Natasha Romanoff sat in bed, scrolling through a take out menu online. She sat directly in the middle of the enormous bed as it was her favorite spot to be. She always preferred being in the middle, sceretly, but she wouldn't tell anybody that. She had a reputation to uphold. Not that her pajamas of a stolen T-shirt and a pair of boxers that didn't belong to her either helped her case.
James Buchanan Barnes exited the bathroom and plopped down on the bed next to his partner. He was dressed in a black tank top and plaid pajama pants. Nat gave him a kiss in his forehead before sitting back up.
"Your braid is cute, Buck"
"Thanks. I figured it would help make it easier to comb my hair in the mornings. Are those my boxers?"
"Yes"
"Nat, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't take anymore until after I did my laundry tomorrow"
"We did, but it's not like I can wear your shirts, you always tear the sleeves"
"Well maybe I should start tearing off the legs of my boxers then. Where is Clint?" Bucky asked. As if on cue, Clinton Barton stepped into the room. The scruffy man had bandaids all over his face and hands, which wasn't out of the normal. His partners found it endearing about him.
"Sorry, I know I am late. But somebody had to take Lucky out to pee before bed or else there is hell to pay. I swear, I know the dog is old but he deserves his own retirement home" Clint said. He was in a superhero T-shirt and his boxers. Since Nat had his only other clean shirt, he had to wear this one. It wasn't everyday you see Hawkeye in a Spider-Man T-shirt.
"Well hurry up and get in bed. Date night officially started three minutes ago and you are lucky we didn't start the show without you"
"That is crueler than waterboarding. Where are we ordering this week, Nat?"
"I am thinking about Mediterranean food. I am getting a spicy lamb meatball salad"
"I am getting salmon kabob rice plate, babe. And it is safe to say that Clint is getting the usual chicken kabob sandwich eith extra chicken"
"Bucky Bear, you know me so well" Clint commented, his voice dripping with adoration and snark. He grabbed the remote as Nat put in the order. He searched through Hulu until he found Brooklyn Nine Nine and turned it on.
This was their traditional date night. Curling up together in bed to binge watch cop shows, eat take out, and enjoy each other's company. They didn't really need the grand gestures or going out. Or at least that is what they thought.
"Before I was drafted, I would always take my dates out for a steak and a night of dancing" Bucky said as he sipped his wine. The scene on the TV was Jake Peralta ruining Amy Santiago's dinner date.
"How come you have never taken us out for steak and dancing?" Clint asked. He was draped over Nat and Bucky. He had always been the more physically affectionate one of the bunch. Not that the other two minded.
"Because we would get to a fancy restaurant and you would order chicken nuggets" Nat teased.
"That was ONE time!"
"I just assumed you guys didn't want to. Clint, you don't seem to like dressing up and being stuffy. Nat does it for her job all the time, dressing up and going out with targets."
"Yeah but work is different from personal, Bucky. Though, we haven't really been pushing for it either"
"You do have me there, Buck. I think I wore a clip on tie once" Clint said. Then, as if by luck, an idea struck Clint. He sat up.
"What if we did the fancy date night thing! We each plan a part of a date and be fancy and whatever. Since there aren't really dance clubs like back then, we would need a new activity. Unless you guys want to go clubbing"
"God no. Sweaty horomonal 20 year olds close together is awful. But we could always just go to a concert"
"Great. Bucky, you handle that. Nat, you handle dinner so that way we go to a place that you haven't finished a target in. After dinner will be my activity" Clint said.
"I can't believe we have been dating for three years and just now going on a fancy date" Bucky said. There was no response to his comment, though, as they were all deep in thought, planning for next week's date night and their futures.
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That was last week's date night. The week leading up to today had been spent in secrecy and intense planning. They had also agreed that in order to keep the surprise going, Bucky would get ready at Steve's place and Clint would be at Phil's. Natasha stayed at the apartment because it was easier for her to get ready there rather than pack up all her supplies and go somewhere else. She also invited Pepper Potts to hang out with her as she got ready, since the other two would also have friends helping them get ready.
"Thanks for coming over. You know I don't have a whole lot of friends and we both lead busy lives" Natasha said, opening the door for the other woman. She was just in a bath robe. Pepper smiled and stepped in.
