Mysterious Girl

You and Natasha went on a lot of dates. To aquariums, to see movies, coffees, even night-time picnics in the park. You made sure to thank Clint after each and every one of them. Even if he was away and had no idea a date had happened, he could work it out by the ‘thank you’ text he would receive.

You thanked him as well the day Nat moved permanently into your room in the tower (even if her room had been just next door to begin with), thanked him for getting you placed on missions with your girlfriend (you weren’t an Avenger per se, but someone had to keep her safe), and now you were thanking him once more, because he was there again to give you the push.

“I know you two have an eternity, but I’d like to be there to see it” he’d told you privately,

“Have you said the same thing to Nat?” you asked. He shook his head.

“Nat may be waiting for it, but I can bet you’re the one thinking about doing it”

“you make a bet with Bruce again?” you teased, “because he owes you money if you have”

“Wait, really? Have you got a ring?”

“I was going tomorrow, do you want to come?”

“Y/N, it would be my absolute pleasure”

“Thank you Clint”

—————————————————

He helped you through every step of the proposal plan, working with you to decide which ring Natasha would like best, to keeping her occupied as you set up the plans. You couldn’t have kept Natasha in the dark for so long without his help.

“So you own a castle still?” Clint asked curiously at a team dinner. You’d put him up to it, but there was nothing in his mannerisms that would give that away.

“Yeah, it’s where I lived for like, 200 years, I’m not selling that”

“We should go back, I want to see how it’s holding up” you suggested suddenly, catching Natasha’s eye, then looking down to where your hand was holding hers.

“I can take next week off,” she told you gently, “I want to see it too”

You looked back up at her and reflected the honest smile on her face. “Just us? or are we inviting the whole team too?” you muttered to her ear, still knowing the others could hear.

“You’re not being sneaky, we can all hear that,” Clint remarked, “and it’d be a bit rude not to invite us after building up our hopes for a castle visit”

Natasha broke your gaze and looked at the table; the group had grown since you and Natasha had started dating. Sam, Rhodey, Vision, and Wanda being added after the Ultron fiasco, (you had not done well in that short time Natasha was kidnapped). “Yeah, I suppose you can all come” she relented, though the glimmer in her eyes gave away her true feelings, “it’s not like there’s a lack of rooms.”

You gave Wanda a slight nudge with your foot when you noticed her wariness. Meeting her eye and silently asking what was up. You’d come to care for the girl; Natasha had been assigned as her mentor, being the most related superhero, helping her develop her powers and her skills as an Avenger. As a result, you’d witnessed her grow on Natasha, from just a teammate to almost a daughter. And you couldn’t help but be drawn in too, she still seemed so young.

*what’s up?* you asked, not out loud as such, but as a projected thought. Natasha turned her head, hearing her thoughts too, then followed your eye line to see Wanda.

*it’s not like Sokovia is it?*

*oh honey no, that was a lab, this is an actual home. It’s nice, I promise* Natasha replied, causing Wanda to ease up a bit.

“Are they having one of those mental conversations again?” Sam asked,

“Explains why they’re suddenly so quiet” Tony confirmed. You took a sip from your drink to hide the smirk of being found out. At exactly the same time Natasha decided to continue,

*I mean, there is one torture chamber actually*

You spit out your drink and Wanda choked on nothing, drawing the team’s attention back to the three of you. Wanda caught your eye, testing whether to continue the conversation out loud now. You made the choice for her, “you have a what in your castle?”

“A torture chamber”. The Avengers were really focused on you three now.

“Why?” Wanda asks, not scared, just curious. You’re proud of her.

“It was my family’s castle, and they deemed that the Tsars needed their own personal torture chamber, in case of spies or anything.”

“That did not come up on the tour” you commented, still trying to get your breath back.

“Yeah it did. The basement. The one I told you not to go in.”

“Oh. Makes sense”

Clint connected the dots faster than you did. “You wouldn’t hide a disused torture chamber”

“You don’t know that” Natasha defended, a sudden hostility in her voice that only confirmed Clint’s statement. You grabbed her arm, restarting the mental conversation.

