Here it is...Chapter 2...Enjoy :)

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Natasha set her bags down on her new bed, Avenger Tower was just a high tech version of Stark Tower, if that's even possible, there was exactly 93 floors and Natasha had no idea why there were so many, and she knows that maybe she never will. Each floor was massive in itself and each avenger was given their own floor to be their living space, they had their own personal gym and training area, their own bathroom, kitchen and lounge, as well as two bedrooms, one slightly bigger than the other. Tony had given his team mates the grand tour while their mouths hung open.

Bruce had taken it graciously, asking Tony if he could turn the second bedroom into a lab, which Tony had agreed.

Steve was a little out of his depth, shocked at such a grand gesture on Tony's behalf, but took it all the same.

Whereas Clint and Natasha shook their heads in despair, they were used to crap hotels in foreign countries while on missions, having to share a bed and not shower for days. In the end Clint had suggested that he and Natasha shared a floor, the floors were too big for either of them to stay there alone. Natasha had agreed and so that's what they did, Clint gave the bigger bedroom to his partner.

Now they were unpacking and getting ready for dinner.

Natasha had to dress up for dinner, an order through JARVIS from Tony, she wore a tight black dress with three quarter length sleeves, it came just above her knees; a comfortable length. She slipped into black heals and headed for the elevator. When she got to the silver doors Clint was already there waiting for it, she noted how unusually smart he looked, wearing black dress pants with a white shirt and black tie, typically the shirt was un tucked and his top button was undone, leaving him looking a little less smarter. "You look shockingly nice Nat." He joked as she walked towards him.

"You don't look too bad yourself." She replied, it looked like he was about to say something else when the doors opened up, revealing Steve and Bruce stood before them smiling.

"Nice dress." Bruce complimented emotionlessly as they boarded the elevator. Like Clint, Bruce wore Black dress pants and a black tie, he had a purple shirt on but unlike Clint, it was both tucked in and buttoned up. Steve however wore a grey suit, blazer and all, with a black shirt and a grey tie.

They reached the dining room to find Tony and Pepper already sat down, from what Natasha could see, Pepper was in a business like, cream dress and Tony wore the same as Bruce, only with a white shirt instead of purple. They sat down for dinner and the conversation started.

"I hope you enjoy the food." Pepper started "I cooked."

"Be honoured, it's a rare occurrence." Tony replied, earning him a glare from pepper and laughs from the others around the candlelit table. "I'm going to pay for that later." He then observed.

"I'm not going to be that subtle." She smiled. "So is everything okay with everyone's rooms?"

Bruce was the first to speak "Great thanks, that second room will be perfect for a lab."

The same unimportant conversation lasted for most of the night until it reached 11pm. JARVIS spoke unexpectedly, causing everyone to jump "Sir, are you going to ask her yet or shall I ask for you?" Natasha laughed at JARVIS' very human like quality.

"Thank you JARVIS." Tony said sarcastically "I guess I'm going to have to now."

"That was the plan Sir."

Tony stood up while everyone's eyes were on him, for once in his life he seemed nervous. He took hold of Pepper's hand and made her stand, then he crouched to the floor on one knee. "I didn't think I would be ready to do this for a while." He started awkwardly "But when I took that missile through the portal and I thought I would never see you again, I knew I couldn't live without you." He took the ring out of his pocket. "Miss Potts, will you marry me?"

Pepper's hand flew to her mouth and she nodded, relieving one hand for Tony to put the ring on. Everyone cheered.

The boys went to bed shortly after the proposal but Natasha and Pepper had stayed to clean up, they were stood at the sink, Pepper washing, Natasha drying, not making an effort at good conversation.

"Congrats by the way." Natasha told the strawberry blonde "I didn't get chance to tell you earlier."

"Thanks. But it's not my love life that I want to talk about." Pepper replied, making Natasha a bit uncharacteristically nervous.

"I don't have a love life, love is for children." Pepper put down the plate she was washing at the red-heads response.

"Are you asking me or telling me? I'm not convinced that you truly feel that way."

"Well I do." Natasha fired back quickly "Why would you think any different?"

