redvdova

Minjae really hoped he wouldn’t let her down—he was determined not to. And once Minjae was determined to do something, well, there was little one could do to stop him.

Yet he could hardly sleep that night as he tossed and turned the hours away much like he had as a child on the nights just before a field trip, tossing and turning between excitement and worry as each took turns imagining what the future events would consist of. Would he make a good impression? Would the Avengers like him? Would he do a good job? Such questions tied his stomach in a knot that only seemed to get tighter the more he thought, which unfortunately for Minjae was an awful lot.

But whatever hours were lost had been gained on the ride there as he’d slept through the entirety of it, until he was startled awake by the driver opening his door.

Rubbing his eyes and shaking his head awake he offered a quick thanks before grabbing his suitcase and following after what he assumed was security of some sort that would be escorting him up The Tower. He had tried to initiate some conversation with them on the elevator ride, but they didn’t seem to be much for talking and so Minjae shifted his weight back and forth from each foot in silence.

A small ding! echoed in the tiny chamber, and what the doors opened to reveal had Minjae’s jaw dropping in awe.

“Holy shi-“ catching himself in realization that this was a professional setting he coughed. “I mean- Uh, nice- nice place. Oh um, Natalia! H-hi! Or do you go by Natasha? Wait, sorry, is it okay to call you that? Do you um, prefer Black Widow?” He realized then they hadn’t exactly properly introduced themselves. “O-or um, Ms. Romanoff? Romanova?”

Natalia tapped her foot impatiently while watching the idiotic scientists fumble around the work by the screens, all of which held images of the star with a rumbling background noise Minjae described as “singing” filling the noises between awkward coughs. Being assigned to something she had no idea of, and clearly the hired help being just as clueless, felt like a punishment she didn’t know what she did to deserve.

“You’re here,” she sighed in relief, though her harsh stance with her arms across her chest didn’t seem as inviting as her voice did at the sight of Minjae finally arriving, meaning real work could finally get done on this star and figuring out what it could be. More importantly, what message it was trying to put out and whether or not it could be seen as a threat. 

A lot of people would given that food back then tended to not have a lot of flavour to them. Even when they went to the diners it was a lot of the same sort of food. At least now there were spices and other things that made food taste better, and he was learning that he did like things with a bit of spice to it. But diners were always going to be comfort food for him and this was Steve’s way of sharing that with someone he considered a friend.

Once they hit the road, he knew it wouldn’t take long to get to the diner. Even if he wanted to drag it out because of the enjoyment that came from the wind going over them, he couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to make Natasha worry more than she probably was. This was her baby and while he was more than careful, he knew that if things were reversed he would be just as worried. But he was enjoying this, he was enjoying the feeling of the wind through his hair and he knew Natasha was, too. Steve saw the building in sight and pulling into the lot, he picked one of the spots up front and turned off the engine. “You might want to question my taste in food, Nat. It wasn’t all that great back then,” he teased, waiting fo her to get off. “But this isn’t like what I had back in the 40s.”

“Weren’t you a tiny, skinny man in the 40′s?” she asked. Natalia let out long breath of relief as the bike came to a  still, but still found disappointment that the ride was over. It might’ve been nerve wracking yet she still got a bit of adrenaline at the control Steve had over the ride -- besides, it felt rather nice to be the passenger rather than the driver. 

kris closed his eyes and let out a breath the moment the elevator doors were closing. leaving the dark haired lad to be alone with his thoughts for a moments as the elevator was making his way to his floor. in reality, he shouldn’t be upset at the female. she was simply doing her job and that was just that. a job for them both, both having their own reasoning for their jobs but it was to be handled regardless. the female just had an upper hand. not uncommon for when and if they bump into each other, finding out they share the same target. one of them gets the win. today was her win’s to add into her list but that didn’t mean he was frustrated. it will last a bit for the rest of the day but eventually, it will dwindle down. with the lad arriving on his floor, he made his way over towards the room he paid for and instead of relaxing. he began to work on his case once again. instead of tracking down the target he was now in charge of trying to find some clues that can help him salvage his sorry bum. as he was working -and finding not much help- his phone started to buzz. picking it up, he was a bit confused with it seeing an unknown number. granted, he doesn’t have contacts saved usually but he could remember phone numbers fairly well.

this one wasn’t one he remembered. 

from unknown number:just so you know my agency already had enough information to get him so whether or not you think he deserved it he really did

from unknown number:goodnight

from unknown number:if you want to punch me i understand. just know I sleep with a gun under my pillow

yet he had a feeling on who could be writing to him based on those texts alone.

to unknown number:good for you but just because your agency had information doesn’t mean my mission would be the same you know. but no, i’m good with punching thanks and goodnight. 

