What Happened in Budapest

Chapter 1 Hospital Rush

Natasha Romanoff was one of the best damn agents in the field, rarely did she make a mistake, so Clint could not fathom why they sent her to an undercover mission with a newbie rather then him. He had been told that it was because she was training the newbie, but with that intense of a mission there was no call for her to be training a newbie; she needed someone who knew what they were doing. Clint sighed, he knew he was still being punished for what happened with Loki, but that was not his fault, and now Nat had paid the price by getting hurt in her mission with the stupid newbie.

Fury had sent Agent Grant Ward, a new face to him, but not new to the work, to tell him what had happened to Natasha. He had been in one of his favorite hiding places, one of the only places where no one would bother him, when Ward found him. Clint sighed and frowned at Ward who had not hidden how he felt about Clint's actions with Loki. To Ward it didn't matter that he had been under mind control by Loki, all that mattered to him was that Clint had attacked his own people. Clint frowned at him and glared at him, what could he possible want with him? He waited and that was when Ward gave him the news about Nat being rushed to the hospital. He told Clint of how she had been on the mission with an unnamed newbie, training him on the undercover mission, when things went very wrong. The newbie freaked when they were found out and she had to protect not only herself but him as well, and in doing so she had been hurt. Back up had come in to help them and that was what had saved their lives, however "Agent Romanoff" had been hurt badly and normally would be left alone to recover, but she had been asking for him ever since they took her to the hospital. Apparently she had known how badly she was hurt and whatever she wanted to see "Agent Barton" for, it couldn't wait and Director Fury had said that it was mandatory to get Clint in order to calm "Agent Romanoff" down so that she could actually focus on recovering.

Clint rushed to the hospital after that. He didn't wait on Shield to transport him there, he just hopped on his cycle, bow and arrows slung over his shoulder like always, and took off. He came to a screeching stop at the hospital and jumped off and all but ran to the room that was marked as hers. It was being guarded on the outside by two veteran and trustworthy Shield agents and Clint walked past them and into the room.

Nat was sitting weakly on her bed and was surrounded by several flowers and off to her side was a small girl, that could be no more then 6, maybe seven, who was holding tightly to Nat's hand. Nat's leg was casted and hanging up in the air. Her left arm was in a sling and he could see that her middle was bandaged as well, that must have been where the bullets had hit, her arm and her middle section. Clint winced as he walked forward, seeing her like this hurt him, he should have been her back up, she would not be hurt like this if he had been. Clint sighed as he came forward and sat down at her side. He noticed that the girl stayed quiet but eyed him with an emotion he was not sure about, it almost looked like curiosity.

Nat smiled up at him, "Clint, I'm glad you are here, I was hoping you would come."

"Fury said you were hurt bad, and he was right, you look like hell," he said trying to keep his tone light and joking, though deep down it tore him up to see her like this.

"Hey, I've seen you in worse," she said with a smile, lightly punching his shoulder with her good hand.

"Yeah, that's true, you saw me in Budapest, I believe I looked a lot worse then you do here and now…Had it not been for you, I'd have died there," he said with a smile as he looked at her.

"Yes, I'm glad you brought that up because that is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about…About that night in Budapest…"

Clint rose an eyebrow, "I thought we said on that night that we would never talk about that night again…Why bring it up now of all times…"

"Well you remember the night, right," She asked carefully.

"Yeah, I remember, I almost died that night…" he responded slowly.

"Yes, and I was so afraid I was gonna lose you…It's not as if they gave us a medical kit or anything…You could have easily died…" She said in a sad and worried tone.

"I know that Nat, but you saved me, you kept me alive until help could get to us," Clint said with a warm smile.

"Yes, but do you remember what happened that night," She asked again, but this time her voice had a tone of caution in it.

"Yeah, I remember," He said slowly, looking at her then looked at the young girl in the room, "but we agreed not to talk about it, you said it was just in the moment, because you thought you were gonna lose me…Besides, we should keep this talk PG because of present company…" Clint said, again giving a side glance at the young girl in the room.

