Back-story in case you are confused:
- The Avengers have not defeated Ultron yet
- Ward is the head of HYDRA even though this happens after Age of Ultron
- Hulktasha doesn't happen
- Laura Barton never happened
- Agent 33 doesn't exist
I really love the feedback guys! If you feel like anything needs to be changed then talk to me! This is a pretty long chapter, but it's worth it :P
Previously:
We kissed. So what? No big deal! It's not like we're compromised or anything. We can't be compromised.
A day had passed and me and Tony were in the lab. "We could have ice bites and…..WE'VE FOUND HIM!" Stark shouted from the side of the lab.
"What?" I asked, placing down a gun that Stark had given me to try out. "Are you serious?"
"Yep." He said, smiling. "All my hard work paid off."
"Your hard work? Remind me who infiltrated Ink Industries to find out who was buying the ink?"
"You did it with my tech." He argued and took the fun off me, placing it on a holder. "JARVIS, get everyone in here. Top priority." Stark went over to the computer and assembled the info he needed and put it on a slide. "Finally we are gonna see where this bastards been hiding." He muttered under his breath.
"Stark." I said quietly. "You alright?"
"Wards is bringing up HYDRA again. That can't happen." He said spitefully.
"What happened to make you hate them so much?" I asked and he froze. "Stark? Did something happen?" He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
"A few weeks ago...a death threat was sent to Pepper." he said, quietly. I could almost see tears forming in his eyes. "I have always been curious that it was HYDRA."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I didn't want to worry everyone." he said, almost forgetting who he was was. He blinked suddenly, coming back to the real world. "You lot worry too much. I was on the case obviously. You guys are too stupid to understand." he added, waving his hand.
"Stark...what did it say?" I asked, trying to understand. what he was going on about.
He pursed his lips and replied steadily "It said...1 month of your life remaining."
"1 month of your life remaining?" I asked. "How long ago did this happen?" I asked, not trying to sound too caring. Pepper was one of the only people that I would call a friend here at the tower and life in general. Maria, Pepper and Jane...that was it for the women of the Avengers. No wonder she was upset about breaking the bracelet if she was being threatened by HYDRA.
"She got it twenty seven days ago." he replied, worriedly. "She is being put under the most expensive security that I can afford."
"How do you know it was HYDRA?" I asked. "I mean, anyone could've sent it. Justin Hammer perhaps? Or another enemy of yours?"
"There was a name at the bottom of the page."
"Which read HYDRA?" I asked.
"It said 'Harry Forder Arekland." he said. "I had Clint check it out for me. He's an anonymous reporter who creates anti-Avengers articles"
"And?"
"He said it was a code for the first letter and then every fourth letter."
"H...Y...D...R…" I said and looked up at him in realisation "...A..…HYDRA..."
"Exactly."
"Well...Clint is good at stuff like that. An old school spy he is." I said. "Are you sure Pepper will be safe?" I asked, showing some concern.
He lifted his head, so his eyes levelled with mine and replied seriously "I will make sure she is under the best protection possible." I smiled slightly and nodded to him.
The elevator doors opened and our 'deep' conversation ceased. "Sup Capsicle." Tony greeted, going back to his normal self.
"Stark." he replied, pacing over to us. "No one here yet?"
"Nope, seems no one cares about catching HYDRA's head."
"Well I know I do." Steve said, authoritatively. The elevator pinged and Maria and Thor exited it. Just after, Clint and Pepper came through the doors from the stairs laughing about something and a spark of jealously began in my chest. They did always seem to get along quite well and I noted that over the past few weeks they had been hanging out a lot.
"We were in the middle of lunch and JARVIS says that you've found him?" Clint asked. We hadn't spoken properly for the past day. I missed our conversation.
"Man of Hawk choked on his beverage. It was most amusing." Thor said, smiling to himself. Clint playfully glared at him and he chuckled deeply.
"Where is Bruce?" Maria asked.
"Bruce is taking a well deserved break. He got stressed the other day and I told him to take a timeout." Steve said. "The Hulk may be a powerful part of the team, but we need him mentally stable."
"Unfair. How come we never get breaks?" Stark asked.
"Try hanging around with yourself for a couple of months and see how if you don't go crazy." Clint smirked and we all laughed, Thor being the loudest as usual. I always loved the way Clint joked. Not too stupid or inappropriate or serious. Just perfect.
"Anyway, our guy is currently in a hotel in Texas." Stark explained. "Should take an hour and a half to get there."
"Alright. More mission details will be given on the way there. Suit up." Steve commanded and we all left to go and change. Clint's eyes fell on me...again...but I had to ignore meeting them. I craved to so badly, but I was unsure whether I would be able to control myself or not and I decided not to risk it.
