"Just give me a moment, will you?" Fitz said a bit tensely. He, Jemma, and Yoyo regrouped once the two girls discovered that Natasha was no longer with them on the jet. Now they were currently trying to track Natasha's location using her bike's GPS.
"I can't believe she just took off like that." Jemma said softly, though it probably wasn't uncharacteristic of agent Romanoff, if you think about it.
"I can't believe you didn't let me go after her." Yoyo quipped. When they discovered Nat's bike gone, Yoyo wanted nothing more than to go after her fellow agent, but Jemma and Fitz were quick to stop her. If Natasha wanted to get away from them, there was no stopping her or getting her to come back.
"You think Captain Rogers would be all too pleased that we have two missing agents?" Jemma argued, and Yoyo looked at her as if she grew a second head.
"You think he'll be pleased when he learns agent Romanoff left and we didn't go after her?" Yoyo countered. Everyone knew Steve was a bit more protective over Natasha for some reason. Everyone knew, except Natasha. Or so she played it off like she wasn't noticing.
"She's fully capable of handling herself, you and I both know that." Jemma said as she straightened up a bit.
"Guys-"
"She's a Little, Simmons." Yoyo cut Fitz off, neither of the girls seeming to have heard him anyway. Both were too caught up in trying to prove their own point. " An injured Little for all we know. Who knows if she's even capable of driving her own bike right now?!"
"Guys-"
Cut off yet again this time by Jemma. "I like to believe that agent Romanoff would be smart enough not to drive if she felt like she wasn't capable. If you went after her that could just spell even bigger trouble for all of us." That was true. Agent Romanoff was at a much higher clearance level than all of them which, funny enough meant she could probably get away for a stunt like this more easily than they can. Well that, and Natasha was an Avenger after all.
"Guys-"
"You know very well agent Romanoff can be stubbo-" and it was Fitz's turn to cut Yoyo off.
"Would you guys shut up for one second?!" Fitz exclaimed, effectively getting Jemma's and Yoyo's attention. "Thank you." He sighed when he saw that the two had in fact, quit their bickering. Finally. He shook his head to himself and tapped something on his tablet, causing a map to flash on the bigger screen in front of them. "If I'm reading this right, it looks like she's heading back towards the city." Fitz said as he pointed out the blinking yellow dot that was currently moving across the map.
Yoyo looked at the screen and for a moment, she looked a little relieved. Until Jemma spoke up again. "It's yellow." She pointed out the obvious, but she looked a little troubled.
"It is." Fitz mumbled his agreement as he looked down at his tablet, tapping away once more. "But I don't see any immediate cause for concern."
"What's all this supposed to mean?" Yoyo asked with furrowed eyebrows, and Jemma and Fitz shared a look. It was Jemma who answered her question.
"Well, for mine and Fitz's thesis in our first year, we developed this biotech that let us track the person's vitals. It's quite simple, really. The technology's weaved into-"
"I meant, what does the yellow dot mean?" Yoyo cut Jemma off before the girl could ramble on about their creation. Though the fact that the tech was meant to track people's vitals, and that the dot was currently yellow did not seem to bode well.
It was Fitz this time who responded. "Simply put, it means she's not in a particularly good state but it isn't alarming either. I'm looking at a more detailed report here and it seems that she should be fine. If anything, agent Romanoff has heightened stress levels but as far as our tech can tell, that's pretty much it."
"And how intensive exactly are these tests?" Yoyo asked, sounding a bit skeptical which of course Fitz easily picked up on because the man looked slightly offended. As if Yoyo had just questioned the capabilities of his child or something. Luckily though, Fitz was trying to keep a level head for all of them because he knew Jemma and Yoyo were already both frustrated as is.
"As intensive as they can get, agent Rodriguez." Fitz said simply. "Look, there's not much we can do from here. The tech's just meant to gather data and she's already too far off for us to go after. I'll alert Coulson just in case anything happens, and I'll keep an eye on her vitals and location." Fitz said reassuringly. Yoyo sighed, knowing Fitz was right but that didn't mean that she was happy about it.
