She didn't formally meet (and when she said meet, she meant treat) the only female Avenger on the team until Agent Coulson dropped her off after a run in with larger than usual, but not giant, reptiles. Agent Romanoff didn't look visibly injured, but if Coulson had brought her in, there must have been a good reason for it, especially considering that Miranda hadn't met her yet, even with her being human. She'd met the man with the benefits of the super soldier serum (which was technically above her clearance level, but Steve liked to talk) but not yet met the other human member of the team.

"Miranda," Coulson greeted her, leading Agent Romanoff to a bed and making sure she sat on it, legs dangling off the edge.

"Agent Coulson," she responded. "Agent Romanoff."

The woman on the bed didn't correct her.

"Agent Romanoff has sustained a number of lacerations and bites from the... various reptiles."

"Mostly snake bites," she noted without looking up. "None of them appeared to be venomous."

Coulson continued with a bland smile. "Thankfully. But she still need to be checked over, and she's been favouring her right side."

The woman's glance shot up at Coulson, who didn't say anything. Apparently she thought it wasn't noticeable.

Agent Coulson said something to her in a language she didn't recognize, but it was definitely European, with harsh tones. She retorted, her tone just as biting, but nodded at him, and he left.

Miranda smiled at her. "Hello," she said. "I'm Miranda."

Agent Romanoff surveyed her, looking her up and down. She'd seen that before, but it seemed so long ago, in another life even. The agent didn't say anything though.

"Natasha," she said finally, and Miranda felt like she'd passed some sort of test.

"Natasha," Miranda said, smiling. "Snake bites?"

She nodded, rolling her eyes. "Apparently snakes are hard to shoot, even if they're larger than normal," she said loudly, and an offended noise came from the ceiling.

"Clint Barton!" Miranda bellowed. "Get your arse out of those vents before I climb up there and drag you out myself."

The bit of plastic that held the ink in a pen shot past her head, narrowly missing her ear, which she knew was on purpose. If Barton wanted to hit her, he would have.

"And I will tell Coulson you're making crossbows out of office supplies again."

There was a scuffling sound that faded as Clint scurried away from medical.

Miranda turned her attention back to Natasha. "How did you know he was up there?"

Natasha snorted. "He's like a puppy. He follows me around, especially after a fight to make sure I'm okay. He'd never admit it, of course, but it's true." She examined Miranda. "You're one of the only people who can make him leave though. He likes you."

Miranda was stupidly pleased with herself for that.

"I did give him lollipops for behaving," she mused.

Natasha nodded. "Food works well."

Miranda surveyed Natasha's outfit. "Can you put a gown on for me? That suit doesn't look like it has any leeway. How do you even fight in that thing?"

Natasha tilted her head. "It's stretchier than it looks, but yes, I can take it off."

Miranda fetched her a gown and waited for Natasha to change, standing guard outside the curtain so she couldn't escape.

But it was taking her an awfully long time to change, even with all the wriggling she probably had to do to get out of the suit.

"Natasha?" she called. No response. "Unless you tell me not to, I'm coming in." There was no response, and Miranda swore, but pushed the curtain aside. There was no one there.

"Well hell," she muttered. "Jarvis?"

"Agent Romanoff climbed into the air vent approximately 3 minutes ago." He sounded apologetic.

Miranda rubbed her head. "Can you track her?"

"I can use heat signatures to locate people inside the vents, yes."

"Please."

A beat before Jarvis spoke again. "There are two heat signatures in the vent system currently, next to each other. They are currently in what Mr Stark calls Agent Barton's nest. It is a wider area of the vent system that contains blankets and pillows. Based on vital signs, both people in this area appear to be sleeping."

"Natasha and Clint are sleeping in the vents?" Miranda mused.

"I cannot say for certain, but it appears to be them."

"Well I guess I'm going to have to go to them," she decided. "Let me know if they move."

She busied herself with setting up a small first aid kit, grabbing sutures, saline, needles, gauze, local anaesthetic, and some other necessities. After considering it, she grabs two puddings from the fridge and snagged spoons from the staff kitchen. She stuffed it all into a bag, and set off to where Jarvis told her the easiest access would be.

Miranda stared up at the maintenance shaft. "You're sure Jarvis?"

"Indeed. There are a number of other ways to get into the vents, but seeing as how it's your first time, this is the easiest, and on the same floor as the heat signatures. You just have to follow the instructions, as I won't be able to communicate with you while you're in there."

"Right," she said, trying to reassure herself. It wasn't working. "If I'm not out in a couple of hours, could you, I don't know, send in a search part or something?"

"Of course," Jarvis agreed, probably just to humour her.

With that assurance, she set off.

The lighting was dim at best, and she wondered why exactly Tony Stark had felt the need to put emergency lighting inside the vents, but she figured it was one of those things that you didn't ask about. They were cleaner than she expected, which probably had something to do with the various people crawling around in them.

It was only a couple of turns until she came upon the so called 'nest'. Natasha was curled up, fast asleep, and Clint was at her side, glaring at Miranda. She waved.

Oddly enough, he waved back. Natasha wasn't in the gown, but she wasn't wearing her black suit either. Instead she was wearing track pants and a loose shirt. Miranda didn't want to know if she'd stopped to change, or if she actually kept clothes in the vents, which she wouldn't rule out.

Clint tapped Natasha on the arm and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes snapped open, but she didn't attack, which was nice. Miranda may have been slightly paranoid, but she'd heard tales of both of them attacking when woken up suddenly. And she really didn't want to die in an air vent.

Natasha glared at her. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.

Miranda shrugged. "You left. I wasn't done."

Natasha narrowed her eyes. "So you came up here? How did you even know where I was?"

"Jarvis helped. He told me you went into the vents, and he told me there were two heat signatures here. I extrapolated."

Natasha shot a look at Clint. "You never mentioned that," she muttered.

"I didn't know," he protested. "But really, do you think there's anything Tony can't do? It's his house, his AI. He basically rules the world, Nat."

Miranda held up her first aid kit. "Sorry to interrupt your... nap or whatever, but I would like to look at those snake bites."

Natasha rolled her eyes.

"She did climb all the way up here," Clint pointed out. "That's dedication."

"Fine," Natasha sighed. She held her arms out. "Most of them are on extremities. There's only one on my chest, and one on my back."

Miranda delegated the flashlight to Clint, and he obediently pointed it where she told him to.

In the end, only two of the bites needed stitching, and the rest she only cleaned out and bandaged up. Natasha watched her intently the entire time, while still resting her head on a pillow. Natasha told her the ribs were only bruised, not broken, and she had to trust that she wasn't lying.

Miranda left the two of them with the puddings and an order to Natasha to take it easy.

When she asked Jarvis how they were doing later, he reported that they were both asleep in the nest.

For some reason, that image was immeasurably pleasing.