Fighting The Past - Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Chapter Five

The Charity Gala coincided with the grand opening of the new Stark Tower downtown. This evening was all about getting donors to part with their money to help the Avenger Relief programme, that was looking to assist those struggling after the consequences of the blip being reversed.

Natasha could think of a dozen other places she would rather have spent her evening, but apparently the donors had been very adamant about wanting to thank her for all she had done. That had never been the reason that Nat had done what she did.

She didn't want to be thanked or given special recognition for it. She had done it because the people she loved, some of them had disappeared because of the snap and all Natasha had wanted was for them to be safe.

She glanced across at Yelena who was chatting with Wanda near the bar. The two of them had disappeared after the snap and it had destroyed Natasha, all that time without them, it had been like being trapped in a permanent darkness. Natasha had felt like she had failed them during that time.

"Got you a beer, might help you suffer through talking to some more donors" Clint came to stand beside her at the top of the stairs, offering the bottle of beer to her.

"Thanks Clint, I definitely think I need it" Natasha said with a small smile as she took the beer from him. 

"You going to tell the others about the whole Y/N situation?" Clint asked as he lent against the wall. 

Nat knew she owed the team a better explanation, so far they had been respectful and not pushed after the briefing with Fury and Hill. But Nat knew they were probably all wondering what the situation was between her and Y/N. Yelena didn't even know all the details, Nat had told her bits and pieces when they'd reunited but it hadn't seemed like the right time to tell her it all. 

"They'll all find out eventually so I should probably be sure that it's me they hear it from" Nat nodded as she took another sip of the beer. 

"Everyone on the team has a past Nat, nobody is going to judge you for what happened. You tried to go back for Y/N they're the one that told you to leave" Clint said as he looked out at the crowd of people, all of them busy mingling below on the main floor. 

Nat went to reply when she saw Tony waving at her, clearly wanting her to come an join him back at the party. She held up a hand, gesturing that she would be back with him in a moment. It appeared that everyone here wanted their moment with the infamous Black Widow, but if it meant getting more donations then Nat would suck it up and play the part. 

"Looks like I'm needed, thank you for the beer Clint" Nat smiled again before descending the stairs and heading back into the crowd of people. 

**

Y/N sneered up at the monstrosity that was the new Stark Tower, it was a clear symbol of just how arrogant and self absorbed the Avengers were, that they felt the need to have such a building. 

Getting inside was barely a challenge, using the staff and catering entrance, Y/N blended in with all the other workers making it seem like she was suppose to be there. After everything they'd have expected Stark to be more security conscious but clearly he and the Avengers thought themselves untouchable now. 

Swiping a security pass out of the pocket of a Stark employee that pushed past them, Y/N used it to access one of the private elevators. Having studies the schematics of the building, there were four floors below the top floor that were currently off limits due to building work still taking place. These had been the spots that Y/N had identified as being perfect places to set the explosive charges up. 

As the doors to the elevator opened, Y/N slipped out and moved quickly to get things set up. As they worked they kept glancing up, she was just a few floors above, this was the closest the pair of them had been to one another since that night in Budapest. The night that Natalia had committed the ultimate betrayal, using Y/N to obtain freedom for herself, not caring about what the consequences would mean for Y/N.