Disclaimer: Don't own anything that you recognize.
Authors Note: Personally I love Steve/Natasha and Clint/Natasha, but alas Clint has a wife but I do also love the two's partnership and deep friendship. I don't hate Bruce/Natasha I just didn't really see it and don't think the two fit well together.
I'll Always Be Here For You
It was a small ceremony, after all Pietro Maximoff didn't have very many friends having spent most of his adult life as a guinea pig for Strucker. But he was a fellow Avenger, even if it was for just a day, and he sacrificed his life in order to save the world. So here the Avengers were paying their respects to a man they fought against and then fought with.
It was a bright and sunny day, the complete opposite of the storm that was raging inside Wanda Maximoff as she said goodbye to the only constant in her life. She was completely lost as she fell to her knees, sobbing by her brother's grave.
The rest of the team decided to give her some privacy with Vision standing just a few feet away prepared to take her home when she was ready.
Clint Barton walked down the hill to the cemetery's exit with Natasha Romanoff leaning slightly against him her, hands wrapped tightly around his arm, reassuring herself that he was still there. She knew how close she had come to losing her best friend, the man that turned her life around.
Tony Stark yammered away a little ways ahead of them to Steve Rogers about the new Avengers facility he had bought for the team and how awesome it was. The billionaire, playboy, philanthropist obviously uncomfortable with the fact that the Avengers were not invincible, as the cold evidence lay 6 feet underground, impossible to ignore.
"I'm leaving," Clint suddenly blurted out.
"Going back to the farm to get ready for the baby?" Clint's wife, Laura, was pregnant with their third child and Clint had been so upset that he had just barely made it for the birth of his daughter. They had been on a mission in Budapest that didn't quite go according to plan. This time he wanted to make sure he was there, no cutting it close.
"No, well yes," Clint winced, this probably wasn't the right time, but there would never really be a right time for this and God he hoped he didn't die today at the hands of the deadly redhead hanging off his arm, "the Avengers. I'm leaving for good, I won't be coming back."
The former Russian assassin stopped in her tracks and gripped his arm tightly causing him to stumble and turn to face her, "What?!"
He sighed and pocketed his purple tinted sunglasses, he needed to be able to actually look at his best friend and she needed to see his face for this conversation. Running a hand through his hair he thought about what he wanted to say.
When he ran out to save that boy and shielded him from Ultron's onslaught, he fully expected to die but then the boy, no man that he had just met and hardly even liked saved him. Seeing how devastated Wanda was at the loss of her only remaining family member he knew he couldn't do that to Laura and the kids.
"I've been doing this for a long time, Tasha. My family needs me now."
"The team needs you," Natasha hissed.
"I'm just a man with a bow and arrow on a team with a super soldier, a God, and a Hulk." Clint smirked wryly he knew he was a big help to the team but he didn't really compare to the other's, didn't even come close in fact and he knew they could fill the gap his loss brought easily.
"I need you," Natasha fearfully admitted. She didn't like to admit to a weakness, but she didn't know what she would do without this man. She was compromised where this archer was concerned. He grounded her, showed her that she wasn't just some heartless monster.
In truth, his partner was why Clint had stayed with S.H.I.E.L.D. so long even after the Battle of New York and having Loki take over his mind. After saving her instead of killing her in that alley in Berlin, he felt almost responsible for her. He almost couldn't live with himself after attacking her on the Helicarrier, but she saved him and freed him from Loki's control and still stood by him even after all he had done.
"Not as much as you used to, my little Spider," Clint tucked an errant strand of fiery hair behind her ear.
Natasha narrowed her eyes, not understanding. And then realization dawned in her eyes, while Clint had always had Laura she had never really had anyone in her life aside from him, until now, but that's not true.
She ripped her hands out of his and turned away, she didn't want Clint to see the sorrow in her eyes that she was desperately trying to hide and push down deep where it would never see the light of day, "Bruce is gone." And that came out a little huffier than intended, but this was Clint she was talking to, a man she has known for years and who has seen her at her worst.
Clint lightly placed his hands on her shoulders and whispered in her ear, "Not Bruce."
Puzzled, she followed his piercing gaze and saw Steve, hands in his pockets waiting. When she caught his eye, he quickly looked away and shuffled his feet, embarrassed at having been caught staring. She internally rolled her eyes, not subtle at all, that man still had a few things he needed to learn about spying.
Steve was always protecting her, even in New York when they barely knew each other. At first their new partnership had been a bit rocky what with their vastly different backgrounds and morals, but everything changed as they took down S.H.I.E.L.D. together.
Not an easy thing to do for either of them. SH.I.E.L.D. was her whole life, not that the spy would ever admit that to anyone, but the shadowy organization had given her purpose and a way to clean her ledger.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was something Steve eagerly wanted to believe in in this strange world that he woke up in. His dearest friends, Peggy Carter and Howard Stark had founded it after all, it couldn't be bad. It was the last vestiges of his past.
Steve was her rock through that whole mess, not Clint. Though Clint had some problems of his own as his undercover mission became public knowledge, and he found himself in a rather sticky situation with no backup.
Through it all they had each other's backs, and for some reason Captain America had trusted her, the Black Widow. Who had innocent blood on her hands and she had really given him absolutely no reason to trust her, in fact she was actually quite rude and snarky in the beginning of their partnership resenting him for trying to replace her partner who in her mind was irreplaceable. When it really was not his choice to partner them together, and it wasn't his fault she missed her Hawk.
Upon rejoining the team Clint had noticed the closeness between the two and how well they fought together. He knew Natasha could take care of herself, but it was always nice to know that someone was watching out for you. And there were the times off the battlefield when you just needed someone to lean on.
She quickly spun around and buried her face in her partner's chest, grabbing fistfuls of his dress shirt, not wanting to let go. The archer's strong arms wrapped around her just as tightly holding her to him as their partnership came to an end.
After a moment he pulled away and tilted her chin up so that he could look into her emerald orbs, "Hey I'll always be here for you." And the tear that he wiped from her cheek would forever stay between the two of them.
She breathed out a deep sigh and nodded, "Promise to send lots of baby pictures."
He chuckled and gave her a feather light kiss on the forehead before she slipped her mask in place and descended the rest of the hill, alone.
Strike Team Delta was officially over and a light smile came to the former Avenger's face as the redheaded beauty met the man out of time at the bottom of the hill and he shared a nod with Steve as he twined his fingers with Natasha's and gave her hand a light squeeze to let her know he was here for her.
Clint had already told Steve that he was leaving. His Captain completely understood and there were no hard feelings and a mutual understanding that Clint was now leaving Natasha in Steve's capable hands. If any harm came to the Black Widow, Captain America would find an arrow between his eyes.
Leaving Hawkeye in that field, Clint Barton slipped into his truck and loosened his tie. He looked up as he felt a gentle touch on his thigh. Then, leaning over he gave his very pregnant wife a deep, passionate kiss.