Author's note:

OMG What the hell happened to my schedule, this is absolutely ridiculous! I am so sorry. The education I was taking part in for the last half year had a WAY heavier workload than anticipated, and this slipped from my mind. BUT I'm starting where I left off :)

Wow, so here's my version of Hawkeye and Widow! I hope you won't hate what I've done with them.. ;) They have a lot of shared history, and so their dynamics have been changed some from both the movies and the comics (possibly, we didn't get to see much interaction in the movie). But hopefully they are still recognizable as Clint and Natascha. ;)

Disclaimer:

This stuff is so not mine.. I'm just playin'

Chapter three

Steve sat in his bed with half an eye on the book on renaissance art that he'd taken a new shot at – And half an eye on his roommate and his roommate's friend.

Steve did –in fact- find art history to be riveting, but he just couldn't help his curiosity.

His roommate's name was Clint Barton, a second year-student who was a bit of a mystery to Steve. (And Steve loved mysteries).

He had seemed like a cool guy from the get-go; Medieval history major with a passion for archery. He had a dry sense of humor, and a no-nonsense policy that reminded Steve of Pepper.

Which is why it had been a bit of a shock, when he'd suddenly turned towards Steve and promised him an arrow through his throat, if he dared make a move on his friend who was coming over. There had been no hint of humor, just a very-nearly murderous look in his eyes.

Steve was intrigued rather than frightened.

His friend had showed up moments later, opening the door without knocking first. She was beautiful, or maybe even "hot", he supposed. Her stunning red hair went down past her ears, and could only be described as.. luscious. (Steve had instantly thought "Maybe it's Maybelline..", and wanted to punch whoever introduced him to tumblr.)

Steve loved faces. He loved to draw portraits, and to him an interesting face wasn't necessarily a beautiful face. This friend of Clint's was one of those people; almost too perfect to be an interesting subject – But not quite, when he looked closer.

There was something unique about her, something unique in her expressions – In the curve of her smile, and the surprising hardness of her eyes.

-Beautiful but dangerous- or –femme fatale- were the words in Steve's mind, even if he felt silly thinking of her as a bad description in a pulp fiction novel.

Of course, the Russian or Eastern European accent wasn't exactly helping the case – And so Steve was rather entertained in watching both personalities on the other side of the room.

"..I'm going to kill that jerk, Stark.." Clint muttered again, and Steve laughed inwardly. So far, that was all Clint seemed to want to talk about, despite the redhead's various attempts at distracting him with other topics.

"Please, Clint. I am hardly offended.. And you should know that I'd much appreciate it, if you'd stop treating me like some fragile little flower.." Again Steve wondered about her accent. It was barely there, but enough to make her sound either strangely sophisticated or alternatively like one of the bad guys.

Apparently Tony had DARED talk to her earlier that day, and possibly make some advance – Steve wasn't sure, he hadn't been there, but even if he had, the rules of dating weren't something he'd ever been great at.

Clint was furious and endlessly offended, as if he had been the one receiving the attention, while his friend seemed pretty indifferent.

Steve itched to ask if they were a couple.

The way she often leaned on him, their closeness as they sat together on the bed – Not to mention Clint's fierce protectiveness - all pointed to that conclusion.

But there was always the chance of a strong paternal bond, something like that of siblings. It wasn't as if they had done anything particularly romantic – And now that he thought about, Clint hadn't actually touched her back much.

Whatever the case, Steve valued his throat whole and in one piece, so he didn't intend to ask before he'd figured out what constituted "a pass" in Clint's book.

The two had completely ignored Steve until now, so he was a bit surprised when his name was called.

"Yes sir!" he answered, then instantly blushed. Wrong answer. "I mean.."

The girl laughed good-naturedly, but in a distinctly controlled manner.

"Stand down, soldier.." she answered, and got to her feet in one smooth, cat—like motion.

"I just thought I'd introduce myself," she held out a hand, and Steve threw a nervous glance towards Steve before taking it.

"Hi.. Pleased to meet ya, I'm Steve Rogers," he offered.

"Natascha Romanov," she answered curtly and caught his eyes. "And I know who you are, Rogers. I take psychology with Potts – She has mentioned you."

Steve wasn't at all sure what to make of that, so he just nodded while letting go of her hand.

"Don't worry about Clint – he's all bark," she smiled back at Clint who grumbled something under his breath. Steve quietly noted how she used last names for everyone but Clint so far.

"What was that..?" Natascha was looking at Clint, and after a while he looked up at both of them.

"Steve's not a bad guy," he said a bit louder. "Not like Stark."

Natascha made a rather impressive roll with her eyes. "Let it GO already! He just INTRODUCED himself.."

"His EYES, Nat!" Clint exclaimed for the sixteenth time thus far. "His eyes didn't just "introduce themselves"," he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers as he spoke.

"His eyes definitely made it to SECOND BASE!"

Natascha turned from Clint to Steve.

"See what I mean? Talk about over-protective.." her smile was fond and her tone lightly amused, so Steve got the impression that she didn't actually mind much. He smiled back.

"I'm a psychology minor like your friend Potts. My major is international relations, though, not business. Still, we share a few classes.

Steve nodded.

"Ah, that's great!" Steve said, feeling exceptionally at a loss for word.

"I am, uhm, art major.. history minor.. first year."

"Art? That's useful.." Natascha commented, sounding strangely genuine.

"I know it's not exactly.." Steve began, blushing.

"No-no. I mean it," Natascha assured him earnestly.

"If not for art, there would be no sense in upholding the illusion of society in the first place.." Steve lightened up, and was about to engage in the discussion when Clint sighed theatrically from his spot on the bed.

"Are you going philosophical on me again, Nat?"

"You like it when I go philosophical on you – Admit it, Hawkeye," she countered, and Steve filed the nickname away under "possibly useful information".

In the end Natascha's visit turned out to be fairly pleasant. She surprised Steve with her eloquence and pleasantness, that seemed somehow a contrast to her eyes that always retained their guarded edge.

By the time she went back to her own room, Steve had made up his mind to ask Clint about the nature of their relationship.

"So, uhm.." He began, catching Clint's attention.

"You and Natascha are..?"

Clint looked thoughtful for a while, before he answered.

"We're not a couple, if that's what you mean," He finally said with an unreadable expression. Steve was surprised not to be able to tell whether this was actually a good thing in Clint's eyes or not.

"We've known each other since middle school," he offered after a while of looking blankly ahead.

"We helped each other through some.. stuff. We're pretty tight." Steve nodded, thinking of Pepper and Bucky.

"Ah, I see. It's good to have someone," he commented, deciding not to pry further. He smiled a little wistfully as memories of Bucky came clashing in gentle yet devastating waves.

Clint eyed Steve for a moment, then he too nodded. Slowly, as if trying to figure something out.

"Yeah. It is." Then he returned to cleaning his bow as he'd been doing before Nat arrived.

Steve sat awkwardly for a while, wondering if the conversation was over – But then he found his book again, and finally got some reading done.

/Next up for presentation are Loki and Thor! Hope you'll stick around – As the chapter right after that one, does happen to be Steve and Tony's first encounter, which I'm much looking forward to ;)

Comments makes my flame burn brighter, and my eyes turn wider – And it may even help fix my rhymes. *nudge nudge*