IronWidow fanfiction: Time Bomb

Thirteen

She felt his presence before she saw him. The slight fluttering of her stomach made her frown as she turned to look at Tony Stark's easy smile and brooding eyes. If that smile was the sun, those eyes were definitely a storm. "I'm sorry," she said before he could speak. "About kissing Clint."

"You don't have to apologise," Tony said coolly and she could see the smile dropping from his face.

"I shouldn't have brought that up," she sighed and rubbed her forehead where a headache was forming.

"Probably not."

Natasha rolled her eyes at the short answer. Men. Why did they all have to be so difficult? "I need to decide. And you're not helping, Tony. I don't know what happened to that enigmatic and fantastic man I was assigned to but he's gone."

"What happened to him? You happened to him. Clint happened to him. This whole thing happened to him." Tony said. "I think I preferred you when you were the Natasha Romanoff everyone else knows."

"What the hell do you mean?" She snapped. But she knew what he meant. She had been warming up to Tony and so, gradually, her defences had been wearing down. It started like this. A simple friendship then she wasn't the feared agent and spy everyone respected. She was no more than a SHIELD agent with a broken heart. It had happened before. It wouldn't happen again. "Maybe, we shouldn't see each other anymore."

"I wasn't aware that we were. Agent Romanoff."

"We weren't. You made an advance on me, I pretended to play along with you then I slapped you round the head for your stupidity and went to shower the gore off me and sleep before we returned to SHIELD in the morning," Natasha said. Her stomach was turning. This was like a break up. It felt like a break-up.

"Yeah. Stupid me. I should have known. Nobody gets close to the Black Widow and lives to tell the tale," he said. He looked like he meant it.

Natasha walked away. She couldn't look at him any more. She couldn't think straight. Her vision was blurry. She felt something slide down her face and in her panic, thinking it was blood, wiped it. The salty remains of her tear stained her jacket and she sighed softly. She was crying. She wondered how many girls had cried because of Tony Stark. She didn't want to be another statistic. She wasn't crying because of him. She was crying because of Clint. Because she'd have to tell him that they wouldn't work and that Tony was probably going to find Pepper to tell her he loved her and then she would be alone again.

Two Years Later
{during the Avengers}

"You're going to talk with the big guy," Coulson said and Natasha hesitated before answering.

"You know Stark doesn't like me," she said. That was an understatement. They hadn't spoken or even looked at each other since that assignment years back. She had narrowly avoided him at times; she had to escape a charity ball last year to avoid talking to him like Clint had suggested. Clint. Her heart was make nervous loops around her stomach. She was scared. It was a strange kind of fear. She had been afraid for Clint before but this was something new. She had never been scared that she would have to kill him before. That was a recurring nightmare- something that he could always wake her up from. Not this time.

"I've got Stark," Coulson said. Relief shot through her and she carried on walking down the corridor, shoes dangling from her hand. "You've got the Big Guy."

Natasha cursed in Russian before hanging up the phone.

...
Steve Rogers thought Agent Romanoff was pretty. She had the delicate features of a ballet dancer but she had the cold stare of an agent. It was a beautiful combination. He knew he didn't have a chance with her, though. When they had entered the main helicarrier room, she had gone straight to a computer and looked at the photo of the man on the screen. That was her partner- Coulson had told him afterwards- who was being controlled by Loki. The way she looked at the computer monitor was one thing. The way she looked at Stark was another.

The instant Natasha looked at Stark, Steve knew he had no chance.

.....
Natasha came striding into the room, her catsuit clinging to her in a way that made Tony smirk, despite the tense situation. Thor and Bruce were gone. Clint was back. Which was great. Loki was in New York. "Stark, we need to go now."

"Coming," he said and grabbed the helmet, reminding himself to get JARVIS to check it was safe before they headed for the city. "How's Barton doing?"

"Good," she looked at him, "and how's Pepper?" He felt a small smile slide on his face as he thought of Pepper, his beautiful and gorgeous and smart and sarcastic Pepper. "I guess that means good too," she said. "That smile."

"Uh, yeah. Yeah. She's good." Tony said. Then Clint and Steve were beside them, both looking uncomfortable around each other.

"Clint, I don't think you've had the formal introduction. This is Captain Rogers," Natasha said. "And you know T-um, Stark."

"I know Stark," Clint said with a small scowl.

Tony grinned at him. "Nice to see you again, Barton. It's been far too long," he said.

Natasha inwardly groaned. She really didn't want Steve's impression of her to be that she dated Stark. Briefly. For about two days. Days that made her forget how to breathe sometimes because of him and his charm and his general Tony-ness. Forget super soldiers and gods; Tony Stark was of his own kind.

"Please don't get into a fight," she said, "because we have to work together. We're the Avengers now. We better start acting like a team."

"Yes, ma'am," Tony mock-saluted her. "Although, I was wondering...how can we trust Bird-Brain here?"

"I'd trust Agent Barton with my life," Natasha said firmly, "and he would never do anything to hurt me. You know that, Stark. You know that more than anyone."

"I know what it's like to want to never do anything to hurt you?" The genius raised his eyebrow.

"No. You know how Agent Barton would never-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know that too." Tony said. "Now, let's go kick some Loki ass."

To be continued....woop! And the next chapter might be the last one, depending how much I write into the next one. Please comment and vote, all you lovely people!!!