Gone by Ghosts (Natasha Romanoff x OC)

~8~ Honesty

Nat's POV

United States, New York City 07/14/2009:

Natasha watched as Agent Davis played her guitar and sang all while having her eyes closed. It was clear that she was lost in her own world. To Natasha, it was fascinating to see someone so occupied, so very tangled up in a moment that they forget everything else around them. It was beautiful. Yet she knew that she could never do that outside of work.

She scanned the woman and her eyes landed on the tattoo that is hardly visible through the small rips in her jeans. It's rather uncommon to see someone with such a big tattoo. Especially at that age. Her eyes search for something else that was unusual but they didn't find anything. She allowed herself to enjoy the show for as long as it lasted because whether she liked it or not that woman was beautiful. The way a strand of hair fell in her face, she sang the words and her fingers played the strings...But the way her face expressed the passion with which she sang the song that was the most vulnerable and most beautiful thing she had seen in a long time. And when her eyes opened and met with Natasha's she could see the exact moment that the woman was brought back to reality.

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Shared POV

After ten minutes which felt like an hour to Kate, she could finally see the boys from the band talking to Mrs. Garcia. She finished the song and thanked the crowd, then left the stage and squeezed past some customers until she reached the spot by the bar, where Agent Romanoff was leaning against the wall.

"You're pretty good at that.", Natasha remarked when the other woman was close enough to hear it. "Where'd you learn that?"

"Self-taught. And thanks.", Kate answered and then continued, "What are you doing here?"

"The boss said that we should get to know each other." 

"And how did you know where to find me?", Kate asked and she had to swallow hard at the thought that the spy had followed her without her knowing 

"Maria snitched on you. She said I could probably find you here.", Natasha explained, with an infectious smile that she couldn't suppress after watching the brown eyes of her counterpart go wide.

"Damn you, Maria. I thought she was supposed to keep secrets.", she joined in with a smile. "What else did she tell you?"

"Not more than that. Not even that you'd be singing. Why? What more is there to tell?", her head was somewhat bowed down but her eyes looked up right into Kate's

"Yeah, no, I'm not telling you all my secrets.", Kate said while looking down at Natasha.

"Too bad. That's kind of why I'm here."

The answer caught her a little off guard but she just ran with it. "And I thought people go to a bar to drink. By the way, what do you want?", Kate nodded towards the bar.

"Oh, you don't have to...", Natasha already shook her hands in a declining motion but Kate insisted.

"No need for diffidence. This rounds on me."

"Fine. How about a beer, then?", she looked down with clenching jaw muscles, feeling troubled by accepting this act of kindness.

Kate was surprised by how much the otherwise so confident woman struggled with expressing a want but pretended not to notice it. Instead, she waved Mrs. Garcia over and she came.

"Can you give me two beers, please? Just subtract it from my paycheck."

"Sure thing, kid. Anything else?"