It's Christmas Eve and Tony Stark was hosting a Christmas party at the Avengers tower. He had invited everyone, everyone meaning The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, The Guardians of The Galaxy, Spider-Man, Lady Sif and The Warriors Three, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Phil Coulson, and of course Pepper, Jane, Darcy, and Erick were all there. Everyone was talking and laughing about something. Some were playing pool and watching TV, it was a sight full environment.

However, two members of The Avengers were not there. Clint Barton aka Hawkeye and Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. Those two have been on a mission for the past few months and was supposed to be due back today but they haven't shown up yet. No matter where Tony was he constantly was looking at the door hoping to see them walk in at any minute. When JARVIS had finally says "sir, Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff are back, they are making their way up now." That had gotten everyone's attention and they turned to look at the elevator.

When the door was opened they saw two full-fledged agents, dressed in their uniforms. Clint had a duffel bag on his back and in his right hand, his left hand held the case to his bow. Natasha however, had three duffel bags two in her hands and one on her back. They both looked exhausted seeing how they had bags under the eyes saying they've haven't had any sleep or much sleep at all. They had a few bruises and a few cuts here and there a. They also looked pissed at each other and that was confirmed right away. You could hear them yell from across the room.

"Damn it Nat, this mission would have been done quicker if we did things like the time in Budapest!" says Clint

"You and I remember Budapest very differently because if we did it that way it would've taken much longer! Plus you ended up in a cast and had a broken arm after Budapest! That's why I said to go with Spain!" says Natasha

"You weren't very clear about what Spain mission, cause we've done several of them in Spain. So I had no choice but to do every one of them" says Clint.

"So you decided to run out of weapons, and blow up our safe house? Jesus Clint WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" says Natasha

He laughs and says "A lot of things Nat. A lot of things…. And it all started when I was 1 years old when my fucking old man beat me half to death. When I was four that bastard finally died and instead of being sad I was happy about it too. When I was eleven that fucking brother of mine almost killed me and left me to die while he ran away from the cops. When I was sixteen I was shot in the foot by Coulson, I escaped. Two years after that when I was eighteen I was captured and was brought into SHIELDS Custody, and was recruited as an Agent. The years after were a living hell, with me being the youngest to be ever recruited at SHIELD I was marked as a target for being an ex-assassin, half the agents at SHIELD wanted me dead so they snuck into my room at night and tried to kill me in my sleep. But I took care of those losers the next day by outwitting them with blackmail. Anyway, by the time I was Twenty-four I got sent to kill an assassin known as the 'Black Widow' and god help me I should have killed you back then before I made that call not to."

The others were shocked because he just told them his life story without hesitation, and wondered if he had meant too. Tony walked over to the place where Bruce, Steve, and Thor was and says in a whispered voice "do you think it's finally going to happen?" Steve, Bruce, and Thor shrugged their shoulders and Hill, Fury, and Coulson walks to over to them and Fury says in a whispered tone "no matter if he does or does not, they are both members of SHIELD even if they are breaking a ton of protocols, they both will stay as members of The Avengers as well, besides we've all waited for this moment." They team nodded their heads and turned their attentions back to them.

Natasha had a questionable look on her face and says "Clint? I've always wanted to know, why didn't you kill me back them?"

There was a sudden pause and Clint sighed he finally says "I didn't take that shot because when I was still a gun for hire a redhead assassin had decided to help out an amateur assassin. Not knowing each other's name we spent some time together after the job was done. We trusted each other. When I turned my back one time she was gone and I never got to ask her the question that I wanted too."

Natasha could only say "what did you want to ask this redhead assassin?"

Clint took a deep breath and exhaled it, he slowly squats down on one knee placing his bow case down on the floor. Opening the case he takes out his bow from its holder and lifts up the bottom of the of the case, which reveals a trap door. Inside the trap door, he grabs a small box. He turns around still his one knee, opens it and says "Tasha, I'm sorry for screwing up this last mission, it was because I spotted this ring inside one of the store windows and caused me to step out of position. But just now you asked me what I was going to say to the redhead, but all I'm going to say is that it's similar to the question I'm going to ask now."

He stopped a moment to clear his throat and continues with "Tasha, will you take my hand in marriage?"

Natasha stood there for a moment shocked about what just happened and then finally says "yes."

Clint gets up from the floor, puts the ring on her finger, and pulls her into a kiss.

They got interrupted by Tony when he yells from across the room "GET A ROOM YOU TWO!"

Clint pulls away from Natasha to and his eyes were full of shock, to see every one of their friends smiling and grinning. He motions his right arm and says "oh like you're one to talk. Also, what's everyone doing here?"

Tony walks towards them and says "Don't tell me, you forgot that today was Christmas Eve. I've invited everybody to the tower and we were waiting for your return."

