Part 8 - 2012
It was another week before you and Nat moved in to the Avengers tower in the middle of New York. It was a week spent packing up all your belongings and spending quality time alone with Natasha, be that at home or in the local pub. (fun fact: vampires could get drunk very easily, especially when they hadn’t fed in a while)
The team sent a quinjet to pick the two of you up and, after saying goodbye to the locals and moving the boxes on board, you took one final look back at your house. You’d keep it for sure, but it’d be a couple of lifetimes before you would be able to come back.
Most of Natasha’s new team were there to greet you upon return. Clint pulling her in for a hug first, the long time friends reunited, while Steve gave you a firm handshake. Then you switched over, shaking hands with Tony, who was still eyeing you warily, then a smirking Clint… you weren’t sure what that was about. Then, last of all, Bruce; apparently Thor hadn’t yet returned from Asgard.
With the ease only a pair of vampires could pull off, you and Natasha had your boxes unpacked in your adjoining rooms within minutes, and the rooms were fully set in under half an hour. Super speed and strength really helped.
“That was unsettling” Bruce said once you and Nat reappeared in the common room as a blur. It had been a race to get back, and she was majorly faster, so you pouted.
“Catch up slowpoke” she teased,
“It was close” you whined,
She scoffed, “no it wasn’t”
You finally turned to the other Avengers in the room, looking around for support, “Don’t look at me” Tony replied, hands in the air, “I could not tell the difference”, the others grumbled in agreement and you grinned at Natasha.
“See. Close!”
“Yeah, yeah, well they’re just really slow”
“You’re really leaning into this whole vampire thing now that it’s in the open, huh?” Tony asked, eyeing Natasha.
“I mean, you know now, so why hide it?” she retorted, “same way I stopped being Natalie around you once you found out… plus I’ve got a friend” she finished with a point at you. You just looked between the two of them with a small, awkward smile at being singled out.
Clint coughed, his hand doing very little to cover his smirk, “yeah, a good friend”. In a blink, Natasha and Clint were gone, and you turned to face the room.
“What just happened?”
“No clue”
“I’m as confused as you are”
“I thought you would know”, all came at once.
“Can’t you see what happens at superspeed or something?” Tony asked, and you shook your head.
“I can see what’s happening at super speed while I’m going fast, but when I’m not that part of my brain doesn’t kick in. Otherwise I’d see everyone moving so slowly that it’s be frustrating”
“Oh… makes sense I guess-”
“It’s how I shot Nat” you continued, a fond smile on your face at the memory.
“You what?!” the others exclaimed.
“The good old days” Nat said at the same time, returning to the room with a queasy looking Clint. She smiled at you and she smiled back, remembering the moment you met,
“200 years ago this year” you reminded her and she nodded,
“I can’t forget”
“Sure, because you got shot” Tony deadpanned, looking between the two of you. Natasha waved him off,
“I get shot all the time, just rarely by such beautiful people”
You sucked in a breath and looked away, unable to hold back the smile growing on your face. It wasn’t like Nat had never complimented you before, she was just a flirty person by nature. Yet you’d never managed to not react this way. Honestly it was an upside of being a vampire that you couldn’t blush anymore, that would just make it too obvious.
“Hey Y/N, can I talk to you for a sec?” Clint prompted, “and do not speed me out of this room or else I will throw up on you.” Natasha didn’t hide the pointed glare she sent Clint, and you wondered what was going on between them as you walked into the corridor with the man.
He stopped once you were far out of earshot of the others and turned to you. “You have a crush on Nat” he said simply and you felt your stomach drop, voice catching in your throat as you tried to bluff your way out. Eventually you sighed, “was it that obvious?”
“To me, yes. To her, apparently not. Somehow”
You breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh great. I don’t know how to get over it Clint. I don’t want to ruin out friendship, I just got her back.” you explained, hoping you could get some support now that he knew.
“You’re an absolute dumbass” he replied, catching you off guard,
“What-”
“Both of you are” he continued, ignoring your interruption, “have you ever considered that maybe she feels the same and that you could be very happy in a relationship without all this gay pining and shit?”
Well you were beginning to now.
“No?”
