First oneshot in ages! Just a little thing in my eyes about where Natasha went and what happened in the hours after the events of The Winter Soldier (which was amazing!)
Hope you enjoy
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own any of the Marvel characters or locations mentioned in the story. They belong, and always will belong to the great Stan Lee.
Clint sighed, locking the car door and heading down the next few streets, leaving the car abandoned on the side of the road. It wasn't his car; it was one he picked up back in Memphis a few hours ago before heading to his safe house in Louisville. It was one that S.H.I.E.L.D didn't know about and right now that's what he needed. Something that meant he wasn't going to get tracked down, until he'd had at least a days sleep.
Clint's own safe house wasn't exactly decorated to the nines despite a decent pay packet. He never stayed long enough and could go months at a time without seeing it. The house was unknown to everyone else also, and that meant nobody ever came to stay.
Climbing the concrete steps to the front door however Clint felt something different. He didn't feel alone which is what his place of solitude grew to share. Someone was in the house. Leaning into his back pocket Clint's hand gripped the butt of his pistol. It wasn't his favoured weapon, too noisy and not nearly his most comfortable but right now he needed something small and easy to handle and a bow and arrow just wasn't going to cut it. Slipping his key into the lock the door hadn't been tampered with, suggesting the intruder had clearly found another entrance to the building. The lights were all off and there was no clear sign of somebody being in the apartment but that didn't faze Clint. If anybody was going to try and break into his safe house, they were clearly going to be good at their job.
Taking care to ensure he wasn't heard approaching Clint walked the halls until he reached the first open door. That was the first thing he had noticed out of place. Where the building wasn't occupied very often Clint always shut all the doors upon leaving the building and he hadn't been here in nearly three years.
The room was a simple living room area with a couple of comfy sofas facing a television set that had a thick layer of dust covering the top. In the middle was a small coffee table that, usually cleared, was now holding a cold mug of tea and the crumbs of a fresh packet of biscuits. Clint never kept food in the apartment, usually preferring to buy a few snacks or take-out when he does frequent it. In the adjoining kitchen he found a couple of empty bottles of beer, the cheap stuff that had probably been left behind.
Bypassing the bathroom Clint headed for the only other room in the small apartment, the bedroom. The door had been closed but as he nudged it open with his foot he was almost sliced in half as a small silver knife flew through the air and marked the wall next to him. In the seconds the knife had flown, he had his gun cocked and in the air. Only the flash of red hair stopped him from pulling the trigger.
"Nat I could have blown your skull. What the hell are you doing here?" He declared, flicking the light switch and removing the blade from the wall. The red haired assassin he hadn't seen for quite some time was sat up on the bed, above the blankets in just sweats and a camisole. She looked exhausted and alert all at the same time, something she had practised.
"I needed somewhere to lie low. This is as low as it gets." She commented, ignoring his look and gazing around the room.
"Hey don't knock it, comes in handy. How did you know I'd come here?" He asked, crossing the room and handing back her knife. Clint perched on the edge of the bed and threw his bag on the floor at the foot.
"Lucky guess I suppose. I needed to see you." In the few moments that followed the two agents just looked at each other, drinking each other in. For all intents and purposes Clint looked exactly as expected; a shattered agent who had just spent the last two days travelling, whether it be via plane, car or on foot. He looked just about ready for a shower, a bite to eat and then a good day spent sleeping.
Natasha looked tired. But there was something else there that only Clint would notice. It was a slight mix of both concern and confusion like something had happened and she didn't know how to continue.
"Nat?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D's gone Clint." There it was, and with Natasha it was a blunt as if they were discussing the weather. Clint looked at her with pressing urge for her to continue and with a sigh and a hand through her hair Natasha explained.
He sat quietly, listening to her talk about Washington, about Nick Fury being alive and then being dead and then being alive again and then leaving and disappearing to Europe. She talked about Captain America, and the Falcon returning to the fight. She talked about how S.H.I.E.L.D had gone from a good organisation that helped the world to one being run by HYDRA and no longer a trustworthy organisation. And all the time Clint sat quietly and listened. Listened as she listed off the agents he trusted, some of the agents he would have considered friends and allies as they renounced S.H.I.E.L.D in favour of HYDRA.
When she had finished Clint rubbed a hand across his face and cast a weary eye at Natasha. In truth he didn't know what to think but the words began forming in his mind.
"I'm sorry Nat." she looked bewildered, an expression not very fitting of the Black Widow but it crossed her face all the same.
"What do you mean?" She asked, toying with the arrow charm round her neck.
"I took you from Red Room, promising you that S.H.I.E.L.D was good and that they would save us both. What I really did was lead you into something much worse. Something that dates back years, right back to when S.H.I.E.L.D first began."
"You weren't to know. Clint I don't want your apologies if Nick Fury didn't know HYDRA was working under his nose all this time I was never going to expect you too. And it's not your fault. You took me from the red room to work for someone good yes? And we are. We work for S.H.I.E.L.D not HYDRA and therefore we are not part of this mess. Just victims of deception."
They stayed silent as their own words processed in their minds. For all Natasha had said and he knew it to be true Clint just wanted it to be over, to be false, a mistake. But it wasn't. His whole world, everything he had worked for was now crumbling to pieces around him and he hadn't been there to fight off the enemy.
"There's no more secrets anymore. S.H.I.E.L.D is out in the open." Natasha told him after the silence became close to unbearable.
"But that means-?"
"Natasha Romanoff is now as well-known as a household object. Every little secret of mine, from red room exploits to the Avengers, hell I bet Budapest is out if we look hard enough."
"I'm sorry."
"Stop saying sorry."
"Sorry."
She looked up at him and with all the chaos their lives had fallen into he couldn't help but grinning. A small smile played on her face too.
"You're an idiot." Was all she said.
"I missed you too." He responded.
Conversation done Natasha had headed out to the local off license to grab a couple of bottles and a takeout from the Chinese across the road. Clint showered up and turned the water up high, allowing the heat to crash onto his body and forget the past half an hour. They reunited on the sofa, with hot food, a cheesy movie and a few hours catching up to be done.
It didn't take them both long to fall asleep and in the early hours of the next morning Clint woke to the red headed woman resting against his chest.
"What happens to Natasha Romanoff?" He asked quietly, sensing she was awake rather than seeing it.
"I'll have to find a new name, a new alias." She told him in equally hushed tones, sitting up a little to look into his eyes.
"Who will you become?"
"I don't know. For the first time since I was little, I really don't know who I am anymore Clint."
"Promise me something?"
"Hmm?" He twisted a strand of red around his finger as she lay back down.
"Help me find who I am."
"I promise. Promise me something?"
"Hmm?"
"Stay Natasha for a little while longer?"
"I promise."
Well I hope you enjoyed and naturally like everyone else on this site, reviews are very much appreciated :D x