Chapter 1 - The Daughter
Natasha had laid down in the worn bed with the curtains wide open, intent on never waking from her latest death-sleep. So it was much to her surprise when she actually did wake, and that she was pulled snuggly against a hard body and cocooned in warmth and feathers when she did so.
Wait, feathers?
She turned slightly. The last of the sunlight was still fading from the room, but there was enough light left to see that the wing covering her was an extremely large and beautiful specimen of a red tailed hawk's wing.
"Clint." Her voice was so quiet that she knew it would never wake him, but it was only because she'd forgotten to draw in air. If she had remembered, she'd have screamed his name from the rooftops.
He came back.
He came back for her.
She quickly finished her turn, gasping in air as she buried her hands and face against his warm chest. His wing still shielded her from the last of the sun's dying rays.
The quiver that ran through her as his arm tightened around her was pure joy.
"Jesus, Tasha. You were steaming when I finally found you. I thought you'd never-" he had to swallow hard, and Natasha wanted to cry.
"I never meant... They took everyone. They killed everyone. May and Wanda and Fitzsimmons and Ward-"
Clint tensed. She was so close, he couldn't hide it. He'd tensed when she said Ward's name.
"Clint-" She tried to sit up, but he yanked her back down.
"Sun hasn't fully set. Stay here or you'll be fried." She finally looked up at his face. She froze, startled by the anger there. "They didn't... Your people..." His jaw flexed several times, as though he was grinding his teeth. "Ward turned on you. Loki did to your people what he'd done to me.
"Ward is actually dead. Loki had him crucified for turning on his sire. But my people rescued your people. They're a little worn around the edges-"
Natasha didn't hear the rest of his words. Her ears were buzzing too loudly. Alive? All of them alive? And Ward-
Natasha's head spun.
"Why?" Her voice was a tiny whisper. She'd forgotten to take in air again. "Why did Ward turn on me?"
Clint didn't answer. She looked up at him, but he refused to meet her eyes. Was he- was he ashamed?
"Apparently Ward was jealous of me." He said, and Nat felt like she'd taken a sword to the gut. "He wanted you, wanted you to turn him so that he could be your forever." Clint swallowed hard and finally met her gaze. "It's all my fault, just like always. I'm sorry, Tasha-" She pushed upwards and kissed him, stopping his words.
When they finally stopped so that Clint could breathe, she shook her head. "If it was anyone's fault, it was mine, sweet. I used him as a substitute for you. But I never felt the same about Ward that I do you." She kissed him again, harder. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and Clint's hot hands gripped her hips so tightly she thought she might burst.
She felt it when the sun dropped completely behind the horizon, when the last of its deadly rays disappeared. She rolled Clint then, turning him onto his back and sitting astride his waist.
"Tasha-" he muttered through their twined mouths, "Tasha wait a moment-"
She couldn't. She sat back amid his protests, but they died rapidly when she pulled her shirt off over her head, letting her scarlet curls cascade down as she threw the shirt aside.
His hot thighs burned against her backside, but she couldn't get enough of the way he was just looking at her. Like he was a drowning man and she was dry land. His fiery hands slid gently up her ribs and his thumbs brushed the undersides of her breasts. Natasha tipped her head back and hissed in delight. This had been coming, and for far too long.
She braced her hands on his jean-clad knees and ground down her own denim-covered center on him, trying to let him know without words how he made her feel. She knew that she'd gotten her point across when Clint used his wings and abs to push himself up to meet her, lips brushing across her bared throat, following the line of the scar that he'd put there and then helped to heal.
"Have I ever told you," she gasped, "How incredibly hot it is that you never wear a shirt if you can help it?" She felt his chuckle rise from his abdomen, vibrating through both of their bodies.
"It's simply practical. Shirts are tricky to get on when you've got wings in the way, especially if you're in the middle of say, a fight for your life that you just happened to wake up to." His words fell across her skin like the tips of his feathers, soft and delicate. She rested her hands on his shoulders, arching her back and pressing her breasts forward and toward him.
He'd just begun moving lower, towards her flesh where it ached for him so, when someone threw the door open behind them.
Natasha stiffened instantly, preparing to turn and throw herself at the intruder, but Clint's hands tightened around her ribs and his wings wrapped around her, shielding her yet again.
"Clint, what-" It was the young Avid that Clint said was like a daughter to him, Kate. She stopped mid sentence, seemingly realizing what she'd interrupted. "...It's probably best if I just let you know that Steve says now that the sun's gone down, we need to get moving. I'll be over in my room, attempting to bleach my brain."
Clint rested his forehead against Natasha's chest. "Thanks Katie. Tell him we'll be out in ten."
"Brain bleach. Maybe Pepper has a spell that can do that."
She shut the door behind herself with a loud thunk, and Clint groaned. "I am never going to hear the end of that."
Natasha had to laugh, even though she was frustrated at the disruption. She placed her hands on either side of Clint's face and raised his lips to hers. She gave him a long, hot, promising kiss, then slid out from between his wings and his arms.
"To be continued, sweet." She felt his eyes burning paths along her torso as she slid back into her shirt. She walked towards the door, then gazed at him out of the corner of her eye. "I'll let them know that you're on your way. Should give you enough time to, ah, compose yourself before Steve comes looking for you himself."
She walked out of the shabby motel room door, smiling at Clint's groan.