A/N: Obviously I had to come up with an exact story of how Clint and Natasha met in the MCU. The rest of the story takes place some time after The Avengers and before Age of Ultron. (Italics have indicated and will indicate past conversations. Bold shall now indicate text messages, though I do not believe I will be using that a lot.)
Lucky - Chapter 1
He got the call before sunrise. Groaning, he tossed his sheets aside, dragging himself out of bed. It was then he pictured her doing the same, musing her red curls out of her groggy eyes after hanging up her phone. He thought about this every time he got a mission call at odd hours since she became an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. three or so years ago.
Not long after he had let her go, Director Fury decided it was better to have her on their side rather than the Russian government's and offered her a deal she couldn't refuse. In the beginning, she had not shown the cunning playfulness she held when she was his target. After a couple months, he caught her crying in between the arsenal of weapons S.H.I.E.L.D. She had dried her tears before he could ask if she was crying. "Great," she had said, "Now I'm gonna have to kill you." Then she had chuckled. "Or worse, become your best friend so you never tell anyone my dark secrets."
"Dark secrets? Like having emotions?" he had managed, heart thumping at that laugh again.
"Where I come from, emotions are the darkest."
"And, ah, where are you from?"
She smirked. "Didn't Director Fury and Agent Hill make you learn every single detail about me before they sent you after me?"
"Well, yes, but," he met her gaze and gave a lopsided grin, "I'd rather hear it from you."
"Huh. Don't hold your breath, Barton, we're not there yet." She wiped her eyes once more, despite them now looking like they'd never shed a single tear in her life.
"Yet? Does that mean you're going with the second option?" he joked, watching her start down the hall back to work. She paused and looked over her shoulder with a soft smile, not unlike the one she gave him that night.
"Shh, I haven't decided." And she laughed for long after she had vanished from his sight, sound echoing back to him, his brain stuck on 'yet, yet, yet.'
His personal phone buzzed again.
'You ready for work?' (Nat R - 4:56 am)
He couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face.
'As always. See you soon?' (4:56 am)
'I'll bring the coffee.' (Nat R – 4:57 am)
He left his phone on the bed and hustled for the shower.
Walking into Headquarters, he immediately scanned the room, spotting her curls from the doorway. She turned as if she knew she was being watched – he learned that she always knew - and caught his eye, a cocky grin appearing on her face as he sauntered over.
"Good morning, Agent Romanoff," he mocked an authoritative tone, tipping his head and taking the coffee cup labeled for him. Her jaw dropped and she feigned fake offence. "Agent Romanoff?" she gasped, "Since when have I been Agent Romanoff?" She went to stalk off to the round table but he caught her wrist before thinking. "It was a joke, Nat!" He ruffled her hair, jostling them out of place. She swatted his hand away. "I know, Agent Barton," she countered, before turning and striding away towards the stairs.
He smiled after her, watching for the signature spring in her step she always had when she needed to wake up, when she felt determined. Most people had never bothered to notice this, but he knew her better than anyone else in the whole building – the whole world, she had told him once when she'd had a little too much to drink at one of Tony Stark's celebrations.
"Morning, boys," she announced, reaching the last step. She ruffled her hands through Tony's hair, and then Bruce Banner's, letting her finger trail down to his shoulder. Steve Rogers and Thor nodded in return of the greeting. "And brilliant woman," she added as she slid into the seat next to Agent Maria Hill, looking up with a wink. Agent Hill, who stood solemnly beside Director Fury, spared a moment to smile at the comment, before glancing over to him. Steve followed the look over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.
She cocked her head at his resistance at the bottom of the stairs, before patting the seat next to her. He released a pent up sigh and began to climb the steps, wondering if he had just imagined her hands lingering by Bruce, then wondering why he even cared all of a sudden.
