FuckYeahBlackPepper Friday Prompt - Hero

Natalia Alianova Romanova had many names. Many were used whilst undercover, most recently Natalie Rushman. One struck fear into the hearts of many; Namely Black Widow. Of course, many perks of being Black Widow were the names that came along with it, шлак and сука coming to mind. But in all her years, there was one name she had never been called, as an assassin, a spy or an avenger. Natasha Romanoff had never been called a hero. And for that, she was glad. She killed hundreds, if not thousands, in cold blood. She wasn't a hero. Part of her thought she never would be.

This thought had been with her on the helicarrier post the battle of New York. Fury had told both her and Clint that they had been strategically removed from all battle images, therefore they were able to keep their jobs at S.H.I.E.L.D. This was good news for her, as becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D agent had been her salvation, and she had a deep set fear of reverting back to her old self afterwards. However, after watching the world wide tributes to Cap', Thor, Tony and Hulk triggered something which could only be described as jealousy. Hell, even Loki had fangirls pledging their allegiance to him due to his gorgeousness. But, as jealous as she was, she kept her mouth shut.

Skip to two months later, and all the Avengers are now living in Stark tower, which has now been dubbed 'Avengers Tower'. (What were the chances that the 'A' was the only letter left intact?) Natasha had her own floor, personally designed for her. Tony took credit, but she had a feeling it was more Peppers doing.

Pepper and Tony had broken up about a month before Natasha had moved in. Tony was now in a cosy relationship with Clint, much to everyone's surprise. In fact, nearly all of those living in the tower were paired up. Tony and Clint, Maria and Steve, Bruce and Darcy, and Thor and Jane.

Natasha was still being sent out on missions, and was now requesting them to be shorter, which almost gave Fury a heart attack when she mentioned it. Maria understood it though. As much as Natasha didn't want to admit it, the Avengers had become a family, and she missed them whilst away. While on longer missions, she even missed the annoyed things: Maria and Pepper planning everything they did, Steve's naivety, Bruce, Jane and Darcy and their science ramblings, Thor's loud voice, Clint's stupid pranks, Tony being... Tony.

Her latest mission sent her pretending to be a PA for a member of the Czech Republic government, who was a suspected arms dealer. Long story short - he was. Things turned pretty ugly once Natasha uncovered his secret, which led to a very near civilian death, and Natasha with a bullet wound to her left shoulder. She hopped on the quickest flight back to the tower, Not bothering to go to medical. She hated hospitals, and she could easily patch herself up.

That was how she found herself in the shared kitchen of the tower, sat on the counter, leaning over the sink, pulling debris out of her hair. She'd had Jarvis keep the lights at 30%%, in order not to wake anyone. The chances of this happening wee very slim, due to most of the towers occupants having some degree of insomnia, but it was the thought that counts.

Once her hair was free of glass and plastic, she located the first aid kit underneath the sink. She opened it to found it fully stocked. Unsurprising, as Maria and Pepper restocked it pretty much whenever one of the team went on a mission. She went to pull out the anti-bac wipes, when the door opened.

Pepper's eyes widened at the sight of Natasha's ripped suit and bloodied body. "Jesus, what happened to you?" She asked, stepping closer. Natasha just shrugged, and brought the wipe to her shoulder and hissed as it touched to wound. "Is that a bullet wound?" Pepper asked, her voice louder and higher. Natasha would have laughed, if she wasn't focused on her shoulder. "It's just a graze." Natasha said, still only looking at her shoulder, till she felt soft finger wrap around her wrist. She then looked up to see Peppers blue eyes full of concern. "Is there anything I can do?"

Natasha seemed to contemplate this for a minute. "You could go and get me a bottle of water. This stuff tastes like crap." She said, motioning to the glass she had filled up before. Pepper nodded, and left the communal kitchen to go to the one on her own floor, which she knew had at least a dozen bottles.

When she returned, Natasha had finished patching herself up but hadn't seemed to move from her spot on the counter. Pepper passed the bottle to her, which she then took three big gulps of. "So what happened whilst I was away?" Natasha asked. Pepper knew it for the evasion it was, she worked with Tony for gods sakes. But she had no idea what Natasha had dealt with, so she took the bait. "Well, Steve finally proposed to Maria." Natasha smiled at this news, it had been a long time coming. "Maria asked all the girls in the tower if they want to be bridesmaids, along with her sister Robin and my cousin Holly. " They then sat in silence for a minute or two. Natasha finished the bottle of water, and started playing with the label when Pepper finally spoke again. "Wanna talk about it?"

Natasha inwardly sighed. To be perfectly honest, she hardly ever enjoyed talking about her missions with anyone. But this was Pepper... "Natalie Rushman." She blurted, and Peppers eyes widened a little at the outburst. "I was a PA again." She explained. "For a suspected arms dealer. Things went south quickly when another member of staff walked in on one of the deals."

Pepper took a second to process the information. "You... You jumped in front of him." Pepper said, stunned, and Natasha was pretty stunned too. Of all the unsaid pieces of information in that story, that was the one Pepper picked up on. "Yeah... and?" She asked, her voice seeming more timid than before. "You risked the mission... Screw that you risked your life fro some random stranger." Blue met with Green as Pepper looked into Natasha's eyes. "You're a hero."

Natasha snapped. "No. No, No, No. You have got to be kidding. I'm no hero! I kill, often and I do it well. I was an assassin for the KGB for Gods sakes! I..." Natasha's rant was cut short by Pepper leaning down and kissing her soundly.

The kiss was soft, and sweet, and everything Natasha isn't, and was over much to soon. Pepper pulled away, and Natasha scanned her face for something, anything, to show any form of deceit or trickery, or malicious intent. She found nothing. "You're my hero." Pepper said, and kissed her again.

This time, Natasha kissed back. She may not believe she is a hero, but she was Pepper's hero, and that was all that mattered to her.