"Do you think he will talk about where Bucky is?" Steve asked, mainly to Hill because she was the one who had intel on him and overviewed him when he trained.
"He's tough. Doesn't give in. But he has a few weaknesses, one of them being his brother, Christopher Ward, and also an agent called Daisy. She works with a team run by...Agent Coulson."
"Hang on...Coulson is alive?"
"He has been running a mini team from a quinjet. He has been looking into a case, containing Baron Von Strucker, trying to track down the sceptre."
"Is it going succesfully?" Steve asked.
"Steve you knew about this?" Clint asked, angrily. It wasn't like Coulson was a father, we just trained by him, but that didn't mean that he wasn't close to us. We never really had any parents, not truly. I was trained in the red room, forgetting emotions all together and Clint left for the circus and his parents never spoke to him again. I can't believe Steve didn't tell us about this.
"I had to. I'm the team leader." he said. If Tony was head, he probably would've said this smugly, but there is only one Tony Stark. "I had to keep his identity a secret for a while."
"Also, Coulson wanted his cards back so…" Maria smirked and exited the lift when it opened. "Do you need any assistance on this mission Steve?"
"I need some feet on the ground with me, Natasha and Clint. Thank you Maria." he said, smilling gratefully at her and kissing her cheek. She still blushed about it and it was adorable. I was very protective of Steve, always looking out for him and making sure that he didn't make any mistakes, but when it came to love it seemed that he was sorted. He didn't need me to arrange dates for him. He already had Maria. I was very happy for them both.
My eyes drifted to Clint, who was actually not looking at me for once. He was looking down at the floor, almost upset about them kissing. Clint didn't like Maria did he? He can't...he kissed me? Why are you suddenly against him liking other people? You tried to set Roger's up on dates in the past...so why not Clint? I decided that that was what I should do to try and forget all my feelings for Clint. It will get my mind off of the fact that I think I love him. I need to get him dating someone else. That way I can't be tempted to kiss him or do anything else with him. I will talk to him on the way over to the hotel.
"See you on the roof." Steve said and left to change in his bedroom.
"Have you got a suit Maria?" I asked her. I was concerned about Maria coming with us. Not for her safety, because she had been in multiple dangerous situations that almost resulted in her death. That didn't really matter. It was the fact that she might be compromised in the field if Steve is also there.
"I have an old S.H.I.E.L.D one." she said. "Hopefully it will still fit me and nobody notices." she said, referring to the fact that everybody thought that S.H.I.E.L.D was HYDRA.
"No. That won't do. It is too risky. You can borrow a battle suit of mine." I said, leading her to my room. She entered and looked around the place.
"Nice room." she said, smiling. "I wish mine was this luxurious."
"Well, you should get Stark to make you one up. He was talking about it earlier and I think that you would be an addition to the team."
"You think so? And he was talking about me?"
"Sure you would. You have a brilliant skills set and the ability to be one of us. Also, you look after us just as much as Steve does. Whilst we were waiting for the tracker to find out where Ward was headed, he bored me with the design for your suit. I mean he even talked about ice bites that freeze that part of your enemy, which is quite useful considering that they wouldn't be able to move that part of their body."
She smiled slightly. "So I could be on the same team as you guys? I could be on the same team as Steve?"
"You already are part of the team." I said, handing her a suit. "You organise us basically. You are the one who gives us missions after all." We walked to the door. "But remember…" I said. "You can't forget everything that you have been taught. Being compromised in the field is a bad thing. You cannot let that happen." I reminded her. She nodded and went to shut the door.
"Thank you Natasha." she said before shutting it. I paused for a couple of seconds, my arms straight by my sides and my eyes staring forward to where she was just stood.
"That's alright." I said, even though she was gone from my doorway. I was talking to her about being compromised. I have done that enough times in the field with Clint to count. I could never have him hurt. I mean, yes, I care about the others and their injuries too, but not as much as I care for Clint.
Dismissing my thoughts, I got changed into my suit and headed towards the rooftop, meeting Thor on the way. "Lady Romanoff, what troubles you?" he asked.
"What do you mean Thor?" I asked, I didn't think anything troubled me.
"I can sense a darkness in your heart." he said, placing his huge palm on his chest. "It is changing you, I believe for the good."
"The good of me or the good of everyone else." I asked, climbing into the lift, it creaking slightly as Thor stepped into it. It was probably his armour that made up half of his weight and believe me when I say that Thor is extremely heavy. The group tried to do a lifting Thor contest a couple of months ago. No one won and i'm pretty sure Tony broke some of his bones. His red cape made him look more noble than royalty, yet fiercer than me or Clint.
