There was something inherently wrong about the situation he found himself in this time. Clint wasn't a problem child, per se, but somehow he ended up in the principal's office on a semi-regular basis. His hands were trembling, head bowed low, the weight of the world seemingly on his shoulders. His entire body was trembling by the time Coulson walked into the interrogation room and sat across from his young protegee. "Barton. Do you understand the repercussions regarding what's going to happen today?"

"Don't hurt them." His voice was low, the whisper almost inaudible. "Please. I can't ask for diplomatic immunity, I can't ask for protection from whatever SHIELD intends to do to us. But what I can ask is that no matter what - even if it means I have to leave my position, please don't hurt them. Don't hurt her."

"Barton, you're 37. You've had more than enough time to consider the possibilities and problems that come with your job. You were sent to kill her, what went wrong?" Coulson didn't bother looking at the folder in front of him now. His focus was on the man before him, now fearing for the life of so many. "You brought her here and begged us not to harm her; yet here you are acting like you didn't even know. Did she tell you?"

"She told me on the plane ride here. She told me that she would be twenty-one this winter, and that we could face the problem together. Honestly, as soon as she told me, I knew I had to come back. I knew I couldn't keep her in Russia. There were too many people who wanted her dead...too many variables. I was selfish. I am selfish." If it were possible, his head dropped even lower now. Coulson could see the worry that was evident on the man's mind. "I don't care what you have to do to me...please just understand that I didn't know that it was going to be like this. I just wanted safety for them."

"She'll be visiting with a doctor today, and once we've drawn blood, we'll be deciding what to do. Barton, we can't have the child of an agent and a Russian KGB assassin alive, you should know that by now."

Now he tensed. His entire body stopped moving, his breathing was deep and methodical. If he wasn't cuffed to the table, he would have probably jumped his boss. "I am literally begging you with everything I have in my body not to terminate. Please. Please Coulson. This is my family. You have to know how important that child is to me!"

"About as important as it would be to the KGB if they found out about it, I suppose. But we can't offer you protection from the foreign government, Barton. They act on their own rules, and if they send an assassin, then what? You fight back? Because in her condition - she certainly can't. Do you plan on retiring once the baby is born? Your contract with us doesn't end for another five years. What was your plan, Clint?"

"I didn't have a plan! I didn't-you spend so much damn time locked up in a room with someone, learning the intricacies of their life. You learn their little quirks, their ticks, their nervous habits, sleeping patterns, things that scare them...eventually there's nothing left to learn-because you know everything about each other. You know the intimacies of their very being and what makes them who they are at their very core. I hazard to say what's coming next, especially knowing we're on the record...but I fell in love with Natalia Romanova, the Russian spy, the very woman I was sent to kill." His eyes pressed closed, but his posture didn't change. Clint was very much on guard. "She was just exploring the world - getting out there to see things. I wanted her to know that she wasn't the villain of her life story. She could be a hero, she didn't have to be the killer they conditioned her to be. I gave her a reason to change, Coulson. It wasn't intentional, it just...happened. But I don't love that child any less because of the circumstances. I don't. I couldn't. It isn't his fault that he exists. He didn't ask to be born."

"But here you are bartering for us to keep him alive...even though you know very well what's going to happen from here. She's cooperating with us, that's one small blessing. But you know that they can't salvage the pregnancy." Coulson handed the file over to Clint, shaking his head. "Open it."

"I-I can't. Not if you're going to kill him."

Coulson pushed it a bit closer. "Open the file, Clint. Face your mistake. Understand what's going to happen here."

He pulled the file over to his person, hesitantly opening it up. The first file was about her. All of her information - what she'd willingly give, what they discovered, and what came up in her blood work. The next few files following that were the results of her lab work, followed by the letter from their SHIELD appointed doctor explaining that the results were positive. He knew what was coming next when he felt the glossy sheen on the next page. The letter preceding it explained that they guessed she was only roughly twenty weeks along, but nobody spoke Russian so they couldn't actually tell what she'd said. The image following it was the ultrasound image. He was shaking again.

"Do you understand now, Barton?"

"Loud and clear..." His voice was broken, defeated. He took the image into his fingers and studied it; memorized it. It would likely be the only time he ever got to sleep knowing that for a few brief moments in time, his child was alive and it wasn't his fault that he died. The image itself was blurry, he could barely make out what was on it. Was it his crying or the image? There were red rings around the items to draw his attention. Sure enough, two circular rings were adorned on the grayscale image, and he knew exactly what that meant. "Twins..."

"A boy and a girl," Coulson replied, leaning back in his chair. "I'd congratulate you, but we have much to discuss at the moment. I know you didn't have much of a father figure, but I don't want to be the one to give you the when a man loves a woman speech. You knew how this happened, Clint." Leaning forward, Coulson folded his arms, watching the younger man's reaction. "But, I'm not here to negotiate lives with you. I'm here to offer a deal."

Hand frozen in place, he finally tore his eyes away from the picture, looking to his boss. "Deal?"

"We can't negotiate with her; she doesn't speak English, that or she's very good at pretending she's dumb. Talk to her, Barton. We've done an amniocentesis on the fetus, the girl is already exhibiting strange markers for mutated genes. That's the kind of thing we don't want in your enemy's hands. So, if you can convince her to defect from Russia's command and join our team - if you can convince her to play nice with us...we'll let the babies live."

"Let me talk to her..." He put the picture down, looking to Coulson now. There was a fire and determination in his eyes that the man had only ever witnessed a few other times. "I can do it, I promise. Let me talk to her."

"She'll be on a very short leash until she proves her allegiance, Barton."

He looked away now, knowing that she'd have regular check ups and check ins to make sure she wasn't planning anything; his word alone wasn't enough. "I understand that. But I also know that, as someone with no family - who was told she was sterile - Natalia isn't going to do anything to jeopardize her baby. Even if it means losing who she is."

Coulson released the cuffs that were chafing against the younger man's hands, ushering him to the door with the security outside of the interrogation room. Clint was led down a hall that seemed to go on forever, coming to a stop outside a small room with a window that showed the redhead, slumped over a table, looking pitiful.

His hand gingerly touched the window for a moment, before moving down to the handle. "Natalia."

She looked up at him, but those green eyes were full of fear as she watched him from the doorway. "Ty obeshchal mne immunitet. Ty skazal, chto oni ne prichinyat mne vreda. Ty solgal mne, pochemu?"

Dropping his hand, he opened the door and closed the distance between them. Kneeling in front of her, one hand rested against her palm, the other pressed gently to her cheek. "Они не повредят вам или ребенку. Я не позволю им. Пока в легких есть дыхание, они никогда не будут класть руку тебе или нашей семье. Но моя защита ограничена, Наталья. Мне нужно, чтобы ты мне тоже помог."

Quiet movement, subtle and soft. She reached down to reposition his hand against her stomach. "Whatever it takes."

Clint kissed her forehead quickly in a sign of respect before standing to his feet and turning to the door. "She'll pledge her allegiance to the States. But I want you to know, on the record, and in front of all of SHIELD...if anyone attempts to lay a hand on her or my children, it will be the last time you draw a breath. You won't see me coming."

Silence, long and drawn out, before Coulson opened the door and looked to Natasha. "Welcome to the team, Natasha Romanoff. I expect you'll be in good hands with Agent Barton. Try not to ruin it this time, would you?"