*Nat, ease up baby*

She glared at you but you held her gaze, matching it with a soft expression on your own face, *I didn’t use it as a torture chamber*

*I would have been surprised if you did*. She didn’t reply, and thankfully Wanda was not interrupting, so you continued, *I’d guess it was for food?*

An almost imperceptible nod followed. You smiled at her, *it was a different time*, you reassured and, although she remained on the edge throughout the whole of dinner, she didn’t run. You just held her close through the night and let her work through it herself.

—————————————————

“Damn, Tasha!” Clint exclaimed as the quinjet touched down, the castle you’d called home for ten years finally in sight.

“I need a castle” Tony mused, “or maybe I already have one?”

“You don’t, Tony” Natasha confirmed, striding from the cockpit to stand next to you at the door.

“Thanks Natalie” he smiled sarcastically. Nat smirked, rolling her eyes playfully, then turned and grabbed your hand,

“You’re ready?” she asked,

“sure am”

She pressed the button at the side, opening the door and letting direct sunlight stream in to your position. You hissed involuntarily at the sting.
“Let’s go” she commanded once it was down enough for you to get out, and the two of you sprinted as fast as possible. You relished in the shade the overhand provided, waiting as Nat unlocked the door.

“I’ll just go get-” Nat began as the door swung open, but her eyes caught on the dried patch of blood on the floor. A reminder of the last time you’d been here. Her grip on your hand tightened. “They can find their own way up”, she muttered. You knew she wouldn’t want to leave you alone after seeing that, and you decided to drag her through the rest of the castle instead.

“Bit dusty isn’t it?” you commented, running your finger over the mantlepiece, then immediately sneezing as some got into your nose.

She chuckled, “it’s been 200 years. I probably should have hired a cleaner”

“Who needs a cleaner when you have the Avengers?” you joked, pleased when she laughed,

“Should I buy them all some nice pick aprons and feather dusters?”

“mmhmm, make sure to get the extra frilly ones too”

“Oh of course”

“Natasha? Y/N?” you heard from the door, and you sped off to answer, seeing the Avengers gathered right inside of the doorway without closing the door.

“What, did you not learn to close doors? were you raised in a barn?” you teased with a smirk, but they looked unamused.

“If we close the door it’s pitch black in here” Steve explained,

“Oh, light, of course” you realised, “there’s candles around, one sec”. You called over your shoulder, back towards the room your girlfriend was in, “Nat, you got any matches around here?”

“Oh shit, yeah, light” Natasha remembered. And with a flurry of activity, the candles began to flicker with a soft, orange glow, and the door could finally be shut.

“There’s really 200 years of dust in here, isn’t there?” Tony commented,

“Ooh, I can help” Wanda volunteered eagerly, “you might want to step away from the door”. You all did as she instructed, opting to stand in the centre of the grand entrance hall. She raised her arms and the dust began to swirl, collecting into a miniature tornado in the centre. Dust streamed out of every doorway to join the column, before a wave of Wanda’s hands sent it all out the front door to drift off in the air.

“Nice move” you complimented, patting her shoulder and surveying the newly cleaned accommodation.

“Let’s take you around then”. You and Natasha escorted the others to their assigned room, pausing slightly to check out yours and Natasha’s old rooms. “Someone didn’t make their bed 193 years ago” she teased and you scoffed.

“Someone was dragged out of bed 193 years ago to check out a truly awful cake”

“Hey! I put a lot of effort into that”

You patted her cheek patronisingly, “I know you did babe, but you still have no taste”. With that you pulled away, skipping to explore the rest of your room. Clothes from the 1800s lined your closet, Frankenstein lay half-read on your bedside table, and the curtains were still firmly shut.
You made the bed sombrely and grabbed the book, you never did finish it. Natasha was still loitering in the doorway, so you shot her a reassuring smile and walked with her to her own room.

“I was wondering” you suggested, “do you want to go for a walk tonight? Like the old days, back to my village?”

“Do you just want to see your old home?” she smirked as if she saw right through you, and you went along with it,

“it’s been two centuries, the whole village might not be there”

“Alright my love, we can go tonight”

“I love you”

“I love you too”

—————————————————

Later that afternoon, you found the team in the living room, a few of them reading books, the others using the Iron Man suit as a personal hotspot to use the internet.

