As always, thanks to Kylen for the pushes, and everybody at The Beta Branch. Also thanks to everybody reading.

"Romanoff, I'm looking at an order in the computer, signed by Hill, sending Barton off. Now you're saying that he faked that order and left nearly six months ago?" Fury stared at the woman looming over his desk. "Why do you say that? And what do you expect me to do, since apparently he chose to leave?"

"Let me find him." Natasha narrowed her eyes. "And bring him back. Something chased him off."

Fury's eye widened. "What?" He started. "I didn't-"

"You don't bother to follow up on anything, do you? People don't just walk off, not from here," Natasha hissed. "And if he truly had, he would not have sent me a note saying that he 'would be back in a few months' because he 'had stuff to do.' And people had been threatening him." She tossed some papers onto Fury's desk. "I pulled these from his e-mail, but I can't find out who sent them. And they're just a fraction of what he was getting."

"Dammit," Fury cursed under his breath as he flipped through the letters. Slowly rereading one, he shook his head in disgust. "New orders, Romanoff. Find Barton. Bring him in, even if you have to hog-tie him and toss him over your shoulder. See if you can get anybody from the Avengers Initiative to help – Stark would be my recommendation." He stared at Natasha and tapped one finger against his desk. The silence lengthened until Natasha felt like screaming. "The only people from SHIELD who need to know about any of this are you and me, until I tell you otherwise. Understand?"

With a sharp nod, Natasha straightened up. "Yes." Spinning on her heel, she stalked for the door and reached for her phone. Pausing, she turned back around. "What about Agent Coulson and his group? It would be a good asset."

"What if they were part of it?" Fury's words made Natasha's stomach drop. She and Clint had worked with Coulson for years, and if Coulson was part of it, she didn't know what she would do. "The two of us only for now. Dismissed, Agent Romanoff. You're on detached duty to Stark Industries as of 0900 today."

Natasha thinned her lips. "I will contact Pepper Potts and work something out with her, then."

"Natasha?" Pepper stood up when the SHIELD agent slipped through her door. "Please, come in. Do you need anything?"

"A cover," Natasha said bluntly. "And a chance to talk with Stark. I could use his help. I will need to be able to travel on short notice. I don't know where yet."

Pepper gestured at a chair. "Sit. I'm sure that we can think of something." Reaching for her phone, she dialed a number. "Happy? Please come up." She stared at Natasha as the two women sat down. "What about Tony? He's not in trouble, is he?"

"Not that I am aware of." Natasha shoved her worry and desire to get out and start looking back and firmly clasped her hands in her lap. "I…am looking for somebody."

"Who?"

"A friend. That's all that I can say right now." Natasha stopped trying to seem impassive and leaned forward. "Please, Pepper. I can understand that you and Stark may not trust SHIELD – me – right now, but this was the only place, the only people, that I could think of that would be able to help. Cl-my friend has been missing for six months now. I've spent the past two looking for him, and only yesterday was I able to find part of the truth."

Pepper leaned back in her chair. "Really. Phil told me a little about SHIELD's capabilities, how can Stark Industries top that?"

"Because it might be SHIELD that's the problem." Natasha closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reminding herself that she needed to keep an eye on what she said. "Please," she whispered. She heard the door open.

"You!" The voice made Natasha jump. "You didn't check in with security!"

"Happy," Pepper sighed. "Natasha is allowed. Sit down; we need to have a fast discussion. Natasha needs our help, so is there any way that she could be connected to us?" She held up one hand. "And could you please take her over to the Tower? She needs to talk with Tony."

"Even so, she needs to be cleared at Security." Natasha could barely hold groan of distress. "But sure, Miss Potts, I'll make sure she gets over to the Tower. Will Tony want to see her?"

"He will." Natasha ignored her curiosity when she saw Happy. The man had obviously been through a lot, and she thought that he had lost weight. "Because I'm asking him a favor, which means that I'll owe him a favor. And if the end result is what I'm hoping for, my friend will owe him a favor, too." She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that she was able to get the support of both Pepper and Happy.

