A/N: Welcome to part two of The Nightmare Series, A Web: Unraveled! This one (obviously) follows Natasha's nightmare. I hope you guys enjoy!

For purposes of my own sanity, I have stuck to the Avengers movie as my canon, but will be drawing on the comics for background info. Please let me know if you find an issue or something I have created through my own ignorance. I blame three a.m. and Wikipedia.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything remotely related to Marvel or the Avengers. *sadface*

WARNING!: This story contains descriptions of torture that, while the descriptions themselves are not graphic, the actual torture itself is. If you are not comfortable with this, stop reading now before you get too into the story. Most of the reason for the rating is in Chapter Two, but it is integral to the story and cannot be skipped. Thanks for your time!

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Natasha woke up the same way she always did; instantly to complete wakefulness. It wasn't anything SHIELD or Red Room had trained into her, it was just something she'd done for as long as she could remember. But as she sat up and glanced at the clock next to her (she'd gotten her usual three and a half hours) something seemed off. It took her a few moments to realize what it was.

Clint wasn't in the bed next to her like he'd been when they'd fallen asleep.

She was mildly impressed that he'd been able to leave the room without waking her.

Natasha stood and stretched, then pulled on one of Clint's old SHIELD training sweatshirts over her sleep tank and pants. She was swimming in it, but it was one of the most comfortable things she'd ever worn. She'd stolen it from him just after they'd moved into Stark Tower.

There were only a couple of places Clint would be hiding. When she didn't find him on the firing range or in the big communal kitchen, she knew that she would find him in the small gym Tony had declared hers and Clint's. And she did.

The large, open room echoed with the thuds of Clint's hands hitting the pedestal bag centered under the only light on. He hadn't been at it long, judging by the small amount of sweat that darkened the back of his gray tank top. Nat slipped silently into the back corner to observe him as he worked out his emotions. A smile quirked just the corners of her mouth. He'd wrapped his hands this time. The last time she'd caught him at this, he hadn't, and it had taken him weeks to be able to use his bow properly. He'd been miserable while the SHIELD doctors had demanded he go through a full psych eval and physical therapy before they cleared him.

That, and the fact that both she and Phil (there was a funny twinge in her gut as she thought of him in the past tense) had chewed him out about it afterwards, and both had refused to spar with him unless he wrapped them.

The thuds started slowing down, then stopped as Clint leaned head and left hand against the bag, breathing heavily. He punched the bag once more, then backed away from the bag and started unwrapping his hands. That's when Nat decided it was probably safe to approach him.

"So, how bad was it this time?"

Clint started, then smiled at her. There wasn't any warmth in it though.

"Bad." At her raised eyebrow, he huffed a sigh. "It wasn't the other one, but it was still bad."

She walked up to him and placed her left hand on his right shoulder. "Clint, don't do this to yourself. You can tell me what happened."

"That's just it, Nat. I don't think I can."

She used her hand on his shoulder to turn him around to face her. Nat cocked her other eyebrow. He sighed.

"You need to tell me, Clint. We're-"

"I know, I know, we're partners."

"So? What was it?"

He sighed again. "It was…" he pivoted on his heel and punched the bag again, then rested his fist against it. "It was our fight. On the carrier. It ended differently. A lot differently." He ran his free hand down his face. "I brought you to… him. He…"

Clint turned his head away.

"Then I woke up. Came down here. Honestly, I'm amazed I didn't wake you up, Nat. I was breathing kind of hard. Nat?"

Clint looked around, but all he saw was the gym door swinging soundlessly shut. Natasha was nowhere to be seen.

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Please review! I will post more later!