3.
Natasha woke up hangover.
She had never been a heavy drinker, but dear God she recognized the signs of hangover anywhere. The arching, pounding headache, the heavy limbs, particularly resisting eyelids…she must have outdone herself the previous night. With a painful groan, she started to shift position in her bed and…
Wait a second. This wasn't her bed. The mattress didn't feel the same; neither did the sheets and the smell…spices? And wait again, was that someone breathing next to her?
Natasha opened her eyes in a flash. The sleeping, peaceful face of Clint Barton rested inches away from hers. Oh God, she thought silently freaking out, what had she done now?
She slipped out of the bed as quietly as she could, somehow managed to find the exit door without trouble and step out noiselessly. It wasn't until she had closed it behind that she realized one tiny little detail: she wasn't in her usual clothes. The leggings was gone leaving her legs veeeeery bare. The T-shirt she had obviously slept in barely covered her up her thighs –thank God she still had her panties. Natasha was seriously considering returning into the bedroom to search for some bottoms when she spotted Bruce walking up her way. His hair looked messier than the night before, falling over his spectacles in tangled unruly curls, yet his steps were steady and at straight pace. Only the occasional grunt told her he had a hard time waking up too.
"Oh, Nat." he said a bit startled when he saw her. "I didn't know you were staying."
No comments on her lack of clothing and he kept his eyes on her face. Wow, that was a first.
"Neither did I." she mumbled. Bruce looked amused.
"Hangover?" She nodded. He chuckled and nodded towards the closest door. "C'mon, I'll lead you to the kitchen. There'll have some aspirin somewhere."
Natasha followed him wordlessly; her headache was a convincing argument enough. That and really, since the world decided she would embarrass herself this morning, she might as well do it with a bang.
They walked through a couple of corridors before arriving in a large yellow room. The redhead actually blinked when she crossed the threshold: a huge table set for at least twenty people was occupying most of the space and the kitchen was equipped with two stoves and three microwaves. Was this place a sort of collective residence?
"Hey Lily."
Bruce's voice made her realize they weren't alone; a small girl was sitting on the edge of the table, focused on coloring a sheet of paper. She looked up, smiled at the young man before glancing at Natasha.
"Hello?" the redhead said awkwardly.
The little girl stared at her a few seconds before returning to her drawings.
"Sorry" Bruce said with a shrug. "Gillian's a bit shy with strangers. Lily? This is Natasha a good friend of Clint so be nice with her okay?"
"'Kay." Gilliam mumbled without raising her head. Shy indeed, Natasha thought. Bruce's next question caught her interest:
"Where's your mom Lily?"
"Bedroom." The girl mumbled, using a particularly bright red over some green. "She said back asap."
"Good. What do you take for breakfast Natasha?"
Maria chose that moment to enter the kitchen. She was dressed with a casual pair of black jeans, deep blue shirt, wearing light make up and her hair tied in a high ponytail. She was also carrying a bag containing the clothes Natasha was wearing the past night. Gillian looked up and grinned, and Natasha remembered Bobbi's words about Maria being a young mother. At second glance, the little girl did look a lot like Maria; they did share the same features, safe for the smile.
"Hi" Maria said and handed Natasha the bag. She didn't blink or ask questions about the redhead's attire. "I thought you'd need that this morning. There's a bathroom over there" she showed a secluded door in a corner. "Feel free to take a shower."
The redhead thanked her and did just that. When she came back, Gillian and Bruce were gone and Maria picking bowls and cutlery from the drawers. Natasha helped her set the table and sat down. She engulfed two pills of aspirin with a large glass of water and hoped sincerely it would work its magic fast. The shower had helped her alleviate the headache, but it hadn't all disappeared. The older woman looked amused –and perfectly not hangover although the redhead was sure she had drank as much –if not more- than her.
"Next time, I'm sticking a no-no alcohol sign on your forehead. As amusing as it was, you would be mortified if you remembered what you did."
Natasha blinked and stared warily at the older woman. Maria stared right back at her, chewing her cereals impassively.
"That bad? What happened?" The redhead had never drunk over the border, she knew her limits. Or she thought she did.
"You may have drunk one shot or ten." Maria replied nonchalantly. "You're not used to it. Give it a couple of weeks of practice and you'll be fine."
