A Gift From: kiss_me_cassie
Title: Falling into Focus
A Gift For: paperairplanesopenwindows
Rating: Teen
Warnings/Choose Not To Warn: No warnings apply, unless you count Laura and OT3 as needing warnings. (I mean, maybe? They're not everyone's cup of tea.)
Summary/Prompt Used: "OT3 person of your choice is a travel writer/blogger who keeps running into Nat and Clint at various exotic destinations."
Author's Note: I most definitely did not pick this Secret Santa for this particular prompt. I picked it for the Russian one. And yet when I sat down at the keyboard, this one came out, practically fully formed. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Much love and thanks to my beta, as always. You're the best!

Falling into Focus

Laura raised her camera, focused her lens on the picturesque Costa Rican town square in front of her, then stopped dead. On the right, barely even visible in the frame, was that same couple again. The one she'd seen at least a dozen times in different locations throughout various countries over the past several weeks.

She thought it had been a mere coincidence the first few times. After all, she'd been photographing some of the most iconic tourist attractions in Central America. She was bound to see some repeat visitors from place to place. Like that one supposedly eco-friendly tour group she had kept running into.

But now, Laura was in a sleepy little town on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, nowhere near a tourist attraction. And she was taking photographs for herself, not the magazine she worked for. There was no earthly reason they should have shown up in this particular locale. Yet here they were.

She might not have even noticed them if not for the woman's bright red hair, which was loose and blowing crazily in the wind. And well, once she noticed the woman, it was hard not to notice her companion, who was tall, muscular and with arms to die for. She hadn't been able to see his eyes yet -- they were always concealed by mirrored sunglasses -- but she'd bet anything they were a piercing blue. Or maybe green to match the woman's. Because of course her eyes just had to be green to go with the gorgeous red hair and lush, curvy body.

Laura shook her head and gave herself a stern talking to.

Stop it, Laura. This is not a trashy romance novel or one of those silly romcoms you love to watch. They are not some hippie dippie couple looking for a third to make them a throuple. They are not going to whisk you off to some remote beach bungalow to profess their undying love for you. They're just your average - albeit gorgeous - honeymooning couple who happen to be in a lot of the same places as you lately. That's all.

She almost managed to convince herself. Except for the fact that when she raised her camera again, shifting it just the slightest bit to the right so she could clearly capture the couple in the frame, the man was staring right at her.

She quickly shifted her camera back to the left and snapped the picture she'd initially set up. And then - figuring what the hell, why not? - she pointed the lens directly at the couple, not even pretending to be looking at anything else in the town square anymore. The shot was gorgeous, with a riot of flowers blooming in a window box behind the couple and --

The woman flashed a grin at her and waved, then rose to her feet and hooked her arm through her companion's so they could stroll towards Laura.

Laura hastily lowered her camera and gulped. Oh God, what had she done? No, no, no! She wasn't prepared for this. Fantasizing about them was one thing. Actually meeting them and having to explain herself was another thing completely.

Please make them a honeymooning couple, she begged the deities that be. I'll offer to take a few more honeymoon shots for them, completely free of charge, and then we'll be done. And then I'll get over this ridiculous crush I've developed on two complete strangers. Please?

The deities didn't seem to be listening though.

"Laura, you need to come with us," the man said as soon as they reached her. His smile - and the redhead's - were still firmly in place but there was something about his voice (and dammit, did he really have to have that deep, whiskey rough voice to go with all the muscles?) that made goosebumps rise up on her arms despite the bright sun.

She looked around, hoping to catch a passerby's eye, but no luck. It was just her, him, and his beautiful companion in the square and no one else.

She swallowed uncertainty as a wave of unease washed over her. How had he known her name?

"I’m not sure… I don't think -"

"дорогой, it would be best if you came with us for your own safety."

Laura's eyes widened. "You're Russian?"

"когда мне это подходит." The redhead tipped her head questioningly. "You understand Russian?"

Laura looked from one to the other, not quite sure where this conversation was going. "I speak a smattering of languages. Nothing very fluently, but I've got an ear for them and since I like to travel -" She stopped and shook her head. "Why am I explaining this to you?"

"Natasha's got that way about her," the man said with a chuckle. "But her original point stands. It's not safe to be talking out in the open. We should go somewhere a little more private."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. And besides, what do we need to talk about?" Laura asked, exasperated. "Just because I took a couple of photos of the two of you… You're attractive people. It was hard to resist. I can take a few more honeymoon shots for you, if you like. Completely free of charge."