"Fine. Just update me on any significant changes in her vitals, or if she goes off route." Yoyo said before turning on her comms and shifting her attention instead to the monitors that revealed her other teammates' locations. They still had a mission ongoing, so the least she could do was to see it through from the benches. Plus, she felt like she needed a distraction, otherwise she probably would take off after Natasha soon.
In the next couple of hours, Fitz and Jemma took turns in monitoring Natasha while Yoyo observed the mission, occasionally giving the team intel on the whereabouts of their enemies. Just as Natasha safely reached the compound, much to the three's relief, Steve and the rest of their team were on their way back to the quinjet. The three of them barely had any time to discuss how to break the news to Steve before the captain himself joined them.
"Hey, things turned out to be a lot easier than we anticipated." Steve said casually as he put away his shield. Steve looked a little tired but otherwise, he seemed to be doing fine. "How's Natasha?" Steve asked, looking first at Yoyo then at Fitz and Jemma. The trio took note that Steve said Natasha and not agent Romanoff, which of course meant that Steve was asking as Nat's friend or as a Big, not their team leader. But of course he was: Natasha was much more to him than his teammate. If he hadn't been the only high level agent out on the field to be left earlier, he would have probably taken Natasha back himself.
When he didn't get an immediate response, he frowned slightly in concern and decided to just change his question. "Where's Nat?" Steve watched as Yoyo exchanged concerned looks with Fitz and Jemma before she spoke up.
"She's... Back in the compound, captain." Yoyo said, and Steve can see all three of them suddenly tense up. He did too.
"I'm sorry, did you just say she's back in the compound?" Steve asked, his forehead scrunching up in confusion. He wasn't sure he heard Yoyo right. He hoped he didn't.
"Agent Romanoff left a couple of hours ago, sir. We've been tracking her location and vitals ever since." Fitz offered before nodding to the screen, which displayed Natasha's current location and her vitals.
"Did no one think of going after her?" Steve asked, trying incredibly hard to stay calm. Natasha had left not feeling well, and these three just let her go? Avenger or not, Natasha was part of their team, an unwell Little part of their team at that.
Yoyo looked like he was about to say something, and Jemma seemed as if she was pleading her to keep quiet. Before Yoyo could speak up though, Skye-or rather Daisy as she likes to be called when Little, came running in.
"Auntie Jemma!" Daisy exclaimed as she basically made a run for the scientist. The agent seemed to have dropped some time along the way back to the quinjet. Despite the situation, Steve found himself smiling even just a little at the sight. Like other Bigs, he always had a soft spot for Littles. Daisy was one of the youngest Littles he knew and found her absolutely endearing.
"Hi Daisy!" Jemma said with as much enthusiasm as she smiled and crouched down, opening her arms up for the Little to run into, which Daisy did. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Jemma asked sweetly as she wrapped her arms around the Little. "It looks like you've got a little owie there, huh?" Jemma said gently as she looked at the small cut above Daisy's left eyebrow.
"Uhhuh, but I didn't cry 'cause I'm a big girl." Daisy said, sounding a bit proud of herself. "Are you gonna tell mommy I was brave and am a big girl?" She asked with wide eyes. Steve couldn't not smile at that as she watched the exchange.
"Mhm, you bet we're telling your mommy how brave you are. And how well-behaved you will be while I clean that up, yeah?" Jemma asked with a gentle smile, but Daisy pouted in response.
"But auntie Jemmaaa..." Daisy whined, and Jemma chuckled as she stood back up before taking Daisy's hand.
"Come on sweetheart. After we get that cleaned up we can read a story, how about that?" Jemma suggested as she led Daisy away. Steve pretended not to notice that Jemma looked relieved to have a valid reason to leave their previous conversation. Daisy of course looked pleased with that suggestion, so the Little didn't fuss anymore as she was led away.
