After Midnight

It was a nice house, comfortable. It was the closest Sable has really been to having a house of her own and it's not even her own. She slept again, with Clint's helpful meds and woke up somewhat energized. She heard clanging downstairs and concluded that Clint was awake, and hopefully making coffee. She hadn't had a good cup of coffee in weeks.

"Morning" Sable greeted him with a yawn.

"Sleep at all?"

She nodded, "I did, thanks"

"What time is it?" she asked looking around the kitchen for a clock. He looked down at his watch and showed her, "8:45" he replied, "Late for you"

She shrugged, "I suppose"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door that startled the both of them, "You answer it" she said, "You're the man"

He held in the laugh but smiled a bit before standing up from the table and moving towards the front door. She peeked around the corner as he opened the door and then stood up, deciding to join him.

"This is my fiancee, Sarah" Clint said as he pointed towards me. I greeted the guest with a smile. She was probably about 5'6" give or take with short blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was an average size but obviously a housewife by the pie in her hand, apple, still fresh.

"Hi" she greeted me, "I'm Clara Foster, I live just next door. I saw you just moved in and couldn't help myself" she held the pie out and I took it from her, "Thank you so much!" I replied, "This looks amazing"

She shrugged, "It's a specialty" we both smiled at her comment and she nodded once, "Well I'll have to mention it to my husband but I'd love to have you both for dinner tonight, to welcome you to the neighborhood" we both nodded and glanced at each other, "Sure thing" Clint replied, "6 okay?"

"Perfect!" she exclaimed, "Can't wait. Have a lovely day, see you soon" we shut the door as she stepped off the porch and I took a deep breath, "You did fine" Clint said, "But we'll have to practice our story, because they will ask"

All morning, over breakfast, they talked about how they would have met, how he proposed and our background information.

Sable was Sarah Bennett from Chicago, Illinois. She was a lawyer at a prestigious law firm in the city and went to Harvard, graduated top of her class. She met Stephen aka Clint when she came home during Christmas time in her third year and they've been together ever since, for the past five years.

Clint was Stephen Johnston from Chicago, Illinois. He was a writer, an up and coming novellist who went to the University of Chicago. He fell in love with Sarah the day they met, when she ran into the back of his car after coming home from the airport.

"Can you get used to calling me by name, my fake name?" he asked while buttoning up his dress shirt. She smirked at him in the mirror and then stuck out her tongue, "Yes Stephen honey" she said rolling her eyes. She stepped back out of his sight and he turned away from the mirror, "Are you ready, we'll be late"

"They live next door" she replied from the bathroom.

"It's almost six Sable"

"Hey!" she said coming into view, "It's Sarah"

He didn't reply, he was too distracted by the fact that she looked normal. She wore a blue floral summer dress and had her hair down for a change, and straight. She even wore makeup.

"You okay?" she asked waving a hand at him, "You're spacing out"

He shook his head and replied, "You look nice"

She recognized that even he cleaned up well, considering he was always in a hoodie or sweats, so this was definitely an improvement. She almost felt normal, for a little while.

"I almost feel normal" she said looking down at her dress, "For the first time in my life"

"You look it too" he replied.

She smiled a little and took a deep breath in, "Ready?"

He nodded, "Let's do this"

A tall thin man opened the door. He wore a sweater vest, khaki's and round glasses. His hair was dark, but grey obviously peeked through. He was very approachable, but stiff. He seemed nervous with the idea of strangers entering his home, but he would do anything for his wife.

He looked nothing like the associate of an Italian crime family.

"I'm Larry Foster, you've already met my wife" he said as the shorter blonde woman came into view, "Glad to meet you" he shook both our hands and ushered us into the house.

"You should have seen her face" Clint said as he continued his story over dinner, "She was so embarassed but it was the most adorable thing" he looked over at Sable and smiled, "I knew it right then and there"

"You two are quite an adorable couple, you seem to suit each other well" Clara replied as she took a sip of water, "Don't you think Larry, dear?"

"Mhmm" he said looking down at his phone, "He always seems to be on call" Clara said, "He runs his own business, and he's doing quite well for himself lately. I don't know what's changed"

"Word of mouth" Larry replied looking away from his phone and taking a drink, "It's amazing what it can do" he smiled and we both smiled in reply, "Excuse me" he said setting down his napkin, "Nature calls" leaving his phone unattended.

Sable took her last bite and Clara finished as well. She grabbed her own plate and Sable offered to help, letting Clint know he was in the clear. He slipped the phone into his jacket pocket just before Larry re-entered the room. He looked down and noticed what was missing, and panicked slightly.

"Honey, where's my phone?"

