Clint Barton wouldn't describe himself as cocky. Confident, absolutely. When you'd won as many competitions as he had, and were ranked first in the world, you could afford confidence at the Olympics. His coach, Phil Coulson, made sure to knock him down enough times to keep the cockiness down to a minimum. This confidence was why his smile was relaxed, and he was practically strolling through the hallways on their way from weigh in to the sparring gym. Phil had the outward appearance of calm, but Clint knew on the inside, he was a little ball of nerves.
“It's just another competition, Phil.”
Phil gave a short laugh, practically a cough, as he forced himself to match Clint's pace. “It's not,” he started to argue, but then sighed. “It's unnatural to not be nervous at the Olympics.”
Clint shrugged. “Want me to pretend?”
They'd reached the gym, and Phil was about to respond, when they heard a loud voice from behind the doors. That made the smile dim on Clint's face, and Phil tensed. “Seriously? I know Melinda and I booked this one!” He yanked the door open.
A boy and a girl were facing off. Clint saw her bounce back on her left foot before leading with her right. Her opponent blocked, but was a hair too slow to stop the switch kick. That put him off balance enough that the follow-up had him thumping loudly on the mat. What Clint assumed to be Russian followed immediately. “Excuse me!” Phil called as he strode to the coach. The man glowered at Phil, then barked an order at his two fighters. The guy stood up, and they both removed their head guards. The girl, Clint could see, was a very skilled artist that his teammate, Bobbi, couldn't stop worrying about.
Natalia Romanova stood and walked to her bag, which was situated next to the door Clint had entered. She didn't acknowledge his presence. She crouched down, finding a towel and a mouth guard case. He politely looked away while she took it out (it's a gross process, even if you're used to it) and saw out of his peripheral that she was drinking from her water bottle. “You're fast,” Clint stated matter-of-factly. Natalia lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing, choosing instead to lean against the wall. Clint could see the coaches arguing vehemently. He cocked his head to the side, then leaned against the wall next to her. “Want to spar together? I’m sure we can all play nice.” That earned him a glare. He smiled his most charming smile as he looked at her full on. It had her facing forward and drinking from her water bottle again. “Maybe we can get out of here? I don’t know if London has good pizza, but I’m willing to risk it if you are.”
Natalia cut her eyes over toward him, then looked straight ahead again. After a moment, she responded, “Many American things are not as good once you get them away from their homeland.” Only a faint accent could be heard, surprising Clint. It took him a second to actually process her words.
“Hey now. Just trying to be friendly. It’s all about the coming together of countries, right? World peace or some shit.”
That made her huff out a laugh. “Or some shit,” Natalia echoed. “I’m sure you are a nice boy, Clint Barton, but I do not have time for you. I will bring home the gold and I will show the world the glory of Russia.”
“You knew who I was?” That pleased him, for a reason that he wasn’t entirely sure the logic behind.
“You are the Hawk-guy, yes?”
He frowned. “Hawkeye,” he corrected.
He didn’t see a smirk, but Clint felt her laughing at him. “Da. I apologize for my English. I do not mean to offend.”
“Right,” he said drily. “Anyway, Phil is totally winning about the gym space, but I’ll be nice and share.”
Natalia bared her teeth, but her words were polite. “I am fine, thank you.”
Clint shrugged. “Suit yourself.” They stood in silence, until Natalia’s coach barked something at her in her native tongue and she started to gather her things. Clint didn’t move from the wall. “By the way,” he said, in a mild tone, “you shift your weight too soon before you kick.”
“I absolutely do not!”
Clint shrugged again. “Just telling you. Could cost you a gold.”
Natalia stood up and started to walk away; her male teammate had reached the door and was waiting for her to join him. “Thank you for your concern,” she spat as she walked past. Her teammate said something to her in Russian, and she responded in kind. The teammate seemed to weigh Clint in his mind, before leaving without another word while Natalia followed. Phil strode up to him and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Let's warm up.”
Clint and Phil worked on his skills, mostly precision. Bobbi came in about halfway through their gym time, and they sparred. After time was up, they gathered their things and headed back towards the athlete village to change. Clint relayed what had happened with Natalia, and Bobbi harassed him with questions while he teased her about fangirling. He should have mentioned Natalia’s tell, but he found that the words weren’t leaving his mouth. The puzzle of that he pushed from his mind. Clint needed the focus for the events the next day. Bobbi and Clint parted ways so both could shower and eat. Clint, Bobbi and the coaches knew, liked to get in his own headspace before a match, so she wouldn’t see him until he was finished. This knowledge earned him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before they separated.
