Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or any of the related plotlines or characters you see here.
This one came to me thanks to the choice of the same friend who inspired my Avengers/Hunger Games crossover. Many thanks!
Note: These one-shots are not in order. I'll try to keep a running list of them in chronological order on my profile or something once I get a few more written.
Heart of a Spider
85. Busy
Tony watched her from behind the window in the helicarrier's gym door. Surprisingly, she was all alone in the gym, going to town with a sparring pole on some poor, defenseless sandbag. She flipped about like an acrobat, feinted and parried like a swordsman of old. And for such a small thing, she sure could kick that sandbag around. It swung so fiercely that by all rights it should have knocked her on her ass, (it sure would have beat the breath out of him) but she ducked and dodged the thing like she knew where it was going to be before it was there—and maybe she did know.
At some point, he decided to open the door and step inside. This was the first time he'd gotten Natasha alone since they'd stepped up their bantering a notch and traded that one glance, and that one glance was just enough to get his mind churning.
He quickly ran through a few scenarios and lines in his mind. Not even one of them realistically ended in her melting into his arms. The Black Widow was a puzzle, Tony knew. One of those complicated ones with the itty bitty nonsensical pieces. Just when you thought you were starting to make progress, you find out that the section you've been working on doesn't go together like that at all. Tony liked a good puzzle, even if said puzzle could kill him with her pinky finger.
Rather than hitting her with any of the smooth or cheesy lines, though, he decided on a simple "Hey." He stood at a safe distance, just in case the pole went flying—accidentally or otherwise. When she didn't respond or even acknowledge his presence after a minute, Tony impatiently cleared his throat.
Thwhack! She did a roundhouse kick off the punching bag, skillfully hitting it with her post as she turned away. "I'm busy," she bit out, spinning her long pole about like a baton before returning her attention to her swinging foe.
"I see that," Tony rebounded, his arms behind his back. "The old man goes through, what, three of those a day? You two must blow the punching bag budget sky-high."
Nothing. Well, aren't we friendly? Tony thought. She'd worked for him, spied on him. They'd fought some weird-ass creatures and a power-hungry god together. You'd think she would have at least warmed up to him by now.
Even though Tony had no skill with the things, he picked up a sparring pole of his own while Natasha wasn't looking. Or, at least, he couldn't tell that she was looking. She seemed to have eyes in the back of her head, sometimes. At any rate, he approached her quickly, poised to strike her lightly on the shoulder. Before he could do anything, she whipped around, knocked him in the shins with her pole, and blew his feet right out from under him. He found himself sprawled out on the floor, winded, and slightly turned on.
"I said," she growled, "I'm busy." Rather than resuming her relentless barrage on the punching bag, though, Natasha was simply standing over him. She let out a deep breath. "Try that again."
Huh? Tony thought. He didn't know Natasha well enough yet to really be able to read those expressionless expressions of hers, but that didn't sound like a woman's typical "don't-you-dare" challenge; she sounded like she legitimately wanted him to come at her again. He got to his feet, surprised himself by successfully twirling the pole around a little, and swung at her once more. She swatted his pole out of his hand with a mere flick of her wrist. Then, she sent him flying by pushing him with the pole in both hands.
Once again, he was on the floor.
"Decent effort," she said after he did a bit (okay, a lot) of groaning. "I could show you a few moves."
Could you, now? he thought with the raise of an eyebrow. Instead, he said, "I thought you were busy." Natasha narrowed her eyes, and Tony melted under their heat. He hopped to his feet. "Alright." He struck what he thought was a "ready" sort of pose. "Let's dance."
Reviews are appreciated. –MS-