"One shot or…" Natasha's voice trailed off as a very dreadful feeling invaded her. "What the heck did I do?"
The light smirk on the older woman's face did nothing to lift her anguish.
"Nothing too bad. You flirted with a lot of guys –Clint wasn't happy about that; and couple of girls too –that was more of a turn on." Natasha's cheeks flushed red. "Broke some groping hands –got thanked by a few for that –nearly got into a fight with a girl from the Asgard crew and ended up battling her. You didn't hand her back her ass, but you did some quite impressive figures."
"Asg-what?" the redhead repeated, blinking hard to focus. "A battle? I fought someone?"
"Not in the sense you'd expect. See," Maria started as she lifted her spoon, dripping with milk and Cheerios on the table. "Crews are sort of…let's say street gangs but only interested in dancing challenges –at least most of them are. Clint, Bruce, Rhodes and I belong to the Shield Crew. The Helicarrier –that's the name of the club we went to yesterday –is the best place for crews to show off. Sometimes underground competitions are organized so crews can battle each other; that's what we call the Street. You're following so far?"
Natasha nodded.
"So basically I got into a dance battle with a girl belonging to a crew named Asga-something. And I lost."
Maria lifted her glass of orange juice for cheering.
"With your head way up high. It was a beautiful duel. Even Tony approved. The DJ" she added when Natasha blinked in confusion. "He thanks you for not breaking his fingers too by the way."
The redhead snorted and picked up an apple. If only she could recall what had actually happened, she wouldn't feel so bad…or given Maria's smirk, maybe she'd better not remember. A heavy set of steps pulled her out of her dreamy state. When she turned around, she saw a man in his late twenties entering the kitchen, dressed in suit with tie. At first, she had to stare, because no-way a man dressed with a suit would wander in this house. Then she remembered she was not supposed to stare when she had crashed said house for the night without asking permission first. Plus, she didn't know who lived there exactly. Clint, Maria and her daughter and Bruce seemed to have their own room. She hadn't seen Rhodey yet so maybe he had gone elsewhere.
The man-in-a-suit smiled and held out his hand, seeming unsurprised by her presence.
"My name is Phil Coulson, I am the owner of this house and Clint's legal guardian."
"Natasha Romanoff." She replied politely, shaking the offered hand. "I'm a classmate of Barton's."
"Y'know calling me by my first name ain't gonna kill you. Or me for the matter."
Natasha turned around to snap back at the young man when all thought froze. Barton was standing in the doorway, hair wet from a shower and bare-chested. She couldn't stop the 'OMG look at those freaking abs!' run through her mind; he had indeed nicely defined muscles, a perfectly drawn six-pack and very, very broad shoulders. How come she hadn't noticed before? Her mild attraction must have shown on her face, because Clint smirked smugly.
"Nice eh?" he said cockily. Phil and Maria rolled their eyes. Natasha still had a hard time tearing her gaze away. "I'll eat later. Loki beat my ass yesterday. Gotta be ready for the next round."
"Next round is in minimum a week away" Maria said. "Don't try to ditch your homework."
"I won't Mom" he replied with a grimace. Then, he turned towards Natasha. "I can tour you 'round the house if ya want? You gotta see the dance practice room!" he suddenly sounded like an overexcited puppy. Before she could answer, he ran to her, grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him.
"The building's an old warehouse. Phil bought it years ago and renovated it 'to a sort of big house with tons of bedroom. Guys from the crew often crash down here when we get wasted." Barton hadn't shut up since they started the visit tour. He'd comment on the rooms, on the corridors, tell her anecdotes and stories that made her smile. Why he was so talkative and eager to show her around though, she didn't understand. They weren't even friends to begin with. "Would ya believe me if I told ya Phil started the Shield Crew? Use to be an awesome dancer; but he hatta stop when he got heart problems. He's still awesome by the way, but can't do some figures 'nymore."
"He's got to have some money." She mused, remembering the whole kitchen and a few rooms they had gone by.