Once the pair had left, Steve turned his attention back to Yoyo and Fitz who did not look all-too pleased to be abandoned by Jemma. "We thought of going after her but we felt that wouldn't have gone well." Yoyo said, and Fitz looked surprised, as if he hadn't anticipated that to be Yoyo's response. "Almost as soon as we got back here she already separated herself form us. She wanted space, sir."
"And we've been keeping a close eye on her vitals, informed Coulson as well of the situation on the off-chance that things would get out of hand." Fitz added. "Based on my readings it seems that agent Romanoff just has a terrible headache, sir. It wasn't anything too serious."
Steve sighed and closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself down. He knew the agents meant well, but it didn't change the fact that he was concerned about Natasha's well-being. "Alright. Let's just head back already." Steve said after a while. "Wheels up in 3, tell the pilot." He said before leaving the room to go to the bunks for privacy, intent on trying to contact Natasha.
And he did, or so he tried. Every call he made just went straight for Natasha's voice mail, be it on her landline or her mobile. Steve was starting to get agitated because yes, he knew Natasha made it back to the compound. But he didn't know if Natasha needed any medical attention. Natasha was an adult, sure: An adult who didn't particularly like going to the medbay unless she was on the brink of death. Agent Fitz had told him that Natasha may just be experiencing a headache, but something told Steve it was much more than that.
They were already on the way back to the compound, but they were hours away. Anything could happen to Natasha in that span of time, so Steve picked up his phone and called the person he knew he could trust and count on.
"Hey Cap, mission go well?" Tony asked as soon as he picked up Steve's call, and the latter couldn't help but smile a little upon hearing Tony's voice.
"Yeah, yeah it was fine." Steve said as he leaned forward and rested one of his elbows on his thigh, his other hand holding his phone to his ear. "It's just, are you by any chance at the compound?" Tony didn't stay over as often, but Steve hoped that tonight was one of those nights.
But the world didn't seem to be on his side tonight. "No, I'm back at my place. Why, what's up?" Tony replied. "And Cap, you are aware that it's 2 in the morning, right?"
"Mhm and you should be asleep, but you aren't." Steve pointed out, earning a soft chuckle from Tony on the other end.
"Yeah well I had to stay up, make sure that when you need a little virtual hand-holding after your mission I'm here." Tony teased, making Steve blush a little but he smiled nonetheless. The two of them weren't necessarily dating. Both of them felt this attraction towards one another and have been flirting for quite some time. They didn't really do much beyond that though, and it was driving the rest of the Avengers nuts.
"What's wrong?" Tony asked when Steve still hadn't answered his question.
"It's Natasha." Steve said with a sigh. "She... Went off mission."
"Natasha always goes off mission." Steve could practically hear Tony rolling his eyes. "For all we know Fury might have given her another side mission or something." Steve could hear beeping, metals clanking, and an engine revving on the other end so he figured Tony was probably working in his shed.
"No, I mean she left the mission, Tony. And she was unwell." Steve explained. "I checked on her in the field because she turned off her comms and I see her out of it."
"What do you mean out of it?" Tony asked. Tony, like almost everyone else, knew how protective Steve was of Natasha. So by extension, Tony was growing a little protective of her as well.
"I don't know, she was distracted. But not by her thoughts or something. She was in pain so I had her brought back to the quinjet-"
"I bet she didn't appreciate that." Tony commented,
"-where agents Fitz and Simmons did some tests or something. They said Natasha was just experiencing some headache but by the time we got back after the mission, she was already gone." Steve continued.
"Well, if little miss encyclopedia and budget Einstein say it's just a headache I think I'd trust them." Tony said.
"You really need to stop calling them that, Tony." Steve said with an amused shake of his head. "I know how capable they are but my gut says it's more than that. You and I have seen Natasha with a simple headache, and she practically just brushes it off."
"So you're telling me all this because... You were hoping that I could check on her?" Tony clarified, to which Steve nodded his head before he realized Tony couldn't see him.
