It was becoming a problem for the rest of the team now, not just for Barton. They were on a mission, taking down a small platoon of Hydra soldiers. It was a pretty easy mission, the whole team didn't even go. It was Steve, Clint and Natasha. They were in the middle of the fight, soldiers were surrounding them. Steve was wrestling with one of them, Natasha was taking down everything in her path. Clint had found an elevated spot, and was taking as many shots as he could. And he was feeling pretty good, he in a rhythm of shooting, was taking down good guys, and his team had this in control.

Then he saw it. And Natasha didn't. A soldier was behind her, he had a knife, and was pulling back to throw it into her. Clint reached for an arrow, his fist closed in around itself. He was out. He was too far to stop the man, he had no weapons, he was helpless, she was going to die.

He shouted her name, she turned and was too slow. He watched as she saw the soldier, poised to throw the knife, and she knew she was about to die because he had failed. "Black Widow!" He shouted, sticking to code names, not that they mattered anymore. She looked at him, and then, magically, a different knife was sticking out of the soldiers chest. Natasha lunged forward, desperation in her eyes, she turned and plunged her own knife into the soldier, before she realized he was already dead. Clint ran towards her, pulling his own knife from his waist. Idiot, if he had grabbed that instead of an arrow he would have saved her.

It wasn't hard to tell who had. Steve was already back to fighting, but unless one of the enemy had had a change of heart, obviously Cap had saved Natasha. His knife was now gone, all he had to fight with was his shield.

Now at his partners side, Clint was a killing machine. He and Natasha fought back to back, the pure adrenaline of one of them almost dying fueled the pair, and they were ruthless. They destroyed everything that got near them, swiftly and without thought. It was pure instinct. Watching them fight was an art, they fit together, predicting each others moves, covering their partner, these two had led lives that led them to never trust anyone. It was how they had been raised from childhood.

But f you watched them fight, it was clear that they trusted one another.

After, when everyone around them was dead or unconscious,the three Avengers gathered together in the center of the room. Steve kicked his shield back into his hand, and walked over to the man who had almost stabbed Natasha. Grimacing, he yanked the knife from the mans body, wiped the blood off on the corpses uniform. He put the weapon at his side, and explained, "It was Bucky's I'd hate to lose it." Hawkeye nodded, he didnt really care. He almost always had to go around and retrieve whatever arrows he could find, a messy stomach churning task that he hated. But one that was needed, his arrows were expensive, and Coulson kept complaining about the budget and how he couldn't keep buying clint a new quiver every single mission. So, he started yanking arrows out as Steve and Natasha talked.

"Cap, thanks for covering me. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't if you had thrown that knife." Steve blushed, glanced at Clint. "Oh, you would have been fine, you can handle yourself Natasha." And that was the end of the discussion. For them. Meanwhile, Hawkeye furiously yanked arrows out of bodies. He was so mad at himself, he almost wished he had a whole other army to fight. Then he would be the one to protect Natasha, it was his duty to her. They protected one another, it was just a fact. And he had almost failed, and then Captain America had saved the day. He was grateful of course, but felt like the biggest loser in the world for almost letting his best friend die.

He was quiet all the way back to Avengers Tower. Knowing exactly why he was upset, Natasha stayed close to him and didn't try to make any kind of conversation. Except when Cap left them for a few minutes to call Agent Hill, and she whispered in Clint's ear. "Barton, you did everything. We both know that, just let it go. It's ok. We're ok." For a second he thought she was about to kiss him. Right here out in the open, as Clint and Natasha. Not as part of a disguise. Then she pulled away at the last second. And they got on the plane and went home.

The entire plane ride, Clint was planning so he would never lose another arrow. He couldn't wait to talk to Stark.