"Did you take it with you?" she asked coming out of the kitchen, "Maybe you left it upstairs"

"I swear I thought I left it here" he scratched his head a little and looked around the floor, "How weird"

Sable followed behind out of the kitchen, "Maybe you did leave it upstairs"

He shrugged, "It wouldn't surprise me, in my old age" he laughed a little and Clara followed suit with a laugh. They both went upstairs and Sable sat beside Clint quickly while they searched through the phone. They grabbed the number and dropped the phone on the floor, "Larry, I found it!" Clint yelled up the stairs, "Seems it was hiding under the chair. Guess we missed it" they both came down the stairs and Larry took it from him, "Thanks!" he said, "Appreciated"

"Not a problem"

They had dessert and coffee before leaving, "We don't mean to eat and run, but it's an early morning tomorrow for both of us"

"I'm meeting with the florist tomorrow" Sable said excitedly, "Picking out arrangements"

"I have no input on that" Clint replied with a laugh, "Not my expertise"

"Understandable" Larry replied, "Thanks for joining us. I'll call you about that golf game we'll set up in the near future"

"Sounds great, thanks for having us"

"It was so lovely Clara" Sable said with a warm hug, "You must come to our place for dinner sometime"

"Oh that would be lovely, wouldn't it Larry?"

"Sounds fantastic dear. Have a good night guys" he said before they shut the door behind him. Sable took a deep breath of relief in and tugged at her dress, "Get me out of this"

"Not used to it, eh?"

She laughed, "I never liked dresses, even as a kid. My dad never forced them on me, but my mom always did until she passed away"

It stayed quiet for a moment before Clint sighed, "I was an orphan" he said quietly, "My parents died when I was young"

Sable stopped at the front door and turned to face him, "Where did that come from?"

"It's about time I tell you about me, somewhat. I can't promise you everything"

"I wasn't ready for that" she said unlocking the door, "When is anyone really ready to begin with?" she sighed turning on the light.

"We should look into this" he said directing her eyes to the phone number, "We can check his past phone calls as well as hack in and with any luck hear any conversations"

"The technology these days" Sable said with a sarcastic tone. He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged in response, "It's true!"

"Let's try and get this done" he sighed.

She nodded, "Agreed"

"I sent what we've received, I'm sure Natasha will be calling soon with more details. We'll soon get the logs in the next hour I'm sure. We'll see what he's been up to within the last couple months"

Sable nodded, "Perfect" she sat down on the couch with a long sigh and he followed. Neither could think of anything to say, or whatever they were thinking of saying they chose not to.

"Maybe I should get to bed" Sable said quietly, leaning forward. She stood up but she felt his hand on her arm and she turned around, "What?"

"Sit"

She did as he said and cleared her throat, "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head and silently talked himself out of whatever he was thinking of doing. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and hands clasped together, "Clint, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing" he said standing up, "Nevermind"

A sudden urge came over her and she stood up and he quickly turned around to face her. They weren't even a foot apart and Sable started second guessing herself, but she held her ground and swallowed hard, "Fuck" she mumbled to herself and before he could respond she leaned on her toes and gently pecked his lips and he didn't react, he was frozen. Her hand rested on his chest and slid down slowly while she pecked his lips again. He kept his eyes on her and the deeper in she got the more she couldn't comprehend her actions anymore.

He didn't know how to react, so he stayed frozen until she touched his waist and then kissed him again. Why was she doing this now all of a sudden? What triggered it? To be honest he asked himself but he didn't really care, something felt right and his emotions took over his insticts. Everything he knew he shouldn't, everything he couldn't do, he couldn't stop himself now. He grabbed her face and kissed her and a sense of overwhelming satisfaction came over him, like he's wanted this but never even realized it. For the first time in his life he felt something, a connection, to another human being. More than Natasha, Fury, more than just a relationship, he felt overwhelming happiness with her, especially right now.

Suddenly it all started moving quickly. She started unbuttoning his shirt and he couldn't seem to part his lips from hers. She pulled his shirt off and dropped it to the ground and she pulled her lips away for a moment, taking a breath. Her eyes drifted down while her hands traced over his chest and then he kissed her again. They started moving backwards and he stopped her and then grabbed her by the waist and she squealed in response as he placed her on the table, pushing everything off of it behind her. He pulled her dress off over her head and then traced his lips from her neck, to her jawline and then back to her lips again.

Nothing was said once between them, but it wasn't needed. They're actions spoke louder than either one of them could have. Their entire lives were spent running, there was no time for feelings or relationships. This was unlike anything they've ever experienced or felt. In those moments they needed each other because instead of running away, they were running towards each other.