So he was still upset. She couldn’t blame him entirely. Each time their paths crossed she’d somehow usually been on the losing end. Between her pretending not to care, or coming out with an injury, she’d bragged more than she realized and it wasn’t a good look on her. Natalia scoffed at his reply from where she lay in bed and tossed her phone on the nightstand. If he wanted to keep going, then he knew where she was. 

“Tomorrow?!” His eyes widened almost twice their size. It certainly must have been serious then! Of course it would be, he hardly had any doubt she would come to him of all people if it wasn’t. But still…

He was starring off a bit, already gathering his affairs in order. Certainly he was ever so grateful for having two roommates, that he needn’t worry too much about the care of his two beloved hamsters being in better hands. And perhaps his podcast could be delayed for an episode or two. His study group would surly be able to manage without him, as would his Wednesday soccer team, but there was someone he was worried about… He would keep his phone charged at all times, he concluded, before he noticed in the corner of his peripheral that she was getting closer and closer to the door.

“Right! Uh, yeah, tomorrow works. Tomorrow! I’ll uh, I’ll see you then.” He straightened his back a little straighter before bending forward in a small respectful bow of gratitude for taking the time to see him. “And um, thanks for uh, for this. I promise I won’t let you down!”

Natalia didn’t know what to really expect from the younger man, yet her expectations weren’t really all that high. And considering how she had absolutely no expectation for the hired help, this one was already having a step ahead. 

As promised, the next day a car was waiting for Minjae. By then Natalia was already back in New York at the tower and waiting for the student to arrive, giving passive looks to the scientists that were irritated at the hired help before he’d even arrived. 

kris scrunched up at the cooing he heard from the red haired female, for a moment he had the feeling of wanting to upchuck his breakfast at that moment. natalia was having a field day with all of this though, that much he can figure out but that doesn’t mean he is enjoying this no? “oh and i’m supposed to keep calm knowing that my entire mission has been fucked over?” he questioned as he stared at the female who was bursting with energy. pursing his lips into a thin line while he listened to her mention that if anything, what she had done was actually help him out. saving him alot of the trouble with his mission. he didn’t know if he should laugh or cry at what he had heard. instead, he tried to be as calm as he can without snapping like a bomb “my agency wasted their time the moment they recruited me into their little schtick so that ship as sailed ages ago. nonetheless, it was my mission to follow the enemy and just that. find intel which to you might be boring but sometimes dear natalia. you cannot just axe off the target, what makes you sure this target was worth doing that hmm?”

when it came to the topic of the pair and their little adventure, no one in his inner circle at the organization that he works for found out. they simply knew the task was done but whether or not that had some help from outsiders…well they didn’t know. let alone of their nightly adventure as well. the less that knew, the better. as the elevator stopped for the floor that she was staying in, he narrowed his eyes as he listened to her words and bit himself on the tongue. not wanting to say something too harsh he simply let out a grunt before leaning against the elevator walls “you do that” he mumbled with a wave of his hand. oh how he wanted to do punching but not at a gym

Natalia had been half expecting a punch thrown her way. The sudden burst of energy going through her, combination of euphoria of a completed mission, or her recent kill, meant she’d been more hyper than normal and seemed quite proud of herself. Had he thrown a punch it might’ve helped her let off some steam, and instead was given a wave of the hand. His self control was impressive. 

“Have a pleasant evening.” Leaving him there, she followed through on her promise and ended her night in the room of her hotel, wearing some plush robe provided by the hotel, nice dine in, and sat out on the balcony of her suite. 

She stared down at her phone. It hadn’t taken a lot of work to get Kris’s number, but she figured teasing him one final time might be the last thing she did before heading to sleep. It was only a momentary pause of thought. 

[text] just so you know my agency already had enough information to get him so whether or not you think he deserved it he really did

[text] goodnight

Once he felt Nat’s arms around his waist he turned over the engine. He had an idea as to where they were going and hopefully Nat wouldn’t mind. It was a small little diner and it reminded him a lot of when he’d grown up. And being away from the city it definitely wasn’t going to be crowded.

