THANK YOU FOR READING! Sorry for the late update! I have been swamped with school work :P

Previously:

I confidently walked out of my door, collecting the present on the way out, and shut it behind me. Show time I thought as I neared the entrance to the living room.

Once I opened the door, I found everybody staring straight at me. The music was still playing in the background, but everyone was looking, even the DJ. I heard someone clear their throat behind me and I turned to see Clint there, looking smoking hot in his suit. He smirked and offered his arm. I can't exactly say no. It's rude and he will be embarassed in front of everyone.

I smiled back and hooked my arm around his. We graciously walked down the stairs, me more strutting than walking, and the guests began to slowly start conversation again. Clint came down to my ear and whispered "Pretty fit for the world's smallest agent."

"Pretty fit for the world's largest dickhead." I snapped back, smirking, and he gave me glare as we arrived at the kitchen table.

"Damn Romanoff. Lookin' fine." Falcon said, sliding across the table to me. "Dump this Hawk and run away with me instead." he said, jokingly.

"There is nothing to dump. I'm not with anyone." I said, smiling.

"Oh babe, you're killing me." Clint said and chuckled, high fiving Sam in the process.

"You guys are idiots." Maria said, weaving her arm around the back of Steve.

"Are you guys…?" I asked, gesturing to how close they were.

Steve smiled and Maria replied "You were right Natasha. I need to let people closer to me." She looked up at Steve. "That's exactly what i'm doing." She kissed him and Clint and the others cheered.

"I bet they're gonna get married first." James said in my ear.

I nodded in agreement and asked him "Unless Tony pops the question first."

"Or Thor." he said.

"Does Bruce have anyone?"

"I knew he had a girl one called Betty Ross." War machine said, taking another sip.

"Colonel Ross' daughter?" I asked, taking his drink and having a sip.

"HEY!" he shouted and took it back, smiling. "And yes I mean Colonel Ross' daughter. She was in a relationship with Bruce before he became all hulky."

"Hulky? Is that a proper term?"

"Yes." he said. "I just invented it. Anyway, then she was able to control the hulk somehow."

"How?" I asked.

"By using animal kingdom tactics I think. Showing him respect."

I suddenly had an idea. "Why don't we try that?"

"What? Animal kingdom tactics?" he asked and I nodded. "Yeah, we could try I guess. We could, but it would be extremely dangerous."

"Extremely dangerous is in our job description." I argued and he chuckled.

"I'll put in a word to Tony."

"Thank you." I said, smiling. "Anyway, why don't we hook them back up."

"I think Tony's already planning on that." he said, knowingly.

"What do you mean?" I asked suspicious of his word choice. "He's invited her here?"

"Yep. She should be coming later on tonight."

"That's either going to be disastrous or interesting. Or both."

"Probably both." he smirked and finished the last few gulps of his beer.

"Mr. Stark and Miss Potts have entered the building." JARVIS said over the comms.

"Tony had a warning thing put in so everyone would know when they would be coming up." Falcon said, going into the living room to greet them. "You know the plan right?"

"Of course I do." I said, smiling, and watched as the screen next to the elevator counted down from five. The sign saying 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEPPER!' showed as the doors opened and we all shouted the message. Pepper looked at us in pure shock, but after a second it turned to happiness and she started crying slightly as she always does. The crowd echoed with awwwws as she threw her arms around Tony, holding him tightly. I could see him smiling as he closed his eyes and appreciated the woman he was lucky enough to have. He pulled away and kissed her lips. I saw him whisper happy birthday to her and say that he lover her. They were such a good and unusual couple. I could see the tension burning from when I saw them when they were dealing with Ivan.

