Tony loved to play matchmaker.

So when Natasha turned him down every time he attempted to set her up with some scientist or billionaire or Clint and Steve, he was thoroughly put out.

"C'mon, Red," he sighed dramatically in typical Tony Stark fashion, but she continued to ignore him. "Just let me set you up with someone! There's no way you're not dying for some male company."

Natasha shook her head, and stood from her seat at the kitchen counter. "Thanks, but no thanks, Stark. If I wanted a date, I am perfectly capable of finding one myself."

"Yeah, okay, but-" he tried to protest, but she was already on the elevator on her way out of the building.

Well this just wasn't going to do. Nobody ever turned down Tony Stark.

This was how the next few mornings were. Tony practically begging (but not really, because Tony never begged for anything) Natasha to let him set her up with one of his friends, and her simply walking out of the room to avoid the conversation.

Sometimes Tony would try to get the Avengers to back him up on it.

Clint attempted to crack her by staring her down, but he had to look away when her lack of blinking only convinced him further that his closest friend wasn't actually human.

Thor told Tony that she had plenty of male company around the tower, and he wasn't exactly sure why Tony was so intent on bringing even more men around. Natasha thanked him with a small smile, and although he wasn't sure what he said to deserve being thanked by her, he accepted it graciously.

Bruce suggested that she could be going on dates behind Tony's back. Tony refused to believe that anybody could hide anything from him, not even Agent Romanoff.

Steve had laughed when Tony finally went to him. "You must be pretty desperate to ask me."

"I've never been desperate for anything in my entire life," Tony argued, and even though he knew it was a lie, Steve didn't need to know that. "I just think that you're probably the most likely to understand why she refuses to let me set her up with somebody. I always took her as the kind of girl who had a lot of casual sex," Tony shrugged. "But somehow I've never seen her bring a guy over to the tower when she stays here."

Steve shook his head, a small smile on his lips. "Maybe you don't know everything there is to know about her."

"And what exactly do I not know about her?"

Steve went back to reading Technology and You in lieu of an answer, and Tony stormed out of the room with a loud humph.

The next morning, all of the Avengers except Natasha and Steve had filed into the kitchen, waiting for Bruce to finish cooking breakfast. Except Thor, who was already eating his usual breakfast of strawberry Poptarts.

Tony was about ready to demand that everybody help him get Natasha's secret out of her when she came in, but was stopped before he could say anything by a girl that none of the Avengers knew coming down the stairs. The brunette woman, scantily clad in nothing but a large white sweater, rubbed her eyes sleepily as she casually strolled towards the coffee maker. Noticing that everybody was staring at her, she smiled and offered a quiet, "Good morning," before turning back to pour herself a mug of coffee.

"Well, well," Tony was the first to speak, leaning his elbows on the counter to rest his chin in his hands. "You're new."

She laughed and sipped her coffee. "New to the tower I suppose."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "So who are you? Steve's girlfriend? I'm offended he didn't tell me about you- we're very close, you know."

Clint couldn't help but laugh at that, earning himself a sharp glare from the billionaire. Just then, Steve came out of his room, and everybody turned to stare at him. He didn't seem to notice though- either too tired or he was just ignoring them. He did grin at the brunette girl though, who had yet to introduce herself properly. "Morning, Ellie."

She nodded at him, "Steve."

"So you are Cap's!" Tony shouted, pointing in her direction before using the same hand to slap Steve's back. "Well done, Capsicle. I didn't know you had it in you."

"Wait, my what?" Steve seemed confused, and Ellie giggled at his innocence.

"They seem to think that I'm your girlfriend."

Steve's confusion melted into an amused grin. "You mean you haven't told them yet?"

She shrugged, her expression matching Steve's. "I figured I would let them work it out themselves."

"Work what out ourselves?" Bruce asked, curiosity piqued by this morning's events.

Finally, the last Avenger joined the group in the kitchen. "I see you've all met Ellie," Natasha said with a small smirk.

"How do you know her, but we don't?" Clint asked, narrowing his eyes back and forth between the redhead and the brunette.

All was explained when Natasha walked over and kissed Ellie on the cheek before moving to grab her own mug of coffee.

Tony gasped and slammed his hands down on the kitchen counter. "It makes so much sense!"

Bruce's eyes went wide before moving down to study his tea cup cradled in his hands. "Didn't see that one coming…"

Clint was gaping at the two women, and was unable to get out a coherent sentence. "But… You never… I thought that…"

Thor simply stood from his seat to take Ellie's hand in his and kiss the top of it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Ellie. If I am understanding correctly, you are the Lady Natasha's companion?"

"It's nice to meet you too, Thor. And, yes," she chuckled, "you are understanding correctly. I'm Nat's girlfriend."

Tony's surprised expression shifted from Ellie to Steve. "Why aren't you having a bigger reaction to this? Unless…" His expression quickly changed from surprise to mock anger. "This is what you were keeping from me!"

Steve half-shrugged. "It wasn't my secret to tell."

"But how did you know when the rest of us had no clue?"

Ellie explained for him. "Because I'm usually gone by the time the rest of you are up. Seriously, you'd think a group of people meant to defend the world would be awake before noon."

None of them had an answer for that. Natasha wrapped an arm around Ellie's waist, and the brunette winked at the assassin before leaning into her side. "So, Stark," Natasha was watching all of Tony' reactions with amusement. "Are you finally going to stop trying to set me up with guys?"

Tony thought about this for a moment. "Okay. I'll stop trying to set you up with guys. However! Pepper has some really hot lady friends-"

"Hey!" Ellie shouted, reaching across the counter to smack Tony upside the head. "Watch it. That's my girlfriend you're trying to steal." It was a rare occurrence for somebody to shut Tony Stark up, and all the Avengers liked Ellie that much more when she managed to do it within five minutes of meeting the guy. "No more playing matchmaker with Nat. Okay?"

Tony didn't reply, instead moving closer to Clint by the dining table. "So, Bird Brains, Pepper has some really hot lady friends."