Written very quickly in response to a "trick-or-treat" request from alpha flyer in be_compromised on LJ. It has nothing to do with Halloween. This is just for fun.

SUITE SURPRISE

Since the fall of SHIELD and the rise of HYDRA, she had been on the run. She just wasn't sure if she was running from something or toward something. All she knew was that she, Natasha Romanoff, had run out of steam.

It wasn't a physical exhaustion, really. Well, a little, maybe. It was more an emotional drain to be totally alone and untethered. Weird. She spent a great deal of her adult life wondering what it would be like to not have to answer to anyone; to not have mission after mission to complete; to be able to choose where to live. Now that this odd form of freedom was forced upon her, she realized it's not all she thought it might be. She preferred structure, discipline, goals, a reason to exist. She preferred to have a partner. She preferred to have Clint Barton.

Her life didn't usually provide her with what she wanted, though. So, after months of running, she found herself in the lobby of Stark Tower. There's talk of a name change, but for now it was still all about Stark's ego reaching for the stars. Ironic that he fell like a rock from the stars, she thought and smirked.

When Pepper found out Natasha was in the tower, she rushed down and escorted Natasha to the upper floors that housed the suites and common areas. Natasha was shocked to find that Dr. Banner now made his home at the tower. She was even more shocked to find that each member of the team had his – and her – own suite ready and waiting. Pepper was thrilled to show Nat to her area. And as much as she wanted to hate it, she actually found it very much to her liking.

"And it's right next to Agent Barton's suite," Pepper stated with pride and – was that a wink?

"Well, I wouldn't worry about fresh towels in there. I've been trying to track down Barton for months. Wherever Hand sent him before everything went to hell, it's more out of the way than our usual out of the way," the last part being more of a mumbled monologue to herself than an explanation to Pepper.

"When he's willing and able to move in, we're ready for him," said Pepper with a smile. "I'm still working on Steve, too. It will be comforting to have everyone under one roof."

Natasha nodded. That sounded nice, to be honest. Impossible, but nice.

It was a testament to how tired she was that the sound of the landing helicopter did nothing to raise her suspicions.

"Thank you, Pepper. I'm very appreciative of your hospitality," she stated plainly. And then added with her patented glare, "There's no need for you tell Tony how easily I agreed to stay here."

"Nope. No reason at all, Natasha," Pepper whispered while offering a quick but genuine hug.

Natasha turned and entered the room as the door latched behind her. "Home sweet home," she sighed and moved into the bedroom to unpack.

Within seconds she heard a loud rustling and near-frantic knocking on her door.

"I swear, Stark, if you're fucking with me, I will kill you," a horse and angry voice growled.

"Dude, she just showed up out of nowhere. I didn't even know she was here until Pep told us both on the helipad!" exclaimed Tony. "You two do have some bizarro connection, though. Both ending up here at the same time and all; it's spooky."

That earned him a light punch in the arm from Pepper. "I promise you, Clint. She's in there," stated Pepper with an impossibly huge smile on her face.

Suddenly the door opened. Clint turned and was face-to-face with Natasha. In the split second it took each to size up the other, Clint realized Natasha was tired, stressed, in need of a good meal, and a hug. Natasha realized he was suffering from several physical wounds, totally sleep-deprived, in need of a good meal and a shower.

"Where in the…" they each began at once.

"Hell have you…" they continued together.

"BEEN?" they exclaimed at each other and began a stare-down.

"See, Pepper," Tony whisper without taking his eyes off of the scene in front of him. "Spooky."

Pepper continued to smile as she hooked Tony's arm and began to pull him away. "No, Tony. It's not spooky at all," she whispered.

"Hey. C'mon, Pep," protested Tony. "We need to stick around and make sure they don't kill each other."

"Tony, their connection isn't anything supernatural. It's the most natural of all. Can't you tell?" she explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Those two would not only die for each other, they live for each other. And I think they just figured it out."

"Huh? … Oh. Oooooooh. Maybe we should knock the wall out and make it one suite," he mused.

"Just keep walking," chuckled Pepper as she rolled her eyes and turned the corner to the elevator.

As the elevator door closed, Clint spoke first. "Hand sent me deep into China. We were a team of three. Came to find out that team was actually made up of one SHIELD and two HYDRA. They had me 'detained' for a helluva long time. Finally got my chance to bolt, but I couldn't get a hold of you, Hand, Fury, nobody. I tried not to assume the worst. As a last resort, I contacted Stark," he said with rolling eyes. "Gotta admit, he had Col. Rhodes there in no time. And, well, here I am."

Her eyes never left his as he spoke. "Do you know anything about the Triskelion and how HYDRA made itself known?" she asked cautiously.

"No. From the looks of you, though, you've got first-hand information. Am I right?" he asked.

"Of course," she chuckles without a hint of humor. "You know how I love to be the center of attention."

He took a step closer to her. "Fill me in?" he whispered.

"Yeah," she whispered back as she stepped toward him threw her arms around his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and nearly broke her ribs with the force of his hug. He needed to know she was alive. He needed to feel that she was really in his arms.

After a time, they collected their feelings and pulled apart. "Um, you have your own suite down the hall if you want to check it out, get a shower…" Natasha said as she backed up and ran a hand through her hair and continued to study the floor.

"Um, sure. Yeah," Clint mumbled as he began to turn away.

"Or," she hurriedly added, "you could come in and let me get a good look at you… at your body… er, your injuries… ya know? Just to make sure you're ok." A small smile crept to her face.

"There's nobody else I'd rather have raking their nail… ah, eyes, over my body. My INJURIES! Yes, injuries. There are a few, I'm sure. Think Stark set these places up with first aid kits?" he quickly added.

She held out her hand and entwined her fingers with his and a reassuring squeeze. "Let's find out," she offered and pulled him into the suite, closing the door behind them.

"And THAT, Mr. Stark, is the last time you will EVER use the hallway camera on that floor for a non-emergency situation EVER again," punctuated Pepper with a dramatic tap of the key that sent the camera to static.

"Like you didn't want to know…" said Tony as he turned with his eyebrows wagging up and down like Groucho Marx.

As the blush crept up over Pepper's face she just smiled. "Just confirming that my floor assignments were appropriate. That's all."