Chapter: 2

The sun was just starting to set as Tony and Clint waited outside the Avengers tower for their respective girlfriends to meet them. Clint, being the trained assassin that he was, just leaned up against the wall and watched as Tony paced back and forth. At first he found it slightly amusing but now Clint had to restrain himself from tripping the overly impatient man.

"Stark," Clint snapped and caught the man's attention. "That's not going to make them get down here any faster." Tony sighed and moved to stand beside him.

"I swear they said ten minutes tops. How long has it been?" Tony began to raise his watch up but Clint beat him to it.

"Six," he said "it's only been six minutes Tony will you please chill out?" Tony folded his arms over his chest but remained silent and blessedly still. Another minute passed.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go hurry them up?"

"Stark!"

"Can't leave you alone for five minutes." A voice said from behind them. Tony turned around and was stunned for a moment when he saw his girlfriend. Pepper's hair was done up beautifully with some that was left down to frame her face. She wore a short-sleeved and black dress that hugged her body in a way that showed off her curves but wasn't too tight looking.

"Seven," Tony said when he recovered "It was seven minutes." She gave him a look and he stepped forward and kissed her cheek. "You're gorgeous."

"Very," Clint added from behind Tony.

"Thank you." She said with a smile "both of you."

"Where's Natasha," Clint looked to the door but she was nowhere in sight.

"She was stopped by Steve on the way out," she explained "he needed help with the TV." Tony rolled his eyes at that.

"I'm pretty sure I've explained that at least twenty times by now."

"You didn't explain how to get to the movies," Pepper said.

"I told him to just ask JARVIS."

"He wanted to do it by himself," Pepper shrugged and looked at Clint. "She should be down soon." She said with a smile but realized that Clint was no longer looking at her. Natasha had finally arrived. She had decided to leave her long curls down (like in Iron man 2) and they fell freely around her shoulders. Her dress was a deep green color that hugged her waist then flowed around her legs and came to a stop just above her knees. Her green eyes locked on Clint's stormy blue. He felt Tony nudge his shoulder and he cleared his throat.

"You um...you look beautiful." he said then just as Stark had with Pepper he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Tony and Pepper smiled at the interaction between the two of them. Though they had been partners for a few years they had only been dating for a few months so it was still new and somewhat awkward to them.

"Thanks." She whispered and Tony clapped his hands.

"Yep you're gorgeous too but more importantly you're here," he said and Pepper rolled her eyes. Tony motioned for the driver of the limo they were using and the man got out and opened the door. Tony gestured to the open door. "C'mon there's a party that we're not at right now."

"The tragedy," Clint whispered under his breath and Natasha smiled. He took her hand and they climbed in after Tony and Pepper.

Just as expected the party was absolutely full of people. Clint and Natasha were able to slip in without raising too much attention, it was a miracle that their relationship was still a secret from the world, but part of their jobs was to stay hidden when necessary and they were very good at what they did. Tony and Pepper's arrival caused quite the stir, which of course was mostly because of Tony. It took them almost twelve minutes to get through the door. When they finally made it through they walked over to where Clint and Natasha stood waiting for them.

"So, we need drinks," Tony signaled for one of the waitresses and she brought over a tray of drinks. "Thanks darling," he flashed her a smile and then passed the glasses around. "Ok next," he took a sip of his drink and pointed at Clint and Natasha "I want to see the two of you mingling."

"We don't mingle with people Stark," Clint said.

"Unless we're about to kill them," Natasha added and Tony frowned.

"Well that's...morbid," he rolled his eyes and took another sip. "Well just do something not so agenty. For one night just live a little."

"And I'll get him out of your hair," she grabbed Tony's arm and pulled him away from the two of them. They walked to the other side of the room where they were away but could still see the two assassins. Pepper thought they looked a bit out-of-place among the half-drunken and loud party goers.

"What was that for," Tony asked as he stood beside her.

"You needed to back off," she took a sip of her own drink and they stood there just watching the other couple for a moment.

"I was just trying to give them a little push," he said. She just looked at him and he held his hands up in mock surrender. She rolled her eyes and smiled at him. He smiled back and moved closer so that they were only a few inches apart. "You really do look beautiful." he whispered and her smile brightened even more. She wrapped an arm around him with her free hand and brought her lips to his. They kissed deeply for a while until the need to breathe made them separate. Suddenly the DJ's voice came over the speaker.

"Ok this song is for all my couples out there. Let's get on the dance floor." A new song flowed through the speakers and Pepper felt Tony gently pat her shoulder. She looked at him and he pointed to where Clint was leading a somewhat reluctant Natasha on to the dance floor.

"Now that's what I want to see." Tony said and Pepper nodded her agreement. Tony then unexpectedly grabbed her drink and put both of their glasses down on a table. He gently took her hand and led her out to dance as well.

Clint found a spot on the dance floor and slowly brought Natasha closer. She looked nervous so he leaned in closer to her and whispered softly in her ear.

"Just like we've done millions of times for missions Tasha," he felt her nod and he pulled back slightly and began to sway to the beat of the music. She followed easily and they matched each other's movements perfectly. Clint smiled and turned her around before bringing her back to him and she couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips. "There you go," he encouraged and that only made her smile grow wider. They moved a bit faster but kept with the gentle flow that they had started with. Their eyes met and for a moment the rest of the world faded away and it was only them and the music. Clint moved closer until there was little space between them.

