Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Lonely

I tried. Short and sweet chapter. Apologies for the wait.  *No one is a perfect writer, so if you have any constructive criticism, comments, ideas, or suggestions, please let me know.* Happy reading! :o)

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“Steve, Tony, Thor; where have you guys been? Clint and Bobbi are going after Bruce and I’m not so sure how long they’ll hold up against him. Does anyone copy?” Natasha said forcefully into her communicator. After a brief wait, she received a reply from Tony.

            “What were you thinking, sending Clint and his girlfriend to keep an eye on the Hulk? There’s no way in Hell those two’ll stand a chance against him, especially when you’ve almost been killed by the Other Guy. Go tell Clint and Bobbi to get their asses out of the building and keep the pedestrians away from the tower with Cap. Thor and I’ll handle the Hulk.”

            Tony’s disdainful tone took Natasha by surprise, she was used to being the one moderating him. Why was she suddenly the one being frowned upon? Her voice caught, but she managed to clear her throat and inquire as calmly as possible, “And my task?”

            There was a momentary pause, and what she heard next was something she never would’ve expected. “Seeing as how you can’t even keep your feelings, which I wasn’t sure existed until now, in control we all agree that you’re off duty for this job. You have permission to leave.”

            “I copy.” Natasha muttered into the radio; if she talked any louder her voice would break.

            She hastened to the nearest window and using her Widow’s Line, left the building, not wanting to run into any of her fellow Avengers by chance. She was used to being alone, but not being lonely.

            Natasha retired to her nearby apartment, which she rented for the sole purpose of escaping her teammates whenever they got too difficult to put up with. Now she wished she even had one of them even on her side. She’d fucked things up real bad, and who knows how long it would take before she could regain her friendship with Clint— as well as her dignity. Not even Steve was there to back her up.

            The assassin buried her head in her hands. She really knew how to put up a front when other people were around, but there was no reason to waste her time and energy on that now. Still, moping around wasn’t making the situation for her any better either.

            And so she picked up her phone and called Clint. He picked up on the first ring.

            “Tasha? This isn’t really a good time you know,” Clint said, although she could hear relief in his voice.

            “I know.”

            “I didn’t mean I wanted you to hang up or anything but, uh…what did you wanna say to me?”

            “I’m sorry.” she croaked. She felt like something else needed to be said, but exactly what, she didn’t know. “That’s all.”

            “Really?” responded Clint, promptly. Expectantly.

            “Yeah. I’m just sorry for causing this whole mess and messing with your feelings just because I was unsure of my own feelings.” she bit her lip, wondering how he’d respond.

            “Why would you be confused about something like that when you’re the most calm person I know? You’ve always had everything sorted out.”

            “Oh just forget it. Be glad I apologized.”

            “You know if you just tell me exactly how you feel things can be a lot easier, Nat— oh shit I’ve gotta go. Bruce just picked up a bus full of Furbies. Bye,”

He hung up before she could say goodbye.

                                                              ❂    ❂    ❂

A million thoughts were running through Clint’s mind as stood in the elevator, which had already reached its destination. He'd actually lied about the Furby truck. Thor and Tony were flying The Other Guy as high as they could and dropping him to (hopefully render him unconscious). Silly plan, but it was less silly than the notion of actually knocking the Hulk out in combat. Leaving Bobbi behind, he’d taken the elevator up to his room in Stark Tower, which was pretty wrecked but luckily not completely.

            He was still wondering what Natasha meant about her feelings towards him too. Well, at least she did have feelings. That was a start. But what kind of feelings? Was there more to this than she was letting on? He could’ve sat and wondered about Natasha for hours, but before he knew it, he was sprawled out and snoring on Tony’s sofa.