A Gift From: sgteam14283
Title: Five Times Natasha Stopped Clint From Adopting a Pet + One Time She Failed
A Gift For: crazy4orcas
Rating: G
Warnings/Choose Not To Warn: no warnings apply
Summary/Prompt Used: Clint Barton wants a pet. Natasha is happy with just one.
Author's Note: I had a lot of fun writing this, hope y'all enjoy!


Five Times Natasha Stopped Clint From Adopting a Pet + One Time She Failed

1.
“I want a pet.”

Natasha Romanov froze, looking at her partner with a raised eyebrow. “Where is this coming from?” she asked, calmly putting down her spoon and giving Clint Barton her undivided attention.

Clint shrugged and glanced around the cafeteria at the Triskelion, trying to order his thoughts. “My place feels empty and we’re not ready to do the whole ‘living together’ thing. So...a pet it is. Maybe a cat.”

“Clint, do you remember what happened when you agreed to pet sit your neighbor's cat? You had an allergic reaction and I had to take you to the ER.”

“Listen, we never proved that I was allergic to the cat hair. It could have been the questionable takeout I’d gotten that evening.”

Nataha’s silence said she didn’t buy the story. “Clint, no cats.” She said in her best Pepper Potts impression, the tone always making Tony Stark see reason.

Clint slumped slightly in his chair, realizing that a cat was probably a bad idea, “Yeah...okay. No cats.”

2.
“What about a bird?” Clint asked as they walked onto the patio of the large mansion.
The ocean air reminding them that they were on a drug lord’s compound on a private island somewhere in the Pacific. They’d just nabbed the guy and SHIELD was starting their inventory of the house; so far Clint had counted five sports cars, a swimming pool, a tennis court, and a driving range.

Ironically the main house looked like it could be any rich person’s island house, tastefully decorated in a beach theme with a few reminders that the dealer had risen through the ranks of an international outfit. “I’ve always liked birds.”

Natasha turned to look at Clint through her expensive looking sunglasses, glad that she hadn’t changed into her swimsuit before the action had started. “Who’d look after the bird when we’re on missions?”

“A neighbor? Melinda May? Deputy Director Coulson?” Clint smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It’s not like it’d be hard work; just make sure there’s water, plenty of birdseed, and change the lining on the cage.”

As they waited for Deputy Director Hill to show up, Clint watched the birds that were native to the island fly around. Then he realized something and turned around to ask, “Didn’t this guy have a bird inside?”

Natasha tilted her head, recalling the layout of the place in her mind. “Yeah, I think he did.”

“And we’ll call a bird sanctuary outfit right? Why don’t we take a look. Just to make sure that they’re alright.”

“Sure. Just to check.” Natasha hid a smile as Clint stepped inside.

The large cage was on the main floor, in a screened in porch. Stepping in carefully, Clint looked for the splash of red and yellow among the fake plants. “Do you remember what kind the bird is?”

“A Collard Lory.” Natasha replied, recalling how the guy once spent forty-five minutes talking about his love of birds and particularly that specific species. Then she remembered something about the bird. “Shit.”

“Clint, I don’t think you want this specific bird. It-”

Natasha’s warning got cut off as the bird dive-bombed Clint and he let out a yell while throwing up his hands to protect his face. She stepped back as he beat a hasty retreat from the porch and quickly shut the door.

Clint looked at the gashes on his arm before saying, “No birds.”

3.
Clint exited the elevator and wound his way across the office floor to where he knew Natasha would be. Seeing the familiar red sticking above the grey cubicle walls, he knocked against the felt once he was nearer.

“Don’t you have a report to write as well?” Natasha asked, not looking up from her laptop screen.

“Already finished.” Clint leaned against the outer cubicle wall and folded his arms as he waited for Nat to finish whatever she was working on.

“Just give me a minute.”

“Kay.” Clint glanced around her space, still somewhat surprised that it wasn’t completely bare- given how little time they actually spent in their cubicles. There were postcards from some of the places they’d been to; Tokyo, São Paulo, Rome, hell even one from Budapest (although Clint still disagreed over what exactly happened there).
She even still had the drawing that Clint’s niece Lila had drawn when they visited his sister-in-laws farm, the stick figure with red hair riding a stick figure horse always making Clint smile.