"It's not the photographs of us which are the problem," Natasha sighed. "I'm going to let Clint explain the rest of it because he always comes across as more trustworthy than me for some reason I cannot even begin to fathom. But can we at least go into the cafe to discuss things? It would be better not to have any prying eyes on us while we discuss your situation. And my skin is absolutely roasting in this sun."

"I guess?" Laura answered dumbly and let the two of them lead her into the cafe. At least there'd be a barista there in case they were up to any funny business. Plus, Natasha did have such beautiful skin, all pale and translucent. It would sort of suck if it burnt to a crisp.

Laura mentally gave herself a shake. She didn't know who they were or what they wanted from her but she was fantasizing about them again? Gah! She had to get a grip.

"What can we get you? Latte? Cappuccino?"

Laura shook her head. "Just a basic Cafe Americano."

It wasn't as if she was actually going to drink it, she thought. Who knew what kind of drug they'd try to slip her? She'd be careful only to pretend to sip her drink.

When Clint came back with their drinks - and a few fruit-filled empanadas to go with them - she steadfastly refused to try any of them.

Natasha looked amused.

"Go ahead. Drink. Eat. If we'd been planning to drug you, we would have done it already. We could have easily accomplished it at the ruins at Joya de Cerén." She peered curiously at Laura. "Have you always had such bad survival instincts?"

"I'll have you know I have very good survival skills!" Laura protested. Or at least not horrible ones, she mentally tacked on.

"You've gotta admit, Natasha, for a civilian she's got a pretty healthy paranoia," Clint said, slipping off his sunglasses - his eyes were blue she noted delightedly - and smiling at her. "Staying in public with us and not drinking her coffee are both good moves. Totally unnecessary but still good moves."

Laura returned his smile wanly and fiddled with her cup. "Thank you."

When she still didn't take a sip of her drink, he gently pried the cup from her hands, then raised it to his lips and took a long slurp. He set it down in front of her again and dipped his chin towards it in challenge. She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously before defiantly picking up the cup and taking an equally long slurp.

"Ok, so the coffee's not poisoned or drugged," she said once she'd set the cup back down. "Fine. What do you want with me?"

Clint pulled a photo from his cargo shorts and slid it across the table to her. "The guy with the mirrored sunglasses and the graying crew cut. Do you recognize him?"

She nodded. Of course she did. He'd been at practically all the tourist sites she'd been to the past couple of weeks. "He was with the pseudo eco-friendly tour group."

Clint shook his head. "Wrong. He's with a terrorist cell that's plotting an insurrection against the Mexican President. He was using the tour group as cover."

"Oooo-k," Laura said slowly, her mind spinning. Were they serious? Stuff like this happened all the time in cheesy action movies; it never happened in real life. Never. "You say he's a terrorist. Suppose I believe that. What does that have to do with me?"

"You managed to take a photo of him meeting with his contact."

She blinked. "I did?"

Clint nodded. "He needs to retrieve that photo and eliminate any witnesses, which means you."

Laura tried to tamp down the anxiety she felt. They were serious. "How do I know you're telling the truth and aren't up to something equally nefarious because I caught you on camera doing something illegal?"

Natasha set her hand on Laura's arm and even through her building panic, Laura felt a little frisson of awareness shoot up her spine, damn her rebellious body.

"Because we were very careful that you only captured us doing typical honeymooner things," Natasha explained gently. "And because SHIELD doesn't condone harming civilians."

SHIELD? Laura blinked. They were with SHIELD? Everyone knew about that agency; it was hard not to, what with the giant building they had in downtown DC. But few knew a lot of details about them, including Sandra who claimed she'd been swept off her feet - literally - by an agent in Beijing once.

Laura eyed the duo suspiciously. "All right. So say you are SHIELD and I am in trouble. What do you propose we do?"

"We?" Natasha asked, raising a brow.

"My photo, my life," Laura said with more bravado than she felt. "So, yes. We."

Clint and Natasha exchanged a look. "You stay with us for now, under our protection, and then we get in touch with our handler to see about getting you out of here and safely back to the States."

"And," Clint said sympathetically. "We comandeer your camera and all your photos from this trip."

Laura swallowed. "But the magazine… and all the photos I took of this place. I can't even keep the ones from here?" Natasha shook her head and Laura buried her head in her hands and groaned. "I can't believe this is really happening."

