The rope that's wrapped around me, is cutting through my skin,

And the doubts that have surrounded me, are finding their way in,

I keep it close to me, like a holy man prays,

In my desperate hour, it's better that way,

So I'll come by and see you again, I'll be such a very good friend,

Have mercy on my soul, I will never let you know, where my mind has been,

Angels never came down, there's no one here they want to hang around,

But if they knew, if they knew you at all, then one by one the angels, angels would fall,

I've crept into your temple, I have slept upon your pew, I've dreamed of the divinity, inside and out of you,

I want it more than truth, I can taste it on my breath, I would give my life just for a little death,

So I'll come by and see you again, I'll be just a very good friend,

I will not look upon your face, I will not touch upon your grace, your ecclesiastic skin,

I'll come by and see you again, I'll have to be a very good friend,

If I whisper, they will know, I'll just turn around and go, you will never know my sin

Angels Would Fall - Melissa Etheridge

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It's only their second day on the island and Tony wakes up to the sound of the waves on the beach and the birds singing in the trees. Rolling out of bed, he looks out at the white sand and catches a glimpse of Natasha walking back towards the house. He knows that she's been running as evidenced by the sports bra and shorts she wears, along with the running shoes.

"Sir, I believe there is something you and Miss Romanov should see." Artie says as he heads towards his in-suite bathroom.

"Tell Natasha I'll be down in ten minutes." He tells the AI, using the facilities before he steps into his shower.

It doesn't take him long to finish his shower and then he's dressed in loose lounge pants and a plain undershirt. As he walks down the stairs, he can hear the water running in Natasha's room. He goes to the kitchen and makes two iced coffees, setting Natasha's to the side as he drinks almost half of his and starts to throw together a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit. Moments later Natasha walks down the stairs in a cropped white, halter top and high-waisted blue, shorts. Both colors were pale enough to show the first hints of color on her pale skin. Her red hair was slicked back away from her face and she had no make-up on.

"Artie said there was something we needed to see?" She asks him as she picks up her iced coffee and takes a sip before grabbing one of the plates he's put together.

"Yeah, I haven't looked yet. Pull it up, Artie."

The wall closest to them shimmered a moment before a slightly blurry photo popped up on the screen of Natasha and Tony walking towards his private jet. Natasha's head was covered by a baseball cap and her face was in shadow, but Tony's was very clear. The caption below the picture read: Tony Stark on vacation with Mystery Woman. Who is she and where is Pepper Potts?

The screen changes and Tony curses when he sees Christine Everheart smiling into the camera.

"Tony Stark has apparently run off with a woman that is very clearly not Virginia "Pepper" Potts. The CEO of Stark Industries has not returned any requests for comments. Whoever the mystery woman is, she sure is lucky, as this picture clearly shows. The source behind the photograph wishes to remain anonymous but they freely admitted that the smiling couple were in the Bahamas."

A picture shows on the screen behind Christine Everheart and Tony recognizes the airport where they'd landed. He was opening the passenger door of the Jaguar for Natasha and she was smiling up at him, though most of her face was still hidden by the ball cap and now Aviator sunglasses.

"There's been no word yet on if the billionaire is still pursuing a relationship with Miss Potts. Maybe their respective careers, and Tony Stark's rock star status as a superhero were just too much for the couple to handle. We here at the studio have to hand it to the mystery woman, getting Stark to take you to the Bahamas for a fling might just be the smoothest move we've seen from one of his many short flings over the years."

The wall darkens back to its original state and Tony just gapes for a moment before risking a glance at Natasha. Amazingly, she doesn't look angry. Instead, she looks slightly amused.

"Well, that's going to be interesting." Is all she says before biting into a piece of mango.

Meanwhile in Wakanda

Clint's sitting on the couch in the living space that he shares with Rogers, Wilson, Maximoff, and Lang. He's been debating on trying to call Natasha, wondering where she is. He thought that she would have gotten in touch with him by now. The rest of the team seems to be in the same frame of mind and Steve has offered multiple times to help him find her. He'd told Steve that Natasha would touch base when she felt she needed to, if she was hiding, they'd never find her.

He flips through the channels, stopping on a gossip channel when he hears Stark mentioned.

"Stark's rock star status as a superhero were just too much for the couple to handle. We here at the studio have to hand it to the mystery woman, getting Stark to take you to the Bahamas for a fling might just be the smoothest move we've seen from one of his many short flings over the years."

A few pictures slide across the screen and Clint can only shake his head. He wasn't aware that Potts and Stark had broken it off but obviously the man couldn't be taking it too hard, if he was already with someone else. The woman in the picture couldn't be seen clearly but she looked pretty enough. Usually, Stark went for women who were taller, skinnier, with longer hair. This woman was short, curvy, and her hair was short enough to be completely hidden by a ball cap.

"Who is that?" Steve asks from behind him.

"I have no idea. I didn't even know him and Potts were separated." Clint answers.

"Yeah, he told me. Before all of this happened." Steve says with a slight shrug as he moves to sit next to Clint. "He seemed pretty broken up about it."

"Sure seems fine now." Wilson says as he walks over and sits in the chair near them.

"Trust Stark to run away from his problems by falling back into old habits." Clint shakes his head as he starts flipping through the channels again.

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Tony wakes up again, and hears the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. Something is different, though, and he immediately realizes why. Natasha is lying beside him, the moonlight streaming through the windows making her skin glow and casting the room in a silver tint. At some point in the night, he pushed the covers off the bed. It has become a habit when he has nightmares. He must have called out at some point. Or Artie alerted Natasha.

Now, here she was, lying beside him in a jade green pajama set. The silky material makes it look like she's wearing jewels and he knows the color brings out her eyes. He remembers from when they watched a movie before bed. Then, she'd had a matching robe over her outfit. The shorts were small and fit her well, while the top was designed to look loose but not accidentally reveal anything.

She had half of her body covering half of his, her slim, muscular thigh draped over his hips, and her arm draped over his chest and shoulder. Her slim fingers grazed his hair and he has a faint memory of someone twirling the ends of his hair. It must have been her when she slipped into his bed.

Without thinking too hard about it, Tony slips his arm around her waist, drawing her in tighter. She sighs lightly, her fingers moving to brush his hair again but she doesn't wake. He doesn't know if he'll ever get another chance like this, to admire her so close. She's almost supernaturally beautiful. It almost hurts.

He doesn't realize it at first, but his hand has moved her top up so his fingers can graze the soft skin of her hip. She arches into him, not unlike a cat, and he smiles softly. He wants her. He has always wanted her. But that's not what she needs from him. She needs a friend. Someone who will be there for her, knowing her story, or at least, knowing parts, and still chooses her. He thinks he can do that for her. He can be her friend.