Author's Note: Here's your next chapter. A lot of fluff and humor for all of you to enjoy in a story that's usually so dark and twisty. :) Welcome to a fun chapter filled with friendships and some unexpected team bonding!
For Black Victors' Cachat, for always helping me and my plot bunny go completely bonkers. We appreciate your wisdom and additions to our insanity.
Chapter 26:
Bruce found himself staring into the fierce and piercing green eyes of one Natasha Romanoff from across the coffee table of the lounge. It had been like this for the last two hours, each of them at opposite sides, green eyes staring directly into brown. All he really knew was that the moment one corner of her lips quirked into that slanted and mischievously enchanting smile, he was completely and utterly screwed. The rest of the Avengers were watching intently from the couches while he and Natasha were seated on the floor on either side. Not a peep came from any of them. It was over and Bruce knew it just like each and every other Avenger that was gathered around. Truthfully, he wasn't sure that he ever really stood a chance, not against her. He wasn't sure there was a single person in the world who did.
And then the words left Natasha's lips the moment she made her move, "Checkmate."
That moment also marked the first time somebody had ever beaten Bruce at chess and it left him stunned and speechless.
"Well, two hours of drinking scotch and sitting here was actually sort of worth it just to see Bruce finally lose," Tony stated with a smirk.
Still, Bruce couldn't get any words to form from his lips and Clint was the next one to comment, "Sorry, Banner. I haven't beaten Natasha at anything that involves strategic thinking in the ten years I've known her. Probably should have warned you, she's a tactical genius."
The opposite corner of Natasha's lips curled up into an honest smile now and he couldn't help but return it. "That's the first time I've ever lost at chess," he admitted.
Team nights had become a nightly ritual since they raided the HYDRA base two weeks ago. They had found three more since but even those three had yet to yield them with Loki's missing scepter. The downside to the entire team being in the tower was that he hadn't slept nearly as well as he had been for the two weeks prior. Natasha no longer showed up in his room at night and he didn't have the gall to go to hers. Even her usual intrusions into the lab or into his movies had become less frequent and he wasn't sure if it was something that he did or if she was merely distancing herself because the team, and most importantly Clint, were now here.
Bruce found himself questioning their closeness on occasion, not out loud of course, but to himself. At that exact moment their closeness came right into view once more as Natasha moved and planted herself so close to Clint on the couch that she was quite nearly on top of him. She gave her partner a little smirk when he nudged her shoulder with his own and then she snatched his beer and took a swig before handing it back and speaking, "Fun as this has been, I'm calling it a night."
He also found himself wondering if Clint could see how tired Natasha looked. Given the briefly uncertain look the archer gave her, Bruce fathomed a guess that he did, and the other man's grayish blue eyes briefly met his own. It seemed Clint also noticed that he noticed Natasha's exhaustion. She was only gone from the lounge for about thirty seconds when Bruce decided to go after her. "I'm just gonna go sulk over my loss in the lab," he announced. It sparked a laugh from Tony, Steve and Thor, but Clint was giving him 'the eye'. It seemed the other man was well aware of Bruce's intention to go and talk to Natasha but at least he didn't say anything about it. Regardless of that, he could feel Clint's eyes following him as he left and it was more than a little unnerving, and all he could think was that Natasha had one very intimidating best friend.
He could hear Thor's thundering voice even as he left, "I am confused as to why only certain pieces can move a certain way. I have failed to see how Lady Natasha won the game and Doctor Banner lost..."
"Eh, don't worry about it big, chess is one game that confuses all but the puniest of mortals, Thor," came Tony's reassuring reply.
Bruce didn't have to go far to find her. She was in the gym, wrapping tape around her hands, clearly going to her favorite pastime. Punching her problems out. Natasha shifted her gaze to him within seconds of him entering and she blinked a few times as he moved towards her. "Haven't seen much of you," he offered up. Her expression gave nothing away as she stared back at him. "Bad nights?" he dared to ask next.
She huffed out the tiniest breath as her eyes narrowed just slightly before her lips parted and her reply escaped through them, "The usual."
"Does it have to do with Romania?" and once again she blinked a few times, like she wasn't certain she understood what he meant, "the chair? You had a look when we were there...like you'd been in one like it before."
Natasha's face didn't change from its usual non-expression but she did decide she would answer him, "My bad nights aren't typically about things that have been done to me, Bruce. I've put a lot more people in chairs like that than I've been in them myself."
He nodded his head slightly at that, "Maybe you just need to take your mind off things for a little while."
And that tiny little smirk graced him with its presence as she sidled up closer to him and playfully curled her fingers into his shirt pocket, "Is that an offer?"
Good God... Natasha's nose was a mere fraction of an inch from his own and it sent his heart racing out of control as the heat rushed to his face. "Uh...I um...I..." The laugh that left her lips was actually worth that embarrassing moment and he smiled in an instant as she took a step back. "You're hilarious," he mumbled out, but his smile was a dead giveaway that he didn't actually mind her joke. "I was actually just going to warn you, Tony's sort of planned a party for you tomorrow."
