pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"strongspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" Early Fall 2014 Quinjet. Somewhere over the Atlantic. Age 30./span/strong/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha crumbled to the floor as the jet propelled into the air. But she really wasn't there. She was in the Red Room watching the younger version of herself./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Madame was displeased. "Sloppy, Natasha." She grimaced. "You're better than this."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Young Natasha faltered from her pirouette. "Again!" A teacher shouted. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha bristled and reached for Madame. "You'll break them." She hissed./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Madame smiled at her, as the girls spun again and again. Her younger self pushing through the pain, her pointe shoes marked with blood. She wanted to make them stop. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Only the ones who are breakable." Madame smiled at her. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"The vision blurred. Natasha watched her 18 year old self pass the exams. Blood dripped from her fingers. She was so small back then. So deadly./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"The vision blurred once again. Natasha watched as the doctors took from her what she had always wanted. Her body vulnerable on the table, scarlet lines scoured across her lower stomach. Tools dipping into her body and ruining her./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"The scene blurred again. James holding a little boy. A boy so unmistakably them. His dark her, her green eyes. The baby she should have had. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"James looked at her, "Natasha!"/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She felt the world shake as he said it again, "Natasha!"/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"James was fading away. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Natasha!" She opened her eyes and found her hands bloodied and clenched in Steve's hands. Everyone was staring. Clint had a broken nose, did she do that?/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She tugged at her hands, digging her feet into the floor to get away. Steve doubled his grip, "Sit down, Romanoff or I will restrain you. Stop it.. He pushed her back to the ground. "The girl got into your head, don't let her win."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha looked around, everyone had taken a hit. Thor was sullen and watching from a corner. Bruce was lost in his headphone, hood drawn to block out the world./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Stark was flying and kept turning to check on the situation. Clint approached her and clapped Steve's shoulder. "I'll take it from here, Rodgers."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Steve let go and moved to a seat nearby. Clint sat on the floor with her. She fought back a whimper, her own head betraying her. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Come here." Clint said softly and wrapped an arm around her. He of all people knew what she was probably seeing in her head./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""I'm sorry about your face." She whispered./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""It'll be healed by the time we land. I'm still telling Laura."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha grimaced. "No, she doesn't need to know anything that happened. It's not healthy for the baby."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""She'll figure it out. She always does."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"When the Quinjet landed in the field outside the Barton farm, Clint tugged her off the floor. He led the whole team towards the front door under the guise that this was a safe house. It was in fact a safe house. Natasha felt better just by smelling the homey scent of the house. Inside Clint found Laura who gasped and hugged him. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Daddy! Is Auntie Nat here?" Lila bounded into the room./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Why don't you ask her and find out?" Natasha flipped a switch and caught the little girl as she leapt into her arms. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Thor left briskly and Bruce headed upstairs. Tony followed Steve outside and Laura rounded on Natasha. The kids hurried off to help Clint with some chores./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Nat, what's going on." Laura asked quietly and handed her a mug of tea. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""It's nothing. We just need to lay low." She rubbed her face./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Every time you come here it's to regroup or hide from your past, which one is it?" Laura drove a hard bargain./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Both." /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"-/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"In the weeks after Sokovia and Ultron, Natasha and Steve elected to postpone their search for James. The new Avengers needed training at Tony's new Avengers compound. She helped teach the new Avengers hand to hand combat, stealth and as she called it spy 101. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha hopped up and put her hands on her hips. She was in the gym with Wanda, Sam, Rhodey and Vision. Steve and Tony were conversing nearby as she accepted Sam's challenge for a spar. Sam had yet to beat her and today was no different./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""I think there's a reason why you should stick to flying." Natasha teased and helped him up. Sweat glistened off her stomach and shoulders in the sports bra and leggings she typically wore in training classes. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""I'm unbeatable in the sky." Sam said proudly and wiped his forehead./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Didn't Wanda knock you out of the sky last week?" Rhodey laughed./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha smirked and looked at Steve. "What do you say, call it a day? It's Friday."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Steve nodded, "That give everyone time to get ready for the party."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha frowned, "Party?"/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Tony smirked, "You think we'd let you try and sneak off without a birthday party?"/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Shit…" She huffed quietly. "It's not my birthday, who told you that?"/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Steve crossed his arms and looked more than interested in a rack of weights. She knew who blew the cover on her birthday. She hadn't celebrated it in years. The Red Room didn't celebrate birthdays. They were acknowledged as milestones. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She smacked Steve for letting others know, "What did I ever do to you, Rodgers?"/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"He laughed, "It'll be fun. You don't turn 31 every day."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Says the 97 year old." She sassed, "And I'm 29, idiot."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Vision spoke up, "Natasha Romanoff. Birthday November 22, 1984. Age 31."