I finally stopped failing at life (for the moment) and posted chapter five of Unmade! I hope you enjoy it!
Bad Tony! Don't you know this is a Clint/Tasha story? You always manage to make yourself the center of attention... XD
The group stood in a circle around Thor and Loki, watching as the Asgardians vanished in a flash of blue energy. The remaining Avengers exchanged a few brief parting words and prepared to go their separate ways.
Pepper had arranged for Captain Roger's motorcycle to be brought to the tower from his New York apartment. He wished everyone well and headed down the boulevard, smiling as he felt the wind rushing over him. When the world needed them again, they would be there.
Natasha pulled the suitcase containing Dr. Banner's things from the Helicarrier out of the back of the vehicle Nick Fury had dispatched for his agents. Bruce accepted it with a small grin, still a little in awe of the woman. He didn't know all the details of what happened when he became The Other Guy on the flagship, but from what he'd managed to glean he'd really done a number on the former Russian assassin. The fact that agent Romanoff could look him in the eye and even grace him with a smile after what he must have put her through… It was a testament to the woman's strength of will.
"Well kids, it's been a pleasure working with you. Where are you headed?" Tony Stark asked as he approached the trio.
"There's an auxiliary S.H.I.E.L.D. facility not far from here, we'll wait there till Fury calls us in." Natasha replied with a long-suffering sigh. It was too early in the day for Stark's impertinent tone of voice.
The billionaire shot the spy a cheeky grin, "Aw, now that's no fun. I have a much better idea." Tony extracted a handheld tablet from his suit jacket and held it out to the redhead. Clint closed the trunk of the car and approached them then, glancing from Stark to Natasha.
"What's that for?" The marksman asked.
"Well among other things it's an access key for my house on the grounds of a working vineyard and winery I own upstate." Iron Man replied.
Natasha's scarlet brow quirked sardonically. "A winery?" She questioned as she took the device from him, turning it over in her hand.
"Yep. I bought it the last time Pepper told me I needed to stop drinking." Tony responded with a pleased grin. Bruce chuckled at the man's blatantly unapologetic satisfaction. Tony Stark elevated being a wiseass to an art form; Miss Potts had to have the patience of a saint.
"Thank you, but it's far too generous." She refuted with a guarded, false smile at Anthony. Natasha was certain she had disabled the security system in Clint's room last night, but an offering like this could only mean Stark was on to what was between her and the marksman. The thought made her bristle with apprehension. Tony was their teammate now and she even grudgingly admitted to occasionally enjoying the man's smart-mouthed conduct, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents could not afford to have their relationship exposed in any way. That kind of information in the wrong hands was worse than deadly. She held the device back out to the billionaire.
"Please. I insist." Tony suddenly became uncharacteristically serious, "People like us that do… What we do… We don't get many second chances. We should make the most of them the rare times they come along." He looked from Natasha to Clint and back. "Besides, you two love birds will have the whole place to yourselves, so you won't have to ruin any more of my expensive security equipment." Stark took a step back, partly because he didn't like being handed things and partly because the Widow looked like she might hurt him if he remained within her reach.
Hawkeye chuckled in his throat at the poisonous look the redhead shot at Stark; he supposed he shouldn't be surprised that the man had put two and two together. Iron Man was supposed to be some kind of super-genius, though in the archer's opinion he wasn't making a very smart decision by teasing Natasha. The spy looked at him for confirmation and he nodded at her, silently affirming that he would go along with whatever she decided to do.
"Thank you, Stark." Natasha relented in a rare display of trust, granting him a genuine smile this time.
Clint walked around to the driver's side of their car, grinning and tossing his head in farewell to the pair of scientists as they walked back to Anthony's sleek sports car. When Natasha joined her partner in the vehicle Dr. Banner risked a glance back at the agents as they drove away.
"So those two are…" Bruce prompted when they got into the car.
"Yep. Mum's the word." Tony responded. He handed the doctor his handheld with a gleeful expression. He was almost disappointed that agent Romanoff hadn't tried to fold him into a pretzel for letting on that he was aware of her relationship with the marksman. They made such an adorable-yet-deadly couple.
Bruce looked down at the tablet then back to Tony uncomfortably, not entirely sure he wanted to see whatever evidence Stark had acquired to back up his claim. But the billionaire just nodded his insistence that he should watch the recording pulled up on the device. Banner put on his glasses and held up the screen. The video was a security feed of a hallway in Stark Tower, softly lit by the first rays of morning and completely vacant. For a moment Bruce wondered if Tony was just messing with him, then the door the camera was pointed at opened.
The Black Widow's profile was silhouetted in the doorway, she stood with her arms folded and her chin tipped down almost to her chest. Hawkeye appeared next to her and spoke, but there was no audio on the recording. Bruce's eyes narrowed as he watched the pair of agents talking for a moment, then he looked back at Tony with an unimpressed expression.
"Just wait for it." Stark responded to Banner's unspoken question with a devilish grin.
The scientist looked back at the small screen. Agent Romanoff turned her face away from her partner and Bruce caught a rare glimpse of raw, undiluted emotion on the spy's face. Agent Barton reached out and hooked his finger under Natasha's chin, drawing her face up to meet his. Her mouth moved again and Barton grinned at whatever she said, then brought his lips down on hers. The light kiss rapidly boiled over into something hungry and heated, and Banner quickly clicked the video off, chuckling awkwardly. He set Anthony's tablet in the center console and the pair drove in silence for a moment.
"I'm glad for them." Bruce said with genuine warmth, though shadows of well-worn sadness flickered in his dark brown eyes.
"So am I." Tony agreed, offering his friend an encouraging smile.