That seemed to wipe the smile right off her lips and the amusement left her eyes in an instant. "Why would he do that?" she questioned quickly.
"Your...birthday?" he offered up. "You do realize it's your birthday tomorrow, right?"
Natasha looked momentarily stunned and taken aback. "I uh...no, no I didn't..." she answered with hesitation. "It's not really my birthday tomorrow," she admitted.
Bruce wasn't sure what she meant by that, "How can it not really be your birthday?"
"It's just a day. I don't actually know my birthday," came her explanation, "it's the day Red Room took me and that's not really a day I want to celebrate."
He wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. She didn't seem at all thrilled at the prospect of celebrating and he frowned slightly, though given her explanation, he couldn't entirely blame her. "So don't think about it that way. Turn it into something else," he offered, "make it a good day."
"What exactly does he have planned?"
"I honestly have no idea...but it involves the jet."
She actually chuckled just slightly at that. "I suppose I can try but there's a very good chance that I punch him tomorrow."
"Looking forward to it," Bruce told her with a smile. "I'll uh...I'll let you punch your problems out then on the off chance that you might not punch Tony tomorrow."
That mischievous twinkle sparked in her eyes and made him nervous, "You can always work out with me."
"Last time you basically called me a wimp," he reminded her with a chuckle. She reached forward and gave him a playful shove to the chest. "Oh...so that's how it is?" he questioned in amusement, "first you beat me in chess and now you have to beat me on the training mat?"
Natasha's grin was nothing short of mesmerizing and she stepped forward and playfully shoved him again, "I have to beat everyone at everything. It's a character flaw." It was ridiculously amusing and he chuckled immediately. "C'mon, flaunt your stuff," she teased, "take a swing."
"No way," he answered quickly, putting his hands up in surrender.
She snickered before tapping him playfully on the cheek and then raising her fists, "C'mon, Bruce. Let's go."
"Not happening," Bruce assured her with a smirk.
"I'll show you how to take down an attacker then," she offered.
Bruce felt both his eyebrows rise up in response to her comment. "I usually just go green."
"How very 'save the planet' of you, but I mean as you, not as the Big Guy."
He sighed a little, "Is that really necessary?"
"Mmhmm..." she replied with that impish little smile. "So throw a punch, I'll show you how this works."
Bruce hesitated for a moment before he raised his own fists. "I'm gonna regret this..." he mumbled under his breath. It did, however, force another small laugh from her lips. That sort of made all of it worth it. Either way, he swung rather pathetically at her. She caught his arm and twisted it behind his back, then a moment later, he found himself on his back. He blinked several times as her eyes stared back down at him in silent amusement. "Okay...maybe I don't regret it..."
Yet another laugh bubbled from her as she shook her head, "Did you even pay attention to how that happened?"
"Not particularly..." Bruce admitted with a sheepish little smile.
Natasha shook her head and snickered as she pulled him back up to his feet. "Alright, c'mon. I'll have you do it step by step."
"You want me to—to do that?" Bruce mumbled out in disbelief. "No, no way, nuh-uh. I'm not doing that."
She gave him the most sardonic look before he watched her eyes shift towards the elevator, "Fine. Clint, get over here."
Bruce turned and watched as Clint did exactly as he was told. He hadn't even noticed the other man was there.
Natasha smirked. "Now hit me."
And it seemed her partner had no qualms doing as she asked because before Bruce could bat an eye, Clint sent his fist sailing towards Natasha. Just as she did with him, Natasha caught Clint's hand, twisted it around behind him, then flipped him over on his back. The archer didn't react much to it, clearly having expected it, but he did leg sweep the redhead off her feet. It seemed to start an all out war between the two.
Natasha landed on her back beside him and Clint swiftly rolled over and got over top of her. Before he could make a move, she got her feet against his midsection and launched him over her head. It was a bit like watching a dance that the two had performed and perfected hundreds of times over the last decade. Both of them were back on their feet and circling each other like vultures and he wasn't sure either would strike first. Finally, Natasha made the first move. She made as though she were rushing forward and just as Clint went to intercept, Bruce watched as she gracefully feinted to the left, but her partner seemed to see that move coming. He turned and blocked her fist with his arm before grasping the foot that came towards him with his free hand. Bruce was actually impressed when he watched Clint take Natasha to the mat for the second time.
"Do either of you ever actually win this or do you just go at it for a while and call it a draw?" he dared to ask.
It seemed to give Clint pause for a moment and Natasha released the tiniest laugh in response to the question.
"It goes back and forth," Clint answered with a chuckle. "Eventually one of us does something that the other wasn't expecting," came the admittance. "Usually Natasha but I have my moments, too. I'm better at a distance."
"It's true," Natasha agreed. "Up close is more my forte but put us on a shooting range and he's more likely to win." Bruce couldn't deny that it clearly made them an effective team, especially when each of them was almost as good as the other at their respective fighting methods. "Alright, now I'm gonna swing at you, Bruce. Not fast, slow, just to show you how this works."