Staring at the promotional photo for the Royal Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker that was tacked up straight across from him, Clint realized that it had been awhile since they’d taken any kind of trip that didn’t involve running from the mob, local police, or even bad guys in general.

“-did you want?”

Clint snapped back to the present and looked at Nat, who was leaning back in her office chair with one leg pulled up on the seat. Straightening up he scratched the back of his head with a hand while saying, “Apparently snakes make really good pets.”

“Oh?” Natasha slightly pushed her chair side to side as she watched Clint fidget.

“Yeah. Get a tank big enough and they just chill underneath the heat lamp during the winter. Plus you only have to feed them once a month. Big plus when you’re traveling a lot.”

“Cuba, two thousand and one.” Natasha simply replied before swiveling around and reaching for a pen to scribble something down on a post-it.

Clint was silent for a moment before he mentally scratched snakes off the list, “Point taken. No snakes.”

“No reptiles.”

4.
There was a stray dog following Clint.

He’d seen the golden retriever around his block a few times, but it always seemed skittish and the few times someone tried to approach the dog ran away before they got close enough.

Clint had a soft spot for strays, especially ones that looked as cute as the retriever, but also knew that he had to keep his distance if he wanted to get the dog to trust him. So he started leaving out whatever he knew was dog-friendly when he could and knew that the stray was around; a few bits of leftover steak, a dollop of peanut butter on a paper plate, or bits of anything else he had on hand.

He always left it in the alleyway next to his building and when he looked next the food was gone, hopefully the dog had gotten it before the rats did.

But now as he walked towards his block after getting off the subway, he heard the familiar tap tap tap of paws hitting the concrete.

Not wanting to scare the dog off, Clint continued towards his building only stopping at the corner to see if the dog was still following him. It was, stopping a few lengths behind him, so Clint decided to take a chance and see if he could get the dog to come nearer.

Kneeling, Clint held out his hand and waited.

The dog took a hesitant step towards Clint but paused, letting out a whine while sniffing the air.

“C’mere...boy.” Clint said, taking a guess as to what the dog was. “You remember me right? I leave all those tasty treats for you. I got a nice place for you if you want it. It’s warm and I can get you plenty of toys too. Maybe a bath.”

The dog took another small step towards Clint, then another until his nose almost grazed Clint’s finger tip. Then a car honked, the dog paused before letting out a bark and turning around to run away from Clint.

Standing, Clint let out a sigh before running his hand through his hair. He’d been so close to getting the dog to trust him. Turning around he saw Natasha stepping out of her Maserati (the one she’d gotten after Manhattan and still wouldn’t let him drive) and onto the sidewalk next to his building.

“Maybe I can try again if I see him next time.” he thought while waving to get her attention and walked the short distance so they could go up to his place.

5.
Clint pulled two beers out from his fridge and closed it with his foot. The door almost caught his sock and he jumped back as it hit the body of the appliance with a loud slam and rattling the loose bottles that were in th

“You could set them on the counter and close your fridge like a normal person.” Natasha said from her spot on the couch.

“Why? I thought you were the one who said we’re too far gone to be normal.” Clint replied as he opened the beers and walked with them towards the couch, handing one to Nat before sitting down.

Taking a sip he let the rerun of Dog Cops on the TV fill the silence. Natasha stretched out her legs, draping them over his lap and they just sat there, together enjoying each other's company. It had been a long day at SHIELD and Clint was glad for the downtime where they could just be themselves and not have to be Black Widow, Hawkeye, or Strike Team Delta.

The TV flipped to commercial and Clint finished his beer, setting the empty bottle on the end table. “What do you think about adoption?”

Natasha raised an eyebrow, wondering where the question was coming from, “Like...what kind?”

“Animal. Kate said a local shelter is doing a ‘clear the shelter’ adoption drive over the weekend and...I still want a pet. Not a bird or cat or anything that is questionably legal, but a dog. My place is big enough and Kate can always pet sit when we have to go on missions. Plus there’s a doggie daycare a block over so they won’t be in the apartment alone all day.”