She felt rather than saw Natasha get up. "I'm going to try and get in touch with Coulson. Can you…?"

"Yeah," Clint answered. "I got it."

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Listen," Clint said softly while running his hand gently up and down her back, much in the same way someone would do if they were comforting a small child. "We've got some stock photos for your job and well, you can always come back some other time when there's not a price on your head."

Laura turned her head and side-eyed him. "That's the offer you're making me? A few stock photos and a do-over?"

He shrugged. "It's the best I can do."

Laura straightened up and he removed his hand from her back, making her instantly conscious of the lack of warmth from his touch. "The backrub was kinda nice, but your pep talk sucked."

He surprised her by laughing out loud. Wow. The man's laugh was intoxicating, making her feel all warm and fuzzy. She idly wondered what would happen if --

"Ok, just got off the comms with Coulson," Natasha announced as she came striding back into the cafe, effectively putting the kibosh on Laura's thoroughly inappropriate thoughts. Thank goodness. Because there was absolutely no good end to what she'd been contemplating. "He can get Laura on a transport at 0900 headed to Ft. Worth. From there, he'll get her on a commercial flight to wherever she needs to go."

Clint looked at Laura questioningly and she was so mesmerized by his eyes that it took her a moment to realize he was asking her about her final destination.

"New York," she sputtered. "I'm originally from Iowa but for now… New York. That's where my magazine is based. I was supposed to be back on Thursday, but I guess they won't care if I show up a few days earlier than planned."

"Probably not," Clint agreed. "And New York will be safer for you since we can get some agents to keep an eye on your apartment and office without disrupting your life too much."

"Agents to keep an eye on me? Do you think I'll still be in danger after this guy knows you have my photos?"

"I don't think so, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Besides, Clint and I are based in New York," Natasha said with a side glance at Clint. Laura had no idea what the look meant, but she couldn't lie and say that it didn't make her feel better knowing that they'd be there soon. Not that it was likely they'd be assigned to her protection, but still… it was nice to know they'd be there in the city, somewhere, anywhere.

Laura took a deep breath and looked from one to the other. "So what now?"

"Now we help you gather up your stuff from Casa Monteverde and take you back to our safehouse for the night."

-----

Their safehouse was a small apartment over one of the local bars with a barely there view of the beach - and not the secluded beach bungalow of Laura's fantasies - but it was clean and well kept. And with only one bedroom, it was more than enough to get Laura's imagination rolling, especially when Natasha held up a bottle of tequila.

"Booze and cards," Clint said, pulling out a chair at the tiny little kitchen table and producing a deck of cards from only God knew where. "It’s tradition."

"What game?" Laura asked as she took the seat next to him.

"Go Fish."

Laura laughed. "And here I thought secret agents would play something like Strip Poker in their spare time."

"Maybe once we get to know you a little better," Clint said with a wink.

"And once we've had some more to drink," Natasha added, smirking as she grabbed the chair across from them and poured a round of shots while Clint shuffled.

"I don't mean to be too forward," Laura said, taking a small sip of the potent liquor for courage. "But is this typical for the two of you? Rescuing damsels in distress?"

"One, I would never call you a damsel in distress," Clint said. He dealt out the cards. "Two, I don't know if you could describe anything we do as typical."

"We do typical," Natasha inserted, picking up her cards. "Well, our version of typical. Not what ordinary people would call typical. But to answer your actual question, no, rescue missions aren't our usual gig."

Laura took another sip of tequila. It went down easy, easier than the first sip, and she mentally made a note to maybe take it easy on the drinking. Not because she was worried about her safety anymore, but because when she got tipsy, she also got, well, silly. And amorous. And that probably wasn't a great idea with these two. Not when she had a full blown crush on them.

She managed to take only tiny sips at first, but as the hands of Go Fish went on and Clint and Natasha regaled her with stories of some of their tamer missions - and Natasha kept the tequila flowing - she started to drink a little more. Until she accidentally spilled some tequila on the table and realized that she was just a tad bit past pleasantly tipsy.

"Mara Jade never would have let herself get drunk like this," she muttered as she set her glass down.

Clint cocked an eyebrow at her over his hand of cards. "Did you just say Mara Jade? As in the character from Star Wars?"

He knew who Mara Jade was? Her little crush just got a whole lot bigger.

"So what if I did?" she asked, her voice squeaking a little.

Clint chuckled. "I always kind of pictured myself as Han and Natasha as Leia. But I guess Luke would work. So long as Natasha isn't Luke's sister," he added with a wink.

