Blackmail - 7
Warnings / angst
Author Notes / Yay mid-week update. I feel like I need to get to the main part quicker so more people will get interested. Cause right now it's a little bit boring. SO yeah expect a couple more updates in the next few weeks then I will probably take a break.
Sorry, I haven't been updating much it will be explained in my next chapter.
~Last Time~
From what he had heard the mystery man hadn't called Nat in a couple of weeks and he felt relieved, for now.
Part of him hoped that this meant it was over, they had got what they wanted and had decided to leave her alone.
But the other side of Bruce knew,
That this was just the quiet before the storm.
"This bed yawns beneath the weight of our absent selves." ― Maya Angelou
And Bruce was right, Not even two hours later Natasha got a call.
She had hoped, like Bruce, that their lack of contact meant it was over, but she too was wrong.
She had to go meet them that night at sunset.
She couldn't find a time to tell Bruce because they were constantly surrounded by people. So she told Clint she was going to go to the shops and when he reminded her that Stark had employees who did all the shopping for them she made some dumb excuse about how they always picked the wrong Russian snack. Stupid Americans she had sighed as she left.
The warehouse she had been told to meet at was pretty much the same as the other places she had gone to beforehand - Old, rundown and far away from people.
She didn't think it was possible but this time there were more guards and she was apprehended almost immediately.
Tied to a chair she had listened to him drawl on and on about how he had a hold on her and blah, blah, blah.
Then he got onto the real stuff.
"I have no live feed for you today but you know I'm not bluffing."
She rolled her eyes at him and turned to look at the wall of the factory.
"What. Do. You. Want. From me, I mean you haven't really explained to me what I'm actually being blackmailed for"
When he gave her a look of false confusion she almost exploded.
"WHAT'S YOUR RANSOM"
"Ransom?, Oh I thought that was obvious. I want to manipulate you as you have done to so many others"
"You can't manipulate me, I'm the Black Widow"
"But I already have? You've been lying to your partner. Don't you have a rule to never lie to each other"
"How do you know that" she growled.
"I know everything"
She spat at him but he was too far away so it ended up landing on the floor in between them.
He ignored her sign of disobedience and began to pace around.
"Now I was thinking of ways I can unravel you and I thought what was one of the things that mattered to you most? Apart from the avengers of course"
In his pause, she realised he was waiting for her answer.
"Come ON ROMANOVA, WE'RE PLAYING A GAME. I ORDER YOU TO PLAY" he yelled a tinge of whininess in his voice.
That was Natasha's first sign that this guy was one of those true psychopaths. The ones that liked to have fun with their hostages.
"I don't know" she sighed.
"Why SHIELD my little spider and not only that you've spent the past 10 years trying to prove that you're loyal to SHIELD"
She gave him a look that would give off the impression that she was bored but on the inside, she was anything but. She was clinging to his every word trying to find a clue to as where this was going.
"Ahh look at the time, That will be all for today my красный паук (Red spider)" He walked up to her and his fist connected with her stomach and the air was blasted out of her. Before she could recover he planted a kiss to her lips and told his men to untie her.
She ran all the way back to her car, which she had parked almost 5 blocks away from the warehouse for safety, and sped home.
She had told Clint she was just popping down to the shops and then vanished for an hour and a half.
And to make matters worse she had missed dinner, again. She was going to get so much Shit from Tony because of this and she could tell Clint was slowly getting suspicious of her movements.
When she finally made it home around 8:30 everyone was still up watching TV.
She snuck in again, but this time made sure Clint knew she was home but no-one else.
She slipped into the kitchen to get some food.
"Hey" a soft voice from the entrance greeted.
"Sorry I'm late got caught up getting the…" her voice dropped off realising she hadn't gone to the shop to get the food she needed to keep her alibi.
"Shoot I must have left it in the car," she said planting a fake smile on her face and turning around to face Clint.
He didn't look happy, he looked…hurt.
"I got worried when you didn't return so I dropped by the corner shop you always go to and the owner said you were never there"
"I didn't go to that one this time," she said cringing at the easiness of her lie.