Clint chilled in his room, going to bed early and managing to sleep well. He got up, drank his coffee and ate a light breakfast. He would eat several light snacks throughout the day since he wasn't cutting weight, which he packed into a bag. He grabbed his bag and headed to the main arena to meet Phil and begin his warm ups. Phil left him to his own devices until it was time to line up for the main area. He quietly spoke to Clint as he helped with the safety gear.
Clint won his first match, easily. Then his second. Then the third. At the end of a tiring fourth match, Clint was standing at the top of the podium and listening to the proud chants of “U!S!A!” as Phil signed I’m so proud to him. He was thrilled to pose for pictures with his medal and the United States flag draped around his shoulders. He was in a bit of a daze after - despite what he'd said to Phil, Clint was a little in shock from winning an Olympic gold. He vaguely remembered Phil promising him all the pizza he could eat when they got back home, and a smile from Coach May. He tried to go to bed at a decent time so he could be there for Bobbi the next day.
Clint was still hyped enough that he woke with time to spare. He met Phil outside the arena where the women would be having their matches, and they found their seats. Bobbi was the second fight. Clint and Phil both twisted in their seats, cheering when she landed blows, groaning when she was on the receiving end of bad ones. She shook it off, though, and emerged victorious. After she left the staging area, Melinda pointed them out, and Bobbi waved. Behind her, Clint saw a slight figure with red hair.
Natalia looked to see what had caused the commotion. Seeing the American gold medalist in the stands had her muscles tightening. She deliberately relaxed. Natalia was the best. Her coaches, her country, had seen to that. Spacing her breathing, she readied herself for her match. At the end, she had handily defeated her opponent. Her eyes automatically found Clint in the crowd. He had a little half smirk on his face as he clapped. Catching her gaze, Clint lazily saluted. Natalia resisted the urge to make a rude gesture in response, instead deliberately turning and leaving.
Phil had caught the moment and cleared his throat. “What are you up to now?”
Clint feigned innocence. “Just being friendly,” he drawled.
Phil grunted. “Try not to be too friendly,” was his response.
They settled in to watch the remaining matches, idly discussing the competitors, London, the other events, and whatever else popped into their heads. Bobbi handily won her next match, and the third. Natalia also moved to the finals, though she steadfastly refused to look at Clint again. Clint felt another pang of guilt at not giving Bobbi the tip about Natalia, but he shoved it out of his mind. This was Bobbi’s gold to win.
The girls faced off and bowed. The referee signaled them to begin, and the two both went for the offense. Natalia was faster, though, and Bobbi had to drop back. She scored several points before the referee pushed her back. Bobbi and Natalia panted for a few moments, and then Bobbi recovered enough to push back, recovering some points. The first round was intense, the break involving chugging water. Clint could see Bobbi talking quickly to May and gesturing. He grinned and pumped his fist.
“What are you so happy about?” Phil was giving him side eye.
Clint clapped him on the back. “You'll see,” he responded. Clint leaned forward as the second round began, elbows on his knees, hands dangling between his legs.
The next round, Bobbi took the defensive immediately. However, Natalia didn't land nearly as many blows. Phil leaned forward, mirroring Clint. Phil scrutinized the fighters for a minute before exhaling a laugh and leaning back. “When did you see it?”
“Yesterday,” Clint responded, absentmindedly.
“Hawkeye strikes again. Why didn't she use that in the first round?”
Clint rubbed the back of his head. “I maybe...didn't mention it?” He flinched, but no blow came. Phil sighed instead.
“We'll address that,” meaning the flinch, “later. You could have helped your teammate, Clint.”
Clint hunched over, defensively. “She could have corrected it, or used it to mislead her opponents. Natalia is good enough.”
Phil considered this, then shrugged. “Still not thrilled, but that's true,” he acknowledged. “We're going to be instituting trust training at the gym again when we get back.”
Clint rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. “Trust training” mostly meant chores, but they'd also done rock climbing, laser tag, and Nerf war with obstacle course, so he'd bite the bullet.
They'd missed most of the second round, but a glance at the scoreboard showed Bobbi in the lead. The second break involved Natalia and her coach not speaking, while May gave Bobbi instructions on how to press her advantage (Clint assumed from his own experience). The final round had Natalia moving in a blur, but Bobbi matched her. Natalia was able to earn more points, but not enough to overcome Bobbi’s lead. Clint and Phil cheered for her, watching proudly as she received her gold. Natalia was stony faced as she received her silver. Clint tried to find her in the chaos after the medal ceremony, but she'd vanished.