"Yeah if you were at the compound, but..." Steve sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you so late for this."
"Hey, you don't have to apologize, it's fine." Tony insisted. "I can't really check on Nat right now, but I think Clint should be at the compound. I can ask him to quickly check on her if you want."
"That depends. Is your Little going to murder me for disrupting his sleep?" Steve asked with a humorless chuckle.
"You and I both know he'd be more upset if something was potentially wrong with Nat and we didn't let him in." Tony pointed out, and Steve knew he was right.
"Alright, okay. If it won't be too much." Steve said softly. Clint was probably the closest friend Natasha had, so he was banking that Natasha would let him know if anything was up.
"I'll call Clint and get back to you when he gives me any updates." Tony said reassuringly.
"Thanks Tony, I appreciate it. Really." Steve said as sincerely as he could and he let out a breath of relief.
"No biggie. She'll be fine, Steve." Tony said. "And hey, you take it easy, okay? You just finished a mission and aren't due back for a couple of hours. There's not much you can do about the situation from there, so why don't you close your eyes for a moment, yeah? Again, I'll just call you when I get updates."
As much as Steve wanted to argue against that because he wanted to be up in case anything happened, he knew Tony was right. "Yeah, okay. Thanks again, Tony." After exchanging goodbyes with Tony, Steve finally hung up and kept his phone close by. If Tony believed that Steve would be taking a rest while waiting, he was wrong. His mind just kept racing about Natasha and he was getting restless.
Even when Tony called around an hour later to tell him that Natasha seemed to be fine, he still couldn't sit still.
Back in her bedroom at the compound, Natasha had fallen asleep again. "Again", because a few hours ago she'd woken up to FRIDAY informing her that Clint was at the door. She refused to let him in at first, but then he threatened to just ruin all her vents and he wouldn't quit bugging her, so she conceded. It took a lot of convincing from Natasha (and basically her flipping Clint over her shoulder out of annoyance) before Clint finally believed that she was feeling okay and left her alone.
Of course she was doing okay, as she'd finally taken her pill. After checking and rechecking her first batch of replicas, Natasha deemed it finally a success which was quite a relief. They just all needed to set but otherwise, they were good to go. So taking confidence in her capabilities, Natasha took the last original pill and almost immediately, she was filled with relief.
But when her alarm went off again for that second time tonight, alerting her to someone else at her door, she swore she was going to get an even worse headache. "FRIDAY, I said no more intruders." Natasha muttered as she grabbed a pillow and put it over her head, in a futile attempt to block out the noise.
"Yes Ms. Romanoff, but he insists on seeing you immediately." FRIDAY said.
"Tell Barton to go away unless he wants me to kick his ass again." Natasha grumbled.
"It's Captain Rogers, Ms. Romanoff." FRIDAY informed her, and at that Natasha furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion. "He says he's aware that you might kick his ass, but he insists he isn't leaving until he sees you."
Now Natasha was as stubborn as a stubborn Little can get. She could have just muted FRIDAY because she knew Steve wouldn't do anything crazy anyway. But this was Steve. As much as it annoyed her sometimes when she felt Steve was a little overbearing, he was actually one of the people Natasha liked the most. She liked it when she did something that made Steve smile, or something that'd earn her even the smallest of praises from him.
And more than that, she hated it when Steve got upset or worried.
So after a couple more moments of contemplation, she sighed and hesitantly pulled herself out of bed and made her way to her front door. When she opened it, sure enough Steve was there, looking just about ready to knock again. "Shouldn't you be in debriefing?" Natasha asked as she looked up at him.
"I wanted to check on you." There it was, that same warm feeling she got whenever Steve showed her any concern. Now that her head wasn't hurting that was all her emotions were focusing on. "Can I come in?" Nat wanted to say yes, but for once her stubbornness won over.
"It's late, Steve. I was sleeping, and if you're not heading to debrief you should be heading to bed too." Natasha said, not moving aside from her place in the middle of the doorway.
