I am so so so so so so so so sorry, i can not believe I had not updated this story in over two years, I am so dissapointed with myself, but you know how life is, new distractions, new muses, it makes it harder to keep up with things you already have.

So please do not hate me, I do have a plan for this story, just need to work out the middle part, the end has been made and I think its pretty good.

This chapter is extra long because I have deprived you of this story for far too long.

Natasha didn't need to look up at a clock to know that it was almost eleven in the morning. She had been trying to read a book that Pepper had suggested to her but for the past hour her mind drifted away from the book in her hands to the agent she once knew. The stranger that has not been heard from since 8 o'clock that morning on the video feed, and to her best guess was still on the 47th floor. After she heard a digital ring go off signifying that it was now eleven, she gave up on the book and went to see him.

As she stood in the elevator waiting for the arrival to the appropriate floor her mind drifted back in time to when she had met Alex. The CIA through Fury asked her to go undercover as a personal assistant to a Russian oligarch named Nikolei Drevin as the CIA was building a case against him. After Alex gotten kidnapped by Drevin's scapegoat group instead of his son as planned, Alex had been pulled into the plans. She thought he would cause trouble with her assignment so she did her best to not cross paths with him during his stay.

That was the plan until she had gotten word from Fury that CIA played a dumb move and sent a kid in to spy on Drevin, and he was property of MI6, so she had new orders to keep a closer on him while also maintaining the main objective. Then obviously Alex had to get in trouble and almost drowned while scuba diving, once she learned that their objective was the same they decided to team up. She remained as Tamara Knight and did not give up her cover once during their capture and interrogation. For some reason she was convinced that Alex had to go up to the space station and take it down, a choice she regretted as she watched it explode. She could have gone up instead of him but she had been outvoted in the matter.

The hissing of the elevator opening brought her back to the present, Alex was here and she couldn't change the past. She scanned the training room and found him in a corner kicking at a dummy with great force. Grateful at the moment for Tony investing in the heavy duty gym equipment. Because she was sure the dummy Alex was attacking would already had its head sent flying if not of for being reinforced. As she got closer she noticed his shirt was near soaked in sweat, considering he had been training for six hours. He had rolled up his sleeves and she noticed more scarring on his forearms that weren't wrapped in bandages. He didn't look anything like he had when he was younger, but she still prayed that some of that kid was still left in there.

"Is there a problem, Natasha?" He called out as he continued a repetition of kicks to the dummy in front of him, she internally scolded herself for being caught staring at him for the second time that day.

"No problem, just wanted to see what you were up to," She played it off, she was a skilled spy and former assassin, yet around Alex she felt so amateurish, like he was the superior of the two of them, and she didn't like that one bit. He turned to her once finishing the rep. She watch how he ran a hand through his hair, the sweat keeping it held back and out of his face. She couldn't help herself but think how just like with the other men that she worked with, she could understand the appeal.

"Care to join me over here or are you going to continue to stare at me?" Alex had the audacity to chuckle and send a smirk her way. She glared at him for a moment, only to show that laughing at her would not go without some form of punishment.

"What did you have in mind?" She gave a cheshire smirk back at him, if he wanted to play, she was willing to have some fun.

"A simple sparring match, I've never actually got a feel for your abilities, considering the circumstances last time and I did most of the fighting with the villains." he pointed out as he cleared the mats of the dummies so they had room.

"We both had our orders," she replied as she came closer and slipped off her shoes, sliding barefoot across the mats.

"I just have fewer limitations; get in, get the dirt, survive any enemies, and we might have an extraction plan for you." he bluntly explained as he faced her across the mat, curious how he will hold against the woman dubbed 'the black widow' whom he had only seen in action in security footage confiscated by S.H.I.E.L.D. "Ready when you are," he invited and she nodded in response, allowing her the first move.

Whatever she was expecting as a response from Alex for her move to swing her legs around his neck. It was not for him to take a hold of her torso and dead drop both of them onto the mats behind him. He twisted out of her legs' hold without letting go of her. "Overused, while signature. Someone who watched enough of your fights could predict it."

"You're actually lecturing me?" she stated surprised while he kept her pinned to the mats for the moment.

"Just a suggestion, you never know who could be watching," he discreetly nodded his head in the direction of the surveillance camera, implying that at least the all seeing Jarvis was watching and recording. "Want to put up a show?"

