It was mentioned in the main story that Clint and Steve took Natasha out kite flying and I wanted to elaborate on it more, hence the reason for this side story.
It was a rather miserable, grey and rainy day outside. The rain was coming down so hard that it was giving the windows on the building a pummeling. Clint saw the now six year old Natasha staring outside, watching the rainstorm make its way across the cityscape.
"It's raining cats and dogs!" the little girl old Clint.
"Did Mr. Tony teach you that saying?"
Natasha nodded. "I'm bored." She said, changing her mood.
"Well, we can always play a game." The archer suggested.
"But I've already played all the board games we have. And Steve and Bruce told me no more video games for a while."
Clint remembered one night Tony and him where pulling one of their famous all-night video games binges. It was about three in the morning when Natasha had come into the living room and saw them playing a multi-person shooter game. The youngster's eyes lit up with curiosity and asked the two men if she could join them. Tony and Clint hesitated, but after adjusting the settings to be as kid-friendly as possible (green blood instead of red and the profanity filter on), they handed the child a controller. As Natasha was getting a hang of the mechanics, Steve and Bruce awoke and entered the room. They had heard her squeal with delight as the girl was busy shooting off zombies one by one.
"Tony! Clint! What on earth are you doing?!" Steve yelled in his best stern father voice.
The two troublemakers turned around and saw their friends glaring at them with disapproving looks.
"Oh, hey you guys." Clint smiled awkwardly.
"What have we told you about playing those kinds of games with Natasha?" Bruce grumbled.
"She came in all by herself." Tony stated.
"Boom! Headshot!" Natasha cheered after firing her gun at an oncoming zombie. "See Clint? I'm just like you when I play this game too."
Bruce could only face palm as Steve marched over to the TV. He hastily shut down the game system. Tony, Clint and Natasha groaned in disappointment.
"Natasha, go to your room. I need to speak to Clint and Mr. Tony alone." The solider stated, pointing in the direction of her bedroom.
Lowering her head, she sulked back to her bedroom, followed by Bruce to tuck her back into bed. After a firm lecture from Steve, Clint and Tony were barred from playing violent video games while Natasha was six until she was back to being an adult. As for the six year old, she was only allowed to play age-appropriate games; Tony had adjusted the game system's parental controls to prevent any more mishaps.
"OK, video games are out. What about a movie then? It's a perfect day for one, if I do say so myself." Clint said. "OK, but I get to pick it." Natasha told him.
Looking through the large cabinet of DVDs, Natasha carefully looked at the titles. Grabbing a case, she presented her choice to the archer.
"Mary Poppins? Good pick, I haven't seen this in ages."
Clint popped the disk in to the player and got a bowl of popcorn for the two of them to share. Settling on the couch, Clint and Natasha got comfortable and began to watch the musical. As they watched the movie, the archer and juvenile spy where so engrossed in the film and its songs that their singing caught Tony's attention. He was in the kitchen refilling his coffee cup when he saw the two of them singing along to "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".
"Oh no, not again!" he wailed. Tony had to put up with Bruce singing Beauty and the Beast for what seemed like eternity and he wasn't going to deal with having to hear Clint sing an equally catchy musical. Clint noticed Tony's fearful face and couldn't believe how fast the billionaire dashed out of the room!
"You're not gonna make me watch this movie over and over again?" he asked Natasha.
"No, but I do like the songs." She said.
Clint sighed in relief. For all he knew, the little girl's newest obsession (at this current moment) was anything dealing with horses and ponies, so Clint was safe…for now. When the movie was over, Natasha brought up the idea of going kite flying. She liked how Jane and Michael (the children in the film) took pleasure in the activity with their parents at the end of the film.
"It looks so much fun!" she said, growing excited over the idea.
"Tell you what, when the next sunny day comes, let's go to the park and fly a kite." Clint told her, to which the child beamed.
Later that day, Clint asked Steve if he knew how to build a kite. The archer explained to him that Natasha wanted to go kite flying and he figured that Steve was a pretty resourceful type of guy who would know how to build a kite.
"Just because I'm originally from the '40s doesn't make me an expert on how to make anything from scratch." Steve told Clint.
"Eh, it was worth a shot." Clint said, placing his arms behind his head. He wasn't adapt in anything dealing with arts and crafts as his friend.
"Can't you just look it up on the internet? Isn't that everyone's go-to to solve their problems in this day in age?"
"You're in Grandpa Mode again, Steve." Clint pointed out.
The soldier winced in embarrassment. "Anyway, try the toy store or one of those hobby shops." He suggested.
Per Steve's advice, Clint and Natasha went to the toy store the following day. At the store, the sales associate showed them the selection of pre-packaged kites that where in stock. Many of them had licensed characters on them, including the Avengers.
"I'll never get used to seeing my face plastered in things." Clint huffed as he eyed the kite. Luckily for him, Natasha was staring at the kites for girls. The little girl was looking at the various patterns. She grimaced and then turned to Clint.
"Clint, I don't like any of these kites. I wanna make my own."
Thank god! He was relieved that in a world full of an over-saturated market of product placement, Natasha was interested in creating her own kite. Clint had to dig a bit, but he managed to find a few create your own kite kits. He purchased several sets, if either he or Natasha messed up putting them together. When they returned to the tower, Clint showed Steve the kits.
"Points goes to Grandpa Steve." He joked. Steve just gave him a cool smile.
Natasha was eager to start construction on her kite right away. As she pondered over how to decorate her kite, Clint was bust putting the frame together. He noticed Natasha dashed past him and go into her room. She came back out with her paint set. The six year old then went into the kitchen and grabbed some paper plates and the roll of paper towels.
