Watching him walk away from her nearly took her under. She stared at his back, then at the empty space long after he was gone. She started to vibrate and from her very center the motion started until her entire body was quaking uncontrollably. She had just crumpled to the floor in the fetal position when Pepper walked in the door, took one look at Natasha, dropped the groceries she was carrying, and wrapped her arms around her friend. It was a sign of her pain that Natasha didn't protest when Pepper picked her up and started to carry her to her room. When they passed the door to his room Pepper nearly lost her grip on Natasha as the shaking escalated violently. Natasha clawed at Pepper until the latter understood and took Natasha into Clint's room and lay her down on his bed. A fear had overtaken Pepper just as it always did when one of them had to leave the other. Her eyes darted around the room and she snatched a sweatshirt from the floor. It was a few sizes too big but she pulled it over Natasha's slim frame and let her inhale his scent while she tucked his giant comforter around Natasha. Natasha still trembled irrepressibly and Pepper turned to the only solution left-wait. Pepper was still awake when Natasha finally spoke over 14 hours later. "Give it to me Pepper." "Give you what?" "You know damn well what. Give me the bottle." "No. You are not going to drink yourself unconscious." "I'll be the judge of that. Give me the bottle." "No." Pepper might have been a genius in her own right, but she had little chance against Natasha in a physical fight. With the added pain of Clint's absence Pepper had no chance when Natasha lunged. A solid kick to temple put Natasha's jailer out of commission for a while. When she had retrieved her entire stash of alcohol she shut herself in Clint's room again, wrapped herself in every one of his blankets she could find and put her focus on the vodka. At S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ Nick Fury was sorting through a stack of mission details. He flipped to one for Clint Barton, gave it a scan and set it down. When he picked up the next sheet he expected to see a familiar red head looking up at him. To his shock and immediate concern he instead was staring at an unfamiliar man, someone named Grant Ward. He called Maria Hill over instantly. "Agent Hill." "Yes sir?" "You wanna explain to me why Barton is on a mission without Romanoff?" "She wasn't needed sir. The other agent was more qualified for this specific mission." "More qualified than Romanoff?" Fury snorted, "that's the stupidest thing I've heard all day." "It's true sir." "I don't care. Do you know what you've done?" "Sir?" "Get me Coulson. Now." Hill turned and walked out of Fury's office with haste. A few moments later Coulson appeared in the office. "You wanted to see me sir?" Fury fixed his eye on Coulson. "Yes. I need you to get over to Stark Tower ASAP." "What is it sir?" "Hill sent Barton on a mission." Said Fury. Coulson looked confused until Fury finished, "without Romanoff." Coulson's whole face went white and he flew out of the office and up to the helipad. Coulson made it to Stark Tower in record time. He took one look at the closed door and pounded on it. "Natasha! Open the door now!" There was no answer from within. "I swear to God Natasha, I will kick this door in if you don't let me in!" She still didn't answer. Steeling himself, Coulson backed up and busted down the door. He expected to see Natasha, possibly curled in a ball, possibly ready to attack him. What he didn't expect to see was no Natasha at all. The room appeared empty at first. There were countless empty vodka bottles lying all over the floor and dozens of blankets and sweatshirts were piled on the bed. Coulson took one step into the room when he heard a soft groan off to the left. He turned and saw Pepper, curled up in a ball with a sizeable bruise forming on her head. "Pepper! What happened?" Coulson ran over to her and carefully lifted her onto the bed. "Clint left…Natasha…bad state…tried to stop her drinking…" "And she knocked you out." Coulson said. Pepper nodded, "I woke up…she was leaving…she told me not to…but…" "You tried to stop her again. And she knocked you out again." Coulson shook his head. "Only you would try Pepper. Let me get you an ice pack." Once he had Pepper settled and in J.A.R.V.I.S.'s care Coulson called Fury. "She was already gone when I got here sir." Fury cursed, "Where did she go?" Coulson rolled his eyes, "Well where did Hill send Barton?" "Natasha can't go there," Fury said, "She wasn't briefed and she doesn't know where they are." "She doesn't need to be briefed."