"How's your head?" Steve asked instead. She was waiting for him to berate her about leaving the mission, but it didn't seem like that was coming. She looked up at Steve again and could see the genuine concern in his eyes.
"Better." Nat said truthfully. "I think I just had a terrible migraine. I'm sorry about leaving." Nat said, beating Steve to it but he just shook his head.
"It's fine, I should know by now that I can trust you to know how to take care of yourself." He said with the smallest of smiles. That should've made Natasha happy or proud... But for some reason, she felt a bit disappointed? "You've always been more independent than the others." Really, that was it? No sermon on how she jeopardized the mission?
"Well if I'm so independent then why did you feel the need to check on me?" Natasha asked with an eyebrow quirked. The words left her mouth before she could stop herself. Luckily Steve just chuckled softly and shook his head in amusement.
"I guess it was for my own peace of mind, then." Steve said, but Natasha could tell that he wasn't telling the complete truth. He could see Steve's eyes wandering her face, as if looking for any signs of her lying. But Natasha was much more trained at this than Steve was and she could easily school her expressions.
Natasha pursed her lips together and nodded her head. "As you can see, I'm doing fine. I told you, it was just a migraine. That enough peace for your mind?" She said with the smallest of smiles. Natasha could see a little hesitation in Steve's features, as if he didn't believe her. But if he didn't, he also didn't say anything about it.
"Enough peace for now." Steve said with a nod and tight smile. "I should probably let you rest then. Wouldn't want you to get another headache."
Despite her earlier stubbornness, part of her didn't want Steve to leave. "Yeah, okay. Good night, cap."
"You sleep well." Steve said with a nod and smile. They bid each other goodbye and Natasha shut the door before heading back to her bedroom, strangely enough feeling a little emptier than she had before seeing Steve. Sadly, it was a familiar feeling for the Little. It was something that often overpowered her emotions whenever she pushed Steve away. She knows she wasn't attracted to Steve though, at least not in the same way that Tony was. She couldn't find any explanation for it so she just chalked it up to her Little side craving a Big's presence.
Never mind that she didn't feel this way towards other Bigs. All she knew was that if she'd think about the matter even more her head may explode. So like all the rest of the times that this happened, Natasha just pushed those feelings down and climbed back into her bed, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit her pillow.
The next time she woke up it was already light out, and luckily it wasn't to FRIDAY alerting her of another unwanted visitor. Unluckily though, it was because her head was throbbing once more. This neither upset nor surprised Natasha though. Every few months or so, the headaches were much worse and frequent so she had to take more pills. This probably just was one of those months.
Knowing that her first batch of pills would probably be ready by now, Natasha hoisted herself up and out of bed, throwing her legs over the side. She sat there for a couple of moments as she got her bearings straight but soon, she was getting up and walking towards her makeshift lab. She went straight for her fridge, crouching down so she can reach better.
She pulled out her tray that contained the first batch and sighed in relief when she saw that they had in fact, settled. She grabbed one pill and popped it into her mouth, easily swallowing it dry before she stood and grabbed the bottle she reserved for the rest. Once she had it capped, Natasha stored the bottle in one of the cupboards before going out to her kitchen to make a quick breakfast.
Usually, she'd eat breakfast with the team. This hadn't always been the case, but a few months back Steve insisted that they had team breakfasts as much as possible. Something about building their relationships or whatever. No one bought it though and Nat had a strange suspicion that Steve suggested that so he can be sure she was eating right. She didn't call it out though because one, she didn't want to embarrass herself and make it look like she was assuming everything Steve did was for her (because really, it wasn't). And two, maybe part of her actually liked that routine. It gave her more reasons to be with Steve without her having to initiate it. After yesterday's events though, she wasn't really up to seeing anyone.
