The Eternal Avenger

Chapter Three: Cleanup

(Natasha's POV)

After the official Avengers victory over Loki and his extra-terrestrial army and the unofficial victory Shawarma that followed, Tony announced that the Avengers, collectively, would be taking the next day off. I woke up in the tower, groaning at the sunlight streaming through the window. Seriously, the Universe could be a bit more considerate after we saved a planet just the day before. It was far too bright. I got dressed for the day in comfortable yet tactical clothes – clothes I could move around in if I had to exert myself. I made my way out of my room, locking it behind me before walking down one of the dozens of corridors to the elevator, hitting the button for the main living floor. I glanced around the kitchen, rolling my eyes at the mess of dirty plates, silverware and remnants of what could only have been a testosterone infused midnight snack by one or more of the guys. "I'm always picking up after you boys," I muttered under my breath. I tossed the dirty dishes into the sink, running some water over them and leaving them to soak before grabbing an apple, biting into it and stalking out of the room.

Once I reached street level, I climbed into my Corvette Stingray, peeling out and heading towards where the battle took place yesterday. Parking multiple blocks away, I walked the rest of the way, meeting up with a small crowd meeting near the battle's ground-zero. The look on their faces was something. Awe? Fear? Both? I shrugged self-consciously. "Hey guys, I'm here to help." I shoved my hands in my back pockets, attempting to break the tension and make myself appear less threatening.

"But you're...you're an Avenger" one of the women sputtered out. I smiled at her.

"True, but I do just want to help. There's a lot of mess out there." The group just nodded. We huddled together for a few minutes before being assigned quadrants to work. I headed towards mine. Unsurprisingly, none of the group had volunteered to work with me. I usually work better alone, anyway. I reached my designated area, looking around and taking stock before sighing deeply, starting to pull rubble and trash into a pile. I felt something behind me, although there was no discernible sound. I spun around, one hand reaching behind my back for the gun I always kept with me just in case I needed to grab it quickly. It was the girl from yesterday. Standing there, leaning on a broken Corinthian column that had no-doubt fallen from the building above us during the battle, grinning at me. "You," I snarled, walking towards her.

"Hi," she offered simply, showing absolutely no sign of moving – or of fear.

"Hi? That's what you're going with? What the fuck was that bullshit yesterday?" I folded my arms across my chest. I was slightly taken aback, though I would never show it. A skilled Russian ex-assassin-turned-spy-turned-Shield usually demanded some respect, and although I'd never admit it, a part of me enjoyed the fact that I intimated people. Her eyes pale blue eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yesterday?" She asked. She fidgeted a tiny bit, too little for most to notice. The question made her uncomfortable.

"Yes, yesterday. You were fighting some thugs in an alleyway about a television set? I tried to help, but then you disappeared." A flash of something moved across her eyes. It looked almost like relief.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry about that, I just had a really long day and didn't want to stick around to answer any questions." She shrugged, pushing off against the column with her shoulder and standing upright, forcing me to tilt my head up just slightly to be able to look her in the eyes. I nodded in recognition of her statement, but didn't buy it. "What are you doing here?" She asked. I frowned and huffed under my breath, slightly offended.

"What the hell does it look like I'm doing?" I snapped. Seeing the smirk gradually moving across her face at my response was even more infuriating.

"Don't you have interviews to give, or autographs to sign or something? You're a hero, aren't you?" I opened my mouth to respond, or possibly punch her right in the middle of her smirking, arrogant mouth, but then closed it again. She was teasing me. Laughter lines crinkled at the corner of her eyes. I allowed myself to relax just a little bit.

"That's all Tony," I muttered, causing an audible chuckle to escape her mouth. I couldn't help it, I chuckled too. "Like I told the others, I'm here to help."

"I'm Claray," she offered, seemingly as a peace offering, extending her hand. I shook it, taking note of how strange it felt. Electric, almost. Cold. I felt a tingling that began in my finger tips and radiated to every part of my hand where it was touching hers before she broke contact and pulled back.

"Natasha Romanoff," I answered, extending the same courtesy.

"Agent of Shield, and Avenger," she smirked again. I dropped my head, shaking it lightly and laughing.

"Have you been checking up on me?" Now it was my turn to smirk.

"I was considering sending a thank-you note for your help," she shrugged.

"You don't need to do that," I laughed, shaking my head again.

"I said considering, not that I was going to – or needed to." Snarky, Cocky, Arrogant little shit. I narrowed my eyes, cocking an eyebrow. "Okay, fine, fine – would you like some help with..." the waved her hand around gesturing to the area in general "this?" I laughed, dropping my guard a little more.

"Maybe I'll send you a thank-you note." She laughed loudly, and it seemed to reverberate through me. We got to work, pulling out trash and broken building pieces, collecting them together for disposal when the pickup truck came to our area.

(Claray's POV):

As we worked silently, I couldn't help but steal glances at her. She was stunning, even more so when not in her "uniform" and in a more casual setting. Occasionally, our eyes would lock before both of us looked away. The silence was comfortable. After a few hours, the truck finally came by our area, and we loaded what we could into the back. I have super-human strength, but this woman does too – she was lifting things I would have sworn were beyond her. I wiped my dirty hands on the ass of my jeans, looking over at her. "It was nice to meet you, Agent Romanoff," I said smiling, offering her my newly clean-ish hand. She shook it. I didn't even mind that her hand was still dirty, and now mine was again as well.

"It's Natasha," she smiled back. "Thanks for your help."

"Don't mention it."

"So...if I did want to send you a thank-you note, where would I send it?" She walked closer to me and smirked.

"I work at Artifacts International a few blocks from here," I lied. I owned it. She nodded.

"Maybe I'll see you around, then" she smiled. I turned slowly, not really wanting the day to end before smiling to myself and walking off towards my apartment. I could only hope she wouldn't notice that I was walking in the opposite direction of where I told her I worked.

(Natasha's POV)

When I got back to the tower, I immediately went down to the training room. I needed to stretch. Sure, I was strong, but I put in a good day's work of manual labor the day after I had helped save the world. I couldn't stop thinking about Claray. There was something about her that I just couldn't get a handle on, and I didn't like not knowing things. Not one bit. I pulled my phone from my pocket, flipping it open and dialing the only number I could think of to talk to. Fury answered before the second ring.

"Romanoff." His voice was gruff.

"Fury, I have a lead on something I'd like to follow up on," I began. He cleared his throat. "Just listen for a second. I don't have a lot of information, and I can't tell you what I do know, but I think I may have some intel on a possible asset that could be of use."

"Romanoff, aliens literally just tried to invade New York, and the World Security Council attempted to blow up the Island of Manhattan. I don't think now is the time for..." I cut him off.

"Fury, you're going to have to trust me on this. I have a feeling." His protests stopped almost immediately.

"Fine," he conceded. "But this is not priority. Other things come first, this will be on your own time, Natasha." I nodded, quick to agree.

"Done." The phone clicked, and I placed it back in my pocket, satisfied. I headed up to the main floor of the tower's living quarters, determined to find out what was causing the strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that I couldn't quite get rid of.