"Nat that's the only shop in New York that sells your snack"
She looked up at him and she knew she was beaten.
"I defended you at dinner tonight, again, but I don't know why because I don't actually know what your doing"
She turned away under the pretence of washing her cup but in fact, she was using the distraction to figure up her action plan.
Clint saw through her rouge
"Don't ignore me!" he said, his voice remaining emotionless.
But that split second was all she needed to make up a lie
"I…uh…I just,"
"Deep breath, and then continue,"
"You were right about the overwhelmed thing. I don't know how to be an avenger. My whole life I've been a shadow and then all of a sudden I'm part of 'The earths mightiest heroes'"
SHIELD had tried to delete all evidence that Clint and Nat were in the fight but with the technology these days it was impossible and they had given up.
Luckily for her nobody had made the connection between Natalia Romanova and Natasha Romanoff so for that much she was safe, until Adrian Kozlov.
"I just needed a break from all of this-" she flung her hands in the air to motion to the fact that they were living in Stark Tower. "I just went for a drive"
"Nat we've been avengers for almost 2 years"
"I know and I thought I was handling it, I was, for a time but all of a sudden it all just came crashing down and…"
He enveloped her into a hug. She could have kicked herself, she shouldn't be playing the sympathy card and manipulating his emotions.
Kozlov was right, she manipulated people even the person she was most close with in the world. She pulled away from the hug and avoided all contact.
She left to go take a shower leaving Clint staring back at her.
That night was quiet, she knew Clint was trying to hide his annoyance at her secrecy.
She also knew what this path they were on led to.
The one major thing about their relationship was the honesty, yes they sometimes told little white lies but nothing major.
He would slowly get more and more annoyed about her 'meetings' and then things would just spiral.
Once again Natasha summoned up the courage to take the medication, but this time Clint was awake and he gave her a confused but comforting look before showing an arm around her.
One problem with sleeping pills was that you didn't wake up to noises you normally would.
Like a phone call.
At 2:30 in the morning, Natasha's phone started ringing, only waking up one of the individuals in the room.
Clint propped himself up onto his knees and looked over at the phone.
Natasha had about 10 numbers in her phone and the only person who would be calling now would be Maria telling them they have a mission.
So he picked up the phone on the premises of talking to Maria, but it wasn't Maria, it was an unknown caller.
He didn't know why he found himself picking up, but she had been so secretive lately what with her disappearances and phone calls.
So he answered the phone
"Hello"
Beat
"Who the fuck are you, where is Miss Romanova"
His eyes shot up at the mention of her name.
"I'm her boyfriend, she's asleep"
There was a pause at the end of the phone before he heard some scuffling and a different person came to the phone this time.
"Clinttttt" he drawled, "How good it is to finally hear from you"
"Who are you"
"What, Natalia hasn't mentioned me"
"No," he said still in denial that this guy was actually in contact with Nat, but apart of him knew it to be true. This guy sounded Russian and knew about her old name, What if she-? No he couldn't think like that she was loyal to SHIELD, loyal to him.
"Well when she wakes, tell her Adrian Kozlov called and the agreement we made 2 days ago is still on"
The call ended
Clint was left sitting on the end of the bed, clutching her phone. His mind was thinking about every single thing that 'Adrian' person had just said.
Agreement?
2 days ago?
Romanova?
It was still early in the morning so he tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn't. So he ended up just staring at Natasha.
The cut on her head had basically fully healed and the bruising on her next was almost gone, he had accepted the fact that she had fallen over because he knew she wouldn't lie to him but he wasn't stupid he saw the way the bruise was shaped like a hand.
He hoped she would, in her sleep, give him a sign that she wasn't doing anything shady that he was just some random guy prank calling her.
He waited for Nat to wake, he knew from yesterday there was no way he could wake her up before the drugs wore off.
He thought the sun would never rise but hours later the golden rays shone through the blinds and onto their bed.
It took another hour before Natasha woke up.
