AN: Another peek into Clint and Natasha's lives from my POV. I don't own anything. Please review.
Levi Stronghein, agent of SHIELD, looked at the Russian woman before him, one Natasha Romanoff, aka 'the Black Widow'. The council was concerned about Clint, aka 'Hawkeye' and they were concerned about the partnership as a whole. Natasha hadn't made any bad calls in the end, but she put more trust in a man who had just been taken over by an enemy's magic stick than many felt she should. Not to mention the incident where she was interrogating Loki. They couldn't ignore it. Nick Fury had given his assurance to the council about the two, but there were still doubts. Levi had been tapped as an outsider to investigate.
The Black Widow was first to be questioned. She sat in the chair that was meant to be slightly uncomfortable, calm and unreadable as ever as they dispatched with the baseline questions about her name, position in SHIELD and other minor details. But Levi wasn't going to dance around the issue for long. He was a straight-shooter and he immediately went in for the reason she was here.
"Agent Romanoff, have you ever slept with Agent Barton?" He watched her body language carefully. She was a damn good spy, but even the best make mistakes on occasion.
Her body language though was clear: incredulous and annoyed. "Of course I have." She rolled her eyes at the question.
Levi frowned. "I meant: have you had a sexual relationship with Agent Barton." He had been expecting her to try and get around the question and he wasn't going to let her get away with a dodge that easily.
Her expression settled more into a scowl of boredom. "Yes. I have."
Agent Stronghein was a bit flabbergasted at the ease with which she admitted to it. Usually people try to hide it better. He froze for a moment, trying to find his follow up to that answer. "Uh, you are aware that is against SHIELD regulations?"
"I am." She was still bored and unconcerned with this sad excuse for an interrogation.
"Are you in love with him?" That wasn't on the script, but just escaped his mouth.
"We're partners."
"I've had several partners, I don't fuck all of them," he replied dryly.
"And I don't fuck all of mine," she replied with annoyance.
Levi's jaw tightened. "We cannot allow this to continue."
Now the look she gave him turned his blood to ice in his veins, her voice matching that temperature, "I don't think you get a say about who I fuck, unless SHIELD has decided to become my pimp."
The man was at a loss for words again. Without waiting to be dismissed, she got up and walked out.
"How'd it go?" Clint asked her when she arrived at his floor in the Avenger's tower. Asking was a formality, he could tell from her body language that it went about as they were expecting.
Phil Coulson had practiced a strict "don't ask, don't tell", about their relationship. He also made sure that no one else questioned too deeply. Phil didn't honestly give a damn whether they shared one bed or two, as long as they were professional on missions. Privately, when Clint had asked him in a roundabout way about it, Phil admitted that most of the people working for SHIELD were so screwed up and alone, he sure as hell wouldn't get in the way of people who were finding peace.
But clearly the détente that had existed since Natasha had joined the agency was gone.
Natasha rolled her eyes at Clint, coming over to look over his shoulder at the sketches he was making for a new bow. "I told them to go fuck themselves."
Clint sighed, "Please tell me you didn't phrase it exactly that way." While they had decided to be reasonably honest, antagonizing the situation wasn't going to make it easier.
She considered for a moment, "No, but I did them that unless they were my pimp they couldn't tell me who to fuck on my off time." She couldn't help it; it was cathartic to tell the other agent that. She and Barton had been working together for years, and she dared anyone to be able to find a point in their history that stood out as different to mark the time when they started sleeping together. They were consistent, whether they were involved with each other or not.
"Well, that was clearly helpful," Clint said dryly, leaning over to kiss his partner lightly. "Are you just planning to kill him before he makes his report?"
She looked hopeful for a moment, "Is that an option?" He chuckled, knowing she was only half kidding.
"Tasha…" he murmured as she nuzzled her face into his neck, causing him to abandon the things he had been working on to pay more attention to her, pulling her into his lap. "We knew this was going to happen."
"It doesn't mean I have to like it. You notice they brought me in first?" She shook her head. "Assholes don't care if you are screwing me, they are worried that I am a lovesick child who will make mistakes."
He didn't disagree. Sexism was rampant in the business, overt and covert. But they didn't know anything about the Black Widow if they thought that she would be willing to admit to loving someone. If anything, he would be the one more likely to classify what they had as love, not Natasha, never Natasha.
To her they were partners, in every sense of the word. She had worked with many people and had no issue being paired with others for missions when the skill-sets needed required it. But Clint was her partner. Missions together were fun of course, but he provided support that went way beyond that. Partner to her was a much more important descriptor than something petty like lover or husband.
"They're going to separate us." It was a statement, an admission of fact. He was disappointed, but not surprised.
"It's only for SHIELD missions." She rested her head on his shoulder.
A small nod, "Then I expect you to be coming home from them in one piece, alright?" With his hand he gently guided her head back so he could meet her eyes.
"Same for you. And don't go falling in love with whoever they pair you with," she teased lightly before leaning in for a kiss. She knew he called what he felt love. She couldn't understand that emotion exactly, but she also had no concerns that he would find it with a new coworker.
"I only have one partner," he replied solemnly, holding her tightly to him, knowing that whether they were working together or not, nothing would change for them at home.
Natasha had been paired with Steve for their next mission; Clint was reasonably happy with the choice. Captain America could be a little too goody-goody at times, but Nat needed someone to hold her back on occasion. His super-soldier abilities also meant he would be able to provide good backup to the woman. Any of the mere human agents, Clint might have taken issue with; they just weren't a good match for her skills and abilities. But Steve could hold his own for most things, and Natasha could cover the rest.
"Hey Katniss. Thought you were out on a mission." Clint was having breakfast in the community kitchen when Tony Stark walked in and grabbed his own cup of coffee.
Clint shook his head, "They still have me out on psych. Natasha is out though."
A gleam came into Tony's eyes. "Oh really. Solo?" He looked for signs that the archer was feeling pissy about the situation. It wasn't fun to needle the teammates if they didn't react.
"Nope, she's been paired with Steve." He was nonchalant about it, eating his toast as he waited for the questions to come.
"And you're ok with that?" Tony asked incredulously. "Have you seen his arms?" Clint's biceps flexed just slightly in response, and Tony held up his hands in apology, "Point taken."
Clint just smirked, "He'll take good care of her. I'm not worried."
Tony was stumped; he had been expected a little bit of jealousy. The two of them kept up appearances of not being together, but they couldn't hide everything, especially the comfort between them. "And you don't mind her having a new partner?"
"She doesn't. She's just working with Steve now." Clint finished his coffee and went over to the sink to rinse out his mug.
Tony was taking in all the subtle signs and had just one more question to cement what he was now suspecting. "This is permanent, isn't it."
"Yeah. As far as SHIELD is concerned, we're expanding our horizons."
The gleam flared happily at the confirmation, "So now that the cat's out of the bag and SHIELD knows your dirty little secret, can we stop pretending that we don't know about the two of you?" Tony's smirk was greeted by one of Clint's.
"Watch your step. She's still pissed." He chuckled, then continued when he saw Tony's puzzled look. "She told SHIELD to stop acting like her pimp."
Tony winced with a low whistle, "I'm sure that went over like a lead balloon."
"Yeah, I think it pissed her off more that they used a shitty interrogator for her questioning. She felt she wasn't being taken seriously." A grin was still on Clint's face.
"The two of you are strange birds." Tony shook his head. He wasn't exactly the model of normalcy, but compared to the Black Widow and Hawkeye, his relationship with Pepper was downright banal. He made a note to himself to maybe spice things up a little. They had competition now.