Natasha could see that Clint had given this a lot of thought, that it was something he really wanted. But at the same time she wanted him to realize this was a big step for someone who had trouble keeping himself together on a good day. “You know that you can’t just return a dog, or any pet really, if it doesn’t work out. It’s not like a TV.”

“I know.” Clint shifted so he was sitting up straighter. “What do you have against me getting a pet?”

“I don’t, you just need to be absolutely certain that this is something you’re ready to be responsible for. Like when I got Liho, I had to get so much stuff and there was an adjustment period. With a dog there’s going to be even more chaos here.”

“It’s been what, six months since I first thought about getting a pet? That hasn’t gone away Nat, I know that I want a pet. I want a dog who’ll be excited when I open the door, can be obnoxious with a wagging tail and try to beg for food. You have Liho and when I see the cat curled up in your lap or laying around your apartment...I want that too.”

Natasha was silent, knowing how Clint felt. There was something about having a pet that made everything seem a bit brighter. That there was an animal that trusted (or in Liho’s case, tolerated) you enough to become wholly dependent on you. Plus there were those moments when Liho curled up against her, mostly when she’d had a bad day at work or she was fighting against Red Room memories, and feeling the soft fur against her skin or hearing the purring made it just a bit better.

Letting out a sigh, she nodded, “Just...promise me you’ll think about it a bit more? I just want you to find your Liho.”

Clint looked at Natasha for a second before nodding, “Okay. For a bit more.”

6.
It had been a very long day and Clint was looking forwards to doing nothing but eating pizza on his couch while watching something on TV. “Maybe I can catch what’s left of the Mets game.” he thought while shifting the pizza box so he could pull out his keys to the apartment building. Opening the door, he stood aside to let someone out before walking in himself.

Just as he reached the second security door, Clint felt something brush against his leg followed by whining. Pausing he looked down to see the stray golden retriever that had been hanging around his block. He hadn’t seen the dog in awhile and had thought the worst, so it was a relief to see that the dog hadn’t gotten caught by animal control or worse. Then the rest of his brain caught up and he shook his head, “I can’t let you in, buddy. Sorry.”

The dog whined again and sat on his hind legs, looking at him with sad eyes.

Clint opened his mouth to shoo the dog away, when the security door opened and one of his elderly neighbors walked out. “Clint! It’s nice to see that you finally got a pet.” she said while smiling down at the dog. “I know you’ve wanted one for a while.”

“Oh he’s not-” Clint started to say but the dog let out a bark while wagging his tail.

Clint just shrugged in a ‘what can you do?’ expression on his face as his neighbor continued on her way out. Letting out a puff of air, Clint looked back down at the dog and was silent for a moment before saying, “Okay fine, but just for tonight.”

The dog let out another bark and stood up as Clint opened the secondary door to fully enter the building. He trotted next to Clint, wagging his tail the entire time as they got in the elevator and rode up to his floor. Walking into the apartment, Clint set the pizza box on the table with his keys before turning around to see the dog hopping up onto the couch.

“Not the couch!” Clint lurched to get the dog down, gently but firmly pushing him off. “How about a bath first...looks like you could use one.” Clint gave a wave as he headed towards the bathroom, glad that he had a tub instead of just a shower stall.

The dog hesitated for a second before cautiously making his way to where Clint was standing in the hall. Clint walked into the small-ish bathroom right behind the dog and reached over to where the tub was to turn on the water. At the sound of water coming from the tap, the dog let out another bark and tried to turn around to escape. But Clint was quick and blocked him in, putting his arms around the dirty fur.

“Hey, it’s just water okay? It’s not going to hurt you.” Clint kept his arms around the dog until he was sure that the animal wasn’t going to bolt again and realized that he’d have to talk it all out.

“Gonna put you in the tub now alright?” Clint lifted the dog, surprised that he wasn’t nearly as heavy as Clint thought he’d be. Adjusting the water temperature, Clint reached for the adjustable shower head and pulled it off the hook- glad that he had waited until everything was set before switching to the shower nozzle.

A quick internet search told Clint that he needed to use specific dog shampoo but since he didn’t have any and all the pet shops were closing about now, his regular stuff would have to do in a pinch. “It’s one time, it won’t hurt him. Right?” Clint asked himself while setting his phone on the counter and looking back at the dog.

