"I think Stark likes you." He had wanted to say so for ages. Today, the words fought to come out, and had won.

Natasha, turning her head from washing dishes, raised an eyebrow. Clint sat on a table, munching on an apple. "Excuse me?"

Her best friend swallowed his last bite, and threw the apple core into the trash bin before he uttered his comeback. "He's always staring at you, like you're his wife. A trophy wife."

They were at Clint's farmhouse this afternoon in early October, a wonderfully balmy day. Natasha and the rest of the Avengers were here for a while, until the current unrest settled down. Earlier that day, they had pitched in busying themselves by helping out with necessary household chores. Nat had also volunteered to mind the kids while Laura prepared dinner for that night.

What was Clint talking about? "Stop that!" she ordered, finding the impossible idea suitably laughable. Tony was trying to get back with Pepper. He was, wasn't he? That seemed so to Natasha, although...

"I'm not kidding, Tasha. I know that look," the artful archer insisted, hopping off the table to amble over to the sink. She wasn't through with the dishes. "He behaves like you're more precious than gold. Don't deny it. You know what I mean. Okay, so it's kind of odd...but...the heart wants what it wants."

"Are you serious with me right now? Your imagination is working overtime. Do I have to remind you that we have more serious issues to deal with. Focus, okay? You're imagining things. Besides, he's out, trying to get her to come here. So much for only having eyes for me."

Clint huffed, grinning. "Fine!" Natasha thought the matter was dropped, until he spoke again. "Wanna bet he's worm for your form?"

"Barton!"

"Hey Nat. Is there something going on between you two?"

Natasha scowled at Sam, who'd thrown that question in out of nowhere. She figured he could've been referring to Tony's having brewed their favorite coffee at the counter, and had fixed her mug first. After a lot of eye-gazing and easy banter, their billionaire teammate had exited the kitchen to go chop more firewood before heading out to bring in Pepper.

"Huh?" escaped her, her mouth agape. What was going on?

"Oh, I don't mean to intrude," Sam deferred. "We're all just noticing how you guys are really getting along a whole lot, lately. Chummy, honey."

"We noticed? What's with this we?"

Sam looked uncomfortable, but had an answer. "Yeah...right. At least Steve, Bruce and I do." He cast glances at the others, sitting at the dinning table with him, devouring pancakes.

Her facial expression went blank. "I am not his type," Nat stressed. Hasn't he made that more, or less clear? We are friends, good friends, now...nothing more.

"The all-nighters...morning coffee...couch cuddling...?" Clint barely contained his amusement. She likes the guy more than in the name of friendship. She can deny it all she wants. I don't buy it. "Tony and his women...you and Pepper..."

"And I'm supposed to like the sound of that? Meh! Wrong!" Okay, there were the all-nighters, check. Those were never planned. Tony and she were night owls. Chatting with him came easier late at night. If she had trouble falling asleep, visiting him in his workshop just felt right.

They enjoyed getting together for morning coffee, check. Simply because they needed that caffeine fix to jump start their day. Sometimes she'd make it, sometimes he would. No big deal.

Couch-cuddling? All harmless. Especially that time Tony's suffering from fever had been severe. He had barely been able to eat, and had become unacceptably dehydrated, which exacerbated his sore throat. As Natasha recalled, that night, he had curled up on the couch in the home theater. Some action film had been what they'd watched. Stubborn man that Tony was, he refused to rest because as far as he'd been concerned, he wasn't truly sick. So Natasha had stayed with him, with water bottles and food, to ensure he didn't croak. He was not a good patient. He'd groaned and moaned starting at about 1:30 a.m. She'd buried him in blankets, had bedded down with him, she on the floor, in case he needed anything. When she had awakened, Tony had been missing, but he'd left a 'thank you' note. He'd commended her for having been the perfect nursemaid. Thanks to her, he'd been cured.

Sam snickered. "Ohhh-kay. Don't think I'm overestimating when I say that the guy is into you. But, like they say, 'time will tell.'" He went on polishing off his breakfast.

"Like your new suit, Nat."

Natasha nodded, acknowledging Rhodey's comment with a little smile as she admired the new suit that Tony had made for her. "I know. I'm still surprised."

Their in-house mechanic had gone out of his way to create something that not only suited her, it augmented her incredible form. Rhodey cheerfully noted, "He looks after the people he loves." Pride rang true in Rhodey's tone.

"He takes care of the team like that," Nat reminded them.

Rhodey focused on her. "And you're more special than everyone else."

She shook her head, again, disavowing what his statement implied. "I'm just another teammate, nothing more."

"So you keep saying, Nat," Rhodey soothed, giving her sheepish eyes.

Before she could counter that, Tony was back with a surprise, Pepper. "Thank you, Nat," she said.

"For what?" Nat inquired, as Pepper and Tony stood side by side.

"For looking after Tony and for making him smile."

"I'm...I don't think I alone should take credit for that." Natasha took a sip from her coffee mug.

"If it isn't obvious, he's fond of you, Natasha. I see it in his eyes all the time. It is what it is."

She figured that the Stark Industries CEO, might have been watching as they'd danced at one of the companies' functions.

"This is... awkward," Nat replied, hearing how lame she sounded. Was her mind actually short-circuiting? This wasn't a good look for Black Widow. What were Tony's true feelings for her? She wished she knew, not second guess him.

"Oh. I'm sorry... I just can't help it." Pepper chuckled. "Tony is...well, he deserves happiness, Nat."

He does, she subconsciously voiced. Natasha felt light-headed all of a sudden.

"Give it a chance, Nat." Pepper smiled at her amenably before walking away.

The guys talked amongst themselves, trying to look circumspect, and failing miserably.

Natasha awoke in a dimly lit room, and the first thing that registered was Tony, standing beside her bed, both hands in his pockets. Finally, the exasperating man had shown up on the 7th day of her Stark Tower arrest. After she'd been rescued from her last mission that had gone all ways haywire. She had also awakened to him in a hospital in Washington DC., looking as if he hadn't slept for days, still wearing the same suit, as if he'd gone there straight from an SI board meeting.

They hadn't spoken much. She had still experienced extreme weakness. Her entire body useless to her. She had heard what he'd said before she'd dozed off again:

"You can't just die. You're not leaving me just like that, Romanoff. We're going home..."

That same day, Tony had flown back to the tower, where a guest room had been turned into a hospital suite. Two doctors and a private nurse had attended her. He had expected nothing less than her full recovery.

"A whole week away from you isn't a cinch," Tony announced to the room. "But I'm here now." He turned into Nat and said, "Missed you most of all." His tone was normal, his face was far from stoic.

Natasha mustered all of her will to ask the question that burned within her. "Tony, why are you singling me out? I'm just one small part of this team."

The special attention he was careful to pay her shone in his ofttimes inscrutable eyes. What Clint guessed, what Sam, Bruce and Steve noticed, what Rhodey assumed, and what Pepper saw filled his amazing eyes. She needed to hear it from him. Tony did not move, as if it were physically impossible for him to do so, just staring at Natasha.

She swallowed an invisible lump, which had lodged itself in her throat as she gazed into the windows to his soul, intent on reading his emotions.

"No maybe about it. Because I love you," Tony proudly confessed.

Right all along, this crowd, Natasha thought. She faced this band of seasoned warriors, and matching Tony's tone, declared, "And I love him too. I guess there's no reason to deny it. Not any more."

As he munched the one pancake leftover, he questioned, "You guess?"