Who: Rowan Fricks and Natasha Romanoff. What: Natasha is visiting Clint's ward. Where: Rowan and Clint's apartment When: Afternoon, but before this. [Backdated!] Warnings: Low/none Status: Closed, Complete gdoc
Natasha knew Clint wasn’t home, she’d purposefully waited until he had gone out to approach his place. It hadn’t been her who let the cat out of the bag regarding Rowan and her murder boards, she knew how to keep things to herself, but she still felt bad that it had all gone down as it had. And Clint had said Rowan took it badly and seemed to think they’d all judge her because of it. Natasha was the last person to judge, when she was Rowan’s age it had been less murder boards and more actual murder.
Knocking on the door she waited for an answer, simply letting herself in probably wouldn’t be the best way to make a good impression and it was already probably going to be a fairly awkward conversation. But she had coffee to offer and hoped to help, at the very least she wanted to let the girl know Natasha didn’t think she was a psycho.
*** Rowan had been avoiding Clint, she was pissed off because of the fact he had known for two weeks, talking to everyone else, and still hadn’t come to her. How long was he going to wait? If it hadn’t been for Kate, was he ever going to talk to her or just fear her? The people talking about her behind her back was not something she wanted to deal with her, she had it enough back in her own world, thanks to her mom. When a knock came to the door, Rowan had been in the bathroom cleaning out her nose piercing, leaning her head out the door. “Be right there!”
Putting her nose stud back into the hole, she moved over to the door, peeking out to see Natasha. Though Clint only said her name and she hadn’t met her yet, Rowan had done her research around the net, learning all the names even without anyone knowing. If anyone someone popped up from her world who she didn’t know, she wanted to be able to track who was here if animal masks started popping up. Opening the door, she gave the woman a smile, “Clint isn’t here. I don’t know where he went but he isn’t home at the moment.” Rowan told her, figuring she was here to see him rather than her. Why would someone come see the crazy person who had a murder board?
*** “Actually I was hoping to see you, if you aren’t too busy and I’m not interrupting anything” Natasha told her, “I brought coffee” she added, lifting up the cups to show she had actually come prepared. Natasha was definitely not here to see Clint and hopefully Rowan wouldn’t mind that she’d come to chat with her instead.
*** A flash of confusion brushed across her face for only a brief moment before shaking her head in annoyance. Not at the woman in front of her, but at Clint. “Did Clint send you to babysit me or something? I mean props to you for the coffee so either you do your homework or Clint told you, but I’m a bit out of the years of needing a babysitter.” Rowan turned to walk back into the apartment, leaving the door open for Natasha. Part of her was kicking herself for being rude since normally she would have been a little more polite, but her mind went right to Clint thinking she needed someone to watch her, which was only annoying her. Was he going to turn into her father and have someone sit outside the apartment to watch her? Only her father did it to keep Rowan safe where she figured if Clint did it, he would be doing it to keep everyone else safe from her. This woman wasn’t asking to be brought into this mess, Rowan knew that and it was partly the reason her tone changed. “Sorry, you don’t deserve my wrath or whatever you want to call it. All I’m saying is if you’re here to keep an eye on me, I’m fine.” She told her once Rowan had reached the kitchen, turning her attention back to the other woman.
***
“Actually Clint has no idea that I’m here” Natasha said, “He definitely did not send me. And if he’d have tried I would have likely punched him” Clint could handle his own apology, he could look after that himself.
Setting the coffee cups down on the kitchen side she smiled, “Oh I don’t know, I probably deserve some of it, he did talk to me after all. But don’t worry I have no doubt you are perfectly fine. I just wanted to come and meet you and apologise if Clint made you feel uncomfortable. He completely overreacted” she rolled her eyes, he may not exactly be her Clint but Natasha still felt she knew him well enough. “And I have to admit, I was intrigued so probably didn’t tell him off as much as I should have done” Sure she’d told him to talk to Rowan but she could have pushed more.
*** Rowan couldn’t help the smirk that came over her face at Natasha making the comment on her punching him. While she didn’t want Clint actually being punched, the idea was amusing for the moment considering she was mad at him. While she was thinking about how part of her wouldn’t mind him being punched, she didn’t want to say that to his friend. “Alright, then if you’re not here as a babysitter you can stay.”
