The worst thing for Natasha was returning after a defeat; she was never one to walk with her tail tucked in between her legs. She was furious, the two of them outsmarted or rather, outmanoeuvred by some street thief. It wasn't just about Clint's money, it was about her ego, although that was not something she was willing to admit. All the while, Clint didn't seem bothered at all, in fact, his entire attitude towards the ordeal was rather aloof. He had a smile on his face as if he wasn't just robbed, which irritated Natasha further.

"If you don't stop smiling, Barton, I swear-"

"Nat, relax," Clint told her as his smile faded, " we just went over this, you need to calm down. It's not good for your heart to get so worked up over the small things."

"Nor is it good for your heart to ingest as much coffee as you do in one sitting," Natasha countered," and I don't understand how you can just shrug this off. She stole from you after all."

As they bickered, the others in the tower attempted to put all the details of the story they had just been told. When Clint and Natasha returned, they certainly had a tale, but certain things just didn't seem to be adding up.

"Wait a second," Steve interjected, " you mean to tell us that she stole the wallet and then she wanted you to chase her?"

Steve couldn't wrap his head around it, what happened to good ol' fashion criminals that didn't turn things into a game? He was not dethawed to learn that criminals were just acting out to have a bit of fun on a Friday night.

Natasha nodded her head, her lips slightly pursed. "She was acting like it was a game. Flirty and annoying, that little-"

"Sounds like the only reason why you're pissed off is that you couldn't catch her," Tony smirked in her direction. Thankfully, there was nothing sharp or heavy in arm's reach or she would have thrown it at his head.

"No," she said, "I'm pissed because she got away with Clint's money."

"Well, he doesn't seem all that bothered by it."

Looking over her shoulder, Natasha rolled her eyes at Clint's calm demeanour. The smile had returned to his face as he stared down at his mug of coffee. She couldn't believe what was taking place; all it took was a bit of flirting and Clint had been rendered useless. Letting out a huff of air, she took out her frustration by flicking him on the ear.

"Ow!" he flinched and cupped his hand over it. "Oh come on, Nat, it's really not that big of a deal. I'm not upset. If anything, I was more impressed that she was able to get away from us."

Tony leant his elbows on the counter and gave Clint a look. "She didn't happen to be very good looking too, right?"

There was a moment of silence, but it didn't go unseen that Clint turned a light shade of pink before he grinned again. Within seconds, he received a high-five from Tony while the others looked on in disapproval.

"Unbelievable," Natasha scoffed, " a woman steals your money and all you can think about is her ass."

"Don't act like you weren't thinking about it too!"

Natasha had nothing else to say as she left the area but not before offering Clint the solid, one-finger salute. It wasn't true that he was being lenient simply because of the woman's stellar figure, she also had a pretty face too and apparently, quite a sense of humour. Plus, even though he was out of forty bucks, it had definitely turned around a boring evening.

Of course, Natasha didn't see it that way because she didn't like to lose. She wasn't going to let it go so easily, it wasn't about the money, her troubles with the entire situation ran a lot deeper than she let on at the surface.

Clint was aware of how upset his partner was, but he didn't think it was bad enough that she would report it back to Director Nick Fury. She must have swallowed her pride because just the next day, he was being summoned to talk to Fury about the incident. In all honesty, he hadn't dwelled on it any longer after he described the woman to Tony. There was a mutual agreement between the two that she sounded attractive and then they left it at that.

Bruce and Steve wouldn't take part in any of the discussion, siding with Natasha that the two weren't looking at the bigger picture.

"Your partner was telling me about the little run in you two had the other night," Fury began, the same way he began every conversation. He never just flat out jumped right into it, he always had a way of beating around the bush before diving in.

With a sigh, Clint adjusted his hearing aids, wishing he could turn them off but he wouldn't dare do that in front of Fury. " It really wasn't that big of a deal. I lost a bit of cash, it happens. I'm not really choked up about it."

"You say that but consider you two are some of the top agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. it's not every day that someone gets the best of you, let alone the both of you. She was able to outrun you and outwit you, that's not very common, Barton."

"Outwit?" Clint repeated. "Sir, I think you're reading a bit too much into this. All she did was pickpocket me. I'll admit, she's stealthy and she was fast, but we weren't expecting it. It was a one-time thing."

"Regardless, I'm curious."

"Curious about what?"

"About what else she's capable of."

A cold sensation of pure disbelief washed over Clint as he figured everything was being blown out of proportion. But it was simply because he knew that he was not going to spend his day in bed.

New York City was not the easiest place to track someone down as the massive crowds of natives and tourists made it easy to blend it. It was one of the reasons that Kit never really ventured outside of the city. With millions passing through, even just commuting, it would be hard for people to spot her again. She wasn't spooked about the chase from a few nights ago, she hadn't seen the man or woman since and she was sure she would never see them again. All she had to do was push them to the back of her mind and forget about them.

However, part of her couldn't forget the woman's reaction when she realised what Kit had done. She wasn't flattered by any of Kit's compliments and she acted as though Kit had stolen the man's life saving when it only turned out to be an even forty dollars.

"What's wrong, Kiddo?" Rob's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Something on your mind?"

She peered up to see the look of concern on her friend's face as he tried to figure out why she wasn't much of a talker that afternoon. She had invited him out to lunch, choosing a smaller diner than before to give them a little bit more peace and quiet. It was all after she had given Rob some money from the Rolex sale to at the very least get him into an apartment and some new clothes.

