I'm baaaaaaaaack! Here's the sequel to Off To The Races. If you're new to this universe, I suggest you go back and read To Rome With Love and Off To The Races. It's not completely vital but you may be lost if I refer to something from one of those other stories. Alright, so without further ado, here we go as we embark on another mission with Clint and Natasha. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Clint and Natasha (sadly). They belong to Marvel. I also don't own the song lyrics below. They belong to Taylor Swift.

So you were never a saint,

And I loved in shades of wrong.

We learned to live with the pain,

Mosaics broken hearts.

But this love is brave and wild.

The curtains were drawn in the master bedroom on floor 12 of Avengers Tower. The room was pitch black but on the other side of the curtains, the sun was just making its way over the horizon. Tangled among the dark sheets were two of SHIELD's finest assassins, fast asleep. The archer's arms were wrapped around the red head's small frame while their legs were woven between one another.

With a faint sigh, the red head squirmed in the archer's grasp before resting her head on her pillow for a more comfortable position. Seconds later, the archer grunted in his sleep as he relinquished his grip on the red head and rolled onto his back. The two assassins stayed like that for several minutes until an obnoxious beeping noise came from the bedside table.

With a groan, Natasha swung her arm and slapped the alarm clock to stop the beeping. She let her arm dangle over the side of the bed as she felt herself slowly drifting back to sleep. But the archer lying behind her had other plans. He rolled over and wrapped his arms around her thin frame once again and then kissed her bare shoulder. He buried his face in her neck and breathed in her scent.

"Do we really have to get up right now?" Clint whined.

"You have to get up. I am going to stay in bed and sleep until noon," the red headed assassin shot back as she buried her face in her pillow.

"Sleep 'til noon? That's so unlike you, Romanoff," Clint said as he nuzzled her neck.

"Hey, I don't have anywhere to be, unlike you."

Clint groaned as he released his grip on Natasha and rolled onto his back. A month had passed since the mission in Monaco and Fury had granted Strike Team Delta a month's worth of vacation. Since Clint had twisted his knee and Natasha had gotten a concussion from the head wound around her temple, their month of vacation seemed more like a month of medical leave. Natasha had been ordered to take it easy and keep away from the gym while Clint had been ordered to be on the SHIELD base at least three times a week for therapy on his knee. Their vacation was hardly a vacation.

Suddenly, Natasha sat upright and whipped the covers off of her naked body. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and then padded across the room. She yanked open the top drawer of the black dresser and rooted around it before pulling out a sports bra, a pair of underwear, and a pair of shorts.

Curious, Clint rolled onto his side and propped his head up with his arm as he watched his red-headed partner search for a pair of socks. Even though it was practically pitch black in the room due to the dark curtains, he could still make out the silhouette of his partner. He could see her curves and her toned legs against the backdrop of the wall and the dresser.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting ready. I'm going to go to the gym," Natasha said as she pulled a pair of socks from the drawer. She set her clothing on top of the dresser and slammed the top drawer shut. Snatching her clothing off of the dresser, she padded across the room towards the bathroom to get ready for her trek to the gym.

"Wait, you're supposed to be taking easy, Nat," Clint said.

Even in the darkness of the room, he could tell Natasha was rolling her eyes at him. "I'm fine," she shot back. "It's been a month. I think I can return to my daily routine."

Clint scoffed before rolling onto his back again and draping his arm over his face. "Fine, but don't strain yourself."

He felt the bed dip on his right side and then a soft hand caressed his chest. He peeked out from underneath his arm to see Natasha running her hand up his chest; the feeling sent shivers down his spine.

"Don't worry about me, bird brain," Natasha purred. "Just get your knee checked out and come meet me at the gym when you're done."

Clint nodded as he swallowed nervously. His damn partner knew how to turn him on with the slightest touch and the only thing he knew how to do was have sex with her. Sometimes he wondered how he ended up with her as both his work partner and girlfriend.

Suddenly, Clint got an idea. Just as Natasha was about to rise from the edge of the bed, he reached out and grabbed her wrist to pull her against his chest. A small gasp escaped Natasha's lips as Clint pulled her close.

"Clint, what are you doing?" she asked as she shoved him in the chest but to no avail. His grip was tight around her and he had her hugged extremely close to him. Natasha could see even in the dark room that he had one of his signature sly grins spread across his face and that's how Natasha knew he had an idea.

"You know, if you need a good workout, you don't necessarily need to go to the gym," he said slyly.

