No reviews on my last chapter, unfortunately, so I thought I would give you all another update to see whether it sparks anyone's inspiration to write! Hint hint ;) Anyway, even if you don't review, enjoy the chapter. CLINTASHA! There are SPOILER in this for my ROPM series!

Previously:

I wrapped myself in a towel, like I had intended to do before being distracted by the mirror, and made my way out of the bathroom, searching for the most basic clothes I could wear. Sweatpants and a tank top - sounded perfect.

I quickly got dressed, biting my lip a little when putting on the top. It wasn't as tight as the catsuit was, but it still hurt to move that much. I headed back into Clint's room, already finding him on the bed, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and nothing else like he was before. I had the craving to reach out and hold him close to me, but stopped myself, knowing that it would be really weird and make things incredibly awkward between us.

He looked up at me and I could see how tired he was, the droops around his eyelids lower than I had seen them the last time I had come in. "You want to come here and give me a hug?" he asked, his voice sounding so innocent. It never sounded that way usually and I almost broke into a smile at his sweet nature. He looked like he was debating punching a wall and crying, so I knew that holding him in my arms was the right thing to do.

I walked over to him and sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching my hand out to stroke down his arm. He knew that a hug would be on my terms and not his, seeing as I never really let us have hugs. "Has your haphephobia come back?" I asked, not knowing whether it had come back to him or not. I hadn't asked the question in a while.

He shrugged. "I don't think I still have it, but just...be a bit careful." I nodded and settled down next to him so our faces were side by side, as were our bodies. When Clint was younger, he was beaten by his parents, haphephobia coming and going at some points. Clint's girlfriends found it difficult to put up with, which I found pathetic and stupid. Why would sex be more important than Clint's well being? He had been dumped in the past because of it. How could people be so insensitive?

I hesitantly put my arm on Clint's hip and wrapped my arm around his lower back, shifting myself closer to him. He sucked in a breath and I looked at him cautiously, worried that I might've hit a bad spot. "You okay?"

He nodded and rolled onto his back, leaving me to decide what I wanted to do. "Tell me if you feel any fear okay?" I asked, hoping that touching his back wouldn't trigger his bad memories. He huffed a laugh and I was confused why he would, but didn't question it. I wrapped my arms around his back and pressed my face against his chest, the warmth there making me shut my eyes and stroke his skin in a tender way that I hadn't done before. We had never been this close and I knew tomorrow would be different, my normal feelings would return. He felt so nice against me and I was tempted to nuzzle against him, but stopped myself, knowing that I couldn't make things more intimate than they already were.

He sighed as I put a hand on his chest and drew lazy circles against him. He cautiously lifted his hand and placed it on top of mine, knowing that if I didn't want him to do so I would've stopped him when he hesitated. "Do you think that the team are okay?" he asked quietly and I looked up at him, resting my head on his chest. I hadn't been this close to him before and never realised how young he actually looked. He had old eyes, but the rest of his face still looked fresh.

"I don't know." I replied, honestly, and shut my eyes, hoping that he wouldn't bring it up again.

"Tony seems a little shaken up." He sounded as if he had a point, so I questioned it.

"What do you mean?"

"I think Wanda used her powers on Tony while we were invading the HYDRA base..." he said and I furrowed my eyebrows in thought. That was actually a reasonable theory. "To encourage him to go ahead with Ultron."

"I think he should get a meeting with Sam. I mean, he doesn't even have a therapist. He thinks he doesn't need one." I heard Clint scoff.

"He's so blind sometimes." I smiled, agreeing completely with my partner. Stark was so wrapped up in things that he sometimes couldn't see straight. When he got that way, I never knew whether to punch him or sympathise for him. So far, violence had been the answer.

I turned my head and looked outside at the window at the cool breeze. I needed some fresh air, hoping that it would chill my racing mind. Thoughts of hurting Bruce were weighing heavily on my shoulders and I knew that it was one debt I could never repay. "Can we go outside?" I asked changing the topic, hoping that he would stop. I turn my head back to Clint who was wrinkling his nose as he looked at the weather - dark and grey - but I knew he would come outside with me anyway.

