Clint and Natasha were currently residing in the newly renamed Stark Tower, after Tony so graciously decided to extend an invitation to the rest of the team offering them each their own floor in the tower. Even though each member had been shocked (and at first reluctant) they had all accepted and took up the offer.
On the first day of the teams arrival at the tower, they were greeted be an over enthusiastic Tony Stark. For Clint and Natasha the tour had been painfully slow as Tony had insisted on demonstrating how every gadget had worked. So far they had covered they had covered the first six floors.
The first floor they visited was the labs; all of the team had been speechless as Bruce's eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas morning. Following this, the next three floors were living quarters, or to be more precise – apartments. Each contained a living room, kitchen (fully stocked of course; this is Tony Stark's building we are talking about), three bedrooms, en suite bathroom in each bedroom, and a small storage room for weapons, suits, tactical gear etc. Above the labs, the first apartment belonged to Tony and Pepper; above them was Bruce, followed by Thor in the next apartment. Located above these floors was a training area which contained practically every piece of gym equipment available, along with some more of Tony's inventions. Clint and Natasha actually took an interest in this floor, along with Steve, whose apartment was located directly above the current floor.
The two assassins were exhausted at this point, and literally were going to kill Tony if he didn't let them go to bed within the next ten minutes. Whilst Steve was admiring his new apartment, Tony turned to face the rest of the group and looked directly at Clint and Natasha. The look on his face led the assassins to believe he was mentally rephrasing a question before he spoke. This was not like Tony. For once he actually looked scared. But before the pair could elaborate on this idea, said billionaire spoke up, "I assigned you two separate apartments but if you don't want one of them just say."
The room became eerily silent as the rest of the Avengers turned around to see two mortified, wide-eyed assassins. At this point no one knew what to say. An awkward silence hung in the air for several minutes before Clint managed to speak up. He cleared his throat and choked out a "What?" Tony relaxed slightly but Clint and Natasha still stood frozen with shock. "Look bird brain I know you are partially deaf but…" The moment Natasha decided to speak Tony shut his mouth, "You think we're together" motioning between herself and Clint, all whilst sending Tony a look that could kill. The man with the arc reactor proceeded with caution, "Well yeah, it's kind of obvious" with a slightly offended look plastered on his face. However, Natasha's face was unreadable, and the only words that came close to describing it were cold and emotionless. She was the famous Black Widow after all.
The archer glanced over at the ex-Russian. His sudden movement caught her attention and she turned her head and looked back at him. Both had a look which was a mix of confusion, embarrassment and anxiety. All three emotions rarely seen on the faces of a pair of any other person it was as if they were having their own private, wordless conversation, and to be quite honest it was creeping Tony out.
This moment was over in a matter of seconds and they returned to face Tony. Coolly and calmly Natasha replied with a simple "No we are not together" Followed by "Now Stark I am extremely tired, so please can you show me to my floor so I can go to bed." Tony snapped back into reality, and said "Sure, follow me this way" motioning toward the elevator. Just before Stark was about to step in the elevator he spun around on his heels to face the rest of the group, who were all still in a state of shock. "I will show you guys the Avengers floor in the morning. If you need anything just ask Jarvis"
The God of Thunder has a look of mass confusion on his face as he said "Who is this Jarvis my fellow warriors speak of?" This outburst was followed by a large sigh from Dr. Banner as he replied "I will explain it to you tomorrow Thor" The Demi-God nodded in approval as Tony stepped into the elevator. He held the doors open and with a frustrated tone shouted to the archer "Well are you coming or not? You have to get up to your apartment somehow." Clint shook his head and replied with an "Erm, yeah, okay." As he stepped into the elevator, the doors closed and encased the three remaining Avengers in another awkward silence.
Tony rested against the side of the elevator and observed the pair, who stood uncomfortably with a good amount of space between them. Natasha assumed that Clint would get the apartment closest to the roof (with him liking to be at a height) so as soon as the doors opened she automatically stepped out and turned back to look at Tony. "Thanks Stark" Tony nodded in acceptance and the elevator doors closed again, so the assent to Clint's apartment would begin.
Once the doors were shut Natasha headed over to the bedroom, and bolted into the bed without removing a single item of clothing or attempting to change. She let out a long exasperated sigh and closed her eyes. She hoped sleep would come quickly and put her mind at ease. Unfortunately her mind had other ideas and the same question was being repeated constantly in her head 'Why did she zone out and freeze before?' She had no reason to, and besides, she is the Black Widow, she never lets her emotions get the better of her.
The elevator doors reopened and Clint stepped out into his new apartment. He said his thanks to Tony and said goodnight. The split second the doors had shut, the archer headed towards the sofa and let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. Resting his head in his hands, he replayed the scene over and over again in his head, hoping that Tony would never ask about that again. But who was he kidding, this was Tony Star, he would rather die than resist the urge to annoy someone. He questioned himself, 'Why was he shocked when Tony assumed they were together?' It's not like it had never happened before with other people. Out of exhaustion he lay down on the sofa and begged that sleep would bring him peace of mind. However this wasn't the case. And he prepared himself for another sleepless night.
The second those elevator doors closed Tony wondered why the two assassins and acted so weirdly. He had to admit despite his fear of Natasha he found her reaction amusing and he was intrigued to find out what threw her off her game. The same went for Clint. Therefore Tony made it his own personal mission to investigate the sudden mood and demeanour change in the assassins. And he wasn't going to stop until he found an answer, or was killed by Natasha's small hands, or alternatively took an arrow to the knee. He thought to himself… this is going to be very interesting indeed.