Work Text:
“Marry me.”
Natasha felt her heart sank to the pit of her stomach, but her face remained stoic. She stood in front of Tony after he caught her leaving the compound again with her duffle bag containing important personal belongings and more clothes.
She shook her head, avoiding his gaze. “That’s not necessary.”
“That’s the easiest way.”
“No,” she started walking past him to the door. “I’ll figure things out on my own.”
Tony held her arm but immediately let it go when she glared at his hold. “You’ve been doing everything on your own for the past couple of weeks, I can see clearly,” he sighed. “My lawyers are at your disposal and this compound should be your home; but you’ve been taking the UN matters into your own hands and choosing to stay out instead of talking to us, to me.”
“I’m fine, Stark.”
“And I’m definitely not just standing here while watching those people throw you out.”
While she acknowledged that Tony was correct – marrying him was the easiest option at the moment – she figured that it was not the best option for her. She has already put her self into the danger zone when she allowed them to be closer than how normal colleagues should be. This man has started to break the walls she built around her and she was uncertain of what else could happen if she took that direction.
“We can’t – I can’t just marry you.” Natasha gritted her teeth, as she tried not to burst into strange emotions, those which she has kept far away for years but have obviously resurfaced.
The billionaire turned to face her again and has immediately closed their distance, his eyes on hers. “You’ve pissed them off by getting away from being imprisoned. We can counter their efforts to deport you by securing your citizenship through marriage. No further approval needed, and no way they can invalidate it – I’ll make sure of that.”
Whatever resolve she had, they seemed to disappear when he continued as he gently held her free hand, running his thumb on her knuckles.
“Natasha. There’s still a lot to be done here, you know it.” His hazel eyes softer this time. “Stay. Please.”
>>>>>
Tony did as he said. In a couple of days, he was legally married to Natasha; her citizenship documents were fixed and the Council had shut up when they could not file charges anymore or do anything to deport her.
As he has expected though, the civil ceremony and the pile of papers did not fix everything between them. She declined his offer to live with him at his penthouse; instead, she stayed in the compound. She still went to missions which he knew nothing about. She was still cold and distant.
He still missed her… but was scared to act on it. Consequently, there was no other choice but to accept that Natasha was his wife only in writing.
Nobody owns the Black Widow, Tony thought to himself one night as he stared at the ring on his left hand while nursing a glass of vodka. He has not even seen her for days.
Until the world was in trouble again and the then-Avengers had to go back.
Tony was not at all surprised that Natasha was the one who brought them in. Subconsciously, he knew that she never lost communication with Steve or Clint at least, which meant that she was well aware of the rogue team’s whereabouts.
She showed up to his penthouse the following morning after Steve’s return and has prepared breakfast, FRIDAY notified.
“Welcome back,” he greeted, poker faced, as he took a seat.
They literally shared food and silence for minutes before she broke it.
“I’m not expecting that this will be easy, Tony. But Rogers and the rest, they’re willing to try again for the team to work out and do what needs to be done.”
He could not promise either. What the Winter Soldier did to his parents and Steve keeping that from him, they could not be forgotten in a snap – but he acknowledged that what Earth was facing at the moment, he could not shove aside anymore nor carry on his shoulders alone.
His eyes sought understanding from Natasha’s gaze. She nodded before tightly wrapping a hand to his on the table.
There were no words, no assurance, but he hoped she meant that he was not facing the situation all on his own.
>>>>>
Natasha realized, after almost losing Tony in Titan, that what she felt for him was way greater than her trust issues and uncertainties.
The moment his almost wrecked jet landed on the compound, she ran towards her husband, wrapped her arms around him and sobbed on his chest - the first time she cried in years.
She barely left his side until the doctors attended to him and even when he slept. Tony would wake up with her holding his hand and she would prepare his meals, clean him up and keep track of his medication.
Steve and the team strategized on how they can get back what they have lost to Thanos, but most of her time was dedicated to helping Tony recover. They need him.
And she needs him.
"Tash."
Natasha turned to him from opening the blinds. "Hi," she said with a small smile. A 'good morning' almost slipped off her tongue, but immediately thought that it might be inappropriate... He was far from well, half of the Earth was still gone, and they have not even talked about their situation yet.
"Thank you." His eyes were on hers and she felt his sincerity behind those two words. No questions. No judgement.
A lump formed in her throat as she forced another smile before she stepped towards his bed and lied beside him. They carefully tangled with each other, his hands were running repeatedly on her hair and back.
Things may be far from okay, but they just believed that their relationship, from this moment onwards, would never be the same.