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She rolled her eyes and cocked her hip to the side. The others laughed. "Thanks Vis." She said dryly./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""You don't look a day over 18, you and Wanda could be sisters." Sam pandered to her./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Need me to kick your ass again, Wilson?" She laughed./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Like it or not, the party is on the way. Wear something nice Romanoff." Tony said chipperly and motioned for everyone to disperse./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Sweatpants and a t-shirt it is." She said begrudgingly./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"It took her an hour to clean up. Tony had sent her a nice dress, which she'd have to thank him for eventually. The dress was a royal blue with sheer sleeves that fell off her shoulders. It was very form fitting, not that she had anything to hide in it. No room for the thigh holster that she often wore just for comfort. She curled her hair which she had cut shorter now. Her red tresses brushed just above her shoulders. She stepped into tall black shoes and heard a knock on the door. She opened it and found Sam and Steve. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Party's already started. Stark out did himself. Dance floor. DJ. Bottle service. Catering." Sam said with an impressed smile. "Now I take it back you and Maximoff are definitely not the same age." He said appreciatively as he admired just how nicely she cleaned up./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She groaned, "I'm not going." She hurried to shut the door./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Steve blocked the door and smiled, "No way, get your 31-year-old ass out there, Romanoff."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Ohh, you said a bad language word!" She swatted him and reluctantly shut the door. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"After 3 glasses of champagne she didn't care so much about how crowds made her suspicious. She danced and met a ton of people that all seemed to know her. Clint, Laura and the kids made an appearance which ultimately made her night./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She walked with Clint and the family as they left around 9 o'clock./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Happy birthday Nat." Clint smiled and hugged her. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Take care of my family." She smiled. Laura had a month to go before the baby would get there. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Auntie Nat, you look like a princess." Lila squeezed her./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She dropped down and crouched by the little girl. "Thank you sweetie!" She hugged her. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She hugged Cooper and watched them leave. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Does the birthday girl need another drink?" A man approached her. A sharply dressed man, in a navy suit and red tie. He hard dark brown hair and tanned skin. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Yes, she does." She smiled and accepted the glass of champagne he offered her. "Thank you."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"He leaned against the railing of the entryway she was standing in. "Enjoying yourself?"/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Trying too." She admitted. "Parties aren't my thing."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Everyone likes a good party, you're just not doing them right. Let me help you with that." He motioned to the dance floor. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Alright then." She smiled and decided to trust the man. "What should I do first."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Slam that drink, we're getting a shot and dancing." He polished off his champagne and waited for her to follow suit./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"If there was anything she was good at it was drinking. She tipped the fragile flute of champagne back and grabbed his hand. He ordered some fancy shot that was an unnatural pink color and tugged her to the middle of the floor. She didn't do the clubbing thing. She missed out on that phase of her life. The closest she had ever gotten was a mission where she interrupted an illegal weapons deal in a club in London. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Her history with ballet made her a natural at dancing but not the dancing he led her into. Her hips swayed to the beat of the impossibly loud and rhythmic music. He spun her around and pressed her back against his chest. His hands skimmed over her hips. She ended up having a blast dancing. A few times Sam swung a girl around by her, checking up on her before disappearing into the crowd. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"The music took a turn to song with heavy Latin influence. People scattered from the once crowded floor to find drinks. A few attempted the dance./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""What do you say, can you do this dance?" He asked her. His hand lingered on her hip. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She smiled, "You lead I'll catch on quick." She pushed him towards the center of the floor. He paused before grabbing her hand and pulling her into him. On beat he swung them around. Her feet easily picking up the rhythm. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"His hand pushed her hip out and spun her several times before she fell back into him. The music was fast and the dancing was rather intimate, Natasha had to admit but it was fun. He dipped her backwards and reeled her back in. Her red hair fanning around as she held tightly to him. As the song ended, he whipped her around spinning her quickly as the music faded before catching her./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She smiled and gripped his arms as a few bystanders clapped, several being her friends who looked very impressed. Sam beckoned her over, and she tugged the man with her. Several shots were done. Steve and Sam cut in to dance with her on the dance floor. Tony even took a break from the models that were hanging over him to spin around the floor with her. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Well after midnight Natasha had lost track of her new friend and leaned against the bar waiting for another champagne. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Looking for one of these?" The man sidled up next to her with two glasses of champagne./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""You read my mind." She lifted one out of his hand./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"With drinks in hand they went back to the dance floor and danced for nearly an hour more. It was hot in the room, the close dancing she was doing made her skin sticky. She was drunk and happily so as the crowd sang happy birthday and she buried her head into her new friend's chest. Several rounds of embarrassing toasts went on for what felt like hours. Steve, Sam and Rhodey getting their digs in at her. Tony adding banter to each speech. The whole time his hands her skimming her sides. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha looked up at him during a lull in the toasting's. "What did you say your name was?"/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""I didn't." He laughed. "James."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She had almost enough to drink that the name didn't evoke a response from her. His hand brushed across the exposed skin on her back. She was lost in the feeling. