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Clint always had a gift; the gift of making people feel important.
It was his warm presence, his brilliant smile, and the way his wings seemed to swell under his coat during a conversation that one couldn’t help but feel important just being able to be the target of his smile.
It had happened with Natasha; when they’d first met, her wings had been frail, small, having not known love for so long, not since a metal armed soldier had given her such affection that her feathers had sprouted full force and her wings had grown, demonstrating an amazing arch that she had never seen before with her own eyes.
When the solider had been taken from her, his memories wiped, her feathers fell off one by one and Natasha had mourned for him and mourned for her loss of the only hint of love she could ever remember having.
She never thought her wings would grow like that again.
Months after she had joined Shield, she felt a tickle on her back, maybe not so much of a tickle as it was a tingling. It spread from the base of her back and danced along her wings which suddenly felt heavier, fuller. She had scrambled to the bathroom, turning to look at herself in the mirror and found herself staring in disbelief at a full feathered pair of wings, full and just as beautiful as she remembered.
When Clint noticed them, his smile seemed brighter than usual.
He told her that her wings were stunning and commented on how much happier she looked.
She didn’t tell him that it felt so good to know that someone loved her; someone loved her enough to make her wings grow and she didn’t even care who it was because she knew for a fact that she was loved.
It took her forever to realize that the love that made her wings grow was from Clint and though he never mentioned it, she was pretty sure he knew that she knew.
At the beginning, Natasha thought that Clint was hiding his wings from her because he didn’t want her to feel bad. Her wings had been practically nonexistent and his must have been so big, he was just trying to be nice.
He was never one to show off his wings, but Natasha always dreamed that they were enormous.
Though, after her wings had grown, he still never showed her his wings, never showed them to anyone, and she started to wonder if she had ever been the reason at all.
She hadn’t meant to walk in on him when he was changing, but she supposed she should have knocked before blindly walking into his room. She had to stop herself from gasping out loud at the sight of his wings.
They were small, flaky, with only one or two feathers; they reminded her of wings she used to have before she had known love. Nothing at all like she had imagined; how could someone who made others feel so important and loved not be loved at all in return?
Clint spun around when he noticed she was there, hiding his wings behind his back and looking anywhere but at Natasha, face hot with shame.
“Clint…Your wings…” She finally choked out. “They’re so…I didn’t…”
“I didn’t know want you to know.”
“But…Why? I would have thought–”
“I know.” Clint interrupted, face still red. He still wouldn’t look at her. “But they’re not.”
She took a hesitant step forward towards him. He looked so sad, so small, and she was reminded of herself. Clint was too good to be like her in any way; he deserved the beautiful wings he gave to everyone else just from his kindness.
“Why did you hide them?”
“…I didn’t want you to worry.” Clint admitted. “When people see others with small wings, they…they look down on them.”
“You don’t have to hide them from me.” Natasha said suddenly. “I would never look down on you for having small wings.”
Clint looked at her in surprise; his eyes glanced over her face, then they drifted to her wings and his gaze softened.
“Your wings are so beautiful.” He sighed. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Because I have someone to love me.” Natasha pointed out, holding out her hands for his and he stared at them in confusion, as if he were unsure of what she was offering. “You just need someone who loves you.”
Natasha had gone years without love and loving someone in return; the last time she had loved anyone, they’d been taken from her and she never loved again.
With Clint, maybe she could bring herself to try again.
Clint reached out, taking her hands with a small, hesitant smile.
“I have a feeling they’re not very far.” He admitted.
They laughed, exchanging a gentle squeeze of their hands and warm smiles.
On Clint’s back, a feather sprouted; big, healthy, and bright.
They were too busy looking at each other to notice.