She was weightless, floating through the air in a cloud of nothing and then there was a loud crack and she tumbled to the ground in a heap.
She inhaled sharply, shoulders heaving from the impact and opened her eyes into the bright California sun, slightly apprehensive at what she would find.
"Nat?" A familiar voice said. "Oh, thank god! She's alright."
"Tony?" She blinked a few times. "What happened? Is it over?"
He embraced her fiercely, holding her close against his chest and the action surprised her, but she was grateful just to have something familiar to hold onto after the uncertainty and the unsettling feeling, so she threw her arms around his neck.
Then he was kissing her, a passionate, desperate kiss, hand pushing her head back, fingers sliding through her hair as his lips pressed against hers and his tongue invaded her mouth.
She gasped, slapping him across the face and pushing hard against his shoulders as she struggled to break free of his grasp. "Are you out of your mind?!" She exclaimed.
"Ow!" He shouted. "What'd you do that for?" He ran a hand across his cheek and took a couple of steps back, gazing at her with a puzzled expression on his face.
Standing a few feet away, Wanda watched the exchange with a raised eyebrow and Steve was peering cautiously at her.
"Whatever I did, I'm sorry, okay?" Tony said, slowly reaching for her.
"Don't touch me!" She hissed.
"Alright, alright." He retreated with his hands raised. "We'll talk about this later."
He nodded to Vision. "Cue the cleanup crew. We've got other things to take care of."
"Nat," Steve said behind her with a gentle voice. "Are you okay? You had us worried."
"I'm fine. The force from Wanda's blast just shocked me a little, that's all."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Come on. Let's get back to headquarters. I'll send a recap to Hill and you rest up."
She nodded, waiting for him to make the first move before she headed in the direction of the newly built compound.
She gazed over her shoulder, but the rest of the team had already dispersed and not even a breeze was left to rustle the leaves on the palm trees.
The hot California sun blazed down on her, as if thousands of tiny little destruction bots hadn't just tried to harness its power.
XXXXX
The affectionately dubbed West Coast Avengers compound was bustling with activity when she tapped her clearance badge to enter through the sliding doors. Leave it to Tony to get this place built and fully staffed almost faster than the team had agreed to the idea of having more than one base of operation.
Only… was it her imagination or was the place slightly more finished than she'd remembered from when she was here that morning?
She made her way to the elevator, deep in thought and not really paying attention to the group of young interns that passed her in the hall.
"Hi, Mrs. Stark," one of them greeted her.
Her head snapped up, but the interns had already rounded the corner. She shook her head, boarding the elevator and pressing the button that would take her to the secured common floor.
She was grateful to see that a short woman with long curly brown hair and a neat yellow jumpsuit was the only other person on board and she nodded silently to the other woman.
"Good Afternoon, Mrs. Stark," the woman said with a polite smile.
Her eyes narrowed. "What did you just call me?"
"Mrs. Stark? I'm sorry, would you prefer Black Widow, ma'am?"
Natasha shook her head, ignoring the question. "And you are?"
"Lisa, ma'am. From courtesy." The elevator dinged and the woman moved forward with an uncomfortable smile. "Well, that's my stop. Have a nice day, Mrs. Stark."
The elevator inched up the rest of the floors agonizingly slowly until she finally reached her destination and headed to the kitchen. If she was this tired from lack of sleep that she was nearly delusional, she hoped a warm cup of tea and a nap would cure it.
"Rhodey!" She said, glad to see a familiar face in the common area. "Care for some company?"
"Nat." He hugged her briefly and nodded to the table. "Of course. Have a seat. How are you?"
"I think…" She touched a hand to the bridge of her nose. "I think I might be going slightly crazy."
Her friend looked at her closely from across the table. "Why would you say that?"
She frowned. "Ever get the feeling that you woke up on a different planet? And what is it with this place? When did we get that plant? What, did Tony finish this thing overnight?"
Rhodey smiled. "You know Tony. He never stops until he gets what he wants. Hey, speaking of…. you two get into a fight or something?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Only a fight with about ten thousand tiny, energy consuming murder bots. Why, what did he say? Where is he?"
"Probably sulking in his workshop. You know, the usual."
"Good to know some things never change," she muttered under her breath before taking a sip of her tea. Out loud she said, "Rhodey… there is one strange thing. Why is all the staff calling me Mrs. Stark?"
He was looking at her strangely and he hesitated for a second before answering carefully, "what else are they supposed to call the wife of Tony Stark?"
She coughed loudly, sputtering hot tea from her mouth and he rushed to hand her a napkin. "What?" She asked, her voice almost a squeak.
"Hey, Nat. Are you sure you're okay?"
"There she is!" Just then, Clint came bustling through the kitchen, ruffling her hair affectionately as he passed. "Man, you gave us quite a scare earlier. How are you doing?"
She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Um… fine? What are you doing in California? Where's your family?"
He frowned. "Laura and the kids are back on the farm, you know that. And I'm here because this is a work week for me."
"Work week? You're retired."
"Retired?" He said with a chuckle. "Yeah, right. Like that happens in a superhero life."
He studied her closely and she looked back at him. "Something's different about you," he said.
"How so?" Rhodey asked, rising up from his seat to lean against the counter next to Clint.
"Why are you wearing that necklace?" Clint said, gesturing to the quarter of an inch arrow that hung from a chain around her neck. "I'm right here. You only wear that when we're apart. And where's your wedding ring?"
"Wedding ring?" Natasha said. She shook her head, her heart skipping a panicked beat. "Clint, can we talk somewhere? Alone?"
He was looking at Rhodey with a concerned expression on his face. "She hit her head or something during the battle earlier?"
"No!" Natasha snapped. "I didn't hit my head and I'm just fine, okay? It's not me, it's everyone else. You're the ones talking about wedding rings and I swear if one more person in this compound calls me Mrs. Stark, I'll—"
"Okay, okay," Clint interrupted soothingly. "You've clearly had a rough day. Can I take you home?"
She nodded, eagerly taking the hand he offered her and letting him lead her outside to his familiar jet. This was all she needed. A smooth ride to the other side of the country and she'd be safely back home at her apartment in New York. She'd tell Steve that the California sun was getting to her and that she only wanted to train at the compound upstate for now. She was sure the new Avengers would be just fine between her and Steve in New York and Tony and Rhodey in California and her mundane routine would be welcome until Fury had to call her in for the next mission.
All too soon, the jet was landing and she looked out the window, puzzled to see they'd landed on the strip outside of Tony's mansion.
"I thought you were taking me home?" Natasha said. "To my apartment in New York? What are we doing here?"
Clint frowned. "This is where you live, Nat."
The panicked feeling from before threatened to overwhelm her, but she couldn't let Clint see. "What are you talking about, Barton? This is Tony's house."
"And you're Tony's wife. Which makes it yours too."