"For both." he said, smiling.
"So how is Jane?" I asked, changing the subject and filling the lift up with some worthy conversation. "I trust that she has a safe journey back to England."
"She did. I spoke with her on the Facetime." he said, happily. "Such inventions are incredible for creating quick transmissions."
"I know." I said, smiling slightly at Thor's excitement. I keep forgetting that he isn't from this realm. He has birds to deliver his messages on Asgard...I think. He kept going on about how fascinating technology is until we got to the top floor.
Steve and Maria were standing there waiting, discussing something between themselves. I had a couple of predictions that they were getting together, but I still tried to set him up with other people to keep him occupied.
"Thor, Romanoff." he greeted and gave us both ear pieces. "You seen the others anywhere?"
"I did not see them on the way up here, Man of America." Thor replied.
"You looking for us?" Tony's voice came from behind me and Thor. Clint and Tony were standing behind us in full outfit.
"Let's go." Steve said, gesturing for us to enter the small helicarrier. We hurried in, our gear already on the jet and got strapped in for take off. While Tony was talking to the rest of us about the trip, I noticed Clint preparing the controls, but he didn't seem happy. His resting face was quite relaxed and he could be seen as upset I guess, but I could tell something was different about him. His eyes flickered back to me quickly and his hands slowed down setting up the controls, but he had done it so many times that his hands automatically programmed the plane, his subconscious taking over.
"The Joule in the Penthouse Suite. I'm surprised security even let me in. While you guys took ten years suiting up, I called the manager. He is in Room 115 with his security guards in 116." Stark said, my attention going back to him.
"You got access?" Clint asked.
"I'm Tony Stark. I'm the person who controls the access." he smirked.
"Anyway, Stark, Thor, and Clint will take it from the top of the building and Maria, Nat and me will go through the ground level entrance." Steve commanded. "We have approximately an hour and twenty three minutes to prepare ourselves. Here are your brief overviews if you need them." he said, handing out files to us about the missions. He and Maria retired to a room of their own to do God knows what. I went to my room, as did everyone else, leaving Clint to pilot and switch to autopilot when necessary.
I sat down on my bed and took a deep breath. Before my missions, I spend about five minutes just sitting down, thinking about how my mind should be set. Focused and not thinking about anything else, like Clint for example. I hadn't had a mission since we kissed. That kiss...that...kiss…
A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. I got up, walked over and opened the door.
"Hi." Clint said and flashed a small smile.
"Would do you want?" I asked, wondering why he was here. He has no reason to be in my room.
"Nice to know you care." he said, sarcastically. "Anyway, I was wondering whether you wanted to go over the brief with me?"
"Uh...sure." I replied and opened the door further for him to come in. I don't know why he would want to do this. He was entering from the top of the building and me from the bottom. Why would he need to go over the brief with me?
"Right, what are we going to do about this?" he asked, sitting on the bed. I shut the door, joined him and tried to not look confused by his question, even though I was.
"Well, complete the mission. Is there anything else?" I asked. He raised his hand placed it lightly on my cheek, making my breath catch without the knowledge of me knowing. I felt his thumb press lightly into my neck.
"85 beats per minute." he said quietly. "That is nearly double the amount of your resting heart rate." he smirked. I have a heart rate of about 44 beats per minute, because I am an athlete, making my resting rate slower. Right now, I could feel my heartbeat at 85 and climbing. As his warm hand cupped my face and his fingers smoothed over my skin, I could feel that my heart was raging in my chest, like a caged bird trying to escape. "Getting a little nervous, Miss Romanoff?" he smiled.
"I am never nervous." I replied, sternly.
"I don't believe you right now." he said, leaning in closer. I looked from his eyes to his lips and then back up to his eyes again. I bit my lip staring into the blue eyes of Clint Barton. I knew that it would be a mistake looking into them. They were so captivating and I couldn't look away this time.
"This is a bad idea." I said, but leaned forward towards him anyway.
"Probably." he said and leant in to kiss me strongly on the lips. I pushed just as firmly back against his and my hands travelled up his muscular arms towards his shoulders, one of my hands landing on the back of his neck, stroking the short pieces of hair there, and the other landed on his chest.
His lips felt so natural and comfortable against mine and I was completely and utterly addicted, so much so that we continued to kiss for the next hour. By the end of that hour, we were lying together on my bed, him holding me in his arms and my arms were wrapped tightly around his bare stomach. My neck was stretched slightly to reach his lips, because I was too damn short. We pulled away from each other and we quietly hugged for a while. My head was on his naked chest, my thigh resting on his hips just below his belt buckle and I just sat there peacefully without a care in the world.