"What are you doing, Nat?" Clint asked.
"You'll see." She said as she began to pour paint onto the plate. Natasha then placed her hands into the paint and rubbed them together. With her hands covered in paint, the girl pressed her palms onto the paper and lifted them up. Clint saw that she had made her hand prints in the shape of a butterfly.
"Nat, that's really clever of you!" Clint was impressed by her creativity.
"Thank you. I saw it in a magazine Miss Pepper was reading. I wanna get everyone's handprints too." Natasha said, looking at Clint.
It was a rather good idea. Clint convinced the rest of his team mates to join in. After picking out their colors, Natasha then had each of the men make their hand print butterflies on her kite. Clint, Tony, Bruce and Steve looked at the kite with big smiles on their faces.
"See? Now everyone has helped me with my kite!" the girl said. Natasha then added some glitter once the hand prints dried and her kite was complete. Clint attached the kite together and added the tail. He and Natasha stood back and gazed at the final product.
"Worthy of a perfect windy day." He said and the little girl nodded in agreement.
A few days later, Clint was watching the morning news as he and Natasha where having breakfast. The weather man reported that the day was going to be nice with a few gusts of wind…perfect kite flying weather! Once the kitchen was clean, the two were getting ready to go to the park when Steve walked into the room.
"So, what's on Cap's agenda today?" Clint asked him as the archer was helping Natasha tie her sneakers.
"Nothing, really."
"Wanna come to the park with me and Clint? We're gonna go fly a kite!" the little girl sang happily.
"Sure, it's a rather nice day out." Steve said and went to go grab his lightweight jacket.
At the park, Natasha ran ahead of the two men in search of the perfect place to fly her kite. She finally found a small, grassy hill and jumped up and down waving her little arms wildly.
"Here, here! This is the spot!" she called to Clint and Steve. They then helped the girl prepare to fly her kite.
"OK Nat. Be sure to hold onto the strong really tight and run for a bit until the wind catches the kite." Clint instructed. She nodded and began to run. The wind quickly caught the kite and it soon soared high above their heads.
"Clint, Steve! It's really flying!" Natasha gleefully cried. "Great job!" Steve praised.
For a while, the three took turns flying Natasha's kite. Clint and Steve even taught the six year old some tricks like how to do sharp turns and dives. Natasha giggled with delight when she would do the actions she had learned. Suddenly, an unexpected gust of wind came and knocked Natasha's hat off her head.
"My hat!" "I'll go get it." Steve said to Clint and began to chase after the girl's baseball cap. He managed to catch up to the hat as it landed near a woman's feet.
"Sorry about that, ma'am." Steve politely apologized as he bent down to pick up the hat.
"Not a prob-Steve? Steve Rodgers?" she said.
Steve looked up once he grabbed the hat and recognized who the woman was. "Beth? What a pleasant surprise!"
Beth was the waitress he had met and saved over several years ago when the Avengers first formed. Since that day, they had run into one another now and then. The soldier straightened himself upright and grew nervous.
"Funny running into you here. How've you been?" the waitress asked him.
"Uh, good. Yourself?"
"The same. Still working at the restaurant." As Beth and Steve where chit-chatting, Clint and Natasha came walking over to the pair.
"So that's why you were taking so long." Clint said and gave Steve a wink.
"It's not what you're thinking." Steve told the archer, slightly annoyed. "Steve, who is this lady?" the little girl asked, pointing to Beth.
"Natasha, this is Beth. Beth, this is Natasha, my-er…" Steve was a terrible liar and started to get flustered. Clint quickly came to the rescue.
"Actually, Natasha's my kid sister. She's visiting from out of town for the week." Clint explained to Beth.
"Hello Natasha, it's nice to meet you." Beth greeted her and the two shook hands.
"Nice to meet you too." Natasha replied. "Steve and Clint are taking me kite flying. See? This is my kite. I made it all by myself." She proudly showcased the kite. Beth smiled.
"That's a very cute kite." She then turned to Steve. "Well, I should get going. I don't want to keep you from your friends."
"Oh, OK. Nice seeing you." Steve said, secretly disappointed. He was hoping to at least get Beth's phone number; the hero thought the waitress was sweet and bubbly…and cute.
Clint and Natasha noticed Steve's demeanor and the archer gave a nod to the child, who knew what to do.
"Beth. Do you wanna try to fly my kite? I bet you can fly it better than Steve." Natasha asked.
Steve looked at Clint and gave him an irritated glare. Meanwhile, Beth saw how adorable Natasha was when she held up her kite to her.
"OK, you got it. I'll show you." Beth told the six year old.
Steve was surprised by Beth's response. The waitress gave the soldier a sly smile. "Are you really that bad at flying a kite? Because if you really are, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."
Steve could only let a nervous smile be his reply. Beth then flew the kite with ease. As the adult woman and the girl where kite flying, Steve gave Clint a dirty look.
"If you think this is going to help me land a date…" he started to say but Clint interrupted him. "Steve, take a chill pill. Beth will give you her number hook, line and sinker."
"Let's hope you're right." Steve said as Beth and Natasha returned.
"So, am I better kite flyer than you?" Beth asked Steve. "A million times better."
Beth laughed. "Looks like you were right on the nose, Natasha." She told the child. Beth then took out a pen and a piece of paper and wrote something on it. She then handed it to Steve. "Call me sometime and we'll get a coffee." She told him before saying good-bye to everyone and leaving.
"See, what'd I tell ya?" Clint elbowed Steve's arm.
"You're good." Steve said as the trio began their way back to the tower.
"Beth is really nice. I hope to see her again real soon, Steve." Natasha said, taking his hand as they crossed the street.
"I bet she would too." Steve mused.
