Chapter 2
She pulled her head away, standing up and leaning against the wall a few feet away, avoiding my gaze. "When you left the first time..." She started, "after the whole Loki business... I felt horrible, angry at myself for not believing you. I was furious, picking a fight with the others for no reason, staying in my room, punching things with no need... Just to try and go back to normal... But after two or three weeks... Well I realised it was more than that. More than a simple guilty conscience. So i set out to find you, the others joining in one by one. After a year of searching, hoping, to find you, I finally gave up. Then a few months later we were drugged, taken, by Justin Hammer himself" she continued, glancing up a me, "then i found you". "You called me a selfish bastard" I said grinning and she laughed slightly, "I did. But you deserved that". "Yea I kind of did" I admitted walking over to her. "And then when you came back in when those men beat you up..." She trailed off and I shuddered at the memory. Water... There was so much water...
"I thought you were gone" she said, her voice breaking half way through, "then you started coughing and cursing Bruce..." She laughed at that, but I was shocked to see tears in her eyes. "And you decided to go out again, finding the exit and helping us escape" she said, wiping away the tears with her sleeve, "I'll never forgive myself for leaving you there. Just when you needed help the most..." "And then there was the kiss" I muttered and she nodded, "then there was the kiss". It was silent for another few minutes until I looked back up at her grinning, "You got to admit though, I'm a good kisser". She laughed again, the tears slowly falling down her face, "yea, so you think. I've gotten kissed better by a drunken Clint Barton, and that's pretty bad". "...Third time lucky?" I asked hopefully. "That's what you said last time" she whispered as i stepped in closer to her. "Yea, but we weren't thinking straight last time" I replied quietly, lifting up her head again, her green eyes sparkling. "3's my lucky number" she whispered slowly and I grinned, leaning down, "mine too".
"I must go" she said suddenly, ducking under my arm before I could kiss her. A split second later I heard the door open... Then close... And she was gone. Angrily, I slammed my fist against the wall, cursing in Portuguese. Why the fuck had I done that? I had tried to kiss her, just when she was the most vulnerable. I was... Had been... taking advantage of the situation and I hated myself for it.
It was three weeks later when Natasha came back again. And things were... Awkward. I think she was just angry at herself for breaking down on me and at the same time I was angry with myself for being an all-time jerk. "...You want coffee?" I asked eventually. We'd been staring at the four walls for the past 20 minutes unsure what to say. "Sure. Sounds great" she replied quickly and i slowly stood up, wandering into the kitchen. I had to sort this mess out. I didn't know how. I would just apologise... buy her another Teddy Bear... Maybe even a bunch of flowers. But I had to make this right.
"Thanks" she muttered as I handed her the cup, taking my own to the table and sitting down. Ok. Deep breaths. You're not admitting to murder. Remember that. Looking up at her I gulped. This was so much harder than it should be. "Um... About the other day" I stared but she cut me off, "it's fine. Honestly. I was gone soft, you got mislead. Simple as that". "...you sure?" I asked and she nodded, "I'm sure. Let's just forget about it ok?"."...ok" I said. Glad that was over. "So... I... Um... Found a job" I said after a few minutes, silently cursing myself for the bad topic choice at a really inappropriate moment. Luckily, she seemed happy to change subject and grinned, "What dya pick?" "The English teacher" I admitted. "Seriously?" "Yea, schools just around the corner, it's got good money in it, and lets me get better at Italian" i replied shrugging and she smirked, "do they know you don't have a college degree?" "They... Don't. But I got a few resources who can fix that" i replied grinning and she laughed and man, was it good to hear her laugh again. I never knew how much I'd missed it until now. "What?" She asked smiling as she caught me staring at her. I smirked but looked away, "nothing. But hey, since I got a job. I got cash. And due to some miraculous saving. I have money left". She stared at me blankly and I sighed, "Want to go for lunch?" She laughed again, "Lunch? Its 7pm Stark. It's dinner time if anything". I shrugged again, "We can still go for Lunch. I did promise you after all". "...go on then" she said smiling and i grinned, standing up, "And I know just the place".