Pepper thought for a while about her answer, aware that a wrong answer could cost her life. "I just figured by the way you and Clint are together."

"and how are we together?" Natasha asked sourly.

"The two of you are like... magnets! When one moves, the other changes their position to contrast the other. Oh and Tony's told me how you acted when you found out that Clint had been compromised. You would give your life for his." Pepper's explanation made Natasha think carefully, she was right, that was exactly how they were around each other, Natasha trusted Barton with her life, it's what made them great partners. She had to think hard for a way out of this situation.

"Like I told Loki when he said the same thing, Clint spared my life, I have red in my leger and I want to wipe it clean. As for the magnets shit..." Pepper didn't look convinced, making Natasha stall as she found an easy response "...We're partners, we have to trust each other and have the others back. Even off duty we work together to stop potential risks, sorry to disappoint but I really don't have a love life, especially not with Clint." Natasha took the plate Pepper offered her and began to dry it silently, the silence droned on for a while until Pepper thought of another argument.

"What about living on the same floor?" She offered "You must be comfortable with each other to be able to do that."

"We're also friends, it's just easier for us to share the floor." Natasha knew she was losing this argument but Pepper decided to let it slide, she wouldn't get anything from the spy. She would have to try Clint tomorrow. They finished the cleaning up in silence and then shared a simple and friendly farewell on the way to their rooms.

Natasha grabbed her pyjamas and headed to the bathroom without waking Clint. She headed into bed and prepared for a long sleepless night, nightmares were inevitable, but so was sleep. She eventually drifted off to be greeted by her usual dream.

She was lay in her bed in the temporary SHIELD HQ looking over some blurred out file on her previous mission, the only sound was that of the heavy footsteps, she could hear them getting closer to her room at the end of the hall, the footsteps were close now, either going to her room or the room opposite which belonged to Agent Barton. Normally she would be able to identify whose footsteps they were but her senses had been dulled in the dream. The footsteps stopped outside of her room, she sat upright on her bed, feeling alert and worried at who it was, they knocked on the door and she grabbed her gun from under her pillow, pointing it at the wooden door. The person let themselves into the unlocked room. Natasha dropped her gun when she noticed Clint in the doorway, he was no threat with his blue/grey eyes and black clothing. He walked over to her and she got off of the bed, throwing the file onto the place she was just sitting and smiled. He returned the smile effortlessly. Unexpectedly he pulled her quickly in for a passionate kiss which she returned without thought like it was a usual occurrence, she pulled herself closer to him and locked her hands into his hair as he wrapped his around her waist, she jumped up and clasped her legs around his waist and he backed her into the wall. The kiss lasted for several long minuets, the spies rarely stopping for breath. They pulled apart to get their heart rates down and Natasha slowly opened her eyes to look into his. His normal blue/grey eyes had been replaced with the bright blue of Loki's control. Natasha let out a frantic call of his name as he plunged the dagger into her side, she slid down the wall bleeding out on the grey carpet. There was no mercy in his eyes, then he kills her, slowly, intimately and in every way he knows that she fears.

Natasha awoke and sat bolt upright with a shriek. Her breath was ragged and her heart beat uneven. She hoped that no one had heard her and believed that no one had, until a frantic Clint came running into her room. "Nat?" He spoke in the dark "You okay? I heard you scream." He flicked on the light switch and they were both blinded by the bulb. She nodded slightly to show that it was psychological pain not physical, it was one of their many secret codes. "Bad dream?" He asked, she once again nodded in return, unable to look him in the eye or speak. "Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head. Clint was worried about her, you could see it in his eyes, he knew his partner inside and out, better than she knows herself, he wanted to help her but had no idea how to. He was about to ask her if she wanted him to stay when Stark, Rogers, Banner and Pepper came running down the hall, hearing the spy's scream. The six of them went down to the 30th floor together in silence, to where the joint living area was situated, it was 6am and a good enough time to wake up, they ate breakfast and talked as if nothing had happened, except Clint was worried out of his mind about Natasha and Natasha knew it and felt safe knowing it.

Please review. I hope you liked it, let me know any errors you see.

~Beth~ x