Is This Love?

Chapter 6 - Love is for Children

For the rest of the day, Natasha stayed in her room, not daring to leave and perhaps have to face Steve again. Clint came by that evening and when she ignored his knocks, he called out to her telling her that he was going to leave food at the door for her and that he was just a call away if she needed anything else. He then walked away, promising to come by again the next morning.

And for the next few days, that's how it went. Natasha stayed in her room all day, with Clint bringing her food and snacks throughout the day, leaving straight after. It was one of the things she loved most about Clint, he knew her long enough to know that there was no point trying to get her to talk before she was ready, so he just brought her food and quickly told her he cared about her and was there for her before leaving again.

As the days passed, Nat started to come back out of her shell again. She now opened the door for Clint when he came and had casual chats with him. She had also started to go back to the training room early in the morning when no one else was there, as she had started to get sick of only her punching bag and ballet bar as training equipment.

By now, the entire tower knew that something was wrong with Nat, as it had been over a week, and they hadn't seen her come out of her room.

Clint was especially concerned about his best friend, he knew something was up. He'd seen her through many of her worsts, and he knew how this went. He knew that she would push everyone that cared about her away, whilst she internally reset herself and reconstructed the iron-clad walls around her soul. Just like the Red Room trained her. 

Luckily, over the years, Clint had become especially good at slowly breaking back down those walls, but he knew it would take time. So he resorted to bringing her breakfast and having casual conversations with her, he knew how stubborn she was, that she would rather starve herself than have to come out of her room.

She'd only just started to talk to Clint again. He knew better than the pester her with the details of her seclusion, but he knew something had happened between her and Steve, who'd also been a wreck all week. He had been distant, only emerging from his own room to eat or train. 

That morning, Clint had decided to confront Steve whilst they trained. He was clearly upset about it all, and kept saying that it was all his fault and her pushed her too far. He hadn't offered Clint any other details, but he'd gather the gist of their fight. 

As he bought her breakfast that morning, Clint carefully decided to broach the subject with her as well.

"So Nat... did something happen between you and Rogers?" He tentatively asked, quickly trying to gauge whether or not she was welcoming of her question. 

"Nothing," She supplied easily. Too easily. Had it been anyone else, they would've bought that lie, but he knew her better than that.

"Funny, 'cause Steve has been upset all week, barely leaving his room either, and this morning when I asked him about it, he said that he and Natasha had a fight and he took it too far. I must have mistaken another Natasha for you. Sorry," Clint quipped sarcastically, shrugging and turning to leave.

"We did have a fight..." Natasha whispered, and Clint turned back around, waiting for her to continue. 

"I- I failed a mission, and he helped me get cleaned up afterwards. The next day, I took my anger out on the punching bag and completely forgot to wrap my hands. He got upset and questioned my ability to care for myself... I haven't seen him since." She finished quietly, putting her head down and sat on her bed to hide her emotions. 

"Oh, Nat," Clint softly replied as he walked over to sit beside her, placing a comforting hand on her knee.

"I don't know why it got to me so much," She whispered as she fiddled with her hands that were tucked carefully in her lap.

"I do," Clint said, and Nat looked up at him in surprise, waiting silently for him to continue. 

"It's because you care about him and his opinions more than I think you realize. So when he hurt you, it got to you much more than it should have." He explained.

"Perhaps," she sighed gently.

"Is this love agent Romanoff?" Clint asked cheekily, earning a glare from Natasha.

"Love is for children." She retorted coldly, but that only provided more proof, in Clint's opinion as he let a smirk stretch onto his face.

"Whatever you say, Nat," Clint replied in a sing-song voice, turning and walking away to avoid getting a widow bite to the neck, leaving Nat alone with her thoughts.

Love is for children, right? Nat thought as she stayed frozen on her bed, staring at the wall in front of her blankly.

"Agent Romanoff, Director Fury requires you in his office. It is urgent." FRIDAY said, interrupting her thoughts. 

Sighing, she rose from her bed and walked toward the elevator on her way to Fury's office. She had no idea what Fury wanted, but if it was about her and Steve, she was in half a mind to test Tony's latest improvements to her widow bites on Fury's ass.