The Path to the Tower

5.4: Culture Shock

Natasha had sat alone in the chapel as Phil's casket had been brought in. Clint and Nick were serving as pallbearers and for some reason yesterday Maria had pulled away from her and Clint. That had hurt more than the Phil thing. At least Phil hadn't made a conscious decision to leave her. Maria woke up one morning. Went to a meeting. Came back and decided this wasn't working for her anymore. She grabbed the things she'd been keeping in the room they were sharing and moved them to her own room. Since then, Maria barely looked Clint or Natasha in the eye.

When Clint came and sat beside Natasha after setting the coffin on the plinth he had wrapped his arms around her. Despite being the small one, Natasha had never really felt like the small one before. Clint was softer than she was. Needier than she was. Closer to his emotions than she was. She wanted to be strong now, to hold Clint who was hurting too. Possibly even more than her because he'd known both Phil and Maria for longer. They'd had stronger bonds with each other, built over a longer period of time.

Yet, as soon as those toned arms curled around her she collapsed. They had been her family. The only real family she had known and one had died and the other had rejected her. She couldn't cry though. At the graveside, as they filled the ground with dirt she began to wonder if she even could any more. Clint stood beside her, tears running down his cheeks and standing stoically. Yet Natasha could barely hold herself up and her eyes were dry.

They held a wake at one of the bars in Brooklyn where the invasion hadn't reached. Clint and Natasha sat alone. A few times others had tried to interact. The Avengers had all wanted to talk. Nick had tried engaging them. Sharon Carter had dropped by in a large black hat and dark glasses looking a little like Jackie Onassis so that Steve wouldn't recognize her because she had just been given the duty of keeping watch on him. Normally they both tried hitting on her when they saw Sharon. This time they just thanked her for her condolences and huddled closer together.

"Thor's taking Loki back to Asgard tomorrow," Clint said, his voice coming out in monotone.

"Good. He can rot for millennia." Natasha snarled.

"Then what?" Clint asked.

"What do you mean? With Loki?" Natasha asked.

Clint shook his head. "No. With us. What do we do?"

"Go back to DC I guess. Get back to work." Natasha said.

Clint gave a small nod. "It's gonna be weird him not being around anymore. And Hill ignoring us."

Natasha curled into him wrapping her arm around his waist. "Fury offered a job to Steve. He's gonna be alone."

"Guy's already pretty alone. That's what Sharon's for right?" Clint asked looking over at Steve who was talking with Thor at the bar.

Natasha followed Clint's gaze. "Shouldn't just have a friend who's paid to stalk him. Maybe we can be his friend." She said with half a shrug.

Clint drained the last of his beer and dragged his hand down his face. "You wanna adopt Cap?"

"Yeah, something like that." Natasha agreed.

There was another moment as Clint looked Steve over. He looked so out of place in the suit that looked borrowed and was too short on the arms and his hair in that swept over 1940s good boy thing he had going on. He smiled at Thor but his gaze kept flicking over to Tony and for a moment Clint wondered what that was about exactly. Clint took a deep breath in and pressed his lips to Natasha's head. "Phil would have wanted us to right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He would have been telling us we had to. Making Steve feel weird."

Clint chuckled. "He was such a fanboy. I never got used to that. The guy can just go in and boss Thor around but gets all giggly about Captain America."

Natasha put her hand in her pocket and touched the edge of the Captain America trading card she had taken from the pile Fury had thrown on the table. "Yeah. I guess he grew up on the stories."

"Alright." Clint agreed. "If he comes to DC he's ours. We'll make sure he's not alone anymore."

Natasha leaned up and pecked Clint on the lips. "Thank you, bird."

A deep blush ran up Clint's neck and he scratched the back of his head. "We're doing this in public now?"

Her green eyes met his blue and she cupped his jaw, leaning in a little. "Just this once." She said and brought her lips back to his.