2. Summer in the City
It was unmercifully hot. As an ex-Russian the heat only managed to get under her skin much easier. Natasha was tempted to ask Thor who was labeled as 'god' of the sun next time he came to Earth( Or Midgard as he still stubbornly calls it) and then she'd make a deal with the devil (Loki) to make that being's life as miserable as he made hers during these awful summers. She was wishing Fury would call her to be on some assignment where the temperature never rose above sixty degrees.
Sadly, for her anyway, the world was at peace and had no need for the Black Widow right now. Natasha was forced to take sanctuary in her tiny one bathroom, no bedroom, nearly no kitchen apartment.
She normally loved her little apartment, it was just enough room for her and Rex, her pet cat (which she had acquired after she had assassinated his previous owner, a major CEO who was selling weapons to enemy countries). She could probably afford a bigger apartment, maybe even a small house but Natasha was particularly fond of her own little niche. She had designed every detail to make it feel like home.
The walls were a light shade of blue, her cupboards in the kitchen painted black and white, and all of her appliances were sleek and modern. The small two person couch(that pulled out to be a bed) was a green velvet.
The couch was also occupied by two people who were not invited.
"Clint, why are you here?"
Her comrade shrugged, flipping through her TV channels on her remote control while having his ass seated in her spot," The air conditioning busted at the S.H.E.I.L.D. apartments. I figured we could crash here for the day."
The bastard didn't even bother asking if she minded. Natasha shot an in inquiring look at his companion," And you're here becauseā¦.?"
"Clint invited me," Kate Bishop replied, shifting her legs to lay across Clint's lap, nudging him in the chest with a small foot," he told me he called first."
The younger girl glared at him with icy blue eyes, but he only smirked clearly pleased with himself. Natasha arched a brow," How is S.H.E.I.L.D.'s air conditioning not working? Doesn't Stark handle all electronics? None of his products have broken down before."
There was something they weren't telling her.
Kate shifted uncomfortably, twirling a lock of inky black hair clockwise around her index finger," Well, it literally got busted. We don't know the whole story, but word is that it was probably Deadpool or Spidey pulling a prank."
Typical idiotic behavior. Natasha didn't understand how they wormed their way into working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Peter Parker was too reckless to do anything useful and Wade was just plain psychotic. She didn't bother brooding on the topic anymore. Maybe one day the two of them would finally start pulling their weight and prove her wrong like one billionaire had in the past.
Wait.
"Why aren't you at the Tower? Plenty of room and air conditioning there. Tony said we should think of it as our home away from home," she suggested, hoping he'd get the hint and leave. Natasha had really wanted to just curl up on the couch today with Rex and pig out while watching some cheesy romantic comedy movie.
"It's not exactly homey at the moment," he answered frostily, stopping his channel flipping on the Travel Channel.
"Hey, I've eaten there before," Kate said a little too enthusiastically. Natasha could tell she was trying to steer the conversation into a different direction. " They really do have the best omle-"
"Why aren't you at the Tower, Clint?" the Black Widow pressed, hardening her stance, arms folded over her chest, eyes boring into Clint's steely brown ones. Something was wrong and she wouldn't rest until she found out the problem. He would break down under her resolve. People always did.
He dropped his gaze first, but she still firmly kept focus.
"Thor's there and he brought along a friend," he sneered, the last word probably tasting foul rolling off his tongue. His hands reflexively clenched into fists. Kate didn't say anything, just placed a soothing hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Loki. She should have known.
Natasha didn't know all the details, the whole situation was being kept very classified, but Loki was being granted the right to travel to Earth as long as he had his powers sealed and did not stray far from Thor. A verdict from the Allfather, to try and teach the little psychopath to appreciate humanity and all they had to offer.
She had never forgiven him for what he did to Clint and had thankfully never had to be in his horrendous company. Natasha had supposed it was for the best, as she didn't know if she could restrain herself from killing him with her bare hands in every torturous way she knew if they were ever in the same room together.
Relaxing her stance, she just frowned," I see."
Clint, even though he would never verbally admit it, had never fully gotten over Loki manipulating his mind. Both of them had been through a lot, their bodies scarred enough to tell the stories, but the mind was sacred. It was something that they had thought could never be tampered with. Their one true sanctuary. The only thing they could really claim was entirely theirs.
