banner by inkvoices

A Gift From: kiss_me_cassie
Title: Chance Encounters
A Gift For: geckoholic
Rating: General
Warnings/Choose Not To Warn: no warnings
Summary/Prompt Used: We ran into each other on the subway and I was totally starstruck so much so that I forgot to ask for your name or number or in fact make my attraction known in any way AU (of course they meet again, because rom-com XD)
Author's Note: Hey, Gecko, I do love you, but please note that this year it's all inkvoices fault that I was your Santa. All. Hers. *g*
I cannot tell you how fabulous both Crazy4Orcas and Paperairplanesopenwindows are. They held my hands through a temporary nutty and got me through. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I love you guys.

Chance Encounters

He was running late. Again.

Clint cursed as he squeezed through the subway doors just seconds before they closed and then cursed again when his large and unwieldy bag bumped into someone.

"Hey, I'm really sorry…" he started to say as he gently set the bag down at his feet. But he trailed off as he got a good look at the person he'd managed to hit.

He hadn't hit just anyone. Oh no. He'd managed to hit the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen. Crazy red curls framed a petite, heart-shaped face with deep green eyes he wanted to drown in. Green eyes that currently held a hint of annoyance coupled with… amusement?

Oh shit. Had he forgotten to zip his fly? Was there still a bandaid stuck to his forehead?

"What?" he asked, wiping his hand across his brow and finding nothing.

The woman smirked and gestured with her coffee cup towards his bag.

His bag. Not his groin. Clint sighed in relief. No open fly either.

Then he saw what she was pointing at. Somehow, Lucky had managed to push his muzzle through the hole left at the top of the bag and was happily drooling all over the floor, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"You know they don't allow pets on the subway, right?"

"He's in a carrier," Clint protested. Sure, it was barely more than an oversized gym bag and it had definitely seen much better days, but it was still a carrier of sorts.

The redhead looked down at the ratty bag and snickered. "I guess you could call it that."

It was at that exact moment that a tiny black nose popped out of the top of her overstuffed tote bag, followed by a whole furry black feline head.

Clint raised an eyebrow at her. "Supposed to be in a carrier, did you say?"

She grimaced and awkwardly tried to push the kitten back down. She only half succeeded. The kitten refused to be contained, making a pitiful mewling noise and poking its paw out of the tote to bat at her fingers, before ducking back down into the bag on its own.

"She's, well, she's not really my cat. She's just a stray that likes to hang around my place and she followed me down into the subway. I would have taken her back, but I have to get to ballet class and…" She stopped and peered up at Clint, her brow furrowing in the cutest way. "Why am I explaining myself to you?"

He grinned at her. "Beats me. But now I don't feel so bad about bringing Lucky on the subway, especially since I've got him here for a legitimate reason."

"Legitimate reason?"

"Hey, even city dogs need to go to the vet sometimes."

The woman frowned, concern for Lucky clear on her face. "Oh no, the poor boy. Is he ok?"

"Yeah," Clint answered, wanting to put her at ease. "About every six months we visit Dr. Foster to make sure there aren't any issues with his eye. Don't we, boy?"

Her face scrunched up with worry and Clint had the sudden ridiculous urge to kiss her upturned nose and tell her everything was okay.

"What happened to his eye?" she asked, looking down at Lucky again.

He shrugged. "Not sure, but he was blinded in one of 'em before he adopted me. "

The redhead tipped her head towards Lucky. "Is it ok if I pet him?"

Clint nodded his consent. "Sure. Lucky loves pets."

Carefully holding her coffee cup out of the way, the woman crouched down and parted the top of the bag with her other hand so Lucky could poke his whole head out. The kitten came out for a moment to sniff at him then disappeared back into the woman's tote, clearly uninterested.

"Well, hello there sweetheart," the woman crooned to Lucky as she rubbed behind his ears. Lucky gave the canine equivalent of a contented purr and she rubbed a little more.

If he'd been enamored with her before, Clint was completely smitten now after seeing her with Lucky.

"Are you going to the doggie doctor today?" she continued, still petting Lucky's head.

Clint wasn't sure what to say next because the woman's entire face was lit up with a gorgeous smile and he was struck completely dumb. She was just so beautiful and she liked animals and she hadn't laughed at his bandages (because even though he hadn't found one on his forehead, he was pretty sure he still had one stuck to his face somewhere after that thing with Kate yesterday.)

He was still feeling tongue-tied when the tinny voice of the conductor came on over the loudspeaker.

"Next stop, Bleecker Street."

Clint looked up, amazed that they'd reached his stop so quickly. Why did it feel like it took hours every other day, but today it felt like it had only taken seconds?

