Assumptions, Clint/Natasha, PG-13, 3/?
Title: Assumptions (3/?)
Pairing/Character: Clint/Natasha, The Avengers
Word Count: approx. 1800
Rating: PG-13
Summary: I liked the idea of Clint and Natasha being married before the events of the film, but I wanted to make it believable. This is what came of it. A series of related one-shots.
Spoilers: If you haven’t seen the movie, this won’t make much sense
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and will not be making any money off of this.
Addicted-to-Sugar-Quills on FF.net asked if I could write a one-shot about Fury finding out. This came out. Hey, any chance to write about Samuel L. Jackson is a good one, right? :D
Pepper raced into the S.H.I.E.L.D. medical center already yelling.
“Is she okay?! What's going on?! Will someone please tell me how she is?!”
Thor's booming voice answered. “The Widow is in surgery, good lady. The doctors and our own Dr. Banner are confident that she will be okay.” The Avengers always referred to Bruce as Dr. Banner when he was aiding one of them in a medical capacity. It was possible they didn't even realize they did it.
By the time Thor was halfway through his explanation, Tony was in Pepper's arms hugging her.
Pepper asked in a quieter voice, “How is he?”
Clint was pacing on the far side of the room, doing his best to wear a path in the tile flooring. His head was down and he wasn't looking at anyone.
“About as well as I'd be doing if - God forbid - you ever crouched over in pain like that,” Tony answered.
Pepper's breath hitched. “Please, tell me what happened. All I got were your texts that Natasha was in the hospital, then in surgery, and then you didn't answer me when I texted back.”
Tony grimaced. “The medical wing cuts off cell phone service.” He looked back over at Clint. “I didn't want to leave him.”
“None of us did,” Steve added from where he was anxiously sitting. The waiting room was small and they could all hear each other.
“Where is Bruce?” Pepper asked.
Steve answered.
“Clint asked him to stay back to there to make sure someone he trusted would keep him updated.”
“Okay, I keep getting distracted. WHAT HAPPENED?” Pepper's momentary calm had clearly passed.
“We were in our apartment,” said Clint, not stopping his pacing.
~~TWO HOURS EARLIER~~
Clint was surfing the Internet, reading about the archery competition in the upcoming Olympics. It was a small world, competitive archery, and Clint liked to follow what was going on. He had even attended the last three summer Olympics just so he could see his fellows compete.
He was shaken from his concentration by a strange sound coming from the bathroom. It sounded like a moan.
That couldn't be right. Tasha was the only person in the apartment and Tasha did not moan. At least, not unless Clint was giving her good reason.
“Tasha? Are you okay?”
In answer, Tasha stumbled out of the bathroom, clutching her left side and looking pale.
“Something's...wrong,” she panted. “My stomach...side...has been hurting for a couple days, but nothing like this.”
“JARVIS!” yelled Clint as he sprinted to her side. “We need to get Tasha to S.H.I.E.L.D. medical! Make it happen!”
“Immediately, sir. Do you want me to notify the rest of the Avengers, sir?”
“Yes!” Clint had his arms around Natasha and was helping her to the door.
“Why didn't you say anything, Tasha?”
She gave him a look, and he just nodded. Of course she hadn't said anything. Neither of them would ever say anything about a stupid pain in their stomach.
~~THE PRESENT~~
“How long had she been hurting?” asked Pepper, quiet again as Tony kept his arms around her.
“Three or four days, I think,” answered Clint. “She's actually seemed tired for a couple of weeks, ever since the Ukraine mission, but we thought she had just been working too hard, you know? I couldn't get her to take it easy, of course, but she skipped a couple of rounds in the gym. I should have made her go to the doctor - or at least talk to Bruce!” The archer's tone was full of anguish.
Everyone jumped to his defense.
“Come on, Clint, you couldn't have predicted this!” said Steve.
“She is a warrior! Warriors do not give up so easily!” thundered Thor.
“Clint, don't do this to yourself!” Pepper insisted.
Tony went up to his friend, put his hand on his shoulder and said, “Clint. It's not your fault. Let's just wait and see, okay?”
Tony's hand made Clint still for just a moment, forcing the man to look him in the eye. Clint nodded before resuming his pacing.
At that moment, Bruce entered the room wearing scrubs and looking tired himself.
“She's going to be okay,” he announced.
There was a collective release of tension throughout the room and Clint suddenly leaned against the wall, almost as though he was deflating.
“Can I see her?” he asked.
“In a little while,” Bruce answered. “She's in post-op right now.”
“What happened?” several voices chimed.
“It was an enlarged spleen,” Bruce began and, seeing the collection of confused faces, he hurried to explain. “Natasha has mononucleosis.”
