"Do we count as one person?" Clint asked Natasha.
They were sitting together in Natasha's room. Clint was flipping through the channels on her television, finally stopping at Mission Impossible 3. They both were in their supersuits, which is the world's most clichéd thing to call them. Natasha's room had an entire wall covered in guns, everything from Desert-5's to M16's and Clint had hidden a covert stash of arrows in the corner because he spent most of his time at her place.
"Please, Clint, I know we tend to team up most of the time, but I'm going to win this, meaning even if we are one person, I'm going to get Loki before you." She grabbed the remote from him and changed the channel once more.
"Hey! I was watching that!" Clint groaned, and Natasha ignored him.
"But I think it is best that we work together for the moment. I mean we do make a pretty good team." Natasha smiled at him. Clint mentally cursed at his brain as it supplied way too much redness in his cheeks when Natasha looked at him like that. Yes, he was harbouring a crush on the Black Widow, a trained assassin. Did that make him is any way vulnerable to losing the competition? No. Well, at least he thought so.
He gulped and smiled back. "I think so too."
"Hey, look at this!" She gestured towards the television screen. Clint gasped. It was a live video of Thor, in his room.
"How did you even do that?"
"I asked him if I could see his hammer." She explained. Then smacked Clint when he grinned. "No, you idiot! When he went to get precious Mjolnir, I put this near his television."
"Do you have any of the other people?" Clint ventured. This didn't seem at all virtuous, but they were master assassins, what did you expect?
"Please, Tony has JARVIS check his entire building out every hour. And Bruce is observant enough to notice it however small. And Steve's room's under SHIELD protection, I wouldn't dare make Fury…furious." Natasha said, rolling her eyes at Clint laughing at her discomfort from her own pun.
She waited for his chuckles to cease, with her piercing glare. Clint got the message and nodded in understanding. He couldn't help wondering if anyone's done the same to his apartment.
"Have you searched your room yet?"
"Please, I have the strongest security system in New York…besides maybe Tony's." She got and stretched. "Want anything?"
"I'm fine. I'm still full from breakfast." Natasha walked over to the kitchen, and Clint, for the lack of anything to do, stared at the TV.
"Natasha! Come here, look at this!" He called to her, eyes glued on the screen. His eyes reverted to Natasha in her cat suit, carrying a plate of blueberries.
"Oh, look what we have here…" Natasha grinned at the screen, where Thor was currently polishing Mjolnir, only to be disturbed by Bruce walking in. Natasha and Clint watched as they talked, Bruce did most of it, and then shook hands. Sadly, the camera bug did not have any audio, but they still could see enough to get the gist of what was happening. Bruce bid his farewells, and left Thor to his lonesome.
"Looks like we have another alliance on our hands." Clint grinned.
"They can't, they probably already have a plan on their hands. We've got to win, Clint." Natasha stared long and hard at the television screen. "Okay, I'll drop you off at Bruce's, and then I'll go to Thor's."
"What? Why?" Clint looked at her with confusion.
Natasha didn't listen to him but instead went to her library, which she was rather proud of. Most of them were in Russian, but she had some, which she treasured more than others in English. She picked out a book and headed to the door.
"Come on, Barton, I'll explain in the car."
"Why can't we just interrogate them together?" Clint wasn't happy with Natasha' plan.
Natasha was driving because, frankly, she was just better and also because Clint refused to listen to her.
"Because, then they'll know we have alliance. We're spies, Clint, we're good at this."
Clint snorted. He vaguely remember the time when Natasha simply talked to him and then ten minutes later she had found out his e-mail password. He never understood how good she was at charming people into giving her their deepest secrets.
"That's always been you, Natasha, I'm the one who shoots people with arrows. It'll be so awkward trying to pry information for Banner."
"We're here. You'll do just fine, Clint. Bye!" He slammed her car door but then apologized when she threatened to run him over.
He hardly ever talked to Bruce, besides when he fixed one of Clint's arrows, which completely backfired on him when the Avengers took down the Taskmaster last month. And yet, he found himself at Bruce's doorstep. He took at breath and remembered everything Natasha taught him about manipulating people and pressed the doorbell. He waited about three seconds, and was about to turn around and go back downstairs when he heard the door being unlocked.
"Clint?" Clint realized that his thoughts were taking control of him as he had turned around and was about to walk away.
"Hey." Clint forced a smile on his face, his heart thumping. Natasha was counting on him and he knew he was going to spill something. "Bruce."
"Do you want to come in?" Bruce offered in that quiet way of his.
"Thanks." Clint came into Bruce's apartment for the first time.
It smelt like honey. Clint's brain then registered that it wasn't the room, which smelt like honey, but rather, Bruce.
"Would you like anything to drink?" Bruce asked, polite as ever, gesturing to the couch. Clint nodded, as it seemed like an appropriate thing to do. As Bruce walked away into the kitchen, Clint found himself wanting another whiff of honey, but managed to stay put on the couch.
Looking around, Clint saw that Bruce had made a makeshift lab in his apartment, which he seemed to have been working on right before Clint walked in. Bruce came back with some tea for both of them, and sat himself right opposite of Clint. And as he sipped his tea, Clint saw that it was going to be a very, very long afternoon.
A/N
Don't worry, guys, I know you came here for Steve/Tony, but it's coming up….
-winks. LOVE YOU BTW, I DID NOT EXPECT SO MANY PEOPLE TO ADD ME ON THEIR STORY ALERTS! Appreciate it! 3 I'll update in a day or two, R&R, loves.
