Author's Note: So I thought a Black Widow chapter was kind of overdue but I could never get anything solid down that I was happy with, I'm still not sure I'm happy with this. I hope it's enough to at least give you guys a few minutes of entertainment, that'd be enough for me :)

Disclaimer: Any and all Marvel characters belong to Marvel and in turn Disney, I do not own them or have anything to do with them in any way. The same can be said for the DC side of the spectrum, any and all DC characters are owned by DC. I make absolutely no profit from this, it's just a bit of fun.

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow

"Spider-Man," a thick but feminine Russian accent called out his name.

The red and blue web-slinger stood a good few metres away from her, at the opposite side of the fully equipped training gymnasium. He rubbed the back of his fabric covered neck, slightly put off by the formality of the whole thing.

Spider-Man replied. "Natasha," he stated clearly, smirking beneath the mask.

The former assassin frowned upon hearing her first name. "You wanted to spar today; can you please tell me why you asked for me?" Widow queried, slowly closing the distance between them with subtle sways of her hips.

Peter tried hard not to stare, though it didn't matter much on account of his wide eyed mask. "I figured you'd be the best option, you're a very strong and capable woman who sometimes scares me out of my pants. I've seen you hold your own against people with abilities far beyond what you can do, which is impressive if you don't mind me saying." He complimented as she smirked.

The redhead nodded. "Da, very impressive." She quietly joked, surprising Peter a little.

He continued. "You're one of the world's greatest hand to hand fighters, you're a valuable member of the Avengers and most importantly, you helped me and Sable save the world. Thanks for that by the way," Peter quipped.

Natasha waved it off. "It was no problem… how are you feeling, by the way?" She asked hesitantly, despite the urge to just let it go.

Spider-Man shook his head, mentally tired. "Fine… fine I guess, I still hate myself a lot which is a little worse than normal. I just uhh… I'd rather not talk about it," the man relented, clearly hiding his emotions.

Black Widow furrowed her brow as she felt a small pang of pity, something she rarely felt. "If there was anything you could have done, I know you would have done it. Try not to think about it too much, Spider. Do you still want to spar or do you want to get some coffee and talk?" She offered, prompting Peter to arch a hidden eyebrow.

"The Black Widow, offering to get coffee… and talk! It's the invasion all over again!" Spider-Man mocked, flailing his arms around in a small attempt to take his mind off of the darker subject.

He was taken aback when he felt a soft hand rest on his shoulder, rubbing it slightly. "I know what Sable meant to you, I could see the affection she held for you… even if I did not understand why. It's going to take some time, Spider… but I'm here for you if you need me." Natasha replied, slightly put-off herself by how genuine she had sounded.

Peter chuckled, waving her concerns off but silently thankful for it nonetheless. "I'm fine, Natasha. You and everyone else don't have to worry about lil' ole me, Spidey ain't gonna go off the deep end." He joked, distancing himself from her slightly.

He didn't want to admit it but he had never been in such close contact with her… in a very long time anyway, the only instance he could think of was Doc Ock's endgame and they rarely said two words to one another even then. Truth be told, Peter felt uncomfortable around her. Because humour almost never worked on her, not even a scratch on the surface of that hard exterior she had built up.

"Every man has their breaking point, Spider." Widow spoke, her voice raised marginally so as to reach him.

Spider-Man span around with a finger lifted and an inquisitive expression hidden beneath his mask. "Yeah… I've been meaning to complain about that to the man upstairs, I don't think mine was properly installed." He shot back.

Which resulted in an unexpected smirk followed by a fold of the arms, from Natasha no less. "I admire your attitude; perhaps you can apply the same confidence to your combat skills. It would do wonders, I'm sure." The spy subtly insulted.

But Peter might have taken it a little bit to heart; he had lost a lot of people as of late. And some of it was due to his less than stellar combat skills, even despite his training. A sigh escaped his lips, something the assassin noticed immediately.

"Yeah… yeah, I know. I uhh… I've been trying to get better, a little more polished, I guess." He admitted, his hidden brown eyes suddenly finding the floor interesting.

It seemed to be enough to peak the redhead's interest. "And how is that coming along?" The Russian beauty questioned, at least hoping for a joke of some kind.

Spider-Man shrugged, an air of indifference encompassing him. "Not great, lemme tell ya." He relented.

One deep breath later and Natasha felt calm enough to reply. "Well, now that you have completely ruined the conversation, I suggest we spar." If only so she could take out a little pent up rage on him.

"That's why we're here, right?" Peter asked rhetorically, before his spider-sense began to ring like a room full of alarm clocks.

The acrobat leaned away from a deadly precise kick, throwing up his arm in defence. "Swift," Widow commented as she landed and swept the floor with a leg.

Peter flipped onto one arm, avoiding the attempted trip whilst spinning his body like a helicopter's rotor. "Only when I'm fearing for my life, what else you got?" The acrobat threw back, impressed when Widow cartwheeled away from his attack.

The Avenger with red in her ledger landed, whipping out two small calibre hand guns. "Agile," she breathed with a smirk.

Cue insanely powerful tingle and Peter was bending every which way, avoiding real honest to God bullets in the training room. "I thought we were sparring!" Spidey shouted, but it didn't make a world of difference.

Moving with the proportionate speed of a spider, the wall-crawler handsprung his way towards Widow. With a quick kick and a flourish of his hand, the guns had been knocked away from the deadly weapon of a woman.

"You wanna explain all the shooting at me?!" Peter demanded, gripping her shoulders with a bewildered stare hidden beneath his mask.