Again there was a general cacophony of response.
“What?”
“How?”
“How long?”
“Seriously?”
Only Clint was silent.
“It looks like she's had it for a few weeks, possibly a month. She would have been feeling tired and run-down,” Bruce paused and looked to Clint, who nodded dejectedly. “Enlarging of the spleen is actually a somewhat common side effect of mono, although it doesn't usually get this severe.”
“Why did it get so bad for her?” asked Steve.
Bruce looked reluctant to continue, but seeing that he wasn't going to be able to avoid it, he did.
“Natasha had to have been in growing pain for a few days now. Most people would have seen a doctor sooner.”
Clint interrupted before Bruce could go any further.
“Can I go see my wife now?”
“Your what?!”
The Avengers whipped around to see Nick Fury standing in the entrance to the waiting room.
“Let me get this straight,” the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. went on. “You're telling me that one of my best agents just had a splenectomy because she has mono, the kissing disease?”
There was a pause. Clearly this wasn't the first question the team expected.
“Yes, sir,” Bruce finally said, feeling like he was the logical person to answer.
Fury turned to Clint. “So, Agent Barton, does this mean that you will be getting sick next, as I assume that you and your wife have kissed in the past few weeks?”
Clint didn't flinch, but he didn't look like he was enjoying the conversation, either. “No, sir. I've already had mono, sir.”
“Have you now?” returned the director.
“Yes, sir. Actually, sir, it's entirely possible that Tasha contracted mono from me.”
“And why is that, Agent Barton?”
“Once you've had mono, the disease stays in your system. Even if you don't show symptoms, it is possible to pass it on to someone else. Usually it only happens with teens and young adults, though. I don't know what happened here.”
“Dr. Banner?” Fury turned to Bruce for confirmation.
“He's correct, sir, although Agent Romanoff could have gotten the virus some other way. There's really no way to tell.”
“Don't you mean Agent Barton?” asked Fury.
“Sir?” Bruce was confused and Fury turned back to Clint.
“You are married, aren't you, Agent Barton?” Fury barked. “Doesn't that mean that we should be calling your wife Agent Barton?”
Without missing a beat, Clint answered, “She chose to keep her maiden name, sir. Agent Romanoff is the correct way to address her.”
Fury raised an eyebrow but didn't comment further.
“This isn't a problem, sir,” Steve stepped in. “Agents Barton and Romanoff have been married for over three years and it has never impacted their job performance in any way.”
Director Fury arched an eyebrow and flashed what almost looked like a smile before responding.
“I'm aware, Captain.”
Steve shot a quick look at the other Avengers.
“Of what, sir? That it hasn't affected their performance?”
“Of the length of the agents' marriage.”
“Excuse me, sir?” Steve was dumbfounded, as was everyone else in the room.
Fury's lip curved up in a slight, rather smug, smile. “Really, Agent Barton, did you think that two of our best and most valued assets could marry and we wouldn't know about it? Zunibia may be tiny, but it isn't invisible.”
Someone gasped.
“We are S.H.I.E.L.D., ladies and gentlemen. You would do well to remember that.” The director looked around at each of them. “I'm glad to hear that Agent Romanoff will be all right. Keep me updated on her progress.”
Fury turned to leave.
“Wait a minute, sir,” Steve called. Fury turned back.
“Yes?”
“Why did you act like you didn't know? When you first walked in?”
Fury finally let loose with a real smile.
“It was funny.”
The director's eyes swept over the group. “Do me a favor, though, and continue to keep the agents' relationship to yourselves. I have enough to worry about without the rest of our agents getting the idea that intermarrying is suddenly okay.”
“Did Coulson know?” Barton asked, calm as ever.
Fury didn't respond aloud, rather giving his agent a look that said, Seriously?
“Of course he did,” Clint muttered with an amused huff.
The director raised an amused eyebrow of his own, turned on his heel and left.
The Avengers stood there, looking at each other, stunned. Clint broke the silence.
“I'm going to go see my wife. Thank you all for being here. I'll let her know you're here - it will mean a lot to her,” and with that, he headed through the door Bruce had come through, the good doctor following close behind.
“I hate that man,” muttered Tony, looking back at the door through which the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had exited.
“No, you don't,” said Pepper, “you just hate that he knew before you did.” Tony just made a humphing noise in return.
“Well,” said Steve, “I'm not leaving until I get to see Natasha for myself.”
“Neither am I, friend,” confirmed Thor. “And I have to say, life is never boring on Midgard!”
“That's for damn sure,” replied Tony, sitting down, Pepper at his side.
And the rest of the Avengers settled in, waiting for their turn to go sit at the bedside of their friend and teammate.