Natasha couldn't help but feel a smile spread across her face. "Oh really?" she asked, playing along. "What can I do instead?"

"Well, I've heard sex is pretty good at burning calories," he suggested, the mischievous grin still plastered on his face.

"Oh really?" she purred as she brushed a finger down his chest towards his groin.

"Mhmmm," he hummed.

Natasha smirked. "Well, I guess it's a good thing we got our workout last night."

Natasha saw Clint's face fall and his defenses went slack. She was able to push away from Clint's grip and bounce off of the bed to walk towards the bathroom.

"That's not fair," Clint whined.

"You do realize you've used that on me before, right?" she tossed over her shoulder. She glanced back at him with a smirk on her face. She flipped on the light in the bathroom before turning back around at Clint. "But if you're a good boy at the doctor's and you pass your medical exam, I think I can make it an exception for later tonight."

With that, Natasha slowly closed the door to the bathroom so she could get ready for her trip. As she turned around to retrieve her clothes from the floor, she could hear Clint groan from the other side of the door and Natasha couldn't help but smile to herself. The things she did to that man were 5% for pleasure and 95% just to watch him squirm for her own personal enjoyment.

Thwump! Thwump! Thwump!

Natasha attacked the punching bag hanging in the middle of the gym at Avengers Tower as sweat poured down her body. She'd been at the gym for almost two hours and she hardly felt rejuvenated. After being out of the game for a month, she felt like she had to make up for lost time. Her muscles were barely quivering and her head wasn't even pounding from the blood rushing to her head. It wasn't a good workout unless she felt like she was nearly going to pass out.

Thwump! Thwump! Thwump!

She punched the heavy bag three more times before raising her right leg to kick it. The bag went swinging backwards and Natasha spun around and raised her other leg to kick it as it swung forward again. The bag swung forward again and Natasha stopped it with her body to steady it. She wiped her brow with her forearm and shook the sweat from her skin.

With one last glance at the punching bag, she turned on her heel and headed towards the wall where the jump ropes hung. She pulled one of them from their hook and moved to the center of the gym. She took one handle in each hand and started to swing the rope over her head. Faster and faster she swung it until she'd set a normal pace for herself.

She was about ten minutes into her jump rope routine when Clint strolled into the gym. She flashed a hint of a smile at him, but other than that, she didn't break her focus. Without saying a word to Natasha, he strolled over to one of the benches on the outskirts of the gym and waited for her to finish her workout. There was no need to interrupt her while she was concentrating.

After about ten more minutes of a steady jump rope workout, Natasha stopped and hung the rope back on its respective hook before making her way across the gym to her partner. As she sat down on the bench, she snatched her bag from underneath and fetched her bottle of water. She took a long swig from the bottle before leaning back against the wall to relax.

"So, how was your exam?" she croaked, her voice hoarse from lack of hydration. She unscrewed the cap to her water bottle and took another swig of the chill liquid.

"I passed with flying colors," he said with a grin.

"You're not just saying that so we can screw around tonight, are you?" Natasha asked as she cocked an eyebrow at Clint.

"Nope, clean bill of health," Clint said with a smug smirk. "We can fool around all we want."

Natasha rolled her eyes at the archer before taking another swig of water and shoving it back in her back. She fished a clean towel out of her bag and wiped the sweat off of her body before chucking the dirty towel back into her bag.

"How long do you suppose it'll take Fury to put us on a mission?" Clint asked curiously.

"I give him six hours," Natasha said, which earned a chuckle from Clint. "I'm dead serious."

Clint chuckled again. "True. You were barely cleared by medical before we got assigned the Monaco mission."

"Like I said, I give him six hours," Natasha deadpanned.

Clint nodded as he leaned back and rested his head against the wall. He sucked in a deep breath before closing his eyes. As bored as he was, he wasn't quite ready to go back into the field. His "vacation" with Natasha hardly constituted as a vacation. He had been in and out of medical for check-ups and physical therapy and he could tell Natasha was getting bored. However, if they didn't get assigned a mission soon, he wouldn't be surprised if Natasha started doing something "normal," like go shopping.

"Ready to go?"

Clint's eyes snapped open to see Natasha standing above him with her duffle bag slung across her chest and her bright green eyes staring back at him.

"Yeah, sorry," he said apologetically as he jumped up from the bench. "Must've dozed off for a couple seconds."

"Wouldn't surprise me," she said with a shrug. She turned on her heel and headed towards the gym door. Clint followed in her footsteps but he had other plans in mind. As she reached out and slightly opened the door, Clint reached out and pushed the door shut. Natasha spun around with a scowl on her face but Clint just followed through with his plan and braced his arms on the door, trapping Natasha between them.