"My question earlier...what are we going to do about this...I was referring to me and you..."
"I think I knew that." I replied, smiling. "I wasn't really listening though."
"You should try and listen to me more often. You might learn something from me."
"Learn something from you? Like that's going to happen." I retorted.
"Oooooohhh…that's harsh." he said.
"You have seen me act harsher." I replied.
"Good point. Budapest was a good example and knocking some sense into me, literally, wasn't exactly the nicest sparring session that I have had with you."
"I didn't want to. You know that I didn't have a choice." I argued.
"Yeah, I know. I am just jesting." he chuckled, the laughter from his chest also making my head move.
"You know, I was going to speak to you about dating someone else."
"Like you did with Cap? Thought that was going to put a barrier between you and him huh?"
"I never wanted a barrier between me and Steve. We are just friends, honestly."
"Whatever you say." he joked. "Thought you were going to put a barrier between me and you?"
"I think so…" I said, placing my chin on his chest, so I could see his face. "I never wanted a romantic relationship with you. It was not part of my plan. I thought I would be killed before I would have the chance to grow old." I explained, revealing what I have never revealed to anyone. "Occasionally, I had that thought of...of…"
"Me and you being together?" he asked, almost reading my mind. I nodded and he continued. "I know some things are difficult for you to come to terms with and that's fine. Just don't ignore me again." he said, almost as a plea. "Promise?"
I smiled at him. "I promise. I won't ignore you." I said and reached up to kiss his lips once more. His arms came around me and I kissed him harder.
There was a knock at the door and I got up off of Clint quicker than a lightening bolt. I got him up off the bed and pushed him into the bathroom. "Stay here." I ordered quietly, to make sure that no one heard me.
"But-" he argued, but I slammed the door in his face and went over to straighten the bed. I heard the knocking again as soon as I finished and I went to open it.
"Rogers." I greeted, holding the door open with one hand and another was on the door frame, trying to imply that he couldn't come into my room. I was very protective over my privacy so he wouldn't think this was abnormal behaviour compared to my usual self.
"Romanoff. Have you seen Barton? A message was sent to his room, but he hasn't replied."
"He is in here." I said. Reviewing my words, I realised that they were not the best vocabulary selection. "We were going over the mission brief." I added, appealing to his interests. That is the kind of thing that Rogers would want us doing for a mission instead of kissing.
"Really? Where?" he asked, looking into my room to try and find him.
"He's in the bathroom at the moment. What did you want to talk to him about?"
"We need him to land the plane." he said, looking curiously at me. I dismissed it and continued.
"Sure. I'll tell him once he is finished. See you in five." I said and shut the door after he nodded in understanding.
I walked back into the room and he came out of the door. I picked up his shirt, shoved it against his chest and said "You need to go to the front of the plane. Steve wants you to pilot."
"Got it." he said, putting on the shirt I threw at him.
"You leave before me. It will draw less attention." I explained and gathered his documents to give to him. I handed them to him, but he took them and put them on the side of my table. He picked me up in his arms and pulled me into a heated passionate kiss, surprising me slightly. Well, that's not going to distract me or anything.
I giggled and pulled him closer, but then stopped suddenly. "Did you just giggle?" he asked, smiling at my actions. I had never done that before and I was kind of embarrassed, but of course I wouldn't show it.
"No, I didn't. You must be hearing things." I said and handed him the files containing the mission. "Now get out." I said strictly.
He laughed slightly, taking the files this time, and left my bedroom. I took a deep breath and gathered my files before heading out the door. I admit, the idea of a relationship scared me...but the idea of it being a secret brought me some comfort. Clint had always been so caring for me. I always liked everything about him, which obviously helped the attraction towards him. Our little kissing sessions that have been happening recently made me feel happier about me and Clint. I felt more confident in my body image if I'm honest. He knew about the scars from the Red Room, but I always had the impression that he hated them. I was so nervous about undressing infront of him and now I feel more at ease. Whenever in the future that I do take off my clothes with him, I know that he will respect me and not think of me as some kind of freak. I tried to hide the smile that that thought brought to my lips as I walked up to the room containing the team.
Thank you for reading this chapter :) It was quite a long one, but I said it would be worth it. Find out how the mission goes on the next chapter and whether Clint and Natasha's actions will affect what happens in the future? PLEASE REVIEW!
- If you have any more ideas then message me! :)
GabycatStark - Thank you for reviewing so much! I always enjoy reading your comments
Howling2themoon - Thank you very much :)
amy. .9 - Glad that you liked the last one. Hopefully this one was just as good :P