Her Hidden Past

- Chapter Thirteen -

"Will Natasha be joining us?" Maria asked from the passenger seat she had slipped into.

"She will not be joining us at the present time," Was Clint's detached reply.

"You let her go off alone?" Maria snapped. "After everything that happened? After Fury told us to stick together?"

"I didn't 'let' her do anything," Clint snapped in return. "She does what she damn well wants." He threw the car in gear and pulled out into the traffic. "She said it would be too dangerous for us to continue to travel together. I wanted to go with her, but she said I had to make sure you got the ID's. I couldn't argue without breaking our cover and now I can't even go after her for fear of leading Medvedev to her."

"Will she keep in touch?" Steve asked.

"She'll keep in touch with Fury," Clint sighed.

"I hope she'll be ok out there on her own," Maria echoed his sigh.

"She's strong," Steve reminded them both. "She's also very good at undercover and at not being seen."

"I just hope that's enough this time," Clint sighed again. "Lisov was too good at finding her. He could find her even when she was off SHIELD's radar occasionally."

"She still has our numbers if she needs us, right?" Maria asked.

"She'll keep the same phone for now," Clint sighed. "She'll memorise our numbers if she needs to. We can't contact her in case we somehow tip off Medvedev."

"Then we have no choice but to let her go," Maria shrugged. "We'd put her in more danger attempting to go after her. We'll contact Fury at our next stop and let him know of the developments."

Clint drove in silence, he'd told the others to rest while he drove, since he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. He would have to swap with one of them in a few hours though, as it was a long drive to Little Rock, Arkansas where they had agreed to head for.

"Let's make that phone call now," Maria decided as they stopped to swap drivers several hours later.

"We should pick up another burner," Clint replied.

"I picked one up last night," Maria answered, pulling it out of her bag. She hesitated before dialling Fury's number.

"Hello," Fury answered quickly.

"Sir," Maria greeted him. "We called to check in."

"Everyone holding up?" Fury asked.

"The boys and I are," Maria answered. "Natasha's gone."

"No issues with tails?" Fury brushed over her words.

"Sir, Natasha is gone," Maria repeated. "You told us to stick together, she disobeyed that order."

"I gave you that order," Fury replied. "I gave Agent Romanoff other instructions."

"You didn't think it would be wise to tell us that, Sir?" Clint snapped.

"Watch your tone, Barton. You didn't need to know," Fury snapped back. "She stayed off the grid alone after New York, she can do the same again."

Clint slammed his fist down on the car door frame, "You have no idea what she went through." He slammed the door open kicking the curb then a small bush as he stormed away. He tried to breathe in deeply and get his emotions in check but his chest was too tight to get a good breath. The things she had gone through alone after the Battle of Manhattan, he kicked another bush. He was certain she still hadn't told him all of it. He pushed his anger firmly down, getting his breathing under control quickly before returning to his seat in the car.