Title: Not an addict
Author: Sofia B.
Category: Avengers
Pairing: Natasha & Clint

Rating: T to M (drug use and sexual situations)

Summary: Thought the battle is over, not even Clint in bed with her can make her feel better.

Note: Based on a song by K's Choice. Emotional and full of anguish.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, zilch.

Maybe, just maybe, Tony might have jumped the gun by having JARVIS call Bruce and Thor home to discuss his findings about Natasha.

He should have thought the whole thing through, because truth be told, how the hell was he going to tackle this situation? How in God's name do you even begin to fathom approaching Natasha Romanoff about her doing something illegal and deadly as heroin? Do you have a peaceful intervention or do you tie her to the bedpost until her withdrawal either kills her or blows over? Tony briefly thought about being a tattle tale to Fury and have him punish her. But they were a team, and they would figure it out as a team.

Where's the crappy team leader when you need him?

Maybe Tony should have listened the JARVIS when the computer told him to mind his own business. It wasn't so much that he wasn't completely prepared to follow through with his findings, its just he had no idea where to start.

"Damn, did I have to make you so smart?" Tony muttered under his breath as he paced through the basement frantically.

Bruce and Thor would probably be back any minute, but Clint and Steve were days away at best from whatever cave Fury sent them to. It was at that moment that Tony realized that calling the 2 other knuckleheads was a bad idea.

Bruce was like a double edged sword, he either cowered away from confrontation or lost his cool and wrecked Haarlem. Thor, In Tony's eyes' wasn't exactly the brightest when it came to earthling problems and he was pretty sure that given his luck, Thor would sooner join in on the heroin binge rather than help. So the short fuse and the short brained didn't make for the dream defense team against the crack addict.

A mental note was made to silently acknowledge that Clint and Steve would actually be useful to Tony at that moment.

Part of Tony wondered if this was an ongoing problem that only recently was unrooted because of his paranoia and insistent need to know everybody's business. For all he knew SHIELD had all of their agents on heroin to cope with the hell they go through for a living. It was plausible, how else did the only true humans on this mismatched team manage to kick as much ass as they did without being seriously and irreparably injured? And Clint and Natasha were always sent together to separate "decompression chambers" than the rest of them after missions. Snorting lines off each other's hips perhaps?

Tony didn't appreciate the party without him.

"How do you suggest we continue sir?" JARVIS asked. The question was answered with a frustrated grunt. "Gimme a minute to think will ya?!" Tony spat back, to which he received no reply.

The beeping of doors signaled to JARVIS that someone of the team was back home.

"Ms. Romanoff has re-entered the premises sir."

"Shit!" Tony muttered.

Like a child about to be busted by his mother with his secret stash of porn, Tony quickly cleared all the virtual screens. Now that his mind was somewhat clearer, he made a plan of action, albeit a hasty one. The only man that can tame Natasha and the other guy that can tame the group of them were out of town and of no help to the cause at the moment. Bruce and Thor would probably make it worse anyway. Tony would have to make do with himself.

He raced down to the kitchen.

"JARVIS, if I don't live through this, tell Pepper I want to be cremated. People dont need to see what Natasha does to my face when all this blows up," Tony called out as he went up the stairs.

He spotted the redhead in the kitchen making a sandwich, and her appearance wasn't all that appetizing. Her hair was a mess and extremely greasy and she appeared to be physically drained of color and energy. Tony ignored the logic that screamed to him that she just finished a run through the city.

He contemplated how to begin Phase 1: Not dying at the hands of Natasha. Step 1 was grabbing a beer out of the fridge.

"Late lunch?" was his choice of conversation opener. Natasha jumped back a bit. She was so lost in a distant gaze that she hadn't even noticed that she was no longer the sole inhabitant of the kitchen.

"Yeah," was all she muttered when she glanced over at him. The beer in his hand garnered him a scoff of some sort.

"A little early in the week to be drinking don't you think?" she stated.

Tony chuckled. "It's 5 o clock somewhere Red."

She spread another layer of peanut butter on her slice of bread. "Shouldn't you be working?"

Tony laughed. "I should. Don't worry, I never let my job interfere with my drinking."