Forty-five minutes later, and changing into dry clothes, Clint finished blow drying the dog’s fur and gave him a final run down. “Alright, nice and clean.” Clint said, clicking the hair dryer off and standing. The dog bolted out into the hallway and as Clint set the hair dryer on the counter, he heard the skittering of paws followed by a few short barks.

“Okay okay, I’m coming.” Clint walked into the living room to see Lucky sniffing his way across the room, trying to discover all the different smells and things that Clint had.

Letting the dog do his thing, Clint opened the pizza box and pulled out a few slices, putting them in one hand while he went to get a plate to reheat his dinner. As the microwave reheated the slices, Clint pulled out a beer and opened it before taking a long sip. “Some days are just too long.” he thought to himself while glancing at the clock and seeing that it was almost ten in the evening. “And the Mets game is probably over by now.”

Another bark drew Clint out of his thoughts and he saw that the microwave had finished. “You can’t keep barking buddy. I might own the building but I’m sure that the rest of the hall’s still gonna complain.”

The dog whined but didn’t slink away, so Clint focused on getting his dinner and flipping on the TV to whatever was on. Turning to one of the million ESPN channels, Clint was halfway through his first slice when another whine made him glance down to see the dog giving him another ‘puppy eyes’ look. “Oh.” Clint set down his pizza and wiped his hands on a napkin. “Hungry?”

The dog wagged his tail and panted, tongue lolling out of his mouth slightly.

“Okay...uh, gimme a second.” Clint knew that other than beer there was hardly anything in his fridge so another quick search told him that pizza was a no-go for dogs, but cheese was perfectly acceptable.

“Lucky for you I have some cheese.” Clint smiled as he went to open the fridge. Pausing he realized that even if the dog wasn’t going to stay tonight, he still couldn’t keep calling it ‘the dog.’

“And Lucky oddly seems to fit. Lucky it is.” Clint grabbed some of the cheese curds that Natasha had brought back from her trip to Wisconsin and set them on another dish. Setting it down, he barely had time to remove his hand before Lucky gobbled it up. Two big scoops of peanut butter disappeared almost as quickly and Clint put some water in a bowl for Lucky to drink out of.

Later on, as they both lay stretched out on the couch, Clint couldn’t help but feel like something missing in his life had finally been filled.

It had been a long trip and Natasha was ready to just chill on Clint’s couch for the rest of the day. Putting her key into the lock, she opened it and was about to open the door when barking suddenly started and she stopped. The noise stopped almost as soon as it had started but then she heard the sound of nails skittering across the hardwood floor followed by Clint’s muffled voice and footsteps.

Five seconds later the door opened and Clint is holding back a golden retriever whose tail is going nuts, hitting Clint’s leg as it wags back and forth. Raising an eyebrow, she waited for Clint to back up with the dog before walking in. “Anything happen while I was gone?” Natasha asked while glancing around the apartment.

The table had a bag that looked like it was filled with dog food and treats, there was a nice looking dog bed next to the couch, chew toys were scattered across the floor in front of the TV, and a few leashes hung on the coat rack on the wall.

“Uh. I got a dog?” Clint said while switching the hand that was holding Lucky’s collar. He hadn’t expected Nat to come here right from the New York offices, although in hindsight he should have since she’d been gone for the past week. “You know the stray that hung around? Well…” he waved a hand in Lucky’s general direction.

Natasha was silent for a moment, letting it settle in, before breaking into a smile and holding out her hand. “What’s his name?” she asked as the dog strained against Clint’s hold and leaned even farther in so he could sniff her fingers.

“Lucky.” Clint eased his hold so Lucky could get a bit closer to Natasha and sniff her fingers. Smiling when Lucky gave them a lick and Natasha laughed, Clint felt a warmth spread through his body.

Natasha gave Lucky a pat on the head and tried not to get bowled over when Clint let go of Lucky’s collar and the dog lunged at her. Letting him circle her and smell her shoes, Natasha glanced over at Clint and saw that he looked happier for the first time in a while.

“If he’s happy then so am I.” she thought while smiling and walked further into the apartment with Lucky right at her heels.