"What makes you think this would be a show? I really want to see what you can do," She released herself from his grasp by kicking him off with both feet. She had to give him points for his solidity for his size. He stood there steady and was actually smirking at her again, she was starting to think he was doing it just to annoy her.

"Action," was what he said before he came at her with speed but resulted in a feint as he went from behind. She ducked the kick and tried to swipe his feet but he too dodged and she tried to rush him but he caught her and twisted her around and somehow tossed her a few feet away from him. As she turned to face him she saw that he was charging at her then sent both feet into her abdomen and while she stumbled back he landed on the floor and quickly righted himself onto his feet once more.

"I thought you wanted to see what I can do," she stated as they started circling each other again.

"I do, just giving you an idea of what I can do while you warm up." he replied, the irritating smirk never leaving his face, she could tell he had quite a few more tricks up his non-existent sleeves, and he was showing only a few moves to see what she would do with them. She ran at him as his arm went wide for a punch as she spun around his arm and placed her legs around his neck again and pulled him to the ground with the momentum she built up. He let out a small "oof" with a chuckle as he looked up to see her in a crouched landing position next to him.

"Are you seriously enjoying this?" she asked because she saw the glint in his eyes that shone with humor and something she couldn't put a name to.

"It's been awhile that I've had a fight like this and my opponent wasn't trying to kill me or not an enemy."

"So you are enjoying this," she stated with a side nod and a reciprocating smirk, considering the conditions, she understood why he would be having fun. He could let out energy and do it without worrying that his life was in danger when he was up against a friend, which is why she was grateful to have Clint as a sparring partner, and he probably knew what she is capable of so knew that she could keep up with him and not have to worry about hurting her badly. So far he hadn't pulled out any moves that if applied could cause serious damage or death.

"I got to when I can," he replied, "Not very often I can spar with someone better than me." he stated as he rose from the mat and returned to a defensive position, with a look on his face that was making her her more tempted with every passing second to show him up just to get rid of that look. But that look almost had a hint of a childlike joy, finding fun in the oddest of activities, was something that told her that the Alex she once knew hadn't been entirely destroyed by the life he chose to pursue.

"Let's keep playing then," she suggested as she charged at him with a flurry of kicks and strikes that for the most part he was able to block or dodge. Usually when fighting enemies you have to take them out quickly and quietly as to avoid raising any alarms, but in a spar you could drag out the fight as long as you want and can physically handle. She was definitely but silently impressed how he was able to keep up with her considering her training, which brought to her mind that she didn't know much about the boy besides what the CIA file had on him, which may have had a bit from his MI6 file as well. As this thought went through her head she had to tuck and roll to avoid a strong kick that had came her way. He lost his parents as a baby, raised by an uncle who worked for MI6 and left him to practically raise himself while his uncle was on missions. When his uncle died, MI6 called him in to finish his uncle's mission, by blackmailing him with the deportation of his housekeeper.

Somehow she was so lost in her thoughts he was able to sweep her off her feet and pinned her to the mat, "What's wrong Nat? Where are you?" he asked looking slightly concerned.

"I'm here, just going easy on you," she replied, somehow she didn't think he actually believe her, "Considering you've been working out for almost seven hours now."

He merely raised an eyebrow at the statement, "Jarvis," he called out not taking his eyes off Natasha, "How long have I been in this room?"

"Approximately 6 hours and 35 minutes, you have been sparring with Ms. Romanov for almost 15 minutes." They heard jarvis answer through the room's speaker system. After that Alex finally got off of Natasha and offered her a hand up.

"Thank you, Jarvis," Alex glanced at the ceiling, then turned to her again. "How about we find something to eat?"

"Sure, but you need a shower first, 'cause you stink and are very sweaty. Which has been transfered to me, so thanks for that."

"Sorry," he shrugged and she knew that he wasn't even a bit sorry.

"I'll meet you in the kitchen in twenty for food, deal?" she offered and he nodded and headed for the elevator once collecting his things. She stood there staring at the closed elevator doors contemplating for a moment before she hear a banging coming from the air vents, to which she sighed and called out, "Clint, you can come out now."

The vent opened and dropping to the floor came Clint, who looked at her curiously with a bit of humor. "Did you have fun?"