/fin
Pairing/Character: Clint/Natasha, The Avengers
Word Count: approx. 1800
Rating: PG-13
Summary: I liked the idea of Clint and Natasha being married before the events of the film, but I wanted to make it believable. This is what came of it. A series of related one-shots.
Spoilers: If you haven’t seen the movie, this won’t make much sense
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and will not be making any money off of this.
Addicted-to-Sugar-Quills on FF.net asked if I could write a one-shot about Fury finding out. This came out. Hey, any chance to write about Samuel L. Jackson is a good one, right? :D
Pepper raced into the S.H.I.E.L.D. medical center already yelling.
“Is she okay?! What's going on?! Will someone please tell me how she is?!”
Thor's booming voice answered. “The Widow is in surgery, good lady. The doctors and our own Dr. Banner are confident that she will be okay.” The Avengers always referred to Bruce as Dr. Banner when he was aiding one of them in a medical capacity. It was possible they didn't even realize they did it.
By the time Thor was halfway through his explanation, Tony was in Pepper's arms hugging her.
Pepper asked in a quieter voice, “How is he?”
Clint was pacing on the far side of the room, doing his best to wear a path in the tile flooring. His head was down and he wasn't looking at anyone.
“About as well as I'd be doing if - God forbid - you ever crouched over in pain like that,” Tony answered.
Pepper's breath hitched. “Please, tell me what happened. All I got were your texts that Natasha was in the hospital, then in surgery, and then you didn't answer me when I texted back.”
Tony grimaced. “The medical wing cuts off cell phone service.” He looked back over at Clint. “I didn't want to leave him.”
“None of us did,” Steve added from where he was anxiously sitting. The waiting room was small and they could all hear each other.
“Where is Bruce?” Pepper asked.
Steve answered.
“Clint asked him to stay back to there to make sure someone he trusted would keep him updated.”
“Okay, I keep getting distracted. WHAT HAPPENED?” Pepper's momentary calm had clearly passed.
“We were in our apartment,” said Clint, not stopping his pacing.
~~TWO HOURS EARLIER~~
Clint was surfing the Internet, reading about the archery competition in the upcoming Olympics. It was a small world, competitive archery, and Clint liked to follow what was going on. He had even attended the last three summer Olympics just so he could see his fellows compete.
He was shaken from his concentration by a strange sound coming from the bathroom. It sounded like a moan.
That couldn't be right. Tasha was the only person in the apartment and Tasha did not moan. At least, not unless Clint was giving her good reason.
“Tasha? Are you okay?”
In answer, Tasha stumbled out of the bathroom, clutching her left side and looking pale.
“Something's...wrong,” she panted. “My stomach...side...has been hurting for a couple days, but nothing like this.”
“JARVIS!” yelled Clint as he sprinted to her side. “We need to get Tasha to S.H.I.E.L.D. medical! Make it happen!”
“Immediately, sir. Do you want me to notify the rest of the Avengers, sir?”
“Yes!” Clint had his arms around Natasha and was helping her to the door.
“Why didn't you say anything, Tasha?”
She gave him a look, and he just nodded. Of course she hadn't said anything. Neither of them would ever say anything about a stupid pain in their stomach.
~~THE PRESENT~~
“How long had she been hurting?” asked Pepper, quiet again as Tony kept his arms around her.
“Three or four days, I think,” answered Clint. “She's actually seemed tired for a couple of weeks, ever since the Ukraine mission, but we thought she had just been working too hard, you know? I couldn't get her to take it easy, of course, but she skipped a couple of rounds in the gym. I should have made her go to the doctor - or at least talk to Bruce!” The archer's tone was full of anguish.
Everyone jumped to his defense.
“Come on, Clint, you couldn't have predicted this!” said Steve.
“She is a warrior! Warriors do not give up so easily!” thundered Thor.
“Clint, don't do this to yourself!” Pepper insisted.
Tony went up to his friend, put his hand on his shoulder and said, “Clint. It's not your fault. Let's just wait and see, okay?”
Tony's hand made Clint still for just a moment, forcing the man to look him in the eye. Clint nodded before resuming his pacing.
At that moment, Bruce entered the room wearing scrubs and looking tired himself.
“She's going to be okay,” he announced.
There was a collective release of tension throughout the room and Clint suddenly leaned against the wall, almost as though he was deflating.
“Can I see her?” he asked.
“In a little while,” Bruce answered. “She's in post-op right now.”
“What happened?” several voices chimed.
“It was an enlarged spleen,” Bruce began and, seeing the collection of confused faces, he hurried to explain. “Natasha has mononucleosis.”
