The fight attendant came to a stop at a door not far from the front of the plane and gestured for Natasha to step inside. Natasha tensed immediately, poised to strike.
“This isn’t the cockpit,” she said warily.
“No,” the flight attendant said with a smile, leaning to open the door. Natasha drew away from her reflexively, planning an attack. “Mr. Stark asked me to bring you here.”
She took a step back and opened her mouth to yell for Clint when Tony’s voice came from inside the room. “For God’s sake, Natasha, don’t assault the poor girl. I just want to talk to you, come in here. You’re fine, it’s just me.”
Natasha closed her mouth and looked over at the flight attendant, who’s smile had never wavered. A flash of annoyance flared - this girl should have been terrified, Natasha could have killed her quickly and easily - but the girl smiled. Was she becoming such a soft touch? Goddammit.
She scowled at the pleasantly smiling girl and stepped into the tiny room ready to give Tony a piece of her mind. She looked around for him, seeing only two empty chairs.
o0o
“For someone so damn smart you’re really good at not catching a clue. You’re screwing up, you know it?”
Natasha spun around the room to see Tony projected on the wall. He looked at her with eyebrows knitted. “What are you talking about?”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Are you seriously going to let Steve screw up a good thing? Come on, Natasha. Wise up.”
She put her hands on her hips and stared at his image on the wall. “Just how the hell do you know what Steve is screwing up or not screwing up, and how?”
“Damn, Natasha, you’re losing your touch after so much time. It’s my plane. I programmed Jarvis to alert me and start a live audio feed if Steve’s name got brought up during your flight. I suspected he would do something like this, turns out I was right. You need to not pay attention to Spangles. I vetted Clint for lack of a better word, then I had the FBI do it. I talked to his psychiatrists, I watched him myself. I wouldn't have sent him if I thought he wasn’t 100% genuine. I wouldn't have sent him if any of the doctors or FBI specialists had any reservations at all. He’s clean. He’s genuine. He’s telling you the truth. He’s punished himself for months, cut the boy some slack. Steve means well, his heart is in the right place, but ignore him. go with your gut here, and don’t let him break you two up. It’s what he wants, although he doesn’t mean to be malicious.”
Natasha sat down in one of the chairs, crossing her legs and arms, looking at Tony cooly. “And why would you think that?”
“Because he’s Steve Rogers. He doesn’t have a malicious bone in his body, but he absolutely could not stop himself from doing it. I knew it was coming. I thought about warning you guys, but was afraid that would create problems.”
“How is it that you know so much about the inner workings of Steve Rogers’ psyche?”
Tony sighed, a heavily-put-upon sound that indicated Natasha was being terribly obtuse.
“Listen, think about it logically. He has lost everything he has ever cared about. His parents died when he was young. His best friend fell off a train right before his eyes. He went into the ice and when he woke up, everyone he loved was either dead or dying. His whole world was gone. He had nothing at all, he had to start completely from scratch in every aspect of his life. All he had to go on was the fact that everything he ever cared about was destroyed. Hell, he found out that he had one remnant of that life left - his best friend had survived - but that guy was a brainwashed killer that didn’t even recognize him. Steve’s had a helluva time.” Natasha shifted uncomfortably. Tony continued: “The people Cap chooses to care about, he will fight kill and die to protect.
“Spangles cares about you, Natasha. And he perceives a threat to you in Birdie. He figures that if the guy hurt you once, he’ll do it again - and Captain by-god America isn’t going to stand by and let one of his friends get hurt. Not on his watch.”
Natasha sat silent for a minute, then rubbed her forehead. “I should have seen this. I didn't think he cared.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Thanks.”
“Calling it like I see it, Spidey.”
“What do I do?”
“Go follow your gut with Birdboy. I’ll handle Spangles, but you’ll need to do some soothing when you get here. He’ll come around. I think deep down he knows everything will be fine, he’s just being hyper-protective. I’ll talk to Clint if you need me to and explain the same thing I just did to you. Be happy to.”
Natasha blew out a deep breath. “I just hope I haven't screwed things up too badly with Clint.”
“You? Ruin things with Birdie?” Tony laughed. “Nah. That boy’s been crazy about you since I’ve known him. I don’t think you could ever ruin it.”
Natasha stood up. “Thanks Tony, I appreciate it.”
“No sweat. It’s my pleasure.”
“Oh, hey, do me another favor?”
“Sure.”
“Kill the surveillance.”
“You got it.”
o0o
Clint was sitting at the window, watching the clouds anxiously, chewing at the skin around his thumb when Natasha walked up the aisle to his seat. She smiled at the back of his head, and he jumped when she placed her hand on his head and ran her fingers through his hair. His eyes were anxious as he looked up at her. She didn’t remove her fingers.
“Hey, you startled me.”
She smiled down at him. “I didn’t mean to.”
“S’ok.” He looked up at her curiously. “You alright? What did the pilot want?”
Natasha turned her body sinuously and slid down into his lap, curling one arm about his shoulders and bringing her right hand up to cup his face, kissing him softly. Clint’s surprise was momentary, soon he wrapped his arms around her torso and pulled her closer, spreading the fingers of his hands wide across her thigh and back. She ran her tongue across his lips and he opened for her, moaning as she stroked his cheeks with her thumbs before slipping her arms around his neck.
They pulled away after a long moment, breathless, and Clint smiled at her. “Good meeting, huh?”
She smiled back. “You could say so.”
He brought his hand up to her face and cupped her cheek. She leaned into the touch, closing her eyes for a second before opening them to look at him. He slipped his hand around to the back of her neck, leaving his thumb at her jawline and pulled her in for a soft, chaste kiss.
“Does this mean you’re staying with me, Tasha?”
The hope was thick in his voice. All of the years of longing, need, want and unrequited love came down to this moment. His eyes darted all over her face, looking for an answer, and landed on her eyes. She held his gaze, looking into those blue eyes - the eyes that were world-renowned for being able to see everything - and wondered if they would be able to see the truth in her next words.
“As long as you’ll have me.”