"Well anything for a friend. Running a company also means less time for friendship making, but I am not complaining. How long have you been getting ready for?"
"Since this morning when they left to do paperwork for Fury. I luckily took the day off." The women walked back to her bedroom. Natasha had been in the middle of waxing her legs when Pepper arrived.
"So how are you going to do it?"
"Do what?"
"Pop the question! You told me you got the rings"
"Oh. Well Clint's surprise is the last thing we do tonight. So while we do whatever circus exercise he has us doing, I am going to drop on my knee and propose"
"That is not well thought out at all"
"Well it is all very secretive. And trying to get secrets out of a spy when they don't want you to is very hard when you are limiting yourself to no stabbing" Natasha said. Pepper nodded in understanding.
"You are just going to have to tell me all about the looks on their faces when you do it!"
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"I look like an old man"
"You are an old man, Buck"
"Fuck you, Sam"
"Well it is either this or the suit you tore the sleeve off of" Steve said. He and Sam stood behind Bucky, who stared at himself in the mirror.
His long hair was pulled back into a tight bun and his face was neatly shaved. It was soothing to have a smooth face again. Bucky had on a bit of mascara and eye shadow to help his eyes pop and stand out. He had on some old cologne that Steve had gotten for him for christmas, it was Clint's favorite scent. The "old man" outfit in question consisted of a short white sleeve button up shirt, a grey vest, black slacks, a black leather belt, and black leather dress shoes.
"There is no way you can look like an old man with the amount of eye shadow you got on" Sam said, taking a sip of his beer. Bucky glared at him.
"Why did I even let Steve invite you to come over?"
"Because I am one out of the only two friends you have, and that is pushing it" Sam claimed. Steve elbowed him in the gut. Bucky didn't mind that Sam was ragging him, though, he had other things on his mind.
"What if they don't like it? Or what if the box falls out of my pocket? What if the concert sucks and it rains and they have a bad time and it is just not a good time?" He asked. He had worked so hard to make uniquely just for them. Sam suddenly felt a bit guilty for the ribbing, but before he could speak up, Steve answered.
"Nothing is ever perfect, Buck. If life was perfect, none of us would be here right now. You just have to do it"
"Besides, nobody can have a worse marriage proposal than Steve" Sam added. Steve's face flushed red as the other men remembered that eventful night. He had put the ring into the pie, but before it could get to Tony, Clint had found it, choked on it, and it had to be removed in the emergency room before Steve could propose awkwardly in the recovery room.
"Thanks. I needed that" Bucky said.
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"I can't believe you can't even tie a tie, Clint. Have you never had to wear formal clothes before?"
"I wore a clip on tie for Tony and Steve's wedding. All the other weddings I have ever been to before that were for circus performers so we usually wore our work uniforms" Clint said. He stood in front of Phil Coulson as Phil fixed his tie for him. Clint had tried to do it himself but it ended up in a giant knot.
"None the less, I am proud of you, Clint. Fifteen years ago, I would have never guessed you would have settled down and become a fuctioning adult"
"Functioning? Yeah right. I can't even tie a tie. But thanks man. I am excited for this, I am. But I can't help but to also be nervous. You know the whole relationship and family thing makes me nervous. And if I do this, then that's final"
"Listen, you are going to do great. I know you've secretly want the normal married life thing. We all do. And yours is a little different, but you are the most unique guy I know. And I know quite a few unique individuals" Phil said. Clint knew he was dancing around Clint's past. It used to be a sore subject for Clint, but he didn't mind it as much now. His parents were shitty to him and his brother, than ran and lived with the circus which wasn't perfect either, and then he ran to become an assassin for SHIELD. So he lacked in the family knowledge department. Clint was working on it though, and now he was prepared for it.
"You know you guys can't legally marry right? At least not in the US. I am sure you could always marry in Wakanda"
"Well, it would be more of a symbolic thing. We could always have a ceremony and such, but honestly does it matter if we are legally married or not? We all have the same health benefits. In my will, they are my beneficiaries, and I am sure that I am theirs too" he said. Phil gave him a pat on the back. He was ready to go. The time to impress was upon him and he was sure to razzle fucking dazzle.