Even though Rowan knew she couldn’t do much if the woman was here to babysit. “Yeah, but you’re not the person taking care of me. He is and he can’t even talk to me without probably thinking I’m…,” she trailed off before shaking her head, “just yeah.” Rowan was tired of everyone thinking the wrong thing about her, and this was a second chance only it felt like it was crashing around here. Though she found herself liking this woman, she didn’t make Rowan feel like the freak Clint had her feeling like, especially with knowing he had known for two freaking weeks. “I get the board isn’t normal and my dad freaked out over it as well, but I thought he’d at least talk to me, you know?” Rowan replied with a shrug, moving over to pick up the coffee cup and taking a sip. “Thank you for this,” she gave Natasha a smile, setting the drink down, and listening to what she said. “Intrigued about what and why?” It wasn’t a word people used with her. A lot of words were tossed around about her, but never that one around anything she did.
*** “Thank you” Natasha said honestly, had Rowan wanted her to leave she would have done, she wasn’t here to put pressure on the girl. That was the opposite of her intentions.
“Oh he definitely should have spoken to you. There is no doubt here that he is the one who messed up, don’t go thinking any of this is on you” Natasha assured her, sure it was a strange thing to find but as Natasha had said to Clint at the time if he wanted to know more he needed to speak to Rowan. It really wasn’t a hard thing to do, she seemed like a nice girl. “You’re welcome” Natasha smiled, before explaining, “Well you really, I mean other that what Clint’s told me I don’t know very much about you. Other than the fact that you are obviously smart and observant. Have you always been a puzzle solver?” she asked curiously. The murder board was obviously linked to Rowan’s past and Natasha hoped she wasn’t bringing up bad associations by asking questions.
***
Rowan wasn’t used to anyone being on her side, especially when it came to the board. Then again Natasha didn’t know the whole story and part of Rowan understood why her sister was so mad about Rowan not telling dad. Still, the two of them didn’t have the whole picture either. Lately, it seemed like everything was her fault or part of her fault. “You can say it’s partly my fault. It’s not all that normal and he probably thinks I’m going to kill him in his sleep now. Maybe I should have kept it locked up better rather than sometimes forgetting and leaving it in the open.” Now she knew he might go into her room, which meant stuff had to be locked up no matter what.
It had been a long time since Rowan felt like she could be honest with anyone outside her two best friends, especially someone of an adult type. Her dad was busy with his job and her mom...well that was a giant mess, but Natasha was easygoing and she didn’t sense the judgment she got from most adults. “Thanks for the compliments. Not really, the puzzle solving thing is a recent skill, but living with a cop tends to make that skill an easy one to adapt. Just like it helped with my observant skill, then adding in the fact I had no friends, it’s a way to pass the time.” It wasn’t Rowan looking for pity, it was just the truth. Her best friend had left her when she needed her the most and Rowan had to deal with hell all on her own until Monkey Man came into their lives.
***
“Absolutely no offence but if you manage to get near him while he’s sleeping then he needs to up his training” Natasha said, “Normal people shouldn’t be able to sneak up on him” And Natasha didn’t mean normal in an offensive way at all, it was just with all the training Clint had nobody, other than Natasha herself, should be able to surprise him. “It was your room right? You should be able to leave your things out” Yeah Natasha wasn’t letting Clint off that easily.
Natasha nodded, “You definitely have the upbringing for it then” she said, “And let’s be honest it’s a far more interesting hobby than like knitting or something. Did it lead anywhere?” she asked curiously, wondering if she’d found anything interesting out thanks to the board. It was definitely something Natasha found interesting, especially having met Rowan, Natasha’s instincts told her she was a good kid.
*** “He’d probably think it was whoever he was sleeping with came back to bed,” she wrinkled her nose slightly grossed out by saying it. Rowan wasn’t grossed out by sex considering she just recently had her first time, but Clint was old and the idea of him having sex was really not an image she ever wanted in her head. Only thanks to him thinking that was what she wanted to talk about, she knew he had women over. “Yeah, but as my father says it’s his place so he has the right to come in if he wants. Figure it’s probably the same rule here.” Which was unfair, especially since she had to be here cause of her being sixteen, but at least she knew for the future to keep things hidden.
Rowan had to admit she agreed about it being better than knitting. “I’m more into photography than knitting,” she admitted plus she didn’t really know how to knit and had no interest in learning it. “Depends on what you mean by led anywhere. I’ve gotten some questions answered about what I’m looking into while also making more questions for myself. Then there are parts where I feel like no matter how much I try to work it I don’t think I’m ever going to get the answer.” Or she was just too stupid to figure it out. Rowan wasn’t going to put herself down in front of someone she barely knew, trying to keep some of how she felt about herself locked away from others.