And Loki had taken that from Clint.
Rex peeked his graying muzzle out from behind the couch, glaring at the intruders balefully with his one good eye. He hated guests even more than she did. Especially Clint, for some reason. Natasha suspected it was other males he hated in general, but hadn't brought any others home to test the theory. She would feel bad if he bit Steve like he had been known to do to Clint.
There wasn't anything she could do about her house guests. Clint wouldn't budge and she wouldn't just kick him out.
"I'll go pick up some movies from Redbox, you can order some pizza," she said, walking to the door and lacing her tennis shoes up.
She could practically feel the glow of his triumphant smile," Anchovies and pepperoni for you, or are you actually going to get something that other people can stomach?"
Natasha pointed an accusing finger at him," Says the guy who eats pineapples and mushrooms on his pizza."
Kate gagged," Why can't you two just eat a plain cheese pizza?"
Clint laughed and she walked out, calling over her shoulder as the door shut," Because that would be boring."
/
Natasha tapped her foot impatiently, the heat pressing in on all sides, beads of sweat were beginning to drip down her forehead. Damn whoever decided the nearest Redbox had to be outdoors. She drew a finger across the screen, leading it to the Romantic Comedy section. A nice chic flick sounded like fun for her and Kate, but torture for poor Clint. Perfect. They even had some of her favorites. Thirteen Going on Thirty(Was it just her or did the actor playing Matty look suspiciously like Bruce?) and Bride Wars.
"Tasha?" she heard a very familiar voice ask. She turned and smiled, her heartbeat picking up a little although she would deny it if anyone were to ask," Steve?"
He had a map in one hand and his art supplies in the other. Slivery dark grey powder caked his hands. Steve must've been drawing in the park again. Natasha had once curiously peeked into his sketchpad and had been surprised at the amount of detail his drawings had. They had been so lifelike she had expected some of them to start moving on the paper or to reach out and grab her. There were drawings of the Avengers, each one uncannily similar to the actual person the picture depicted. Tony smirking with his sunglasses on, Bruce concentrating as he worked on an experiment, Thor eating pop tarts with Jane, Clint poised with his bow at the ready, and drawings of her. Not of her fighting or glaring, but of her smiling, thoughtfully reading a book, laughing, and even one of her cooking. She had been flattered to see she was drawn the most out of them.
That was the light side of his artwork. The others were of icy oceans, crashed planes, the Red Skull; most bleeding into one another in an abstract fashion that made the viewer feel angry and alone. There were sorrowful, bittersweet portraits of people he had lost. Most of his field unit in battle, drunk and happy in a barroom, many pictures of frozen moments in time. So perfect they looked like snapshots.
Then there was Peggy. Shockingly, there wasn't as many of her as Natasha had expected. Most, she had noticed, were drawn either before or after the sketches of Natasha. They were perhaps the hardest to look at. One showed her standing in a lowly lit pub, standing out in a bright red dress, her dark hair beautifully arranged, her brown eyes soft and steely simultaneously. The background had been colored with a cobalt blue tone, Peggy standing out all the more. Natasha was pretty sure this was what the world had looked like for Steve when the British agent had walked into the room. She could practically feel the love he felt for Peggy bleed through the page.
Another one, was of them dancing. Steve had managed to capture himself awkwardly staring at his feet, a sweet yet nervous smile on his face. Peggy, her dark hair wound up into a bun, was obviously laughing at him, her red lips clearly in the middle of teasing him. Both were dressed to the nines in 40s fashion. Him in an impeccably pressed suit and her in a long no shoulder black dress with ruffles around the trim. The background was a painted abstract of blacks and reds, nearly blending in with Peggy, giving the woman an almost phantom like appearance.
Natasha had been ashamed to feel slightly jealous. She had to remind herself that they were just friends who went out on dates every now and then. She wasn't trying to replace Peggy and they weren't in love with each other. She knows this.
"You're back from your mission early," she observed, trying to ignore what had been festering in her mind lately.
"It was just a simple retrieval, pretty boring actually," he smiled before saying," It's such a beautiful day and you're going to sit inside and watch movies. Such a waste of a beautiful day."
