I don't own any of these characters or anything remotely related to them.

Chapter: 1

Clint Barton wasn't use to this type of feeling. He had never, since being recruited to SHIELD, not completed an assignment. This was uncharted territory, dangerous, and something he knew would be absolute hell to deal with later.

"Hawkeye report," the voice of his handler snapped into his ear. He didn't respond, couldn't respond. "Hawkeye complete the mission and report back to base." There was an edge to his handler's voice, like he knew there was something wrong even without looking. "Hawkeye do you copy!" The voice snapped a bit harsher. Clint wasn't paying any attention to the voice in his ear. About ten percent of him was focused on keeping the string of his bow pulled back, another ten percent was focused on keeping the arrow aimed straight at the heart of his target, and the last eighty percent was focused on the intense green eyes staring straight at him.

She didn't move a single muscle, just continued to stare at him. He had been following her for weeks and never once had she let on that she had any idea. He had finally got her where he wanted, alone, in a dark alley with not another person in sight. He had just pulled back the string of his bow when she turned and pierced him with those eyes of hers. After the initial shock, little things started to come together in his head that his subconscious mind must have picked up. All the time he had been following her not once did she step into any place where she would be completely alone and vulnerable. She had been careful and he had actually lost her a couple of times during his hunt. It then suddenly dawned on him that she had purposely wandered into the alley, she had known he was there the entire time, and she was letting him take his shot. That was when he had completely froze. They had stood like that for a while, her just staring up at him and him, while keeping his aim locked, just staring back. He broke out of his spell when he saw her raise an eyebrow at him as if to ask what he was waiting for. If Clint didn't know any better he would say that it was even a sign that she was annoyed with waiting for him to finish his job. He wanted to laugh at the thought but kept his facial features blank. He just continued to stare back. Neither, it would seem, were willing to give up first.

"Barton!" The voice yelled. "Barton are you compromised?" Clint smirked at the thought and wondered just how angry his handler could get.

"Negative sir," he replied with no emotion, not giving anything away.

"Have you completed your mission?" There was still that edge to the man's voice. Clint didn't speak again right away. The Widow still hadn't moved. She continued to stand directly into his line of fire. He couldn't understand it, something about the woman had completely drawn him in. She was beautiful there was no doubt about it but that wasn't the reason he couldn't release the arrow. He knew that she was one of the most ruthless assassins in all of Russia and had done unspeakable things, and yet something about her wouldn't let him kill her.
"Change of plans," he finally said into his com link.

"Barton!" He heard the man yell again as he dropped his bow and began to walk to the other side of the roof where a ladder was located. "Barton what the hell are you doing?"

"Making a slight alteration to the mission," he stated while climbing down to the ground.

"A slight alteration? Do you even understand what kind of..." Clint reached up and took out the com link as he calmly approached where he knew she would still be sanding. Sure enough, as he stepped from the darkness there she stood with a blank look to mask anything else she might having been feeling. He stopped when he was about a foot away from her. They both took a moment to size each other up. Neither of them knew what to think about the whole situation they found themselves in.

The widow was beautiful, the files had certainly not lied about that. It was the first time Clint had been so close to her and he was a bit dazed at what stood before him though it wasn't her body that attracted the most attention from him. It was her eyes, a beautiful, bright shade of green that pinned him down to the spot where he stood. He noticed something else then that, if he hadn't been watching her for a while, he probably would've missed. The usual air of confidence that surrounded her wasn't there and her shoulders slumped ever so slightly. For the first time since he had started his mission he really saw just how young she was. She looked barely older that a child, except for her eyes. There was a darkness in them that struck him to his very core. He had seen that exact look staring back at him from a mirror not all that long ago, but her's seemed to go so much deeper. It was like her very soul, her entire being, was oozing out with a darkness that was threatening to swallow her whole. He then understood why he couldn't take the shot.

"You're american," the voice was sudden and sounded completely foreign in the silence of the alley. He didn't respond and she folded her arms over her chest. "You know that I could kill you in several different ways even with this distance between us."