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They had all met up at the coordinates that Bucky sent them in their groupchat. It was a small jazz club called Swing 46. When Clint and Natasha arrived, Bucky stood awkwardly in front of the club. It was no surprise that Bucky picked seing jazz for tonight's musical entertainment, it was very popular back when he was in the 1940s.
"I found these guys online and asked them if they could play some of the ones I liked best. I hope that is okay with you two. Dancing is a two person thing but I can teach you both" Bucky said. His face was a bit flushed. He was nervous his partners wouldn't like it, or that he would accidentally make one feel left out when dancing with them, or that he was being too self centered when choosing this one. However, Clint was eager.
"This place looks great, babe! Back in my circus days, the couples would dance together to swing music but I never had a partner to dance with and Barney sure as hell wasn't going to want to dance with me," Clint stated.
"And your outfit is adorable! It has sleeves and we can still see that beautiful arm of yours."
"Plus you shaved. I like the smooth face look. Makes you look younger and less war torn"
"Thanks. I feel a bit less war torn than before. Plus you guys look amazing too" Bucky complimented. He meant everything he said. Clint had his hair combed to the side and there were no bandaids at all on his face, showing the healing scars. Some spots where bandaids were earlier were completely healed. He had on a complete 3 piece suit with a purple tie and matching handkerchief. His shoes were nice and polished. Natasha had her hair in a ponytail made out of her own hair and killer red lipstick to match the crystal widow barrette. Her dress was a black skater dress with a matching leather clutch and red bottom heels. The three of them were stunning.
"We can gush over each other in the club, come on, I want to see you teach Clint how to dance!" Natasha exclaimed, dragging her lovers into the jazz club.
The inside interior was exquisite. The bar was fully stocked and lit brighter than the sky on Steve's Birthday. There were shiny booths to one side and little tables on the other to make room for the giant dance floor and stage in the middle. The stage had a full jazz band playing "A String of Pearls" by Glenn Miller. The walls were covered in old photos of people swing dancing. Bucky approached the band as Natasha and Clint claimed one of the little tables for the three of them.
"Do you want to dance with him first? I don't mind waiting" Clint offered.
"No. We have ballet. You go and learn how to jive with that sexy man over there and I will order drinks for us. Don't worry about me. I will be enjoying every second of this" Natasha said. Before Clint could object, Bucky came over and practically dragged him to the dance floor. Natasha chuckled. Hopefully this wouldn't be as disastrous as trying to teach him ballet was.
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Clint sat groggily on the ground of the dance studio on an early Sunday morning. It was tradition for Natasha and Bucky to go practice once a week together. Today, they had decided that maybe they could include Clint. After all, he was very flexible and had circus experience. How hard could it be?
"These tights suck. I quit the circus for a reason" Clint complained. Bucky rolled his eyes.
"You quit the circus because you knew you had talent. Now do the stretches or I will stretch you out myself"
"Oh that sounds kinky"
"Focus, boys. We can have fun later but right now is ballet time" Natasha said. She always took ballet seriously because she had been punished if she didn't before. She doesn't talk about it much though, the time she spent in the red room isn't her favorite subject. Bucky had prior knowledge of ballet, he didn't exactly remember why he had needed ballet for Hydra, but he knew just enough to be able to practice with Natasha. Now he did it as a way to relax before a stressful week of work.
At the bar, Natasha led the trio in some exercises. During the demi-plie, Clint's knees ached from having to do the position for so long. He decided that it was because he was rusty and that he hadn't stretched in a while. The battement tendu was easy enough for him to follow. The pirouette was a bit exhausting, but he managed to do it. However, by the time they got the the sautés, he jumped once and didn't land properly at all. Out of embarrassment and being tired, he just stayed there for the rest of practice. To treat him for at least trying, the trio went to grab breakfast pizza after practice. They haven't brought Clint back since, but now he stretches every morning before starting the day.
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Natasha was so deep in a memory, she didn't even notice the club was filling up. Clint and Bucky were having the time of their lives on the dance floor, who knew Clint would be so good at being tossed and twirled? A small crowd surrounded them, cheering them on.
