In this story, Tony and Pepper dated for a while but never worked out. They are still friends and she is still CEO of Stark Industries. The scene in the tower when Agent Coulson interrupts still happens but there isn't anything romantic, it's just two friends celebrating.

In the aftermath of that battle there was quiet. Everyone was being ushered around, safe housing being found for the masses that had lost theirs to the gigantic metal beasts that had flown out of the hole in the sky, or to the hulk thinking about it. The Avengers had been guilt tripped by the hulk revived billionaire into trying out a new restaurant, shawarma he called it, not that any of them really had the energy to eat at that moment in time. They had then all shuffled back off to the Stark Tower and crashed in one of the seemingly endless stream of rooms that had actually survived the attack.

It had seemed natural to remain together as a team, they hadn't known each other long but saving a city together seemed to form a bond. The assassins were still more closed off, disappearing almost as soon as they reached the tower, Steve, Bruce and Thor all looking confused when JARVIS greeted Natalie Rushman and neither Natasha or Tony corrected him.

They both brushed it off as being too tired to deal with it now, and in actual fact JARVIS knew her real name, but the name, the alias, held sentimental value for both of them, a time when they got along and were closer than they were now, despite the lies. Natalie Rushman had been a welcome break for Tony, a very organised and attractive one at that, and when things with Pepper hadn't really worked out, he had found himself thinking about her more often than he should have been, especially as she had lied to him and was an agent of the agency he hacked for fun.

Natasha and Clint had slipped away into the tower, Natasha knowing where to go from her time as personal assistant to Tony Stark himself. Clint had more than a few injuries that needed dealing with and, though she hadn't admitted it and wouldn't, she had some wounds that would need cleaning and Clint was determined not to let her get away with them not cleaned. The two assassins treated burns, cuts and wounds, removed shards of glass and gravel and wrapped up sprains and strains until they were fully treated. Thankfully, they were both well practiced at this and the stitches were as good as a doctors would have been.

They both showered (separately, they were just friends, no honestly, they were) to remove dirt and grime and grabbed the change of clothes that seemed to have appeared for both of them, from Pepper they assumed as it was sensible and fitted perfectly. After dressing again, they made their way to the common floor, the one with the Loki shaped hole in the floor, to check on their teammates. Still, they were assassins so whilst Natasha appeared silently in the door frame unnoticed, Clint slipped through the vents and dropped out before the four men, scaring the life out of them and making Pepper jump from her seat at the bar.

"Bloody hell feathers, what did you do that for?" Tony exclaimed, clutching at his arc reactor, bare chested as Bruce had been examining the team's injuries.

Clint just smirked, waiting for Natasha to make her move; honestly, they didn't get a thrill out of scaring people, maybe.

"Get used to it Stark," Natasha said as she appeared at his shoulder, giving Pepper, who had seen her, a smile in thanks for the clothes. The four men jumped again as the red headed assassin grinned at them wolfishly.

"What is it with you assassins? Can't you travel normally? Or at least make some noise, we should get you a cow bell..." Stark was muttering until Natasha rolled her eyes and brushed past him to lean against the wall facing the other Avengers. Barton was already perching on a stool. Both Tony and Natasha ignored the spark that they felt as they touched, Natasha brushing past Tony, neither realising the other felt it. If Stark even tried with that damn cowbell then he would lose important parts of his anatomy, Natasha decided in her head. She hoped by reputation along she wouldn't have to threaten him, it was always fun to watch him get scared at that, but she could always keep that one in reserve for later if she needed it. It would definitely be motivation for him not to do anything.

Bruce finished up with Tony and then turned to the two assassins with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if they were hurt and if they needed help.

"Nah, we're good thanks Bruce," Clint replied.

"Are you sure?" Steve asked, taking over as protective team leader once again. "You both took some nasty falls and hits out there."

Tony looked a bit worried at that as he half turned to Natasha, not wanting to be too obvious but still worried about her.

"We've already cleaned up," Natasha informed them. At the suspicious and concerned looks she continued.

"We've been doing this for years, we know how to treat almost any injury we can get without it being so serious that we have to be hospitalised. And that only happens when one of us had passed out generally."

The others still didn't look convinced so Natasha huffed and showed them the stitches on her hairline and Clint showed his bandaged ankle. They had more injuries than that but they certainly weren't going to admit to anything else. They knew that the team weren't likely to use it against them but it was ingrained into them not to show weakness so they held back the myriad of other wounds and bruises they had sustained.

After inspecting their handiwork, Bruce seemed satisfied and fairly impressed.

"Where did you learn medical skills like these?" he asked.

Natasha and Clint shared a quick glance before they skilfully evaded the question with ease. As much as they had trusted the tea in battle, they knew next to nothing about them really and they weren't about to start sharing their life stories with them.

"You pick things up in the field. When you need to be able to do it to survive, you learn," Clint admitted.

"It's trial and error really. We got better as we went along I think. When we're working we can't rely on anyone else so we have to be able to patch each other and ourselves up and keep going until the job is done," Natasha supplied.

Steve, having been in the army, vaguely understood the sentiment but still winced along with the others at the way they put it. They all grimaced at the thought of what the two had had to do in their time just to survive. The thought of them trying unknown skills on each other because they couldn't aggord to seek medical help made the, want to protect th two assassins even more, even though they were perfectly capable and didn't need protecting.

In a silent but mutual consensus, the six of them, (Pepper had left to sort things out and get some sleep) all moved over to the couches to relax. Once they all say, they seemed to realise how tired they really were and their eyes lids began drooping almost immediately. When they had sat, Tony had manoeuvred himself to keep close to Natasha, he tried to be subtle but she noticed although she wasn't sure why he was doing it, so when they all slumped down, it ended up with Thor and Steve on one couch, Bruce in the lone armchair and Clint, Natasha and Tony slumped on the other couch, Natasha in the middle.

Soon enough all of them had dropped off to sleep but their positions would make for an interesting morning.

It's only my second attempt at Natasha/Tony so please be nice to me. Hope it's ok and you all like it. Unbeta'd so sorry for any and all mistakes.