"Natasha?" Pepper asked. "Who is this friend of yours?"

"You wouldn't know him," Natasha hedged. "But it's important that I find him."

"Thank you, sir." Natasha stared at her phone. Clint had called in…but he'd called Fury. Not her. And he'd used a telephone misdirect and had only said a few words, so Fury's phone trace had gotten to Romania before going dead…and Clint hated Eastern Europe. He'd had more than a few bad experiences there before he'd brought her in, or so he said. Natasha thought it was because he didn't like the food.

"Well?" Looking up at Pepper's question, Natasha shook her head. "Oh."

"Clint called Director Fury, and told him to 'call off the dogs.'" Natasha sagged back in her chair. "He's cutting off all contact now." Natasha felt her familiar mask fall over her face as she shoved her emotions back. Standing up, she moved to the window. "The phone trace was unsuccessful, but we do know that Clint's alive."

"So we keep on looking. My trace is running, and as soon as his face gets on a camera, we'll know it." Tony's voice had the two women looking at the door. "Question." As he flopped into a chair, he looked at Natasha. "What makes you so sure that he wants to be found? Should we even try?"

"Tony," Natasha said, keeping her voice carefully neutral, "Clint has to be found. If not for his personal safety, then for the safety of the secrets that he knows. And because the two messages that he has sent since vanishing have not been like him. I will get him back, and I will make sure that he knows how much of an idiot he's been. After that?" Natasha shrugged. "I'm not letting this happen again."

"Natasha!" Tony's shout had Natasha jerking upright, startled out of her light doze. "I found him! He's in…Seattle? What the fuck is in Seattle? Why would anybody want to be there? It's all…rain and hippies and coffee and stuff."

"Clint is," Natasha snapped as she rushed over. "We're going. Now." Turning for the elevator, she didn't look back at the pictures that somebody had posted on Facebook talking about the bums of America and how they needed to get a job before they ended up dying on the street. She especially tried not to think of how bad Clint looked with the police officer clearly giving him CPR.

"Sir," JARVIS said. "I have determined the destination of Agent Barton. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center by ambulance. I am searching their patient records. I have also attempted to alter and block access to the photograph."

"Thanks, J." Tony glanced at Natasha. "I'm coming with you."

Natasha just nodded. The urge to get to Clint overrode her usual instincts, and, agitated, she tapped her fingers against her leg as the elevator descended.

"There was a John Doe, male, that was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit approximately thirty minutes ago, Sir. He is estimated to be in his thirties. Agent Romanoff, what is Agent Barton's age?"

"35," Natasha barked as the elevator stopped. "Tony?"

Tony nodded at two people standing by the street entrance. "Pepper, Happy, we're going to Seattle. Pep, find a few good doctors for whatever reason would land a person in the ICU. Happy, you're going to need to run security. Hate…Har…"

"Harborview Medical Center," Natasha filled in. "How are we getting there?"

"Plane will be waiting." Happy gestured at the car.

"JARVIS," Tony muttered, "can you clear some traffic?"

Natasha ignored the conversations and stared out of the window. Slowly picking up her phone, she listened to it ring. "Director. Clint's in Seattle, in the hospital. They are?" She felt a lifting in her chest at Fury's report on Coulson and his team. "I'm heading to Seattle with Stark and Potts. Yes sir." Dropping her phone, she took a deep breath, hoping that Coulson was close enough to make it to Seattle in time.

"Okay." Tony flexed his fingers as the plane took off. "Now, to find out what the doctors are saying about one Agent Barton. J, you still in?"

"As always, sir."

"Name," Tony muttered. "Nobody deserves to be called 'John Doe' unless he really is John Doe. And whoever would name their kid John when their last name is Doe probably shouldn't be parents." Bending over his phone, he narrowed his eyes. "You never really realize how much stuff they do in a hospital until you have to go fix their mistakes. Birthday…birthday…" he trailed off and looked expectantly at Natasha. When she didn't respond, he shrugged. "Fix that later, then. Address? Does SHIELD even have an address? Pepper?"

