(Tony's P.O.V.)

Tony was bored. It was a quiet day in the avengers tower, there were no evil guys to vanquish, no new tech to repair, no need for new tech to be built, and he had already watched 2 movies and read a book. Tony was very, very bored. And as per usual, when his mind was bored, it fixated on something he didn't have an answer to yet. Specifically, the two avengers sitting on the couch across from him.

Tony wanted to know if they were together. Every one of the avengers sprawled around the living room had asked Natasha and Clint at some point, but they managed to dodge the questions each time. Eventually, they just gave up. Tony studied them. Natasha was sitting next to Clint with her legs tucked neatly under her and her left arm resting against his side. Clint had his right arm draped across the back of the couch, his fingertips barely brushing her shoulder. Both had relaxed smiles, and they were both chuckling at something on the holo-screen Tony had given Clint. To most people, this would hardly seem as something significant. Those who knew the pair, though, knew that any form of touching without advance warning and permission would likely cause the loss of a limb. Yet here they were, casually tucked up against each other without so much a flinch or an uneasy look.

After looking at them for a couple moments, Tony fished out his own holo-screen and went through his pictures. There was Steve and Wanda, eating ice cream. There was Bruce, playing solitaire (a new calm-down strategy.) There were dozens of pictures. He paid special attention to those with Nat and Clint. Them at the training center, them on missions, them hanging out at the Avengers tower. There wasn't anything that really stood out. Tony got an idea. Quickly, he hacked into the video feeds from their last mission in Petra, Jordan. He watched them go through the mission, and noticed something. Something most people would never have, but Tony was after all a genius. It was about a hundred degrees throughout, but Natasha always had something covering her arms. He looked at other pictures she was in. Yep, same thing. Always something covering at least her shoulders and upper back, never a tank top or a sleeveless dress. He stowed that piece of info in the back of his mind.

Two days later

(Steve's P.O.V.)

Steve was watching Clint and Natasha from across the room. The avengers had decided Steve needed to be educated in the wonderful world of Harry Potter, so they were having a marathon session of the first 3 movies. Currently, they were about halfway through the second. Steve had just glanced away for a moment, when the two had caught his eye. Nat had fallen asleep on Clint's shoulder. He was instantly curious why, as Natasha rarely let her guard down, let alone enough to fall asleep on someone's shoulder. He supposed she must really trust him.

(Thor's P.O.V.)

(Same time as Steve's)

The two Midgardians perplexed him. They showed all the signs of two lovers, yet the Avengers had told him they had not confirmed it. He was watching Natasha and Clint when there was a tiny shriek. Nat was awoken instantly, but instead of looking towards the source of the noise, she looked at Clint. Then she glanced towards Wanda. Wanda, Vision explained quickly, was terrified of snakes. The basilisk on the tv had just appeared, causing her to shriek. The other Avengers nodded and went back to the movie. Nobody but Thor seemed to have noticed Nat's reaction.

3 days later

(Tony's P.O.V.)

The avengers were in the living room again, laughing and chatting with each other. Tony was watching Nat and Clint. Again. He was wondering about why she always seemed to cover her shoulders and back. It wasn't a big deal, but something in the back of Tony's mind screamed that it was important. After thinking of several ways to try and figure it out, he decided to just ask her.

"Hey, Natasha, can I ask you a question?" Tony asked.

"Sure."

"I was just wondering why you always cover your shoulders and back, even when it's really, really hot out." He questioned.

Natasha looked surprised.

"Do I do that?" She asked Clint.

He nodded.

"Huh. I didn't realize I did that." She thought for a moment.

"I think it's because of the Red Room. I guess I always felt more secure when more of my body was covered up. It was a futile attempt to protect myself from the things they put us through."

Clint slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"Natasha... " Steve said. "I hope that you don't feel the need to protect yourself from us all the time. We're your family, we'll never hurt you."

Natasha smiled and nodded.

"I know. Now that I know I've been covering up all the time for no reason, I'll probably stop. I never particularly enjoyed having sleeves on all the time."

"So," Thor questioned. "No one has ever seen your shoulders and back?"

"No, Clint has before. We were constantly having to tend to each other's wounds, I think that I probably got pretty comfortable enough to wear things that showed my back when I was alone with him. And a couple of other people have as well, for various reasons. I was never really opposed to showing my back and shoulders, but by force of habit I just never did."

"So…" Tony questioned, "Do you feel safe enough to stop covering up whenever it gets uncomfortable?"

"Yes."

"Huh. I'm sorry, Nat. I never realized how deep the trauma of the Red Room went, to even impact your choice of clothes." He said sadly.

"It's okay, Tony." She replied. "I'm here now, and I've got an awesome job and all you guys. Thanks for pointing out the clothes thing by the way, I can't believe I've been doing that for years."

There was a bigger understanding between all of them that night. But Tony's mind kept bouncing back to one thing: Were Clint and Natasha together?

The next morning

Tony was sipping coffee and reading the paper. Clint and Natasha walked in together, same as always. Natasha was in a black racerback top with a pair of cutoffs, Clint was in a black t-shirt and black pants. They took a seat at the table with their backs against the wall. Tony instantly noticed that Natasha's shoulders and back were exposed.

"Thanks again, Tony. I'm way more comfortable now that I'm not always way too warm." She said.

Tony gave her a nod and went back to his paper. Vision and Wanda came in next, followed by Thor, Steve, and Bruce. They all ate breakfast, then Clint and Natasha stood up to leave. It was then that Steve noticed it. Tattooed all the way across Nataha's shoulders was a magnificent hawk.

"Nat… "Steve said slowly. "When did you get a tattoo? And why a hawk?"

Natasha froze.

Natasha looked at Clint. "Should we tell them?" she asked.

"I guess we have too," he said.

Clint pulled off his ever-present arm guard. There, tattooed on his forearm, was a spider. Not just any spider, though. A black widow.

Clint started to speak. "We got them two years ago, in Budapest. It was right after Nat and I got engaged."

"ENGAGED?" The avengers in the room yelled.

They looked at each other and grinned.

"Yep. We aren't really ring people. We got married last year. I sort of forget you guys haven't seen the tattoos, we are so used to them we forget that they haven't always been there." Clint explained.

Tony smirked. He finally had his answer. The two were, in fact, together.