He wasn't entirely sure how to take that but he accepted that it was clearly going to happen. Natasha said she was going to swing slow, but slow for Natasha was apparently still quite fast. He just barely caught Natasha's fist.
Clint was chuckling as he spoke, "Nat, that's not normal people's slow punch. You're lucky he even saw that coming..."
"I'm getting used to the unexpected with her," Bruce admitted and it wasn't a far stretch from the truth, though it did bring out a full-on belly laugh from Clint. Did he ever expect to share a bed with her? No. Did he ever expect to kiss her? No. And he definitely never expected them to evolve into something more. Into whatever it was they currently were, something they were actively avoiding putting a label on, something they were actively avoiding talking about. Even so, the moment they had was long gone now that Clint was here. Natasha had shifted more towards neutrality and out of the playful mode she was in before. Suddenly he knew exactly how frustrating it must get for Natasha to deal with his own best friend, and Tony was much more of a handful than Clint, at least Bruce was pretty certain that was the case.
"You're both hilarious," Natasha murmured with a roll of her eyes. Bruce couldn't resist a smile in response and he noted that Clint was smirking with his arms folded across his chest. "Alright, now you have to pivot and use your weight to shift around behind me. Make sure to have a good grip and bring my arm back with you." It would have been awkward enough without Clint watching and his discomfort only rose with the archer's studious gaze. Bruce shoved the thoughts into the back of his mind and slowly maneuvered the way Natasha told him to. "Okay, that wasn't terrible. Now the key, you need to hook your leg around the front of mine and then pull it back," she offered up next.
Bruce felt his brow ruffle instantly and he could see the amusement in Clint's eyes. Clearly the other man was thinking the exact same thing Bruce himself was. "Doesn't that put you on your front? How did you get me on my back?" and it was a question he had to ask.
Natasha chuckled instantly, "Yeah, I'm not showing you that yet, you'll break my arm." He couldn't really fault that thinking and he gave the slightest shrug. It would seem that maneuvering someone onto their back from this position wasn't exactly an easy thing to do, or maybe breaking the person's arm was the point and Natasha was just masterful enough to be able to do it without breaking limbs.
He awkwardly moved his right foot and hooked it around her own right leg. "Like this?"
"Mhmm...now pull bah—" before she ever got to finish, he lost his footing and both of them toppled to the training mat. For a second Natasha seemed a little stunned beneath him but he figured it wasn't terrible because Clint was damn near hysterical. It only took another half a second before he actually felt Natasha shaking beneath his chest and he realized she was laughing too. "Well...it wasn't the most graceful takedown but I can't deny that it was effective," came her breathy comment. He released his own huff of a chuckle as he got off her back and pulled her back to her feet with him.
She had that amused twinkle sparkling in her eyes even as Clint shook his head and headed back for the elevator. "Hilarious as it is to watch Banner take you down, I'm going to do something more productive with my free time," he called out with a wave over his shoulder.
Bruce watched as Natasha scrunched her nose up at her partner, watched until he turned around in the elevator to face them, and then the weirdest interaction between them happened that he never imagined he would see.
Clint Barton stuck his tongue out at Natasha much like a child would.
"Real mature, Barton," Natasha teased.
Then Natasha returned the childish gesture in kind.
He was so befuddled by the child-like interaction between them that it took him a moment to realize Natasha was staring at him with a single eyebrow quirked up and a crooked little smile. The elevator doors closed, dinged, and brought him out of her reverie. "Did you just...stick your tongue out?" he finally managed to get the question out.
"I'm not serious all the time," the redhead reminded him, "besides, you deal with that man for ten years and you'll want to do a more obscene gesture than sticking your tongue out," she tacked on for good measure.
It was enough to make him chuckle, "I'll take your word for it."
Something in her expression changed just slightly and Natasha tilted her head to the side slightly as though she only just realized something. "I'm sorry, Bruce."
The apology came out of nowhere and he wasn't all that sure what she was actually apologizing for. Bruce frowned a little as he studied her before he dared to ask why she was sorry, "For what?"
"We haven't talked much," came her admittance, "and I know that's mostly my fault."
"It's fine."
She frowned just like he had moments ago before she rested her palm gently on the side of his face, "It's not and I'm pretty terrible at this. I don't know what I'm doing, what we're doing, so I just avoided all of it."
He couldn't deny that it had frustrated him a little to barely speak more than a dozen words to her in as many days, but he hadn't tried particularly hard to do so either, and he realized now that it wasn't completely her fault. It was both of their faults that they hadn't spoken even if he wanted to blame Clint. "I didn't really make much effort either..." he finally admitted out loud, "I know you've said that you don't do this. Relationships, I mean, but I just need to know something..."
Those green eyes looked a tad uncertain but Natasha nodded her head nonetheless, "Alright."
"Why did you change your mind? Why—why me?" he finally dared to ask.