“You wanted greasy food and I have the perfect place,” he told her, kicking up the stand so they could leave the garage. This place knew him by name and they knew just what he wanted. They’d never seen him really bring anyone around so they would probably have either lots of questions or there would be quite the rumour mill. Either way, he knew this was the perfect place for them and he knew that Nat would enjoy it. Or at least he hoped she would. If not, the next place would be her suggestion. “Don’t worry. This place is good and they won’t let you starve,” Steve teased, allowing the motorcycle to move forward. Once they were out of the garage and onto the street he allowed it to move slightly faster than before. He loved riding his bike and this one was similar enough to his own that he was enjoying this, too. And Nat trusted him which spoke a lot about their friendship. Hopefully, she’d enjoy the diner he was taking them to.

“I don’t doubt your taste in food, Steve, you were alive in the 40′s...” Which meant he had to know plenty of diners, a few of which might’ve still been in business. After their workout, she felt like she deserved a big, greasy burger. 

the dark haired lad looked at the female when hearing her make a comment, pretending to be in shock on how he would know such a thing about being able to afford the cost of a hotel. making a face of annoyance but did respond back “yes, yes i can. i can happily afford whatever i please so a hotel room can be fine” he replied. wondering wher on earth did it even begin with natalia on why she always assumes he cannot afford something? it was random really, was it because he didn’t accompany staying at more luxurious places? it was a personal preference though it’s not like the lad didn’t stay in his fair share of hotels. it always depended on the mission that he had, some of them did require to blend in more

nonetheless, kris made his way inside the hotel. making his way up to the front desk to get himself checked in -naturally using a fake alias because he was not going to get things tracked back to him-. with all the formalities being completed, he headed to the elevator to get to his room. naturally being with natalia in the elevator so that meant some more small talk. he sighed while closing his eyes, shrugging his shoulders at the question that was thrown his way “not really sure, guess i’m going to have to back track and go off with what i know. know i have to report back of the mission being a failure and don’t want to go through with it but what choice do i have hmm?”

“Aw, there’s no reason to get upset,” she practically cooed. If it wasn’t for the fact he was taller than her, and might actually handle her in a fight, she would’ve reached over to pinch his cheek. It took a lot of will power to hold herself back on it. “I saved you days worth of boring recon work. Analyzing targets and listening for potential threats? Why bother wasting precious time. Seems like your agency is purposefully wasting yours.”

She did wonder if their little stunt the weeks earlier had gotten him in to any trouble. Natalia might’ve made a huge mess by causing the scene of pulling the fire alarm, but the take out hadn’t been particularly subtle. The body was left in the middle of the hall with people running out the mansion screaming. If she wasn’t so popular, she would’ve gotten in to a world of trouble. 

Didn’t matter. The elevator stopped and soon enough she was on her floor. Natalia grinned at Kris again, looking him from the feet up, and then moving to her room. 

kris quirked an eyebrow as he heard the female’s response about the car, so she was a car lover? that was interesting to note. he didn’t think she would be one if being completely honest but then again, you can only know a person so much. he didn’t need to be told twice about how someone might be passionate about something, in this case, said car they were in so he has it locked into his head that it’s best not to even scratch the car even by accident. he simply leaned back in the car seat, allowing the female to drive as she pleased. a bit thankful to know she wouldn’t risk doing something to him inside her car.

outside…well, that wasn’t a promise she kept.

he heard her question after pulling the car to a stop at some hotel and looked over, rolling his eyes at her comment “i can afford it, thanks” he replied. getting out of the car. might as well stay here for a bit as he gathered a plan on what to do next or better yet, how to explain to his higher ups about what happened to the target. 

Natalia tried to keep her mouth shut feeling like she’d gotten enough in that she’d taken her victory and ran with it. She never used to be this cocky, so why would she start now when she didn’t have anything to prove? 

“You sure about that?” she couldn’t help but mock when mentioning the price. It was overly priced, the budget for a hotel probably more than most people made in a few months of work. Part of the perks of being with such a largely known group of heroes meant the pay was decent that she could afford it -- and more. 

Natalia stepped in the hotel and was already loading herself in the elevator. She’d checked in a few hours before staking out the target to get herself nice and comfortable, already unpacked and ready to have a very relaxing night where she didn’t have to worry about anything. Especially the man she’d beaten. 

in the back of his head, kris was aware of the fact that these were just really petty jabs at one another but the assassin couldn’t help himself with this. the male pursed his lips into a thin line for a moment when hearing her respond back to his comment “not what i meant” he mumbled softly. the red haired beauty got him there, he will tip his hat off to that comeback. the pale lad found himself following the female over towards her parked car which to his surprise, wasn’t that hidden off in some alleyway though sometimes it’s best to blend in within the environment than to hide within it.  truth be told he wasn’t entirely sure why he had followed natalia, he didn’t have much thought put into it since his feet seemed to just walk on their own. there was no real motive for him to follow her, yes he was pissed but that didn’t mean he needed to follow. 

