The water broke against the steel hull. Under the veil of darkness, the ocean contained secrets of those that came before. Clint looked quietly into the black abyss. He was damn sure that he wasn't going to give up yet. He had one more lead to follow in his unsanctioned mission. There was too much at stake.

He had lost track of how many times he called her cell number. It was enough for him just to hear her voice. His attention went out to the horizon line, where set waves rolled.

A deckhand walked by him with a cigarette in hand with orange embers flying about. Both men minded their own business. Clint pulled his collar up on his neck to keep the chill at bay. He watched a few more waves until a memory snuck its way back to him.

~Flashback~

Her green eyes looked up from the book she was holding. Neither of them said a word to each other as he closed the front door.

Mechanically, he stripped off his wet jacket and tossed his leathered combat boots aside. He grumbled to himself while walking to the kitchen to pour himself some coffee.

Natasha sat on the couch with a smug look on her face. She glanced back down onto the page she was reading until she felt the seat cushion deflate next to her. The Black Widow pretended to ignore him.

The pair of master assassins held onto the silence. The scent of fresh rain lingered in the air on the cool autumn day. Natasha felt Clint staring at her as she tried to finish her book. She repeated the same sentence five times in her head.

"What do you want, Barton?" She talked above the page, while trying to absorb the words. "You should change."

"I'm perfectly fine." To annoy her, he lifted his leg and placed it on top of hers.

It hadn't been long for the pair to move into the apartment. Clint had taken the huge burden of trying to persuade his longtime partner to move in. The idea of trust was a hard concept to grasp for the Black Widow, since she wasn't use to such close quarters for a mundane human life. Missions and globetrotting thrilled her more than anything else. Slowly she came around and took a leap of faith. She didn't have any other place to call home not until Clint came along.

Her jade eyes met with his playful face, "Barton…"

He tilted his head to the side, trying to gauge what his roommate could potentially do. He ran several scenarios in his mind, all of which ended with him receiving some form of bodily harm. "You're always too serious."

The redhead cursed in Russian. She snapped her book shut.

Clint countered something in Russian as well. "See I'm learning," he smiled.

"Men."

~End of Flashback~


An alarm sounded off and brought Banner out of his already sleep-deprived mind. "Stark," he mumbled. The cat was out of the bag and he had no choice but to head to the hospital directly. He should've moved her when he had the chance but the failsafe plan was all of Natasha's doing.

S.H.I.E.L.D. officers were out in droves as Banner flashed his personal identification card.

"Well look who it is?" Tony leaned up against the wall.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," he murmured. "You weren't going to move her now, were you?"

"You're always getting into people's business."

"I'm protecting Clint's interests."

"Really?" He placed his glasses in his shirt pocket, "Did it ever dawn to you about hers?"

The two scientists were at the crossroads with one another. "How far are you finding a cure?"

"Not really far." He rubbed his dry eyes, "Whoever injected her, knew something could breakdown the super soldier serum." He leaned against the wall, "the cells keep mutating…if only I could knock that mechanism out."

"We're on the clock."

"What are you insinuating?" It took him a moment to come around. The sleep deprivation was getting to him.

"I can help. Go get some sleep."

"Right." The weary Banner went to find an empty call room.

Tony pushed aside the laboratory door and found it in such disarray with glass shards on the floor. "JARVIS…run simulation models on Banner's data."

"Sir, systems are running at only 75% capacity at the moment."

"Cancel upgrades for tonight."

"Right, sir."


~Flashback~

"Where'd you think you're going?" He reached out to grab her before she escaped from his viewpoint.

"You're injured," she spat.

"And so are you," he countered.

"Between the two of us, who do you think has more agility?" Her jade eyes narrowed.

"Widow…" It's a word he hardly used except when he was extremely pissed at her. "What's going on?" His steel gray eyes finally realized something from his partner for months he ignored the signs up until now. "Tell me."

"It has nothing to do with you." She twisted away from his stares. She could still feel his eyes staring at her wound.

"Don't fuck with me," he cursed. "We've been through shit and now it's not the time to hold back."

"I'm not." She reloaded her Glock and adjusted her Widow's Bite.

An explosion rocked nearby as the assault increased in intensity. The pair ducked with their arms as dirt and broken pieces of wood flew across the air.

"There's no point in arguing," she adjusted her position and peeked out from a wooden crate.

"Nat, don't do it."

"Sorry, Clint." She weakly smiled. A faint tear was brimming at the corners of her chartreuse eyes.

"Nat!" In slow motion, he watched her leap from their hiding spot, drawing the firepower towards her. Her suit could withstand so much damage. He got up with his bow in hand and an arrow was ready to be launched. He couldn't believe his eyes as he watched his partner fall to the ground. The three seconds he paused it killed him.

He released the arrow and punched a button on his bow. An explosion knocked out the sniper in the corner as he ran against the chaos to where she had fallen. Her short curls were splayed underneath her head, as a pool of maroon filled the cracks in the concrete.

"You're an idiot," she gasped.

"You're my idiot." He propped her on his legs, ignoring his own wounds. The adrenaline kept his mind off his own pain. "Stay with me," he whispered into her ear.

"I'm glad…we're partners."

"Don't leave me now."

"I won't." Her eyelids fluttered.

~End of Flashback~

Barton bolted up straight from his bed. No matter how much time had passed, it was the same nightmare that haunted him every night. He tossed the covers aside and felt a cold sheen run down his bare chest and back.

His feet touched the worn carpet of the cabin and he walked over to the porthole. He was getting closer to his destination. In the distance, a red hue enveloped the eastern horizon. Maybe soon, his nightmare would end.