*** Natasha had to smile at the expression on Rowan’s face, it was very similar to the one Cassie got on her face. Which was completely fair enough, thinking about parents or guardians having sex wasn’t something most people enjoyed when it entered their head. “Guardian or not he does not have the right to go into your room if you’ve told him not to. My daughter would be really pissed if my husband and I did that and she’d have every right to be” Natasha may not like it but she actually did respect Cassie’s right to privacy, she knew what it was like to not have anything or anywhere that belonged to just you and she didn’t want that for her daughter. Or any other young person.
“Photography is a much better interest” Natasha agreed, “Sometimes a break can help, you might come back to it with a fresh idea or something might strike you when you don’t expect it” she said, it had happened a few times to her when she focused on a problem too much for too long.
*** “I didn’t or at least I don’t think I did,” she trailed off as if trying to remember before shaking her head. “It was one of those assumed things, which I know is never something to do by because when you assume you make an ass out of you,” she mocked the last bit, knowing it was the sentence her father always said to her. “Though now I’ll probably make sure to say it just in case and cover my bases.” If she couldn’t remember, then she’d do it again or for the first time to make sure the statement was known. While it wasn’t like she drank or did drugs, she didn’t want Clint going through stuff even if she doubt he would.
Rowan knew she was right but she also knew a break could be the death of her or her friends if this place decided to send her home or bring someone from thezoo. “Photography helped me during some rough times back home,” she admitted with a small shrug, but she couldn’t imagine not having that interest since it had been her way to feel less lonely in the world. “Probably, but I just feel like maybe I’m slowly losing my mind and I don’t know if that was….” she almost said their game, but knew that would cause more questions than anything. “No, I do try to focus on other things like homework, school, cooking, photography, and so on since I know to a degree only focusing on that board is unhealthy.”
*** “I think that sounds like a good plan” Natasha said, Clint really should have known better but at least if they were all on the same page from now on it would hopefully make it easier. “And if you have any problems just tell me and I’ll kick his ass for you” she added easily.
“Have you thought about looking into any photography courses at the college or community centre? That might help too” she suggested, the mom instincts she’d built up since Cassie trying to kick in. “And if you need any help with your investigations just ask, I promise whatever you show me or tell me I can keep a secret, I was a spy it was kind of my thing” she told her, letting Rowan know she could trust Nat if she wanted to.
***
Rowan was hoping with her deciding to maybe set those guidelines that maybe they wouldn’t have this happen again. She learned from her mistake of assuming and now she’d fix it by telling him her room was off limits. “Yeah, and hopefully it will work out,” she replied before laughing softly at Natasha’s comment. “I’ll be sure to do that because if I’m wanting you to kick his ass, then it’s because he’s really out of control and needs a swift kick in the ass.” Considering Rowan liked Clint just a little less right now, she didn’t want him to get beat up unless he ignored her or went off the deep end. Though she doubt that would happen, she still wanted a just in case plan and now she had one with Natasha kicking his butt.
“Don’t you need to be in college or out of high school to take any courses at the college? But no, I don’t think I’m that great and no one should be tortured with my work,” Rowan really never thought much about college as she just wanted to survive high school even more so with recent events. The offer was nice, but the voice in Rowan’s head went off screaming how people will see her as the horrible person she really was though it silenced quickly on the spy comment. “What kind of spy? If you don’t mind me asking, you don’t need to answer it,” Rowan shook her head realizing maybe it wasn’t something Natasha could talk about. “I might take you up on that offer, but I probably should talk to Clint first. Explain it to him and be the bigger person of not running to someone else first.” Yes, the comment was slightly bitter and while part of her understood why he went to the others, the other part of her was still mad about it.
*** “I hope so too and the offer is always there” Natasha told her easily, she figured Clint had learnt his lesson now but with Clint you never did know. He sometimes had incredible moments of stupidity.
“I’d imagine you could do a summer course without it being a problem. Just because you don’t think you’re good doesn’t mean you aren’t. Don’t let it put you off, I am sure they’d be lucky to have you” Natasha recognised the lack of self confidence, Cassie had been similar about her art for a while. But now she was proud of her daughters confidence. She had a natural talent for it.
“Russian to begin with, not the most shining example of my career” she admitted with a rue smile, “But then US, it was actually Clint who recruited me. Although not this version” she added, god it got confusing sometimes.