"Leave it blank, Tony. Just getting his name in there will be enough."

"Hey." Tony blinked. "He's sick. Like, really sick. Intubated and on more drugs than I can even pronounce sick."

"Tony," Pepper quietly said.

"They did CPR on him when he collapsed, too. Huh. I guess you really can live if your temperature is 105. Although ooh, that doesn't sound good, getting all those consults ordered. Surgery? Why would they call in a surgeon?" Tony punched at his phone before sighing heavily and making a gesture. "Ah. Shot. Two bullets. How can you even walk after getting shot in the gut? Police report says that he was still walking. Tried to fight the officer…aren't you folks supposed to be able to-"

"Tony," Pepper snapped. "That's enough! Is he alive?"

"He shouldn't-"

"Is he alive."

"…yes?" Tony finally looked at Pepper.

"Will he survive until we get there?"

"I don't-"

"Will he." Pepper's voice lowered, the words coming out in a hiss. "Yes or no."

"He will." Natasha's voice had the two looking over. The SHIELD agent was pale, eyes wide, and her hands were clenched on the armrests of her seat. "He has to."

Everything had taken too long for Natasha and she could feel her grasp on her emotions growing loose. As the car pulled up to the front of the hospital, she threw herself out and rushed to the information desk. "Clint Barton. He's in the ICU."

"Barton," the woman mumbled as she typed on her computer. "Of course. If you could just wait here, please?"

"Why?" Natasha clenched her hands together. "Why can't I see him?"

"There's a note in his file, ma'am, that any visitors need to be escorted up by Security." The woman's voice sharpened. "What is your relation to him?"

"I'm his-"

"Wife. She's his wife," Tony interrupted, leaning on the desk with an easy grin. "Now, how long are you going to keep her from seeing her husband?" He ignored Pepper's raised eyebrow. "I know, Pep, I'm not going to buy the hospital. I'm just trying to get Natasha up to see Clint without jumping through all those hoops."

"You'd better not," Pepper muttered as she put one arm around Natasha's shoulders. "He's already had two hospital wings named after him in the past year."

"Ma'am? You're here to see?" A voice had everybody turning around.

"Clint Barton," Pepper said with exaggerated patience. "Please? She's his wife and we're friends."

The guard looked skeptical. "Really?"

Tony grinned and spread his hands. "Who wouldn't want to be friends with me? Now, are you going to keep my very good friend from seeing her husband? Who vanished without a word?"

It took a minute for the guard to hold out visitor passes. "Put these on, please, and come with me."

Natasha swallowed heavily when she saw Clint. "Clint," she mumbled, one hand stretching out to touch the glass. "What…"

"Natasha," Pepper quietly said as she physically turned Natasha around. "Can you talk to the doctors?"

Craning her head back around to stare at the window, Natasha didn't respond at first. "Can I go in there? Please?"

"They really want to talk to you," Pepper murmured. "Tony, don't."

"I wasn't-" Tony started.

"It was just in case. Natasha," Pepper let go of Natasha's arm. "Tony and I will talk to the doctors for you for now, but you know the most about Clint. You'll have to talk to them eventually."

Natasha rushed into the room and abruptly stopped. "Clint," she breathed out. "What happened to you?" She carefully mapped out every new line and scar that she could see on his face and arms. He looked…old, she realized. Tired. Slowly approaching the bed, she anxiously stared at him. She didn't take a breath until she saw his chest rise – which was accompanied by an obscenely cheerful beep of the ventilator. She scowled at the noise.

Natasha grabbed a chair and set it down next to the bed in a frantic flurry of movement. Collapsing in it, she reached out and put her hand on his. It didn't feel right to have him be so still with her not knowing why. "Clint," she begged as the stress of the search and discovery finally hit her and made her carefully constructed walls collapse, "I can't do this. Please wake up. Please tell me what happened…why did you run? Why didn't you tell me?" Dropping her head to the bed, she sighed. "Please wake up," she whispered.