When she finally started to stir, Clint didn't move just sat his back against the headboard and waited.
She rolled over to cuddle into Clint but he pushed her away.
Her eyes shot open at his refusal and she looked up at Clint.
"Who's Kozlov?" he asked not gracing her with eye contact.
She looked back surprised and couldn't help a sneaky glance at her phone, which had been moved in the night.
"I don't know"
"Stop lying"
"He's just a friend"
"A Russian one?"
"Yes, you know I kept contact with some people from Russia"
"Yes but I've never heard of an Adrian Kozlov"
She just ignored him and got up from the bed.
"He said you met him two days ago. I was with you the whole day apart from when you went to 'clear your head', So either you've been lying or he is. Please tell me he's lying"
She gave him a look and went to open her mouth but he cut in before she could speak.
"I comforted you I felt bad for you, felt horrible myself for not realising you were struggling. But you were just lying to cover up your tracks"
"Clint, please" she pleaded as he got up.
"TELL ME HE'S LYING" he yelled balling up his fists.
"It's nothing bad, I promise you"
"If it's nothing bad, then why can't you talk to me"
"I…I can't"
She stuttered and fidgeted with her fingers. He sighed and turned around in annoyance.
"I just feel like I'm losing you" he admitted to her facing the window, "I mean all of a sudden your taking sleeping pills, you've got all these bruises and I don't know what to do"
"Please Clint, It's not your fault"
"Then why aren't you comfortable talking to me"
"I am comfortable, you've never been anything but good to me, Clint"
They both ended up standing on opposite sides of the bed facing each other.
"Then why won't you talk to me?!" He yelled
She blanched backwards at the sudden rise in tone.
"Look what we've come to Tasha, fighting like an old married couple"
She laughed cautiously and he stepped around the bed.
He hugged her and they stood there for a while in the embrace.
When she pulled away she realised he had been crying. She leaned up and kissed his bristly cheek.
"You want breakfast"
"Yeah, but I'll cook it. Don't want to get food poisoning" he joked and placed a hand on her back and they walked out.
That conversation was far from over, they both knew it, but they continued on with their life as if it was.
Later on, Clint had gone to the archery range and Natasha went to find Bruce.
She found him on the lower level of the lab, he saw her coming and switched Jarvis off and started making coffee.
"I'm guessing you went to see him yesterday"
She nodded slowly taking the mug Bruce had offered.
"And….?"
"Not much, just the normal psycho stuff"
"Sounds lovely"
"Clint's getting suspicious"
"We knew this was going to happen, he is a spy after all"
"I know, he knows about Adrian"
"What!?, How?"
"He called while I was asleep, Clint answered," she said simply.
"Nat you need to be careful, these things can go wrong very easily"
She shrugged at him knowing he was being truthful.
"Fury is going to find out and that guy has more trust issues than me and that's saying something. This isn't going to go well and someone's going to get hurt, and I can almost guarantee its going to be you"
"I'm the Black Widow I know how to protect myself"
"I'm not talking about physical injuries"
She looked up at him from the rim of her cup.
"From what you've told me, these guys mean business. They're going to make sure you're isolated before doing anything"
"I know, but at least all you guys will be safe"
"That is not a good mentality to live by"
"I know"
They sat there for a while Natasha staring at the dregs in the bottom of her cup. Bruce also just sat there but he was examining the lady in front of him.
She looked more rested, so he assumed she had been taking the pills he gave her. That made him happy.
But part of him felt like he was doing the wrong thing by keeping her secret.
Somehow he didn't think Clint would thank him for it later
"This is a mess"
"You can say that again"
The redhead leaned her head against the table, sighing into the cold wood.
He reached his hand across the table and held it over hers.
She looked up at him after the sudden contact, he gave a look that was if to say I'm-here-for-you.
Of course, the moment of friendship had to be ruined by a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist.
"Shit Bruce, if you keep remaining that close to her you'll find an arrow in your heart from a certain archer"
Bruce jumped away from Natasha and took both their cups to the washing machine.
Tony stopped joking around when he saw how unhappy Natasha looked.
