A/N: and here is another chapter to kick off the weekend!
Note to reviewer (IcarusOwl) at the beginning Bruce said he had someone to go see. He went to see Betty... :) so that is why he is not really in this story much... However as a teaser to my readers he is important in the sequel...very important :)
Chapter 10
6 AM came too quickly. Clint groaned as the alarm on his phone went off, telling him they had about 30 minutes before they were supposed to meet the others downstairs.
He turned the alarm off and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He rolled over and found the other side empty. His heart began to race as he sat up and scanned the room for his partner.
"Nat?" he called out. There was no response.
Clint swung his legs over the side of the bed and crossed over to the bathroom. He knocked lightly on the door, "Nat? You in there?"
"Yeah! Sorry I was brushing my teeth. You can come in," came Natasha's voice from behind the door.
Clint entered the room and found her sitting on the edge of the tub brushing her hair.
"Good Morning," she said smiling at him.
She was already dressed in a pair of jeans and a basic black t-shirt with her favorite pair of boots laced up ready to go.
"We have 30 minutes before we need to be downstairs," Clint said before quickly brushing his teeth and gathering up his stuff from the bathroom.
"I know. I pulled out some clothes for you and packed up my dress and your tux," Natasha replied following his lead in gathering up her things.
Clint dropped his stuff into the suitcase and grabbed the clothes Natasha had laid out. He quickly tugged the black shirt over his head and pulled the jeans on. He spotted his boots not far away and retrieved them. After pulling the laces tight he glanced up at Natasha.
She held his silver box in her hands and was looking at it with a curious expression.
"What?" Clint asked getting her attention.
"So what exactly do you keep in here?" she asked before setting it down into the suitcase.
"Just stuff," he answered simply.
"Stuff?" she replied raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, stuff," he said getting up and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
She rolled her eyes, "Fine keep your secrets."
"When we get back to Stark Tower I'll show you. Right now, Tasha, we don't have time," Clint replied stuffing the remainder of his clothes into the suitcase.
"Ok, I'll hold you to that," she replied closing the case and zipping it up.
Clint set the suitcase up right and grabbed the bag that held her dress. He walked over to the door and held it open.
"Shall we Mrs. Barton?"
"Why thank you, Mr. Barton," Natasha laughed exiting the room.
The two boarded the elevator and rode down to the lobby. They found Tony, Pepper, and Steve waiting quietly in the armchairs that lined the room.
"I'll go turn in the key," Natasha said before breaking away towards the front desk.
"Morning," Clint greeted the group.
Tony nodded as he nursed his coffee. Pepper and Steve smiled.
Natasha rejoined the group quickly, "We're good to go."
They all silently shuffled out the door and into the two waiting cabs. The airport wasn't crowded this time, probably due to the fact it was six in the morning. They found their gate with ease and boarded the plane rather quickly. The five settled down into their first class seats and waited for the boarding to finish. Occasionally, a passenger would point at Tony or Steve and wave excitedly.
"Sometimes I hate being famous," Steve mumbled.
"And why is that my Star Spangled Man with a plan?" Tony asked peering back towards Steve.
"The attention gets annoying," Steve confessed.
Tony shook his head, "Annoying to you." He sunk back down into his seat and returned to the paper he was reading.
Natasha laid her head down on Clint's shoulder and closed her eyes. Clint smiled and placed a kiss on the top of her head before closing his eyes as well.
The two were awoken by the voice of the flight attendant announcing their descent into New York.
It was nighttime now. The cold night air felt great as the group stepped out of the airport. Tony led them into the car pool area, where two Audi sat waiting.
Clint looked up and furrowed his eyebrows. In the distance, Stark Tower was clearly lit up.
"I had it fixed up while we were gone," Tony explained as he loaded his and Pepper's luggage into one of the Audis.
Steve picked up his bike while Natasha and Clint took the second Audi.
They all seemed to arrive back at the Tower at the same time, each pulling into a parking space in the garage next to each other. They piled into the elevator and paused.
Natasha examined the new panel on the elevator controls carefully. The top six buttons were no longer numbers, but symbols.
"Okay, Stark explain this one," She said gesturing to the panel.
"There is a floor for each of use. This one is for Legolas and Spider Girl," Tony began pointing to the second button that had a small arrow and spider on it. The first button depicted a hammer, obviously referring to Thor. The third had a picture of the Iron Man mask, the fourth had Steve's shield, the fifth was completely green for Bruce and the final one just had an "A".
"A is for Avengers. I wanted to keep our jobs out of our personal lives, so we'll do meetings there." Tony explained.
Pepper leaned over towards Natasha and whispered, "Told you Tony adopted everyone."