Natasha already had a routine established for herself, which meant this morning would be a visit to the shooting range. No reason to break that routine just because of missing team breakfast, so she just grabbed a granola bar and started her coffee maker. Yeah, Natasha wasn't the healthiest of eaters but she got by with her diet, so it wasn't a cause of alarm for her. She was just halfway through her granola bar when she could feel her pill already taking effect. She smiled a little and gave her a mental pat on the back for it.
She thought back to yesterday's events and cringed a little. She still couldn't believe she ran off from a mission like that, but she just comforted herself by saying that it was a low-level one, and it turned out well, anyway. She wasn't particularly concerned about what the rest of her team thought about what he did. Well, that is except for Steve. Did Steve think she was going rogue or something? Did Steve actually buy her migraine story?
Who was she kidding, of course he didn't. Why he just let it go so easily though, she didn't understand. Was it because he didn't really care enough? That thought alone made Natasha's stomach feel like it was going in knots.
It was the coffee maker alerting her to the fresh batch of the juice of life that pulled her out of her thoughts. Natasha shook her head to herself and poured a cup of coffee, tossing her half-eaten granola bar into the bin before walking back to her bedroom, cup of coffee in hand. Yeap, not the best of diets. It was a mystery to all of them how Natasha stayed so fit despite her eating habits, but the last time they tried to call her out on it, well... Let's just say it made them not want to try again.
Once she'd downed her cup of coffee, Natasha pulled on her typical outfit and got ready for the day. She liked starting in the shooting range because apart from the sound of her gun firing, it was nice and quiet.
The range was often used for training sessions only in the afternoon, and agents with down time would rather spend their free time elsewhere. Caretakers would most likely sleep in, while Bigs and Littles with heartmates more often than not spend the free time with one another.
Not Natasha though.
Natasha kept telling her that she didn't want that, that she wasn't weak. She kept telling herself that until she believed it. She didn't think any less of her Little teammates though. Natasha knew they couldn't help themselves: They didn't have the same resources or training that she did. There was a time she seriously considered letting Clint in on her secret, primarily so she could offer him this solution to drops as well. But she figured it wasn't for everyone.
"Nooo! Stop it Wanda! It's my turn!" Daisy whined. They were out in the park in the middle of the compound, just lounging around.
Years ago, Hill and Fury decided to have this park developed so Bigs and Littles could have at least a breath of fresh air nearby during their down times. It was often filled with Littles running around and Bigs chatting with one another by the picnic tables. Today though, it was just most of the Avengers and their SHIELD team partners.
"Nuh-uh! It hasn't been five minutes yet. You gotta wait your turn." Wanda said as she continued to kick her legs and swing high. Most of them had come from a pretty bad mission the previous day, so they all decided to get together for a little family time.
"You just don't wanna share!" Daisy said as she stomped her foot in frustration. Natasha was watching the potential disaster unfold from her spot on the picnic table. Daisy looked awfully close to tears.
"You just don't know how to wait!" Wanda said in a somewhat teasing tone, that of course just upset Daisy even more.
"Wanda be nice to your little sister." Sam said in a warning tone.
"Uncle Sam Wanda's not playin' nice!" Daisy whined, and Wanda looked like she was about to retaliate but before that, Steve stepped in.
"Come on Daisy, why don't you and I build the biggest sand castle there is, hm?" Steve said with a smile as he crouched down by the Little. Daisy frowned and she looked at Steve for a moment before glancing back at Wanda.
"The biggest ever? Is it gonna have a place for the horsies to sleep?" Daisy asked.
"Mhm, the horsies could even have their own little castle." Steve said with a nod. That seemed to interest Daisy more than the swings did, so the girl smiled at Steve and nodded her head. Meltdown and crisis averted. Seeing Steve play with their Little teammates stirred something within her. She felt all soft and lightheaded for some reason.
"You know, for someone who wasn't part of the mission you look the most stressed out here." Clint said in an amused tone as he sat down next to Natasha.
Natasha just rolled her eyes in good nature and shook her head. She was still watching Steve who'd just sat down in the big sandbox with Daisy. "Shouldn't you be dropped and playing right now?" She asked, to which Clint shrugged in response to.