"With all due respect, if you were going to kill me you'd have done it by now." He didn't kid himself, he knew just how skilled the woman that was. Something flashed through her eyes and before he could determine what it was she was moving. Without any warning she jumped at him full force and threw him against the brick wall. He groaned as his body collided with the hard surface and he had barely put his hand up in enough time to block a punch aimed for his face. He managed to push her off but that didn't stop her attacks. She aimed a kick to his stomach that he narrowly managed to avoid.

"Hey...hey can we calm down and talk..." She aimed another kick that hit and caused him to slump over in pain. She launched some more attacks his way and he quickly got fed up with it. He dodged her blows and threw some of his own. He hit her once and she barely paused with her assault. She jumped at him and thinking fast he grabbed her waist and used the movement to bring them both to the ground. They rolled for a while before she was on top and had him pinned again.

"Why didn't you take the shot?" She demanded with a fierce look in her eyes. That's when he realized she could have killed him already if she were really trying. He noticed the weapons still attached to her hip and knew there was no doubt many more she could have used.

"Why haven't you," he shot back and used his own training to break out of her hold, another sign that she wasn't completely trying, and switched their positions.

"You're mission was to kill me was it not?" Her voice was frustrated and laced with her native accent.

"And you stood there waiting for me to do it." She easily broke out of the hold and both of them got to their feet. She came at him again and landed both a punch to his face and a knee to his ribs. He responded with a punch of his own to her stomach. They continued dancing around each other for a while until she once again had him against the wall.

"Why do you care, I was making it easy for you." He once again broke free and trapped her against the wall in the same hold he had just been in.

"That's the part I'm not completely getting. Why would you do that? One of the best assassins I've ever heard of and you would just let me take you out, just like that?"

"Mind your own business american," she practically growled before throwing him off of her. They launched their attacks at the same time and fought hard to land a hit while also blocking the other's. Clint managed to catch her arm with one hand and her wrist in his other.

"What if I could give you another option?" He said and she paused for a moment. It was just enough time for him to bring them to the ground again and pin her down with the only advantage he could think of, his weight and the fact that she was smaller than him. She cursed in her native language as she glared up at him. "What if you could come to work for my organization?" She struggled beneath him with fire in her eyes, but he could also see the slightest bit of other emotions deep inside her.

Is that hope? Fear? What is it you're hiding?

He waited to see if she would answer and when she didn't he continued. "Would you be willing to switch sides?"

"Betray my country? Why would I do that?" She asked him spitefully.

"To get away from those trying to control you," he answered and felt her muscles stiffen underneath him, letting him know he had struck the right mark. She suddenly broke out of his grip and they both rolled away from each other. They snapped back to their feet at the same time, him with an arrow aimed at her chest and her with a gun aimed at his. They stood in silence except for the soft panting sounds they made.

"You should have killed me," she said with a very serious tone.

"I'm willing to take the time to convince you otherwise." He said just as seriously. Neither of them let their aim falter even the slightest bit.

"They won't stop," she said.

"The organization I work for is more than capable of protecting you."

"I don't need someone to protect me." She snapped at him.

"I don't doubt it, but it doesn't hurt to have someone on your side." He replied calmly.

"You're organization would never go for this. You were suppose to kill me."

"Then let me deal with them." They still held their weapons the entire time and kept their eyes locked on each other's.

"Why would you want me to join you?" The sharp edge slightly fell from her voice.

"I'm not sure," he said honestly. "Maybe it's because you remind me of myself." She didn't respond after that but continued to search his eyes for any hint that he was lying to her. Not that she really cared, if he was leading her into some trap where she would probably be killed, well wasn't that what she was trying to get him to do just a few minutes ago? Then again, if he was telling the truth, could she really just go with him to his organization? Would she finally be able to break free of the horrors she was running from and start to clean up all the red that she was absolutely drowning in? Could that really happen?

Almost at the exact same time they lowered their weapons.

So this is how I image there first meeting would go, I hope you all enjoyed. Let me know what you thought and thanks for reading.