"We'll need jumpers." he said as I rolled away from Clint to stand. I walked towards the drawers and went straight to opening the bottom one, where S.H.I.E.L.D had always kept their jumpers. Unsurprisingly, two jumpers with the S.H.I.E.L.D logo on where placed there. I threw one to Clint when I saw he was standing near the balcony door. We both pulled them on and Clint led me outside.

Instead of having two chairs outside, there was just a large bench, which was perfect as I wanted to keep close to Clint. After missions, we would always be close together. I never usually want to touch him, the thought of it making me want to jump into the shower, but I allowed him to. Perhaps being grabbed by the Sokovian woman in the corridor made me crave for someone's touch that was familiar, even after the shower.

We sat down next to each other, rather rigidly, as we watched the bland sky pass us by. "Do you want to talk about it?" Clint was one of the sweetest men I had ever met, but he cared too much sometimes. Sometimes it was too much for me.

"When we get back to base." I replied sleepily, setting the rules out for him, knowing that he would follow. I rested my head against his shoulder and shut my eyes again. I was happy that we were given the privacy by having the balcony at the back of the helicarrier. I didn't want to be with anyone...apart from Clint. He was familiar, like the feeling of turning into your driveway of your house, not that I would have much experience with that.

I think after the battle, after using Banner like in did when I hadn't used someone in that way for such a long time, I was done. I was done with the bullshit, at least for that day. I knew tomorrow would be different and that I would be back to being the Black Widow, but for these last few hours, I needed to be Natasha Romanoff.

We sat there in silence, staring out at the grey sky, as the hours of battle replied in my mind. After a while of sitting there, God knows how long, Clint looked at his watch, undoubtedly checking the time for when we needed to leave.

"Come on, trouble, let's go." he said, nudging my shoulder so that he could stand up.

"Don't call me that." I frowned. He didn't usually call me that, but Clint came up with nicknames for me on a weekly basis, 'Tasha' being the most consistent one.

"What? You are trouble." he replied, innocently, but his smile was devious. I rolled my eyes and pushed his shoulder lightly.

"I know." I replied, walking past him back into his room.

"Hey, do you know where we're going?" Clint called from behind me as I stood at the door. There was no need to get wallets or phones, because we didn't have them with us.

"Forgotten already? She told us on the way. Conference room 3." I told him. My memory was excellent. I didn't know whether it was because of the serum or not, but I remember the Red Room conditioning it

"Like I'm supposed to know where that is!" Clint justified as we walked out of the door, leaving the nearly empty room to it's emptiness. I didn't like the S.H.I.E.L.D rooms, yet I did at the same time. It was comforting to have the same, clinical feel around me as S.H.I.E.L.D always had, but it never felt homely to me. Nowhere did. I looked at Clint, who was shutting the door, and wondered how the hell we had gotten this far. I would like to say that we completed our missions on my sheer skill, but it was our teamwork that brought the results. If they split us up again, I would at least want to interview the next agent he has to work with and give them a thorough ass-kicking. Clint only deserved the best, so I would need to know he had that.

When the door hit it's frame and locked, I turned my head quickly back towards the end of the corridor as we made our way down it.

When we exited through the entrance door to all the rooms, there weren't that many people in the corridor. The ones that were in the corridor were staring straight at us both, trying and failing to be discreet about it.

"Why can't they keep their eyes to themselves and not you?" he asked, sounding a bit miffed about people staring. I gave him an inscrutable look. I was attractive, the Red Room made me that way, but I knew that people stared, as did Clint. He seemed to be more bothered about it than I was, an uncomfortable thought that rested in my mind.

"I'm pretty sure they are staring at the both of us..." I replied, truthfully, and he shook his head, laughing to himself as we past a group of women that were staring at him. As they passed us, I gave them a glare and they both stopped smiling like teenage girls. Thankfully, Clint didn't notice the exchange.

"You need to get your eyes tested, Tasha." he said, reaching his hand up to open the door, pressing his finger against the scanner. We had gotten used to the S.H.I.E.L.D ways, even if they changed their helicarrier structure every two seconds. I knew that most of the agents were staring at me, but that didn't mean they weren't also staring at Clint.

