It was approaching sunset when they arrived back at the cabin, both of them dusty and tired from the hike back down the mountain and through the forest. Natasha's state of mind had seemed much clearer throughout the day and she had instigated conversation about the wildlife, even going so far as to tease him about the possibility of them having something other than rabbit for dinner, which he had taken as a positive sign that she intended to continue eating.
The cabin was stuffy after being locked up for a couple of days and the air was stale after the soaring temperatures of the afternoon so he grabbed them a couple of beers and they sat out on the porch. As he watched his partner examining her sunburn, he contemplated what he could fix them for dinner. Having come out here on a whim, he hadn't really thought about having supplies delivered and though they had enough to keep them going for a couple of days he didn't particularly want to dish up something entirely unappealing when she had so little appetite.
"I can't believe that I managed to get a sunburn!" she grumbled, casting a glance in his direction. "You manage to come back looking like you took a beach vacation and I get to look like a strawberry for the rest of the night."
"It's not that bad," he assured her, inwardly cursing himself for not considering the effect that exposure to the mid-summer sun might have on her porcelain pale Russian skin. "I think I might have something lying around that might take the heat out of it, if you want me to look for it? I could help you with the hard to reach spots."
He didn't miss the slight reaction but she composed herself quickly and nodded her agreement. She was curled up in the rocking chair, one foot down on the porch to maintain her momentum when he triumphantly returned with the lotion and another beer for each of them. Despite her outward appearance of being relaxed, he could sense the tension in her again, it was in the way she clutched one knee to her chest and in the way she surveyed the road that led to the cabin and the trees that bordered it
When she removed her shirt so that he could apply the lotion, he took the opportunity to swiftly assess her injuries, noting that the bruises were now beginning to fade and the stitched wounds were healing better than he had expected after the exertions that she had put them through. Her muscles were tight under his hands as he smoothed the lotion onto her heated skin and he was acutely aware of her breathing, noting the physiological signs of stress. He was about to stop when she grabbed his wrist, hard fingers digging in tightly against bone. "Don't pull away," she said quietly. "I need to get past this, if it gets too much I'll let you know."
"For the record," he told her calmly, "I'd prefer it if you told me with words rather than throwing me in the dirt..." Her head shot around, eyes narrowed and he smiled at her easily, never removing his hands from her shoulders as he worked in the lotion with smooth gentle strokes. He'd always known just how to push her buttons, just as he'd always known that his smile could usually diffuse her irritation. "Just saying Nat."
Her irritated Russian grumbling reminded him of countless missions where he had deliberately wound her up just to spark a reaction or break the silence. It had the desired effect however, while she focused on being irked about what he had said she relaxed beneath his touch and barely seemed to notice when his movements ceased to be about the application of skin care products and became about massaging the tension out of her neck and shoulders.
"What do we have for dinner?" she asked lazily, head falling forward as he worked on a particularly tight knot at the base of her neck.
Barton considered the question and told her the options, earning a snort of laughter from her. "I could head out with the bow and see if I can bring down a deer," he suggested. "You could either come along or you could stay here and chill out for a while, put your feet up and enjoy the quiet."
In all their years as partners he wasn't sure that he'd ever seen Natasha Romanoff put her feet up but there was a first time for everything. He watched her as she considered the options, weighing up whether she felt safe enough being alone or would be better off with him, and then she nodded her agreement and told him that she would stay at the cabin. By the time he was through with the lotion, she was more relaxed than he had seen her in days, leaning into his touch in a way that told him everything he needed to know about the trust she had in him.
"If you go hunting I could take a shower before dinner, try to make myself look at least half clean after three days in the wild," she mused. "Besides, venison does sound good and the meat would last us a couple of days wouldn't it?"
He smiled at that even though she couldn't see his reaction and resisted the urge to tell her that taking a shower would undo all the work he had just done to moisturise her shoulders. If she was willing to stay at the cabin alone it meant that she felt safe there and he was sure that was exactly the reaction he had been hoping for.
He was quite correct when he had thought he wouldn't be gone too long. Within an hour he had brought down a deer, field dressed it and disposed of what he didn't need while still in the woods. There was a wolf pack in the area that would appreciate the easy meal but he didn't want to encourage them too close to the house. He carried the dressed carcass back to the cabin and butchered it carefully, already making plans as which meals would allow him to use all of the animal over the coming days. While he wrapped and stored the remainder of the meat in the fridge, Natasha prepared vegetables that he had picked up on their trip through town on the way out there. They sipped beers on the porch while the stew simmered and then dragged the small table out there so that they could enjoy the cool evening air while they ate.
Tired from the long hike and two nights sleeping on hard ground, she was ready to turn in soon after they finished dinner and headed inside to get ready for bed. Barton lingered a few minutes, giving her the privacy she needed and then followed her inside, locking up behind him. He took a quick shower and emerged to find that she was already asleep, hogging the covers despite the warmth of the room. Shaking his head, he moved around the bed and climbed up onto the mattress, enjoying the softness after sleeping out in the open.
As he settled into a comfortable position on his side, allowing him to see the door, she rolled over to face him, her hand reaching out through the covers until it brushed against his own. She didn't wake but she didn't move away either. Closing his own eyes, he breathed in the scent of her shampoo and lapsed into a dreamless sleep of his own.