Natasha hated emotions.
All they did was compromise your mission, they were no good, just a distraction.
At least that's what she was raised to believe.
That all changed when she joined SHIELD.
She didn't care about them, just Barton. Only Barton. And she planned to keep it that way.
He somehow managed to crawl through her defences and she swore it would never happen again.
But it did.
The Avengers were family. As much as a few of them would hate to admit, a very close family. It was people like Thor and Steve that drew them together and made them more revealing.
And there was nothing that revealed that more than when someone got hurt.
They always came away with a few bruises, a scratch here or there, maybe even a concussion. But when somebody got really hurt, all hell broke loose.
They all had their own ways of dealing with it, and while most just cover the wounded from more attack and try to get them to safety, Natasha talked to them.
She knows from experience that there's nothing worse than laying there, in pain, not knowing if you're gonna die and being alone.
So whenever someone gets seriously hurt, she pushes the panic aside and talks to them.
But the panic never disappears. It comes back later, when they're home resting. The debriefing's over, they're cleaned up, fed, doing their own things.
Then she panics, only then does she grasp that someone got hurt, badly. But she hides it, and head to the gym to fight punching bags or invisible opponents.
That's exactly what she's doing right now. She actually managed to break a punching bag, so she's now fighting invisible robots, like the one that shot down Tony earlier today.
He fell pretty far, the suit took most of the impact, but he landed in an odd way. In the end he broke his arm in two places, but at the time it was the portal all over again.
So here she is, punching the air, pretending it's a robot.
She's so absorbed it what she's doing she doesn't notice him enter. He stands at the end of the mat, just watching her.
"You know, if you keep knocking out 'robots' you might end up passing out."
She jumps a little in surprise, not enough for most to notice, but enough for him.
She turns to him, she's pouring sweat and breathing hard, she must be a mess. While he's standing there in shorts and a tank top, his hair in a ponytail, looking very much like a god.
She doesn't answer and sits on the mat, slowly catching her breath.
He approaches her, sitting down across from her. He looks at her with a curious look in his eyes.
She just shrugs, he knows why she's down here, he's always been able to see right through her. Sometimes even things that Barton misses. He knows her too well, which makes her uneasy. Considering how little she knows about him. She knows what the stories tell, but the real him? They know next to nothing.
They sit in silence before he speaks, "It reminded you of when he fell from the portal didn't it?"
She looks at him, his eyes are understanding, and she's sure he already knows the answer, but she tells him anyway. "Yes."
Thor nods, "Me too. I'm sure they all thought it as well."
Natasha has finally caught her breath and now she's itching to move again. But she is surprised when Thor stands up and moves to a spot on the mat a few feet away. "Well you need to let it out and I'm bored. So shall we?"
She raises an eyebrow in question to which he only smiles in return. She thinks, why not? She takes her place and they start.
And to her utter surprise, he has her pinned within seconds.
He just lets her up and takes her place.
And he pins her again. And again.
It seems she underestimated him. She smiles to herself and lets go, fighting with all she's got.
He holds his own and eventually they have to stop. Both out of breath and slightly bruised, they couldn't beat the other.
She is pleasantly surprised at this. He is a much better fighter than she thought he was.
They drink some water and wipe themselves down.
"Feeling better?" Thor smiles at her.
Natasha for once, smiles back, "Much, thank you."
Thor seems pleased, "The only thing that would make this better is ice cream."
"I couldn't agree more."
So they go get ice cream, at a little shop a couple blocks over.
And they do it again.
Soon they become regulars at the shop, making friends and having a usual order.
And they always go after they spar. It become a sort of tradition, a guilty pleasure that only the two of them share and no one else.
When asked where they go, they say they're going for a run and no one stops them and no one comes along, not wanting to interrupt whatever Thor is doing to make Natasha a little calmer.
And as they sit down to eat their ice cream, they laugh at the obliviousness of their teammates and the odd friendship they have created.
It's then that Natasha decides.
Maybe emotions aren't so bad after all.
