This was based on the Tumblr Prompt "Clintasha+Things you said with too many miles between us." It got longer than I meant for it to, so that helped me decide to post it here too :D I hope you enjoy!Set after Captain America Winter Soldier.
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Natasha sat up in bed, not wanting to believe what she was hearing. "What? Are you serious Barton? But- what are you going to do?!" On the other end of the phone, Clint sounded throughly distressed. "I don't know, I didn't have a backup plan, I didn't plan for this!"
Natasha could sense how frantic her partner was, and knew how much something like this would upset him. She had to calm him down, before he did something crazy. "Ok, it's going to be fine Clint. Just, calm down. We can make a new plan, you can figure this out."
She heard his frustrated sigh on the other end of the line, and wished she could be at his side to help him work through this. There was silence from his end of the phone, and she patiently waited until he collected himself enough to speak.
"I just- It was part of the plan Nat. If I had been able to buy that field, everything would have been fine. I didn't think the auction for it would get so intense. Now things are a lot more complicated, I need more space to grow stuff, or else I won't make enough to sustain the farm." Natasha closed her eyes and imagined what Clint was doing right now. She saw the way his brow was furrowed with anxiety, he was probably pacing back and forth with pent up energy, sleeves rolled back from his arms. It had been a couple months since she had seen him, and now she felt an ache of longing to be with him again.
"Clint, it's going to be fine. Ok? What about the field you have on the back of your property?" Clint interrupted her, not in a rude way, more like he was finishing what she was about to say. "The one by the woods? No, remember, that one flooded, it's no good for planting anymore. Maybe next year I can use it, for now it's not an option, I need to restore it first. I don't know what to do Nat."
She laid back down on the bed, trying to figure out a way to fix this. After New York, Clint had finally decided to use up all those vacation days he'd saved, and spend some time back at his family farm. She'd gone with him at first, for a month or so, to help him get back on his feet. Natasha had loved being at the farm, but she needed to get back on the job. It was hard for her to enjoy being in one place for too long, made her anxious. So she had left her partner behind to figure out what he wanted to do, and gone back to work with a temporary new partner, Captain America.
Clint had decided he still wanted to be a Shield Agent (Thank God, because Natasha liked Steve well enough, but it wasn't the same working jobs without Clint at her side.) But, the archer also decided he wanted to get the farm going again, as a kind of side business. He planned on getting it running, hiring a few people to work the land, eventually harvesting and selling crops, maybe even buying a few animals. That was in the future, now he was just trying to salvage a farm that had been abandoned for close to 20 years.
Clint had planned on coming back to Shield a month ago, but things like this just kept going wrong at the farm. Natasha had been on the edge of telling him to give up the farm idea and just come back so many times, but had kept her mouth shut. This was important to him, she couldn't tell him to just give up on the idea of getting his childhood home up and running again.
"Ok, so now you only have what, two useable fields? That's better than not having any. I mean, it would have been nice if you could have bought the third one, but you can't have everything Barton. We'll just have to deal with this." She heard the smile on his face. "WE'LL have to deal with this? I didn't realize you were so involved with my farm Romanoff." Her smile filled her face, gosh she missed him. "Shut up Barton, I'm just trying to help you so you can get this done and come back to work with me."
Clint sounded more relaxed than he had been when the conversation first started. "What, don't you like working with Captain America? Isn't that like, every agents dream?" Natasha chuckled, "Not this agent's. I like my partners a bit more rough around the edges. You know, with a tough past, stupid sense of humor, weird fondness for pizza. Doesn't hurt if they use a bow and arrow either, that's always nice."
Clint laughed at this, Natasha savored the sound of it before she spoke. "What if you rented the flooded field to someone else? Like just for a couple years. Then they would fix it up for you, get it going, and you'd make some money off of would put all the work into it, get one or two harvests off of it, and you'd make some money." He considered this for a second. "That might work….. At least it's an option."
She smirked, "Come on, just admit it's the best idea ever, and that you owe me big time for thinking of it." He chuckled, "Fine, what do I owe you IF I go with this insane random idea?" She didn't think before the words slipped out. "A visit?"
Neither of them said anything for a few long seconds. Then they were both speaking at once. "I didn't mean that I know you're busy-" "I'll be done with this soon Nat, I know it's been a while-" "I mean, this is important to you, just do what you have to-" "Give me two weeks, another month tops and I'll be ready to go back in the field-" "I just miss you is all."
Ok, she really hadn't meant to say that. Obviously Clint knew how she felt about him, but they weren't the kind of people who talked about these feelings a lot. It was complicated, this thing they had. It was also strong, and deep, powerful and amazing. But most of all, it was complicated.
But for once, Natasha didn't try and cover her tracks or take away what she had said. "I miss you Clint. It's been too long since I've seen you, it's hard doing everything without you." Maybe he didn't know how to reply to that, it felt like forever before he spoke. "I know Tash, I miss you too. I'm sorry, maybe this was a stupid idea and I should just give up-" "No!" She interrupted. "That's not my point, just because I miss you doesn't mean I want you to give up on your farm. It just means I miss you…. Maybe I'll cash in a few days with Fury, come see you this weekend."
On the other end of the line Clint sounded so excited. "What, really?" Well, now that she was considering this, she was kind of excited too. "Yes really! I can help you fix that dump you're trying to turn into a farm, say hi to your dog, go over mission plans for the jobs I have next week, you know just a typical romantic weekend getaway."
He snorted. "Well, I can think of a few things that could make it a bit more romantic than you're making it sound…."
For the next half hour or so, the two of them talked about nothing of importance. Steve, Shield's new HQ in DC, the dog Clint had adopted, possible plans for the farm. Natasha didn't really care what they talked about, she just liked hearing Clint's voice.
Eventually the conversation came to an end, and it was time to hang up the phone. "So, you'll really try and come here next weekend?" Clint asked hopefully. "Clint, I want to come see you, nothing's going to stop me. If Fury says I can't go, I'll just bring up those photos we got of him at the Christmas Party a couple years ago." The archer laughed at this, "That's my girl. So call me tomorrow, let me know what the plan is." "Ok, will do Barton."
He sighed, "I miss you Nat." Natasha closed her eyes, tried to picture what he was doing now, wishing he was at her side. "I miss you too." Then one of them hung up, and she waited until she heard nothing but dial tone on the other end of the line before she whispered the words she had so much trouble saying to him, even though he obviously knew she thought them, felt them, meant them. "I love you."
They'd come a long way in their relationship since he first brought her in. A very long way. Who knows, maybe soon their relationship would go even farther, and she would finally feel comfortable with saying those three little words to his face. Maybe. Or maybe she would just continue to silently love him, and hope he was aware of the feelings she had for him.
Pondering this, Natasha clicked open to another app on her phone, and began composing a message to Nick Fury, informing him she would be off duty for the next week. And that if he had any objection to this, she would be very happy to share a few candid photos she had snapped at the party, of him when he had gotten drunk, and tried to fit into one of Captain America's spare suits.
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