I was getting a glass of water in the middle of the night when I heard the sound of someone vomiting in the hall bathroom. I knocked on the door.
"Who is in here?" I ask, figuring 'Are you okay?' was dumb question at this point.
"Legolas." I hear Clint mumble.
"I'm coming in; don't try to stop me." I warn and open the door. I see Clint knelt over the toilet, shaking and really pale in the face.
"Oh, Clint." I say, sympathetic for the poor guy. "I'll sit with you." I say and plop on the ground near the archer.
"No, go away. You don't have to listen to this." he says and promptly vomits again.
"It's not that big of a deal. I always held my little sister's hair back when she had the stomach flu. I don't mind." I assure him.
"I think I'm done.
For now." Clint says, and sits back.
"Clint, you look really pale." I say and press the back of my hand to his forehead. "And you are positively burning up. Rinse out your mouth and then I'll help you get to bed."
"O-Okay." he says, almost like a child. He goes to the sink and swishes his mouth out, holding onto the sink. After he's done, I put his arm around my shoulders to steady him and we walk to his room.
Clint falls onto his bed and rips his shirt off. He shivers, and I see that he has little beads of sweat all over his head, neck, and chest. Uh-oh, I think. Definitely a fever. A bad one, too.
"Jarvis, would you please notify Bruce of Clint's condition?" I ask the AI.
"Right away, Miss Beth." Jarvis replies.
"Thank you." I say.
I go and retrieve a washcloth and a bowl of ice water and soak the rag. I place the cold cloth on Clint's forehead and tuck him into his bed. He mumbles something inaudible and I can tell he is almost asleep.
"Goodnight, Clint." I say and pull up a chair. I wanted to monitor his fever closely, and besides, it wasn't like I could easily fall back asleep anyway.
"How is he?" Bruce whispers from the doorway.
"He was throwing up a lot earlier and seems to have a high fever." I answer.
"Jarvis, please take Clint's temperature and monitor his vitals until further notice, and announce if they change. Thanks." Bruce says as he walks in the room.
"Clint's body temperature is 103.5, sir." Jarvis replies.
"Yikes." I say. "That's pretty high."
"Yeah. Go to bed, Beth. I can take it from here." Bruce says.
"No can do, Brucie. I'd rather stay." I reply with a smile.
"Fine. We can take shifts." he compromises. "The other can sleep in that recliner."
"Natasha...Natasha!" Clint starts saying in his sleep. It's during my shift and around 3:30 in the morning.
I walk over and re-wet the washcloth. "Shhhh." I quietly say. "It's Beth. Natasha's on a mission, remember?"
Clint starts flailing his arms around, and manages to knock the bowl of water to the floor. "Nat! NAT! Where are you? NATASHA!" he starts to yell.
Bruce wakes up at the shouting and comes over to the bedside. "The fever is making him delusional. We need to hold his arms and calm him down." he says, his doctor voice kicking in.
"Alright." I say, and hold Clint's right arm with one hand and stroke his hair with the other. "Shhhhh Clint, shhhhhh."
"Natasha...it'll be okay...I love you, Nat." Clint says, his body relaxing.
Bruce and I look at each other. "That's interesting, huh?" Bruce says with his usual dry humor.
"Yup. Very interesting." I reply, and grab the bowl to refill it.
Bruce and I are both up, mulling over what just happened. Clint hasn't had any more fits or vomiting for about an hour, so Bruce and I were just chilling.
"So. Do we tell him?" Bruce speaks up. "What if it isn't true?"
"I dunno. I don't think your subconscious lies to you about who you love." I disagree. "His hallucination was pretty dang vivid by the looks of it."
"I see your point." Bruce replies. "I still don't think we should tell him..."
"Really? I do. If I confessed my love for someone via feverish delusion, I would want to know if someone heard it." I say.
"You know what? Me too. Maybe we should. How about after he wakes up?" he suggests.
"Fine by me." I say. "Hey Jarvis? What's Clint temperature now?" I ask.
"99 degrees, miss. His vitals indicate that he is deep in sleep." Jarvis answers.
"Phew. Thank you Jarvis." I say. "At least we know his fever is almost gone."
"No kidding." Bruce says.
"Beth?" Clint asks, barely a whisper.
"Yes Clint? Just to let you know, Bruce and I have been taking care of you. And your fever is going away." I say brightly.
The corners of Clint's mouth turn up in a small smile. "Can...Can I have some soup? My stomach doesn't hurt anymore." he asks.
"Of course. I'll be right back." I say, and head to the kitchen.
I was feeding Clint spoonfuls of soup as he was sitting up in bed. The color had returned to his face, and he wasn't shivering anymore. Bruce was mindlessly adjusting the few things on Clint's dresser. I looked at Bruce, and he gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"Um, Clint. Bruce and I have something to tell you." I begin, setting the bowl of soup on the nightstand. "When you were sleeping, your fever made you delusional. You were yelling for Natasha, and...well...you said 'I love you, Nat.' I figured you would want to know that we heard you." I finish.
Clint swallows, and sighs as he closes his eyes. "No use denying it now, I guess." he says in a bitter tone. "What a sappy love story. Two assassins fall in love."
"I think it's absolutely adorable. I've seen the way you two look at each other. It's so romantic." I say, smiling. Both Bruce and Clint snicker at my teenage giddiness.
Clint suddenly frowns. "Bet you 100 bucks she doesn't feel the same way." he says.
"Um,hello? Earth to Clint! How could she not? There's no way two people could go through everything y'all have and not fall in love. You were made for each other." I try and convince him. It's a perfect love story. Bet you 100 bucks she loves you." I say.
"Either way, I have a couple days to think about it. And I know this sounds stupid, but I don't want to ruin what we have as a partnership. We work so well together. I can't imagine going on a mission with anyone but her." Clint says, blushing a little.
Bruce speaks up from behind me. "Well, your fever is almost gone and you aren't going to throw up anymore, so Beth and I will leave. Get some sleep." he says.
"Goodnight Robin Hood." I say, and close the door behind Bruce and me.
Bruce and I were in the kitchen, drinking coffee and chatting about random things. It was around 5:45 or so, so we knew going back to bed wasn't an option once Steve went on his morning jog.
"I wonder if he's gonna tell her." I say, stirring a spoon around in my cup. "What do you think?"
"I dunno. I agree with you, but I also agree with Clint. I guess we'll find out in a couple of days."
"Yeah. It just amazes me how they have loved each other for so long, but haven't acted upon it. You would think they would at least be cuddling by now."
Bruce laughs at my statement. "Somehow I feel like two super-spies aren't very cuddly."
"Good point." I say. "I'm gonna make another pot of coffee. Wanna grab some bacon out of the fridge?" I ask as I get down from my stool.
"Sure." Bruce says. "What is it with you and bacon?" he adds as he grabs the package out of the fridge.
"Bacon is good anytime, anywhere, and for any reason." I state and grab a pan.
Natasha came back from her mission, but as far as I could tell, nothing had changed between Clint and the Black Widow.
Until now.
Bruce and I were straightening up the kitchen. I had a pretty good view of the couch and what I saw surprised me. I tapped on Bruce's shoulder and we both look to see Natasha resting her head on Clint's shoulder as they watch a movie.
We smile at each other and bump fists. "I guess they talked..." I mouth.
"I guess so." Bruce mouths back with a wink.
It's a rather cute love story, don't you think? Two assassins fall in love. Bet you 100 bucks it lasts.