The first time was when she realized she had no secrets left from Clint that mattered on the night they'd shared a blanket on a cold desert floor and he'd opened up his own vulnerabilities and painful past. She'd shared one last thing, one last painful secret to complete the exchange, then inhaled sharply with the knowledge of what she had done. He leaned back and she felt the muscles in his back tense against hers. His fingers wound through hers and she breathed again.
He had laid her bare, completely naked and exposed. It was an intimacy that went far deeper than sex and the reason their relationship never really took romance into account.
The second time, Natasha had been shielded only by the armor of her anger and love for Clint. She could forgive Clint for exposing her every secret to the malicious cruelty of a god of thieves and liars. She could accept that her precious trust had been stolen and abused and trampled on. She would never forgive Loki for doing it.
"He told me everything," that insidious whisper purred. Exposed, laid bare, compromised.
She tucked herself into Clint's arms that night after the battle and made new secrets that Loki would never be privy to.
Now Natasha stood by Steve's side without her other half and his hand tightening on hers to give her strength. She was laid bare and alone and exposed with all her secrets revealed to an entire world. She had given all to SHIELD and repentance and the cleaning of her ledger, but HYDRA had stolen even that. Now the world knew she was a liar and a killer, easily susceptible to being wielded by the wrong hands.
Never again, she promised herself. The walls went up and her hand touched the arrow at her throat. She had unfinished business, new secrets and selves to layer over her true self—Natasha—secrets the world would never know.
MCU Fill: Laid Bare
The first time was when she realized she had no secrets left from Clint that mattered on the night they'd shared a blanket on a cold desert floor and he'd opened up his own vulnerabilities and painful past. She'd shared one last thing, one last painful secret to complete the exchange, then inhaled sharply with the knowledge of what she had done. He leaned back and she felt the muscles in his back tense against hers. His fingers wound through hers and she breathed again.
He had laid her bare, completely naked and exposed. It was an intimacy that went far deeper than sex and the reason their relationship never really took romance into account.
The second time, Natasha had been shielded only by the armor of her anger and love for Clint. She could forgive Clint for exposing her every secret to the malicious cruelty of a god of thieves and liars. She could accept that her precious trust had been stolen and abused and trampled on. She would never forgive Loki for doing it.
"He told me everything," that insidious whisper purred. Exposed, laid bare, compromised.
She tucked herself into Clint's arms that night after the battle and made new secrets that Loki would never be privy to.
Now Natasha stood by Steve's side without her other half and his hand tightening on hers to give her strength. She was laid bare and alone and exposed with all her secrets revealed to an entire world. She had given all to SHIELD and repentance and the cleaning of her ledger, but HYDRA had stolen even that. Now the world knew she was a liar and a killer, easily susceptible to being wielded by the wrong hands.
Never again, she promised herself. The walls went up and her hand touched the arrow at her throat. She had unfinished business, new secrets and selves to layer over her true self—Natasha—secrets the world would never know.