Just to make this clear, asides from the circumstances of Oliver and Natasha meeting the same way they did in my other story, this one-shot is not linked to "The Hood and the Widow" but what happened with Oliver and Natasha in Russia and on Lian Yu in the aforementioned story, can be considered canon here, with Natasha not returning to Starling City yet. Takes place somewhere mid-Season 1, with Oliver and Natasha putting their relationship on pause upon his return to Starling.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Arrowverse or Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or any characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises or anything else you may recognize.
Oliver was researching another target for the List, intent on taking them down, when his phone rang and he answered the call.
"Hello, Oliver. It's been a while."
Oliver stiffened. He was uncertain he would hear her voice again. But he was happy to hear her and he could tell she was hesitating. Hearing her put a smile on his face. "Hey, Nat. Is everything alright?"
"I need your help." Natasha said.
Oliver drove to Missouri, where Natasha was waiting for him in an apartment.
"What's going on, Nat?" Oliver asked.
Natasha took a breath. "A family of a friend of mine may be compromised. I need help relocating them."
Oliver frowned. "Can't you ask Fury or any other agents?"
Natasha shook her head. "Fury kept their names off-the-record, only a handful of people are aware of their existence, me included and I can't ask anyone from S.H.I.E.L.D. without ringing any alarms, in case they're compromised or someone infiltrated it."
Oliver nodded. "What exactly do you need from me?"
"Shadow them, in case they're being targeted and help me finding them a safe place." Natasha said.
Oliver looked a little hurt. "That's it? No 'How have you been, Oliver?', no 'It's been a while, we have some catching up to do, Oliver.', nothing?" He asked, half-joking.
Natasha sighed. "Oliver… our lives are enough complicated as they are and we both know this may not work out between us."
"Maybe. But we can try, right?" Oliver pleaded.
Natasha considered before putting on her jacket. "Can we talk about this, after we get them to safety? We'll have plenty of time to discuss this later."
Oliver nodded as he followed her.
Oliver and Natasha drove towards her contact, who was supposed to be waiting for them in a remote cabin but they found him slumping on the chair as Natasha touched his neck and sighed.
"Damn it." Natasha swore.
"Looks like he withstood a lot before they broke him." Oliver noted.
"We can only hope they haven't gotten to Laura and her kids yet." Natasha said.
Oliver looked outside and widened his eyes before tackling Natasha to the ground. "Get down!"
Windows shattered and pieces of wood flew around as mercenaries were shooting at the cabin. As they reloaded, Oliver retaliated, while Natasha ripped off a pipe from a gas tank and opened a hatch.
"Oliver!" Natasha called and Oliver pulled out a lighter, lighted it and dropped it before he followed her down the hatch and as Natasha shut it. When the mercenaries entered the house, they were consumed by the following explosion.
One of the mercenaries was walking down the woods as he looked around with his goggles and saw a woman with two children at the lake as he was about to call out with his radio before he heard grunting. The mercenary turned around to see Oliver and Natasha taking out his comrades and he tried to retaliate but was no match for them until every last of the hitmen fell.
"Looks like we're all clear." Oliver said as he saw the family with the goggles.
Natasha took the goggles and observed. "They're safe. Nothing happened to them."
"They're your relatives?" Oliver asked.
"No." Natasha shook her head as she put down the goggles and relaxed in relief. "They're… a family of a friend of mine. They mean the world to him."
"Do they know about you?" Oliver asked.
"Laura knows I'm his friend. But I've never met the children, even though their parents wanted them to get to know me." Natasha said. "Sometimes I visit her but their kids… that's something else. The less they know about me, the better. They have a family. A life. I'll just make things more complicated for them if I get myself too much involved. It's better this way."
Oliver held her arm before she could walk off. "They don't need to know any details, but would it really be so bad if they knew that asides from their parents, there is someone else who loves them as much as their own family?"
Natasha looked at him and considered. "I guess not…"
"They don't have to know who you really are. But I think they'd like to get to know Aunt Nat better." Oliver pleaded.
Natasha walked off, approaching them. While the woman and the children were surprised to see her, it was clear a few moments later, they were happy to meet her, especially the woman, who hugged her as if she was a member of the family before Natasha was playing with the kids briefly.
Oliver was driving back to Starling as Natasha was sitting next to him at the passenger seat. "How'd it go?"
"They're getting relocated soon. My friend is glad they're safe." Natasha said.
"You know what I mean." Oliver said.
"The kids got to know Aunt Nat. They were a little surprised but Laura helped them readjust quickly. You know, it feels a bit weird, me and children… but it's fun. Even though I can't have them myself." Natasha noted, staring.
"Will you stay in touch?" Oliver inquired.
Natasha sighed. "Honestly, this is one of the few times I haven't planned that far ahead, so I don't know. I haven't made up my mind. Look, right now we have a job to do and we need to stay focused and they need some time to adjust to their new home and circumstances."
Soon enough, they went out as they were entering Natasha's apartment outside Starling City.
Oliver chuckled. "I thought you were most of the time all business. Nice to see there's a person there, after all."
"I can't let my personal feelings get in the way of the job. But I'm not made of stone." Natasha smiled. She actually let out a genuine smile. It wasn't a mask or an act or an undercover work. Oliver relaxed, knowing he got under her skin.
"At least Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. takes care to let your agents' families be protected. When I was in Hong Kong and forced to work for Waller, China White kidnapped Tatsu Yamashiro. My handler's wife. She left Maseo's family unprotected and didn't care at all about her safety. But she's too clever to let herself get taken down. To her, any ends justify the means, no matter how many moral values she might break or how many innocent lives are lost as collateral damage." Oliver said.
"Fury may be a hard-ass too but he has conscience and he does care. He just doesn't show it." Natasha said.
"Sometimes I wish I could have traded A.R.G.U.S. for S.H.I.E.L.D." Oliver said.
"It's never too late to join us. I think we'd be lucky to have more people like you." Natasha teased.
Oliver laughed. "As much as the offer does intrigue me, I think I've had enough of working as an operative for a governmental agency."
"I know you're looking for redemption. All I'm saying is that there are more ways than the List." Natasha said, neither one of them noticing that they were actually holding hands.
"Maybe." Oliver admitted. "You plan on sticking around this time?"
Natasha stopped and sighed before pulling away as soon as she realized they were holding hands. "Oliver… look, I like you but…" She sighed. "I'm the last person on Earth with who you want to start something."
"I tell myself that too, whenever I see Laurel. But maybe I'm just tired of keeping others at arm's length, especially, when I know that there's someone out there, who knows what's it like to be scared that once you touch that darkness, that it may infect everyone around you." Oliver noted and Natasha considered. She felt the same way sometimes too, afraid that what she had been through, would hurt her friends and colleagues, that's why she didn't get attached to a lot of people but Oliver…
Neither one of them knew who moved first but they kissed, while entering Natasha's apartment and laying down on the couch, dropping their jackets on the floor as Oliver took off Natasha's top and unstrapped her bra, tossing them aside, while Natasha unbuttoned Oliver's shirt, her hands running down his muscular arms, holding onto them while Oliver slowly ran his hands down from her cheek down her neck and breasts and they panted out, as they kissed fiercely once more and Natasha moaned as she felt Oliver give in.
I think it's obvious whose family it was. I know, it may be inconsistent with timeline plot holes but please, for the sake of this story, just go with it.
Hope you have enjoyed the Oliver/Natasha moments, I think they could actually be a good match and I've been trying to improve my skills regarding writing romances.
Please review and let me know if you have enjoyed this one-shot.
With regards
Bl4ckHunter