"Yes, well things have changed Clint…I had to make sure you remembered what happened that night, and now that I know that you remember, I can tell you a little more…Clint, I'd like you to meet someone…This is Clair Alianiva Romanoff…Barton…You see, Budapest was only six and a half years ago…You said that you remembered what happened that night…Well Clint, I know how you feel about family, what with all the things that happened to you in your family, and Lord knows that I have not had the best family life, but…I couldn't just leave Clair, she needed a family, a mother…I wouldn't bring this up, but, well, the hospital said she is too young to stay here and she has nowhere else to stay, I'm the only family she has, well, me, and you…Clint, what I am trying to say is that…well, that night in Budapest was not just a night…That was the night that Clair became, uh, well, that was when she first started her journey into this world…" Natasha sighed. "What I am trying to tell you Clint is that you are Clair's father…Clair was as close to Clint as I could get for a girl…I didn't think Francis would be a good middle name for a girl, so I had to do my best to get as close to Clint as I could for her first name, hence the name Clair…I gave her my middle name so that she could be a little bit of both, but her last name is Barton…" Natasha sighed again and looked at Clint. "I know you have a lot to deal with what with the Loki thing and the mandatory counseling sessions Fury has you going to, but…Clair has nowhere else to go, and…She really has always wanted to meet you, always wanted to know her father…She has always known you were her father, she just never got to meet you…She understood why, but she has always wished for this…Please take her in Clint, it's only until I get out of here…" Natasha's eyes looked at him desperately.

Clint looked from the girl to Nat and sighed, "Nat, you know I'm no good at taking care of kids."

Nat sighed and took Clint's hand with desperation, "Please Clint…I can't send her back to my place all alone…It's only until I get better and am released from here…Please Clint!"

Clint sighed, "Are you sure she is mine?"

Natasha nodded, "Yeah feathers, she's yours…I looked into that for sure…I have the blood test if you want them, but see, you were only one I was with…I have never done anything with anyone else, you are the only one…I just knew you were afraid of having a family, so I raised her myself, I didn't want to trouble you."

Clint sighed and then nodded, "Alright, if you are sure, then I trust you, you wouldn't make something like this up…" He sighed, "I will step up and be her father…I'll take her in while you are in here, you won't have to worry about me being away on a mission, Fury has not sent me out on one since New York…She'll be safe with me, I'll just have Fury move my sessions to my place so she is still with me."

Natasha smiled at him, "Thank you Clint, this has put my mind at ease…I was really worried about her, I mean, when you work in a job like ours, well, enemies come at no extra cost," she shrugged. "I just want to keep Clair safe…"

Clint nodded, "Nat, you have my word, I will protect her with my life.'

Natasha smiled, "Thank you Clint." Natasha turned to the girl and smiled at her, "Clair, this is Clint Barton, I've told you about him before…He is your daddy…"

The girl smiled at him and that was when Clint looked at her closely. She had her mother's body shape, but she had long silky blonde hair that was curled, the color of his blonde hair. The girl also had the same color of eyes as he did, however everything else about her screamed Nat. Clint watched her closely and she smiled at him.

"Hello daddy, it's nice to finally meet you…You are a lot more handsome then the picture mommy gave me…I always wanted to meet you," she said in an excited voice and Clint didn't know what to say, he didn't know he had a daughter until about five minutes ago when Nat told him…what did you tell a daughter you just met?

"Clair, honey, mommy has to stay here for a little while longer so she can get better and the hospital has rules about kids staying here, so you are going to go home with daddy and stay a while until mommy gets well enough to go home, okay," Natasha asked with a warm smile at the girl.

"You mean it really? I not only get to meet daddy, but I get to stay with him for a while too," she said with excitement, a huge smile crossing her face as she looked from Natasha to Clint and back to Natasha again.

"Yes dear, so why don't you grab your coat and teddy and then you can head back to our house and get your things and head home with your dad, okay?"

She smiled at Natasha, "Okay mommy, I'll be right back!"

Natasha watched as the little girl ran off and then looked at Clint, "Thanks for this, I don't trust anyone else with her…If you still don't believe me, you can do the blood test yourself, she's very good with needles and doctors visits, as you've seen that this place really does not bother her much."

Clint sighed as the girl rushed back in, "I trust you Nat, if you say she is ours, then I believe you, you wouldn't lie about this sort of thing…I'll take good care of her, I promise," he said as he watched the little girl rush up to Nat and hug her then run to his side. He sighed and went to one of the guards outside.

"Hey man, did you drive here," He asked.

"No Barton, I walked," the man said as he rolled his eyes, "Yes, I drove here Barton."

"I need to swap cars for the day…I rode my cycle here and I can't drive it and take the k…take Clair with me on it, it's not safe…You can have my cycle for the day and we can swap back tomorrow."

The man looked at the girl then back at Clint and shrugged, tossing his keys to Clint, "Here Barton, just don't get it scratched up."

Clint handed him the keys to his cycle and looked at the man, "I'll do my best…See you tomorrow." And with that he walked out with Clair, who had taken his hand and walked out with him, holding his hand and sticking to his side the whole time.