Natasha scolded herself as she tore her fingers from her mouth. Biting her nails was a bad habit she thought she'd broken long ago, but standing by the wall watching the doctor check Clint over she couldn't help but worry she'd never get her friend back.

She wasn't someone who trusted easily and she never let herself rely on other people, but Clint had been different. From the second they met she had found herself randomly telling him things she'd never normally say, and then kicking herself for being too open, but he just seemed to get her without really trying. He knew when to push her and when to hold back; when she needed to be a girl he would give her a hug and when she needed to man up he could give her a kick. He saw behind the wall she put up without having to pull it down. If she'd let herself think about it she would have said he was perfect for her.

But she didn't think about it. Instead they were a team, they worked together, they played together, they kicked ass, got the job done and had their fun, always with no strings.

Yet, as she stood nervously as the edge of the room, her fingers creeping back to her mouth, for the first time she started to image what her life would be like without him and realised that was a something she didn't want to face.

"He'll be fine," the doctor announced as he started putting his supplies away.

"What about the mind control thing?" she asked softly, much quieter than the doctor had ever heard her speak.

"Cat scan showed nothing out of the ordinary and everything looks fine," the doc replied, picking up his kit and facing the scared young woman for the first time, "my guess would be cognitive recalibration,"

"Huh?" she asked, more than a little puzzle.

"You hit him hard enough that he would normally have a concussion, but it seems to have forced whatever was in there out, so my guess is he'll be a little disorientated but other than that, he'll be fine."

"Thanks doc," she replied, a relieved smile creeping onto her lips.

"Call me when he wakes and I'll give him another neuro exam."

"Thanks Doc," she answered before turning to her friend, waiting and watching for him to return to her.