"This is my stop," he said, gesturing to the doors.

"Already?"

"Bleecker Street, folks. Bleecker Street."

The train came to a stop and the doors swished open. Reluctantly, Clint picked up the bag with Lucky, who gave a soft woof at being carried again, and took a step closer to the door.

"Yeah, I, uh, I gotta go. My stop."

"Yeah."

He wondered if he should ask her name or phone number but the doors gave a warning ping and he barely had the chance to give her a little half-wave before the crush of oncoming riders obscured his view.

The last he saw of her was the bright smile on her face turning into a disappointed frown as the train took off down the tracks.

-----

"Any luck finding your mysterious subway guy?" Steve asked Natasha as he was counting out the till at the coffee shop Thursday evening.

She sighed and sat down at one of the tables nearest the counter. "No. I've ridden that same train so many times this past week the MTA is going to start thinking I'm a transient."

"You mean you're not?" James asked, grinning as he came over to straddle the chair opposite her. "’Cause I notice you spend a lot more time here in the coffee shop than upstairs in the very nice apartment we rent to you. For practically nothing, I should add."

"I like the coffee shop. And occasionally, I even like the company," she said with a smirk. "Steve's a pretty great guy."

James snorted in amusement.

"You know what I like even better than hanging out here, though?" he asked a little more seriously. "Going home with Steve each night."

"Says the man who has someone to go home to," Natasha said..

"You have a cat," Steve pointed out, not very helpfully.

"I do not have a cat," she corrected primly. "Besides, do you really want to compare what you two have to my relationship with a stray?"

"She's got a point, Steve," James said with a sly grin. "I mean, you can't cuddle up with a cat in bed and do the things we did last night."

Steve laughed and Natasha put her head down on the table, her hair obscuring her face.

"That is way more than I needed to know about your love life," she muttered. "Besides, we were talking about my love life. Or lack of."

"You're right," James crooned. "Tell us again what happened."

She lifted her head and glared at him, but that didn't stop her from lamenting - again - about all the stuff she'd done wrong. "Why did I say 'yeah?' Why didn't I think to ask his name instead? Or his phone number? I don't even know if the train he was on is a line he takes regularly or just the one he takes to his vet. I'm such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," Steve assured her, coming over and giving her an encouraging shoulder rub. "You were just a little infatuated and got dumbstruck at the wrong time. I was the same way when I met this idiot."

"Liar," James said with a grin. "You've never been dumbstruck in your entire life. Not even the day we first met back when we were eleven."

Steve leveled a stern look at him which set James to laughing and Natasha was struck again by how perfect they were for each other. Why couldn't she have that? Why was it so impossible to find a guy that just… fit?

She groaned again and dropped her head back onto the table. The one time she met a guy -- one who was cute and funny and sweet to his dog -- and she'd done the stupidest thing ever and hadn't even asked his name.

"I think the rest of this conversation needs some pastries. Be right back," Steve said, getting up and heading to the bakery case near the registers. He rummaged around for a second before lifting his head and calling out, "Russian tea cakes or baklava?"

"Both," Natasha and James answered together.

"Did I mention the piercing blue eyes?" Natasha asked James.

"Only about a dozen times," he groaned. "Speaking of that, Steve and I were talking and thought maybe you should draw one of those 'have you seen this man' posters."

"Something like this," Steve said as he came back with the plate of goodies and slid a single sheet of paper across the table. It had poorly drawn sketch of a tall blond guy with piercing blue eyes next to a one-eyed mutt and was so clearly not up to Steve's normal standards that Natasha couldn't help laughing.

"We could post it by the register," James snickered. "Shouldn't take too long at all to find them in a city this size."

Natasha smiled lopsidedly at them. "I"m being ridiculous, aren't I?"

"Yeah," Bucky said. "But we love you anyway."

-----

Clint looked up at the sign above the coffee shop, confirmed that he was indeed at the right place, and squared his shoulders. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot he had left.

Pulling the door open, he was greeted with the sound of a jaunty bell ringing and the pungent scent of fresh roasted coffee. For a moment his urge to flee warred with the overwhelming need for a large coffee to help get him through this.

Tentatively, he approached the counter, which was manned by a muscle-bound dude with a man bun, and cleared his throat.

"Listen, I know this is going to sound crazy," Clint started. "But I met this girl on the subway the other day."

"Lucky you. The only place I ever meet girls is here and all they ever want from me is coffee," the guy said with a grin.

Clint mustered up a small half-smile and fidgeted uncomfortably. "I know it's a long shot but I noticed she was carrying a coffee cup from here and I was wondering if anyone might know her. Long, bright red hair? Gorgeous green eyes?"