Natasha smiled and pushed the button for hers and Clint's floor. After a moment and the familiar ding, the two stepped out into a room that was decorated perfectly to suit them.
They heard the elevator ding behind them and Tony say, "Don't forget to explore!" before the others were gone.
Natasha let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.
"Wow," she whispered trying to take in the sight before her.
"Wow is right," Clint said. "Let's find our room so we can put our stuff up."
To their right was a long hallway. Natasha tried the first door and smiled.
"I found it," she said to Clint.
The room was a decent size; much bigger than they were used to for sure. The walls were painted a pale blue that resembled the sky. There was a massive window on the back wall with a built in window seat that was covered in comfortable looking pillows. The bed was directly to the right of the door and was flanked with two matching bedside tables with lamps. Across from the bed was a dresser that held a flat screen TV.
Clint dropped the bag near the dresser and hung up the dress and tux in the massive walk in closet. He opened up the bathroom door and let out a low whistle.
"Nat, look at this," he said.
The bathroom was equally amazing. There was a huge Jacuzzi tub and separate stand up shower that would surely fit the two of them comfortably. There were double sinks on the vanity and linen closet just behind the door.
Natasha reached out and touched one of the towels that were hanging on the rack. The fabric was incredibly soft and luxurious.
"This will be great after a long mission," Clint said.
"Yeah much better than your apartment," Natasha commented.
"What's wrong with my apartment?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest.
"It's tiny and falling apart," she replied exiting the bathroom.
"You have a point there. I would if Stark would help me sell it?" Clint wondered aloud.
"I'm sure he would. Come on let's look around," Natasha said grabbing his hand and pulling him out into the hallway.
They discovered that next to their room as another bedroom that held just a simple set of furniture. It was a good sized room with another big window and attached bathroom that was still nice, but much smaller compared to the master.
Further down the hall was the fun stuff. On the right was a door locked by scanner. Natasha tried to scan her hand just for fun and was surprised when it opened.
"Miss Romanoff, Mr. Stark would like me to tell you that both your hand print and Agent Barton's will work to unlock this room and the one across the hall." JARVIS announced.
"Thank You JARVIS," Natasha replied feeling slightly silly talking to thin air.
"Damn, he freaking gave us an armory!" Clint exclaimed walking over to the rack of bows.
The room was filled with many different forms of weaponry. There were racks of hand guns varying in size, a new set of Widow Bites, and endless amounts of ammo and arrows.
"I wonder what is across the hall," Natasha said turning to Clint.
His eyes lit up and he practically bolted out the door. He scanned his hand on the identical scanner and opened the door.
"No way! No freaking way!" Clint yelled.
Natasha entered the room and her jaw dropped. It was a fully equipped shooting range. There were targets set up along the far wall and they appeared to be movable. Clint picked up the bow that lay on the table by the door.
He strung an arrow and let it fly through the air towards the farthest target. It hit the bull's eye with a thump that echoed through the room.
He turned back at Natasha and grinned.
"This is awesome, Tasha!" He half whispered half yelled.
"Come on my Hawk, let's get some food." Natasha said wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a peck on the nose.
Clint smiled and set the bow back down. The two walked back out into the hall. They walked back to the living room, which led to the kitchen.
Natasha looked around the living room as Clint continued into the kitchen. The walls were painted a warm tan color. There was a large sectional with a coffee table in front of it. Off near the kitchen was a table with enough chairs to seat all of the Avengers.
The kitchen had a breakfast bar with stools under the counter. She turned around to the front door and saw that there was a long table along the wall that held a few photo frames that were empty. She frowned and turned back around.
There was a stone fireplace across from the couch. On the mantel, Natasha noticed there were a few more frames, however these held photos. She walked over to them and picked one up.
"Hey, Tasha! How does grilled cheese with tomato soup sound?" Clint called from the kitchen.
After she didn't respond, he came back out into the living room and crossed over to her.
"Look," she said her voice cracking slightly.
She held the frame out towards him, her eyes swimming with tears. Clint took the frame in his hand and he found himself at a loss for words.
It was a picture of the two of them. It was a picture of the two of them kissing right after they had been declared husband and wife. They looked so happy…so in love.
"I didn't even know that they took pictures," Natasha whispered. "I mean look. There's one of you and Tony. And this one is of Steve walking me down the aisle."
"It's wonderful Tasha," Clint finally said setting the picture back up on the mantel.
He turned towards Natasha and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"It's all real now, Clint." She murmured.
He brushed a curl behind her ear, "Yes, it is. Let's get some food."
"A peanut butter and jelly sandwich would work just fine." She said.
"Coming right up!" he exclaimed giving her a quick kiss.
