Sorry for the break! I missed this!

Hope you enjoy.


Natasha took a deep breath and approached Clint, masking her nervousness as best as she could. She shouldn't feel nervous, but she did anyways; her friendship with Clint meant more to her than anyone could ever understand. He was the light of her life, the person she looked forward to seeing every morning, even if he flirted with silly sophomores to annoy her and spent most of his day being an idiot. He was her idiot, and she would never let go of him. Yet her stomach was in knots as she stopped a foot in front of him, her green eyes scanning his face, biting her bottom lip... nervously.

For once, witty, sarcastic Natasha Romanoff didn't know what to say. She took a breath and stood straighter, just wanting to get it over with... "I'm sorry I overreacted," she began quietly, her eyes trained on his. She couldn't read his expression, which worried her. "I was just annoyed because you didn't tell me, but I shouldn't expect you to. I don't know what got into me." As stoic as she was as she spoke, her apology was incredibly sincere. She broke eye contact and looked down at her hands, which she twisted in front of her, a clear sign that she was on edge. "And I'm... really sorry."

Clint studied her for several moments, absolutely silent. To be honest, he had barely heard a single word she said, but having already forgiven her for the whole ordeal, it didn't really matter. His only focus was the vivid color of her eyes, her pale skin, the red ringlets of her hair that flowed perfectly past her cheeks... it was as if he was seeing her in a whole new light. He suddenly realized that it had been several moments since Natasha had stopped speaking, and that he should probably say something...

"You're gorgeous, Natasha," was the only thing he could manage, since it was the only thought on his mind. Her eyes looked back up to his with surprise, and she raised an eyebrow questioningly. Clint smirked, looking down at his feet. "I mean, you look pretty when you apologize," he snickered, taking a tiny step away from her. "You should do it more often."

Nice save.

Natasha glared at him, but she was obviously anything but angry. She stepped forward and hugged him tightly, her arms wrapped tightly around his abdomen; his arms automatically went around her waist, and he rested his chin on the top of her head. She was so relieved that he wasn't still angry, and his arms around her felt so comfortable. Clint was everything to her, and his hand rubbing her back comforted her the same way it did whenever she had a crisis. He was always there when she needed him, even if she was at fault.

"I talked to Tony," Clint said after a few moments, though not letting go of her. "He thinks you got jealous." His voice was teasing, but secretly he just wanted to test for her response, though he knew for sure what it would be...

And yet he still tried not to wince when she laughed and looked up at him with smiling eyes. "So jealous. Practically dying to be your not-even-one night stand," she quipped, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "In fact, this school is full of empty classrooms..." She raised an eyebrow at him suggestively, moving out of his embrace and pulling him with her as she walked in the direction of the classroom their friends were in. Clint smiled, though he didn't respond, his thoughts taking over him. This kind of behavior wasn't out of the ordinary. Natasha liked to flirt. He'd just never given it any thought before when she'd flirted with him. "You better not be taking that seriously," she joked when he didn't respond for a second, glancing back at him with amused eyes.

He elbowed her lightly. "Don't assume I'm thinking about you. I mean, what if I had a massive crush on Peggy?" He couldn't believe he was saying that, trying to hold in his laughter but clearly failing. Natasha also looked on the verge of laughing, but she played along.

"You couldn't get within two feet of her. She'd tear you to pieces," Natasha grinned, shaking her head.

"And you wouldn't?" he rolled his eyes, smiling.

Nat laughed, shaking her head. "You said you've been talking to Tony, hmm? I'm sure he'd be a good candidate." She glanced at him mischievously, crossing her arms.

"He's obsessed with that blonde chick," he whined childishly, causing Natasha to break into laughter. He could hardly hold back a grin himself. "He won't even glance at me."

"I guess that leaves Steve." She paused for a moment, then quickly continued. "I call dibs." At his horrified expression, she bit her lip to stop from grinning. "What? Have you seen the shoulders on that guy?"

"He's a softie! What do ya want with him?!" Clint scoffed with (mostly) fake outrage, folding his arms. "Good looks aren't everything."

"Look who's jealous now," she said smugly, effectively shutting Clint up. He just stuck her tongue out at her. "Childish," she muttered as she approached the classroom door, peeking in through the door window to check that their friends were inside.

Me, childish?

Well... love is for children, he thought absently, a small smile on his face as he followed her into the room.


Clint and Nat were greeted with enthusiastic smiles and greetings from their friends (who had only hours earlier been strangers). Wanda lifted her head sleepily, blinking away some confusion; she wanted to wave at the two but was so tired that she just put her head back down on the bag she had improvised into a pillow, sighing softly. Natasha awed and nudged her jokingly. "Not one for staying up late, are you?" she teased her, and Wanda reached up and swatted Nat away playfully. Nat laughed and took the seat at the desk beside Wanda; Clint sat backwards in the seat in front of Natasha's, and Tony strolled over, leaning on the desk between them casually. Peggy sat on the desk that Clint's chair belonged to, and Steve stood beside her shyly. They exchanged glances every once in a while but didn't say anything to each other.