Tony grabbed a microphone as he does and shouted "HELLO EVERYONE!" They all cheered in response as he expected and he walked out a bit with Pepper. The music died down and Tony spoke up again. "I hope everyone is having a good night and it is about to get better, obviously now that I'm here." he said and everyone cheered again, louder if that were possible. "Now this…" he said, gesturing to Pepper. "is one Virginia 'Pepper' Potts and she is one of the best human beings on this planet." he said, thoughtfully, and her eyes clouded with tears. "She means everything to me. Everything. I couldn't live without her, not just for the company's sake, but for my sakes too. I wouldn't be here without her."

"What is he doing?" Clint asked me quietly, suddenly appearing next to James.

"No idea." he replied.

"Pepper, I know that I want to be with you for the rest of my life. You don't know but I've already travelled to the future and discovered that." he said, joking, and she choked out a laugh through tears. "So…" he said, kneeling down onto one knee in front of her. "if you'll have me, which obviously you will…" he said, causing Potts to roll her eyes. "will you marry me?" he asked. There were multiple gasps from the audience and some people were in tears. But I just stared at them. How can they love each other that much? To put all that faith in one person and trust them not to turn their back on you? I don't think I could ever do that. I looked across at Clint who was witnessing the event, smiling sweetly at the couple. Did he have that person already? That 'special someone' who he thought he could spend the rest of his life with? Is that person me?

He turned his head to look at me and was about to turn it back, but kept his eyes locked with mine. I could almost feel the tension rising in the room and I knew that I should've turned my head away to look at the proposal, but I couldn't draw my eyes away. Something made me keep my eyes drawn to him, almost pulling me towards him.

A loud clapping erupted and my head snapped towards the noise, which was all around me, but I focused my eyeline on the newly engaged couple. "Thank you for coming. LET'S PARTY!" Tony shouted over the speakers and then Skip To The Good Bit by Rizzle Kicks. Everyone cheered and started dancing, Pepper and Tony kissing in the background.

"I guess I was wrong." James said, smiling.

"I suggested that they might get married first, so I win."

"You didn't say that it was definite."

"I suggested it. I still win." I said and he laughed. Me, Clint and Sam went over to Pepper who had finally stopped kissing Tony. "Congratulations." I said and hugged her. She was wearing a blue backless dress, one which I remember Coulson talking about in his report when he spoke about recruiting Mr. Stark.

"I can't believe this is happening. You look beautiful by the way." she replied, excitedly.

"Thank you. You look gorgeous." I said, smiling, and taking in her appearance. She really was beautiful. I noticed that she didn't have any earrings to go with her outing and had an idea. "Here you go." I said, handing her the bag containing my gift.

"Awww Tash. You didn't-"

"Don't even think about saying that I didn't have to. You're the only girl apart from Maria who actually lives here. I like Jane equally as much, but still. There's only three women Avengers in the whole tower."

"Yes, but we are three women who kick ass and have all the boys under control." she said, smiling. She opened the box and saw the Pandora bracelet with the ice cream charm on it. She looked up at me, her face completely gobsmacked.

"Is it too much?" I asked, worried that I might have overstepped a line. She didn't reply at first, not verbally anyway. She wrapped her arms around me, squeezed me tightly and I hugged her back.

"Thank you." she whispered and kept me in a tight hug still.

Flashback

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Five minutes ago, I saw Pepper sitting in her office, crying her eyes out on the desk. By now, she had collected herself and could speak.

"I just….this bracelet..." she said, gesturing to a Pandora bracelet broken on the table. "My mother gave it to me in her will when she died. It was the only thing that she left me in her will."

"Is there anyway you can fix it?" I asked.
"No, there is no way Natasha." she said and swept the bracelet into the bin, among some other rubbish. She definitely wasn't going after it.

"What happened to it?"

"I was getting my coffee and it got caught on the side of the desk." she explained, putting her head in her hands. "I'll get over it. It's fine." she said, dismissing her upset emotions.

"Okay…" I said, about to walk out, knowing that she didn't want to talk about it. "I'll take the bin and empty it into the trash actually. I'm heading that way."