Instead of laugh, Natasha merely rolled her eyes. It was no secret that she wasn't a fan of Tony Stark and she rarely thought any of his words or antics were amusing. If anything, Tony annoyed her every moment of the day just by breathing. Sure, she enjoyed living in the tower, even if she wouldn't admit it out loud, and she enjoyed the rest of the team. But though she wouldn't necessarily say she hated Tony or wish him any harm, she would feel that life would be more enjoyable if Tony wasn't around. He was much better suited to be buried six feet under.

Wait, what? Yeah, that's the heroin talking.

"So whatcha up to today? Anything fun planned for this evening?" Tony asked, leaning against the counter.

Natasha gave him an annoyed glare. "None of your business."

Tony pouted, a gesture he regularly made when he didn't get his way. "Oh come on Tash. I'm so bored with all the cool people and people I pick on out of town. How about you entertain me?" he almost whined.

"I don't really care that you are un-entertained," she challenged back.

"Do you ever?" Tony retorted to which Natasha arched an eyebrow.

"When it comes to you, I'm emotionally constipated. I haven't given a shit since I got here." To anybody else the words may have seemed harsh, but Natasha's demeanor lacked motivation and apathy. The line just seemed so rehearsed that it felt it to be a ruse to uphold a front that Natasha fought so hard to keep up. The Black Widow needed to uphold a reputation, even if Natasha Romanoff was drifting away.

Natasha was broken, and Tony would follow.

When Natasha took a bite of her sandwich, Tony took the extra few seconds to think. Slow and steady, or bold and blunt, how was he going to handle this?

"So, do anything illegal lately?"

Stupid was his choice of handling this.

"Huh?" Natasha muttered with a full mouth.

Tony shrugged before chugging half his beer. "You seem like the kind of person to do illegal things when you are bored. And seeing as your boytoy is out of town and daddy dearest still hasn't put you on active duty, I wonder if you are dipping on the wrong side to keep yourself sane."

Natasha tried to mutter the strength to laugh. She failed, and settled on rolling her eyes.

"But remember darling," Tony continued, "prison orange is so not your color." His wink made her snarl and made her bang her fists on the counter top.

"It would be my color if it was accompanied by you in a tux in a coffin. Push me and we'll find out if that notion holds merit."

Tony sighed. "Why are you always so damn mean?" he asked.

"Why are you always so damn annoying?" she retorted.

Tony feigned offense. "I'm well aware I am not everyone's cup of tea. I'd rather be someone's shot of tequila anyway." His tone was so matter-of-factly and his smile was proud. Natasha wished her gun was strapped to her thigh to shoot it right off his face.

"You're fucking crazy," Natasha muttered into her sandwich. Tony shook his head, ignoring the insult.

"No I am not. I just have a more humorous approach to reality. Speaking of which, wouldn't it be cool in Breaking Bad if Walter never really had cancer or cared about money, but instead it was just an elaborate ploy to get Jessie to learn chemistry?" Tony joked. He was disappointed when his stroke of brilliance didn't even garner a chuckle. He wasn't even entirely sure if Natasha was even capable of genuine laughter.

"What do you want Stark?" Natasha asked through gritted teeth. She had promised Clint that she would actively try to be nice to Stark or at the very least not kill him, but Tony was making it very hard to keep her promise.

"World Peace, a stack of pancakes and the latest issue of Playboy. How about you?" he teased.

Natasha sucked her teeth before roughly rubbing at her nose. Tony noticed her antics and saw that her nose looked like it had been rubbed raw. He frowned at that. Another tell tale sign they had all fly over their heads.

"I want to know what the fuck I can possibly say to get you out of my face so that you don't ruin the rest of my day," she bellowed.

Defeated, Tony threw the bottle of beer into the garbage before grabbing another one of of the fridge.

"You know Natasha," Tony began as he unscrewed the cap, "You are so damn beautiful, its a shame you are such a damn bitch."

With that he turned on his heel and headed up the stairs.

Natasha frowned for a moment, but quickly changed her tune when she heard Thor and Bruce re-enter the tower. She was quick to greet them and make a beeline for her private quarters.

She was completely unaware that getting her upset was all part of Tony's plan, and that the mastermind was closely now following her every move.

_'

I know its been a while, I am trying to finish this story in the next 7 chapters :).