"Could be just about anyone, pal," Man-bun said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"That's what I thought," Clint said. It was too vague of a description and he didn't even know her name. He had no idea why he thought this would work. "I know it's a longshot, trying to track her down like this, but I just can't get her out of my head and I was too stupid to even ask her name."

The guy gave him a long, intense look then sighed. "You know anything else about this girl?"

"She might be a dancer? She said something about a ballet class. And she had a black kitten with her."

"A black kitten, huh?

Clint nodded. "She said it wasn't hers exactly, but that it lived in her apartment."

"Yeah, I bet she did," Man-bun muttered. "Look, I think I might know who she is. And if it is her, she comes in some afternoons around this time. Why don't you hang around a bit, see if she shows?"

"What if it's not her?"

Man-bun shrugged and poured Clint a mug of coffee. "If it's the wrong girl or she's not into you, you've spent a couple bucks on some amazing coffee, made by yours truly, and a half hour of your time. If it is the right girl and she's interested, it could be the romance of the century."

He squinted at the guy. "Romance of the century?"

"I had this ex who read a lot of romance novels. Sometimes she'd read them out loud to me and some of it stuck. So sue me," Man-bun said, plating a muffin for Clint. "I'm Bucky, by the way."

"Clint."

"So Clint… you gonna hang around, see if this girl is the one you're looking for?"

Clint nodded, suddenly hopeful for no reason at all. "I can't think of any other way to find her, so what do I have to lose?"

Bucky grinned. "$2.20 for the coffee. The muffin and the advice I'm handing out for free."

-----

Natasha had just kicked off her boots and settled onto her couch when her phone started buzzing incessantly. She groaned and wondered if she could ignore it. If she didn't answer, it didn't exist right?

The phone, however, had a mind of its own and just kept on buzzing.

With a sigh, she flopped over and grabbed it, swiping her thumb across the screen to find four separate texts from James. With the exception of the first one which was some nonsensical mumbo-jumbo about Liho, they all said the same thing. Or thereabouts.

Need you at the coffee shop.

Need you down here now.

C'mon Nat!

She was still trying to decide if James was worth putting shoes back on for when another text came through.

Get down here. I have a surprise for you.

She nibbled her bottom lip then typed back a quick reply.

Too tired. Taught 6 ballet classes today.

So?

So I'm exhausted. Don't wanna move.

Get down here.

What part of exhausted did you not understand?

Understood. Didn't care.

Get down here.

BITE ME

Wish pleasure, babe. AFTER you get your ass down here.

There was another buzz and she almost ignored it, but this time the message was from Steve.

Bucky's probably being an ass about it, but you really should come down to the shop.

With a grumble, Natasha heaved herself off the couch and pulled her boots back on. Ignoring James was one thing, but ignoring Steve was something entirely different.

Besides, he'd asked nicely.

Truding down the back stairs, she entered the shop through the kitchen. "I swear to god, if you two don't --"

She stopped short when she saw the guy sitting at the table by the window. It washim. The cute guy from the subway. She shot a disbelieving look at Steve and James, who both grinned at her and nodded encouragingly towards the guy.

She swallowed hard and walked over, wondering what to say when she got there.

"Uh, hi."

The guy's head jerked up at the sound of her voice. "Hi."

"Hi." She grinned giddily. He was just so cute and he was here. In her coffee shop. Well, Steve and James' coffee shop, but whatever. "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh... I know this sounds crazy," he said. "But I couldn't stop thinking about you since we met on the subway the other day and you had a coffee cup from here and --"

"Clint was sensible, Natalia, and came to the coffee shop. He didn't ride the subway for days," James interjected.

"You rode the subway looking for me?" he asked, sounding awed.

Natasha blushed. "I may have taken a few extra rides."

"She's been mooning about you for a week now," James butted in.

Natasha spun around and shot him a dirty look.

"By the way," he added, looking specifically at Natasha now. "I thought you didn't have a cat."

"I don't," Natasha said dismissively before turning back to the guy. Clint. James had said his name was Clint. She grinned at him. "You told him about Liho?"

Clint shrugged. "There wasn't much for me to go on when describing you."

"Steve, I can't watch anymore," James said. "Just tell me when they kiss already."

"We can hear you, you know," Natasha said, not taking her eyes off Clint. "Are you going to kiss me?"

"Eventually, I hope." He reached out and took her hand, his fingers tangling with hers, and she felt a little zip of electricity between them. "But maybe we should try a date or two first?"

If possible, her grin got even bigger. "Great. We're already at a coffee shop, so how about we make our first one a coffee and dessert date? The Russian tea cakes here are fabulous."

"Sounds like the best suggestion I've ever heard."