"Thank you." she said, smiling at me for a second, before returning to her work. I took the bin and went to the rubbish, but before I chucked it in I noticed it glistening in the bin. I picked it back up and kept it, throwing the rest of it away. Pandora I noted, silver chain, ice cream charm.

I took the empty bin back to her room and placed it by her desk. "Why was there an ice cream charm on it Pep?" I asked, using her nickname to make her open up a bit more.

"My mother used to take me out for ice cream every day when I was younger. She said that ice cream was the only thing that cheered me up then, nothing else. So she added an ice cream charm to the bracelet and kept it there. I've had it there ever since and whenever i'm down I look at it and think of her." she said, tears welling up in her eyes. I sat with her and hugged her until she stopped crying.

End of flashback

She pulled back and I helped her put it on her wrist. "You are the bestest friend ever." she said and hugged me again. I went wide-eyed, hugging her back, in shock that I had just been called someone's best friend. I don't think bestest friend is an actual term...

"That is alright. You deserve the gift after all your hard work." I replied and pulled away. I looked at Clint expectedly. I coughed twice, but he just look at me with his eyebrows raised.

"What?" he asked and I rolled my eyes. I dipped in the jacket pocket of his tux and pulled out a small pale blue box. "This is from Clint." I said and she chuckled, as she opened it.

She gasped and pulled the blue earrings out of the box. "Oh Clint, they are beautiful." She quickly put them in her ears, because they matched her dress conveniently, not that I brought up opening the presents for that reason at all...

James gave her a pair of beautiful black pumps that were designer and had crystals on them, which she immediately swapped for her killer high heels. "Thank God for that." Pepper said. "I was almost dying in these heels."

"I saw them and thought that they would really suit you. Afterwards, I thought that it would be an even better present, because then your feet wouldn't suffer." James said, smiling.

"Awww, you're so considerate." she replied, kissed his cheek and gave him a hug.

She turned to Tony. "Very beautiful." Stark said and kissed her. "Now…let us party, bride-to-be." he said and rushed her onto the dance floor to dance.

"I need to go and speak to Bruce about that theory we talked about." Rhodey said to me. "See you later."

"Theory?" Clint asked.

"James said that Banner's old girlfriend Betty use-"

"Wait, Banner had a girlfriend?"

"Yep, Betty Ross."

"Col-"

"Yes, Colonel Ross' daughter, Betty. Anyway, they used to date and after he went all 'hulky' as James likes to describe it, she used animal kingdom tactics to calm him down and de-hulk him."

"I'm guessing that these tactics involved her acting less powerful than him." he said.

"Um...yeah." I said, quite impressed that he knew that. "We thought that someone might be able to use that technique on him."

"That sounds like a good plan, but who would be crazy enough to try?" he asked and I just kept my eyeline on the floor. "Oh you're kidding me...you think you're a good candidate to take on the Hulk?"

"I think it would be good to try. I mean I'm female, she was female. And I have a good connection with him."

"What do you mean by good?"

"I mean that I'm friends with him."

"Right." he said, acting slightly relieved.

"You think it's a good plan?" I asked him. An idea needs opinions to determine it's success.

"As long as you don't get killed, i'm okay with it." he said sternly.

"I won't get killed. Trust me." I said. I looked across the room and saw Jane walking towards us, gracefully...very gracefully. She was the most fragile delicate human being, but she has enough sass to take on any Avengers, as well as having the looks of a goddess. She was wearing a green dress with long sleeves and a small black belt around her waist. She wore green mini-heels and some kind of asgardian ring that said 'Thor'.

"Natasha!" she shouted and threw her arms around me. I returned the hug before she pulled away and hugged Clint just as tightly. "How are you guys?" she asked. "I haven't seen you in ages."

"I've been great. Mainly training and missions, but it's all good." I replied.

"That sounds absolutely horrible. Science is much cooler." she laughed and smiled, obviously joking. How is science better than combat? "What about you Clint?"

"I'm good, yeah. I think I need to work on not eating so much cookie dough, but apart from that I'm good." he laughed.