let alone, get into her car.

he stared at her when hearing her question on whether or not he would be joining her for the car ride and spent a few ticking seconds on deciding what to do. technically speaking, he should be going back to the target and getting something to help him out despite the failed mission but he didn’t want to deal with that. not yet at least “can you promise me you don’t plan on dumping this car into some body of water?” he questioned as he slid inside

Scoffing, she settled in to her car and started the engine, a smooth vibration running through. “This car is probably the only thing in this entire universe I actually care about. I’d rather lose my life than damage this car...” 

Natalia drove off and it was no slow. Part of it was her showing off her cars speed, another to get away from the scene as quickly as possible before it caused a big scene. Getting as much attention away from her would be better. She wasn’t planning on going anywhere particular -- with being out of town, she was staying at a hotel and laying low before another job came up. 

kris stared at the red haired female, for a moment it was just silence and in a way, the dark haired lad felt proud for leaving the female silent. even if it was just for a moment, making her bite her tongue and not respond back. even though he was nothing but on edge with annoyance, the best course of action was to not blow up and have an argument where onlookers were around. especially not when they were also not far off from the location of the body. though eventually the silence was over and they continued on talking. he glanced over towards where she got hurt the last time they were together. thankfully it didn’t seem like things get too bad for her. it didn’t get worse so thankfully it would heal up to a better state. “good, thankfully we don’t have to worry about zipping up your body then” he replied. 

he scoffed at the response he heard from the female and turned his head. the nerve of this women. though they were playing even so it was fair for her to make a comment to get under him. “unlike you i actually know how to keep calm in a situation and know when to use my skills” he answered. his feet making their own choice of following not too far behind from natalia

It didn’t hurt this time as much as it did the first. Natalia couldn’t let words get her worked up after going through everything she did, so to hear his insults did hit a nerve, but nothing that would make her turn around and punch him. 

“You unzipped me just fine the first time.”

She’d meant to say it. Natalia’s pace didn’t falter, nor did she plan on stopping, but did turn her head and grin at him. If he wanted to run his mouth, then maybe he’d need the reminder they’d slept together not too long ago and she hadn’t forgotten about it. 

Natalia’s parked car wasn’t even hidden. It was parked along a line of other cars, hers standing out with the sleek paint and expensive design. Her door unlocked and she unlocked the passenger side. 

“We should go.” Peter suggests with a small shrug of his shoulders as he looks at her, it’s really just an initial respond for seeing her seem to miss her home. “I mean, we do travel all over the world for like Avenger stuff, I don’t see the harm in like a quick trip just to see the sights and stuff.” He suggests with another shrug. 

was kris mad? to put it lightly, yes. the raven haired assassin wasn’t entirely thrilled with the fact that his mission was a failure. something like that is a big no, no within their field and that can make things complicated. it can make finishing the contracts a bit difficult. not one bit was kris thrilled over the fact that his entire mission was now jumbled up. how was he going to explain this to his higher ups? how was he going to now make what was left of his contract be well, manageable -which wasn’t alot considering his target wasn’t exactly breathing-. of course this shouldn’t be entirely new when ti came to these two. they went back and forth on one or the other having the upper hand when it came to getting their own respective missions completed so not the first time this had occurred. yet this one was a bit important, this was one of the very few missions kris was handed with to make sure the target was not taken out. simply listen into the conversation that was taken place in order to advance his mission. 

he pressed his lips into a thin line as he listened to the female pretty much show off the fact she had won their little back and forth. proudly commenting how it’s not a big deal except when it came to missions which he can relate. he took a deep breath, telling himself it’s not worth making this turn into a bigger argument -even though his ego was hurt- “well not my fault you’re slacking in your skills in order to get attacked with a simple knife from somone with least experience compared to you” he replied. the corners of his lips turning upward into a smirk. might as well hit back with something else

It shut her up, even if just momentarily. Natalia wondered if she could hit him and get away with it -- and it was partly because she hadn’t seen him fight in hand combat much. However, starting something like that in the middle of the street only a ways over from where someone lay dead in a clear assassination scheme, didn’t want to risk the attention. 

“Oh, I healed a while ago.” She tugged on the collar of her shirt to show him the healed over scar from where she’d been stabbed, though it still looked raw, but at least it wouldn’t be bleeding anymore. Natalia had bled through most of her shirts the first week once home.