She was giving him a rather unflattering look now as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Bruce, how many times are you going to ask me that?" she finally questioned. "Nothing's changed."
"Maybe not but you've never really answered it," he reminded her.
Natasha seemed to be mulling that over in her mind for a moment as she left him to wonder in silence. After another thirty seconds went by, he almost told her that it didn't matter when she finally spoke up, "I don't know." That certainly wasn't the answer he expected, though, he hadn't expected an answer at all. "You're different, Bruce," came her next reply. Again, it wasn't an answer that he expected and he wasn't sure what to think of it because it didn't exactly explain anything. She seemed to understand that as her voice once again rang out, "The truth is that I really don't know why. It just happened, but I'm glad that it did." Bruce released a tiny little chuckle in response to her answer but then the most surprising words came from her lips, "I've avoided asking you this but I need to know. You used to say that I bothered you...why did that change?" Natasha flabbergasted him with that one question and he couldn't fathom how to even answer it. He stared stupidly at her with his mouth just slightly agape, and for too long it seemed because she seemed to know the answer before he did, "I still bother you, don't I?" He felt absolutely terrible the moment that the words left her mouth and it the way the skin around her eyes crinkled just slightly and the corners of her lips edged just slightly downward told him that she felt hurt by it. Even if it was barely a reaction, he had never wanted to be the person to make that look appear, and then Natasha merely angled her head to the side slightly as the feelings faded instantly from her face, "It's okay..."
Clearly it wasn't really okay because she turned around to head for the elevator and Bruce had to move quickly to get himself around in front of her. He put his hands on her shoulders and she looked mildly annoyed as she narrowed her eyes slightly at him. "Natasha...you're right, you are, you're right. You bother me but I swear it's for completely different reasons than you used to," he told her quickly.
Now she just seemed confused and her words proved it, "Is this about that guard in Romania?"
"Wha—no...no," he assured her. "That's—that's just you, that's what you do and I knew that way before all this," he reminded her. "It's just that you...you're like nobody I've ever been around and what bothers, what's always bothered me is that...that I am terrified that the Other Guy will hurt you."
"Bruce—"
"But now it's just...it's different. That's not all that bothers me..."
Natasha looked baffled in an entirely new way. "I know I'm new at this but you're not making any sense."
He actually had to double check that the elevator doors weren't open with prying eyes before he turned back towards her and pressed his lips to hers. He shifted his hands down to her waist when she leaned in closer and rested both her hands on either side of his face. It didn't end nearly as fast as any former kiss they'd shared and her right hand slowly drifted to the back of his neck. A few seconds passed by before he dared to ease the kiss into something deeper. The moment he did was the moment his heart started to beat out of control and he forced himself to back away from her in embarrassment. He took a deep breath and another step back before he spoke again, "Like you said...you—you bother me."
Natasha was blinking rapidly as the words seemed to actually make sense to her and her eyes softened immediately. His heart raced further when her hand reached forward and covered his chest just over top it. The smile she gave him now was more gentle as her other hand rested on his shoulder. "I suppose we did say that this would only work with practice," she offered up with a tiny little chuckle, "just might take a bit more than either of us thought."
He actually relaxed a little at her words as he eased out a laugh. She narrowed her eyes a little with that devilish little look on her face as she gripped his shirt where her hand rested and dragged him back over to the mat. "Uh...w-what are you—"
"You still need to work on the move, preferably without tripping, though that was certainly effective to take me down," she offered up with a smirk.
The most impressive thing was how much she didn't mind how easily his heart raced near her. One step too far and he could go green at the drop of a hat.
And because of those thoughts he almost forgot to catch her fist when it swung at him.
It was on the jet heading towards wherever Tony Stark had them going for this supposed 'surprise' that Clint took the open seat next to Bruce Banner that Natasha had vacated moments ago. The scientist looked a little surprised to see him and really, it was only because of his redheaded partner that he even felt the need to socialize with the other man with more than the occasional 'Hey, how ya' doing?'. "Banner."
"Um...Barton," came Bruce's uncertain greeting in reply.
"Natasha told me a few weeks ago that you were a really good friend," Clint offered up quickly. "Honestly, I don't know you at all and I wasn't actually sure I even believed her," he admitted, "not until yesterday in the gym anyways." He could see Bruce's confused expression and Clint knew he needed to explain it better. "Natasha doesn't typically train people and that was the first time I heard her really laugh while training someone. That's...sort of impressive," he explained.
"She uh...definitely takes me out of my comfort zone," came Bruce's admittance.
Clint couldn't resist snorting out a laugh in response to the comment, "That's one way of putting it. It's just, I was actually in the elevator for most of your conversation before that." It seemed to have once again made the scientist uncomfortable. "I've never seen her talk to anyone like she talked to you. Plus you managed to convince her to at least try and enjoy today and that's not something I've ever been able to do."
"I didn't do anything..." came Bruce's insisting voice.
The man really didn't seem to understand how different his partner actually was near him and that was actually even more impressive. "You don't see it, do you?" Clint questioned in amusement. "She honestly enjoys being around you to the point where she's...almost a normal person."
