Wild West AU | how Clint/Natasha met [avengers steampunk verse]

Rumors has it that someone is paying a certain spy good money for the assassination of the President and A.R.M.O.R. decides to send Clint to stop her.

Disguised as a sheriff, he blends in easily with the people in Washington and no one comments on the man of the law watching over them from high above. It doesn’t take him long to spot his target, she might dress like the rest of them but moves like a shadow, slipping in and out of the crowd. Clint’s just glad he’s alone on this mission and there’s no one to ask him why he’s taking his time, waiting till the last moment to end it.

It’s the evening of the presidential dinner and Natasha is about to execute her plan when a man, sitting in front of one of the windows on the far side of the room, catches her eyes and she knows her cover is blown. The sheriff doesn’t look like a sheriff at all, he has assassin written all over him and she excuses herself as fast as possible. She leaves through the servants entrance, her heart beating hard in her chest, and flexes her sudden trembling fingers, something that hasn’t happened since her first kill.

The moment she’s back in her room above Madame Hydra’s saloon, Natasha doesn’t hesitate to grab her bags, counting down the seconds before he’s going to find her. A sound to her left has her look up and the timer hits zero. He’s practically slouching in the chair, no signs of any weapons, but she’s not so stupid to believe A.R.M.O.R. sent just anybody. When she straightens up, he tilts his head to the side, looking pointedly at the Widow’s Bite in her hand, and she drops it with a silent curse.

Her compliance makes Clint wary and as she slowly walks towards him, he’s prepared for everything, his mind flashing back to all the various styles of killing she is capable of. She lightly rests a hand on his shoulder, her voice soft and low as she asks him if they could negotiate, before she gently brushes his hair back behind his ear and he can’t fight the shiver her caress evokes. It’s all she needs, the loud click of manacles next to his ear telling him exactly what just happened, and while he’s swearing, tugging forcefully but ineffectively at the iron cuffs, his target winks at him and vanishes out of the door.

Damn it, he should have remembered that she has other ways to bring a man to his knees.