“What did you even do back in the day” Tony whined at your entry,

“Read books, go on walks… talk to each other?”

“Overrated”

“Suit yourself… anyway, Nat and I are going out for the night, you guys might want to go somewhere too and find food, because I doubt there’s anything edible here” you informed the team, but stared at Clint, instructing him to lead.

“Yeah we should” he began, “you know any good places?”

You gave him directions to your village, “if it’s still on the map, there’s sure to be a pub or something there”. He winked, then went off to find Nat, explaining that they were going out in the quinjet.

It was another few hours until the sky had darkened enough for you and Nat to go out. You’d dressed up nicely for your ‘date night’ in the village, but you’d chosen a loose fitting dress for a reason, the small box hidden in your pocket even as you fiddled with it.
“You look beautiful Tsarevna” you breathed as Nat emerged, hair plaited down her back and a tight black dress on. She had, thankfully, still gone for flat boots, you weren’t sure she should be running at vampiric speeds through the woods in heels, though you also didn’t doubt that she could.

“As do you my love” she returned, taking the hand you held out. Then the two of you sped down the familiar track, ending up in the village you used to know so well.

“It’s changed a bit” you commented, modern (also known as 1900s onwards) housing had been crammed between the houses that you knew had been there before. And even those houses had been given renovations, windows and rooves had been redone, and you knew that was only the outside, who knew what the inside would look like. “I’m glad it’s still here though”

“Do you want to see your old house?”

You shook your head, “maybe later but… let’s just walk around town”

The town centre was about as similar as it could be, electric lighting coming from the pub being the only major difference. It was even the same pub, ‘est. 1765′ written atop the doorway. You smiled at the familiarity, and at least it meant there was somewhere for the Avengers to eat.

Eventually, you ended up where you wanted, after winding through the streets, you and Natasha were brought to the forest path. “This is where we met” you began with a smile. You spotted the tree Clint was hiding in and held Natasha’s attention so she wouldn’t. He gave a tiny thumbs up and you stopped, holding Natasha’s hands while she looked at you, visibly confused.

“203 years ago, when you saved me from those soldiers, right before you saved me from that highwayman, then saved me from my parents.”

She opened her mouth as if to say something, then seemed to decide against it, sealing her lips together and eyeing you warily instead. You continued. “You saved me physically three times that year, but then you kept saving me, every day that you let me spend with you because I would have hated if my life had gone any differently. When I lost you, I lost myself, and I cannot exaggerate how much I could not go through that again. You were my best friend and my family when I had none back then, and you’ve been the best girlfriend I could ask for since I found you again. So…”

You took a deep breath, lowering yourself to one knee, “Natasha Romanoff, Natalia Romanova, the person I have spent over 200 years thinking about, and the person I want to spend over 200 more years with.”

Her eyes sparkled once you opened the ring box. You knew she’d clocked on to what was happening at least when you started your speech, but nonetheless, she gasped in surprise, hand covering her mouth,

“Will you marry me?”

“Yes. Of course yes” she answered instantly, pulling you off the ground and into a desperate kiss. You pulled back breathlessly and she replied with a whine, “I just have to put the ring on you” you explained, quickly slipping it onto the finger she held out for you, then reigniting the kiss.

You felt one of Natasha’s hands come away from your back during the kiss and heard Clint chuckle behind you. When you turned, you grinned at the team emerging from the trees, pointing excitedly at Natasha’s hand as if they hadn’t just watched you propose.

Nat was still holding her middle finger up at the team, only lowering it when you took her hand instead.
“Were you all in on this?” she asked,

“Just Clint, babe” you confirmed, and he held his hand in a thumbs up, “he’s the only one I knew wouldn’t accidentally project the thought to you”

“And I am your friend and she values my opinion” he added,

“eh, maybe that too” you teased, earning a light slap from the archer.

“Don’t slap my fiancée Clint” Natasha defended, and you kissed her quickly,

“I like the sound of that”

“Look, congratulations to you both and all, but we’ve actually been sitting in these trees for the last couple of hours and I’m hungry” Tony complained, getting mutters of agreement from the others.

“Pub?” you suggested,

“Pub.”