Clint Barton (hawksarrow) wrote in thegalaxy, @ 2016-07-14 15:06:00 |
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Entry tags: | !locale: naboo, clint barton, natasha romanoff / black widow (mcu) |
Who: Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton
What: Old friends find each other again.
When: Backdated to when Natasha was free to move about the planets..
Where: Naboo spaceport
Rating: Some minor Avengers angst
Funny how a guy could get caught up in business on a planet he hadn’t even known about six months ago, and not be able to make it out to see his best friend who’d abruptly left, the returned, and couldn’t remember a thing about it. Clint had wanted to see Nat ever since he’d found out she’d arrived (again), but it had turned out to be surprisingly difficult. He had obligations he couldn’t easily walk away from. Bruce might be hesitant to join the Resistance; Clint wasn’t. He’d been learning everything he could about piloting in this universe. He’d also been on the hunt for arrow components. The meager supplies he’d arrived with wouldn’t last him long. Every arrow was a custom build, and Clint needed a reliable source for raw materials.
Clint had finally gotten away from his training and careful inquiries about substances that weren’t entirely legal to check in on Natasha personally. He hadn’t called ahead. He’d wanted the meeting to be a surprise. What he didn’t want was to get his ass kicked, so, instead of trying to sneak up on her, he shouted halfway across the tarmac.
“Hey! Romanoff! Long time no see!”
Natasha was in her element. She’d never had any issues fitting in with the Avengers, never once questioned her abilities or her value, but there had always been a little part of her that was fascinated by the larger than life possibilities that the team encompassed. Not that those possibilities couldn’t be colossal jerks, but she supposed they couldn’t help being what they were. She’d explored the politics of the world, both as a spy and an agent, the good side and the bad side. Eventually, she’d become satisfied with the lack of surprises, accustomed to the strange, enough that she could take it in stride.
This place blew those conceptions right out of the water.
She’d read more in the space of two weeks here than she’d made time for in the last year back home, and it was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. As soon as she was released from the mandatory quarantine, she had headed directly for the ships. They were completely unlike anything she’d seen back on Earth, even after the invasion, and her hands itched to get behind the controls of one. Already, her mind was working furiously fast, calculating what it might take to scheme her way onto one of the many that littered the Naboo hangar. Unfortunately, her ability to read people was limited mostly to humans, so she promised herself she’d take a little extra time to get a good idea on how to manage some of the more alien types. Perhaps an hour or two, at most.
A familiar voice broke her out of her intense thoughts, and a grin spread across her face as she spotted a very dear face just across the flat expanse of durasteel. “Took you long enough, Barton! I could have been on a ship and halfway across this galaxy by now.” She picked up her pace and then surprised herself and probably him by engulfing him in a tight hug. Despite her wide-eyed excitement about this strange new world, frankly, it wouldn’t have been for her if Clint couldn’t be there, too. That was just the way things were.
“Look at you! Old hand at this all, now, are you?” Her bright eyes matched her laugh. Yes, this was going to be an adventure, that was for damn sure.
Clint grinned in the instant before he caught her, wrapping his arms around Natasha like the old friends they were. Few people knew him as well as she did. Only Laura and Nick Fury had read the whole Barton story, in addition to Nat. His kids might, one day, when they were old enough to understand it all. Not even the rest of the Avengers could say that much. He’d kept his secrets carefully hidden for the sake of his family, doling them out only when there was no other recourse.
“I’ve probably spent more time on this planet than I’ve spent at the tower at this point,” he admitted, arms still wrapped tight around his best friend. “It’s good to see you.” When Clint released Natasha, he looked her up and down, a quick inventory to assure himself that she was whole and healthy. Though he’d rather not know the future, he recognized that she’d come from a tough time. He was reassured to find her in good spirits and physically unharmed. Conflicts got messy fast whenever Tony and Steve were involved. It wasn’t their fault, exactly, more an unfortunate law of the universe.
As for Clint, he was dressed in his customary dark shirt and pants, a pair of combat boots on his feet. He’d come from a training run, and preferred to do his flying in gear that was fit for a fight. It was old habit, by now. The bow and arrows were absent, though, unnecessary in their current environment. He did have a knife hidden in his boot, just in case, but he didn’t expect to need it here.