The team celebrated at the athlete village. Now that they were finished, they could take a few days to enjoy themselves. They couldn't take long breaks from training, but it was more relaxed. Phil and May mentioned the post-Olympics training camp they would attend, this year traveling to Germany. May warned them they'd be busy as the current gold medalists, which Clint accepted good naturedly. They were able to watch a few other meets (Clint enjoyed archery), and had fun with some of the other athletes that weren't involved in Tae Kwon Do.
After closing ceremonies, they had some more time in the UK, then stopped in France, then headed to Germany for training camp. Traveling with their coaches meant they trained a little bit each day, even if it was just flexibility or forms. Phil and Melinda found some things to do that they classified as trust exercises, though Clint was pretty sure they were just teaching him how to ask strangers to pet their dogs in as many languages as they could find. They arrived at camp fully relaxed, laughing and enjoying their down time.
The coaches got them checked in and they set up their living areas, before checking out the food setup. Bobbi and Clint didn't have to worry about dropping the weight they'd gained on their little vacation yet, but still opted for a lighter dinner than what they'd been having. Bobbi sat with friends of hers from the Mexican team, while Clint saw some buddies of his from Australia. Clint didn't realize he was scanning the room until one of the guys poked him and asked who he was looking for.
“Huh? Um, just seeing who's here. Russians here yet?”
“Saw ‘em at check in but haven't seen the lot at dinner yet.”
Clint nodded and tried to pay attention to the conversation, which had turned into a game of would you rather. They were able to put in some good natured pokes at him about his medal. Clint watched the door, but didn't see Natalia.
The next morning at breakfast, though, he almost literally ran into her. Green eyes flashed at him before she snapped at him in Russian. Her male teammate also made a point of shoving his shoulder against Clint as they left. Clint frowned after them. Normally, training camp didn't have the rivalries of competition. He couldn't figure out what their deal was. He'd never interacted with the Russians before the Olympics. Shrugging, he finished gathering his breakfast and found a seat.
After breakfast, they met with the trainers and coaches for the camp, having a big group meeting before actual training happened. The medalists were briefly acknowledged, to a round of applause from the other athletes. After, they set up in the gym and ran through drills and forms. The coaches partnered them, same sex partners today. Clint, not wanting to intimidate anyone after such a recent win, held back on his kicks but kept the accuracy. He was able to give some feedback to his partner. They switched a few times, and all were pouring sweat by the time they broke for lunch. Everyone pretty much inhaled their food, then had time to catch their breath and chat for a bit before being called back for training. They did speed drills and stretching before calling it a day. The athletes and coaches had time to shower before dinner.
At dinner, Clint bounced between various countries. He'd been competing for long enough that he recognized a large portion of the other athletes. He was flirting with Jessica from the UK team, when he saw Natalia and her teammates claim a table to themselves. “Oh good, they've decided to grace us with their presence,” she noted.
Clint shrugged a shoulder. “What's the deal, anyway? Russians aren't normally this unfriendly.”
“If I were to hazard a guess, I would think it's from the lack of gold ‘round their necks this year,” Jessica suggested.
Clint pondered that for a moment, then nodded. “Can't always win. I'm going to go say hi.”
“Are you sure that's a good idea?”
“Nah. But I visited everyone else.” With that, Clint got up and Jessica sighed. She turned in her seat to watch the show.
Clint strolled to the table where Natalia was sitting, ignoring the glare from her male companion. Sitting down, he used his most charming smile. “Hi. Nice to see you again.”
“Go away,” the male told him.
“Just being friendly,” Clint said lightly.
“It's okay, Yasha,” Natalia said to him. “Maybe he comes to apologize.” She turned to look at Clint, one eyebrow arched.
Clint was confused, and he knew his face had that dumb look on it, but he couldn't help it. “Uhh...why? Should I be apologizing?”
The man called Yasha sneered at him, but did not say anything as Natalia squeezed his wrist. “For your rudeness.” She had a smile on her face, one that Clint couldn't quite read, but took as polite disdain. Either that, or she thought he was stupid. Either way, it stiffened his spine.
“Nah, I'm good. I'm going to go see some of the other winners.”
Clint saw the smile transform into a face of shock, and he was walking away while she shouted a few words at him in Russian. He took a few deep breaths as he found Bobbi and returned to the UK table. She rewarded him with an eye roll, but Jessica scooted closer to him and Clint slung his arm over the back of her chair. Clint pretended he didn't see Natalia and Yasha leave, instead waving the Australian team over.