"Something you need, Hawk?" she purred. Of course she would play along. She got her workout. She had nothing else planned for the rest of the day. Clint had been cleared by medical and he'd been a very patient and good boy. He deserved for her to play along.

"Yeah, a certain red head that I just so happen to have a thing for," he drawled.

"I'm jealous," she purred as she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer. She saw him smirk, but only slightly. Just small enough for her to detect it.

"No need," he said. "I'm looking right at her."

"Oh," she said. "Well, by all means…" She trailed off, allowing Clint to fill in the blanks. With a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, he leaned in and captured her mouth with his.

Clint wasn't quite sure how they ended up in his bedroom on the 12th floor of Avengers Tower, but that was the least of his concerns when he'd awoken in a puddle of his own sweat. The sheets were soaked and he could feel that his hair was damp. He could even feel that his muscles were sore as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

To his right Natasha lied, curled up and tangled in the bed sheets. Her back was facing him and he could see the expansion of her ribs with every breath she took. The last thing Clint wanted to do was wake her so he stealthily climbed out of bed and pulled on his boxers that lied on the floor. He tiptoed across the room and slipped out into the hall, quietly closing the door behind him.

He wandered his floor in the early morning darkness until he found himself in the kitchen. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing here but he started rummaging through the cabinets, trying to find something to calm his nerves. As per usual, there was absolutely nothing in the pantry so he settled for the last bit of orange juice he had in the fridge. He poured the orange liquid into a blue glass and absentmindedly sipped it as he stared off into the nothingness.

"Another nightmare?"

Clint turned his head to the kitchen entrance to find Natasha leaning against the doorway in one of his rumpled button-down shirts. Her eyes were weighed down with sleep but that didn't stop her from crossing the room to hoist herself up onto the counter across from Clint to stare him down.

"Can't get away with anything around you," he grumbled as he stared into his almost empty glass of orange juice.

"You should know better by now," she said as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"Let's go back to bed," he suggested.

"No," she said sternly. "You can't back out of this."

With a sigh, Clint set his glass down on the counter behind him and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes.

"Was it your brother again?" Natasha asked softly.

"No," he groaned. "No, it wasn't. Actually, it was Trick Shot, my mentor."

Natasha tilted her head to the side as she stared down Clint. She knew he felt guilty about his past and he had so much red in his ledger just like she did. As to why he was all of a sudden having these nightmares, she wasn't sure.

"Clint, have these been happening often?" she asked.

Wearily, he shook his head. "This is only the second one. That's including the one I had on the flight back from Paris."

Natasha nodded in understanding. She knew everything about his past and he knew everything about hers. But when it came to the nightmares that plagued both of them at night, neither one of them knew how to address it. The best they could do was to comfort the other and hope that the nightmares didn't come back when they drifted back to sleep.

"I've had nightmares before," Clint said, breaking the silence. "They've terrorized me for years, but none of them have been as terrifying as these last two. I have no idea where my brother is and Trick Shot's been dead for years. And yet, they still haunt the hell out of me."

"Hey," Natasha said softly as she slid off the countertop and closed the small amount of space between them. She gently cupped his face with both of her hands and forced Clint to look into her green eyes. "They can't come after you. Like you said, Trick Shot's dead and for all you know, your brother could be too.

"I know. It sucks," she continued. "You wake up drenched in sweat and your heart pounding against your rib cage, and when you finally calm yourself down, you can't fall back asleep because you're too afraid the nightmares will come back. But you don't have to worry about that because you have me."

"I know that," he shot back with a groan.

"Just trust me," she whispered. "Come back to bed."

Clint knew that, deep down, he was afraid to go back to sleep. He didn't want to see his brother in his dreams again because he felt like that was the one place that he was helpless. Running away wouldn't help. Firing his bow wouldn't help. Even throwing a punch wouldn't help. In his dreams was where he was the most vulnerable.

But Clint had an infinite amount of trust in Natasha. She knew where he was coming from and he'd helped her through more than enough nightmares too. So as he stared back into those beautiful green eyes, he hesitantly nodded his head and allowed the one person in this entire world that mattered to lead him back to the bedroom and help him fall back asleep.

Oh boy, here we go! Reviews are very much appreciated and they make me happy so please leave me a lovely review to let me know what you think! If you review, I may just update tomorrow as an Easter present. By the way, Happy Easter if you celebrate it! :)