“So what do you think of the Naboo? Pretty fancy tech, and they even take the time to make it look nice.”
“I think it’s brilliant,” Nat admitted, having done the same once-over of her best friend. She genuinely liked the Naboo on first and second meetings, and they seemed a peaceable enough people, but she didn’t trust them yet, nor anyone else here. If Clint had been harmed in any way, she’d be revising her opinion quickly. She wore a blue sweatshirt and jeans, which meant it was likely the outfit she’d come through wearing. It made her look shy and unassuming. “I always thought that if we’d run into another alien civilization, the last thing it would be is friendly. Frankly, the government structure alone, just on this planet, is pretty fascinating. But what have you been up to?” She looked at him, almost accusatory but still with a smile. “Have you been off-planet? What is it like?”
Clint raised an eyebrow at her excitement. Natasha was in one of the better moods he’d seen from her for a while. Then again, the last he’d seen her, they’d both had Sokovia fresh on their minds.
“Not off planet yet, no, but I’ve been keeping an ear to the ground. Naboo might have it together, but the rest of this galaxy’s a mess.” He put an arm around her waist, and nudged her toward a quiet corner. He looked for all the world like a man escorting his lady friend to a more private liaison. Laura would have killed him if it hadn’t been Nat he was creating the illusion with. When he was sure they wouldn’t be overheard or interrupted, he released his hold and took a step back, expression serious.
“Steve had plans to do something about that before he left. Frankly, I think he had the right idea. There are people here who could use our help.”
As it wasn’t their first time having to put on appearances, Nat moved with him easily, not betraying the pretense. “It’s a shame he’s gone, but we’ve worked with less,” she pointed out. Her exuberance had only dimmed slightly, and the reason was apparent in her next words. “No one knows us here, Clint. That’s not a bad thing….my history isn’t downloaded into every government archive on the planet, for one. We get a bit of a fresh start.” She didn’t add anything about the fallout of the Sokovia Accords, as she had already determined that the extraneous details were unimportant to both her and Clint here. There was no way to reach back to their world that either knew of, so they were looking to the future, not the past. “Let me guess, though….you’ve already thrown your lot in with this Resistance.” Her tone had dropped to a quiet, seemingly intimate level, to go along with their visual cue, but the curiosity remained. “And if you haven’t, you will. I know how you feel about the underdog in a fight.”
“A fresh start for you, maybe, but for me?” Clint shook his head. “Not without Laura and the kids, and I’m not sure I want them here. There are too many things that could go wrong, and we don’t know the territory we’re in. Not yet.” His worry shone through for the first time. “The First Order sounds like a bunch of punks, but they’ve got enough big players backing them to be a problem.” He shifted so that his body shielded their words from prying eyes.
“The Resistance has my vote. Bruce doesn’t agree, but he’s got a problem with authority. So do I, I’ll admit, but not in the same way. Steve wanted the Avengers, what there were of us, to support the Resistance in any way we could. I agreed. They’re shorthanded, Natasha. They could use the help.”
“I can’t disagree with that. I’ve been watching the news.” His blunt reminder of what had been left behind diminished the enthusiasm Natasha had, although she didn’t fault him for that. “If it helps, when I left, and that was certainly a lot later than you did, your family was doing well. Everyone is fine.” She didn’t linger on that; he didn’t need reminders of what he was missing. “Anyway, fresh start is the wrong phrase….more like vacation.” A true vacation, where she wasn’t constantly looking over her shoulder, second-guessing everything and everyone. And to have her best friend here….but he was right, they still had work to do.
“Even as straightforward as the systems here are, I would need another decade of studying to be able to dig into anything hidden, so you’ll need to brief me as best you can on the situation. I don’t see much in the way of superheroes native to this galaxy, except that extinct Order from the history archives, so this looks a lot like boots-on-the-ground war. Thankfully, that’s where you and I excel.”
“The system’s not so straightforward elsewhere,” Clint cautioned. He’d had his ear to the ground for months. Though Natasha was right, and it would take years for them to achieve the same depth of understanding of all the nuances and hidden connections that they’d enjoyed back home. They were both good operatives. What they weren’t was miracle workers. Even the god on their team couldn’t pull that one off. “What do plan on doing? Or are you still feeling things out?” He knew Nat’s history better than most, and wouldn’t blame her if she decided to take a cautious approach this time around.