We walked until we got to a sign that read 'CONFERENCE ROOM 3' and I looked to Clint. "Are you ready for the shit-storm that is about to implode?"

"Can't wait." he said with a fake smile and pushed the door open. Steve, Maria and Sam were already seated, Steve and Maria seemingly going through the file that was now in Maria's hands.

"How do you two look this good after a battle?" Sam asked. I smirked at Sam and winked at him before sitting down, but Clint had to say something about it and boost his ego.

"We always look this good."

I flicked my eyes over to Maria and she smirked. "Men." we both scoffed at the same time, smiling at each other at the common phrase we used when Clint was being a classic man.

"Would you two stop doing that?" Clint said, an annoyed look on his face. As we sat down, I angled my body so I could keep my shoe touching the side of his. It was a selfish indulgence that I knew would only last for that day. Clint didn't seem to mind.

"Inside joke?" Sam asked, eyebrow raised. Steve, poor thing, was looking between everyone looking completely clueless like he did when someone talked about some pop culture that he didn't know about.

"We were on a high-profile mission-" I began, but Clint interrupted

"It wasn't that important." he muttered, but I glared to silence him.

"We were trying to stop a drug-lord from selling six million pounds worth of cocaine." I argued and Sam slowly turned his head to raise an eyebrow at the archer.

"Man, that does sound pretty important."

"Clint was too busy chatting up a girl in the club to realise that the target was getting away through the front door." I replied and Clint groaned, hitting his head on the desk.

"I was blending in." he argued from his position on the desk, face mushed into the table making his words a little muffled.

"Thankfully, the Black Widow was focused enough to follow him." I knew I was sounding arrogant, but Clint knew that I was trying to offend him. Too much.

"How many times has Natasha saved your ass again?" Maria asked, a smirk now obvious on her face. My attention was drawn to Clint who dragged him head up from the table and glared at Maria.

"Language." Steve scolded, but then groaned like Clint did, also hitting his head on the table for yet again saying his new 'catchphrase'. We all laughed at him apart from Maria who was trying not to.

"Sorry, Cap." she replied, shrugging, though she didn't seem that sorry.

"Nah, I need to get used to it." he said, sighing. It was a back-handed reply, but I knew that he was still struggling to adjust to the modern day. I did tease him, but I hoped that one day he wouldn't feel as excluded as I knew he did.

"Did people not swear in your day or something?" Sam asked, slumping in his chair and putting his feet on the table.

"They did." Steve replied as Maria pushed Sam's feet off the desk. "Just not as much." Maria wiped the desk as Sam glared at her, sitting up again in his seat.

"What was the most offensive word you've said?" I asked, daring Steve to tell us.

Steve shook his head and sighed. "We're not having this conversation." he replied, firmly, and took a sip from his drink as he tried to avoid looking at any of us.

"Is it different though? The fighting and strategy?" Clint asked, a question that took me by surprise. I thought he would goad Steve along like I did, but he just changed the conversation. "I know we have technology, but...apart from that, what's different?" he said, sounding curious. Clint didn't talk a lot with Steve, not that I knew, but Clint seemed to like him. Even though he didn't argue with Steve, sometimes he didn't see eye-to-eye with him, taking particular anger towards him during the partner change. He certainly didn't like that.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but...they had more morals." Steve replied, blushing as if he was afraid to offend someone.

"Can't argue there." Maria admitted, her head deep in some folder as she scribbled down some notes. I saw Steve briefly scan over her face for a second, a frown etching over his face for a second. I could tell from that second that he was thoroughly confused about how he felt about Maria. He never spoke about her, but it was about time for him to get into a relationship. Even though he was technically over 90-years old, he would always seem like the baby of the group to me and this baby needed to get a date...no matter how weird the sentence sounded. Perhaps Maria would be the right match...

There was just one problem...well several.