"About missions actually, Thor filled me in on this situation with Bucky. How is it going? I've only had his perspective and as I'm sure you can imagine, Thor likes to speak in riddles and with words I don't understand." she chuckled.

I looked at Clint. I hadn't thought about it in a while. What was happening with the missions? "The tech team have been following Bucky's associate's movements and we are getting closer and closer to closing the case." There were no visible HYDRA agents that I could see at the party and Stark upped security. Only people invited by him.

"Brilliant. I can't believe HYDRA is back again."

"Well hopefully not for long." Clint smiled, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. Me getting my throat nearly cut was difficult for him I think.

"Yeah! So what else have you guys been up to?"

"Picking Pepper's present mostly. That was a difficult task." Clint said.

"What have you got her?" I asked.

"I had no idea what to buy her so I asked Thor if we could get something from the both of us that was handmade." she said, picking up a small ring from a little bag she had. It was the word 'Tony' written on it. "It's pure platinum and has the blessing from a Gods of Asgard."

"What's the blessing for?" Clint asked.

"The marriage."

"Wait, how quickly did you get that thing?" Clint asked. He had a point. We literally only just found out they were going to get married. Hell, they only just had a proper proposal.

"There are future seekers on Asgard. They can tell the future. The Asgardians do not usually use them because they want to make educated decisions based on thought processes and not written timelines. Anyway, the seekers knew that we were trying to think of a gift and they thought that it was perfect."

"That's beautiful." I said, observing the ring. "I see you have the same type of ring." I added, gesturing to the ring on her hand. "Is there something you're not telling us?" I smirked.

"No, no…" she replied, going red slightly. "He hasn't proposed yet."

"Yet?" Clint asked, implications in his words.

She rolled her eyes, even though she was getting redder by the second. "I just mean that it is not an engagement ring. It is a symbol of our love." She turned her hand over, revealing the under side of the ring where a red gem was planted into it. "This is a precious ruby on Asgard that represents love."

A ring to represent love? How pathetic! The closest person to Jane was Thor. Sometimes they were completely inseparable, much like me and Clint. Not that we were together in that way. I have thought about it properly once or twice in the past when I was weak. Recently, the idea of being with him has come back. When he saved me from that hell hole, the red room of pain and shame, I never felt more powerful. My strength, stamina and mood improved when I joined shield and Clint was there for through everything. Training, missions...I owe my life to him. The bottomless debt I owe him that I will never quite repay. No one is as close to my heart as Clint. I have only now noticed that when he smiles, it makes me smile...on the inside of course. I would never tell anyone, because a Black WIdow with feelings does not sound believable and is not achievable...not in this lifetime. The Black Widow doesn't know the meaning of feelings...she doesn't deserve them...I don't deserve them...or Clint.

"I'm really happy for you and Thor." Clint said and she smiled.

"That means a lot to me thank you." she looked behind her shoulder and noticed that Thor was pouring some kind of liquid in a glass for someone else. "Oh no! That cannot happen again. I thought that pub was bad."

"What's wrong?" Clint asked.

"That is an alcoholic drink from Asgard. The last person to have it, my guardian, was completely smashed by the time he had one sip. See you guys later." she said quickly and hurried over to stop him killing all the guests.

Clint flicked his head at me and pouted.

"No." I said, firmly.

"Please."

"No, we are not doing it."

"Come on, you are Russian."

"Nope."

"No, you are not Russian or no you won't do it?"

"No, I won't do it and yes, I am Russian."

"I heard 'No, I'm not Russian, and yes we are doing it."

"We are not drinking it." I said.

"It's from Asgard. We will never get this opportunity again. Please."

"Nope."

"Just to try it." he begged and I looked at his face. Why does he always want to do the stupidest things?

"Maybe later." I said and he whispered 'Yes' quietly.

Hope you liked it! Will they get seriously drunk with Thor's drink from Asgard? Read the next chapter to find out :) Please review!