Hey guys! Over the last few weeks, I've really gotten into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and re watched "The Avengers" for the millionth time and I absolutely fell in love with Clintasha. Eeeek! *Fangirl Moment* Oh, this is my first ever Avengers fanfic, so please leave a review to comment on how I did. I'm not the best writer, so reviews and tips would be really helpful. Thanks. :*

I watched "Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier" a couple days ago in 3D and it is freaking amazing! The only thing I hated about it was the kiss between Natasha and Steve. Not to mention how much tension there was between them during the cemetery scene. I wished there was some mention of Hawkeye in Cap 2. :( If his name was in there once, I would've been happy for the rest of the year. At least the arrow necklace was there (Thank god for Scarlett Johansson!). Speaking of ScarJo, did you guys see the trailer for "Lucy"?! OMFG! That movie looks amazing! It's like a Black Widow movie, but with more futuristic elements. Can't wait for it to come out!

Sorry about all the rambling. LOL. I need a friend that loves MCU, Clintasha, and The Avengers as much as I do so I can geek out. :(

Enjoy~

A/N: I did not read the comics because the movies and the comics differ so much and I prefer the movies. (Please don't hate me. :3)

A/N: All these stores are interconnected and POST-CAPTAIN AMERICA 2. *SPOILERS AHEAD*

Here's a few key things to remember during this story.

Story Notes:

So we find out that she was born in 1984. And its 2014. So in Cap 2, she's 30 – more or less; depending on her birthday… I'm going to guess and make her birthday April 8th and make her 30. I'll make Hawkeye, a few years older – 34.

So in this story (and probably my other ones too), they've been partners for eight years to date and known each other for nine years (An extra year for debriefing, training, and wondering whether or not S.H.I.E.L.D could trust her). Which means that by the time Loki and his creepy Chitauri army invaded New York back in 2012, they've been partners for six years. In turn, that makes her 21/22 and him 25/26 when he was assigned to kill her, but ignored the mission.

They've been dating for three years, now. Which means they would have been dating for a year when he was brainwashed by Loki and tried to kill her.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Marvel or any of the characters, but if I did, Hawkeye and the Black Widow would've definitely have had their own franchises by now. Poor Jeremy Renner. :(

"You should be honored. That's the closest thing he gets to saying thank you." A voice appeared from his right and the three of them – Steve, Fury, and Sam – turned to look at who it was. The voice belonged to a certain deadly red-head; Natasha Romanoff.

Fury gave her a smirk and replied, "Glad to see you're looking well."

"I could say the same."

They both smiled at that as Fury moved to a different topic of conversation and Natasha walked over to them.

"Give Barton my thanks."

The corners of Natasha's lips rose ever so slightly at the name and asked, "For what?"

Sam could hear the curiosity laced in her voice. He racked his brain to try and remember anyone named Barton that they had come across but he drew a blank. Who was this Barton guy? He saw the tug of her lips at his name and wondered what this guy meant to her.

"For not following orders." Fury simply stated.

Anger boiled inside of Sam as he heard Fury's words. He was just about to ask why this Barton guy should be thanked for being a part of HYDRA, for not following orders (He was trying to kill them for gosh-sakes!) but abruptly stopped when he saw Natasha smile. Okay, there was something he was missing here…

It took all her willpower and training to not wrap her fingers around the simple silver arrow that hung around her neck.

"I'll make sure to do that. Once I thank him myself."

Fury gave Natasha a small smile, shifted his sling, and said softly, "You've been thanking him, saving his ass, and doing things that you're not supposed to for nine years now, Natasha. I think the debt has been repaid enough." He turned around and walked away from them as he continued to voice his opinion to one Natasha Romanoff, "You gave him a second chance too."

Natasha couldn't help but slightly redden at that last part of his impromptu checklist. They had done a lot of things that S.H.I.E.L.D agent shouldn't have been doing together. They (being Clint and herself) fad always assumed that Fury knew about the two of them – because he was Nick goshdamn Fury and he knew everything… almost - and decided to let it be seeing as how it hadn't affected their "work." Since she wasn't an agent anymore, there was really no worry of getting caught now, was there?

Steve turned to face Natasha as Sam stood by the grave – not wanting to get in between a private moment between… friends?

"Not going with him?" He asked, a smile appearing on his face.

She shook her head and replied with a smile of her own, "No."

"Not staying here?" He asked again.

