A/N: Sorry if it starts off a bit slow! Trust me I've everything down pact, it's an insane crossover but stick with me on this one, I think I can pull it off. Enjoy!
The Bird and the Spider
She'd been on hundreds upon hundreds of missions. Infiltrating the enemy and carefully handling the assets, wiping out entire corporations, even. And yet, there she sat, filing through stacks upon stacks of paper that had flooded her apartment floor. If there was anyone who hated paperwork, it was Natasha Romanoff. And yet she sat cross-legged on the cool black marble floor of her living room, sorting through all of the files, data, and records the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agency had into messy piles. The sunset shone through the tall windows of the room, bouncing off the off-white walls of the luxury apartment. Natasha's apartment contained only furniture, not many personal belongings- at least none that were shown in plain sight. The spacious living room and dining room were separated by a step leveling the dining room kitchen and the rest of Natasha's home higher than the sitting area.
"You know, when you asked if you could come over to help, I actually thought you were coming over to help." She said, crumpling a paper and tossing it to the back of Clint Barton's head.
It bounced off with a muted crunch. "Come on, you know me better than that." He replied, flipping the channel from the food network and settling on a half over episode of Game of Thrones. "Why are you even doing that? Didn't know you were a part-time secretary." He chuckled.
"Hilarious. After the whole Hydra thing, Coulson was iffy about who should be seeing this stuff. He figured I had time on my hands, so he threw this crap at me before I could get out of it. Shoulda got Wilson to get in on this, he'd be more than ecstatic to read about heroes, I bet." She paused, then side-eyed him, "Or at least more help than you're being right now." Natasha and her piles sat on the floor of the dining room, behind the couch where Clint's head and shoulders peeked over the top.
The files she combed through contained information on every member former S.H.I.E.L.D. had, every member the new agency had, and every potential ally and threat that crossed it's radar. Natasha flipped through the files tossing Captain Britain and Psylocke into one pile and Loki and Von Doom into another. She smirked, holding up a file thicker than the rest. She flipped it open, scanning the papers all the while cocking her eyebrow with a small smile on her face.
"What is it? Is that my file? Nat, is that my file?" He pressed on, twisting his body around. He extended an arm over the back of the couch and reached for the folder. Natasha kept on reading while playing keep away.
"Nat, what's it say? Does it talk about my arrows? What-"
"It's not yours." She laughed, finally closing the weighted file and tossing it to Clint, hitting his chest. "It's Logan's. Guy's been around for a long time. Longer than Cap. Maybe we can turn him in to the Historical section of the Museum for a reward." She laughed.
"You're so weird." He only glanced at the file before tossing it into a new pile and plopping back down on the leather sofa of Natasha's lavish apartment. It was simple, but every item in the room (though as few as there were) screamed top quality. "I need a coffee. Where's your barista?" he chuckled at his own joke but stopped when Natasha replied with, "He's sitting on my couch."
They had been quiet for a while. Natasha was finishing up a stack of folders and Clint was dozing off when her communicator (nicknamed the Time Bomb by Coulson when he gave each Avenger one because of their ability to be used as a weapon, get in contact with the other Avengers, and give the accurate time wherever you were located) went off. Nat crawled a few feet away from the messy piles to reach over to the table placed beside the couch, grabbing it at the same time Clint, now half-awake and interrupted from his nap, reached over to pick it up.
The communicator was a device modeled and created by Tony Stark. After Howard Stark attempted to create the communication/bomb device and failed, it was scrapped. Howard saw no need for it because he was more focused on better things like flying cars and Steve Rogers. After Tony found the blueprints, he found it to be the perfect opportunity and excuse to tinker more than he already did. He personalized each item and kept the devices accessible and simple. The communicators were the same size as a phone, except sleeker and life proof without the need of a fancy case, unless you set it to self destruct. In that case, it was able to take out anything within a ten foot radius at the least, allowing the users to buy themselves some time or use as a distraction when needed. Each Time Bomb had a special symbol to the respected owner. In Natasha's respect, the symbol that appears on her belt appeared on the back of the communicator. As for Clint, Stark found a purple arrow to be suitable for his icon.
Natasha slapped his hand away, and Clint's eyes snapped open, fully awake now.
"This is Agent Romanoff. Afternoon, Director Coulson."A holographic image showed Phil Coulson was on the other line, in a 3D image from his head to mid-chest.
He smirked, "You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to that. Good Afternoon, Agent Romanoff. How's my paperwork coming along?"
"It's coming," she sighed. "Do you need me to come down for more files? Barton's not doing anything, I'll send him down." He threw a sofa pillow at her. She laughed quietly as she caught it before it could hit her.
"Actually, no. You can burn it all. I needed to keep you on my radar to confirm something and have you free for a job if and when I needed you."
"You could have asked." She replied, slightly annoyed.
"This involves something that I didn't know if you would be okay going through again. A few hours ago, we received word from Thor that the tesseract had gone missing. No break ins, no burglary, no frost giants. It just… disappeared. Head over to HQ as soon as possible. You said Barton's with you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Bring him, too. We're going to need eyes up high."
"We'll get there as soon as we can."
"I'd appreciate it. Oh and Agent Romanoff, I'm surprised you weren't tipped off. No one files papers anymore. Not even Steve Rogers." He smiled.
"You'd know that, wouldn't you?" she chuckled, saying her goodbye.
"Wait, what'd he say about Thor?" Clint yawned, pulling himself away from the center of the couch and closer to edge by Natasha.
"Tesseract's missing." She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "I'm over aliens."
"What concern is that to us?" his brow furrowed, and he straightened himself in his seat. "I thought the tesseract was on Asgard? That's kind of far away from here. Though, I suppose that if it's landed in the hands of someone like Loki again, that'd be bad for all of us, wouldn't it?"
"Right, so we better head out." Natasha stood up, nudging one the piles she made on floor with her toe and shaking her head.
While Natasha quickly changed into something more suitable for work, Clint made his way downstairs and through the lobby to start his car. As he walked up to the vehicle, he popped the trunk. Inside laid a duffel bag with Clint's (or Hawkeye's when he puts it on) suit. Remembering Captain Roger's words when he was finally freed from Loki's mind control on the day of the attack, he smirked and pulled out the black and purple suit.
"Well… I guess it's time to suit up." He sighed, closing the trunk.