Heal
Phil tells them about the new initiative.
Phil tells them they are both in.
Phil tells them of 2 abominations, an alien and Stark.
They get to meet them: Thor, the alien.
Dr. Banner, a.k.a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the one who terrified her the most.
And him, the frozen soldier from the forties: Steve Rogers.
He eyed her warily, as though she was out of place never the less he shook hands with her warmly after they were introduced, something she felt awkward, his warmth, and his boyish attitude.
As her friend, He didn't fail to notice the glint in her eyes.
He sees how close they are growing.
Natasha, the detached cold spy was never the one to hang out with people unless extreme necessity, sure enough she wasn't the one to smile out broad and public to a joke, not to mention a stale one from god knows when.
That didn't seem to apply when Steve was there.
Steve was all out of place, a fish out of water, all culturally shocked.
She takes it upon herself to help him cope.
She introduces him to the bloody disgusting modern word- as he puts it-.
She likes how weird, nerdy and innocent he is even though he is a war veteran.
The guy who barely looks her in the eyes, the one who'd blush if he's caught staring, the guy who still follows the Ladies' first rule.
She tells him he intrigues her. She tells him nobody treated her as such.
He knows he lost her; he lies for he didn't have her in the first place.
The first time their team mates see them holding hands, it is a shock for everyone, except him.
The team is happy for them.
He is …, his emotions are all swirl twirl.
He never saw her that happy in their entire history together as friends, it pains him she never was like that with him, it breaks out a torrent of questions through his mind: Why she didn't see him as that? Why Rogers? How could she change that much in such a small stretch? Etc.
Still, he keeps his cool and tries to appear as smooth and as normal as possible.
Phil doesn't know what to feel, what to show,
He was their handler, both.
He cared for both.
When he and Phil are alone, all Phil could say was "care to share, buddy?"
"Not, really" he replies as he gulps his drink.
Phil doesn't push him into talking.
Steve doesn't like the idea of their partnership.
Natasha tells him he is outdated if he thinks that way.
He replies he is not.
He tells her it is natural to feel jealous, natural to feel pissed off by the intimacy between her and Clint.
And her cat suit: out of question.
Steve tries to convince her out of partnership with him.
She is adamant against it.
She tells him that is work and that she and Clint are complimentary work assets.
She tells him to accept that and convinces him out of the argument for a while.
Clint wishes she complied with Steve.
Not because he thinks Steve is right ('he is right' he knows it far too well to deny it.)only.
Because it is unbearable to have her that near now that she is with someone else.
Because he feels nauseatic how she is too oblivious to how he feels (they were supposed to be friends first & foremost for god's sake, don't friends feel it when something is off?)
He has been contemplating leaving the division for sometime now.
He tells Phil of his decision.
Phil talks him out of it, tells him he has far more grave obligations he is committed to.
He tells him it will eventually get easier with time, that eventually, he will sort himself and turn out well.
He knows Phil is lying; he will never get better, not with her in sight.
He knows the point of weakness Loki exploited when he had him under his mind control.
He knows exactly how he played his way through his mind.
When Clint sees the bruises he inflicted upon Natasha, he feels guilty
When Clint sees his teammate wired in hospital after he took him down before he was knocked back into common sense, he can't forgive himself.
She tells him, it is fine, she tells him it wasn't him. He was pawn to some one else. He was a prey to the foreign object of magic.
She knows it isn't true, yet she can't tell her friend and saviour but so.
He knows it isn't true, part of him wanted to hit her so badly (especially after Loki let him on 'he is only a debt' part) , part of him wanted to push her over the edge, let her feel what she did to him, what she tried to ignore.
Part of him wanted to hurt Steve so bad as well.
He knows now that trust is shattered between the three of them
After the whole ordeal of the chituries turned out alright, he went off to see Fury (for there is no Phil now).
He told him he wants Solo.
Fury let him onto the fact he will work so for a short while, for Natasha and Captain are teamed on a short mission starting next day.
He feels grateful for it, for he hopes that during this short mission, he could manage to heal, they could all manage to rebuild their trust, though he doubts it is so unlikely.