He had practically fought her tooth and nail to get her to reconsider doing something else with the money, but she put up a stronger fight. It was the least she could do with the sum of money she had gotten, rather than just spending it on herself. She had a place to live, even if it wasn't the best, she had food, and she had clothes. Rob had looked out for her during her times on the streets, she wanted to repay the favour in any way that she could.

She hadn't even heard the questions that he asked, so Rob took to talking again.

"You haven't even touched your food," he said, " you look down."

"I'm fine," she told him, pushing her plate away," I guess I'm not that hungry right now."

"Are you sure you're not upset about something?"

"If I am, I don't know what about, I guess it's just one of those days."

Rob gave a nod of his head. " I know how you feel," he said before glancing at her plate still full of half of a sub, " are you going to eat that?"

She didn't say anything, she only smiled as she pushed her plate towards him to offer up the remaining part of her lunch. However, Rob wasn't finished as yet he took a bite and then pointed a piece of the sub at her.

"You know, I think I know what your problem is, kiddo."

"Oh, really? Please do tell."

"You're lonely."

Kit didn't expect the statement to catch her off guard as much as it did. "Wh-what?"

"I said you're lonely. Every time I see you, you're all by yourself," he said. "And I get that some of us are destined to be loners in life, but I don't think you're one of them. You're young, you're beautiful, you should be running around this city with your friends, not sitting in the company of an old geezer like myself. Why don't you let people get to know you, kiddo? Are you afraid of them?"

"I-"

"I've seen you around here since you were a kid. Known you for years and yet, I still don't even know your name, but you know mine."

Kit locked eyes with him before peering down at the table. "I have my reasons for that, Rob. I'm sorry, it's nothing personal against you. Just think of it this way, it's for your own good."

He laughed. "For my own good?"

She didn't wish to go further into detail, merely shaking her head before looking out the window. However, it turned out to be the perfect timing as her breath got caught up in her throat. The man from the other night was standing outside of the window, looking directly at her. As soon as they made eye contact, he gave her a small wave of his hand. He had his wallet in his hand as if she needed that to remember him.

"Oh shit."

Quickly standing up from the booth, Kit started checking out all the means of an escape route. Rob, however, was puzzled by her sudden jitteriness, looking up from his meal.

"Is everything alright?"

Kit threw on her jacket, placing some remaining money down as a tip or whatever was needed. "Uh, yeah, everything is great. Listen, Rob, I had such a great time today but I have to go. I just remembered that I have some errands to run and I need to get them done before it gets any later. Enjoy your meal!"

She could see that the man was blocking the front exit as he stood there, leaving her to roll her eyes in annoyance. However, an idea came to mind as she smiled in return in his direction, which definitely threw him off. Long enough that she was able to act on her plan of darting to the back of the diner. Leaping over the counter, Kit ran to the back of the kitchen, ignoring the sounds of the employees yelling after her.

All Kit could do was continue running until she reached the back door that led to the alleyway, but it seemed the man came prepared with back up. The redhead from the night before was waiting on her as they had calculated her every move it seemed.

"Am I really getting hunted down for forty bucks?" she questioned under her breath. "Whatever."

The woman really thought that words were going to get through to Kit as if their first encounter had proven nothing.

"Stop right there and give back-"

Natasha was more than puzzled as the woman came charging at her after she gave her demands. Preparing to take her down, she lifted up her hands and widened her stance, just to brace herself for impact. However, that proved to be a mistake, because shortly after she did so, the woman took to sliding between her legs as if she were sliding to home base. As Natasha turned to look over her shoulder, the woman was already back up on her feet.

"You might want to keep your legs close, sweetie," she said with a wink before running off again. Natasha gritted her teeth together as Clint appeared at her side, coming out of the back of the diner as well.

"That's it," Natasha growled, "I'm going to kill her."

"No, Nat, no killing," Clint sighed, "we're just supposed to catch her. Now come on before she gets away again."

Kit had to admit, she was finding herself feeling wildly entertained at the idea once she had managed to put the control back in her hands. She could see the strangers looking for her down below from the building she was sitting on.

"Rule number one, is that you gotta have fun," Kit sang to herself in amusement as she swung her legs back and forth. "But baby when you're done, you gotta be the first to run."

She brought her fingers to her mouth and let out a loud whistle.

Several people looked around but the two after her instinctively looked up. If looks could kill, Kit would be six feet under by the look of the woman but that only seemed to hype her up even more. She pushed herself up to stand on the edge before peering down at them.

"All this for forty dollars?" she called out. "Looks like you needed it more than I did."

"We're not here about the money," the man yelled back, " we just want to talk with you."

"And that's how you start conversations? Sneaking up on people at lunch and then chasing them down?"

"We wouldn't have to chase you if you didn't run," the woman pointed out, but it only made Kit laugh.

"But you knew I was going to run anyways, isn't that why you sent one in while the other waited in the alley? That doesn't sound like a plan to just have a conversation."

"Look," the man continued in a calm voice, " we're not going to hurt you. How about just one of us comes up there to talk?"

"Why can't you just say what you need to from where you are?" Kit questioned. "We can obviously hear each other just fine."

The woman looked as though she was about to lose all of her remaining patience, while Kit continued to taunt them by dangling one of her feet over the edge.

"Hey!" the man called out once more. "I'm going to come up and talk to you alone. You owe me that at the very least, deal?"

"Whatever you say, Handsome."