"I can drop later." He said. "What's on your mind?"
On a normal day, Nat would have shut Clint out; would have denied that there was anything bothering her. But seeing her team right now, gathered together with Bigs playing with the Littles... It was overwhelming her. "What's so great about dropping? I mean, you just turn into some little kid for a while and then what?" She asked with her eyebrows furrowed together.
Steve and Daisy were filling some buckets now with sand and Steve kept pretending to miss, ending up dumping sand on top of Daisy's feet. Daisy found that hilarious and she was a giggling mess. Steve was a big, but he hasn't found his heartmate yet so for now, he was the cool uncle to plenty of Littles. "Well, it's more of an emotional thing." Clint responded after a while.
"So that makes you think I'm not capable of understanding?" Natasha asked with an eyebrow quirked, turning her head to look at Clint. There was amusement in her voice though, which told Clint she at least wasn't really offended.
"I didn't say that." Clint said, giving Natasha a look. "It's just something you really need to experience to understand." He continued.
"I guess I'll never understand then." Natasha shrugged. That much, Natasha knew.
"Why don't you want to understand?" Clint asked. He'd asked Natasha similar questions in the past but they've always been brushed off. He was probably hoping that now would be a different case.
"What do you like most about dropping?" Natasha asked, trying to shift the focus of their conversation. Nat could practically feel the disappointment radiating from Clint, but other than that he showed no signs of displeasure at the sudden change. He probably expected it.
"That's a tough question." Clint said, looking into the distance as he gave it some thought. "I guess it's that I can forget all about the horrors of the world for a while. Kids see the world a different way and it's nice to experience that kind of innocence again-even as a 12 year old." Clint chuckled.
"Tony makes it pretty cool, too. He knows when I need coddling, but he knows when I need some independence. He just... Knows me, I guess. The emotional benefits you get from the heartmate connection really isn't a joke. No matter how cheesy it sounds, being around Tony makes things better even when I'm aged." Clint continued.
"But I'm rambling now. I guess the short answer would be what I like most is how it makes all this more bearable. Whether dropped or not." Clint said before turning her head to look at Natasha.
"What do you hate about it?" Natasha asked softly. She was still trying to take in what Clint had told her, but she needed him to keep on talking.
"Oh that's easy. That Tony can punish me and put me in time out." Clint said with a roll of his eyes, and Natasha actually snorted and laughed at that. The sight of his best friend in the naughty corner definitely was amusing.
"That's the worst you can think of?" Natasha asked in an amused tone as she looked up at Clint, and Clint shrugged.
"Not much bad things I can say about it, if I'm being honest." Clint said easily.
"So if you had the chance to take it away, to make your drops stop, you wouldn't take it?" Nat asked, and it was Clint's turn to furrow his eyebrows together.
"No, not at all. The pros definitely outweigh the cons. And hey, I can run around and cause havoc with less consequences than I'd probably get when I'm aged. It's a pretty good deal to me." Clint grinned.
"You're such a dork." Natasha said as she lightly bumped her shoulder with Clint's, making the latter chuckle.
"Mhm, but you love me anyway." Clint said as he wrapped an arm around Natasha and pulled her close before kissing the top of her head. She'd normally push away the affection, but this was Clint so it was different: He wasn't a Big.
Natasha never understood Clint's logic, or maybe she just didn't try or want to understand. Nevertheless, she let the topic go and never brought it up with Clint ever since. If it makes Clint happy, then she wasn't ruining it for him. So once she'd gotten dressed and ready for the day, she pushed all those thoughts aside and just left her apartment for the shooting range. There would be no thoughts about dropping or not dropping from now on.
Much to her dismay though, upon reaching the range she discovered that it wasn't empty as usual. Agent Melinda May was there. It wasn't that she disliked May, she liked May quite a lot. But Natasha goes to the range expecting it to be empty. At least May was usually quiet and kept to herself anyway.