"I fucking love jive dancing!" Clint yelled happily over the music.
"Me too! It is better than moshing" Bucky replied. He was enjoying dancing like he used to, but he was worried about Nat. He always worried that someone was feeling left behind.
At the beginning, they were all kind of skittish to do anything that didn't involve all three of them. If left out, the leftover partner thought about the previous relations between the other two, so it was easier to ensure they still loved them by bringing them along. Natasha and Bucky had relations while in Soviet Russia, Clint and Natasha had relations while Bucky was MIA, and Bucky and Clint had relations when Natasha shut everyone out. It didn't calm down until Natasha and Clint came back from a mission, exhausted, because they got no time to relax while away.
Bucky checked over to see if Natasha was alright, but his eyes landed on a man who was approaching Natasha. He completely stopped and showed Clint.
"Can I buy you a drink, miss?" The random man asked Natasha. She looked up and glanced at the man. He was dressed like he was trying to look wealthy, but drove a Honda. She scoffed and sipped her drink.
"I am fine with my drink. I will get myself another if I want"
"Why not just get a free one, though? Wouldn't hurt" the man said. He slid into a chair next to her and got really close. Natasha glanced and saw that her boyfriends were heading over with a quick pace. Natasha planned on waiting for them, she had always found it hot when they kept people off of her, but then the man out his hand on her thigh. Then, before she could even think about it, she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back and making him rise from his seat.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't break your hands so badly that you never touch anyone without their consent again? Tell me why I shouldn't let my boyfriends over there, the one with the metal arm and the fit blonde guy, take you in the back alley and beat the shit out of you?" Natasha asked, loud enough that everyone in the club, who were now watching, could hear. Bucky and Clint stepped out of the crowd, looking tough.
"I am so sorry. I promise I won't do it again!" The man said. Natasha turned to her boyfriends. She wanted their opinion on what to do with him.
"Let him go. He isn't worth it. It would be fun, but it would ruin the romantic mood to our date" Clint said. Natasha adheered to her partner and shoved him to the ground. The man scrambled and quickly left the club. Natasha turned to her boyfriends.
"I am hungry. Let's go eat" she said. They nodded and grabbed her hands, leading her out of the club. They tracked down a cab and Natasha gave the directions quietly to the driver.
The place they were going to have dinner was actually the Avengers' Tower. The men got out of the cab and looked at their girlfriend and then at the tower, then back at her, then at each other.
"Are we eating in the Stark Industries Cafeteria? Because as much as I like their food, I ate plenty of it when I lived here" Clint said.
"No. I hired a personal chef for the night. We are eating on the rooftop. I've literally been to all the fancy places this city has to offer" Natasha answered. They must have accepted that answer, because they simply walked in and to the elevator.
They arrived and the landing pad was lit by several candles. In the middle was a round table and three chairs. A chef stood nearby at a grill, finishing the meal he was working on. Natasha took their hands and lead them to the table. She pulled out their chairs and they sat down. She approached the chef and he handed her some salad. She came back and served her boyfriends and herself before sitting.
"Dinner will consist of salad, soup, the main meal, and dessert. Wine will be flowing as long as you can finish your glass and not throw up" Natasha explained.
"Babe this is amazing"
"Yeah, you really outdid yourself. How did you get Tony to agree to this?"
"Peter came home for the weekend and they went to some science convention, so he has no idea about this"
"Steve said they found out recently that he transferred from MIT back here to Empire State without telling them. Apparently his grades were slipping and he missed being in New York, so he transferred after the first semester, and just lied to them about it every weekend"
"No way! I am surprised Tony isn't fuming about that"
"Well he probably is, but it is his fault. The kid is a dumb hero like the rest of us. Plus he never wanted to be an engineer, like Tony, he wants to do Biophysics. He only went to MIT because he felt he would disappoint Tony if he didn't go there"
"That kid is always trying so hard to not be a disappointment. He is perfectly fine. They are gonna care for him either way. He just keeps adding stress to himself and it just hurts him in the end"
"Oh that is really funny coming from you, Bucky"
"Why is that funny?"
"Do you not remember Christmas last year?"
