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Natasha smelled something fishy and she was not liking it.
Earlier that week, Steve, out of nowhere came up to her and gave her a gift. Nothing extravagant nor expensive, it was just a necklace; but it was so random that it surprised her. It wasn't her birthday. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year were still months away.
"I just noticed that you don't wear accessories, but you do keep a necklace from Clint," their resident Captain explained.
"Thanks, Steve. This looks nice." She smiled as she looked at the fine silver chain.
Steve smiled, too. "I'm glad you liked it."
Her eyes caught Tony who was at the kitchen bar, pouring coffee to a big mug. He also glanced her way, and so their eyes briefly met, before he looked back down to his brew and immediately walked out. He was busying himself again with a project and was probably going to stay up for the night, hence the hot drink.
Then she remembered the guy standing before her.
"Of course," Natasha put the necklace back in its small bag and slipped it in her side pocket. "You shouldn't have bothered, but I really appreciate it."
"Training tomorrow?"
"Yup. Same time." She replied glancing at the hallway where Tony disappeared to.
"Okay. See you at 7 then."
The following day, she was at the gym with Steve and they were training separately when, all of a sudden, he asked her to spar with him.
"Okay," she shrugged and agreed.
A couple of minutes into their hand-to-hand combat, both not pulling possible hits, Steve was able to pin her to the mat – which actually happened from time to time and which she could easily move on from to retaliate, except that Clint suddenly appeared by the door with Tony tailing behind him.
"Stark's training with us today."
Her best friend and the billionaire both saw Steve hovering over her before she managed to push him up again and stand on her own.
"Tony -" she was about to greet him and say it was good that he decided to join them that morning instead of locking himself alone in the workshop or with Bruce in the lab, but the genius mechanic turned to Clint.
"Need a quick change. I'm not comfortable here," he said pinching both his shirt and sweatpants.
Then he walked out of the door before anyone could reply. She subconsciously stared at the door even after it closed again.
“Nat, everything okay?”
Clint asked, and it was only then she realized that she zoned out.
“Yeah. I’m… I’m done for the day.” She strode to the bench to get her water tumbler and towel before walking back to her room without looking back at her teammates.
And the final string was this stunt she thought they were trying to pull over lunch.
They have not had a team lunch for a while. Everyone always had tasks to do outside or somewhere else in the tower. This day, they were complete. Natasha and Steve took care of cooking as usual. Clint was putting away the used dishes to the sink and the trash to the respective bins. Thor prepared the table. Tony and Bruce stepped out of the lab and joined them in the dining hall, and the rest – Sam, Wanda and Vision – were on their way to the common area, as confirmed by FRIDAY.
They were having casual conversations over baked salmon, chicken and potatoes, when Steve, out of nowhere, said something that surprised her… and seemingly just her and Tony.
“You have any plans tonight, Nat?”
She shook her head. “None yet. Why?”
“You want to go out for movie and coffee?”
Her eyes automatically scanned around their teammates. Wanda was grinning. Vision just tilted his head a little. Sam made an OK sign. Bruce shrugged.
Clint snapped his fingers. “Finally!”
Thor’s laugh sounded fake, but it was loud anyway. “I knew it!”
And Tony… His eyes widened as their gazes met but he dropped the look the same time he dropped the fork to his plate. His movement was quick; he stood up and left the table.
“Will go ahead to the lab, Bruce. Just… be back when you’re done.”
When Tony turned his back on them, Natasha also stood up to follow him, but not without confronting the team first once the engineer was out of earshot.
“Mind telling me what’s happening?”
“Nat –” Steve started.
“You don’t mean that,” she pertained to the Captain’s invitation earlier. “I know something’s going on and I swear if I found out –”
“Good that you figured out this stuff, but how about that thing between you and Stark?” Clint sat comfortably, leaning his back on his chair.
Why, of course. It was Clint who had the guts to put up this whole thing!
“What the hell, Barton?!”
“If it isn’t any obvious yet, Natasha, everyone in this table knew that you and that not-so-genius-former-playboy have been pining for a long time now. We just had to do something about it.”
“You seriously agreed to this, Rogers?” Her hands rolled into fists as she faced the supersoldier.
“Look, Nat. Both of you are my friends and even if I wasn’t so sold out to this plan, I agree with Clint… You need to act on this thing between you two.”
“And it’s not as if we did anything drastic, Nat. We did not like set you up on a blind date or told one how the other feels," Wanda intervened.
Sam nodded. “Yeah. And the intention isn’t bad. You two have been exchanging loving glances any chance you get. You worry endlessly when the other is on mission or is missing. And damn, you work well and fit perfectly together. I mean, we just wanted to help.”
“Indeed, Ms. Romanoff,” said Vision. “This is just a stimulus to see if we will get the desired reaction. If we did not, then there should be no issue.”
“Obviously, you care about what Tony feels, Nat. You both do, for each other,” Bruce added matter-of-factly.
“I must agree with our friends here,” Thor affirmed.
“Now, before somebody fly out to somewhere, you go and check up on him.” Clint prompted, then continued with his food as if nothing happened.
Natasha sighed, still furious with the team’s intrusion. “I’m not yet done here,” she threatened as she walked to the lab.
When she got there though, nobody was in.
“FRIDAY, where is Tony?”
“Boss headed to his room, Ms. Romanoff.”
Not a minute wasted, and she was already in the lift to his own floor. When she was by his door, she then questioned herself why Tony’s reactions mattered so much to her… why she never wanted to see him sad, hurt, disappointed, or jealous. She just guessed they would figure it out together, if their team was right all along.
“Tony, it’s me.” She notified but was sure that even if he would not acknowledge, she will barge in anyway.
“Come in.”
She gently pushed the door open and saw him sitting on his bed, feet on the ground and hands on the mattress, his arms supporting his weight as his head turned her way.
Needing to be as close to him as possible to talk properly, she sat on the bed, copying him. Her left hand was only an inch apart from his right.
“I see he's finally making a move. About damn time.”
His eyes now focused on the carpeted floor, and she failed to see the emotion in his eyes that went with the statement.
“I don't know what you’re talking about, Tony. Steve and I are just friends and it will stay that way, as far as I know.” Her voice was firm as she watched the side of his face.
“You look good together.” Tony commented further as if he did not hear her.
“Then why do you walk out when you see us together?”
There was a pause and complete silence before he replied. “It doesn't matter.”
“It does to me," she replied straightforward. "Because I also ask myself why I want to go after you every time.”
Tony turned his head her way again and their eyes locked.
“I don’t want you thinking that way about me and Steve, or anyone else.”
She did not dare pull back anymore from this situation she has put herself into.
It's now or never.
All or nothing.
They just stared at each other, the deeper feelings left unspoken, until Tony slowly closed the small distance between them. He leaned in, their face almost touching, as if trying if she would act differently. When she did not, he raised both hands to cup her cheeks.
“My mind tells me that this is going fast, but I’ve waited long enough so f*ck logic.”
Her lips were met by his, but it wasn't a long, lingering kiss. It felt like he was just checking if she was real. Her breathing hitched, his hands trembled mildly and she gripped on both of his forearm to steady him, running her thumbs at the back of his wrist.
“Are you really willing to give this a try, Tash?” his eyes searched hers. "Us?"
“You’re world-known as someone who makes things work. Guess I am in good hands," she nodded with certainty. "Let's do this."