25 [hotel room]

Natasha had had her Black Widow weapons express shipped to her through SHIELD and they arrived there later in the day. She took them out and strapped them back on and fired up her Widow's Bites. They jammed for a minute and Natasha frowned and started to slap them, but as soon as she did, they went off unexpectedly. The lampshade by the bed got hit with an electric blast and Natasha hurridly put out the fire before the alarms could go off. James lifted his head up from where he'd been laying on his stomach with his head in his arms and gasped. He jumped out of bed and ran to open the window.

"Why?" He cried. "Why would you do that?"

"It was an accident!" Natasha cried back and tore the black, crispy lampshade off the lamp. "They jammed."

"We're gonna have to pay them for that," James said and Natasha frowned at the lampshade, irritated.

"James, I've been telling you, it won't matter. SHIELD'll probably cover it," she reassured him.

"Probably?" James said. "We don't exactly have bank accounts to burn here, Natalia," he said to her, and then glanced down at the lampshade in her hands. "Or, electrocute."

"We'll be fine," Natasha said, but James seemed unassured.

"The hotels, the lampshade, the car," he started counting off and then groaned. "The car. That'll make a real dent in funds if SHIELD doesn't help."

"I'm sure they will," Natasha said. "After all, this is technically Widow business."

"What if they don't?" James said anxiously and Natasha looked at him.

"Don't worry about it," she said, because she knew she had ways of fixing the debt that James didn't need to hear about, but he still looked upset. He sat back down on the bed cautiously, as though he were afraid he'd break one more thing and be back out on the street.

"Okay…," he said slowly. "Fine, Nat, you win."

"It wasn't a fight," Natasha replied as she dismantled her weaponry and began to place it back into the box. James looked at her.

"Okay then," he said and she looked back up at him and raised her eyebrows.

"Okay," she said.

"Okay!" He said.

"Okay…," Natasha said with some finality and James shrugged.

"Okay," he said casually.

"Stop saying okay!" Natasha cried and threw her hands up in the air and James opened his mouth as though he were about to say it again, and then stopped himself.

"Fine," he replied and Natasha ground her teeth together.

"I'm not responding to that," she said.

"Did I make you mad?" James asked.

"I'm not mad," she said.

"You sound mad," James said.

"Stop harping on it!" Natasha said.

"Okay!" James cried.

"I said stop saying okay!" She yelled and James stopped then, stunned, his mouth open and his eyes wide. The silence after seemed to ring and Natasha felt every millisecond of guilt. "Oh," she said quietly to James' hurt face. "I'm sorry." He turned away from her then and she couldn't see his face anymore and she felt anxious. "Really, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you…"

"It's, uh," James said and he turned back and dropped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He seemed to be avoiding her eyes. "It's fine. I understand." Natasha swallowed and she wasn't sure what else to say, so she finished boxing up her weapons and set them on top of the TV.

She sat down gingerly on the edge of the bed.

"Okay," she said.