Natasha rolled her eyes, of course he would find this miserable weather enjoyable," You really do sound like an old man when you talk like that. Besides, I'm Russian. If I stay out much longer I might melt in this heat."
Steve laughed," Last time I checked, being Russian doesn't mean you're made of ice."
She shrugged," Close enough."
Natasha continued to make small talk as she paid for her movies, tucking them into her purse. She was suddenly faced with a dilemma, she could either say goodbye or invite him to movie night. Inviting him over would open up a new side of their relationship. He had never been to her apartment and she had never been inside his apartment at Avenger Tower. It would somehow make things between them more solid and she didn't know if she was quite ready for that yet.
"You're having a movie night then?" Steve asked gesturing towards the Redbox before stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Yeah, Clint and Kate decided to crash at my place so I figured that I might as well entertain them. Might keep them from destroying the place."
"Is that a serious concern?"
"With Clint? Definitely. Not so much with Kate. She's usually the one who cleans up messes," she answered.
"Who's Kate? Is she Clint's girl?"
Natasha had to think about this one, frowning" I actually don't know. I think they're friends, but they could be more if given the chance. They do have a bit of an age difference. He's ten years older than her."
"Well, I'm nearly sixty years older than you," he observed, his demeanor turning serious," and Thor's centuries older than Jane. I don't think age really comes into consideration with our relationships."
"I guess so," she agreed, noting how he placed their relationship within the likes of Thor and Jane's, two people seriously dating. Maybe what they had meant more to Steve than she had first thought. Maybe she meant more than she had first thought. Natasha quickly dismissed that last thought. They were simply casually dating, nothing deeper than that.
Her hair was starting to become plastered to her head with sweat. Shit. She might actually be melting. Natasha shuffled, mildly surprised her rubber soles hadn't melted into the pavement.
"I'm probably going to have to head back now," she started awkwardly, trying to distance herself from the idea of inviting him over. It was best if they kept their relationship as casual as possible.
"Oh," his smile remained on his face, but Natasha could see he was disappointed. There was also something else lurking there also: loneliness. She felt a wave of guilt overwhelm her. Natasha was going home to two (annoying) friends and a cat. Steve was going home to no one. Thor was going to be busy with his brother and Jane. Tony was in Monte Carlo with Pepper on a romantic getaway. He really didn't have anyone to go home to.
She licked her dry lips," Would you like to come with?"
Steve's eyes lit up with joy and he eagerly said," I'd love to, as long as it's not a problem."
Natasha smiled, happy to see him happy," It's not a problem at all."
While the sun had beaten down at record highs that summer, Natasha and Steve had spent most of that time at her apartment. Usually watching movies or playing board games with the other Avengers, but then it morphed into another form of date night with just the two of them. They still weren't in love with one another and Natasha doubted they even had the capability to. Both of them were too screwed up to truly lose themselves to another person, too guarded.
That was fine with them. They were happy with this noncommittal relationship. It suited Natasha just fine, she didn't have to worry about anyone using Steve against her. They were just really good friends.
She had to keep reminding herself of that.
/
Author's Note: KATE BISHOP IS NOT MINE! She is a legit character in the Marvel Comics Universe, featured in the comic book series Young Avengers.
For people who actually know this character, before anyone starts arguing about her age and her and Clint's relationship, I have a few things to say in argument. 1.) I picture her being around twenty-one or twenty-two. 2.) Clint and Kate's relationship in this story I will try to leave to the reader's choice. It can be as romantic or platonic as you want.
This chapter is meant to address some of Natasha's worries about her relationship with Steve and how she deals with them. Usually by repressing them. They still aren't 'in love' or anything like that, but Natasha is caving to the idea of considering making it more serious. There are many other issues with these two being a couple that I will try to address while still trying to keep this as a more friend-oriented relationship. I assure you, Natasha will not turn into a lovesick mess in this story and Steve will not turn into her knight in shining armor with all that sweet talk that gives people cavities. Relationships vary from couple to couple and since Natasha is so very independent and Steve being his chivalrous-self I just picture them trying to keep the balance in their relationship to be a struggle.
I hope you enjoyed reading!