Had he just… No. It was tequila. It had to be. She pushed her glass a little bit farther away.

"All I wanted was a chance to travel the world, take some award winning photos, meet someone who would travel with me until we decided to settle down somewhere." Now she was getting maudlin, but the tequila had been good, really good. It was making her say stuff she never would have admitted aloud in other circumstances.

"Someone? Like a husband?" Natasha asked, peering intently at her.

Laura shrugged. "A husband, a wife. Just someone who wants to share my life and maybe help me raise a baby or two. That kind of thing. Is that too much to ask?"

"Not at all, дорогой," Natasha said soothingly. She slid Laura's glass even farther from her. "Maybe we should stop drinking and consider going to bed."

"Nope. Not yet. I need one more round of cards - at least! - to try and win a hand of cards against you," Laura said, pulling her glass back in front of her and tapping it for a refill. What the hell, why not? She'd already made the embarrassing confession about wanting a home full of babies. It couldn't get any worse.

Natasha shrugged and topped off the glass. Probably figuring she'd have more chances to cheat if she continued to keep Laura tipsy.

Not that Laura needed to be tipsy in order for her to cheat. The woman was amazingly stealthy, the definition of an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Or was it a mystery wrapped in an enigma? Didn't matter. That's what Natasha was.

Truth be told, Clint was just as stealthy as Natasha, although he masked it better behind his easy smile. His dangerously tempting, easy smile.

Laura tossed back her drink and shot a grin at Clint as she picked up the cards he dealt her. "Got any Jacks?"

"Let me take a look and see," he drawled.

Surprisingly, after what seemed like only a few rounds, Laura finally won. Whether by design - had they reverse cheated? - or luck, she didn't know, but she didn't really care. She'd finally won a hand. She tossed back another shot of tequila in celebration.

"OK, you won," Clint announced as he got up from the table. "I think it's past time to get you to bed."

"Only if you come with me" Laura said flirtily as she stood, albeit a little unsteadily.

"Well, there is only one bed," Natasha commented dryly, getting up and coming around to her other side.

Laura giggled . "Oooh! I'd forgotten about that. Kinky."

Natasha merely tipped her head to the side and smiled at her bemusedly.

"That's why," Laura said suddenly, as she swayed towards Natasha.

"Why what, дорогой?" Natasha asked, putting a hand to her shoulder and steadying her.

"Why people don't trust you," Laura said, her lips a mere hairsbreadth away from Natasha's. If she was any closer, she'd be kissing her, and god, did she want to kiss her. But she'd been saying something. Oh right. She'd been explaining why people didn't trust Natasha. "They don't trust you because you're mysterious and sexy. Sexier than they can handle. But Clint -" She whirled around towards him and wobbled a little "- comes off as goofy and charming and therefore more trustworthy." She walked her fingers up his chest and tapped him on the chin. "What they don't know is that he's just as dangerous."

Clint looked amused.

"Guess she's got our number, Tash," he said over Laura's head.

"Guess so. Now we'll have to keep her."

Even though Laura wasn't facing her, she could still hear the smirk in Natasha's voice.

Wait. Had she said "keep her"? Were they going to kidnap her after all? Make her their love slave in this sleepy little Costa Rican town? Laura supposed there were worse ways to live out her days. Maybe there wouldn't be any babies but there'd be love and laughter and sex. Lots of sex.

She grinned giddily. "Yes, keep me."

Clint leaned down and hooked an arm under her knees so he could pick her up, his strong arms cradling her against his chest like a baby. Or a lover. Yes, definitely a lover. She nestled into him and he chuckled.

"We can talk about keeping you tomorrow. But first, I think you need to sleep off all the tequila. Let's get you to bed."

"I'm not drumk. Dunk. Drunk!" she finally announced triumphantly.

"You sure about that?" he chuckled as carried her into the bedroom and gently set her down on the bed. She laid her head back on the pillow and the room began to spin crazily around her.

"Mmmm… I'm not sure. Maybe I am," she murmured, her eyes closing.

"Tomorrow, Laura. We'll talk tomorrow."

-----

When Laura woke up the next morning, she found herself firmy sandwiched between Clint and Natasha, still dressed in the clothes she'd been wearing last night.

Natasha was curled up against her right side, her head pillowed on Laura's shoulder and one hand cupped just beneath her breast, not actually touching it but close enough that Laura could feel her nipples harden.