And it seemed to have ruffled Bruce's feathers a little. "Natasha's normal," and Clint could see the way Bruce realized the falseness of his own comment as he was saying it.
"And I'm the Queen of England," Clint replied with a roll of his eyes.
"Okay," Bruce admitted with a smile, "she's not normal but that's what makes her interesting."
Clint snickered at that. "Alright, well...I just wanted to say thanks. Natasha has never been an easy person for other people to get along with but you...you were the friend to her that I couldn't be these last few months. She'll never admit it but sometimes she needs someone to help her keep her head on straight," he explained. "You've actually done a hell of a job, and well, mostly I just wanted to say if you're her friend then you're mine too," he offered his hand out to him.
It seemed to ease the awkward man into being a little more comfortable as Bruce returned the smile just a little and shook his hand, "Thanks..."
And it sincerely felt like he was missing something important, he just didn't know what the hell it was, not yet anyways.
Natasha was a little uncertain what to think after they got off the jet two hours later and switched to one of Tony's limos. It was hard to decipher what an insane billionaire deemed to be an appropriate birthday bash for a world renowned assassin, but when they arrived at their destination, it certainly wasn't what she expected. There was absolute silence from all of them as they walked through the doors and Natasha heard the ding ding ding and ridiculous music coming from some of the stuff inside the building.
Originally she expected something completely insane that would instantly make her want to bash his brains in. She could feel all the eyes of the five men on her as she let her own eyes shift around the place that Tony deemed worthy of her 'birthday'. Truthfully, she had absolutely no idea what this place was. "What...is this?"
Tony had a look on his face as though she had just blasphemed everything in the world. "It's an arcade, Romanoff. Yeesh...you've never been to an arcade?"
All she could think to do was blink several times as she continued to look around, "What am I supposed to do?"
"Oh boy..." Tony muttered.
She could see Clint trying his best not to laugh while Bruce and Steve even had awkward little smiles. Thor on the other hand looked like a kid in a candy store and she supposed she could at least give the place a try. "Don't get me wrong, I'm sort of glad there aren't any strippers, loud music and hundreds of people, but..."
"You're a little out of your element," Steve offered up in explanation.
"That's putting it mildly," she grumbled out.
"I think this place looks joyously fun," Thor boomed with a grin. Natasha felt a little bewildered when the demigod gripped her wrist and pulled her forward with him, "Come, let's figure out these strange contraptions together. Look! There is a game with a hammer called 'Whack-a-Mole'! Let us try that first!" She gave the rest of the team a look that said 'save me' but not one of them came to her rescue. Instead she was forced to figure out the 'whack-a-mole' game with Thor and if she had to be honest, it actually was incredibly amusing to watch the big man try and hit the moles that popped out of the many holes without destroying the machine. There was a brief moment where an honest laugh escaped her lips when Thor was biting down on his lip and attempting to hit four of them that popped up all at the same time. He failed in rather epic proportions but her amusement was genuine. "Here, you must now attempt to hit more moles than I have, Natasha," he suggested as he handed the rubber mallet to her.
At least when he spoke to her he refrained from calling her 'Lady'. She raised an eyebrow up slightly and glanced behind her as Clint smirked in her direction and gave her a thumbs up. Nothing in her training ever prepared her for crap like this. Still, Thor made it ridiculously easy to get into the game.
"There! There it is! Hit it!" Thor called out the moment the first mole made it's appearance. She whacked it with the mallet even against the wishes of that voice in the back of her head telling her this was completely childish and stupid. Natasha would be damned, Whack-a-Mole was friggin' therapeutic. "You are much better at this game than I. Oh! Two more moles!"
It was hard to concentrate on hitting the stupid moles with Thor acting like a cheerleader beside her but it was also hilariously enjoyable. Though she ignored the statement, she did hear the words Clint said to Tony, "Alright Stark, I have to admit, you might have had the best idea in history when it comes to Natasha."
"Contrary to popular belief, I know when not to be a jackass," came Tony's response. "Besides, it's hard to have fun if you've never learned how, so let's go teach our little spy how to have fun."
It took a good fifteen minutes to convince Thor to give up on the endeavor of 'whacking all moles', but soon enough, Natasha found herself at a different part of the arcade with the billionaire who made all of this happen. "Aren't there supposed to be more people at an arcade?" she questioned him.
"I bought the place out for the day," Tony answered with a wave of his hand. "Getting you to relax seemed hard enough without hundreds of people running around here at the same time," he explained. It was oddly endearing and thoughtful of him but she didn't voice the thought. She chuckled when he handed her a bottle of vodka, "Happy birthday, Red."
Natasha took the bottle that he offered and didn't bother to explain how it wasn't actually her birthday. There was no need to go through that conversation with anyone else and instead she twisted it open and took a swig, "Thanks, I think..." Before she could take a second swig, he took the bottle from her hands and replaced it with a little red plastic circle with a handle on top. "What the hell is that?" she dared to ask.