Again there was a general cacophony of response.
“What?”
“How?”
“How long?”
“Seriously?”
Only Clint was silent.
“It looks like she's had it for a few weeks, possibly a month. She would have been feeling tired and run-down,” Bruce paused and looked to Clint, who nodded dejectedly. “Enlarging of the spleen is actually a somewhat common side effect of mono, although it doesn't usually get this severe.”
“Why did it get so bad for her?” asked Steve.
Bruce looked reluctant to continue, but seeing that he wasn't going to be able to avoid it, he did.
“Natasha had to have been in growing pain for a few days now. Most people would have seen a doctor sooner.”
Clint interrupted before Bruce could go any further.
“Can I go see my wife now?”
“Your what?!”
The Avengers whipped around to see Nick Fury standing in the entrance to the waiting room.
“Let me get this straight,” the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. went on. “You're telling me that one of my best agents just had a splenectomy because she has mono, the kissing disease?”
There was a pause. Clearly this wasn't the first question the team expected.
“Yes, sir,” Bruce finally said, feeling like he was the logical person to answer.
Fury turned to Clint. “So, Agent Barton, does this mean that you will be getting sick next, as I assume that you and your wife have kissed in the past few weeks?”
Clint didn't flinch, but he didn't look like he was enjoying the conversation, either. “No, sir. I've already had mono, sir.”
“Have you now?” returned the director.
“Yes, sir. Actually, sir, it's entirely possible that Tasha contracted mono from me.”
“And why is that, Agent Barton?”
“Once you've had mono, the disease stays in your system. Even if you don't show symptoms, it is possible to pass it on to someone else. Usually it only happens with teens and young adults, though. I don't know what happened here.”
“Dr. Banner?” Fury turned to Bruce for confirmation.
“He's correct, sir, although Agent Romanoff could have gotten the virus some other way. There's really no way to tell.”
“Don't you mean Agent Barton?” asked Fury.
“Sir?” Bruce was confused and Fury turned back to Clint.
“You are married, aren't you, Agent Barton?” Fury barked. “Doesn't that mean that we should be calling your wife Agent Barton?”
Without missing a beat, Clint answered, “She chose to keep her maiden name, sir. Agent Romanoff is the correct way to address her.”
Fury raised an eyebrow but didn't comment further.
“This isn't a problem, sir,” Steve stepped in. “Agents Barton and Romanoff have been married for over three years and it has never impacted their job performance in any way.”
Director Fury arched an eyebrow and flashed what almost looked like a smile before responding.
“I'm aware, Captain.”
Steve shot a quick look at the other Avengers.
“Of what, sir? That it hasn't affected their performance?”
“Of the length of the agents' marriage.”
“Excuse me, sir?” Steve was dumbfounded, as was everyone else in the room.
Fury's lip curved up in a slight, rather smug, smile. “Really, Agent Barton, did you think that two of our best and most valued assets could marry and we wouldn't know about it? Zunibia may be tiny, but it isn't invisible.”
Someone gasped.
“We are S.H.I.E.L.D., ladies and gentlemen. You would do well to remember that.” The director looked around at each of them. “I'm glad to hear that Agent Romanoff will be all right. Keep me updated on her progress.”
Fury turned to leave.
“Wait a minute, sir,” Steve called. Fury turned back.
“Yes?”
“Why did you act like you didn't know? When you first walked in?”
Fury finally let loose with a real smile.
“It was funny.”
The director's eyes swept over the group. “Do me a favor, though, and continue to keep the agents' relationship to yourselves. I have enough to worry about without the rest of our agents getting the idea that intermarrying is suddenly okay.”
“Did Coulson know?” Barton asked, calm as ever.
Fury didn't respond aloud, rather giving his agent a look that said, Seriously?
“Of course he did,” Clint muttered with an amused huff.
The director raised an amused eyebrow of his own, turned on his heel and left.
The Avengers stood there, looking at each other, stunned. Clint broke the silence.
“I'm going to go see my wife. Thank you all for being here. I'll let her know you're here - it will mean a lot to her,” and with that, he headed through the door Bruce had come through, the good doctor following close behind.
“I hate that man,” muttered Tony, looking back at the door through which the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had exited.
“No, you don't,” said Pepper, “you just hate that he knew before you did.” Tony just made a humphing noise in return.
“Well,” said Steve, “I'm not leaving until I get to see Natasha for myself.”
“Neither am I, friend,” confirmed Thor. “And I have to say, life is never boring on Midgard!”
“That's for damn sure,” replied Tony, sitting down, Pepper at his side.
And the rest of the Avengers settled in, waiting for their turn to go sit at the bedside of their friend and teammate.
/fin