“Wait here” he instructed, stalking off to the common room. You obeyed and stood awkwardly in the corridor, did Nat have a crush on you? As far as you could tell, she’d never given any indication that she did, but Clint seemed so confident. Maybe she was just a lot better at hiding it than you? Or maybe Clint was already sick of you being hopelessly in love with his friend, and decided you getting rejected by her would solve that.
“Clint what the hell did you say?” you heard Natasha whisper angrily, cutting you out of your thoughts.
“The truth” he replied nonchalantly, the two of them coming into your view now. The archer had a hold of Natasha’s elbow and was ‘dragging’ her along. You didn’t doubt that Natasha could easily break out, so she seemed to be going along with it more for show. He quickly pushed her forward to you when they got close enough and crossed his arms.
You and Nat shared a look of confusion before turning back to the man.
“Natasha, Y/N had a crush on you”
“Hey!” you frowned, and Natasha turned to give you a look of shock. Great.
“Y/N, Natasha has a crush on you”. Now it was Natasha’s turn to say ‘hey’, only hers was more of a mutter, and she didn’t take her eyes off of you.
“Talk it out” he concluded, swivelling on his toes to leave the two of you alone.
“Was he lying?” Nat asked after a long pause,
“not for my part” you admitted shyly
“he wasn’t lying for my part either” she confessed,
“oh”
“oh indeed” she smirked teasingly, returning slightly to the attitude you knew from her.
“So”
“So…”
“I don’t know how to do this” you admitted, rubbing the back of your neck slightly, she eyed the movement.
“That’s ok. I do” she smiled, leaning forward until your lips met. Your eyes opened wide at the contact, before you relaxed into the kiss, placing your hands on her cheeks as she looped her arms around your neck. It was a short kiss, but it felt like eternity, and you couldn’t complain for one second. You felt her lips tug into a smile as she began to pull away and you gave an exaggerated frown at the loss of contact.
“We can do that many more times my love, don’t worry” she assured you, and you preened at the nickname. It sounded good, suited a vampire well.
“I should hope so Tsarevna” you replied, once you’d shaken yourself from the daze she put you in. “Can I take you on a date in exchange?” you offered, lowering your arms until they found her hands, taking them in your own.
“I would be honoured” she replied, “but I’m gonna need to give you a lot of kisses for that to be an equal exchange”
“I think I can live with that” you answered, the smile not leaving either of your faces during the exchange. She pecked your lips quickly then turned, heading back to the common room. You tailed behind. Now that you were sort of dating, did that mean it was ok for you to stare unashamedly at her ass? Hopefully, because that’s what you were doing, only looking up as you got in sight of the others and noticed they were watching the two of you.
Clint looked you up and down, “they totally kissed” he concluded firmly, starting a flurry of conversation that you hadn’t even noticed the room had been lacking.
“Well, did you?” Tony spoke up
“Tony, that’s none of our business” Steve began, but the billionaire just hushed him, “you just don’t want to lose $20. C’mon, tell us”
Natasha realised first, “did you two place bets on us kissing?”. You laughed, plopping yourself down next to Clint.
“Not just us two” Tony corrected, and Bruce suddenly looked sheepish while Clint just shrugged,
“hey, can’t blame a man for wanting money” the latter defended, “if you two didn’t kiss after my little set up I’m gonna scream”
You looked over at Nat, unsure if she wanted the others to know yet, only to find her already watching you, a playful smirk on her face. She moved to stand in front of you and looked down at your lap,
“move your hands”
“to where?-”, your question was cut off as Natasha planted herself on your lap as soon as your hands were off. Then she turned, back and neck at a funny angle, and planted another kiss on your lips. It wasn’t as deep this time, clearly just for show, but it didn’t mean you didn’t love it any less.
A sudden whoop in your ear broke you apart. Clint and Tony cheering, while Steve and Bruce groaned, both fishing for cash to hand to the other two.
“Looks like you’ve been outdone on the waiting too long category Cap” Tony teased, and the soldier nodded, “not many people can outdo 200 years”
Ignoring their conversation, you turned to Clint, thanking him quietly,
“yeah, well, as they said. The two of you have waited long enough” he answered sincerely, then, noticing Nat was listening in, added, “plus you two are the most hopeless people I have ever met. I needed an intervention to stop you spending an eternity just pining for each other.”
Natasha was engaging in Steve and Tony’s conversation, but Clint’s remark drew a smirk onto her face, and she playfully flipped him off without even sparing a glance.