A Different Call

Breaking Bread... Making Acquaintances?

A.N. A few hours early but why not.
Clint's P.O.V.

"Hey Nat, Rodgers should be here soon, you may want to start getting dressed," I called out as I dried my hands before making my way to our room. Today was always a bit of hard day for Nat, but with the addition of the loss of Coulson, she hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. I was really hoping that Rogers being around would help her a little, just knowing that there were still plenty of people around her that were alive and healthy. I would have invited Hill, but she was looking over SHIELD at the New York base, which covered most of the United States, and while both Nat and I enjoyed Stark's inability to sugarcoat things, I doubted it would be helpful right not plus I'm pretty sure he and Pepper aren't even in the states right now.

I got to our bedroom and saw Nat was still in bed, though she seemed to have found a guest, who was currently laying on her stomach.

"I thought you didn't even like that cat," I said, leaning against the doorframe and crossing my arms.

"He looked lonely, besides Liho isn't like normal cats," Nat said, giving the feline in question a scratch on the back of his head.

"I'm just happy that he mainly stays outside," I said, making my way over and sitting down on the bed. The minute that I sat down though, Liho got up and hissed at me, swatted at me, and then made his way out of the open window, which is also how I assumed that he got in.

The cat's behavior made Nat laugh, which took a huge weight off my chest.

"Well, based on what you're wearing this isn't going to be a formal dinner," Nat said, getting out of bed and grabbing some jeans from the closet before looking through the dresser to look for a shirt.

"Yeah, I figured that you wouldn't really want to spend the energy needed to get dressed nice."

Nat shrugged, even now after all that we've been through she doesn't really like admitting that she wasn't at her peak. I'm just happy that she's moved past the stage of not even showing that something was wrong.

"So," Nat said after she had finished getting dressed and made her way to sit on my lap, "What's our story for the captain. I mean I highly doubt Mr. Yes Sir, No Sir would take seeing us break one of SHIELD's strictest rules lying down."

"I told him that we were shared an apartment since we used to have the exact same schedule that cohabitation just made sense."

Nat nodded, before resting her head on my shoulder, "Thank you for putting up with me today, I know I wasn't much help but-"

I put my hand under Nat's chin and made her look up, effectively cutting her off, "You have nothing to apologize for, we both have our bad days. I mean it would be insane to think that we got to where we are without acquiring some sort of baggage along the way."

Nat made a small huff, "I'm sure there's some sort of poetic irony in that for us to be able to protect the innocent we had to become the very people that we are trying to protect everyone else from."

I shrug, "Maybe, but I will admit there is very little that I would change if it meant that I would get to live this life."

Nat rolled her eyes, "Looks like the food in America isn't the only thing that is overly sweetened."

I followed Natasha as she made her way toward the living room, "You know, you've lived in America for almost ten years. I don't think that you can still make comments like that," I joked, going to the fridge to grab us something to drink.

"I think I can make that joke for as long as I'm technically here on a visa."

I always forget that Nat's status is always up in the air. I guess it turns out that even with SHIELD's power and sway, the US still won't accept former enemies of the state, unless they help the country or some politician directly.