A Couple of Master Assassins (Clintasha)

Chapter 19

After a somewhat short journey and lots of close encounters with speeding bullets, Natasha and Coulson had Barney and Yelena at their feet. Literally.

"Did you have to knock them both out?" Coulson asked. His lip was bleeding, and his sleeve was torn from a bullet that was too close for comfort.

"I'm not taking any chances," she said, panting. She was going to be covered in bruises from her fight. "Plus, that felt really, really good," she continued, referring to the hard punches she had just landed on the two villains. Coulson smirked.

"No wonder Clint likes you," he commented. Now it was Natasha's turn to smirk.

"Let's get these two somewhere they can't hurt anyone else."

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Once Yelena and Barney were in SHIELD custody, Natasha received a text from the hospital where Clint was staying letting her know that she could come and visit him whenever she wanted to. She let Coulson know where she was going before leaving the facility and arriving at the hospital in record time.

"Clint Barton, I assume?" the woman at the desk asked her when she arrived. Natasha nodded. "Down the hall, take two lefts and it's room six," she said.

"Thank you," she replied, heading down the hallways. She hated hospitals- they reminded her of her time at the Red Room. She especially hated the smell too; it was too clean for anyone to feel comfortable in these places. Finally, after what seemed like miles of travel, she reached Clint's room. When she went in, there was a doctor in there.

"Miss Romanoff. Have a seat. He's doing just fine, before you ask," the doctor said. She recognised him as the doctor she saw yesterday. "His vitals are strong, and he has a lot of brain activity, though it seems to have dipped a little today."

"Can I ask you something?" she asked the doctor before he left. The doctor nodded. "Is it true that people in comas can hear what you're saying?"

"Some can. It all depends on how badly injured they are. It may also help to hold their hand or spray a favourite scent of theirs, or play some of their favourite music, or even put a film on that they enjoy. Attempting to stimulate their senses could help them recover," he explained. "I'll leave you be, but I have to come back every hour to check up on him," he finished.

"Thank you," she said as he left. She made a mental note of all the things the doctor said so she could try them on later visits.

As soon as she was alone with Clint, she took in his appearance: he had a machine to aid his breathing and was hooked up to lots of different machines via tubes that entered his body in his arms, wrists and two in his chest. His hair was clean of the blood now, but it was matt and messy, and his face was void of any emotion. He looked helpless, just like he did in Budapest.

"I can't believe I'm back here so soon," she said, half to Clint and half to herself.

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Clint wasn't even trying to communicate with the world outside anymore. What was the point when nobody could hear him? He still listened to the conversations as they came and went (it wasn't like he had much choice), but not a lot gave him hope anymore.

"Can I ask you something?" he heard a voice speak. It was female, and it was familiar. He ignored the doctor talking and just waited for that voice once more. "Thank you," she spoke. It was Natasha.

"I can't believe I'm back here so soon," she said. Clint desperately wanted to do anything, even just give the smallest of signs that he was okay, that he was listening, but he couldn't, and he hated it. "It's always you that ends up here. I wish that, even just once, you could come out of something and be okay," she continued. "I don't know if you know, but I'm holding your hand. Hell, I don't even know if you can hear me, but... it's worth a shot, right? I'm not giving up on you."

Clint wished he could do anything to let her know that he was there. He could hear everything, and a strange sensation started making itself present in is mind. Was that Natasha holding his hand?

"I hope you're not giving up on me either," she began again. "Because I need you here with me. Coulson is cool and everything, but he's not you." She sighed, and the sensation vanished. "I have to take this call, Clint, but I'll be right back. I promise." Another sensation made itself apparent, this time on Clint's head. Then it all went silent once more.

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"Coulson, is everything okay?" Natasha answered.

"I just wanted to see how things were with Clint," he answered, clearly lying.

"Tell me the truth, Coulson."

He sighed on the other end of the phone. "You're not going to like this, but Fury just got off the phone with me. We have a potential recruit for SHIELD, and he wants you to gather information for him without him knowing."

"Why me?" she asked.

"Because you're the best at what you do. You're being deployed to NY in two days. I'm sorry that this came at this time, and I wish there was something I could do, but I can't," he said sincerely.

Natasha thought for a moment before speaking again. "Okay. I'll see you back at the compound," she said, then hung up the phone. She went back in Clint's room and spent the rest of the day just talking to him before she was kicked out by the hospital staff.

"I'll come back tomorrow," she promised before leaving him for the day.

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Trigger warnings start next chapter, I made a little mistake. Oops.

Anyway, I had some time so decided to upload. Enjoy.

Oh, and Happy Halloween to those who celebrate. I personally don't understand why people enjoy the idea of being scared out their wits, but hey. Who am I to judge, anyway?