Title: Not Another Moment To Waste
Rating: PG-13/T
Originally posted: 5th September 2024
Originally written for: bettybackintheday – 'You took the words right out of my mouth (it must've been while you were kissing me).'
Characters/Pairings: Clint/Nat
Notes: for Be_Compromised Summer Promptathon 2024
It had been a successful mission. When it was over, all they had to do was head for the safe house and stay put until the morning. The exit plan was all in place. No problems, no issues. There was no real explanation for their deviation from that plan, at least, none that either one of them was willing to verbalise.
Clint knew better than to wait for Natasha to say anything about what she was feeling. That wasn't her. It wasn't how she was raised or programmed. Sure, she shared sometimes, little bits and pieces, but nothing much, and certainly to no-one but him. That didn't change the fact that he thought he knew what she was thinking sometimes. He was no mind-reader, that was for certain, but the looks she gave him, they had to mean something.
Then there was the fact that when it came down to the crunch on this last mission, when it had been a straight choice between getting the intel or saving his life, she had put him first. In the end, they both got away, complete with the flashdrive in hand, but still, she had been willing to lose it for him, if she had to.
They didn't talk about it. Stuff that happened on missions rarely needed analysing, not so long as they reached the necessary outcome. The method could be madness, it didn't matter, so long as the objective was achieved. They had what they needed, they were both alive, nothing worse than a few minor scratches and contusions on either of them. No problems, no issues, and yet, on their way to the safe house, she had stopped their getaway vehicle before the last turning.
Clint watched Natasha get out of the car, without a word, saw her slip off her shoes and start heading down the stone steps to the beach. Without a moment's hesitation, he followed her. It had to be past midnight, but the moon was high and almost full, giving enough light to guide their way. He was all of two paces behind her when she finally hit sand, stopping for a moment to survey the scene. The only view Clint was interested in was Natasha, beautiful and determined as she had ever been, flaming hair blown back by the ocean breeze, eyes shining in the moonlight.
She glanced back at him, just for a second, a half-smile pulling at her lips before she turned and set off walking again. Clint fell into step beside her, and suddenly, the two of them were taking a cliched moonlit walk on a deserted beach. It ought to be the height of romance, and maybe it was, but he didn't dare to think so. That couldn't be what this was, no matter how much he wished...
She stopped so suddenly, he almost tripped with the surprise of it, plus her hand suddenly on his arm. Turning him to her, she looked up through her lashes, seemingly searching his eyes for something he hoped to God she could find. It was all there waiting for her, if she wanted it. Everything he had to offer and more besides.
It was something he wanted to tell her. Maybe not 'I love you' but something pretty close, when suddenly she was pulling him closer, pressing her lips against his own, soft and urgent at the same time, encouraging him to respond in kind.
As they sunk down into the sand, limbs tangling, breath quickening, clothes loosening, all the words Clint Barton had ever known vacated his head in an instant, but it didn't seem to matter. Not to Natasha, not to him either. They both knew how they felt. After this, after everything, there could be no doubt. They wanted each other, but it was more than that. It was need and hunger, it was adoration and affection. Put simply, it was love, clear as day, on that hot summer night, without a word spoken.