The two scarfed down two sandwiches each before retreating back into their room. They found that all of their clothes had been moved into the dresser as well as the closet, a detail they had overlooked at first glance. They changed into comfortable lounge clothes and got settled.
Clint crawled under the sheets and sunk into the clean pillows. Natasha grabbed the silver box from the bedside table where he had placed it after unpacking. She plopped down onto the bed and put the box on his lap.
"I told you I would hold you to it," she said.
Clint sighed and pulled the chain that was around his neck out from under his shirt. He unlocked the box and opened up the lid.
He pulled out an arrow tip and set it down on the bed. He pulled his legs up into a crossed legged position, the box balanced in his lap.
Natasha picked up the arrow tip and turned it over in her hands.
"Why do have this?" she asked.
"Easy, I'll explain once I pull everything out okay?" Clint said with a chuckle.
He continued to empty the contents of the box onto the bed and once it was emptied he set it on the table next to him.
"Okay, go for it," Clint said leaning back against the pillows letting Natasha look over the items.
She picked up the arrow tip again and looked at him.
"That is the tip from the arrow I shot my first bull's eye with." He said with a smile.
She reached for the small stack of photos. She held the first one up for him to see.
"That's my parents, it's the only photo I have of them."
She held up another that showed two young boys.
"That's me and Barney. I think I'm about 5 or 6 and he's 8 or 9. That was the last Christmas we had as an actual family."
The next was a picture of a huge black dog.
"Ah, that's my dog Oreo. You can't see it in the picture, but he had a white belly. He's a Newfoundland. He was hit by a car when I was 7."
"I didn't know you liked dogs," Natasha said.
"Oh yeah! I love them!" He laughed. "Do you?"
"I've never had one. I think they are cute and I wouldn't mind one," she replied.
"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind," he said.
Natasha rolled her eyes. She picked up what looked like a flyer. She unfolded the paper and raised an eyebrow.
"That is the circus I was part of. That's Trickshot and the Swordsman. They taught me how to shoot. I can use a sword too, but obviously that's a little hard to carry around."
"Seriously, you can sword fight?" She asked.
"Yep, and you know I can handle a gun too." He said.
"So this Trickshot and Swordsman," she started.
"Yeah, once my parents died Barney and I ran away from the orphanage we were at and found the circus. Those two took us in seeing we had potential and taught us how to entertain. Barney did a lot with weight lifting because he was bigger than me. I did the acrobatic stuff and archery. Trickshot would make me practice shooting till my fingers bled. I can shoot without a guard or glove, but I prefer them. I was 16 when I caught Trickshot, the Swordsman, and Barney stealing money from the circus. I went to turn them in, but they turned on me. My own brother beat me till I was literally on the edge of dying. They left me on the side of the road die. I was found by some cop and taken to a hospital. I got better then ran away. I became a gun for hire and got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s bad side. Then Coulson came for me. You know the rest." He explained.
"What's this?" she asked holding up a piece of paper with an address scratched onto it.
"That is Barney's address." Clint said shifting nervously.
"Have you ever gone to see him?" Natasha asked.
"Yes a few years ago while you were on a mission." Clint reached over and picked up the last picture. "This is my sister-in-law, Hanna, and my nephew Robert and last I heard they were expecting a baby."
"We should go see them," Natasha suggested.
"Why?" he asked.
"If you have the opportunity to fix things with your family you should. I can't ever see mine again. You have that opportunity." She explained.
"They live not far from here actually." He said.
"Tomorrow morning we'll go see them." Natasha said.
She smiled at him and reached for the piece of fabric. She recognized the texture immediately.
"That's from Budapest." Clint said softly.
"You have part of my suit?" she asked.
"I ripped it off when they took you away from me in the hospital. I was holding on to you that tight. I thought I was going to lose you. I wanted to have something that was yours if you died," Clint mumbled.
"But I didn't die. I'm right here. So why do you need to keep this?" she asked grabbing his hand.
"I keep it because that was the day I told you I loved you," He replied.
"I love you, Clint," Natasha said kissing him on the cheek.
"I love you too," He whispered. "Let's put this junk up."
"It's not junk, it's your memories." She said handing him the fabric.
He piled everything back into the box and locked it back up. He set it aside and opened his arms towards her.
"Come here," he mumbled.
Natasha gave him a small smile and nestled herself into his arms. He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around small body. His hand skimmed across her toned flat stomach and a thought came to his mind. For a moment he pictured what it would be like to have a baby growing there; to feel the swell of her stomach and the movements of their child. It was a cruel thought, an impossible thought. Natasha couldn't get pregnant, not since the Red Room. They had taken that away from her.
He moved his hand away and banished the thought, no matter how appealing it was.