Still, Natasha just gave May a small smile and nodded her head in hello before going to her locker. She got her equipment on and took her usual spot, trying her best to tune everything out and just focus on the targets in front of her.
She lasted about ten minutes. As quiet as Melinda May was, her presence was also awfully... Eerie. And Natasha could practically feel May's eyes on the back of her neck.
"What is it, agent May?" Natasha asked as she reloaded her gun. "If you need something, just say it."
For a moment, Natasha thought May was ignoring her. But a couple of seconds later, just before she was going to unload another round of bullets into her target, May was by her side. If Natasha hadn't been a spy, she would've been caught surprised because of how quiet May was.
"So what happened yesterday?" May asked as she leaned against the wall that divided the range they were at from the others. Nat was about to shoot, but she put her arms down and looked at May in confusion. "I heard you left the mission early." May clarified.
At that, Natasha huffed and raised her arms again, preparing to shoot. "Had a migraine, figured I was no use in the field that way so I left." She said before shooting the target right smack in the middle of its head.
"I've seen you endure things worse than migraines and you still went charging into battle." May pointed out, and Natasha knew she was right. "I'll ask you again, what happened?"
"What is this, an interrogation?" Natasha scoffed and shook her head before reloading her gun.
"It doesn't have to be if you cooperate."
"If I cooperate?" Natasha asked incredulously as she released another round of bullets. May let her finish before speaking up once more.
"Are you doing drugs?" She asked, absolutely no filters at all. Now Natasha's rarely taken aback during so-called interrogations, but this? The accusation was absolutely absurd and Natasha found herself laughing.
"Excuse me?" Natasha laughed as she turned and finally looked at May. She even put down her gun on the table because she felt she needed all her attention for this.
"You heard me." May said, her eyes narrowing just a little.
"I can't believe you would even think-"
"Just answer the question"
"No! I'm not doing drugs. For gods' sake, May. What's gotten into you?" Natasha asked, utter disbelief in her tone.
"I've checked your records. You have your own personal lab in your apartment." May informed her, and Natasha could feel herself getting more and more agitated. How had May known that? "I know you've been taking chemicals from the labs, and the equipment you've been ordering?"
"Why the sudden interest in me, huh?" Natasha interrupted before May could go on. But May ignored that question for now.
"Your performance has been declining over the past few weeks." May continued. "You're getting distracted, your scores are declining, and not to mention you avoid the medbay as if it's the plague."
"Listen, you have no business going through my files, or doing your own personal investigation on me for that matter." Nat said, her fists involuntarily clenching.
"I do when my agents, my little, are at risk because of your decisions." May countered as she straightened up and crossed her arms in front of her. May was a petite person: Taller than Natasha, but she wasn't a Steve, or a Clint even for that matter. But now her aura was radiating "Big", a Big who's getting awfully protective of her Little. That, and of authority at that. Nat almost wanted to back down. Almost.
"A risk? Are you hearing yourself, agent May?" Natasha asked. "Hill was the one who-"
"-who gave me clearance to investigate you." May cut her off, and that honestly caught Natasha off guard. "I brought all the data to Hill and she agreed to the investigation. And I'm telling you this now, because we have enough suspicion to have you undergo extensive drug tests."
"This is ridiculous." Natasha muttered and she shook her head as she took a step back from May, but May only stepped towards her. "You're not subjecting me to some drug test. I'm not some addict, May would you listen to yourself for a moment?!"
"If you're not taking drugs, then there's nothing you need to worry about." May pointed out.
"I know you're upset that I left the mission yesterday, but Steve was there. It wasn't like they were left out on the field on their own." Natasha argued. "And my declining performance? I-" Natasha wanted to argue on, but something stopped her.
It was a slight pain in her head at first, but then it started to travel down her neck, her spine... And then eventually Natasha came crashing down to the floor.
"Agent Romanoff? Agent Romanoff! Natasha!" By then, Natasha was spasming on the floor. She barely registered May telling FRIDAY to call for help before she blacked out.