***
Rowan gave her a smile with a nod, “I’ll keep that in mind.” And she knew she would if Clint didn’t respect the whole her room thing that she’d state once she was talking to him again. For right now though, she was still avoiding him even if she only planned to do that for a bit longer. It was childish, she knew; however, she wasn’t going to deal with him while pissed off since it wouldn’t solve anything.
Listening to Natasha, Rowan figured it could be something to check out and see. No harm in looking, right? Only thing they could do is say no, right? Probably a horrible question for her to ask herself, knowing her mind would come up with some outlandish stuff. “That does mean a lot, but I’m not really sure on that. I’ll probably have to talk to Clint first about buying a camera. Mine is back in my world and all I have is my phone, not really professional,” or at least she didn’t think so. While the camera on the phone was easier, it didn’t have the same impact as using a camera.
Her eyes widened, unable to hide the surprise as Natasha said about the Russia part. “Holy crap, that’s amazing the whole spy thing,” and it really was or at least she thought so. “One of those same person, different world type things I’ve heard about around here? How different is this version than the one you know?” Rowan found she had a lot of questions about the whole spy thing such as why did he recruit you and all that, but she also didn’t need to push her luck. Nope, this woman was awesome and Rowan didn’t need to lose an ally or at least someone who was willing to help her out.
***
Rowan was a smart young woman and Natasha had no doubt she and Clint would get over this incident in the long run. Though with a good amount of grovelling on Clint’s part would be Natasha’s preference.
“A decent camera would definitely help, phones have come a long way but they have their limits” Natasha agreed, making a mental note to sort one out and get it delivered to her. If it encouraged her to get out and about and using her talent then it would be all for the better.
Natasha chuckled a little, “Thank you” she smirked, before nodding, “Exactly that. Pretty different actually. I mean I can still talk to him and he’s still Clint but my version is more settled. He has a family and perhaps is a little more mature than this one seems to be” she admitted, his essence was still Clint and it seemed some of their history was the same but he wasn’t hers, not really.
*** “Yeah, and of course the camera I have is back in my room on my dresser by my mirror where I usually leave it,” she said with a small smile. It sucked, but that was on her for having other stuff in her bag and being in a rush to save her friend even though it turned into a trap, but she’d do it over and over again each time without a single change and she knew it. “But the phones do make it easier when wanting to post them on social media plus smaller,” and it was the reason her phone was used so much. Smaller so it could go to school without worry and she’d most of the time throw her pictures up on social media.
Rowan didn’t completely understand what that felt like to have someone she knew who wasn’t like that version, but she figured it was weird. “At least you can still talk to this version even if he isn’t the one from your world?” That had to be a plus. Better than getting a Clint that she couldn’t do any of that with. For a moment, she thought about pushing the question in her head away but then decided to run with it. “Considering you’re a spy and all, do you think maybe at some point you can teach me some self-defense? If you don’t mind that is.” Even though no one from her world had shown up, she figured it was better to be safe than sorry.
Then her eyes caught sight of the clock, biting her bottom lip. “I shouldn’t keep you as I’m sure you have other things to do. Thank you though for stopping by and talking to me.” Rowan told her with a smile, hoping to see the woman again since she thought Natasha was awesome.
*** Social media wasn't something Natasha had ever been too bothered with except as background research on targets sometimes. It certainly had its uses but it was nowhere near as secure as people assumed. It was handy tho. "It does certainly make that aspect easier" she agreed.
Nodding Natasha replied, "I'm definitely glad I can still talk to him, I'm very lucky with those from my world" she smiled, "Of course, I'd love to. Every girl should know at least the basics, send me a message anytime and we'll get some lessons sorted"
Noticing the time herself she realised she should be heading out and let Rowan enjoy the rest of her day, "It was good to properly meet you Rowan, I'll see you soon for those lessons" she added with a nod before heading to the door, "Have a good day"
***
"It can be, which isn't always a good thing," she admitted about having social media always on hand. After everything, Rowan still kept her phone always on hand, it had become a habit. Without her phone, she felt naked, but here she didn't have the same issues to worry about....yet.
Rowan nodded, "I'm sure he's happy to have you even if you're not the same Natasha." While she didn't know that for sure, she was taking a guess on some part of that being true or at least she hoped. "I'll be sure to do that!" Exclaiming a little more excited than she probably should. The fact someone like Natasha would teach her at least the basics might give her a helping hand if anyone bad from her world showed up.
"Thank you again for stopping by and have a great day," she told the other woman with a smile, watching her leave before heading back to her room.