"It's for the most important game in any arcade," Tony insisted as he held up his own, "air hockey."
She narrowed her eyes a little as she looked around, "How the hell do you play hockey in the air?"
And Tony laughed almost immediately at her question. "You don't actually play in the air, jeez. Alright, see this table here? You go stand here," he informed her as he pushed her to the one end before walking to the other. "That little red thing in your hand is what you use to defend the goal and hit the puck," he explained next.
"So...why is it called air hockey?" It was honestly the only question she could think to ask. The machine turned on and she got her answer as Tony placed the little black puck on the table and the air pushed it around just a little. "Forget I asked," she mumbled out in disbelief.
Natasha glanced over when she heard Clint laughing and Steve's voice rang out, "Nice shot, Doctor Banner."
The three were lined up at a couple of miniature basketball nets and apparently enjoying themselves and she shook her head slightly before she turned back to Tony at the other end of the air hockey table. She honestly wished it was as easy for her to relax and enjoy simple things like that as it seemed to be for the rest of them. Instead she was failing to understand something as simple as air hockey, but she hit the puck back and forth with Tony nonetheless.
It was only after the score was 2-4, with Tony in the lead, that he sparked up conversation again. "You're not exactly having fun, are you?" he questioned.
She paused at the question which let Tony's puck go through the goal and she shrugged slightly as she put the puck back on the table and hit it to him. "I don't know, it's not...not fun," she answered, "I guess I just don't really get it."
The billionaire gave her the stink-eye as the puck went back and forth a few times before he actually dared to do what most people wouldn't, "You're not actually going to sit here and lose to me, are you Romanoff?"
The taunt was almost enough to make her miss the puck again but she managed to clip the corner of it just in time and she shot him a dirty look. "Seriously, Stark?"
Tony grinned in an instant, "Live a little, Natasha. Be a kid."
She snapped the puck back at him but she didn't comment as it went back and forth a few more times before she scored. It put the score at 3-5 and they shot back and forth a few more times before she scored again.
"See? Now you're getting it. All I have to do is piss you off and you become an air hockey queen!" Tony called out from the other side of the table.
Natasha was still failing to see how all of this was supposed to be fun even as she tied the game at 5-5. She supposed that was probably the main reason that Tony got the two points needed to win. She almost missed when Tony waved Steve over and she watched in silence as the two traded places. The table reset itself and she watched Steve put the puck down on top. "Guess I'm not very good at the fun thing, huh?"
To Bruce's credit, he just gave her a tiny smile and a shake of his head, "You've only been here for thirty minutes, Nat. It takes a little getting used to."
"Having fun takes getting used to?" she questioned with a chuckle.
Steve actually laughed a little as they shot the puck back and forth, "For some people. I mean, we all have different ideas of fun." Then he lifted the little red circle up and her puck scored a goal as he studied it before dropping it down on the table, "Or maybe this game is just boring..."
That made her laugh as she tossed her own down on the table, "That is one thing I can honestly agree with... Whack-a-Mole was a lot more amusing."
"Find something else?"
"Definitely," she agreed.
They wandered around for a few minutes before something seemed to catch Steve's eye and she quirked an eyebrow up slightly at the sight before them. Thor was currently standing on some loud machine playing music that she wasn't sure was even in English, pounding his feet on the arrows. Clint was doing much the same on the Dance Dance Revolution machine beside him with a lot more ease, but doing an equally terrible job, and the corners of her lips curled up as she heard the BOOs coming from both of their machines.
"See?" Steve whispered to her, "now that's fun to watch."
There was no doubt about that and she watched as the two of them failed spectacularly at the game.
"Guys," Tony groaned out, "kids can play that game, you just hit the arrows that show up on the screen with your feet! Good God, this is pathetic."
Clint stepped off the machine and gestured for the billionaire to take his place, "Alright, show us your skills, master."
Natasha watched as Tony gave her partner a rather intense eye roll. Then he turned to her, "Romanoff, think you can move your feet better than these two bozos?"
She supposed that was his idea of a challenge and she arched both of her eyebrows up as she glanced around at the entire team. Bruce was shaking his head in disbelief, Clint was chuckling, Thor got off the machine and Steve looked genuinely amused. There was really no saying no when everyone was watching and she sighed a little before she shrugged, "I guess." Dancing was one thing she was actually good at, though she wasn't sure how hitting arrows with her feet really qualified as its equal. She stepped up on Thor's vacated machine as Tony got onto the other one. Then Tony put on the worst imaginable song.
'Don't Cha' by the Pussycat Dolls.
"Oh for the love of all that's holy, Stark...really?" she grumbled out.
She was actually a little flabbergasted when he spun in a rather graceful circle and came to rest facing her with his index finger pointed at her, "Try not to be jealous of my moves."