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"Steve! This is a fucking disaster!" Bucky yelled in frustration. His best friend had just walked into his penthouse to discover that Bucky had taken over.
"When I agreed you could use my place as Santa's workshop, I thought you were just gonna hide and wrap a few gifts here..." Steve said, not finishing his thought. Bucky looked devastated on the floor. Unwrapped presents laid in two giant piles, while most of the wrapping paper had either been shredded or somehow taped to Bucky. Steve could smell burnt cookies, and glancing into the kitchen, he confirmed that at least three batches were overcooked. The kitchen also looked like a tornado swept through.
"Oh Buck-"
"I suck at Christmas. They are gonna hate it. I bought them too many presents, the cookies are hard, and the christmas pajamas I bought us are awful and mine doesn't even fit" Bucky said. He laid on the floor dramatically.
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"He called you guys directly after that"
"Yeah, and we helped you do the stuff. But, we would have liked it even if they were in trash bags and the cookies were burnt" Natasha said. Clint gave Bucky a kiss and he relaxed.
The three continued like that through out the rest of dinner, going down memory lane and enjoying each other's company. When dinner had finished, they helped clean up the platform so the poor Chef and Steve wouldn't have to do it themselves.
"Alright! It is my turn! And luckily my place is right around the corner from here so we can walk" Clint said as he gathered candles in a box. Once every things was cleaned, they brought the items inside and began to exit to the elevator.
"What are we doing?"
"Well, I figured a nice, quiet walk through Central Park would be perfect for us. We couldrven bask in the moonlight by the pond"
"You make it sound like vampires"
"Assassins are just vampires who get paid to spill the blood instead of eating it"
"I had to eat human flesh once" Natasha stated. Bucky and Clint stopped in mid motion and turned to her. She laughed and gave them both a little shove.
"Why do you guys look so worried? I didn't want to"
"You are the scariest person I have ever met"
"That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard" Natasha said, blowing a kiss. Bucky and Natasha went back and forth like this a few more times before Clint took a few steps back, his hand sliding into the box. His fingers located and gripped the box. He was gonna do it.
"Hey guys, I want to ask you something real quick-"
"Let me stop you all right there" A voice interrupted Clint. The trio turned to the source. Three young men, no older than 25, stood there. They were gruff looking, definitely up to no good if they were stopping people out this late at night. The one on the left had long unclean blond hair and ratty gym clothes. The one on the right had similar attire, but was much taller and had black hair. The man in the middle, the ring leader, was the shortest and wore the most worn clothes.
"We want you to give up your wallets, purses, and watches" The ring leader said.
"And the widow hair piece." His two men held up guns and pointed at them. Natasha rolled her eyes at them and turned to her boyfriends.
"How are we handling this?"
"Well you beat up that guy in the bar, Bucky and I have this one"
"You sure? I don't want to hear anything if a bullet grazes one of you"
"We are capable of handling, Nat. We handle you all the time, don't we? Clint and I can take these guys in our sleep, our real challenge is you" Bucky reminded. Bucky gave her a kiss and Clint leaned over to pat her shoulder.
"You guys think you can handle us? You guys are fucking pathetic" the ringleader said. Bucky began to do his famous saunter over to them, Clint just walked over as normal. The two men began to walk closer together until they were into hand holding distance. They stopped and began to hold hands.
"We give up. Clearly you guys weren't scared of that" Clint said, raising his free hand. Bucky did the same. The men began to laugh.
"You seeing this? A bunch of queers just giving up like that. Maybe we should get the car and get them to an ATM so we can have more money" the man on the left said. The men began to laugh, not noticing that Bucky and Clint were no longer standing still. They were running full force at them, their hands still connected together.
When the men did notice, Bucky and Clint had already knocked them down. Bucky took the left one and grabbed him by the hair before head butting him rather harshly. Clint stepped on the face of the ring leader as he went after the guy on the right. He stood the man up, then turned to Nat.
"Babe, watch this! I learned it after watching WWE last week!" Clint said. He took a few steps before getting a run start to jump. He jumped and then began to twirl in the air. He then landed on the man's chest, kicking him to the ground, also knocking him out. Natasha held a thumbs up. She was texting on her phone.
