on the outside wouldn't know it. "How do you think Natasha is holding up?"
"She's fine." Clint said, sounding completely sure. "She's been wanting this opportunity almost her whole life. If anything, she's extatic."
"Not that she would show it." Pepper commented, sipping her drink. Clint smiled and almost laughed at the comment. She had a point. He shook his head.
"Yeah. I guess you're right-" Clint stopped talking in what sounded like mid- sentence. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as something caught his attention. Pepper noticed and turned, looking in the direction he was staring at. It looked as if he was starring at a woman across the room.
She was a beautiful woman with dark brown hair and soft tan skin. She wore a dark green lace dress that hugged her curves tightly and had a slit up to her mid thigh. She wore nude stilletos with it. The dress had long lace sleeves and the neckline fell off the shoulders slightly. Her dark brown hair was partially up. What was down was soflty curled and fell between her shoulder blades. She had two small braids on the side of her head that went to where the rest of her hair was pulled back out of her face. A small bunch of cream roses were clipped to her hair there.
As the woman turned to face them, Pepper could see her dark brown eyes find clint and her red stained lips quirked into a mocking smirk. She raised her hand and wiggled some fingers in a wave before turning and heading to leave the room.
Clint started to move forward to try and reach her, but the lights dimmed as a bell toned, signaling that the ballet was about to start.
"Well." Tony said, linking his arm with Pepper. "That's our cue." He wasn't wrong. Everyone started to leave for the exit.
"I'll be right back." He said and took off, making his way through the crowd, trying to find her again. With everyone surgin to the exit, he lost her. Clint sighed and slipped into a smaller hallway with less people and pulled out his phone. He needed to call Coulson.
"Catalina Juarez." Coulson repeated. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure Coulson." Barton confirmed. "What do you want me to do?"
"You said you lost her right?" Coulson asked. "SO it's safe to assume she is still there? Keep an eye out, but don't do anything yet. I'll see what we can do here to get a visual on her. We'll use the security footage."
"Yes sir." Clint said and hung up before heading to his own seat. Tony had gotten them box seat tickets. The group had their own little section all to themselves. He sat down in his seat between Steve and Bruce.
"Where did you run off to?" Steve asked calmly. He had an idea that something was up, but didn't know what was wrong or what he needed to do. The lights began to dim and the conductor stepped out and walked over to his podium. Everyone applauded him, as was custom, and the music began.
"Had to make a call." He explained shortly and leaned back. He looked calm but he was scanning the crowd. While the characters on stage danced, Clint kept looking for that one woman. It wasn't until the scene where the rats were attacking when he found her. He was almost startled when he spotted her. She was sitting in her own box seat, sitting among wealthy, powerful people. But that was expected.
Across the room, she met his gaze with a small, confident smile. Her dark eyes staring straight at him is what startled him. After a few minutes of starring at each other, she slowly turned her head to the stage, watching as Natasha entered the stage. It was the end of the first act. Clint also looked to the stage and kept an eye on all the other dancers, and tried to see if there was anyone off stage that posed a threat to his friend. There was nothing he could see and was confused when the curtains dropped without incident.
The woman leaned to the man next to her and whispered something in his ear. He smiled and nodded. She stood smoothly and let her hand fall slowly off his shoulder. Clint shifted, she was on the move.
"Steve, keep everyone here." Clint told him as he stood. Steve looked at him concerned but nodded. "I'll be right back." He said and took off quickly. He weaved through the crowd and made his way down the steps. He did his best to appear as calm and untroubled as possible, so to avoid panicking others. He looked around, trying to find her, his eyes scanning the crowd almost franticly. He was startled when someone bumped into him, the hand slowly falling off his shoulder. He could see the hint of green sleeve and when he turned, he saw a glimipse of her turning the corner, heading up the steps he had just come down.
Clint sighed. He shouldn't be surprised. She always did enjoy making them run in circles. Without hesitating, he followed. He followed her up the steps to a small lounge area that was reserved for a specific ticket holder. The person at the entrance let him in with a smile, as was expected. He entered the nearly empty lounge and saw her sitting in the back corner at a table for two. She had a small drink with her and looked almost bored. She saw him heading towards her and smiled as if she was seeing an old friend.
"Hello, again." She said softly as he stopped in front of her. He had a firm look and she smiled bigger to herself. "Oh, smile. You'll scare everyone." She told him quietly. Barton relaxed his face a bit but didn't do much else. She sighed through her nose and motioned to the chair next to her. "Well at least sit."
"Why are you here?" He asked as he sat. She rolled her eyes at the directness.
"Not one to beat around the bush." She teased and her small smile returned. She liked that she still got under his skin. "I'm here for the ballet, same as you. I was surprised to see our mutual friend in it, however."
"I wouldn't say she was a friend of yours." He said stiffly. She shrugged with a small smile. "Acquaintance, then." She said and took a sip. "Seeing you here startled me, and at first I thought you two were after me again."
"We have bigger fish to fry." He told her curtly. Caterina pouted and put a hand to her heart, feigning hurt.
"Oh you wound me." She said frowning. "Please, stop acting like I'm the bad guy here. You two never had to get involved in the first place. It's not my fault you two can't do your jobs." She id as she sipped her drink again. Clint turned to her with a glare. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. I promise, I'm not here for any of you." She said and set her drink down. She stood and looked to him, stare cold. "Nice to see you again." She said before walking away.
Barton watched her go and he heard the ringing of the bells. Intermission was ending soon. Even though Caterina's word was one you could trust, he still needed to tell Natasha.
Natasha was a beautiful dancer, and the entire group of Avengers were impressed and awed by her grace and skill. And they were all excited to greet her during the after party. It was back in the hall on the roof, but only guests of the dancers were permitted.
Natasha entered in her beautiful navy blue gown and people applauded her and her dance partner. They took another bow and went their own ways to greet their guests. Pepper embraced Natasha gently.
"You were wonderful, Nat!" She told her. Natasha gently retuned the hug and smiled softly. Pepper released her and Tony took her place. Instead of hugging her, he simply shook her hand.
"Impressive." He told her teasingly. "Is there anything you can't do?" He joked and Natasha smirked at him.
"Not that I can think of." She teased back. Tony smiled a toothy grin and chuckled. Bruce put a hand on Natasha's shoulder, getting her attention. She looked at him and smile softly.
"You did amazing." He told her. Steve spoke up as well.
"I agree with Bruce. You were phenomenal." He told her. They all stood around, talking about her performance, her costume, her skill and grace.
Natasha stood and listened to them talking amongst themselves. Some of it was about the ballet, some of it was about any number of other topics. She wasn't listening too much. To be quite honest, she was tired from dancing all day. They had been rehearsing all day before the performance and her feet killed. But that was to be expected.
"Excuse me, Ms. Rushman," some one said behind Natasha. She turned to see a staff member standing there with an envelope. "I was instructed to give this to you." He said and handed it to her. She could hear the group behind her go quiet.
"Thank you." She told him. He nodded and left. Clint was over one shoulder and Tony was over the other. Both were curious about the letter. She opened the envelope and pulled out a small crème card. In black cursive there was a short message.
Stunning performance. I would love to see you again. Dressing room, 9:30. See you then. XX
That was all it said, but in the envelope, there was a small red carnation. And that told Natasha more than the card ever could.