Natasha narrowed her eyes at him, those deadly emerald eyes that many men had fallen prey to. Peter saw an arm move and again, his spider-sense was doing its thing. Leaning away from her, the vigilante just barely managed to dodge a precise slice from a sharp dagger. Throwing his arm out to the side and moving his body to the right, he then avoided a clean thrust through what would have been his rib cage.

And the look in Widow's eyes, the emotion she was conveying… it terrified Peter. Pure hate, rage and a want to kill. All of which was directed at him, which he was having trouble with as a minute prior, they had been talking like old friends.

But he was having none of it; no… he wanted an answer. His hand grips her wrist like a vice, unimaginably strong. A simple movement and the bone would surely snap, the dagger dropped to the floor with a cold clang. And the wielder simply stared at Peter's wide white lenses, her nostrils flaring and her eyes glowing with spite.

"Strong," Natasha finally spoke, after what seemed like an eternity of silence between the two.

Spidey nodded in agreement but was not pleased, beyond a shadow of a doubt. "Crazy… see? I can state the obvious too," he sneered.

She bared her teeth in response, almost snarling with her reply. "All of these powers and abilities and yet you are not competent enough to know how to save a life!" The woman insulted, actually stabbing Peter right where it hurt.

"I... I know how to save a life!" Spider-Man faltered but countered, renewed confidence lacing his voice.

Widow scoffed, making Peter grit his teeth. "Your entire career is evidence to the contrary," she hissed, the venom potent enough to make Peter hesitate.

His grip tightened and Natasha flinched, something he was ashamed to admit was that… he actually enjoyed it. "I try to do the right thing whenever I can, Natasha. Isn't that enough? Or am I not hard core enough for you?" The obvious jab into her past was not unnoticed and Widow's demeanour darkened, if that were even possible.

"I don't know, is it enough? Accepting that you cannot be everywhere at the same time? Taking joy in the lives that you do save, the difference you do make? Tell me, Spider… is it enough?" The question bore into him like an emotional drill.

Peter narrowed his eyes, his mood darkening to whole new levels. "What? What do you want me to say, Natasha?" But his anger was drowned out as tears threatened to spill.

Widow couldn't see it, but she could hear it in his voice. "Tell me what you are so ashamed of, Spider. Tell me what secret you fear to share with others, I will not judge you… I give my word." She softly demanded, waiting for him to lash out at her like any other man.

But Peter wasn't any other man, so he let go of her wrist and bowed his head, almost over whelmed by what he was about to share. "She believed in me, she trusted me when the world turned its back on me… Sable gave everything to me so that I could save the world. She loved me… she never said it but I knew, I knew it deep down." The man paused for a moment, a silent sob wracking his chest.

He paid no mind to the delicate hand that had lightly grasped his own, squeezing it for encouragement. "And what did I do? I stared her in the eyes, watching as she laid dying, maybe hoping that I would forsake the world, just to show how much I cared about her." Peter poured out in stoic and unusually comfortable silence.

"Tell me, Peter." The first time she had ever used his real name, and he felt too numb to even register it.

A red gloved hand came to his face, ashamed of what he had done… hiding from the world he had saved. "I turned my back on her, Natasha. Even when she screamed, I… I didn't even spare a glance. What kind of a man does that make me? Out of everything I've ever done, I… I made that decision. I—I don't know what to do anymore," he finished, his mind wandering away from that horrible day.

And for the first time in her life, Natasha regretted her methods. Using his anger and frustration to admit what had been plaguing him, torturing him every day, awake or asleep. She knew Spider-Man felt guilty about what had happened to Sable, she had felt some of that guilt herself. But she would have never… a man so upbeat and positive all of the time… so cheery and optimistic, it made her feel sick.

There was no answer to his question, because she simply had none. The only thing that she could even think of doing was being there for him, a man so wracked and distraught with guilt… disguised as the team's comic relief.

So reluctantly and quite awkwardly, Natasha wrapped a hand around his neck and held him. And he cried, right into the crook of her neck, staining the fabric of his red mask. A quiet and bittersweet moment experienced, not necessarily enjoyed, by two extraordinary people who both masked their emotions. Albeit, in drastically different ways.

And in a way, it felt… kind of… right.

Author's Note: So Natasha isn't one for being very emotive, neither is Spidey. I kinda thought that Sable's supposed death was a common ground between the two as it was shown in the comics to be something that connected them fairly well, I wanted to break some new ground with this as opposed to the 'Nancy Rushman' story that's popular with Spidey/Black Widow. Besides, I'm not sure that's even canon any more in the post OMD Marvel Universe.

So if you guys had a problem with the chapter, then just let me know and I'll do my best to improve the next time around. Your feedback is awesome to read, it really does help so I wouldn't mind hearing any of it at all. Thanks for reading!

Oh and guys, didn't you hear... Peter Parker's back in April as the Amazing Spider-Man returns for a brand new launch! Fan-base rejoice! Did any of you guys enjoy the Superior era? I honestly thought it was and still is a great read, but I think it's high time we got the one true Spider-Man back in his red and blue tights.

Guest Reviews:

Hercules8: Absolutely no problem man, the information on Gen 13 and Caitlin is much appreciated but I'm actually catching up on my reading. Managed to find a bunch of Gen 13 comics online so it's all good, thanks all the same! :)

SuperdudeX: Jade? Jade as in... uhhh... there are a lot of Jade's in comics, I think there's a Green Lantern... is that who you meant? I'd love to write your request but I'm not too sure which Jade you meant, you could either PM me or leave another review and I'll definitely get back to you. :)