A/N: Well this one is slightly different from my other Clintasha fics... I decided to just write aimlessly without any actual plot or direction in mind. Also, on other news, I've been contemplating whether or not I should make 'One's not Half of Two' into a chapter fic? I've even started to write chapter 2 for the fun of it but wanted to know what you guys think. Should I leave 'One's not Half of Two' as a one shot or extend it into a few chapters?
For a fleeting moment, he feels like he's floating on a cloud and some place much higher than here. He feels the touch of her finger tracing the curve of his jaw and he hears the murmur of his name on her lips. It's the sweetest sound of her soft voice that makes him smile despite the fact that she's incredibly out of character and really isn't living up to her Black Widow field name.
He blinks away the sleep from his eyes and he forgets entirely about how exhausted he actually is when his eyes meet hers. She looks so childlike, so innocent in the dark hours of the night that he forgets entirely about the fact that they're assassins and spies. Her touch evolves into the press of her warm palm against his cheek and he can't help but lean into it, welcoming the love she's offering in that simple gesture. She smiles at him when he does that and in return he stretches a lazy hand to her and does the same.
"Cravings?" he asks in a voice that's still hoarse and full of exhaustion. He only returned earlier in the night from a mission in Afghan with Tony and Bruce. They had some scientific, techno garble crap that they needed to investigate and what better than to elect him as their guide.
He didn't like it, not one bit even though the mission was easy in the short, sharp and simple kind of way. He could do it with his eyes closed and standing on one leg if he wanted too. But the fact that he had to leave her behind without him there to look after her didn't settle well with him. That announcement of his at the debriefing resulted in Steve withdrawing from the mission with the excuse of 'holding down the fort' in New York. It was a plausible excuse and even Fury hadn't commented on it but instead acknowledging it whole heartedly. He likes to think that it was because Fury was trying to be nice to him because after all he had specifically stated from day one that he wasn't going to deploy on missions in any other time zone than the one that she resided in. He wanted to be there for her every step of the way.
"Just a little," she tells him softly as she stands.
He helps her up even though he's lying on his side, letting her use his hand as leverage to push herself up. He doesn't comment about it and doesn't say one word as she very elegantly struggles but eventually stands there beside the bed. He pushes himself from the bed and lets the blankets pool at his lap. He watches as her hand goes immediately to her lower back and he makes a mental note to give her a back massage later. She'll protest of course and tell him that she doesn't need it, but he'll insist, he'll make a joke out of it and eventually she'll be sitting there and he'll be rubbing her back contentedly.
She throws him a hoodie and he puts it on without thinking as he swings his legs to the side and pushes himself to a stand. His pyjama bottoms shouldn't matter too much he thinks because it's late and nobody really cares anyway. He looks up to find her pulling on another one of his hoodies and he smiles for a moment at how much has really changed between them. She catches his eye from across the room and she stops mid-way with a hand on the counter table grabbing her wallet.
"Is it weird that I still can't get used to that?" he asks jokingly as he makes his way to her.
She withdraws her hand and tucks the wallet in one hand, smiling all the while. "Not really," she tells him as she passes him his own wallet and he pockets it without another thought.
He grins openly without hesitation and without thought in the way he only does when it's only them. He presses a quick chaste kiss at her lips before he takes her hand without question because it's him and only he's allowed too or so that's what she tells him.
"It's a good weird though," he tells her when he pushes the door open.
She doesn't say anything but she leans into his side without care that the cameras are rolling in the hallway and that Tony will probably see it later on. He takes that opportunity to throw an arm around her waist and he pulls her close because he loves her and because he just can.
"Good evening, Miss Romanoff, Mr Barton," Jarvis greets them and dims the lights, flickering them on as they walk down the hall toward the elevators.
"Evening, J," he greets and adds, "Quiet night?"
"Moderately," Jarvis replies.
"Oh?"
"Mr Stark's found some inspiration and decided to put sleep on hold this evening," Jarvis tells them.
"I imagine Pepper isn't too thrilled about that," she comments dryly when the step into the elevators.
"Not in the slightest," Jarvis' voices through the speakers in the elevator. "Shall I select the ground level?"
"Yes, thanks," he says softly and leans back against the steel elevator wall and closes his eyes. His arm is still around her waist and he swears they were made for each other because of the way they so completely mould against each other. He feels the curve of her stomach though for a moment and he stills, smiles and nudges her shoulder with his own. She nudges him back and it goes on for a while until he decides to nuzzle her neck with his cold nose.
"Stop that," she demands but the smile on her face tells him she isn't exactly all that annoyed.