1. She was extremely stubborn.

2. She didn't date...anyone...even if it was a superhero.

3. Cap was a virgin, whereas Maria had one-night stands every couple of weeks to burn off her sexual energy. I was pretty sure that Steve was a virgin and wouldn't like the fact that Maria did that. Maria and I discussed the fact that sleeping with someone every couple of weeks wasn't healthy, but she just argued back that being celibate wasn't healthy either. I didn't want to have sex with anyone, because there was never any time. Hill would usually lose it to someone in a club and make sure all the evidence was removed from the hotel room so that no one ever contacted her again.

4. She liked being independent and bossy. No one would be able to control her.

5. Her life was so complicated that she wouldn't be able to commit to someone before sorting her own life out. Hill had a lot of problems.

6. Work was her life. She was ridiculously busy and wouldn't have time to commit.

7. She didn't like the romantic gestures - hence the one-night stands.

8. I was pretty sure Hill was incapable of love, something that I imagined Steve was a deep believer in.

9. She was convinced that she didn't need anyone, but herself.

By the time I had listed all the points in my mind, Tony had come through the door. "Tony...you are actually early for once." Hill said at his arrival, though it didn't gauge a reaction from him. Steve snorted a laugh, but after that no sound was made as Tony came and sat down.

After Rhodey, Vision and Wanda joined us, Pietro came into the room. People only started talking again when Pietro walked in, looking much perkier than he did earlier. Surprisingly, I felt rather happy that Pietro was back on his feet, not that I had much reason to. He had fought with me in the battle, but so had many agents in the past. I had never cared a lot about their lives being saved, but I think I had a soft spot for the speedster and his sister, even though she had stolen my jacket, something that I didn't usually feel for people.

"Are you feeling okay?" Wanda asked, standing up from her seat and giving her brother a hug.

"Yeah, the doc told me to give the speed a rest of a few days." Pietro said, immediately speeding to a chair, making my hair brush up when he went past.

"Surely you should listen to your doctor's advice." Maria warned as Wanda sat down next to her brother.

He just replied with "Meh" and shrugged, which earned him a hit across the head from Wanda. Pietro smirked back at his sister and I felt glad that she hadn't lost him in the end. He would be a good asset in the field and with me and Barton getting older, we would need someone to take over the legacy one day, if it still existed.

I looked to the door as Fury strolled into the room, followed by Riley Moore. I glanced at Clint who shrugged at me, not knowing what was going on either.

"Leyley, glad you are joining us." Stark said, speaking up for the first time.

She gave him a death-glare that even I would almost be proud of. Almost. "One more nickname and I am killing everyone in this room." I raised an eyebrow at her unexpected confidence and noticed that Clint was smiling. He liked the girl already. Maybe it was because she was like me?

"Like you would be able to do that." Stark said, causing all of us to laugh. In all honesty, she wouldn't be able to. We were too strong with all of us here. Unless...unless she had a power.

"Is she here to kill us?" Sam asked as the hilarity of the situation turned into nervous laughs and worried faces.

"This is Agent Riley Moore, if you didn't already know that. I believe you were introduced earlier. She is a field agent, but also works as a doctor and medical examiner, which is why she was assigned to Mr. Maximoff after his 'death'. I want her to be part of your team." Fury introduced. Wow, we are just adding to the youth pile here. I felt like I was almost being shown the door to my retirement. Very encouraging.

"Okay, what's your strongest asset?" Steve asked with a welcoming smile on his face.

The doctor looked anything but happy as she turned to Fury and asked "Are you sure about this?" I could tell from her posture, facial expression and general apprehensive nature that she was worried about what we thought of her. She reeked of anxiety and it made me uncomfortable.

"Just show them what you can do." I could almost see her wince at the harshness of Fury's tone. I had gotten used to it over the years, finding him imposing in the first week before not feeling threatened by him at all.

"Please, please don't freak out." I hadn't seen a person so confident, yet so worried about someone's opinion. She was like a teenager trapped in an adult's body. It needed to stop and I planned to speak to her at some point about it if she was to join the team. There were anxious people in the world, but there weren't anxious Avengers. She would never be one with all that anxiety.

I certainly didn't expect o see what her power really was. "Woooooaaaahhhh..." Rhodey whispered and I looked at Clint, his jaw slack and eyes wide at the use of her powers.

Ooooo, what might her powers be! Aha! Can't wait to update the next one.