Chapter 1:
It had been three days since Clint had come back from Panama from a termination mission. The mission must have been tough for him because, for the first time in a week, Natasha woke to Clint's groans as he thrashed in the sheets on the narrow bed.
'Clint…Clint…wake up…please' she said, quickly ducking as Clint jerked back into consciousness, and he swung a fist towards her. She could still see that he was terrified and not yet fully aware that he was conscious.
'Clint' she said again, slowly twining her arms around his neck 'Clint, you're okay, its just me. Relax.'
Natasha could see that there was a fine sheen of sweat on Clint's forehead. Gently laying a hand on his forehead, Natasha could feel the fever and heat that was emanating off of Clint's body.
He groaned lightly and tossed under her touch. Clint drifted off into an uneasy sleep after that. At about 5 am Natasha slowly got up and made a pot of hot, pitch-black coffee. She turned around hearing the rustle at the door that was Clint. He came in, dark circles under his eyes, still slightly yawning.
'Well' she said 'We should probably get going to SHIELD HQ.' Whenever your ready.'
Clint said 'I'm not feeling great Tasha, I think I'm just gonna stay home.'
'Are you sure?' Tasha came over and laid a careful hand on his forehead, 'Yeah you feel really warm. I'll call Fury and-'
She didn't even finish her sentence before Clint abruptly left the table. Seconds later she heard sounds of violent retching behind the bathroom door. Tapping on the door she asked
'Clint are you sure you're umm….okay?'
Stepping back as Clint opened the door, she tried to hide her emotions and worries. But with Barton it rarely ever worked.
Clint saw how anxious she was and said 'Tasha, I'm fine, its probably just a stomach bug or something.'
As he headed toward the bedroom, Natasha hit the speed dial for Nick Fury.
As he picked up with his expectedly sarcastic 'Agent Romanoff?' Natasha heard the bathroom door close again.
'Um Fury, its Clint; there's something wrong with him'
'What?'
'He's vomiting a lot and he has a fever.' Natasha was sure she heard Fury sigh and muffle something that sounded suspiciously like damn.
'Great. Bring him in then. A Quinjet should be landing on the roof in 20 minutes.'