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"He dipped his head down, catching her lips in a brief kiss. Natasha's back pressed against the bar as she kissed him back. When he pulled away she nodded towards a door. He grabbed a bottle of champagne from behind the bar and followed her out the door. She kept checking to make sure none of her nosey friends were on to her. She led him around the back of the compound her to ground level patio. She scanned her eye and flung the door open. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"He shot the cork out of the bottle and filled two more glasses. She drained the drink quickly and set the glass aside. His hands were on her instantly. The bottle discarded as he back her into the wall. Their kisses we fueled by spontaneity and alcohol. His hands tugged her dress up and yanked her panties off. His lips traveled down her neck as she easily wrapped her legs around his waist. His hips pressed against her, securing her against the wall. His lips moved feverishly against her neck, almost painfully. He shifted as her hands threw his suit jacket off and loosened his tie. In her drunken haste, she popped three buttons off his shirt to reach his skin. His hands fumbled with his belt and zipper before unsheathing himself from his pants./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"His hands gripped her thighs tightly as he buried himself in her. "James!" She gasped her eyes fluttering as she saw someone else. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"His hips slammed into her, the pictures on the wall above them tumbled down to the ground. His teeth dragged against her skin as she cried out loudly. Lost in the feeling, As much as she hated to admit it, she had needs. Frustrations that training hard wouldn't satiate. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Yes!" She whimpered, her hands tugging at his dark hair. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"James groaned, "Fuck… Natasha!" He worked into her at a furious pace./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She couldn't help be vocal as he whirled her off the wall and pressed her onto the bed. The bed dipped under them as he adjusted and rocked into her again. She glued her lips to his and writhed under him. His hands pinned hers above her head as he worked into her faster. Delighted cries escaped her lips, her legs tightened around his hips./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Come for me, Natasha." He gasped against her neck./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""James!" She moaned and did exactly what he asked for. She panted under him as he followed her. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"He rolled off her and caught his breath. "Wow…" He commented. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha tugged her dress back into place and smirked. She reached for the bottle of champagne near the bed. She drank from it passed it to him. She straddled him and smiled. Working his shirt off as he drank from the bottle./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"He handed the bottle back and let her drink again while his fingers searched for the zipper on her dress. She dizzily set the bottle down. "Mmm, round two?" He asked./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"The rest of the night was a blur. When she woke up she cradled her head. It was throbbing painfully. She was naked and her clothing was strewn all over the floor. She crawled out of bed and searched for leggings and a loose sweater. In the mirror she spotted her tousled hair, and an astonishing amount of hickeys all over her neck and shoulders. She groaned rubbed her neck. One night stand? How classy of her at 31. She leaned down to pick up a picture off the floor and her stomach churned. She bolted for her bathroom and spent the next hour heaving. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She couldn't recall ever being this hungover in her life. She remembered almost nothing of the night as she fumbled for painkillers and a water from the mini-fridge in her room. She dug a scarf out of her dresser and wrapped it around her neck. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She opened the door and padded down the hallway to the large open kitchen area. She needed to eat before her stomach decided to start heaving again. She stared into the refrigerator and lost all will to cook. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""You're alive." Steve commented from a stool on the other side of the marble island./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She hadn't even seen him, a testament to how awful she felt. She never missed anything. "Jesus!" She gasped and grabbed her pounding heart./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Steve laughed and nudged coffee towards her. As Sam and Tony entered the room with bags of take-out. Greasy food suddenly sounded wonderful. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Look what the cat dragged in." Tony smiled at her, "You've seen better days."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She rolled her eyes which actually hurt to do. She rubbed her head. "I'm never drinking champagne again."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Steve laughed lightly, "You sure it wasn't the many shots you did?"/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Shots?" she said in disbelief./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Sam looked amused, "You don't remember a damn thing do you?"/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Tony handed her a burger, "Didn't think Russians could get black out drunk."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"She was too hungover to even defend herself. She picked at the burger, feeling better the more she ate. "I blame all of you."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""You had fun, Red." Stark defended and handed her his phone. A series of pictures showed her just how much fun she had. Dancing. Flirting. Oh the poor guy she flirted with. He didn't stand a chance. Not with the sinful dress and her skill set of manipulating men. What was his name? Clearly it was a good night, she woke up naked and marked up. Her room in shambles. She half wished she remembered it./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""She sure did..." Sam commented./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""What's that supposed to mean?" She quipped. Stealing fries from Steve's plate. /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Sam smirked, "You know my room is next to yours. Should I repeat what I heard… 5 times last night."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha blushed. Five times. She hurled a wrapper at Sam and pegged him in the head. Tony laughed, "Way to go, Romanoff."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Steve, bless him, looked absolutely uncomfortable. "Alright, enough. Clearly she had a good time. Let's leave it at that."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"Natasha huffed and rubbed her eyes. "I don't remember anything."/span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;""Well the poor sap you caught in your web is a New York Senator. James Whitten." Tony recalled./span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;" /span/pre
pre style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New', serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', serif; color: #212121;"James. Natasha ducked her head. Steve looked at her firmly. Both of them knowing how painful of a mistake she made. /span/pre