Clint was warm and solid against her on the left, an arm curled possessively around her waist and... Oh God... a very hard erection pressed up against her hip. She took a deep calming breath and willed her heartbeat to slow down and her libido to shut up.

It's normal, she reminded herself. Lots of men wake up with morning wood. It has nothing to do with me specifically. Nothing at all. In fact, he probably rolled over in his sleep and thought I was Natasha and -

"Good, you're awake," Natasha said, making her jump in surprise.

Laura hadn't even realized that Natasha was awake. She turned her head to see Natasha watching her intently. After a beat in which Laura barely dared breath, thinking that Natasha might lean in and kiss her, Natasha finally spoke.

"I'm going to go make some coffee. You want some?" She didn't wait for an answer, just pressed a kiss to Laura's shoulder then slid smoothly and silently from the bed.

Which left Laura with Clint, who mumbled something she couldn't quite make out before rolling even closer to her, his erection nudging insistently against her hip.

"You sleep ok?" he murmured as he nuzzled her neck.

"I…yes," she answered, too dumbfounded to say anything other than the truth. She had. She'd thought she'd be restless and plagued by anxiety after what had happened yesterday, but in the small bed, warm and comfortable between Clint and Natasha, she'd slept amazingly well. Too well. And with dreams that were far more amorous than they should have been.

"Good," he said, rolling over onto his back and yawning widely. "Did I hear Nat say she's making coffee?"

She nodded, then realized his eyes were still closed. "Yes. Coffee. That's what she said she was getting up to do."

"Ok. I'm gonna check in with Coulson about your flights." He reached out and stroked his hand lightly across her skin, then leaned in to kiss her cheek. "The bathroom is small and doesn't have much in the way of amenities," he said, climbing out of bed and making the mattress dip ominously. "But Nat always makes sure there's some kind of froofroo shampoo in stock if you wanna take a shower. The hot water here is nice and strong so take as long as you want."

Laura swallowed and nodded again. "Thanks."

She waited until he left the bedroom before throwing off the blankets and scrambling to the bathroom, locking the door behind her then leaning her head against it.

What the hell had she been thinking last night? She'd almost kissed Natasha. And then told Clint he could keep her? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

She groaned and would have thumped her head on the door if not for the lowkey headache she was sporting. Probably from all the tequila she'd drunk last night, which was just one more inadvisable thing she'd done.

Turning away from the door, Laura pulled aside the shower curtain and twisted the knob for the water. Within moments, the tiny bathroom filled with steam. Clint hadn't been kidding; the hot water really was fantastic. Maybe it could wash away all her memories of the night before.

Impossible, but at least it was a nice idea to cling to, she thought as she stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower.

-----

Thirty minutes later, Laura opened the bathroom door and headed out into the main room of the safehouse, feeling slightly more prepared to face Clint and Natasha. Slightly. Because really, there was no way to completely erase all the embarrassing things she'd admitted to last night.

Although walking in on Clint and Natasha during a romantic moment, with their foreheads close together and soft romantic smiles on their faces, came close.

Laura paused a moment, feeling a pang of longing for missed opportunities, then cleared her throat to get their attention. The two parted but Clint kept his arm slung around Natasha's shoulders.

"The, uh, shower was as good as you promised. Thanks," Laura murmured, shuffling her feet awkwardly as she stood in the doorway. "And I'm sorry about last night. All the tequila kind of went to my head."

"So last night when you asked if we could keep you -"

Laura flushed. "Oh. Oh, well, I didn't -"

She broke off as Natasha shot Clint another one of those looks, like the one she'd given him last night. Laura may have been drunk, but she hadn't been quite that drunk.

"What was that?" she asked.

"What?" Natasha said.

"That look!" Laura practically shouted, pointing accusingly between the two of them. "What was that look? You keep giving them to each other and then looking at me and --"

Natasha smiled. "Despite Clint's desire -- and mine -- to keep you here with us, that's not going to be feasible."

"Of course not," Laura said. "Besides -"

"So we were wondering," Natasha continued smoothly, "If we could maybe look you up and take you out on a date when we're back in New York?"

Laura blinked. "We?"

Clint cleared his throat. "Well… yes?"

"On a date?" she repeated, sure she was mishearing. "Together? The three of us?"

Clint grinned and Natasha nodded.

Laura laughed. "Yes! Yes, you may absolutely look me up and take me out on a date when you're done saving the world."