Title: Once Upon A Time in Budapest
Rating: PG-13/T
Originally posted: August 2015
Originally written for: a challenge at Avland on Livejournal
Characters/Pairings: Nat/Clint
Notes: Fairytale/Historical AU.

When they met in the club, she thought he was just a weirdo out to do her harm. Nothing could have been further from the truth. He said he came to help her, when in truth he really had meant to help himself. Funny how things had worked out in the end, Natasha thought, wondering at the fact she was still thinking of herself by that name, even now.

Stood before the mirror in a long flowing ball gown and tiara, she barely recognised herself, and yet at the same time, this was oddly familiar. Her life from eight years old had been a series of misfortunes; an orphanage and foster homes, followed by a string of unfavourable jobs and petty thievery that took her across borders when she became of age. At twenty one, Nat had believed she would never rise above anything better than a waitress and a dancer in some filthy Romanian dive, living in an apartment that was nothing more than a broom closet. Then one day, he appeared.

"I know who you are," he had said, making her smile.

"That's a clever trick," she told him smoothly. "Because I don't."

She had met better looking men in her time, probably more than she should have at her age, but there was something about Clint Barton that made her pay attention. He certainly seemed intent on pursuing her, and not for the usual reasons guys gave chase with Nat. He said she wasn't all she seemed, that he could see beyond her skimpy outfit and the pain in her eyes. She was destined for more than that place, she was born to more.

Now here was the proof. After two weeks spent learning a history she hadn't entirely believed at first, travelling miles and miles to France, every turn seemingly fraught with danger, finally they had arrived in Paris. The Dowager Empress had met with the red-headed girl in the fancy store-bought dress, and in a moment both she and Nat knew they had found family.

"This is the real me."

The words were but a whisper from the lips of Princess Natalia Romanov, Grand Duchess of Russia, as she took in her own form in the glass now. All that she had been through, and this was where she belonged. The idea made her smile and shed a tear at the same time.

"My dear?" called her grandmother, tapping on the door before entering. "Natalia, it is time for us to go down to the party. Are you quite ready?"

Nat swallowed hard, glanced from the Dowager Empress to her reflection one more time. Slowly, she shook her head.

"I don't..." she tried to speak but found it impossible. "All that I've been through and I never seemed to have any fear. Not of being poor, being hungry. Not of men or monsters. Now I have to face that room full of people, and I know I can do it, I just... I'd feel better if..."

She couldn't bring herself to say the words, already knowing it was ridiculous. Two weeks of semi-friendship, that's all they really had between them, and in the end, she knew it had been all about the money for Barton. Her grandmother's hand at her cheek got Nat's attention.

"My darling girl, he didn't take the money," she told her with a smile. "But it took all of my persuasive skills to get him here tonight."

Nat's eyes widened with surprise and delight as the Dowager Empress called to whomever was hovering outside the bedroom door, then it opened and there he was.

Without a moment's pause, Nat ran across the room, throwing herself into Clint's open arms. They hugged each other so tightly, it was amazing they didn't crack ribs, and yet neither could feel any pain at all.

When she moved to kiss him, he knew it didn't matter if he were prince or pauper. He had Nat's heart and that made him the richest of men. Together they were bound to live happily ever after, because this was their fairytale ending, and there was no other choice in the matter.