So far Natasha's first Thanksgiving had been pretty amusing. When she got up and went into the kitchen, she found Clint was already there, stirring pots, chopping vegetables and trying to keep a cookbook open, even as it kept closing on itself again and again. He had ordered her to leave the room, go watch TV or something, but she had insisted on staying. She had suspected that watching Clint Barton attempt to cook would be far more entertaining than anything she would find on TV, and turns out she had been right.
Natasha was far from an expert on cooking herself- But she was pretty sure Barton's cooking methods were what most people would consider unconventional. He was using one of his specialty throwing knives to cut up vegetables, claimed he didn't need to measure everything and that most of the instructions in the recipes were more "suggestions" than actual steps he should follow. If he wasn't sure what to do next, he would usually stick the food in a pot and put it on the stove, in the hopes things would work out ok. He refused to let Natasha help, much to her irritation, insisting that "she was the guest, and would she please just go watch TV or sharpen her knives or something?"
The kitchen was soon a giant mess, but the meal was coming together, and actually was looking and smelling pretty good. Around noon Clint shoved one last casserole dish into the already crowded fridge, checked on the turkey, and collapsed into a chair at the table next to Natasha. "I swear Romanoff, if after eating my Thanksgiving dinner you still say you hate Thanksgiving, you are insane." Tasha rolled her eyes, "I never said I hated it Barton. Never celebrating something and hating something are two totally different things." Clint grinned, "Ok, whatever. I guess if you say you hate my cooking you are insane then. Especially after I have been slaving over a stove all morning." Natasha scoffed, "Ok, I offered to help at least a dozen times. You kept being an idiot and insisting I was the guest. You wanted to cook everything alone, you can't blame that on me." Clint just smirked, and walked back to the fridge where he grabbed a soda.
They sat in silence for a minute, then Clint asked, "Hey, would you want to go on a walk? We have a couple hours before that turkey's ready. I could show you more of the farm, maybe we could walk down the road a bit, could be fun." Natasha just shrugged, and stood up to go get her coat. "Ok, sure, sounds better than sitting around staring at each other. Let's go, farm boy."
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It was a blustery day out, windy, the sky blocked by heavy gray clouds. A thin kind of sunshine streamed through gaps in them, but did not provide any warmth. Anyone other than the two super spy's would also probably say it was freezing out. Of course they were used to cold weather from various missions all over the world- And heck Natasha was Russian, this was considered nice weather in her book. The assassins walked in silence for a bit, Natasha enjoying the cold weather, Clint wishing he had put a warmer coat on. They had just left the house, and were walking in the direction of the road that led out of Clint's farm. Before long Clint was pointing out various places where things had happened to him as a kid- Mostly places where he had hurt himself. "Oh! See that tree? I was playing hide and seek when I was four, and fell out of it because I climbed to high. Broke my arm….. Didn't stop me from climbing though. Ah! See that corral there? We used to have a couple of cows, one year my brother convinced me to ride one of them, I must have been seven. I rode the nicest cow, and she totally went nuts. I fell off, almost got trampled by a half dozen terrified cows, and got a concussion. Oh! And then there I cracked open my-" Natasha interrupted, "Do you have ANY stories that are not about you doing stupid things and getting hurt Barton?" Clint smirked, "Um…. I guess I have a few, but what fun are those? I guess I've always been a little daredevil." Tasha shot back, "More like you've always been a little bit of an idiot." Clint just rolled his eyes at this, before pointing out where he had once cornered a raccoon and gotten bitten. Suddenly they were standing next to the barn. It was a massive building, and clearly had once looked quite impressive, but was now practically falling apart. Natasha had walked by it dozens of times, but for some reason had never gone inside. Today she stopped, and nodded at it.
"What about in here? I bet you hurt yourselves tons of times in that death trap." She was joking, but Clint didn't quite smile back. The joking gleam in his eyes had faded, his shoulders slumped slightly. "Um, yeah, I did get hurt in there a ton. But it used to look super nice….. The whole farm used to look really good. I've let it go though, now it's all kind of a death trap I guess. Things are fallen apart, fences are broke, I've got wild animals running all over..." The look on his face was so genuinely sad, that Natasha felt guilty for insulting the barn. "Hey, come on. It doesn't look THAT bad Barton. Come on, show me the place you broke a bone in this barn because you were probably trying to stand on top of a wild horse or something else equally stupid…" Clint smiled at her, and grabbing Natasha's hand pulled her into the old building.
She thought it would be dark and gloomy inside- But the roof was riddled with gaping holes- no, more than that, entire patches of the roof were just gone. It was probably dangerous in here, it looked like the whole thing might collapse at the slightest breeze. But the lack of a normal roof meant that sunshine (what there was of it) was shining through the gaps, bringing light to the entire building. Huge windows were on many of the walls, and though they were coated with thick layers of grime, thin light faintly shone through them too.
