There was a knock at her door. Natasha's heart leaped, feeling as if it were about to jump out of her chest. She swallowed, setting her glass in the sink, and making her way to the door. She slowly opened it, pokerface on with a slight smile.

She couldn't help but be slightly stunned. He cleaned up good. Well, she already knew that. He was wearing a nice suit, and the color of his shirt was almost the same color as her hair. He probably did that on purpose to make it obvious that they were each other's dates. His hair was slicked back slightly, enough to have him look nice, but messy enough to where you could tell he wasn't trying so hard.

"You look nice," he said, clearing his throat. "So, you ready to go? We're already late."

She furrowed her eyebrows together. "I thought you said it started at 9."

"No, I said I would pick you up at 9. It started at 8, but I like to be late."

Ah, the usual Tony Stark. He always had to be fashionably late, how could she forget that.

"Let me go grab my purse and I'll be ready to go."

She walked back toward her bedroom, leaving Tony at the door. She walked to the other side of the room so that she was out of his sight, then proceeded to breathe deeply. Her hands were sweating and she had no idea how in the world she was going to make it through the night. How was it that she could go until the last possible second before a building exploded, trying to get a file, and be completely okay with it, but pretending to be Tony Stark's date made her want to throw up?

This is why she hated emotions. They controlled you when you least expected them to.

She grabbed her purse off her bed and walked back out into the living room, giving Tony a nod. "Alright, I'm ready to go."

...

The yells of reporters and TV interviewers could be heard inside the limousine. Natasha really did not want to deal with them, but she knew she had to. And would continue having to do so for as long as she and Tony continued this act. She felt a hand grab hers gently, and when she looked down, she saw that it was Tony's hand. Probably for the cameras, she thought.

The door of the limo opened and she found herself being pulled out of the car while simultaneously being bombarded with the flashes of cameras and the yells and questions of interviewers.

"Tony, over here-"

"Who is with you tonight?"

"Tony Stark, do you-"

"Is she your girlfriend?"

With all the preparation she had been through as a kid, nothing could have prepared her for this. She couldn't tell who was asking what or what words went to what sentence or even which direction each question was coming from. Everything in her told her to get out of the situation, to run in the opposite direction and hide somewhere.

But she couldn't. A few moments after they exited the car, she could feel Tony wrap his arm around his waist and lean in close to her, whispering in her ear so only she could hear.

"Just smile and look in different directions. Don't say anything. Ignore them, keep by my side, and we'll just keep walking until we get inside."

She stayed close to him, doing as he said. She felt odd, smiling and letting her picture be taken. However, she knew she had to, as part of the plan. This was good, them being seen together with minimal space between them. Something told her to look up at him and smile a little, and she saw that he was looking down at her with a soft facial expression. Someone took a picture, and she knew that it would be everywhere by morning.

It wasn't a long walk before they were inside. The place was magnificent. Tables set up with nice white, clean clothes, brilliant flower tree-like centerpieces, a dance floor in the middle of the room, and, of course, an open bar.

"Would you like a drink?" Tony asked her, beginning to head off in the direction of the bar.

"And have the chance of you slipping a roofie in it? No thanks."

"Hey, I may like to bring home lots of women, but I am still a man of decency," he said, pretending to be insulted.

"Just a water then, thank you."

She watched Tony walk off toward the bar, then found herself a bit unsure of what to do next. She stood in the spot in had left her in for a moment, scanning the room. She didn't seem to know a single person there. They were probably all people from Stark Industries and higher up people of other big companies that Pepper corresponds with when it came to dealing with the business. She sighed, feeling completely out of her element.

That was when she noticed Steve and Bruce standing away from everyone in a corner. She smiled slightly to herself and made her way through people toward them.

"Hey boys. What are you doing here?"

The pair looked up and it seemed as though they were caught off guard.

"Oh, uh… Tony invited us," Bruce said. "Wow, Natasha, you look great."

"Thank you, so do you guys," she responded, giving them a slight smile.

She noticed that Steve was looking away, trying not to stare because he knew that was impolite. She wondered if they knew about her and Tony's assignment.

"Why are you here, Nat?" Bruce asked, answering her question.

"Oh well, I'm uh,' she stammered a little bit, "I'm Tony's date."

Before they could say anything, she felt an arm go around her waist while another handed her a glass of water.

"That's right, the Black Widow here is now off the market," Tony boasted.

Natasha rolled her eyes, looking at the other two guys. "Kind of. This is all part of an assignment."

She watched as Steve's eyes looked back and forth between the pair, then nodding in acceptance of the situation. Bruce, however, had his mouth slightly agape and there was something in his eye that told her he knew something was up. Could he sense that she had feelings for Tony and thought that that was why she agreed to doing this?

"Apparently SHIELD has some investigating in France to do, so we're the distraction for the media," she explained quickly.

Bruce just nodded. She watched Steve look around the room, obviously completely uncomfortable in this setting. To be honest, she was pretty sure that Tony was only one of them that wasn't uncomfortable.

"Alright ladies. Gentlemen," the DJ said over the speakers, "I know you like to dance, but right now, we're going to do a slow dance. So guys, grab your girl and get on down here."

"Really? A party DJ?" Natasha asked. "Isn't this supposed to be a charity event?"

Tony shrugged. "Yeah, so? Doesn't mean we can't have some fun. Now common, we gotta have at least one dance."

"Does it have to be this one?"

"It looks good," he pointed out.

She couldn't argue with that, so she let herself be led by him to the middle of the dance floor. She put a hand on his shoulder and the other in his hand, and was happy to note that his free hand was safely on her waist and not any lower. She looked up at him and saw a glint of something in his eyes.

She felt her chest tighten, not wanting this moment to end. She heard the music begin to play. "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. He stepped closer to her and he stared down at her. She swore she could almost feel a spark between them. She felt Tony begin to move them, taking the lead. She followed, allowing him to guide her in simple motions. He didn't try anything with her as they danced, just held her close and danced slowly. She never took her eyes off him. She could always say that it looked good for the cameras, but that would be a lie. She was memorized by him, the way he looked under the lighting. He looked like a man in need of love, and she desperately wanted to give that to him. But she knew she couldn't, she was too broken, but so was he.

Realizing this, she stopped them and stood on her toes, kissing him full on the lips.