WinterWidow =⊙= One Shots

Show Me How Much You Missed Me, Soldier

Natasha threw her bag down as she entered the tower with a heavy sigh. She ached all over. It has been a rough mission. Clint had decided to go straight home, even though the drive from New York alone would probably kill him. She dared not turn the lights on for fear of waking everyone up. It had to be close to...yep...3 in the morning at this point. Her legs could barely hold her up and her knees almost buckled as she stood in front of the fridge, groaning as she opened it. She looked around...almost empty...figures. She lived with the Avengers, and God knows they have healthy appetites. Appetite.

Her heart leaped with joy when she thought of her favorite Avenger, who definitely had a healthy appetite, at least, in the bedroom. Her breath hitched in her throat, wondering if he was here. Even if he was, he was probably sleeping, and she dared not wake him. She shut the refrigerator door and decided to put on some coffee. She could take a shower and it would be done when she got out. She could finally go to bed for the first time in days. She somehow managed to get to her bathroom and turned on the hot water. She slowly undressed, peeling the clothes off of her bloody body.

Once she was in nothing but her panties she grabbed the first aid kit from the cabinet behind the mirror. She tended to the bleeding scrape on her side and the small wound atop her left thigh. She looked at the bruises forming on her torso, and saw the purple and yellow rising on her cheek, just below her right eye. She sighed heavily. He'd be upset about that. She usually didn't let anyone get close to her, and she'd only really been injured a handful of times since she began avenging, but this time she'd gotten distracted when Clint got hurt. That always tended to get her in trouble, when someone she cared about got hurt.

She removed her last piece of clothing and stepped into the shower. She could feel the steam seeping into her pores, and the hot water stung her wounds and massaged her tight muscles. She began to relax as she smelled her shampoo running down her chest. Soon she could curl up in her sweats and go to sleep. She jolted up and hit the side of the shower when she realized she had almost fallen asleep. She rinsed the rest of her hair and stepped out. Once she was mostly dry and covered she grabbed her clothes and made her way into her room. She threw her clothes in the hamper just for these sorts of occasions and closed the door behind her. The room was completely dark but she knew where her dresser was by memory. She stepped over to it and pulled out a drawer, searching for her favorite sweatpants, when she felt it...someone was in the corner of the room.

She reached under her clothes and grabbed her gun, spinning around violently, her towel falling, as she grabbed it with her other hand. The light in the corner of the room clicked on and she saw him. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she felt like she'd run into a wall. She lowered her gun and ran into his now open arms.

"Bucky..." she gasped as she nuzzled her face into his warm chest, wrapping her arms around him. He held her close and tightened his grip when he heard her say his name. He sighed and leaned down to kiss her head.

"I missed you, doll...and you never called...you were gone a while and I started to worry."

"You know if I'm on a mission-" He cut her off and backed away, lightly squeezing her arms.

"Usually you try to find some payphone you can leave me a voicemail with. I just got worried is all." He smiled.

She weakly smiled back and was halfway to another embrace when he pulled her back.

"Natalia, what happened to your face?" He asked worriedly, raising his voice slightly, alarmed that he hadn't noticed before.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just got a little beat up on the mission is all." She tried to shrug it off.

"It's not nothing! Who would hurt you?" He gently caressed the bruise on her face and looked down at her. She could see the worry and love in his eyes, which only made her smile.