"You alright Red?" He asked generally concerned for her wellbeing.
She knew he was just being caring, but she didn't want to have to deal with him right now.
She stood up abruptly and left the room.
"She alright?" Tony asked his science bro.
Bruce watched her leave with remorse before turning back to Tony.
"She'll be ok"
Tony gave him a thoughtful look before changing the subject
"So I fixed our fuse problem on the machine and we've got to-"
Tony drawled on and on and then they both left to go to the lab.
"We're going out to dinner tonight" Tony announced walking into the room.
His statement was met with numerous different responses.
Steve and Pepper looked relatively enthusiastic about going out.
Bruce didn't look eager but would probably still go.
Clint was having some sort on inner battle with himself but agreed to go along
Everyone turned to the last person. She seemed to be daydreaming, staring at her hands in her lap and not listening to the conversation.
"What about you Tash?"
She flinched at her name and her hand immediately went to her gun. Clint discretely touched her back telling her to relax. She looked up at Tony silently asking him to repeat his question.
"We're all going out tonight, do you want to come"
"Uhm I don't think that's…"
"I'll take that as a yes. Meet here at 6:30. Any preferences for where we eat"
Steve and Bruce immediately started talking about places to eat, arguing over which had better food, better security and so on.
Once everyone was somewhat distracted Tony made his way over to Nat.
She was once again in her own world not paying attention to anything.
He nudged her foot with his and she immediately looked up at him.
The billionaire gave her a small nod, asking if she was good, she gave him a small but convincing nod in return.
Clint watched this small exchange, he couldn't help feel proud that she had let herself be part of this family but he felt a jolt of sadness come upon him that Natasha no longer trusted him with her troubles.
He knew better to think that she had told Tony what was bothering her, but it still hurt.
It was 6:00 pm, Pepper and Tony were in their penthouse apartment floor getting ready to go out.
Pepper had just got back from a convention over a week ago and was looking forward to catching up with Nat and the rest of the team.
Natasha had been…distant lately Pepper thought. They had had a movie morning thing but even then she was injured and didn't seem like herself.
And then she hadn't been at dinner quite a lot lately and Pepper was left at the table alone, with 5 guys. Not really a great experience.
Hopefully today she could get the scoop on what's been happening, and get her friend back.
"Babe, you still haven't told me why you decided to go out tonight," the CEO asked.
"Just thought it would be a bit of fun"
"And…."
"And Red looked like she needed a break"
"Oh…That's surprisingly nice"
"Always the tone of surprise Pep"
She smirked at him before turning her back to him so he could zip her up.
"What do you think is wrong?"
"Don't know, probably SHIELD just overworking her again. Do you remember that one time she came back from a 2-month mission and not even 24 hours later she was on another mission"
She nodded at the memory.
"And if I know you, you will have found out every little detail but tonight"
"Well yes, but Natasha is very private" she reminded him, "Don't take it personally if she doesn't tell you,"
"Mmm, but enough about Spidey, what tie do you think goes better with this suit"
She smirked at him and turned him around to the mirror to start fixing his tie.
At 6:30 the Avengers met in the lobby, most of the guys were in a suit and tie except for Clint who refused to wear a tie. Pepper was in a slim fitting cocktail dress and Natasha was in a pair of jeans and a nice dress shirt.
Despite popular belief the Black Widow actually did not like dressing up, yes she was always having to dress up for missions to seduce a target, but when she was Natasha she didn't like it.
Clint had told her ages ago "You should dress to feel pretty not to necessarily look pretty"
At first, she didn't understand what he meant but later Coulson had explained it in a less poetic way. He meant she should wear what she wanted because she wanted to not because she thought someone else wanted her to.
So yes occasionally she did get dressed up on her own accord but today was not one of those days, today she was feeling run down.
Maybe if she wasn't feeling so tired she would have realised maybe going out in public with the avengers right now wasn't the best idea.
Oh, hindsight is a bitch.
End of Chapter
Did anyone get my Harry Potter reference? hehehe