It was effective, she'd give him that, because she actually smiled against her will. When it actually started up, it was more frustrating trying to get her feet on the designated arrows than she would have thought. Even more distracting was the fact that Tony freakin' Stark could get a 'Perfect' or a 'Flawless' while perpetually shaking his rear end. It wasn't until she saw him mouthing the words, 'Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?' to Bruce that she actually laughed. It might have been somewhat of an inside joke that only the three of them on the team fully understood, but it was one of the most hilarious things she had ever witnessed.
It was also effective to get her feet moving more in sync and then she was on par with the perfects that Tony was getting.
"There you go, Nat!" Steve called out.
Clint was hooting, "Damn! Stark's shaking it, you better get your groove on, Nat!"
It was hard not to laugh with Tony being as ridiculous as possible on the machine while doing a rather excellent job at getting a good score. It was even harder when Bruce was wearing a grin from ear to ear at his friend's antics.
It was only when Tony leaned towards her, his feet still moving, and he shimmied and stated, "Gimme a little shimmy, Red," that she screwed up her footwork and really laughed.
"You're such a jackass, Stark," she mumbled out once the fit of laughter actually ended. She wasn't sure that anyone besides Clint's kids had ever made her laugh so hard, but a grown man in a suit doing the shimmy on a dance machine was something that even Natasha Romanoff couldn't keep a straight face over. She stepped off and shoved Steve up in her stead, "Let's go, wonderboy."
"This is a terrible idea," Steve grumbled out.
"I did it, live a little, Steve," Natasha told him with a smirk.
"Shake your groove thang, Cap," Tony ordered.
Natasha chuckled as Tony played that exact song on the game just for good measure and she only moved on when Bruce tugged on her arm. "Where are we going? I sort of wanted to see if Steve fell on his ass."
Bruce laughed a little as he shook his head, "Think I found a game right up your alley."
She arched an eyebrow up at that, "Really?"
As it turned out, he certainly wasn't wrong. She took the red plastic gun he handed her and watched him pick up the blue one with interest. There was something at least mildly funny about shooting bad guys on a video game side by side with Bruce. That was probably the pathetic reason that she was actually smiling while she played the game.
"You all must see this! Doctor Banner has shot more targets in this simulation than Lady Natasha!" Thor called out.
It seemed to draw the attention of everyone and Natasha was equally surprised to realize it was true. Bruce was outgunning her. It was only a game, but still, she hadn't even thought the meager scientist knew how to aim a gun. It was fairly impressive.
"I have a newfound respect for you, Doc," Clint stated.
Steve was chuckling, "Are we supposed to keep beating the birthday girl?"
"How old-fashioned of you my star-spangled friend," Tony replied with a snicker, "but this is the twenty-first century and we do beat the birthday girl in this century."
Natasha heard Bruce laugh the second she managed to smack the billionaire upside the head with the plastic gun while shooting one of the targets at the same time.
"Now that's something that I can't do, trick shots," Bruce informed them all.
Again, it drew a laugh from each of the team and Natasha felt her lips curl upward once more. It wasn't much longer before the game ended but Bruce did wind up beating her by just a few points in the end. She was actually sort of glad that he wasn't the type of person to just let her win because that would have actually pissed her off. She turned to glance over at the rather embarrassed look on his face and she smirked, "Was that payback for me beating you at your game?"
It worked to put him at ease because he grinned a little, "Maybe..."
"Is this a test of mortal strength?" came Thor's question.
Natasha blinked rapidly as she turned to where Thor was standing. Sure enough, the God of Thunder was currently standing at one of those pathetic strength test machines. She didn't see this going particularly well but she crossed her arms and watched without saying a word.
Fortunately, Steve seemed to know what was about to happen, "Uhh...Thor, try not to break the machine. It is meant for mortals."
Thor looked befuddled for a moment before he made an 'o' shape with his mouth. "I see, I shall restrain myself," he assured them all.
Natasha watched as he barely tapped it and the little bell rung in a fraction of a second with a '100' up top. She shook her head with a bemused little smile, "Fancy that, Thor already hit the bell."
"I believe I could have rung the bell with only my little finger," Thor assured her.
She arched an eyebrow up, "Prove it."
It brought forth another laugh from the entire team as Thor stared at her and then he turned determinedly towards the machine. Sure enough, he hit the target with his pinky finger and she felt her lips instantly curl into a grin when the bell didn't ring and a '99' appeared at the top. Thor looked absolutely mortified as he attempted it again. '98'. Again. '99'.
"Well...I'll be a bilgesnipe's uncle," Thor commented as he stared at the machine like it were something unholy, "I cannot reach 100 with just my little finger."
Tony belted out a laugh as he picked up the hammer that was supposed to be used on the machine and gave it a whack. A whopping '92' appeared on the top in red and he finally removed his sunglasses and raised up both of his eyebrows in pure disbelief. "I think it's broken," he decided.
Steve took the hammer next, gave it a rather meager whack, and the bell rang out with a '100' appearing on top. "Looks like it works to me."
Clint was laughing as he took the hammer that was passed to him next. "I just want to say...this game in no way reflects on my awesomeness, but..." whack, '97', "I'm stronger than Stark."