Tony cleared his throat, beginning to pace. "I have gathered you all here today," he began formally, his face serious. A wave of eye rolls and groans went through the group. He ignored them, continuing his monologue indifferently. "To discuss the situation at hand. As you can see, we have been trapped in this bunker by a group of hostiles... and I think one of you is behind it." He set his palms flat on the edge of the desk Peggy sat at as he peered at her suspiciously. She stared back firmly, although she really wanted to grin. "I believe you've betrayed me, Miss Carter," Tony accused in a low voice, shaking his head.

Peggy raised her eyebrows, leaning away from Tony. "It's Lady Carter," she corrected, purposefully exaggerating her accent, playing along with whatever Tony's game was. The others watched with curious interest; even Wanda peeked out to see the sudden show. "And I promise you, Mr. Stark, there has been absolutely no betrayal on my part. I'm offended that you'd even accuse me of such a thing."

Tony lifted his hands off the table, impressed, but going along with the game. "Well, you are the only Brit here," he drawled, continuing to pace, eyeing down the others but returning his gaze to Peggy after a moment. "And none of our humble American team would ever commit this kind of treason against their own nation."

"Actually," Steve piped up with slight hesitance, "According to some confidential files, Miss Romanoff is a Russian citizen, Mr. Stark - perhaps she is the perpetrator?" He gave her a glare, to which she returned a smirk, happy to be handed such a controversial role. Tony turned quickly to look at her with shock, not missing a beat with his acting. He stepped over to her, looking betrayed.

"You wouldn't," Tony said disbelievingly. "After all we did together - all of that was a lie?" He looked down at her with faked pain, his hand set on his chest like it hurt him to breathe. "Is Natasha even your real name?" he exclaimed in despair. Clint's shoulders shook as he laughed, causing Tony to break character a little, a tiny grin breaking out onto his face.

Natasha stood slowly from her seat, stepping closer to Tony, a small smirk playing on her lips as she assumed the role implied for her by the others. She spoke with a fake Russian accent - "No, I am not who I said I was," she drawled, setting her hand on the side of Tony's face, her eyes smiling despite her trying to look as evil as possible. "But the past few weeks together were spectacular, Mister Stark, knowing every moment that I would set you and your miserable team up to die."

A collective gasp came from the others, who were also on the verge of bursting into a fit. Steve managed to suck it up and he stood, grabbing a chalkboard eraser and holding it up to the back of Natasha's head like a firearm. "I can't let you do that, Miss Romanoff," he said authoritatively, though he couldn't keep off the smile like the others could. "If we can even call you that."

"Ugh, the glorified bodyguard," Natasha groaned, lifting her hands up in the air. "It won't do you any good, Officer Rogers - kill me or not, none of you will make it out of here. I promise you that." Her exaggerated accent made it hard for the others to maintain character. A few had to bite their lips to hold in their giggles.

"Russians aren't known to keep promises very well," Peggy quipped with a grin, crossing her arms. Natasha stuck her tongue out at her, causing Peggy to snicker, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle it.

Wanda watched the interaction with her cheek leaned on her palm, smiling despite her tired eyes trying to close every few seconds. She didn't expect to be brought into the situation, though, when she felt something prod her temple - after a moment's realization, she realized it was another chalkboard eraser 'gun'. This one was wielded by Clint, and he grinned and winked at her as if to encourage her to play along. She couldn't help but return that with a smile.

"Let her go," Clint said above the others talking, bringing attention to the two. "Or the civilian dies." He glanced over at Natasha, who smiled at him warmly. He always had her back, even in a stupid, fake improv game.

Wanda attempted to look terrified, stuttering out a "help," but her kind eyes didn't lose their shine. It was like she was programmed to look friendly and happy even when she was trying to force it down.

Tony threw his hands up, sighing exasperatedly. "Goddamn, two of them! I trusted you, Agent Barton!" At the last part Tony just couldn't help it any longer and broke into laugher, leaning back on one of the desks. "You are all ridiculous," he said between laughs, "but actually not half bad. And Natasha... damn."

Natasha did a little bow before returning to her seat. "What can I say? I'm just multitalented," she bragged jokingly, leaning on the desk on her elbows.

"I've never done anything like that before. It was... spontaneous. And.. fun," Peggy commented, threading a braid through her hair as she thought. She didn't miss the smile Steve gave her, and she definitely didn't fail to return it. He looked away first, which made her smile more.

Only a desk away, Wanda and Clint were talking quietly between themselves. "What happened earlier?" she questioned quietly enough so Natasha wouldn't hear. She was one of his closest friends, so she hoped he would trust her.

Clint glanced at Nat before looking back to Wanda, giving her a shrug. "I don't... know. I can't explain why she said what she did, but... I can understand it. It's almost like things feel different tonight." Wanda nodded in understanding, doing her best to stay wide awake for the sake of her friend. He hadn't said that he liked Nat, but in a weird way, she could see it in his eyes. Like she could sense how he felt or something, it was always a weird talent of hers.

"Well... it's been a crazy night," she advised softly, and he listened, because he knew she would look out for the both of them. That he could trust her, and Nat could, too. "Things do feel different tonight. And... maybe that's not so awful. Maybe we're here for a reason."

However vague that answer was, it was exactly what Clint needed to hear. He took her hand in his and gave it a soft squeeze, thinking about what she'd said over and over, his mind a snow storm like the one outside.

Wanda set her head down and closed her eyes, finally peaceful enough to fall asleep despite the chatter around her, knowing that it was unfamiliar, and this time she wholly welcomed it.