"Maybe this party isn't so bad after all." She whispered and moved to close the rest of the space. Their bodies pressed up against each other's and she rested her head on his chest as they rocked slowly back and forth. In spite of the music, she could hear the faint beating of his heart. For that moment everything was perfect. It was over much too soon for the both of them but eventually the song did come to an end. They backed away enough to look into each other's eyes and Clint came so close to telling her something that he had so desperately wanted to tell her but was too terrified.

"Thanks for the dance." Natasha whispered in his ear and kissed him softly on the cheek.

"My absolute genuine pleasure," he whispered back and kissed her just as gently. He let his lips linger over her skin for a moment until he moved his head to look into her eyes again. The green depth of them had him hypnotized. The sound of someone clearing their throat had them almost reaching for their hidden weapons out of instinct. Tony noticed and raised his hands up in surrender.

"You know I think that's the first time I've been able to sneak up on either of you," he said with a smirk.

"What do you want Stark," Clint almost growled at him.

"I..."

"Hey!" The new voice had them all turning around to look for the source. It was a man who was looking at them with big excited eyes. "You're all part of the avengers!" He said and while Tony smiled both Clint and Natasha held back a groan. "I'm here picking up my brother. He had too much to drink. Anyways he left his wallet and when I came back in to look for it I spotted you!" He said excitedly. He reached out and shook all of their hands. "Wow, you know my sons are in the car and well my oldest has been into archery since he was old enough to know what it was," he said looking at Clint then his eyes moved to Tony. "And you're Iron Man, my youngest loves you! It would mean the world to them if you could just step out and say hello." His eyes were begging them and though he didn't really like it Clint felt for the man.

"Ah, what's your name?" Tony asked. The man looked a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, of course. My name is John, John Toliver."

"Well Mr. Toliver, we're kind of on a date at the moment but if our beautiful dates don't mind..." Tony trailed off and looked at Pepper who nodded. He looked back at Clint and Natasha. With slight reluctance Natasha nodded as well and Tony turned back to the man with another smile. "We'd love to." Clint looked nervously at Natasha who smiled encouragingly at him. She knew Clint didn't do that great with the new status that came with being an Avenger. He nodded and went to follow John and Tony, leaving Pepper and Natasha alone. They stood there awkwardly not knowing what to say to each other in order to make small talk. Pepper was about to make an attempt when another man came up to them with an almost too charming smile.

"I thought I recognized the two of you," Natasha didn't know why but alarms were suddenly going off in her head. "You're Pepper Potts, My name is Kevin Berch" he reached out and Pepper, a bit reluctantly, shook his hand. That told Natasha she was feeling it too. Pepper was usually very friendly and open with people. "And I believe they call you the Black Widow." He reached his hand out to her and she shook it as well. Pepper noticed a look in the man's eyes that really gave her the creeps. "My goodness, may I just say that the two of you look absolutely beautiful?" He flashed them another smile and before Pepper could say anything Natasha was already talking.

"Thank you," she flashed him a smile of her own and placed a hand on Pepper's wrist. "You're sweet but we really need to go find our dates. We were just about to leave." She turned Pepper around and silently told her to start walking which Pepper did. "Have a nice night," Natasha said over her shoulder then turned to follow. She had only taken a few steps when all at once she felt a hand wrap around her wrist followed by a sharp sting in her arm. The man known as Kevin jerked her back to him and she collided into his chest. Immediately she began to feel very dizzy but fought it off as best as she could and tried to push away from him. Pepper immediately turned around when she heard the small intake of breath from Natasha and turned to see the man holding her close to him.

"Don't make a sound," he said staring straight at Pepper and the scream she was about to let out died in her throat. "Remain quiet and don't move." She saw Natasha's hand move to the hem of her dress, going for the knife she had hidden, but the man caught her hand and brought it to his chest, trapping it under his own. "I wouldn't do that darling." He smiled again and wrapped his other arm around her waist to hold her tightly against him. He brought his lips to her ear and to anyone else it looked like they were just another couple. Pepper wanted to do something, anything, but as if he could read her mind the man shot her a warning look before whispering to Natasha loud enough for Pepper to barely hear. "Don't fight it darling," weakly she struggled in his grasp but whatever drug he had given her worked its way fast through her system. "Just let go honey," he felt her movements slowing down and held her closer "that's right. Just let go."

"Natasha..." Pepper choked out.

"I said silence," the man snapped at her then looked back down at the woman in his arms. Pepper watched her body go limp and felt fear spike through her. "There ya go. So much easier right?" Kevin whispered and kissed the top of Natasha's head. He released her hand and it just fell to her side. He reached into the back of his jeans and brought out a gun that he kept concealed from everyone else in the room, who still didn't have a clue what was going on. "Let's go," he said to Pepper. He carefully lifted Natasha in his arms also managing to aim the gun at Pepper's slightly shaking form. He nodded to the exit and she slowly began to walk and prayed that Tony and Clint would return soon and save them.

So, I would love to hear what you guys thought. Hope you enjoyed.