She shook her head once more, the smile still dancing on her lips.

"I blew all my covers. I gotta go figure out a new one."

"It might take a while."

"I'm counting on it." Her voice turned playful and the telltale look of devilishness in her eyes made him smile.

They gazed at each other a little longer than necessary with lingering smiles on their faces and Sam couldn't help but wonder if there was anything going on between them.

"That thing you asked for." Natasha was the one to break their gaze as she handed a manila file over to him. "I called in a few favors from Kiev."

Steve sucked in a breath and stared intently at it. Fear spread throughout his mind and he became scared to open it.

"Will you do me a favor?" Steve broke away from his glare at the manila folder and looked back up to her. "Call that nurse?" She smirked.

"She's not a nurse." He gave her his own smirk as he thought about his 'neighbor'.

"And you're not a S.H.I.E.L.D agent."

Touché.

It occurred to him that he never got her real name and only knew her by her alias. "What was her name again?"

"Sharon. She's nice." A wistful look appeared on her face for only the briefest of moments as she remembered that talk in the "borrowed" car that they had, but she quickly went back to smiling.

An innocent look of joy overtook Steve's face as he nodded.

It was quiet after that. Natasha looked into his eyes and couldn't help but think about the newfound trust and respect that they had developed in each other. Even after New York, they were still wary of one another, but this… experience, per say, had changed that. They'd become friends; something Natasha was still trying to grasp the concept of. Even after nine years of having a best friend or whatever it was she and Clint had.

"C'mere." She mouthed as she moved in for what seemed like a hug, but ended up being a kiss on the cheek. When she pulled away, she searched into his eyes and thought about all the times he had saved her during this "mission."

'Probably more than a dozen times.' She thought.

And she couldn't thank him enough for that. That was another debt she had to repay, but she knew that she would never hear the end of it from Steve if she mentioned anything about the debt. He might not know it, but for that, she was immensely grateful.

"Be careful, Steve." She warned as she walked away from him. She turned around and her expression became serious as she said, "You might not wanna pull on that thread."

He heeded her warning and opened the confidential file. A large picture that covered the whole right side of the folder had him suck in a breath. Bucky was cryogenically frozen, his head only visible. His eyes were closed shut and looked as if he had just fallen asleep while listening to the radio on Steve's couch. His hair was longer – up to his shoulders – than when Steve had last saw him; when he fell into the snow covered abyss that had convinced him and everyone else that he had suffered his ultimate demise. The "death" he could've prevented if he'd just reached a little further or if he had taken out the enemy himself. The same "death" that had turned him into The Winter Soldier. Steve mentally shook his head. He couldn't think like this; he couldn't afford too.

Below the picture, paper-clipped to the bottom right hand-side, was a worn out headshot of Bucky and his army issued cap.

"I could do this all day." His own voice echoed throughout his head as he recalled the memory where he was being beaten up in the alley after the movie. Bucky had come to save him then. Technically, he had saved him now too.

On the left side of the manila folder was all the facts that were normally there; dates, measurements, assignments, missions… etc.

He would've heard Sam come behind him if he wasn't too lost in his thoughts.

"She's one deadly chick."

Steve and Sam looked up to see Natasha walking farther and farther away from them, her hips swinging back and forth as she walked.

Steve smiled, "That she is."

"You know, I think she likes you."

He jerked his head behind him, turning fully at the fellow soldier.

"What?!"

Sam nodded and gave him a knowing smile. "Yeah, man! I think the Black Widow got a thing for the Captain." His smile grew larger as he started to slowly nod his head.

"You're crazy. Natasha and I are just friends. Besides, she's got someone." Steve smiled at that last part. Love is for children, my ass.

"That's a shame. You two would've made a cute couple." Steve heard the slight mocking tone of his voice and rolled his eyes. "If I wasn't so grateful towards you right now, I would punch you."

The Falcon smiled and placed an arm around the Captain's shoulder as they turned to walk in the opposite direction. "You're going to look for him aren't you?"

The playfulness in Steve's voice was gone. "You don't have to come with me."

"I know," Sam replied, giving Steve the impression that he was finally done with all the heroics. Sam took a pause and continued, "When do we start?"

Steve donned a rare devilish smile as Sam did the same.

"Before we start, I have a few people I want you to meet…"

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, it means a lot! :) Don't worry, Hawkeye will make his appearance in the next chapter! :)