Love is NOT for Children

by courtneybuscus

Natasha Romanoff is a skilled assassin who believes no woman should ever marry a man. But she comes down with a sickness and gets caught by a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent-Clint Barton. He changes her point of view of men and she slowly falls for him. *DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS*

1. Prologue

Love is for children.

This was the motto of Natasha Romanoff. Correction-it was a way of life. The only time she really got to know a man was when she was going to interrogate, work with, or-of course-kill him. She was a spy- a secret agent. She spent most of her life either running, hiding, or fighting. And of course, being on S.H.I.E.L.D.s radar, she didn't have much time for rest. She was a skillful murderess and she always seemed to be one step ahead.

Her interrogation with the Soviet leader-she had him out in less than a minute after getting all she needed out of him. Her alleged "capture" by the Duke of York, well…let's just say, she wasn't tied up for long. Oh, and who could forget her meeting with the Governor of Colorado? Needless to say…he's dead now.

Living a life like this…it can get tiring. She is only one woman after all. A woman with lots of patience, flexibility, and near perfect aim, of course. But she was getting tired of running around, day and night. She needed food. She needed rest. She couldn't go on living like this for much longer. But still, she kept going. She fought the battles she needed to fight and when she didn't need to be active, she went undercover for a little while. She only came out of hiding once she sought out her next victim. She of course had plenty of food, and she managed a place to stay. But still, she wasn't doing so well. She became slower, easily tired (of course she didn't let her opponent know this), and she seemed to be getting hungrier…thirstier.

What was this feeling? She had never before experienced something like this. She was slow-a first. She was tired-how is that possible? And she never seemed to feel quite herself-what was wrong with her? While she was still beating her eneimies, she still felt horrible...as if, someone was jabbing her with needles and making her pump her arms so many times they just went limp. She had a problem, and being herself, this was something she could solve, right? No. Natasha Romanoff had no clue what was going on. And being on the run, she couldn't just waltz in to the hospital demanding answers. So she decided to keep going, push on, fight the one battle that didn't require any weapons.

And you know what happened next? It got worse.