Natasha had expected a crowded dank barn. But with the lack of a normal roof, the sunlight filling the building, walls of windows and overall emptiness of the place, it was strangely beautiful in here. Clint kicked at some of the dust on the ground, and was looking around. "We kept all our equipment in here. Tractors, plows, seeds, leftovers of whatever we grew and didnt sell. We had a horse once, but I don't remember that very well. If we' had it when I was older though you're right, I probably would have hurt myself with it. He winked at Natasha as he said this, but she was busy walking around, softly moving her feet through the thick layers of dust coating the ground.
Clint sighed. "I don't come in here a lot. We didn't have a ton growing up, but I remember what was in this barn. And when we had to sell it all. Tractors, tools, the animals…. It just depresses me coming in here. Makes me feel guilty for having the farm and not doing anything with it- Makes me wonder if I should just sell it to someone who would actually use it instead of leaving it empty for most of the year…" Natasha turned to her partner, Clint was staring down at his feet.
If Natasha was a different kind of person she might have tried to make him feel better now. Heck, if this had been happening even a year from now she probably would have said something to cheer Clint up. Maybe make a joke, or point out that he was busy saving the world, and that was worth more than just keeping a farm going. Or maybe she would have told him that she understood why he was still holding on to the farm, even if years went by without him visiting it. Because the Black Widow had never really had a home- But she knew that if she did, nothing would ever convince her to let it go. No matter what. She would hold on to it for as long as she could, and just relish in the fact that she had somewhere from her childhood. A place she belonged.
But Natasha was still not fully used to being a friend, surely not comfortable with saying anything like that to anyone. Not even her partner. So Instead of saying anything, she walked over grabbed Clint's hand and led him out of the barn.
_
They had been walking for maybe half an hour now, and were no longer on Clint's property according to him. He had suggested they walk down to where his closest neighbor was, and then walk back, saying that if they did the turkey should be ready by the time they got back. Natasha had agreed, and spent most of the walk listening to yet more stories of Clint getting injured as a child, both on his farm and later on when he worked in the circus.
They were in front of a large farmhouse now, Natasha noted that the farm some distance behind it looked to be in much better shape than Clint's. Still she privately thought that his looked a lot nicer- Clint's barn might have bee run down, but it had a lot of potential. Plus it was huge. "So, do we turn back here?" She asked, already turning around, knowing the answer to her own question. Clint was nodding- when they heard a gun fire. Instantly Strike Team Delta was on high alert, hidden weapons came out, and the began to move towards the sound of the gun, while looking for cover. But then, another shot went off, and a scrawny looking dog bolted out from behind the house. A furious looking man was trying to run after the animal, but his hefty body build was slowing him down. He was waving a shotgun in the air, and shouting obscenities at the dog. Natasha glanced at her partner, and seeing that he had tucked his knife back away, she did the same with her gun.
Clint was running, intercepting the man before he could again try and fire a bullet at the dog. "Hey! What's the big idea? What the hell are you doing man?" The gun wielder was sweating profusely, and his face was red with anger. The dog scampered off into the woods. "That damn dog- It has been sniffing around my farm for too long! Digging in my garbage, sleeping on my porch, digging up my wives garden- but this is the last straw! It broke into the chicken coop, and was trying to kill one of my birds! I have prize winning chickens, I am not going to let a damn mongrel just hang around my farm and kill my birds! If he comes back I'm going to shoot him." The man's voice raised, he was shouting now, he turned back to where the dog had run off. "HEAR THAT MUTT? I'M GOING TO SHOOT YOU IF YOU COME BACK ON MY PROPERTY!" Breathing heavily, gun still in hand, the man turned back to where Clint had been a moment before. But the archer (and his partner) where both gone. Annoyed, swearing under his breathe, the angry man stormed back into his mouth muttering about stupid dogs and idiots who couldn't stick around to finish a conversation.
Clint was running, chasing after where the dog had run off to- And presumably to where Natasha had gone. Luckily it seemed she wanted Clint to follow her, because he found it easy to find her trail and follow it. Of course he was also able to follow the trail of the dog, confirming his initial guess that his partner had run off after the animal.. Clint soon found Natasha, crouching next to a thick bush, cooing in various languages to the scared animal inside. She knew that he was there, but she didn't acknowledge him, he didn't interrupt her. It took almost an hour for her to get the frightened animal out. Clint wanted to stay with Natasha and the dog, but was starting to get worried that back home the turkey was going to burn- and burn his farm down. Just when he was about to head back by himself, the dog slowly poked it's head out.