“How’s Laura?” he asked, expression earnest. “And Nathaniel? He should have come along by the time you left.” If there was one thing Clint hated more than leaving his wife, it was leaving her when the ranks of mini-Bartons were about to expand.
“He's adorable, naturally.” Off the subject of planning, and onto one she enjoyed as much, if not more so, Natasha’s grin widened. “Tiny, bald, already ruling the house. I have a big bet that he will be a redhead, but Laura says that's a bit far-fetched.” Nat rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “But what does she know, right? He's gotta have my hair.” Leaving off the teasing for a moment, she added, “Don't stress. You were there, Clint. Take that as a sign. You'll get back.”
“A version of me will get back, anyway. I suppose that’s something.” His hand immediately snuck toward Natasha’s pocket, all mischief as he made a show of looking all over for hiding places that he knew perfectly well she wouldn’t use. “Please tell me you have your phone,” he said. “I texted you pictures, right? Lots of obnoxious new dad pictures?”
Mock exasperated, Natasha playfully slapped at his questing hand, even as she pulled her phone from a hidden pocket inside her hoodie. “You are lucky that I use a solar powered battery, since it’s not as if my charger came through with me,” she grumbled, amusement still in her tone. Her thumb sketched a quick pattern over the screen, bringing it to life, before she called up the photo gallery. “Go on, then. I’m pretty sure I’ve got some tissues around here somewhere.” It was said affectionately, and although Nat handed over the phone so he could see the pictures himself, she hovered, never tiring of seeing her honorary nephew in all his infant glory.
Clint grabbed the phone, undeniably eager to see his son, though disappointed that he had to play the remote father theme again. He turned and braced his back against the wall, leaning comfortable on it as he swiped through the gallery that housed photos of Nathaniel and the rest of his family. They looked good. Happy. And there he was, smiling with Laura in the delivery room, their newborn baby cradled in his arms, their two older children standing on tiptoe to get into the picture better. Clint didn’t mean to do it, but he melted into a soppy father that instant, staring with longing at the picture.
“You know,” he began, his voice rough as he held back his emotions, “I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t make Laura a widow during that whole mess with Ultron. Make my kids grow up without a father.”
Nat leaned next to him, resting her head on his shoulder both so she could see the phone better and also comfort him. “I think we all feared for that, at least once during that fight,” she allowed, gently. “But we’ve thought that before.” She turned her head a little so she could look up at him. “Back when you first met Laura, you were worried about what kind of life you could have with her. This isn’t new. You said then that you would take whatever time you could have, and not regret it. I think that’s still true. And she and the kids know you will move mountains to get back to them.”
The kids were safe. Laura was safe. And maybe he’d retire when he got home, Clint told himself. Spend some time working on the house while his not insignificant pension paid the bills for a little while. Do a little farming in those fields, teach archery at summer camp, say, “No,” for a change when people called him in to work. Not often, just when Laura needed him at home or he was due a vacation day. Clint summoned a brittle smile and closed the gallery before he did something unmanly.
“Thanks. I’ll have to download those when I get a chance.” He cleared his throat before he went on. “So. Back to this whole First Order mess. Or should we shelve that one for now and go get a beer instead?”
“They have beer here? Thank God for that.” Pretending to not see the emotion welling up in him, Nat efficiently put away her phone, making it disappear into some hidden pocket, before she added, “We can always make it a working lunch, right? If nothing else, you have to tell me more about this Bruce character. I haven’t always had the best luck with guys named Bruce, you know.” She grinned, making it a joke rather than delve into that personal minefield.
“Pretty sure this Bruce isn’t your type,” Clint reassured her, slinging an arm over Natasha’s shoulders. “It’s like someone surgically removed the party boy from Tony, and left the brooding genius billionare. So, in summary, I think you’ll like him, but your desire to punch him will come from a completely different place than it does with Tony.”
“My desire to punch Tony comes from myriad places,” Natasha assured him, putting her arm around his waist as they headed towards the cantina. “Very similar sometimes to my desire to punch you. Thankfully, I am a woman of reserve and restraint.” Grinning at her prim answer, she added, as they walked, “What is with all these billionaires, anyway…”