the widow's bite [archived]

i think i love you.

"I’ve run worse ones. Do you have any better ideas?"

He considered for a moment before nodding. “You got it.” Because on the one hand, he’d get to win a dare against Natasha (which was pretty reward in itself), and on the other, he got away from this mission injury-free. It at least added a lightheartedness that so many of their missions were lacking. “How about - if I win, I get to sign your cast however I want. And you’re on shield cleaning duty. So what are your stipulations, Romanoff?” He cocked his eyebrow, waiting for her dare.

She smirked as he nodded, listening to his terms. “Alright, it’s a bet,” she said easily, considering her own stakes. It wasn’t like she felt like she’d lose, but damn, she did not want to be stuck polishing his damn shield. “If I win, you have to clean all of my guns. And...” There was a pause as she drew a complete and utter blank. “I don’t know, let me draw all over you in sharpie and take pictures for posterity.” That didn’t sound too bad to her, definitely. Could be fun. And either way, well, it’d be interesting.

"And that’s what I figure. I…I should probably give him space." It was tearing at him to not be able to help Bucky, but if Bucky didn’t want his help, he knew he couldn’t force it on him. "Maybe he’ll find me, if he wants to." He wanted to believe it, but he wasn’t sure he could. 

“Patience is a virtue, I hear,” she said softly. “I think he’ll make his way back when he’s ready. It can’t be easy, trying to remember seventy years that have been torn away from you.” She reached over, patting his hand gently before pulling away.

"It’s a pleasure, Roxy. But actually, I don’t have a specific one I frequent—I travel too much for that. I tend to find the most recommended one in town if I need something done."

"A bit of a drifter, then?" she mused. "Well, you must have wonderful luck to have met such amazing tailors."

"Not exactly. I live in New York, but my job has me traveling enough that it's hard to get things set in stone. I have been lucky, definitely."

     “  There would still be dull         corners, which is never         good for squishy baby         skulls.  “

     “  Yeah, definitely. Put          them on all the sharp          edges.  “

          "This means you have to            put all your arrows where            she can't knock 'em down.            I still don't know where to            put all my weapons..."

"I’ve run worse ones. Do you have any better ideas?"

"Yet to be seen, Romanoff." He shot her a smirk right back, debated telling her that he’d done the wig and dress thing and didn’t know which was more ridiculous. "I’ll give you that this isn’t the worst plan we could have had, but until it’s over I’m staying firm on this." He didn’t doubt that he would… most likely not get hurt, he trusted her that much and it was part of the job anyway, but he liked to listen to those gut feelings.

"I'm willing to bet on it, if you're so inclined," she said easily. (Oh, she knew about the dress. She'd read that part of the file twice.) "I didn't hear you come up with anything better, though, so I don't think there's a whole lot of room for you to complain." But honestly, she was just so used to acting confident, no matter what. She had a good amount of faith in this plan, but there was definitely a small chance it could backfire. They'd just have to wait and see.

"The file helped, but I think he wants to stay hidden. Doesn’t want me to find him." That fact hurt more than almost anything, except for thinking about what Hydra had done to Bucky in the first place. "Thank you, though. Hopefully I’ll find him someday."

"He could be trying to recover. Or figure it out on his own." She shrugged a little, glancing down at her hands again. "It takes time to shake that kind of thing off. It's possible that he's trying to jog his memories on his own schedule. I'm sure you'll find him, though; you don't strike me as a guy to give up easily."

More pic’s of Jeremy Renner out & about in L.A, California February 2, 2015