It was obviously a mutt. If Natasha had to guess, she would say it probably had some golden retriever in it, maybe some lab. It was covered in mud, dirt, and who knew what else, but as it slowly came out of the bush, Natasha and Clint saw the poor animal was slowly wagging its tail. Natasha reached out her hand, and cautiously pet the dog. The tail began wagging even harder, soon the dog looked like it was stuck to Natasha's side. She glanced up at Clint, who was grinning gleefully, and reaching forward to pet the dog himself. "Barton Don't even think about it. All we are doing is saving this mutt from some idiot who wanted to shoot him,just for eating some dumb chickens. Let's get him home, clean him up, hopefully we'll find someone who wants a new dog tomorrow." Clint just shrugged, grinning, "I didn't say anything! You're right, let's get him home- before our dinner burns my house down."
Clearly Natasha had earned the dogs trust- He didn't object when she took off her jacket, and tied it around the animals neck in a kind of makeshift leash. It happily walked back to the farm with the two assassins, tail wagging nonstop, licking their hands when he could reach them, thrilled to be getting some positive attention for once.
_
As soon as they got back to Clint's house, Barton pulled the turkey from the oven, and drew a bath to wash the dog. Natasha had insisted they should just hose him off outside. It would be much easier, and besides, who knew what kind of bugs the mongrel might have on him. But Clint had been horrified. "Are you kidding Natasha? This poor puppy, has been living out in the woods for who knows how long, with no one to take care of him, and you just want to hose him off? Gosh, I bet you were just going to give him a couple scoops of dog food too." Natasha rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day. "It's a dog. You are supposed to give it dog food. It's good for them." Clint just pretended not to hear her, and grabbed the leash from her hand, urging the dog to follow him. Clearly the dog had decided that thought Natasha had been the one to coax him out of a bush, Clint was the one who was going to be his new best friend. He kept jumping up on the archer, not seeming to care where he was going, just happy someone was paying attention to him.
Natasha followed the two of them, and warned her partner, "Whatever you do don't name it. We both know you can't keep a dog. If you name it you'll get attached to it." It could not have been more than five minutes later when she went up into the bathroom, holding some extra towels she was sure Clint was going to need. Already the dog was in the tub, covered in bubbles, wagging it's tail vigorously not seeming to understand that it's every movement sprayed more soapy water across the already drenched room. Clint was pretty much soaked too, but he looked as happy as a kid in a candy store- Or more like as happy as a kid with a brand new pet.
"Oh, come on, buddy, you're getting water all over! Calm down, then we'll give you some food!" Natasha blocked herself with one of the towels just in time to avoid the wave of water that splashed towards her. "Barton, I told you don't name it! Don't call it Buddy!' Clint rolled his eyes, and squeezed a generous heaping pile of shampoo onto the dog, and began rubbing it into the animals fur. "I'm not an idiot Tash. Who would name their dog Buddy anyway? I was just calling him that as a nickname." Natasha was relieved, finally her partner had listened to her for once. Then he spoke again. "I was actually thinking of naming him Lucky. Well, ok, it's a tie between Lucky, and Pizza. I mean, they are both such great names!" The archer turned towards the dog. "It's your name, what do you like more? Lucky or Pizza?" The dogs eyes were half closed, he seemed to be enjoying the bath. He wagged his tail vigorously again when Clint spoke though. "Ok, Lucky it is! See Nat? He loves it! We can't just un-name him now!"
Natasha had a thousand responses for this. Clint couldn't get attached to this animal, he couldn't keep a dog on Shield property, Fury would never allow that. A dog wasn't like a cat, Clint couldn't just keep it here on the farm either. Basically he was just hurting himself by getting attached to this animal when he was just going to have to give it up. And Lucky was a stupid name, at least Pizza was more original. But Natasha didn't say any of this. Her partner just looked so- Happy. She decided she would just figure out this whole mess later. For now, why not enjoy herself? Or at least why not help Barton so the dog actually got clean, and the bathroom didn't get more waterlogged than it already was.
So, instead of bursting Clint's bubble and insisting he couldn't name a dog, or going downstairs to research animal shelters, Natasha sat down besides her partner and helped to give Lucky his much needed bath.
The rest of the night was extremely nice. It turned out Clint wasn't that bad of a cook, and the entire meal tasted pretty good. At least it was probably better than anything Natasha could have made. They ate until they couldn't any more, and fed Lucky more than enough scraps. The dog was clearly in heaven, and was happy for every last bit of food and attention he was given. Natasha went outside and left out a small plate of turkey scraps for Galina the cat.
And the next couple of day were nice too. They played with the dog a lot, Natasha tried her hand at cooking dinner one night, and that was also the night where they ordered pizza after she burnt most of the food. They walked all over Clint's land, and did all of their training in the abandoned barn. That was one of Natasha's favorite things to do- Especially the time they trained in their one night, when the only light came from the stars gleaming through the broken roof above them.
But then of course they had to go back to Shield- And when they went, Clint brought Lucky with him. Coulson didn't even look surprised when he first saw the dog. Just requested they please keep it out of Fury's way, and suggested Clint might want to look for an apartment where a dog could stay.
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