Red and Blue | Male Reader x Natasha Romanoff

Prologue

On a hot summer's day, there's nothing quite like a glass of ice cold lemonade. Feeling the rush of the chilling liquid going down your gullet and permeating through your body can only be matched by standing in a refrigerator. Alas, many people don't have access to such facilities, certainly not those living in Smallville.

Smallville is a town not far from the middle of nowhere, but just far enough to be considered somewhere. Originally settled by pilgrims in 1796 who misinterpreted a Bible passage, it had become a farming town of wheat and corn, mostly. Only one family dared to dabble otherwise, the Lang family.

The Langs, headed by Hank and Barb, were the richest family in Smallville. Thanks, in large part, to their prize winning cows, best in the county 24 years running. The secret? Hank's father, Lewis, had spent his whole life cultivating the perfect bulls to breed prize winning cows, able to uproot a middle-aged tree if it looked at them wrong. Tales of the Langs' bulls were rife in Smallville, leading to many young men being pushed to make the moves on their only child, Lana.

Lana was a girl of thirteen with luscious golden hair and crystal blue eyes. Contrary to what the town thought, the Langs took great pride in their daughter, many Smallville families wouldn't give their daughters a second thought, instead choosing to hand the operations of their farms to their husbands. Lana was a very capable farmer by the time she reached the age of nine. Waking up early to milk the cows, shifting the bull from paddock to paddock, always taking care to shut him away so he could wreak havoc.

It being summer, Lana was hard at work every single day, leaving not much time for her to entertain the potential suitors that were making chase. The few families of Smallville were eager for an in to the Lang family, sending their boys to hound the poor girl for her hand in marriage. Lana never had much interest in the boys, she was able to see right through them. 

The only boy she gave the time of day was a twelve year old in her class, Y/N. He was often described as the friendly face of Smallville Elementary. This wasn't a surprise, mind, as Y/N was a Kent. The Kents were much the opposite of the Langs. They were not very rich, never won any competitions, but they were widely known as the most dependable family in Smallville. Ma and Pa Kent as Y/N and, curiously, the rest of the town called them would give their neighbors the clothes off their back if it came to it.

Nobody knew what drew Lana and Y/N together, it wasn't like her to enjoy the company of others and it wasn't like him to pick favorites. Maybe it was that that made them so close. 

Whatever the reason, it meant that while Lana was lounging around under the great oak tree, Y/N was right by her side. This was their favorite activity in the summer, laying in the shade cloud gazing. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes they wouldn't. They were each chewing on a piece of straw as they took in the sites that the sky had to offer.

"What's the time?" Y/N asked, the back of his head resting on his hands.

Lana thought for a second as she tried to find where the sun was, "'Bout two."

Y/N hummed in acknowledgement, "Thought so," he said, "I was getting hungry."

Lana chuckled, "You're always hungry." Before Y/N could respond, Lana spoke again, "But now that you mention it, I could eat."

Y/N took his gaze off of the sky and turned to his friend. "If it's two, we've been here for hours."

Lana came to that conclusion, too, as it had in fact been hours. It was easy to get carried away and lose track of time when you were lying down on soft, warm grass like they had been. "I think we have hotdogs," Lana said.

Y/N's face grew a wide grin, "Race you?"

Lana nodded with her own grin. "Oh but first I have to check Benny," she said, looking over to the paddock she had left him in. 

It wasn't hard to spot Benny, the Lang's pride and only bull, while he was in a freshly grown paddock. He was a hulking black beast and stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the bright green of the grass. Though, benny was nowhere to be found.

"Y/N, do you see Benny?" Lana asked, hoping that she hadn't made a big mistake.

Before he could respond, the two heard a deafening bellow from behind them. The pair turned around and saw the bull mere yards away from themselves. Benny had a cold glare, one that was somewhat unusual when around humans. He began striking his foot against the ground, Y/N and Lana able to hear the huffs of air coming from his nose.

Y/N prepared to get as big and loud as possible but before he could yell, Lana stopped him. "Shut up, stay low."

"I thought you're supposed to scare bulls," he hissed back at her.

"Not Benny." She hissed back, "Not when he's like this."

Y/N nodded and lowered his body, "What do we do?"

Lana, through timed breaths to calm her nerves, spoke very calmly. "When he charges, we jump out of the way."

Y/N looked back to the house, "And then?"

"We hope he gets bored," Lana replied, coldly.

The two children stood waiting for Benny to make his move, the seconds dragged on for hours. You could hear the flap of a fly's wing from the anticipation. Benny's breaths began to soften as they held their ground, a sign that he might be reconsidering his charge.

"Okay," Lana said in a hushed voice, "I'm gonna stay here and keep him busy, you go the house and get my dad, or- or my uncle. I think he's home."

"Shouldn't we both leave?" Y/N asked, not wanting to leave his best friend with a raging bull.

Lana chuckled slightly, "No way am I letting Benny do god knows what, Dad will kill me."

Y/N looked to his friend, "Are you gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Lana said, not daring to take her eyes off of the bull, who was still standing his ground, "Benny and I go way back, he wouldn't hurt me."

"But-"

"Y/N," Lana said as calmly as she could, "Walk in a straight line, to the house. Do not run. Stay calm."

"Okay," Y/N responded, he began walking back slowly, observing Lana and Benny to make sure she was okay. 

When he got to the fence, he turned around and jumped it. He was about 100 feet from Lana when he heard Benny's roar. He snapped around and his worst fears were confirmed, "Lana!" He yelled, but it was too late. 

Lana, though calm in the moment was frozen in fear. She couldn't move, even though she needed to. Y/N knew what he needed to do, he dashed to her. Through the fence he had just jump, leaving wood splintering in the air as he continued on. He got in front of Lana just in the nick of time.

Y/N reached out and grabbed the bull by the horns, the impact sending his feet shooting into the ground. Y/N groaned in effort as he tried to hold back the pure powerhouse that was Benny the Bull, but he couldn't. He knew that if he didn't act fast, he would flip over him onto Lana. Y/N did the only thing that he could think of and slammed the bull into the ground.

Breathing heavily, he turned to look at Lana, "Are you okay?"

The look of fear on Lana's face was indescribable. Her friend had just run a 30 yard dash and stopped a fully grown bull in his tracks in a matter of seconds. She looked at Benny, her family's prized possession and the animal she had helped raise from birth. 

Tears began to well in her eyes before Y/N repeated his question, "Lana, are you okay?"

The tears began to fall down her face as she ran off to find her father.