"Now just you" Bucky said, lifting the ring leader off of the ground and into the air. The man was terrified. His team had just got knocked unconscious!
"You do the honors, Babe" Bucky said. Clint stood still, watching him. Bucky looked confused. Usually, Clint loved an opportunity to beat the pulp out of the last bad guy. Then he noticed a broken hearing aid on the ground. He sighed and shook his head. That man broke more hearing aids than anyone he knew, and in the most ridiculous ways sometimes.
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"Clint, where are your hearing aids?" Bucky signed when he watched Clint approach the Avengers Tower pool. Natasha was suntaning next to Bucky, listening to music with her earbuds in. It was Steve's birthday, and Tony always tries to through the most sterotypical 4th of July party for him every year. Steve was grilling in his new "Too Hot To Handle" apron while Peter and his friends played volleyball in the pool.
"Relax, Bucky Bear, they are with my clothes" Clint said out loud. Before Bucky could say anything, Clint cannonballed in the pool. It wasn't long until Clint came scurrying back out of the water, his hearing aids steaming. Bucky laughed as his boyfriend rushed inside to find Tony, in case he could fix them or give him spares.
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Bucky punched the guy in the jaw and placed him with the others. Then he grabbed Clint's hand and practically dragged him to Nat. Before she could say anything, a bright eyed and bushytailed super hero approached.
"Thanks for the text message, Ms. Widow! Sorry they ruined your date, I can handle them from here" Squirrel Girl said.
"No problem, kid. Thanks for finishing them for us. And in a couple minutes, it will be Mrs. Widow" Natasha said. Bucky caught that and he began to groan. He signed to Clint to tell him that Natasha had pretty much proposed. He also groaned, then looked in his pockets for the box. It had fallen out. He groaned again and went wear his broken hearing aide were. He hated those aids, they broke way too easily. He found the box and came back.
Bucky and Nat also pulled out boxes themselves, but Natasha handed an extra box to Clint. She had packed extra hearing aids. H3 out them in and turned them on.
"Thanks" he said.
"We are going to see if Stark can make you some that won't fall out as easy. Or break as easy" Natasha added. They all sat quietly for a moment.
"So we all had the same time, huh?" Clint said. Bucky began to laugh.
"We are fucking disasters"
"Agreed. So it is safe to say we all say yes, yeah?"
"Of course"
"Yep"
"Great, let's stop by the grocery store and pick up some of the fancy celebratory wine and some ice cream. I rather be in bed watching our shows than in this dress right now" Natasha said. The two men laughed and took her by her hands and lead the way.
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This Saturday, Clint sat in the middle of the bed, scrolling through the online menu of a pizza place. He was in his boxers and a shirt of Bucky's. His face and arms covered in new bandaids because of the new damage to his body this week.
Natasha came out of the bathroom and plopped down on the bed in only a bra and a pair of Clint's boxers. She gave him a kiss on his cheek and grabbed a pillow to hold.
"Bucky says he is almost here. Are we ordering pizza or not? You know we are just going to get the usual"
"I guess but what if I want something new? Like this place offers Asparagus on the pizza!"
"I will literally cancel the wedding if you get pizza with asparagus on it. Also, did you add wings to the order?"
"Yes Nat, and a Philly Cheesesteak for Bucky" Clint said, rolling his eyes.
"I sure hope you did, you know how I love Philly Cheesesteaks. Not more than I love you two, of course" Bucky said, entering the room. Lucky ran up to him and Bucky gave the old dog a few pats before undressing and climbing onto the bed, bringing a nice little bag with him. Clint completed the order and gave his full attention to his fiancé.
"They came out perfectly. The man was still confused why we wanted three but when I gave him my card he didn't say anymore about it" Bucky said. He pulled out a box and opened it up. Inside were three identical rings that they had designed last Saturday when they got home. It was a red star that touched with the widow symbol, both connected with an arrow shooting through them. Inside the rings, "We are Strong, But Our Love is Stronger" was engraved.
"I love them" Natasha said.
"They are perfect"
"Okay, sappy moment over! Let's put these bad boys on and watch Brooklyn Nine Nine" Bucky said. They each grabbed a ring and put it on, then snuggled close to watch their show together, in peace.