Work Text:
Possessive would never be a word Natasha would use to describe herself. She’s never had anything to call her own to be possessive enough over, so she’s not too familiar with the notion. Protective, yes, possessive, not so much.
She feels petty. She shouldn’t feel this way. He should be chummy with his new partner; It shows he trusts the woman. Clint Barton doesn’t trust too many people, so this… this ‘chumminess’ is a good thing.
However, as she practices her aim in the shooting range on the helicarrier (read: pretends to practice her aim), she can feel a hint of possessiveness washing over her as she watches her partner, or well, ex-partner, from the corner of her eye as he works with his new partner.
Natasha hasn’t worked with Clint in weeks and it’s mostly her fault. The last time they’d been on a mission together, a sniper had gotten the better of her, badly piercing a bullet through her shoulder just before Clint took the guy out. It hurt like hell and had taken longer than usual to recover. Of course, SHIELD wasn’t going to sit their best marksman down to wait for her before going on a mission, so he’d been reassigned.
And it seems to be going well. Better than she and him had in the first few weeks (months even) of their partnership.
Watching as Clint and the shorter, dark-haired woman (her name is Kate Bishop. Natasha may or may not have used her level 8 credentials to pull her file) laugh and shoot their arrows at the moving targets (because did she forget to mention the woman’s an archer, too?), successfully hitting each one, a bullseye each time, Natasha’s irritation (jealousy) spikes and the next set of shots comes out of her Glock loud and in rapid succession, hitting her own target each time without missing a beat.
When she flicks the safety back on and slips the gun into her thigh holster, she can feel eyes on her back. However, she pays them no mind, instead making her way out.
—
It’s later, hours later, after a grueling PT session, a scolding from her doctor for ‘pushing it’ at the range earlier, and a shower, that a knock comes at the door. She’s not in the mood to see anyone, still dealing with her foul mood, but she figures, as another knock comes through the door, that whoever it is, won’t get the hint.
“This better be important,” she grumbles on her way over to the door. She pushes in the code to slide the door open, only to see her ex-partner standing on the other side. She huffs. “What?”
He’s got a bit of a smug look on his face, one she’d like to punch right off, and just as she’s about to do just that, his lips are on hers and he’s pushing her back into the room as the door slides closed behind them.
He catches her off guard so her arms remain at her sides while his left wraps around her waist. It doesn’t take her long to react however before she pulls back, but stays in the hold of his arm.
“Clint, what the fuck are you doing?”
“You’re jealous,” he says simply.
She gives him a look. “What? Have you been drinking?”
“You might as well have put those bullets through my skull with the way you were looking at Kate and me.”
She’s good at playing dumb, she’s trained in it, but she knows he can see right through her. She also hates herself a little for being that obvious. “I’m not jealous, Clint.”
“So you admit you were looking,” he smirks and she wants to punch him again.
“You’re my partner,” she mutters childishly. She takes a step back and walks over to her bed, taking a seat and rolling her shoulder in the process. “And I’m almost nauseated by that possessiveness.”
Clint smiles at her, that goofy, endeared smile he reserves for special occasions, before walking over and taking a seat on her other side, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her to him. He drops a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m your partner, Nat,” he reminds her. “For better or worse. This is only temporary. And Kate’s just a real good rookie, but I’m sure you knew that since you pulled her file,” he says knowingly.
“Oh, fuck you.”
“Are you cleared for that yet?” The smack to his stomach comes almost as a reflex and he just laughs. “I’m serious. About that and us. You’re my partner and I’m yours and no temporary reassignment is going to change that.”
Natasha doesn’t say anything after that, but she does smile to herself as her head comes to rest on her shoulder. “I feel stupid.”
“Good, you should.” He’s only teasing though and tells her that with another kiss to her hair. “Love you.”
“Yeah, yeah, me too.”