The doors hissed closed behind her and she stilled.
Now that everyone was on board the helicarrier it would be a matter of hours or days at most until they found Loki and the tesseract. Till they found Clint.
She just needed a moment.
She pulled in a deep breath through her teeth, her eyes focusing on the large training gym before her. She hadn't the guts to go back to her room. Her head dipped and she pushed her feet forward as she yanked off her jacket.
Just a moment and she would be ready to keep going.
"Thought she'd be the one to betray us in the end… not Barton," a voice hissed to her left and she kept walking towards the sparing mat, dropping her jacket to the floor without a second thought. She wasn't exactly Miss Congeniality but that wasn't her job. Her job was to get results. To be the best. And she was the best. The best after Barton.
She sucked in a breath and stilled flexing her fingers into fists. She was an instrument. Perfect. Professional. Emotionless.
"Personally I'm not surprised Barton turned on us. He was never for SHIELD," a voice said as they walked past her and her green eyes flashed.
In an instant she was on the young SHIELD agent and he was on the defense. He hit the mat quickly as her foot took his legs out from under him. Her left wrist was hooked under his neck and she yanked, her body curling under to flip him harder over her and back to the mat, her knee landing in his stomach viciously.
"ROMANOFF!" The voice was loud and angry and she planted a hard punch into the man's face before she moved away from him completely. She held up her hands and took a deep breath, her body not even frazzled by the exertion. "Everyone clear out!" Phil Coulson's voice echoed in the vast room and the few stragglers quickly made their way to the exit. Natasha Romanoff watched with narrowed eyes as the man she had just taken down was pulled to his feet by his peers. Blood was gushing from his split lip and broken nose.
The door slid shut behind them and she hadn't moved as Coulson's steps echoed closer to her.
"You want someone to fight?" His voice was dark and angry and she turned immediately, her green eyes flashing at him and she saw him in a ready stance. This was going to be good…
She ran at him and he was ready for her. He slid out of the path of her feet and reached for her upper arm yanking it towards him. She spun, her leg rushing up to his head but he ducked and his fingers clipped into her shoulder digging at an old wound from Argentina three years ago. She let out a cry of anger and spun away out of his grasp. Before he could think he was on the ground and she was on top of him, her thighs wrapped around his neck and he kicked is legs forward knocking her in the head and sending her to the left. Her arms fought him frantically and he saw his opening and pinned her to the floor.
In the years he had been her handler she had never given anyone, least of all him an opening. She pushed against him with all of her might but he had a good forty pounds on her and used each ounce to keep her in place.
"Hold it together Romanoff!" He snapped at her and she shook her head and he watched as everything in her crumbled. She pushed at him again like a caged cat and he yanked her up, pulling her tightly into his arms. He felt the sob tare through her but he never heard it come out. "Breathe," he commanded and he heard a forced breath suck into her lungs as she broke in his arms.
"I need him…" she wept, her voice broken as her fingers clawed at Coulson's arms. "I need him…" she repeated brokenly and he nodded quickly into her hair, tightening his grip on her. "Why weren't you there?" Natasha demanded bitterly and Coulson shook his head sadly.
"Even if I was I don't think I could have stopped him," Coulson breathed bitterly and she nodded pathetically into his arm. "We will get him back Natasha, I promise," Coulson hissed into her ear and she slowly regained herself. "And when we get him back don't let anyone take him from you again do you understand me Romanoff?" Coulson demanded and her eyes hardened with determination. "He's yours. Yours to keep and take care of," Coulson finished quietly and her arms tightened around him once more. "Promise me," he growled at her and she nodded quickly without hesitation.
Gently he pulled back and when he did he met the composed features of Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow. Gently he wiped one of her tears away and nodded at her. Together they made up Clint Barton's family. The two he trusted the most in his entire world. He was the only reason they had even become friends. Coulson knew how much they meant to one another. New it down to the depths of his being whether Natasha ever showed it or not. But now he knew.
With effortless grace she disentangled herself from him and stood. She held out her hand and Phil took it easily and stood. She nodded once then headed for her jacket.
"He loves you," Phil breathed and her frame stilled for a moment. "You are worth his love Romanoff," Phil finished and her head turned slightly.
"I will never be worth it," she whispered quietly then scooped up her jacket and in an instant she was gone.
"He said the same thing about you," Phil breathed and he let out a deep breath. He just needed a moment to breathe.
The good guys always win. This was no time to stop believing that now. Not when the archer's life was on the line as well as the Widow's. Without Hawkeye there would be no Black Widow, of that he was completely sure of.