"Sort of" Clint replied with a shrug. "I know he started writin' after he stopped dancin'. His books aren't big hits but they sell and he gives conferences so yeah, guess he's loaded enough. The guys still pay a small toll when they come 'round over three days. Or they brin' their own snacks. Rhodey's the only one who likes grape and that odd cereal, so he brings his own stuff. I'm Phil's ward so I'm lodged for free, but if I wan cash, gotta work for it."
He stopped in front of a large door. "And here is the masterpiece of this place." He turned the handle and pushed it open. "The trainin' room!"
Given what she had seen from the house, Natasha was expecting a classic training room like she'd see in a ballet or dance room. She did not expect a perfectly polished floor with a wall entirely covered with mirrors, a space covered with what she assumed to be mattresses and a freaking wall of two meters high and five long in the middle of it all. Three people were already in motion; two she didn't know were practicing a slow duo while the other –Rhodey- was bouncing on a trampoline and making incredible figures she only saw on TV.
"This place is huge." She admitted in a hushed whisper.
"Ain't it?" Clint piped in with a grin. "It's been the Shield HQ forever. If you ever wanna try it, just show up!"
"I'll keep that in mind." She replied seriously. After last night, she definitively wouldn't mind using such a room and people here had a different approach to dance. She would actually love to watch and learn from them. "If it's okay with you?" she added quickly.
The bright grin on the teen's face was an answer enough.
Clint lived and breathed for a few things, Natasha learned that morning, but the main one was dance. He had started at twelve to impress a girl and had never stopped since then. She also found out they had many things in common: they bounded over some books, argued over movies, mentioned music and of course, dance. Needless to say, Clint never got to train that morning.
She still declined his invitation to stay for lunch, feeling she had worn out her welcome. Maria had also casually reminded the teenager that he had obligations that afternoon. So, he drove her back to her house, chatting happily all the way, insisting again and again that she called him by his first name yet not dropping the 'sweetheart' nickname. After a while, Natasha just gave up.
Once home, she spent the majority of the afternoon finishing her homework, cleaning the house and practicing a piece of ballet she had learned the last session. Her parents wouldn't be home until the next Wednesday at best so she had far enough time on her own. A little voice in the back of her head that she should have probably stayed at Clint's place, but she liked being alone from time to time too.
It wasn't until past six that she received a message from the external world.
'Hey sweetheart :) What'ya doin?'
She frowned. The name of the sender was Clint. When did she enter Barton's number in her contact list? Perhaps sometime during her overly wasted time the previous day…the second text came seconds after:
'BTW don't fret. I added my number in ur phone yesterday. Forgot 2 mention it'
'I'm not 'fretting'' She typed back. 'And FYI I was doing homework. Got a late essay to finish for tomorrow.'
The response was immediate.
'Liar, liar, pants on fire. U always finish ur homewok 3 days b-fore D-day. If u don't wanna chat, just say so :-P'
The corner of her mouth tugged upwards. Was he bluffing, or did he truly know that she was indeed done and was just planning to read a book? The excuse always worked with James or Bob- speaking of which, she suddenly realized, she hadn't heard from them since the previous night. They hadn't tried to reach her after the party…Oh well, she'd see them tomorrow anyway.
'Sorry, just tired.'
'No prob, I understand. We sure were busy last night ;)'
'How did I end up in your bed anyway?' she typed, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks. That was something she actually hadn't dare speak of face-to-face. She was pretty sure nothing had happened but…
'U invited yourself there sweetheart n tried 2 seduce me 2! Sure as hell wasn't complaing, u got awesome hands n mouth n a gorgeous body ;)'
'WHAT?' pleasenopleasenopleaseno, she thought feeling the embarrassment grow every second, please I didn't do what I think I did…
'Just messin with u lol. U were drunk, I wasn't in the mood 2 carry U upstairs 2 the guest room, so just brought u 2 my bed. There was a bit of making out –check ur left shoulder for bite marks if u don't blive me- but nothin else :D'
Natasha was sure Clint knew she was off to the bathroom to check said shoulder. She didn't know what to feel when she saw a vague red trace in the form of a…Oh shit.
'Thank you for bringing me home safely' she eventually typed lamely. How was she supposed to answer that?
'Anytime sweetheart :3 If U want 2 have some true fun again, call me!'
'Shall do' she replied, hesitated, and then added a smiling smiley. Yes, she would definitively do.
Hope you enjoyed :)