Even though training camp was relaxed, they all still tried to get to bed at a fairly reasonable hour. None of the coaches present would give them slack in the morning because of a late night, as they had all learned. Breakfast was a little more subdued. The group stretched together and worked on more advanced forms. The coaches had them running and doing other cardio to help reduce recovery time. Lunch was quick today, the coaches wanting the afternoon to be sparring.
When it was announced they were having opposite sex partners, no one really cared. When it was announced they got to pick their own, there was some nudging. When it was announced to begin, and Natalia walked to Clint, there was staring. A lot of staring. Some sharp words from the instructors had everyone taking their seats around the room, seated next to their partner. Clint sat quietly for the first few matches, then leaned over to whisper, “What are you doing?”
She smiled sweetly at him, but did not respond. He frowned, but went back to paying attention to the other matches. After the round, each fighter was given suggestions for improvement, based on what was seen. The coaches for the respective country listened - this was input from fresh eyes, which was beneficial to their training routines. Clint sighed slightly when they had gotten about halfway through the list and he realized they would probably be the last fight. Natalia, on the other hand, looked positively gleeful. He knew he had to pay attention to be respectful, but damn he was tired of waiting.
Finally, finally, “Barton and Romanova” was called. They met in the center of the mat and shook hands, then balanced themselves when the referee signaled to begin. Clint expected her to go on the offensive immediately, and was not surprised when she lunged first. He waited, patiently, for her to back off after she realized her tactic hadn't gained her any points. That's when he lead with a spinning kick, shocked when it landed. He didn't have a chance to follow up, because Natalia countered with a sweep of his supporting leg that had him falling on his back on the mat. She all but danced away to her side of the mat, Clint shaking his arms and rolling his head on his neck as he readied himself.
He went on the offensive this time, kicking and punching in a flurry of movement. On a punch, she grabbed his wrist, twisted, and used momentum to swing herself up and grabbing his neck by her ankles before pulling him to the ground. Clint had studied enough other disciplines to know to not resist in order to keep his neck intact. Once he hit the mat, he rolled himself to his feet. Phil looked furious, and the referee was coming over to interfere, but Clint waved them both off. He bared his teeth in a semblance of a smile at Natalia, who looked a little shocked that he'd recovered.
Clint crouched a little and moved closer to her. “Playing dirty, Nat? Cheating?”
She hissed out, “My name is Natalia, and you are the cheater.”
He went to punch, and she grabbed his arm in what he knew would be a judo throw. He swung that arm up, using his superior height to break her grip, before he wrapped his arms around her. “What the hell are you talking about? I don't cheat!”
Natalia kicked both legs up, then down, and thrust him over her head. He landed on the mat on his back, and took a second to get his breath back. She leaned over him. “You cheated to get her the gold,” she accused. “You snuck into our gym time to watch me and then told her all about it.”
Clint turned his hips so he was still flat on his back, but his right hip was on the ground. He swept his left leg up, knocking Natalia to the ground. He then sat up on his knees and looked down at her. “I did not,” he responded hotly. “I gave you some advice and you didn't take it. I didn't say anything! Bobbi figured it out on her own. Not my fault you're too arrogant to listen!”
Natalia kicked him back, using her feet on his chest to propel herself onto her shoulders and then onto her feet. She sat on his chest, using her legs to trap his arms. “Why should I believe you?”
He didn't struggle, just huffed out a breath. “I'm also not a liar. You can ask my coach.”
She thought about that for a moment, then looked at him suspiciously. “Are you letting me win?”
Clint smirked at her, then bucked his hips up, crossing his ankles over her chest and pushing her back so she was on the mat now, while he sat straight up. “Fat chance, Nat.”
She opened her legs just a touch, then clamped them shut again. They both rolled over, laying on their sides. “It's Natalia.”
“Release on three?” Clint inquired.
“Sure,” Natalia agreed. They each counted and released, doing a backwards roll to get up to their feet. She walked to him, stopping inches away and looking up. “You were right,” she admitted. “I watched some video. It is a flaw that will be corrected.”
Clint barely lifted a corner of his mouth in a smile. “Glad I could help.”
The room was silent, until Bobbi yelled out, “Just kiss already!”
Phil cut in, “No kissing at training! We're done for the day. Go to dinner, and you two,” Phil pointed at the couple in the center, “have cleanup duty. We're here for Tae Kwon Do, not a rom-com. Extra speed training after dinner.”
Clint and Natalia nodded and bowed, ignoring the laughing as the other athletes filed out. Natalia was friendly to those that came to talk to them, which was a nice change. When the room was empty, Clint looked at Natalia and smiled again. “Not my idea of a great first date,” he drawled.
She laughed and actually smiled at him. “Well, I guess I can give you one more chance.”