"This is why I'm never buying a house!" Natasha exclaimed, setting yet another box of dishes on the kitchen floor. "SHIELD couldn't have already done all of this for us?"
"Moving into a house that's already been moved into looks a little suspicious, Nat." Natalie still didn't like it. She'd been unpacking boxes of dishes and kitchen supplies for hours. How many stainless steel bowls did one person really need anyway? Clint had been working on getting the master bedroom set up while she stacked plates and glasses, resisting the urge to smash every single one of them.
She was just about to call it quits for the day when she heard a soft knock on the front door. Naturally, she grabbed the gun nestled in the small of her back under her shirt and moved cautiously to the door. She opened it, just a crack, and saw two people on her doorstep, fake smiles plastered on their faces. The woman, Claire, was holding a bottle of wine and her husband, James, had four glasses in his hands. Natalie eyed them suspiciously.
"Hi! I'm Claire and this is my husband James. We live across the street from you." She motioned to the quaint suburban home that looked eerily similar to every single other quaint suburban house in a one mile radius. "We thought we'd drop by and welcome you to the neighborhood."
Clair and James Milligan, the marks. This might be even easier than Natalie had thought.
"Uh, yeah sure. Come in." She opened the door wider for them to enter, placing the gun back in the waistband of her pants and pulling her shirt over it. "It's a bit of a mess, sorry."
"Don't worry about it, we've all been there." Claire assured her as Natalie led them to the living room. Thankfully, the couch and two large chairs had been cleared of debris earlier that day. She paused at the base of the staircase, resting her hand on the railing.
"Yo, Clint!" She called up to him, rolling her eyes when she heard something crash to the floor upstairs. A second later, Clint poked his head around the corner of the hallway.
"Yeah, Nat?" She jerked her head in the direction of her newest guests.
"Company." Clint straightened himself and came down the stairs, extending his hand to James.
"Clint Beckett." The men shook hands. "James, and this is my wife, Claire."
"And I'm Natalie, by the way." She extended her hand to James, weak handshake, was her first thought. "Nice to meet you guys." Natalie gestured to the living room, the Milligan's took the couch while Natalie and Clint settled themselves on the two accompanying chairs. James dug a bottle opener out of his pocket, uncorked and poured the wine.
"Welcome!" Exclaimed Claire in a too sweet voice and Clint and Natalie shared a 'you've got to be fucking kidding me' look, followed by Natalie's shy smile. They all clinked glasses and they typical post-toast silence filled the room as they drank.
"So why brings you guys out to Rio Rancho?" James asked. Rio Rancho was one of the largest, nicest suburbs outside of Albuquerque. The particular part of the suburb they lived in was the more modest sections, the houses affordable and not overly grandiose. It was nice, if you like that sort of thing, which Clint and Natalie both did not.
"I don't know, just looking for something new I guess." Natalie shrugged, turning to Clint to see if he wanted to say anything.
"Yeah, just about. I just got back from Afghanistan a few months ago, looking to finally settle down for a while." He added.
"Afghanistan?" James sounded impressed. "Welcome home." He toasted his glass in Clint's direction, he nodded appreciatively.
"Well, it's not much of a change to be honest. I got out of the desert to move back into a desert. Though, Natalie is preferable to a bunch of sweaty guys all the time." The Milligans laughed and Natasha rolled her eyes at him.
"So what are you doing now, career wise?" Claire asked.
"I worked in construction before joining the military, I'm getting back into it again now that I'm back."
"Well, you've come to the right place for that. Houses have been sprouting up left and right these past few years. How about you Natalie, do you work?" Natalie smiled even though she wanted to slap James Milligan for his assumption that Clint worked because he was a man and that she didn't because the was a woman.
"I do actually, have my entire life." Clint looked down to avoid bursting out laughing. Natasha, Natalie, was the queen of subtle insults. "I just got a job at the local health club."
"Not, Healthtrack, is it?" Claire asked excitedly.
"That's the one." Natalie seemed significantly less interested, but Claire didn't seem to notice.
"No way, what do you do there?" Natasha had poured herself another glass, wishing for something a little stronger.
"I teach yoga, and now, swim lessons." The conversation went on with Natalie and Clint both pretending to be more interested in them than they actually were. Claire was evidently really into yoga lately and both their kids, Blake and Jillian, were in lessons. It was on the topic of kids were things started to get weird.
"Jillian's five, and Blake just turned three." Claire narrated as Jimmy showed them pictures.
"They're adorable." They both feigned an affinity for kids they didn't have, Clint was only smiling because watching Natalie deal with suburbanites was hilarious.
"So, any kids in the future for you two?" Natalie looked horrified and Clint choked on his wine as he tried to take another sip.
"Yeah, uh, no." Natalie stammered as Clint coughed.
"Oh, you'll change your mind one day." They both assured her and Natalie wanted to be anywhere but here.
"You'd make the absolute cutest babies." Claire laughed at the new couple's unease.
"Speaking of kids," Jimmy said, checking his watch. "We better run and pick them up from Anne's." There was a flurry of goodbyes and handshakes as the Milligans left Once the door was shut behind them, Natalie felt much more relieved.
"Kids? What the fuck? Really, who does that?" The whole kids thing had taken them back a little, but man, seeing Natalie's face when they asked her if they were going to have kids was priceless.
"The wine was good though." He pointed out, trying really hard not to laugh.
"I hate the suburbs." Now he really couldn't stop himself from bursting out laughing looking at Natasha's disgruntled face.
"Stop it! This isn't funny." She shoved him lightly, but a smile broke out on her face as well.
"No, it's hilarious." He doubled over resting his hands on his knees. "You're face!" He wheezed. "Oh my god, that was too good."
"Hey, I'm not the one who choked on my wine!" Clint continued to laugh, thinking that watching Natalie deal with these people and pretend to like it would be better than pay per view.
A few hours later, after finishing unpacking the kitchen and ordering some local chinese that wasn't as good as her local place back home, they decided to go off to bed. Natasha climbed the first few steps with Clint in tow, turning around when she was of height with him.
"You should know, I have a rule about undercover work." The lightness in her voice from earlier in the evening had faded, Natalie falling back into Natasha again.
"Okay, what it is?" Clint asked absently, knowing he'd probably break this rule in some way or another. Then, out of nowhere, Natasha was right in front of him, her lips pressed against his, her cool hand resting gently on his cheek. Clint, in his surprise didn't even have time to react before she was gone again.
"No firsts." With a flip of her hair she turned and continued up the stairs, leaving Clint to stare open-mouthed in her wake.