"Okay," he murmurs and adds only because he knows it'll make her roll her eyes, "Darling…"
The elevator slows to a stop and they step out with ease even though she's waddling slightly and he's trying not to laugh.
"It's not very funny," she tells him with a pointy look and he tries not to grin.
"I've seen you walk, run, skip and limp, but never have I seen you-"
"Don't even say it," she threatens and swats at his chest a little bit harder than he had been expecting.
"Oufff," he winces and chuckles despite her side glare.
The front glass doors open for them and with a quick glance up he mumbles his thanks to the AI.
"You're welcome," Jarvis replies.
"Why wasn't SHIELD agents smart enough to design something like Jarvis eh?" he comments when they step out into the cool night. She nods her head in agreement but doesn't say anything.
She takes the lead and he trails beside her obediently, arm still strung around her waist. He takes that opportunity to look around and gather a sit rep. There's a man sleeping on a park bench across the street and another man walking down the sidewalk with grocery bags in his hands. There's a woman crossing the road and disappearing into the 24 hour pharmacy. There are three more hovering outside the little general store and he keeps his eye on one of them for no reason in particular other than the fact that he doesn't like surprizes. He isn't going to let anybody come within a 10 feet radius of them, or well, more her. He doesn't really care if anybody attacks him.
They cross the road and he keeps his side vision locked on the three of them. They near the three of them and all the while he counts the steps and seconds until they were approximately five feet from the entrance. He takes those few seconds between there to the entrance to scan them all for weapons. One of them he notices had something holstered at his hip.
He lets her step into the store first and the moment that she steps one foot in he hears it.
"Hey man-" he doesn't let the guy finish because he swings around and places himself between her and the guy. He has a hand on the guy's arm and the other in the air, open palmed and ready to strike.
The guy's eyes widen and he looks so much like a kid that Clint really wishes he doesn't have to punch him out. The guy looks down for a brief moment and he follows the guy's gaze to find that his wallet is sitting in the guy's trembling hands.
"Your wallet," the guy says.
"Oh uh, thanks," he mumbles awkwardly and lets the guy's arm go. "Sorry."
"'s okay," the guy smiles nervously before retreating to his two friends.
He feels the touch of her hand slipping onto his shoulder and as he turns and looks up at her he hears them.
"I told you shouldn't have done that," one of them said.
"Yeah, he came out of that Stark building, probably one of Starks experiments who are pumped with super abilities, I'm surprized he didn't take you out," the other said.
"How else was I going to let him know he dropped his wallet?" the guy which he presumes to be the one that he almost punched out moments ago.
"Come on," she tells him, "I need your help to get the bread."
"Hard to bend huh?" he tries and winces but chuckles when she slaps him on the chest again.
"Don't even start," she grumbles as she grabs a basket and passes it to him.
"Did you like my lightning reflexes?" he asks, grinning like a fool as he follows her.
"It was a little bit extreme," she starts and pauses when she turns into the isle with the bread, "But the look on his face made up for it."
"Can't help it," he shrugs and slows down when she does too.
"That one," she points to the bread in the yellow wrapping down the bottom.
"Я не позволю никому причинить тебе боль, когда вы, как это," he tells her when he bends and grabs one of the loaves. I won't let anybody hurt you when you're like this.
She doesn't say anything and for a moment he thinks she's too busy thinking about what else she feels like eating. But when he stands and turns, she's looking at him with a degree of softness and warmth in her eyes unlike anything he has ever seen before.
"You okay?" he asks and lightly touches her elbow with his one free hand.
She bends her arm and he curls his hand around her elbow. He is genuinely concerned for approximately 3 seconds before she slides a hand up his chest and wraps it around his neck. She kisses him despite the fact that they're in a public place and in all honesty it doesn't matter anyway because it's late and hardly anybody frequents the general store at this time of night. He lets his guard down just one tiny little notch and slides that one free hand from her elbow to curl around her lower back. He pulls her close until her swollen stomach presses into him and he swells for a moment with joy all over again at the thought of that.
She pulls back for a moment to breathe and he takes that as an invitation to press a kiss at the place where her shoulder and neck met. He feels her smile from where she presses a kiss at his jaw and he doesn't think life could actually be any better than that.
"Ты идиот," she murmurs softly only for him to hear. You're an idiot.
He smiles against her neck and agrees, "Mhm Hmm…"
"Давай, давай уйдем отсюда. Я хочу съесть мой хлеб," she murmurs softly. Come on, let's get out of here. I want to eat my bread.
"Uh huh," he nods when she slips her hand from his neck, "Тебе повезло, что я люблю тебя." You're lucky I love you.
She smiles and throws him a look that clearly says he's going to get it later. "You're lucky I let you."
He grins.