A/N Here is another piece of Nat's life for you, set waayyy before "Ironman 2". I hope you enjoy ;)
Title: Insanity (Prompt #12)
Characters: Natasha, Clint (Friendship), feat. Laura
Word count: ~ 1430
„To where are you bringing me?" Natalia demanded to know, arms crossed in front of her chest while she sat on the passenger seat of a small jet that barely had enough room to stand upright. "Is your HQ that much in the middle of nowhere? If I had known what I gotten myself into-"
"You wanted to run, I helped you to," Clint cut her off. "I won't take you to HQ, not yet. I have to make some calls first."
"So your boss doesn't know that you didn't kill your target but rather bring it along? You know, the KGB would murder you in return." A smug smile showed itself on her lips and she stretched her arms.
"What're you doing?" Clint glanced at her suspiciously and outstretched one hand to hold her left hand.
Natalia sighed. "Relax, Falconman, I'm not gonna kill you if you don't kill me."
"It's Hawkeye, not Falconman," Clint corrected miffed. "And I could still kill you if you're acting like the moody teenager you probably still are."
"Not a teenager anymore, thank you very much." Natalia observed the landscape that was rushing below them. Not many cities, more fields and forests. To where in the hell was he bringing her? Or was all that talk of her skillset being useful to his agency just nonsense and he still wanted to kill her? It wasn't like she wanted to trust Barton; she rather had to when she wanted to survive. And to survive had been imprinted in her brain since childhood. Even so the fact that one shouldn't ask too much questions but Natalia ignored the last bit. "Where are we flying to?" she asked again after some time of strained silence.
Clint gave her a quick look. "To a safehouse. There you can stay until I talked to Fury. It might be a long call, now that I think about it."
"Why did you do this?" Natalia blurted out. Although her expression remained calm and unimpressed, she felt the urgent need to pace around. Impossible on board of this jet. "You owe me nothing and you're just about to test how much you're boss really needs you so that what? That I can leave Russia? That your agency can recruit another assassin to do their dirty work? Don't think I wouldn't know what for your agency would need me."
"Okay, let's get some things straight, shall we?" Clint jammed in the brake so resolutely that Natalia was pushed into her safety belts. "No, I owe you nothing at all. All I know from you is what we have in the file with your name on it and what I could gather from observing you during the last days. S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't exactly a shortage of agents but your skillset is exceptional and you said you wanted to do some good for a change. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s not the KGB; we want to avoid chaos and protect people. If you think you can do this, fine, shut up until we're there. If not, I can throw you out of this bird right now without a parachute and solve both our problems, alright?"
"But what made you pull your punches in the first place?" Natalia had never been known for one to let a topic go easily.
Clint chuckled without humour. "Pull my punches? Are you serious?" He sighed and finally activated the boost again. "I don't know, alright? I just recently discovered fatherly feelings and you kinda seemed in need of them though you sure had a fair chance killing me. No offense."
His answer surprised Natalia. She could have thought of a thousand different explanations, but this… Maybe she could let her guard down. At least for a while. She hadn't had a decent sleep in a week. And before she knew it, she had dosed off.
~#~#~
"Wake up, little spider." Clint's voice was soft while he gently shook her. Natalia was awake within the second and he lifted his hands as to show her he wasn't a danger. "By the way, how shall I call you? Black Widow? Widow? Redhead? The choice is yours."
Natalia contemplated his question for a moment before looking him straight in the eyes. "Natalia. My name is Natalia."
"Natalia, huh? Maybe you'd need a cover when working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Something more English-sounding, you know? What do you think of Natasha?"
"Why not? Didn't bear this name before." Natalia followed him out of the jet that he had landed in front of a farmhouse. The roof of a barn was barely visible and a porch ran around the farmhouse with a rocking chair standing in one corner.
Clint led her towards the door and opened it; it hadn't been locked. "Honey?" he called inwards. "I'm back."
A brunette woman with a baby that was only a few months old on her arm appeared and greeted him with a kiss. Only then she noticed Natalia. "Clint?"
"Er, yes, sorry. Laura, this is Natasha. Natasha, meet Laura, my wife, and Cooper, my son."
Laura grabbed his arm and pulled him aside. "You bring your mission home? What were you thinking, Clint? You have a little child, it's not just a thing between you and me anymore."
Natalia was barely listening. Her gaze was held by the little boy who looked at her with his head slightly cocked and the corner of a wing of his cuddly hawk in his mouth. He looked at her with curiosity, no sign of fear or terror. Somehow this irritated Natalia more than Clint's words earlier.
Clint and Laura seemed to have ended their dispute for now; Natalia felt almost sorry for the husband. "Follow me upstairs, you can stay in the guestroom until Clint can bring you to Fury," Laura ordered and Natalia followed silently. "Here. Sheets and linen are in the small cabinet there and I can get you some clean clothing if you want to shower. Just give me a minute."
Natalia nodded and had barely time to open her mouth to thank Laura for being able to stay (she doubted that the jet was that comfortable for spending the night in), but the other woman had already turned around. The spy entered the little, comforting looking room and opened the cabinet to take out the bedding. The steps of Laura warned her of her coming back.
"I don't want to make any problems. I never asked Barton to-"
"I know." Laura smiled at her wearily while handing her some clothes and towels. "That's just Clint. If he was here more often, he'll probably bring in all kinds of hurt animals. He's just not able walking by someone needing help. And if he'd think you'd be a danger he wouldn't have brought you here, so… If you need something, tell me. Just not in the middle of the night, Cooper already does that."
The little boy babbled as if he knew exactly he was meant, playing with his stuffed animal and shaking it until it fell to the floor.
Natalia picked it up and gave it back to him before he could start to cry. "Here, Cooper. You should hold it tight, you know?"
Cooper looked at her and took the hawk from her hands. He eyed it for a moment, then handed it to Natalia. Not knowing how she should react, she looked to Laura. The mother simply shrugged. "He seems to like you well enough. Normally he doesn't like it if someone else got his toy." She seemed to mull something over in her head. "You want to hold him for a moment?"
Natalia responded to this quite simple question with a startled look. She wasn't often surprised. "I don't know how," she finally managed to get out. Insane, she thought dumbfounded. This whole family is just insane. Who in the hell offers an assassin to hold a baby?
"Just like this. Only watch his neck," Laura said while placing the baby carefully into Natalia's hands before stepping back a little.
Natalia just stood there and didn't move to not startle the baby. Cooper seemed relaxed with the strange woman, reaching with one hand for her red hair; something he hadn't seen before. "Hey, little boy. You're a curious one, aren't you?" she whispered and for the fraction of a second a genuine smile played her lips. Somehow she knew that if S.H.I.E.L.D. would be able to pry her lose from the KGB's grip, she would do everything to repay Clint. Starting with protecting the little bundle in her arms.
What do you think? Too cheesy? Quite alright? Laura just doesn't seem the type for throwing a girl out of her house, even if she's a Russian spy-slash-assassin...
