Eloquence and Twisted Fate

Chapter 12- The feud continues.

"Get up." I heard, approximately 0.5 seconds before my face was doused in icy water.

"What the hell, Natasha?" I replied, sitting up and shaking my head like a dog, splattering the surroundings with water droplets. "You could have asked nicely..."

"The ball starts in three hours. You need to prep."

"What she means is that you need to be attractive enough to hold Samuel's attention until we can take out Pierre." Clint said from the doorway. That was the exact moment I realized I was still only wearing my underwear and the covers only came up to my waist.

"Can you two please leave me alone for just two seconds?" I asked, forcing a fake smile. "I'd really appreciate it."

They listened, surprisingly. In thirty seconds I was completely alone, along with the bag Natasha had thrown beside me as she left. I sighed, pushing back the covers and getting out of bed. I rubbed my tired eyes, recalling the events of last night. I mentally berated myself for getting to know Sophie. I gave her false hope. I reasoned. I'll never see her again. Seriously, though. What the hell was I thinking?

The bag Natasha gave me turned out to be full of high-quality makeup, hair products, perfume, and several items of extremely valuable jewelry. I dragged myself to the bathroom, taking a long shower to clean off all the sweat and smells from last night. Then, completely clean, I went to work with styling my hair. I put some mousse in it, and blow-dried it. After than I applied one more hair product and ended up with something that appeared to be almost punk-rock-y, but still fashionable. What would have normally been my side-bangs was now swept back over my scalp in a pouf. Satisfied with my work, I then moved on to my makeup.

Normally I wouldn't have bothered- I looked more than fine without needing to cake my face with powders and pastes- but like Clint said, I needed to hold Samuel's attention all night in order to keep him close enough to protect him from Pierre Lazzize. I  started with a very thin layer of foundation, then gave myself a light blush and pink lipstick. Trying to keep it natural, I went easy on the eyeshadow. A few streaks of eyeliner and mascara to bring out my eyes, and I was done. I pulled on my dress, and slipped on the shoes.

"Happy now?" I asked Natasha, coming out of the bathroom. She gave my white sandals a look of distaste, and replied.

"Accessorize. Now. And don't forget the perfume."

I ground my teeth. "Of course." I said, giving yet another fake smile and retreating back into the bathroom. I grabbed the bottle of CK1, and gave myself a couple squirts, filling the air with citrus smells. Then I sorted through the various expensive jewelry options. Diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, opals... the list went on. I turned down the flashy items and opted instead for simple gold ornaments that matched the trim on my dress.

I chose a pair of earrings that were simple gold hoops, and a necklace made of gold links of increasing/decreasing size. I also selected a few golden bracelets to complete the look. I zipped the bag shut (rather aggressively) and closed the door to the bathroom with a little more force than necessary.

"Am I fucking done now?" I asked as I saw Natasha waiting impatiently for me. She was wearing a much simpler dress than I was- it was plain black and floor-length with a simple single-diamond necklace, but as much as it pained me to state it, she still looked completely stunning.

"It'll do." She replied with a dismissive tone. I gave her a glare as I stalked past her.  Clint was wearing a tux and I swear he gave me a sympathetic look for a half-second before his face was wiped emotionless once more. Three seconds later, Natasha was handing me a small handgun and instructing me on how to hide it under my dress.

"What? No. Nope. I'm not going to carry a gun, thanks." I replied, pushing it away.

"Do you want to fail this mission?" She asked, challenging me.

"I'm not going to run around shooting people." I explained. Killing wasn't really my style.

"How do you expect to protect Samuel? You can't use your webs without exposing yourself. Take the gun, or you might as well hand in your resignation to Fury this minute."

We had a stare-down for a tense ten seconds before I took the gun from her open hand. "Fine."

She rolled her eyes. "Teenagers." I heard her mutter, thanks to my enhanced senses.

"The limo's here." Clint said, interrupting our glare-fest. Natasha was an expert at the death-stare, but I had the benefit of having unnaturally blue eyes that were more than a little disconcerting.

Natasha was the first to break eye contact, turning her back on me and striding out the door, leaving me behind nearly shaking with anger. Maybe I should rethink this whole Avengers thing... I thought. Don't ask me what I'd done to piss her off. I wasn't sure, myself.

The short ride to the event was filled with silence. Only when we pulled up to the estate did Clint speak. "Nat and I will stay with you for the first ten minutes but then we will have to track down wherever Lazizze is staking out." Good. Ten minutes of torture and then I'll be free of her. "Once we separate, we'll need to communicate via our com links. Everyone understand?"

"Yes." I mumbled.

Natasha gave me yet another glare. "Don't fuck this up, kid."

I snapped. "What in the actual hell is making you think I'm going to screw everything up?" I whisper/shouted angrily.

"One, you're irresponsible." Natasha said, giving me a cold look. "Two, you're just a kid. Three, you have no fucking clue how to act on a mission. You're so pathetic you're causing me pain just to look at you."

I saw red. I was about to lunge across the limo at her, but Clint's strong arm held me back. "Enough." He said. "We're supposed to be a family. We'd better look like one."

The door to the limo slid open. One by one we climbed out, emerging onto the red carpet and exposing ourselves to the hundreds of bulbs flashing every second. I put on my best fake smile. I waved, and even more bulbs flashed. Great. Just what I needed. More people to judge me.

Instead of running away and hiding like I wanted to do, I leveled my head and straightened my back. It was go time.