The hammer was being held out from Clint to Bruce and Natasha could see him giving it a rather uncertain look as he took it. Tony seemed to put him at ease with the situation before she could with his comment, "Bruce, my man...if you get a higher score than me, I will find a way to destroy you."
"Sounds like a challenge, Bruce," Natasha told him, "kick his ass."
Bruce chuckled a little before he looked at the machine. Finally he shook his head a little, turned to the machine, and whacked the silver target with the hammer. Natasha followed it up with her eyes as it went to a '95' and she found herself wondering if Bruce held back or not. It was impossible to know how strong the scientist actually was since he actively avoided anything physical as himself. If he didn't have increased strength when he wasn't The Hulk, then hitting a '95' was actually pretty impressive for a man who avoided a fight.
"Bruce...I hate you right now," Tony informed his best friend.
It once again drew a laugh from each of the Avengers and Natasha shook her head a little as Bruce gave him a tiny little shrug. Then Bruce was giving her the hammer. She could see the look that both Tony and Clint gave her and Clint seemed to notice in an instant that Tony knew about her own serum. She glanced between the entire team and the machine. It wouldn't take a whole lot of effort for her to ring the bell.
This wasn't something she had ever had to worry about before. She had never been in a position where her strength would be measured, even if it was just a game, and she did her best to hold back as she hit the target with the hammer. All of their eyes followed the red line as it raised up and at the very last second, it reached the top, the bell rang, and a '100' appeared at the top. Natasha had to force herself not to grimace but at least it looked like she could only just barely ring the bell.
Steve, Thor and Bruce all looked alarmingly impressed and Clint managed to make himself look at least a little surprised. It was Tony who drew the attention off of her ability to ring the bell, "Told you that thing was broken. No way Romanoff is hitting harder than Barton."
It seemed to work because it had the other men all clamoring back and forth about Tony being sexist and she shot him a grateful look. He gave a rather nonchalant shrug and continued spouting back and forth with the other men about how there was no feasible way she was stronger than Clint.
The rest of the day in the arcade was much of the same. Racing games, shooting games, basketball, pinball, then lasertag where it was herself and Clint versus the rest of the team.
Without any doubt of how it would end, she and Clint won without Bruce, Thor, Tony or even Steve standing a chance.
Then Clint faced all of them on his own.
He won that, too, with the end of the fight being herself and Clint. It was exactly like he had told Bruce the day before. Her expertise was more hand-to-hand while Clint's was distance.
Plus, the man always found the most ridiculous hiding places. He finished her off from the damned rafters of the laser tag arena.
Turned out, the only thing she was actually better at than anyone else in the arcade was Whack-a-Mole. She even lost at Go-Karts and her driving skills were nothing if not masterful. Oddly enough, Thor wrecked everybody when it came to racing those ridiculous little karts around the track.
It was later that night when they were all back at the tower that she sat down with her slice of cake beside Bruce. She returned his awkward little smile with a tiny one of her own before she took a bite. It was only after she chewed and swallowed that she spoke, "You know, Tony gave me a bottle of vodka at the arcade. I got one swig and never saw it again."
Bruce laughed in an instant, coughing a little as he smacked his chest to coax his piece of cake down his throat. "Sounds like something he would do," he admitted once he cleared his throat. "Did you at least have fun? I mean...you looked like you had fun, but..."
"But I'm good at pretending?" she questioned with a knowing smile. He looked like he was afraid he might have offended her but she just shrugged. "It's a fair assumption," she assured him. "I did have fun though. I lost at almost every game I played, but...I had fun."
"That's good," Bruce told her with a bigger smile, "Happy birthday then."
It was hard not to smile back at him when they were stuck in the strangest stare down. She could feel another pair of eyes on them and while she hoped it was Tony, she knew for a fact that it was actually Clint. She didn't even have time to think about what he might think of their weird interaction when Bruce did the one thing she never imagined he would.
He flung a piece of his cake right into her face.
Stunned didn't even begin to explain how she felt as she blinked a few times to try and figure out what the hell to do.
Tony's rather exuberant voice brought her out of the shocked state, "Holy shit! Bruce, you better run!"
Bruce didn't run, but he looked like he was downright frightened of retaliation. The laugh fell from her lips in an instant before she placed her plate down, swiped some of the icing off her own cheek, then flicked it at his nose. "You're a huge dork, Bruce," she told him with a smirk, ignoring the laughter from the rest of the men.
She watched Clint walk over and clap Bruce proudly on the shoulder, "You're my hero right now, Banner. Most men would be dead right now."
"Glad to be the exception," Bruce told him with a sheepish smile.
Natasha snickered, picked her plate back up, and gently pushed her cake right into Bruce's face. "Payback is a bitch, Doc."
But he had been right. She didn't want to punch Tony for the birthday party. In fact, she sort of wanted to thank him. He managed to turn a reminder of the worst day of her life into one of the best. That was something she never imagined to be possible.
Hope you guys enjoyed this insanity. :)