"How much did you see?" she asked him, knowing that he made through those vents so often, she's surprised Tony hadn't put him in charge of keeping them clean.

"I've been up there watching him for the past hour and a half, that guy is like a machine, reminds me of Steve but just a little more human. He barely said a word the whole time I was watching him and then you showed up and he seemed to switch modes. From silent machine to cocky pal with smirks, he's hiding a lot. Do I want to bring up the fact that you let him pin you?"

"I spaced a little, realized that I really don't know anything about him besides what I read in a file and what I saw of him in the field. We didn't have the chance to talk."

"Well, you were undercover at the time, weren't you? So it wouldn't have been fair to him to do it then."

"I'm not sure that's still possible, he's still so different. Something happened to him that broke a part of him."

"We all have damage of some kind, maybe he's been alone for most of it. Remind him there are people who could understand."

"Care to join us for lunch?" she offered Clint, for some reason she had the scary image in her mind of the two of them pulling pranks together, and getting away with it.

"I'll be by, just need to check on Tony first."

"You mean scare him by popping out of one of the many vents?"

"One and the same, later," he climbed back into the open vent and she could hear him crawling off in his quest to find Tony.

She made her way to the elevator and went to her room to quickly change and then find Alex searching for ingredients in the many cabinets of the kitchen. He turned when she entered the room, the smirk from earlier seemed to be still there on his face as he pulled out a saute pan and placed all ingredients on the counter. She stood there at the bar side watching him, he seemed to have had time to rewrap his hands and swapped for a loose zip up sweatshirt with 'CIA' across the back, along with fresh sweatpants and trainers. He seemed a little more relaxed now that he worked out for so long and is intent on the task before him, which was beginning to smell amazing.

"How long are you going to watch me, Natasha?" He asked out of nowhere, not even glancing at her as he chopped up more vegetables.

"Not sure, how much are you hiding?"

"You know that saying about skeletons and closets, we all got a few."

"When I met you, you didn't."

"Sure I did, just was in denial of it at the time."

"Will you tell me about those bones?" A few minutes went by in silence after she asked that, she didn't know if he would bolt like a cheetah or hide in a shell like a turtle, or possibly actually agree to it.

"Maybe, but not today, already did my thinking about them, times up for today." he responded with that and she thought it a bit cryptic, but after a moment he could kinda understand it. He worked out his emotions about whatever skeletons he had while he was working out, and now he's a bit emotionally drained that way he could focus on what he needed to work on.

"That smells amazing, mind if I snag a bite?" Natasha glanced to see Clint walk up to them sniffing at the air in an exaggerated manner.

"Sure, there should be more than enough for all of us, considering Natasha did offer for you to join our lunch." Alex replied with a smirk, Clint looked to Natasha with a confused look.

She shook her head, "I didn't tell him, I thought you would be crawling around to scare Tony, leaving enough time for us to finish the food before you got back."

"You are cruel, and Tony seemed to have ditched the Tower for the afternoon, so I'll have to put a pin in that plan." Clint turned to Alex who was now plating up the chicken and asparagus meal onto three plates. "Aren't you suppose to be some kind of glorified babysitter for him?"

"I know where he is, thanks to Jarvis." Alex grabbed a tablet that had been sitting at the table and it showed a marker that was to be Tony flying around the city. "Jarvis keeps tabs on him and tells me, so I was informed when he left and when he returns, and I have the authority to have Jarvis override the suit and bring him back here immediately."

"Nice trick, if only Fury could do that when we have a mission."

"He just wasn't in Jarvis's system. Come on let's eat."

The three of them ate in more or less silence, Natasha and Clint kept sharing looks as a silent debate to get Alex to open up. She shot it down quickly and while she had many questions that he wanted to give her answers to, she just had to bide her time for now and not push him away before the answers could be found and came to light.

A/N: I hope that satisfied you, I hope you will not be angry with me when I say I do not know when I will post the next chapter (hopefully it doesn't take as long as this one did, that was really sad) but I am starting school up again and I have to do adult things so my writing time is becoming more limited. I would happily accept any suggestions you have for filling plot holes in the mean time until I reach the ending.

Until next this has been Greekgeekspywannabe

I send love to all 254 followers, and 152 favoriters, and the fact this story has 19,500 views astounds me to no end.

8/27/16