"However we got your little show, and I suppose your mission was a total mess?" Fury Continues

Clint laughs and says while rubbing the back of his neck "yes sir, we'll write everything down on mission report. But I gotta ask Nat and I are breaking a ton of protocols, so…."

"So what? As I recall you've been breaking protocols since the first day you came to SHIELD, what's so different now?" Coulson says

Clint looks at Coulson and says "Sir?"

"If the higher ups have an issue with it then they will have to go throw me to get to you two because you two are the BEST agents I've ever gotten. I will also gladly step down as director if I can't have the both of you" says Fury

"Nick!?" yells Natasha and Hill

Fury shrugged and says "what's your opinion on this situation Hill?"

"Honestly sir, you know as well as I do that a couple of the agents that's been associated with Clint and Nat have been placing bids to see when they would actually get married, ain't that right Coulson?" says Hill

Coulson sighed and saw that Clint had his hands on head, trying to grasps the fact that basically everyone at SHIELD was betting on them. He looked over to the Avengers and saw them acting oddly and says "wait don't tell me, you've placed bets also?" Tony laughs and just shrugged it off saying "alright now that everybody is present, let's eat." As they sat down at the table Natasha and Clint, of course, sat next to each other and on the other side of Clint was Jean Gray and aside from her was Scott. They began to eat and the thing that caught everyone's attention was the way that Clint ate sure Fury, Coulson, Hill, Natasha, and the other Avengers saw him eat but they could never get used to it. He'd gather his food on his plate, cut it up, and then he'd lean his body over it placing an arm around it as if he was protecting it in seconds he was done with it. He grabbed some more food and did the same thing, nine full plates later he was finished eating and walked off to the couch.

As the others were still eating Fury had asked Natasha how much Clint had eaten the past month and she said "maybe a few granola bars here and there but no major meals. I'm not going to be surprised if he crashes early because he's only gotten a good 34 minutes of broken sleep…." before she was interrupted Clint from the couch yelled "HEY TONY, WHY IS MY GUITAR OUT HERE!? ESPECIALLY THIS ONE!"

Tony stands up from his chair and says "oh about that, I was kinda hoping that you'll play for us?"

Steve looks at Tony and says "but you know Clint, he doesn't play in front of people. Well, that is unless he doesn't know were around."

Clint walks up and says "that's because you said that you hate my music. Wait, you mean you listen to me play when I'm down here at night?"

Bruce jumps in and says "it's not that hard to miss, sure the walls maybe soundproof but you know Jarvis is always here watching everybody. We get the information from him. Plus with your hearing aids out at night you don't even notice our presence at all. Even Natasha comes down at night to listen to you."

Clint looks at Natasha and says "you too Nat?" He sees her nods her head and says "I even get to listen to you when you're up on the roof at SHIELD. Myself, Fury, Coulson, and Hill plus a few others are present then. So you've been playing in front of people for awhile rather you like it or not." He looked at her and everyone else as well he was starting to feel a little embarrassed, so he took out his hearing aids and says "fine I'll play one song, please don't make fun of me."

He walked over to his guitar and says "here's a song you might know…" he starts to strum the strings of the guitar and started to sing (How I Got To Memphis by: Bobby Bare) "If you love somebody enough you'll follow wherever they go. That's how I got Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis. If you love somebody enough you'll go where your heart wants to go. That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis." He looks up still strumming the strings of the guitar and he sees Nat sitting in her chair smiling he blushes a little and continues the song "I know if you'd seen her you'd tell me 'cause you are my friend. I've got to find her and find out the trouble she's in. And if you tell me she' not here you can follow the trail of her tears. That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis." He looks up at Tony who had his cell phone out taping him and continues the song "She'd get mad and she used to say that she'd come back to Memphis some day. That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis. I haven't eaten a bite or slept for three days and nights. That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis." He looked up again and saw that everyone was patting their hands on their legs keeping the beat with them he continues "I've got to find her and tell her that I love her so. I'll never rest till I find out why she had to go. So thank you for your precious time, forgive me if I start to cryin'. That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis…" As he was done he slowed the strumming of the strings down and looked up saw that everybody was clapping and he took a bow. Going over placing his guitar back on the rack and goes over to Tony and says with slurs "post that and I'll fuckin' kill ya'."

He then looks over to Natasha and sees her start using sign language saying "You still have your hearing aids out? Are you going to bed?" Clint nods his head looking around the room with all eyes on them he signs back "I've had enough excitement for one day. Plus not to mention that I've only had 34 minutes of broken sleep during the mission so I'm fucking tired." Natasha sighs and sings "I understand, I'll join you in a few hours okay? I still want to visit with everyone." Clint nods his head and smiles signs "I'll be waiting" and walks off picking up his bow case and heads to the door. Natasha turns back around and looks at every with confused faces even The Avengers was confused and she says "he's going to bed. He's exhausted I mean it's been a few months since he's gotten a real good night sleep."